02 → you who have come from my old country

[crimson_seeker]

It's been two of the local weeks, and I'm still not certain we aren't stuck in the realm of a particularly capricious god. Vanishing and switched possessions, strange outfits we can't be rid of? It's not the province of a mortal mind

Comments

[desig_survivor]

[Having skimmed the rest of the comments]

"Dragon" is an incredibly vague term, for me. But... there are all sorts. Savage animals fit the word, but so do semisentient ones, and outright people, ships, armor. And the Duinuogwuin.

[The geas seems to have a little trouble with that word, and after a moment "Star Dragons" appears just after it, in Rogue's handwriting.]

As far as I know, we've only got the beasts here.

[crimson_seeker]

Ships? [The word he writes back is definitely "a sailing ship", I imagine.] Armour? You sure you didn't sit too long in sun?

Sorry. It sounds damn outlandish, but it seems to be true for you.

[desig_survivor]

Not outlandish. Someone makes a type of armor or a starship, and they call it Dragon-class.

...he's from Iron Age China, or the next best thing. You speak madness, Rogue. XD

[crimson_seeker]

Armour has certain set designs, sure, although to compare it to a dragon seems presumptuous. But ships that sail to the stars? I'd ask if you think I'm either stupid or gullible.

[desig_survivor]

Neither. [The idea of someone not knowing about starships doesn't shock and appall him the way it did when he was first in ES, but he's still fighting down the instant first reaction of oh-Force-how-primitive.]

I've flown to the stars and fought among them; maybe I don't remember all of it, but I remember enough. Stars are distant suns, with worlds of their own, and it takes starships to get from one to the others.

[crimson_seeker]

I'll have to take your word on that.

Worlds? You mean celestial bodies? I believe I've read something to that effect, but I can't remember.

Vessels that move between worlds. I don't know what to make of that.

[desig_survivor]

I guess they could be called that. Planets. Places where people live... [How do you explain planets, Rogue wonders...]

Think of wherever you come from as a large island. Self-contained. It has its own plants and animals, people and cultures. Say that's your world. You can't go very far out into the water; say that's space.

There are other islands in that same sea, some of them fairly close, which might be very different, or might be strikingly similar. Other worlds, with other things on them.

The space between each island isn't somewhere that people can live, and that's where the metaphor breaks down a little, because space isn't like water. In space there's no wind, nothing to row against, nothing to breathe, and distances are all very great. It's very difficult to invent a ship that carries people alive to other islands. But once one arrives from somewhere else, these other islanders - these aliens - often let you make your own based on their design.

[crimson_seeker]

[There's a long pause as he digests all of this.]

Planets. I know this word. They're not the same as stars, which you say are also suns.

The rest, I'm not sure about. You might as well be describing the abodes of the gods, and those aren't good places for a mortal man to walk, but...

Damn this place. It makes me think far more than I'd like. What's your name, stranger, so I'll know who to blame when I lose sleep over this? I'm Hawk, and your stories certainly are peerless.

[desig_survivor]

No, they're not stars, though they can look like them from far enough away. It's... complicated. The galaxy is big and strange and I'm probably not the best to explain it.

Hello, Hawk. I'm Rogue Le. [Damn it.]

[crimson_seeker]

And I'm not a scholar, to debate such matters with you. You say there's a void between these places. I've heard... something about a wind that blows between worlds, but you say there's no such thing.

Then again, your dragons are vessels. Didn't think I'd get such different answers when I asked, but it's just as well.

Rogue, hm? It's a bold name. Seems to suit you.

[desig_survivor]

You can't breathe in it, but there are currents. In places. Vacuum isn't always pure.

Hah! Thanks, I think.

[crimson_seeker]

Currents of something that's neither air nor water?

Can't imagine a man would venture in such places without some measure of both courage and foolhardiness. So you may thank me if that seems right.