Koboldish Planar Ally

[lurkingkobold]

i think any1 who moves 2 ur world is going 2 want the assistive device. iiii don't think any1 is going 2 want any modification done 2 them if that were even possible.

we can probably pay 4 the assistive device somehow, and depending on how exactly it works we might want some 4 ppl that aren't moving 2 ur world.

in our world we have simoleans u get them from sacrificing stuff and u use them 2 instantiate stuff and we have a lot b/c transfiguration. also i make potions which u can't instantiate and i can trade them 4 other hard-to-get stuff. there is probably something that we can get here that would b valuable in ur world. unless we can transfer simoleans 2 u directly? u can't transfer them between planes here unless u r also transferring a household, so we could send some w/whoever u took in when they left. unless ur world is weird. ur world sounds weird.

---

Yeah, instantiating things with magic is /really hard/ here, unless you cheat by transmuting a pile of junk or something. Sending objects is probably a better bet.

And I can totally get you some motion sensor openers for doors and drawers cheap. Although I am not sure how to send them, except through the OTC, and I don't have any of their currencies..

---

I believe I could make Portals to your worlds to help you trade, if you wanted, sweeties.

---

As an alternative to assistive devices, we might be able to just give telekinesis-reliant species more finely-controlled telekinesis, which'd basically just give them the opposable thumbs they need to operate existing devices. Don't even need alethics for that - I betcha mage hand could do it!

--ChibE

Hm. That sounds reasonable.

The kobold gets out of bed, trundles downstairs, and retrieves a spellbook, sending a Planar Message as she goes: [[greeting] [identity: kobold] [spellbook [mage hand] [will give [in 10 minutes]]] [ideal reader: [dangerous life] [problem solver] [experienced]]]. After the requisite time, she sends the spellbook, and returns to bed.

Comments

[better_living]

Lizzie and Calla are poring over makeshift blueprints of their neighbor's house when the message arrives.

"This looks like it might be a good place to plant the detonator, it'd take out the wall and the cow plant in one go- did you see any extra-"

[[greeting] [identity: kobold] [spellbook [mage hand] [will give [in 10 minutes]]] [ideal reader: [dangerous life] [problem solver] [experienced]]]

Lizzie startles. "Um, sorry, I just got- a telepathic message? The kobold from the forum is sending a copy of mage hand- wait, they can send things, they have spellbooks, that's- okay." Lizzie gets up and starts pacing. "Um. They said the best reader would be someone experienced with problem solving, who's been in danger a lot- that means Saretal, doesn't it, probably, um- I should at least check if the omni plant will take the book- they wouldn't just send us one, right, this is probably just to see if-"

Calla barks sharply. "Lizzie. Shush. It'll be okay. I'm going to go find Saretal. You write a thank-you note, okay?" Calla waits for Lizzie to nod, presses her head into the side of her leg briefly, and then heads off towards the barn.

Lizzie, meanwhile, flops in the nearest chair, pushes her hair back, and composes a reply.

Thank you very much for the spellbook. Your concern for the people of our world is appreciated. We are likewise concerned for the people of other worlds. In our world, we have the assurance that, even if the worst should happen, we will continue to exist as ghosts. It seems that people of other worlds do not enjoy that assurance.

We have the ability to manufacture potions that, when drunk, return the drinker to a healthy, youthful state. If you are amenable, we would be grateful for your assistance in distributing them.

A few minutes later, she receives a trade request offering the spellbook Mage Hand, at no charge. She accepts, and a new book pops into existence in her inventory. "Well, that was anticlimactic," she mumbles. She pulls it out and runs her hands along its cover. It's rougher than the covers of the books she's used to. After a moment, she waves it in the direction of the omni plant. "Omni plant won't take it," she announces. Lizzie opens the book to the first page and holds it up to Saretal. "Tell me when you need me to flip."

They sit quietly for a few hours. Eventually, though, Saretal makes it to the end, and-

The book explodes in flames. The sprinklers go off, and a high-pitched alarm starts to blare. Calla yelps in surprise, Saretal arches his back and hisses at the book, and Lizzie starts to laugh. "Saretal, try a thing!" she says, still giggling.

Saretal fixes his eyes on the still-smoking book, which promptly flies toward him and smacks him in the face.

Lizzie stops laughing immediately. "Oh no I am so sorry, oh gosh, are you okay? I have a poultice, um-"

"My head is fine." Saretal flicks his tail in irritation. "Something else is wrong. There was... something here, and now there is not, and its absence stings.

"...That sounds like magic depletion?" Lizzie ventures. "That's how Brianna describes it, almost. Here, I've got-" She pulls out a bottle of magic essence and uncorks it. "Want to try this?"

Saretal sniffs at it suspiciously, then dips his head.

Lizzie pulls out a bowl and pours out the elixir.

Saretal laps it up neatly, and looks significantly more relaxed afterward.

Lizzie offers Saretal a colorful feather. "Again?"

They try three more times, Saretal drinking mana potions in between, before he is able to successfully levitate a maple leaf. Lizzie sighs in relief, transfers all but one of her accumulated mana potions to his inventory, ducks into the shower briefly to scrub away the residue, opens her laptop to message the kobold-

Oh, she has a reply. She'll read that first, then.

[lurkingkobold]

The message's timestamp shows that it was sent about fifteen minutes after Lizzie's message.

I can send potions to people, sure. I'm going to be too busy for the next ten or fifteen days to help with much - maybe longer, depending on how many people you have wanting to leave your world - but the sending magic is easy enough.

