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]

"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."

[imeanforever]

"All right. Do you mind if I come back here before then if I receive more suggestions when I go back among the - what is the species called? I can hardly say 'mortals'."

[ending_of]

"Humans. The residents of my domain are currently all humans. You may return before then."

[imeanforever]

"Did you already get rid of the torturers and so on?" wonders Promise. "If you did I want to tell the person who suggested it to me."

[ending_of]

"I have not implemented your suggestions yet," she says. "I do not quite have an exact idea of what changes to make."

[imeanforever]

"Can I help?"

[ending_of]

"Perhaps. You could describe your list of suggestions again all together."

[imeanforever]

"Wish I'd written them down... Disempower and unemploy and do not permit annoying complaints from the torturers and the judges. Let the guides non-magically sort people; it doesn't matter if they're very accurate. Double the minimum residence space allowance. Later, on your way to Fairyland's attached mortal world, view a master/vassal set and see if you can, one, borrow only the unharmability feature of mastery to be deployed per person at will by everybody here, and, two, reduce it to only that within Fairyland for everyone. If at all possible, disempower the Queen."

[ending_of]

"Yes..." she says thoughtfully.

There is a slight pause. Less than a second.

"I have disempowered the torturers and judges, revised the abilities of the guides, and announced the change in the appropriate places. And the minimum residence space allowance is doubled. Would you like to return to your gate now?"

[imeanforever]

"Sure. Thank you."

[ending_of]

Promise is returned to her gate.