exploratory kidnapping

[alicornucopia]

In this room are two women, one gray and sixty years old, one just thirty and red-haired, both wearing elaborate outfits. The younger casts a spell.

In this room is now also a third person. (On whom the elder woman promptly also casts a spell, which she had at the ready.)

Comments

[alicornucopia]

Jensal also sits on the ground. "Shapeshifting. Firebreathing. Languages, names and songs, the ability to have kids at the time and of the gender we want, group magic - in Virac's case that would be extra flying maneuverability and speed; for other color groups it's other things."

[missnicegirl]

"Okay. What's yours? No, don't tell me, actually, I want to see if I can make my ialdae see it."

She peers at Jensal (understand, understand, understand) and after about three ticks, she says, "Extra shapeshifting?"

[alicornucopia]

"Yep. Five extra slots."

[missnicegirl]

"Okay. I think I can see... where all his dragon magic should be and isn't, and which things should go in which places," she says. "So maybe if I could teach ialdae to do all the things dragon magic does, I could fix it. But I think I want to try language first so I can ask him what he thinks of that."

[alicornucopia]

"That seems like a good place to start," agrees Jensal.

[missnicegirl]

"Okay."

Matilda thinks about language, and magic. She likes languages. They're fun. She likes figuring them out and seeing what they're made of. Dragons (and shrens, when there are shrens) don't learn languages, though, they just know them. And they know Draconic, which is itself magic, and can only be understood with magic.

Matilda has magic. And her magic is pretty good at understanding things sometimes.

She thinks to herself: come on. Come on. Learn Draconic. It's a language, and languages are amazing, and it's magic, and magic is amazing. Learn Draconic. Learn Draconic. Learn Draconic. Learn Draconic. Learn Draconic.

Something goes click, magically speaking. Suddenly every language she's ever heard of is just there.

She inspects the little knot of magic that makes this so, and she looks at the diamond dragon, and she puts one of those right where his language magic goes. Its job is to stay there and give him language. That is what it is for. It knows its job, and it is going to do that job forever and ever.

[alicornucopia]

Virac gives a peculiar full-body shudder. "What."

"It worked?"

"What worked? What happened to me?"

"Spontaneous magic failure. Matilda's just replaced some more of your magic with ialdae to compensate."

[missnicegirl]

"I put your language back first so I could ask you about the rest of it," Matilda explains. "I want to replace it all with ialdae. Do you want me to try that?"

[alicornucopia]

"Are there any other options on the table?" wonders Virac.

"I could call in Ehail, but Matilda is in general much faster with results than Ehail is," says Jensal.

[missnicegirl]

"I don't know exactly how it's all going to work," Matilda warns him. "Sometimes when ialdae learns how to do things, it learns them a little differently from how they were to start. But it usually learns them nicer or easier, like how ialdic lights can make their lights at a distance, and ialdic teleportation doesn't need you to have been to the place."

[alicornucopia]

"Usually?" says Virac.

[missnicegirl]

"Sometimes it also does things like make things sparkle or glow that don't sparkle or glow when you do them with other magic," she says.

[alicornucopia]

"I will tolerate it if I begin to sparkle and glow on occasion," says Virac. "Although if you can omit it I'd prefer that."

[missnicegirl]

"I'll try," she promises. "Okay. Which part do you want me to fix next?"

[alicornucopia]

Virac considers this, then says, "...My name doesn't seem to work anymore."

"Virac?"

"Yes, I know that it is my name, my memory is intact, but it no longer - sticks. I would like it back as it was."

[missnicegirl]

"Okay," says Matilda. "I'll do that."

She looks between Virac and Jensal, and contemplates dragon names. This time she will probably not be able to test it on herself first. So she should try really, really hard to properly understand the problem with her magic before she does anything.

[alicornucopia]

Jensal and the dragon customarily known as Virac wait.

"Are you going to need to know what my name in fact is?" wonders Virac.

[missnicegirl]

"I'm not sure," she says. "I can't seem to tell what it was from looking at where the magic used to be. What's the rest of it, besides Virac?"

[alicornucopia]

"Viractalmewerianderixhalarbenequirvahimtharoguamirzinsenknarouvterienzalumigarisetsenyprashesuumigreltimerispuldaniretchamiqueslarc," says the diamond dragon.

"Virac in particular, unlike many shrens but like most dragons," says Jensal, "has a line name. Virac is his personal name, talme is the equivalent of a surname, and the rest of it is syllables he's added on from friends and family."

[missnicegirl]

"That's a lot of name," says Matilda. "But I guess it would be hard for you to write it down. Okay. I'll try."

When she concentrates, she can see the empty places where the name should go. She puts ialdae there, and she tells it that this person knows what his name is and he should have it all again just the same as he did before, and go on having it definitely forever no matter what. This magic's job is to be dragon name magic, with the song and the collecting syllables and everything just like how dragons usually have it.

[alicornucopia]

"Ah, there it goes," says Virac.

"As it was?" asks Jensal.

"I believe so."

[missnicegirl]

"Okay, good," says Matilda. "Now what's left is... shapeshifting and firebreathing and colour-group magic, right? And the thing about having kids? Which part do you want next?"

[alicornucopia]

"Shapeshifting next. I believe my ability to have children will remain entirely academic if I can't do that," says Virac, the latter bit under his breath.

Jensal stifles a smirk. "What forms did you have all told?"

"Swallow, elf, halfling, porpoise. Do you need the specific species of swallow and porpoise?"

[missnicegirl]

"I don't think so," says Matilda. "Because when you have a form it's not just a species, it exists somewhere, right? You can tuck things away with it and dye its hair and stuff. So either I can get those exact ones back just like you had them and I don't need to know what they were, or I can't and you might as well learn them over again."

She contemplates dragon shapeshifting. She wonders where all those forms actually go.

[alicornucopia]

"I didn't have anything vitally important tucked, I suppose. I do like the shoes on my halfling form."