Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I dunno, I rather eat when I have more time to haggle I guess. Maybe go back to get something to eat after everyone goes home.

Well I guess that tracks. "Do people mine Vasic anywhere else?"

Hm. Maybe they're rich, or maybe I just haven't seen them selling anything. Maybe they're indigenous. I seriously doubt all these different, um, types just naturally arose up here.
"Where do they get their money? I haven't seen any of them working..."

"Wait, what? A giant bug? What does it look like? What does it eat?"

I take a little time to process this. "But how? It's just a flash of light. I thought they were incinerated."
"And they can see the sun down there? Does the sun, um, go away down there? How far down is the bottom?"

Hm. I guess that makes sense. I bet if I snagged a second one in the mines I could get more 5L if I could find a buyer.

"But how do you know those are the lines you need to draw to make light and not some other set of lines? Were you taught by someone else? How did they know?"

"Would the pattern they drew on the big stone work on a little stone?"

Hawkin sounds suspiciously like a name that's been invented by the dominant group... Maybe that Lawin name has something to do with it. "Are they called Hawkin or Lawin?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Yes, they mine vasic some distance from the bottom of the waterfall.


They hunt. Some of them fight.


Its big and round and black with six legs, two big mandibles, and two small mandibles. And a hard shell and wings. It also has a brown and green grub form with the mandibles but short legs with big hooked claws. They eat various plants that grow. The flying bugs are longer than an adult is tall. or maybe just two of Ump's arm-spans.


No, No, they're still alive! How could he think such a silly thing! Everyone laughs. The stone moves them! That's what the stone does!


No, the sun is all surrounded by cloud. They can't see it there either. The bottom would take at least a shift to fall all the way to. You would die. Somehow. burned or frozen, they say. Or get smashed at the bottom.

They don't know. Its not important to them.


They think so. But it would only effect little things! and you'd have to write really really small!


Lawin are Hawkin. And the small winged people are Hawkin. And the winged people with tails. They're all Hawkin.


And the GM totally isn't making up stuff to cover a slip-up!



Now you bring up thievery! I expected it to come up a little sooner in this game!

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"So why bother coming all the way up here?"

"I suppose they hunt the bugs. Who do they fight? Is there a war going on?"

Well I guess something had to make all those tunnels. "Hm. Is it dangerous?"

"Vasic makes light, heat. It does not follow that it makes people appear somewhere else."

I suppose I'm going to be laughed at some more. I guess it makes some sense, but it sounds so unbelievable, like something out of science fiction... Or maybe a fantasy novel.

"What else can Vasic do?"

"Well surely it can't be burnt or frozen, or nobody would have been able to get up here to setup up the big Vasic thing in the first place."

I try to back of the envelope how far there could be. 1 shift ~ 1 day, terminal velocity ~100 m/s, so 24*3600*100... 8,640 km... That's uh, wow. Maybe they'd suffocate on the way down.

"Well, coins would be small enough, right? No need to be afraid of muggers."

I think briefly about the use of the word write. "So, do you know how to write in Riask?"

I glance at my legs briefly, "How often is someone injured working in the mine tunnels?"

Well there's two major reasons. The first is that Julian doesn't have any clothes and thus can't really vanish into a crowd in a pinch. The other is that he doesn't feel especially strained financially. After eating, he's clearing 2L a shift. The work seems boring, not life-threatening. If Julian had some kind of motivation beyond, "I'm being worked ragged every day", he probably would have tried something by now. At this point it's just idle thoughts, just like keeping a second Vasic light to turn in with a different shift to make twice the money.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

There is less rain, water and mud up here. Building dams is hard.


They fight thieves. and sometimes each other. And sometimes they go a long ways away to fight.


Yes. If you're dumb. Or not an awesome hunter.


Vasic moves things. It moves the sun to make light and heat. He really thought vasic made the light and heat? They say he must be from far far away.


Vasic can move people. It can let people talk from a long ways away.



No, they didn't fly it up. They sent it with vasic. There was vasic in the cliff and the vasic in the cliff and the branches caught the big vasic stone. The man who did this is named Pilagro. Very smart.


Not muggers. But pickpockets would get them on the way! And you couldn't fend them off with a small vasic. With a big Vasic you can.

Yes, yes! they all know how to write the patterns!
When they realize he means words, they say they know numbers. They don't know how to write words.


Sometimes. He should really buy pants. The small tunnels are pretty safe. Vasic is solid. Not like other mines.



Just remember that this world is being explained by poor kids in a mine who may have a skewed or incomplete understanding.



Actually, given how long I've had this world and how hard its been to explain, the perspective of street kids in a fairly exotic part of the world is a nice device for making it simple and understandable. I don't have to explain what's actually going on, just what they see.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Sounds like a mess down there."

"What do they do with thieves they catch?"

