trade my soul for a wish

[from_scratch]

This is a successor to "call me maybe", which is getting crowded.

Cam is dipping a grilled cheese sandwich into a bowl of tomato soup when he feels the summons. He goes ahead and grabs it. Doesn't even drop the sandwich.


with Mark (kappa)

with Adanya (Aestrix)

with Sable (kappa)

with Ari (andaisq)

with Metella (kappa)

with Miles (kappa)

with Isabella (Eva)

with Steel (Rockeye)

with Daphne (Maggie)

with Edie (Maggie)

Comments

[kaolinandbone]

"Do not damage the castle. It dislikes being damaged."

[from_scratch]

"Okay, but does adding a layer of rock that attaches like it was always there to the existing rock count as a form of damage?"

[kaolinandbone]

"Probably not. The Castle would probably enjoy the change of pace."

[from_scratch]

"By what form of magic do you have a castle that dislikes or enjoys things? I'm not sure how you could build it out of the kind of tools that I'm about to start developing with this rock."

[kaolinandbone]

"I have absolutely no idea. The Castles are inherited. They say the First - the first vampire, that is - made them, hundreds of years ago. Nobody knows how they work. So far as I can tell, the Castle is about as smart as a particularly bright dog."

[from_scratch]

"How does it make its pleasure or displeasure known?" wonders Cam.

[kaolinandbone]

"Mostly by moving around rooms. It seems to enjoy attention, particularly in the form of new furnishings."

[from_scratch]

"Cool. So, regarding decor and installations, how much of my attention does picking up the rock need? Do I need to look at it? Could I have music on?"

[kaolinandbone]

"It requires your full attention. If you practice sloppily, you will have little to no results. Form is of the utmost importance - it can be casual, but it must be reproducible to a very high degree. If you can pick up the rock the same way every time without needing to pay attention, then that means you are done the first stage of the training."

[from_scratch]

"Okay. Wow, this is gonna be boring. You're really, really sure it will work for people who aren't from here?"

[kaolinandbone]

"There is a reason why not everyone in my world is a mage. That said, I can legitimately say that I cannot think of any reason why you would not be able to learn this."

[from_scratch]

"I suppose 'pick up a rock in the exact same way many hundreds of times' has probably not been tried in my world. How was this even discovered here?"

[kaolinandbone]

"There's some debate as to the exact origin, but the most commonly accepted answer is that it probably originated with a master craftsman, who practiced their work to the level of pure muscle memory, and then noticed something odd occuring over several further decades of work. The techniques have been significantly refined since then: this level of precision is not strictly necessary, but if you ever want to do anything significant with the magic..."

[from_scratch]

"We did have craftspeople, in my world, doing things... Maybe it got written off as a parlor trick. That's tiny stupid magic anyone can do which is almost totally worthless."

[kaolinandbone]

"If your world doesn't understand how to build proper Memni and hasn't developed proper training techniques, I wouldn't be surprised if they dismissed it as useless."

[from_scratch]

"Yeah. Okay, so, nondistracting decor. Do you suppose the castle likes marble? I like marble."

[kaolinandbone]

"Marble is a good choice. The castle would probably appreciate it as well."

[from_scratch]

"Finest Carrara coming right up."

The walls grow a layer of lovely white marble, with a few minimalist swirl textures making it look almost like interestingly draped fabric. He adds some half-arches in the corners and covers the ceiling enough to dangle a minimalist frosted-glass chandelier from it. "I can do the floor too, if you will just jump at the same time as me to get out of the way," he says. "Three, two, one -" He jumps.

[kaolinandbone]

Lioncourt hovers sedately on three.

"Vampire."

[from_scratch]

"Pardon, I didn't know vampirism came with levitation," says Cam, landing on a smooth marble floor. He stumbles slightly but manages to catch himself with flared wings before taking a spill. "All right, that's this place all prettied up."

[kaolinandbone]

"I did demonstrate for you earlier." Isabella settles back down to the ground, a teasing smile on her face.

"Now, the marks. Please, place your stone on the floor and reach down for it as if you were about to pick it up. Stop when your fingers touch the top."

[from_scratch]

Cam puts his stone on the floor. It rolls slightly, then stop. "Maybe I should make a divot for it? Or just make the mark out of rough tape or something." He straightens back up, then bends to touch the rock and freezes.

[kaolinandbone]

"A divot is traditional, yes. I should have thought ahead when you were making the floor."

[from_scratch]

"I can add another layer to the floor. How deep a divot?"

[kaolinandbone]

"Just enough to prevent the stone from rolling. Perhaps an inch?"

Her not-wings flare as she steps up into the air once more.