[voice]

[nomoresharks]

((CW: alcohol mention))

Good afternoon! I come to you today with two questions.

First, or those of you who have come from a time or world significantly different from this one, what has helped you to become accustomed to said differences?

As to the second question... What wines available on this star would you recommend? Dry, red wines are preferred, but if there are any with particularly strong flavors I humbly request you include them as well, even if you would not necessarily claim them to be the best of the batch.

Comments

[nomoresharks]

Not terribly, no, though I'll not deny there have been a few bumps in the road here and there. And yet I find myself all the more eager to learn because of them.

[scourgingstars]

I've found myself of a similar mindset. It's become gradually less common that I stumble across something completely unfamiliar to me, but it's ever a fascinating experience to stumble across.

[nomoresharks]

Exactly! And while I myself am used to seeing and evaluating the creations of my peers, how rare it is to be able to see such wonders achieved naturally!

Mechanical aspects of the world aside, of course.

[Not that there's any guarantee the flora and fauna of the world aren't also creations of the locals, but even that only serves to make them a different sort of wonder, rather than erasing their uniqueness outright.]

[scourgingstars]

My, is creation magic truly so widely used that natural plant and animal life is uncommon? No wonder such things would register as strange to you.

[nomoresharks]

Indeed. There are those who prefer to create various flora and fauna for our star through careful cross-breeding, but the majority make use of creation magicks for the sake of ease and accuracy--with plants especially.

Though some varieties grow with the seasons, many are the species that take decades, if not centuries to grow, after all.

Not that I don't respect both methods. Painfully slow though it may be, those who create via natural means are no less skilled in their craft than those who make use of creation magic. And such dedication should always be commended.

[scourgingstars]

That would rather make things a good deal faster, I can certainly see your point. I'm afraid we lack anything even resembling creation magic on my own world, so the difference is likely just as startling on either side at this point.

[nomoresharks]

So I've heard. It seems my brethren and I are truly one of a kind in this vast universe.

[Were he reminds himself, only to set the thought aside once more.]

Would I be correct in assuming it was a generational endeavor, rather than the pursuit of a handful of individuals?

[scourgingstars]

Something like that, I would say. Most of us are quite short-lived compared to Emet-Selch and, I presume, yourself. And even besides that, we lack a great deal of the powers and abilities I've witnessed from him.

[nomoresharks]

Haha, well... Emet-Selch is something of an exception in that regard as well in his own way. Several times older than I, in fact--or at least he is these days.

Would it be remiss of me to ask what your people can do?

[scourgingstars]

Forgive me if the comparison fails somehow; I'm afraid he's been my only frame of reference until recently.

[He couldn't quite help but laugh just a little at the question; it was a little funny in its necessary absurdity.]

Anything they like, really. We may not be possessed of creation magic--indeed, magic itself is more than a little rare amongst mortals--but the necessity of a more direct approach hardly stops one from pursuing what they wish to accomplish. I can't very well speak in detail for the world as it might be now, but in my own time there was quite a variety of things one could choose to pursue. Farming, craftsmanship, swordplay, hunting...our world may have been--still is a difficult one to live in, but humans are a resilient sort.

[nomoresharks]

[Hythlodaeus laughs] No apologies necessary. The last I saw of him before I came here, we were roughly the same age. As such, 'tis my solemn duty as a friend to remind him what an old man he has become.

[He does notice something about his explanation, however.]

Ah... You are "out of step" with your own world as well?

[scourgingstars]

Ah, I'm afraid so. [Ardyn hesitated a second or two, looking for the right way he wanted to explain his particular situation without ruining a relatively cheerful mood.]

My circumstances are a bit...different than most humans where I come from. And while I can't claim to be quite the old man that Emet-Selch is, I have been away from most of my own world for a considerable length of time. What I know of our star as it is now has come to me largely secondhand.

[nomoresharks]

[Ah. Not quite like Emet-Selch's situation and yet not quite like Hythlodaeus's own.]

Good tidings, I hope? You need not hide the answer if that is not the case, though you also need not speak of them at all if it makes you too uncomfortable.

[scourgingstars]

...A bit of both, I think. [You know, just the apocalypse after two thousand years of development. Probably fine.] But such is rather the nature of life as we have ever known it. Very few circumstances are wholly perfect or wholly terrible.

[nomoresharks]

Very true. 'Tis what we make of those circumstances that counts in the end.

[Or so he says, despite the fact that he himself still has some doubts, knowing what he knows now]

And there is always something to be said for the discoveries made along the way.

[scourgingstars]

Quite so. [Much easier said than done, when it came to 'your nephew has to stab you for the sake of the world', but the sentiment of the matter held true enough.] I've yet quite a lot to learn about my own world as well as others, and I rather look forward to the discoveries themselves.