???; fourth wall

[grapecape]

[...This all would be a lot more enjoyable if the past week hadn't been so shitty.

"This all" being the sudden reappearance of Ondorus' monstrous features; his pointed ears, and the spiral-ridged horn attached to the front of his skull. Along with those comes his magic, with which he patches himself up. All is well...

....


yeah no not really. He can make an effort not to wallow, but recent events have him in a rather somber mood.

For now, though? He's got his species back. He's got his magic back. He can play with his Pokemon (...the ones still with him), showing them forms of different elemental spells. Deliberately avoiding any earth-based ones. He can let them touch his ears and poke his horn, just sort of...existing in monstery solidarity.

And hey, look! Wherever they happen to be at the moment, chances are they're not alone. A small, ever-changing crowd of other monsters are here to play. Some slimes, some weegulls, some ants, the occasional buffamoo or mushroom, a handful of ignis and tundras...and, of course...

...a big cuddly pile of woolies. Because it's not a rune party until the woolies arrive. also ondorus emits wooly magnet beams or something

The univir's smiles are a little forced, but the atmosphere of serenity is real, wherever they happen to be. Come hug a wooly. You know you want to.]

Comments

[grapecape]

[why *lightning*...?

Ondorus raises an eyebrow at the explanation.]

From a human author, that's not surprising. Everyone has their own perspective. But if he was a fantasy author...

...mm. There's any number of explanations. [He's sure that Kayneth can think of some on his own.] But to the credit of the orcs I know, they're among the least truly wild species of monsters out there. Highly territorial, yes; aggressive, certainly; but far easier to communicate and bargain with than others, generally speaking.

[The orc with a bow and quiver had glanced up at several points in that conversation, but didn't pay attention beyond that.]

Hmm...I think that's everyone here at the moment? [He glances around. The weegulls vanished...orcs, woolies, tundra...seems like it. More will show up later, probably.] So it is. Then, there's the one you're speaking to, of course.

[Let him tell you about univir.]

[enjoymyatelier]

[pri...mary colors?]

Well, it's not as though he had a complete vendetta against nonhumans--it's more that there was a very clearly defined line between the 'good' nonhumans and the 'evil' ones, with elves, eagles, and the like being primarily good and the evil ones being things like orcs, trolls, and so on. Humans were, if anything, highly flawed and had the potential to go in either category. It was fairly simplistic, but you know how these things are. It's not like a work of fiction has impact on any other worlds, anyway.

[...wow he just nerded really hard there uh




and wait what

...he is certainly socially adept enough to know that 'you're a monster??' would probably be a grade A conversation ruiner but the thought certainly crosses his mind]

...yes, of... course.

[well that would explain why he's treating all of these things like they're people, anyway]

[grapecape]

Univir are monsters that are quite similar to humans. [His tone is faintly amused, like referring to his species in third person is part of the joke.] To be entirely accurate, it's elves we have the most in common with, but from there it's not too far of a leap to humans. We're well-established on earth and thoroughly civilized, with a long cultural history.

We're characterized mainly by our physiology [he gestures briefly up to his face - what needs to be said?], but also by our lifespan and a particular kind of healing magic which seems to be unique to univir.

[enjoymyatelier]

I remembered you mentioning your race having a long lifespan, yes, though I didn't remember you saying anything about healing magic. I can certainly see the resemblance to elves, though.

...From the way you've been talking, though, I'm not entirely clear-are elves also considered to be monsters, or is there some sort of distinction? Where is the line drawn, exactly?

[grapecape]

The distinction - actually, that's something I would have established sooner, but it's something I've always taken for granted. [He shakes his head a little in apology.]

What defines monsters is our place of origin. There is a world separate from, but connected to, the one I was born in, usually known by the name "Forest of Beginnings". Monsters are beings that emerge from that world. But, if such a traveler settles outside of the Forest and raises children, those children will be monsters as well, though they did not come from that world themselves. A being is called a monster if the Forest of Beginnings is the world to which their soul ultimately belongs.

[enjoymyatelier]

...that's... very strange. It can't really be considered a parallel world, can it?

[...actually, you know...]

Would time pass differently in that world compared to the one you were born in?

[grapecape]

I can't say. For that matter, I don't know that there's a person alive who's entered the Forest and returned to tell the tale. Monsters who've just emerged are typically far too wild to communicate things like that, if they even understand such concepts in the first place.

[enjoymyatelier]

...So I see. I suppose that's understandable, but it's rather unfortunate that there isn't a way to get a good description of what the nature of it is.

