crystal

[undergrunn]

( Behold, a new voice on the crystals. Soft, good-humoured, with an accent that sounds Scandinavian / relative equivalent. The crystal catches a quiet breath of laughter before she speaks. )

I don’t know if you’re really lucky to have an engineer turn up, or if I’m really unlucky that I need to figure out the machinery.

I mean, learning about the infrastructure of a city in a whole different world isn’t even a “once in a lifetime” kind of opportunity, and pretending I’m some sort of genius at kinetic motion just because I know some mechanisms from home would be pretty fun, but…

Wow.

( Maybe that sounds a little weightier than her first "wow.")

Oh, I'm Abella. Riftwatch, you’re gonna have to have a lot more ramps by the time I’m done with you. Somewhere has to accommodate wheelchair users, even if it’s some kind of fairy tale world.

( Hmmm. )

Wait, can you just make them float, here? (More softly, ) Flying wheelchairs would explain the lack of ramps. I mean, this crystal thing is remarkable, so... let me know if I don't need to think about the ramps.

Comments

[allthatgleamsisgold]

Such floating devices are not uncommon in my original world, and that sort of magitech could, theoretically, be adapted here.

I don't think it something unwise to consider, given the protracted nature of this war.

[undergrunn]

Oh.

( There's a weight to it that is not disappointed, per se, but betrays the hopefulness that accompanied the question all the same. She makes an admirable effort to bounce back, and it's probably more evident that she's trying to make sure her down mood doesn't impact him, rather than her actually being Great. All things considered, though, who is doing super great during wars that cross entire continents and nations?

Quietly, )

It's still lovely to hear a voice that brings them to mind.

( Quite a few voices here are reminiscent of accents from home, truthfully. Marina and Levi are simply those in Prehevil she had spent the most time with, who were so terribly effected by the hell brought down on their hometown and, if she's being honest, are the ones she cares for most amongst the thirteen others, alongside Olivia.

Well. Twelve, after the other day.

It was for the best that this stranger was not of Bohemia, or the Eastern Union. Then she would have to break the news of the horror unfolding there.

At least when she speaks again now, her tone's more convincingly recovered. )

I'd bet there's a town called Piltover somewhere in Europa, but I'm not personally familiar. I don't think a flying wheelchair would be viable at home for a while, but it'd be fun to try and make an all-terrain prototype, using the same principles as tanks.

( A beat. ) Are you familiar with tanks?

[undergrunn]

Oh, Barrow!

( She suddenly realises she doesn't know the name of the person who told her Barrow's name, the moment possibly betrayed by the intake of breath to say "so-and-so told me to look for you!" before she has to brush by her own dead air. )

I was told about you. I'd love to meet and learn about what's needed about the Gallows and prioritisation of projects. All my experience is based on my world and learning from that technology and history, and there's a lot I need to learn about existing practices and cultures, here, but I'm happy to do the work.

[thereneverwas]

Good things, I hope.

No need to flagellate yourself too much, I'd rather we spend the time working. I'll be certain to steal you whenever we've both got a moment.

[succise]

(This is... acceptable.)

Okay, then. Good.

Where did you come here from?

[succise]

From what I have seen, it seems to be.

[youwonscience]

I get that. You stepped in it, but it's not 100% your fault. There are lots of times people would have just rolled their eyes or made a sarcastic comment or something, you just hit an especially sensitive moment. And, like, I think people who aren't rifters sometimes ... My world doesn't have any magic, as far as I know. It was a bit of a learning curve, people forget it can be a lot to take in.

But hey, it sounds like you hooked up with Viktor, who I was totally going to recommend to you. And it's not like you're wrong about mobility broadly. When I first came to Kirkwall, I was dealing with a lung disease, the stairs weren't a picnic even if my legs worked fine. There are worse things to be than enthusiastic. You just let it carry you into not reading the room, which is something you can recover from, for sure.

[It's not that the mistake wasn't real, but it's one Cosima finds easier to sympathize with than some others. She'd rather a new rifter be genuinely interested in the Gallows than pretend this world somehow didn't matter.]