[better_living]

Well, if the people who for some ungodly reason don't leave ghosts have waited- ugh, she doesn't even want to think about how long- they can wait a couple weeks more. She guesses. This is good! It is good news. It is.

She sits down and drums her fingers against her chin as she thinks.

Eventually, she sends:

Thank you very much. Please let me know when you're able to receive shipments, and if there's anything I can do to make the transfer more convenient.

I'm estimating that about fifty people from here will want to leave. I haven't asked everyone yet, and some people are still deciding.

I can make other potions that have beneficial effects. Notably, I regularly use one that allows the drinker to go without sleep, without side effects. If this is something that would be helpful, I would be happy to make them for you.

The spellbook you sent worked, but the person who used it doesn't have enough magic to do it reliably or without hurting. We have potions for the hurting, but I think they need more room for magic. Do you know if they'll get more room if they keep practicing?

Lizzie puts away her laptop, downs another dose of wolfsbane coffee, and gets back to work.

[lurkingkobold]

After a few hours, there's a trade offer - an Arcane Mark spellbook and ten 10-takkarash coins, again for free - and another message:

Rainbow God says that practice will help, yes; you might want to ask them some other questions about how this kind of magic works for you, since it's not working how it usually does. It doesn't work like usual for me, either, and that hasn't been a problem, but it seems to be even stranger for you - it's not supposed to hurt, and your mage should be able to tell whether they have enough MP to cast the spell - did they figure out how to meditate? Meditating was pretty obvious to me but I can read you that part of the instructions if that's the problem.

Arcane mark is probably better to practice with, once you have the rest figured out; it only uses one MP instead of three.

Fifty people won't be a problem at all. I'll let you know when I have the place ready for them - it will take about half the time I'm expecting if I can use potions instead of sleeping.

I do have a good place to keep potions, I just don't have time right now to find out who might want one. I can get them any time, though - you need to be carrying them and I need to know how many and what kinds to ask for, for the magic.

[better_living]

Lizzie accepts the trade offer, finishes the potion she's working on, and retrieves her laptop from her inventory.

Here, if you are a kind of person that has magic, and you have less than about a quarter of the magic that you have when you're full, it hurts. If you use all of your magic up, it hurts extra and you don't regenerate any more for about six hours. (It all comes back at once then, though.) I have heard of meditation helping to regenerate magic faster, but our magic user ran out completely. I will ask the Rainbow God- Esthfora, right? They seem nice.

Something smaller to work with is probably good, yes. (I don't know how it works for you, but here if you try to do something that you don't have enough magic for, it tends to backfire.) It'll take a while for our magic user to learn the new spell, but I'll message you and let you know how it goes once they're done.

I'm glad you have room for everyone. Right now, I have twelve invigorating elixirs- that's a good night's sleep each- and five potent invigorating elixirs- that's a full twenty-four hours of feeling like you've just had a good night's sleep. You are welcome to all of them, and I can make more if you run out.

I am carrying twenty-seven potions of youth right now. I can post on the forum and try and see where they're most needed, if that's not a bad idea for some reason.

I also have six vials of bliss (they help with loneliness and stress), nineteen cure elixirs (mostly for zombies, but someone turns themself into a toad every now and then too), and eleven mundane cure elixirs (if someone catches a cold or something).

If any of those would be helpful, you are welcome to them as well.

And Lizzie goes to find Saretal.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold's reply comes after about twenty minutes:

That's really strange, that the spellbook magic changed to work like your world's magic - it doesn't work like my world's magic at all, for me.

Most of those potions sound useful. The bliss ones especially seem like a good idea to have around for people to use.

I'm... not really sure what's polite to do, with the potions? Humans do things very differently than kobolds, about this sort of thing, and I'm still not sure what you do and don't consider rude - like, whether it's okay to just say which things I want, how many things I could take without it seeming like I was hoarding, that kind of thing.

[better_living]

Oh no.

Oh no.

...She's getting Tiger.

[forestsofthe]

Tiger can be found in the barn, telling a story to a pile of puppies and kittens.

[better_living]

Lizzie waits politely for the story to conclude, then calmly asks to borrow Tiger for a minute. As soon as they're out of earshot, though:

"I've been PMing with the kobold from the forum and somehow it turned into a social thing, help."

[forestsofthe]

Tiger rests her head on Lizzie's knee.

[better_living]

After a moment, Lizzie reaches down tentatively and hugs her.

[forestsofthe]

Tiger licks the side of her face. "Let me see the message?" she asks gently.

[better_living]

Lizzie pulls out her laptop and shows her, hands gripping the laptop tightly.

[forestsofthe]

Tiger reads the message carefully. "...Are you worried that now they'll think you're hoarding?"

Lizzie looks at the floor.

Oh, dear. "They said they understand that humans do things differently."

Lizzie nods, still looking at the floor.

Tiger sighs. "This person is from a different world, a different culture. Here, storing resources makes us less vulnerable. You don't think it's rude if they just tell you what they want, right?"

Headshake.

"All right. Let them know that, tell them you're not concerned about hoarding- at least that you're not concerned about them hoarding. And then come down to the barn, Phia wants human rides."

[better_living]

Lizzie nods and scuttles away with her laptop.

A few minutes later, she sends her reply:

I don't think that asking straightforwardly or stockpiling potions is rude. Please just let me know what you'd like; I can always make more potions.

Hoarding is not a thing that people here really worry about? I don't think you're hoarding and I wouldn't think poorly of you if you were.

I think you are doing an important thing and I'd like to help however I can.

She hits send and scurries off to the barn for some fluffy, cuddly, uncomplicated social interaction.