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

[missnicegirl]

"If I can't find anyone, I'll come back and ask you to try to find one for me, but for now I think you don't need to."

[alicornucopia]

"Okay. Good luck."

[missnicegirl]

"Thanks."

Out she traipses, looking for vampires.

[alicornucopia]

The bulk of Esmaar's population is about evenly divided between humans (brown) and elves (paler). There are some mixes between the two, and some halflings, and some vampires like that family over there.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda goes up to the vampires.

"Excuse me," she says politely in Leraal, because that is the local language. "Can I talk to you for a little while, please?"

[alicornucopia]

One of the family's dads peers down at her. "Is something the matter?" he asks, frowning.

"Ah, blast, I've been spotted," says the other dad good-naturedly. "Please, direct comments to my office."

[missnicegirl]

"Oh, I have no idea who you are," Matilda assures the other dad brightly. "It's just I'm working on a project to make everyone immortal, and I figured out dragons already but it was particularly easy because of how their magic works, and I think vampires might also be easy for a similar reason so I thought I would find some vampires to try next, and you are vampires. If you don't want to, I can try someone else, though."

She pauses for a moment, reviewing the information she has provided, and then clarifies: "I have a kind of offworld magic that can do all sorts of marvelous things. It's called ialdae."

[alicornucopia]

The littlest child of the vampire family takes a step towards Matilda, but First Dad catches her by the shoulder to stop her from approaching closer.

"What is it you want to do?" asks the middle kid.

[missnicegirl]

"Well, I want to figure out how the magic works that makes your lifespans change depending on what you eat, and then once I understand that I can probably figure out how to make it work differently so you don't have limited lifespans anymore," she says. "The figuring-out part won't look like much, I would just have to sit quietly and look at a vampire for a while to teach ialdae how to see whatever kind of magic you have, and then sit quietly and look at a vampire for another while to study it once I can see it."

[alicornucopia]

"Would things still taste right?" wonders the eldest child.

[missnicegirl]

"I'm not sure, but probably," says Matilda. "Because if the tasting is magic then I can figure out how it works and if it isn't then changing the magic probably won't do anything to it. Is the tasting magic?"

[alicornucopia]

"It's generally assumed to be," says the friendlier of the dads. "Look, we've got a limited time to go on our walk before I need to get back to work, but if you'd like to follow along I don't see why you can't sit in the living room and meet the family if that will help your research project." He smiles a politician-y smile; he's the only one in the family not in a suncloak.

[missnicegirl]

"Okay," Matilda says agreeably. "Thank you. What are your names? I'm Matilda."

[alicornucopia]

"I'm Thiies Hhireek, and this is Kheeeahh, and our children Iilha, Khi, and Leekath," says Friendlier Dad, as they all resume their walking.

[missnicegirl]

"It's nice to meet you all!"

[alicornucopia]

"Where are you from?" mumurs Leekath softly.

[missnicegirl]

"The entire world doesn't have a name that I know of, but I'm from a town called Lyndonville in a country called America on a planet called Earth in a world that isn't this one."

[alicornucopia]

"What, really?" asks Thiies. "How did you get here?"

[missnicegirl]

"Some nice people in Linnip summoned me as part of a research project they're doing on kinds of magic in different worlds, and they found a witch to teach me witchcraft and a dragon to teach me Ertydon, and when I figured out how to give ialdae to more people I gave it to some people the researchers found and now I'm teaching them how to use it."

[alicornucopia]

"...Linnip," says Thiies, "is doing a research project on magic in different worlds?"

[missnicegirl]

"Apparently!" She blinks up at him. "Is that especially weird?"

[alicornucopia]

"Excuse me," says Thiies, "I'll just be - darling, look after the -" He kisses his husband on the cheek through the cloak and then turns into a bat and flies away very fast.

[missnicegirl]

"...Do you know why he did that?" inquires Matilda, gazing after the fleeing bat.

[alicornucopia]

"My husband works in Parliament, who will be very interested in this development," says Kheeeahh. "Where are your parents?"

[missnicegirl]

"On Earth. Why?"