[SOUNDS LIKE THE THRONE OF HEROES TO HIM, TBH]

[grapecape]

I suppose I'll know, someday...not that I'm in a rush to find out. [ahaha...] But, who knows? There might be someone out there with such knowledge. Human, monster, or otherwise...I can only hope that if a tale like that is out there, it might find its way to me someday.

For now, there's other stories worth chasing. [Pokemon-related ones.]

[enjoymyatelier]

It's certainly possible, at least. I'm sure stranger things have happened.

[...ah, yes...]

More immediate ones, of course. I do have to wonder what caused this particular... incident.

[grapecape]

It could be an accident of nature...or it could be deliberately caused. I think that it would be more easily considered if we knew more about the method of our arrival here in the first place. [pause for drink] ...Assuming that part of the weekend's effect is an actual change to the rules by which our arrival operates [He gestures lightly, fire flickering in his palm for a moment in demonstration] </ small> and not just something that looks a lot like one.

[enjoymyatelier]

Yes, that's the worst part of this whole thing. I know it's significant, but I don't know why and how. It certainly seems like a change, but I can't tell how much of one it really is.

[grapecape]

And who knows just how long this will last...

[Ondorus looks down, brows furrowing. He stares at the ground for a long moment.]

....I wonder.

[He pulls his bag to him, opening a pocket and rifling through it.]

Lord El-Melloi, may I ask you to try something?

[enjoymyatelier]

...I suppose so, yes. What is it that you want me to try?

[he will do it

for science]

[grapecape]

[The item taken out is a cheap journal, which Ondorus opens and flips through before handing to Kayneth with a satisfied hum.]

I'd like you to read through that. Simply scanning it would be fine. I want to see just how far this change to the rules runs.

[The journal contains (and this is where I start making shit up) about thirty pages of spell definition. It doesn't really make sense, as prose goes, half due to being half written in an incomprehensible alphabet and half due to just being bizarre. But understanding it isn't important - reading it imprints on the reader the memory of how to perform a spell. This particular one is very, very rudimentary - a simple light spell that produces a faint glow.

The question remains; will it work?]

[enjoymyatelier]

...I see. Well, I'm sure it can't hurt...

[what is this even he'll just





WOAH WAIT WHAT]

...What was that intended to do, exactly?

[grapecape]

In my world, spells can be recorded in and learned from books. I've had that on hand for a while now, as a casual experiment. As a spellbook goes, it's absolutely abysmal; a proper one would be much longer and better bound. But for my purposes - which were to have an external indication of something not unlike this happening - it works just as well as something more advanced.

I wanted to know if you would get anything from it.

[enjoymyatelier]

[...are you kidding him

he'll go ahead and try that out and yep, it worked]

...Is it that literally anyone can pick up one of these books and learn a spell from it without any prior training, or did I learn it because I'm already an extremely competent magus?

[grapecape]

Learning is the easy part, and anyone should be able to. Whether one can use it effectively or not is another matter - some people gain skill far more quickly than others, and some can practice for months and still not have adequate command over spells they've learned. I think it has to do with personal temperament, but in your case, the fact that it did exactly what it was supposed to is more than likely a result of your experience with magic.

There are some spells and powers that can't be recorded like this. Things like univir healing arts, mainly - ones bound to a species or otherwise the result of a person's nature.

[enjoymyatelier]

[...well, okay, this is a different universe and everything but-]

But for someone who had the right temperament, there's really nothing to ensure they know how to responsibly use magic?

[grapecape]

Well, one hopes they'd have an instructor of some kind. A relative, or neighbor, or the person the spellbooks belonged to in the first place. My first experiences with magic were a mixture of the three, before I was old enough to study on my own.

[misunderstanding the point, sort of.]

[enjoymyatelier]

That ensures absolutely nothing. Simply hoping that someone encounters the right circumstances isn't enough to keep one of these books from falling into precisely the wrong hands.

[grapecape]

The wrong hands?

[...color him confused.

To Ondorus' knowledge, most people do know a bit of magic. It's common, possibly necessary, and spells exist not in an elite space but in the world of the ordinary. From that frame of reference, Kayneth's implication is baffling from beginning to end.]

[enjoymyatelier]

Someone who had no respect for the sort of power that had come into their possession. I suppose I can understand a spell that only had practical utility being made public, but...

[WHY WOULD YOU EVER MAKE MAGIC AVAILABLE TO THE MASSES]

[grapecape]

Just about all of them do, if you count defense against wild monsters as a practical utility.

[no he really doesn't get it and he doesn't know he doesn't get it either]