"Yeah that sounds about right. Do lots of people from far away make that mistake? Where do they come from?"

I wonder what other kinds of energy could be transported through Vasic.

"I thought someone would have just found or made the stone all the way up here."

"By fly, you mean the Hawkin? Could they even move something that heavy while flying?"

"So you can move stuff anywhere with the vasic? You don't need something specific to target on?"

"Was it just the bugs up here before the stone?"

"Huh? Someone could take the coins transported by Vasic along the way?"

"So how can you fend people off with a big Vasic? Burn 'em?"

"What do they do with thieves they catch?"

I count my coins again. I don't really need a shirt, do I? Guess I'll get on buying a pair of pants now. And eat until I'm full.

Well, even a fraction of that distance would still be crazy high. An hour at half the speed would be way taller than Everest. And looking it at it from the other direction, it's also the wrong distance for a sun, just by a different order of magnitude.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Not bad. Just hard to dig.


They beat them, and sometimes chop off their heads. Of course. What else do you do with thieves?


Yes. They come from... places. far far away. Not here. Not Riask. They're not sure how to confirm that Julian got the right concept.


Placing new stones is hard! But makes money! Not by accident.


Or big bugs. Or other fliers. Not from here. From ... other places. far far way.


Only if you're good. It takes practice and training. And you need some sort vasic that isn't a vasic stone. Like the cliff. The cliff is made of vasic, but not nice and polished.


And Hawkin. And other flyers. Birds. Birds with four legs.


Yes. Not usually used for money. Usually used for protection. Or to guide travelers.


The man stands on the vasic stone and pushes away people who try to come near it. They land at a nearby stone, not the one they try to land at.


I think you wanted to ask a different question here.

Let me know what Julian does.


Indeed...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I briefly recall the rainy seasons on Rattan. "Sound gloomy with all that rain though."
Well, don't think I want to steal anything now.
"Prison?" I answer, probably in English. I struggle to explain, "Be locked away, sometimes reeducate, mostly just lock away though."
"Like... Get on a boat and sail for many shifts far away? Further?"

Maybe I should get a better grasp on the geography before I ask how far away the far far away are. I'll try to explain a geographic hierarchy with that map I drew earlier. Point out/circle locations, draw a little tree: London -> Britain -> Europe -> Earth. Then start another tree: Bumundo -> ? And ask for help filling in the next steps up.

"So if it's rougher and less pure, the Vasic is more versatile?"
"Ah, so the Hawkin come from here. Do you know if they were happy about the stone?"
"What is?"
"You can push people away before they land on the stone?"
Well this is what I get for using a template
I ask to see the numbers written out. I wonder if they're like Roman or Arabic numerals.
OK, once I get this far far away thing sorted, I'll head out to go get some pants.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Sad weather? yes, a little sad. happier weather up here.


They wonder if they make the people locked away work.

No, boats won't work. walking won't work. flying won't work. Only Vasic.

Bumundo -> The Top-> Riask -> Kiraskan.


No No No! The rough less pure Vasic is less versatile! the big stone does the work! it helps the rough Vasic! But the big stone can't help out if there is nothing to help.


They don't know. They like to go to market.


The technique for pushing around and directing objects sent through stones.


Yes. Not hand pushing. Vasic pushing. change which stone they come to.


They act and sort of look like arabic numerals, but have more curls.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Yes, and no. It's complicated. Not as punishment, but still required. They get paid, badly. Some people think it's wrong. Others don't care. Other places are simpler."
"So what's the obstacle? Distance? Unclear location?"

"I suppose the far far away places were discovered like The Top was; send a big Vasic stone and get it caught by the Vasic over there."

I think for a moment, "If they have Vasic in the far far away places, why would they think the Vasic makes the light or the heat?"

"So could a small Vasic help the big stone?"

"How does the chalk fit into this? Does it have to be that kind of chalk, or could something else that writes on Vasic work?"
Do they mean "They like to go to market" as in "They don't know because they don't go where the Hawkin do." or as in "The Hawkin like to go to the market."?

Hm. I see. "What do they do with the people they push away? Is it just to keep the big stone clear? How aware are they of who's coming through?"

Well that's an odd coincidence.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Sounds tricky. That's different. The boys seem to think that they should work.

Unclear location, it seems.


Yes.


They don't have real vasic. They have bad vasic. pretend vasic. unusable vasic.

Some of the boys think it could, some think it couldn't.


Chalk is convenient. You can see it. You can write with anything. But easier to make a mistake. Some expensive stones have guide-marks.


The Hawkin like to go to the market

They feel them. Vasic guides work hard. Study. feel people moving. Feel stones they can reach. Kind of mysterious. Keep stones clear. Keep bad guys and bad fighters out.


They have a similar feel to them... the actual shapes are different though. its more that they have a combination of lines and curves, rather than the two looking like '2'.