[undergrunn]

Um.
( Figuring out how to respond to that when people may not know your world at all is interesting. )

Specifically, the city of Prehevil in Bohemia. More broadly speaking, it is a world that I had understood to be without magic, until I very, very recently discovered magic, monsters and Old Gods are all real.

( Her voice goes up just a little at the end of that, in that way which could suggest she is trying to sound like she's taking to take it in stride and maybe isn't succeeding. )

[undergrunn]

I'm sorry you were sick. Are you doing better, now?

( Physical difficulty isn't something she's experienced personally. Empathy and concern for others, though, she has in spades. Right now the most difficult thing she has to deal with is being self-conscious.

Or-- the most difficult things she'll acknowledge to herself, even if it becomes painfully apparent. And speaking of "apparent": Abella chuckles quietly, though it has an edge of "tell me about it" rather than mirth. It's not unkind, just... tell me about it. )

I thought my world had no magic. A few days ago I found out that was not the case and... I became an engineer because I like the logic of it. There are rules of physics and practical realities, you can troubleshoot why a mechanism isn't working or predict where a project will have flaws and weaknesses. And then you have a weird, magical dream and it turns out Old Gods and magic are real, and then you have another magical dream and fall into a whole new world, and I don't even know enough about the magic at home to know if any of the magic here follows the same laws.

( She laughs again, and while there's some amusement to it, it's not like the overwhelm or the note of sadness in her voice are hard to identify. )

At least if I could figure that out I could find the logic.

[undergrunn]

Consider me at your disposal. Honestly, I agree about spending time working. There's too much at home to worry about if I let myself be idle.

[dissolving]

Hand of th'Maker's in every garden, [ has the rote drone of another joke — ] But there's one grows for the Infirmary. Had a tree fall, otherwise didn't knock out too bad.

don't mind my narrative tldr in response to Astrid casually existing

[undergrunn]

( The familiarity of the accent catches her. It feels like a regional variation, the sort of thing that immediately breeds solidarity when thrust into a situation where that aspect of yourself has an element of "the other."

It's arguably grasping at straws. There are plenty of accents here that are reminiscent of home, and yet she's not jumping up to think people are from Rondon. The brief hope of someone from Bohemia or the Eastern Union was efficiently brushed away.

But 'Astrid' is a name from home, has a voice from home, and even speaks of mountains. The relief is like pulling yourself into a lifeboat from roiling seas.

She's been sounding progressively more serious and reserved across her responses. Her tone warms, now. )

It's nice to meet you, Astrid. And mountains present a whole different set of obstacles.

( Ramps that could send you flying out into the air if not designed and traversed with particular care? Not ideal. )

It is hard to know what is the best course of action. How much help do people want, how much help do they need, who are the people who want less help than they need, how do you figure out the right thing to do without focusing on it so much you miss the rest of who they are? And that's before you even get to the logistics. I mean, the things that might work in the Gallows are going to be more easily implemented than trying to make more changes to Kirkwall. ( Kirk-wall? hitched on her uncertainty )

I joked about the mountains, but if yours here are anything like home, you would need to ensure the mechanisms don't get locked up in ice and it can cross snow, at the bare minimum. But maybe it needs to be able to cross uneven terrain, or be light enough that climbing with it strapped to you is sustainable, depending on what they need to be able to do.

( It's both immense enthusiasm for the subject and an element of "now I am aware of this, yikes." )

Maybe it'd be easier to breed very big, strong goats that can be housetrained.

[undergrunn]

Magitech. That's a surprisingly straightforward name.

( Which is a relief, honestly. )

We-- my world is just emerging from a war that felt like it pulled in every country, and we had another one that was the same maybe twenty years ago. I didn't think we had magic, but I know technology has gotten to a place where just... in some villages in my homeland, none of the young men who were conscripted came back. Others that do might not be able to walk any more. They should at least be able to move around the towns and the country they went through hell for. I don't know anything about this war, yet, but there's always going to be people don't come back the same.

( Hmm. )

I'm sorry. I went on a bit.

[undergrunn]

I get the feeling I need to learn who the Maker is.

( And maybe check to see if there's any moon gods she needs to keep an eye out for. Hopefully not literally, though apparently you never know with the moon. )

And probably you, too. What is your name, helpful stranger?

