mortal is as mortal does

[imeanforever]

Promise is looking for dewdrops. She has just learned to candy them herself - it's not hard, if she does it in her own tree instead of in the field. So she's brushing the droplets into a little wooden cup. They blend together but she can separate them out again later.

Comments

[ending_of]

"Then the guides can sort new arrivals by whatever nonmagical means they choose."

[imeanforever]

"Good. Are people allowed to visit the other districts?" wonders Promise.

[ending_of]

"There are six districts, divided into two sections with three districts each. Currently, residents of the lower section are not able to leave it, while residents of the upper section are able to travel freely between the two. I do not know if they choose to do so."

[imeanforever]

"Can they talk to each other somehow?"

[ending_of]

"What do you mean?"

[imeanforever]

"I don't know how to do it yet, but it's possible to ensorcel things so that you can speak from a long way away. Can they do that? If they want to arrange a visit or something."

[ending_of]

"No. The available means of communication are separate between the two levels."

[imeanforever]

"Why?"

[ending_of]

"I think the original logic was that residents of the upper level did not want to be open to harassment by residents of the lower."

[imeanforever]

"I could maybe think of another fix for that if I knew how the communication methods worked?"

[ending_of]

"Rearranging the communication networks sounds mildly tedious. What would be the purpose?"

[imeanforever]

"Making it possible for the residents to interact with more people if they want to and schedule visits without having to go all the way down - apparently wings are a new sight here, they must have to climb or something."

[ending_of]

"There is an elevator in the tower."

[imeanforever]

"...I take it that makes travel less tedious? All right, maybe this one isn't actually a big deal then."

[ending_of]

"It does make travel less tedious, yes."

[imeanforever]

"Getting rid of the judges and the torturers - and their powers, if they could use them off the job - was the big one, but now that I'm thinking about it I'm wondering if you could copy partial traits from fairies. Most of being someone's master or vassal is just - a problem, but the definition of harm is really comprehensive, and if you could copy it, and everyone could decide to be unharmable in that way without the other parts of mastery, if they wanted, maybe per person - there are sometimes reasons to not want to be quite that unharmable - then that might cut down on your troublemakers problem."

[ending_of]

"Where would I find an example of this property?"

[imeanforever]

"I don't have any masters or vassals and never have - except the Queen, who knows every fairy's name automatically but has no reason to know I exist - but there are a lot of examples in Fairyland and we'll go back through anyway to show you the attached mortal world. Speaking of Fairyland, can you alter that, too?"

[ending_of]

"What alteration were you thinking of?"

[imeanforever]

"Well, for example, the Queen automatically knowing fairies' names is a problem. I might be in favor of completely eliminating all but the harm-prevention aspects of mastery and making those portions easier to attain - maybe chosen per person like my suggestion for here. I should think about it more, it's not as obvious as 'there should not be torturers', but I'm guessing you don't want to make two trips and that's my first pass, and I'm pretty sure it's better than nothing."

[ending_of]

"I have not had an opportunity to closely perceive a master-vassal connection," she says. "It may be that I would need to see one before I knew what I could do about them."

[imeanforever]

"How close is close?"

[ending_of]

"If such a pair of people were to enter my domain, or if someone were to become a vassal here, that would suffice. If I were in your world, I would have to be personally near such a connection, nearer than I ever was to one while I stayed in your tree."

[imeanforever]

"I can check the gate to the mortal world occasionally, and when it settles, I can invite a pair of breeders to be near it when I come get you?"

[ending_of]

"That sounds like a reasonable solution."