[dissolving]

He, uh. Made the world,

[ and fumbling to explain that now may, itself, explain why he's not a chantry brother ]

Made all of us. It'll be in the reading. Anyway, 's Cedric.

[ lot of folks yelling, facts coming hard and fast, and more on her mind besides. (i'm not the one still there.) so it's nothing personal that she'd forget. if it feels personal — well. that's his problem. ]

But you don't gotta worry on that. Luck getting settled.

[allthatgleamsisgold]

None of what you said caused offense. There is no need for apologies.

This war is a protracted conflict against a tyrannical lich who wishes to restore the world to some idealized gilded past that never existed.

If you are familiar with war, than the rest likely remains consistent with what you experienced in your own world.

[undergrunn]

You know, it's kinda... ( she exhales a quiet laugh, not so much because this is funny, and more that the parallel unexpected and weird. )

There's rumours about Kaiser. Some people talk about him being the return of this blood thirsty warlord from history. It would be pretty crazy if I went from one tyrannical lich war to another.

( Abella dismissed all that as impossible, conspiracy nonsense. She hasn't had space to give it all that much of her energy these past few days, despite the looming reality of how much more credulous such theories are. )

[allthatgleamsisgold]

Hardly crazy.

[Vlast's own homeland is overrun by a lich with delusions of godhood and his minions. To say nothing of the actual god running amok.]

You will likely find there are plenty of parallels here to your own reality. You'll find your bearings soon enough.

[undergrunn]

Industrial quality, I hope.

( There's a moment of quiet where she could (should?) reflect on her choice to make a bearing pun to someone who quite possibly has no particular interest in mechanics or engineering. Abella's had bit of a day, so she let's herself breeze past it. )

Could you tell me about your world? I should ask for your name, as well, shouldn't I?

[allthatgleamsisgold]

[Unfortunately the pun falls flat - not on account of any lack of interest in engineering, even if it is unlikely he'll turn his hands to such things. Just Vlast's usual under-developed sense of humour.]

I am Vlast.

My own world is called Tyria and it is not so different from Thedas. More technologically advanced in places, I suppose, though I have read that Minrathous has magitech comparable to that of Rata Sum. The prejudices between sapient races are less pronounced, but no less petty and absurd. The people in general are not such withering cravens in the face of peculiar magics.

What of yours? You mentioned two wars.

[bouchonne]

I've a deadly important question for you.

[ This voice sounds very much like it's coming from a man who has never asked an important question in his life. ]

If we build these ramps, and have chairs with wheels on them, can we then ride those wheeled chairs down the ramps for fun.

clutches my heart

[brennvin]

( Astrid finds herself laughing at that last mental image, surprised out of overthinking it: )

Korth, could you imagine? Riding mountain goats wearing comfortable harnesses or little backpacks to stuff people into. Honestly it’s probably the best solution, those fuckers can go up a sheer cliff face like it’s magic—

( After a few months, she’d half-told herself to stop grasping in vain at any halfway-familiar accent or name; homesick, heartsick. She had mostly stopped waiting to run into someone who sounds like family. But then this stranger says ice and snow and uneven terrain and climbing and the picture she paints is so very, very much like the place Astrid grew up that it makes some of that vague hopefulness spark back to life. )

It sounds like they are pretty similar, actually. I mean mountains are mountains, but mine are big and snowy too. Sometimes feels like you could look out and see right through to the end of the world. What’s your home like?

[thereneverwas]

Catch you in the dining hall later today? I'll show you the plans I've got thus far.

[undergrunn]

Of course. Are there schematics of the existing architecture? I think a thorough examination of the foundations and underlying structures would be beneficial, if I can get permission to undertake it. I imagine one will have already been conducted, but I'd like to check for further stress damage after the initial incident.

[cozen]

Do not worry about it. Like I said, you have a lot to deal with already. If you are still saying it in a few months, then we can have a problem and you can apologize.

[ Among them: the fact that she is likely not a guest here and will never truly go home. But his personal preference would be for that to come from another rifter, or at least someone who understands the Fade better. ]

I'm not in the Gallows, but I am due to stop by. Save me a spot on your schedule after lunch?