Heppin' Out Herman(Spoken as a dialogue, mostly, between a blue-haired insectafae named Bouquet, and a turtle-like yet man-sized being named Herman, who was a part of The Hidden Order. - A.)"Drow again... Herman, what do you think of Drow? Having known Wormwood, and probably Sabre better than I ever will." "They are creatures of the Dark, but creatures of this Realm. Like all Creatures, they have choices. Most of them choose to be as dark as their skin. But not all. Many believe in Law. Too many worship the Chaos. They choose to destroy rather than create. But a person is more than their race and what their race does. In the end, they make their own choices." "I feel awe and respect for Wormwood's bravery, but when I hear the tales of Sabre... I am sorry. I should keep my mind on The Box for now, and what other secrets it may hold. Do you think a Living thing could be transported in there?" "If small enough, yes. "How long could they live in there?" "As long as they can survive without food or water. If they have such inside, then as long as they would live. A Box like that is well made to carry Living Steel." "So an animal... or a person, maybe?" She holds up the little box to her face. "A small person. A Brownie or pixie, perhaps." "Living Steel. I hope BrightHammer is successful on his quest. I have heard nothing from Phoenix in a month and two weeks." He closes his eyes a moment. "She is so very close to danger, but that is the quest she is on. For now, she is safe." Bouquet mutters a brief, hopeful prayer for Phoenix's sake. "Well, Fae do change shape... I wonder if something could be concocted to change the size of a person at all?" "To shrink a creature? of course, such potions are possible. One was used on Oberon himself, after a fashion." Herman closes his eyes a moment. "Brighthammer is in far more danger." Bouquet steels herself for the news of BH. "What of him? Has his hasty alliance with the Drow failed?" "He does not realize that what they search for is not what he searches for.... but the path is very close. And for that, the Drow are ravenous. and may not stop at some hasty words. ...Fuld will take care of him, but they are not the danger." "BrightHammer searches to help the Realms, I believe. Sabre wants Yannith to have the spot of Lloth, but that is my opinion." She arches an eyebrow and says quietly, "Fuld... that is the dwarf, right? Gryf mentioned a name to me." "The Hold fell for a reason. They will discover the reason in due time. Yes, Fuld is the Dwarf." "He was in my Dream... I want to tell you about the last Dream I had, but first, back to experiments, Master. I would like to experiment with such a thing. Size and shape-changers, I mean. Or see if this box could hold a tiny, live person, and if not, then perhaps be able to hold a soul. I am willing to practice on myself." "Yes, it can hold a soul, if the soul if it is somehow material manifest. You must decide what you wish to do... continue to make your Soul carrier or shrink people. However... shape-changing.... there is another you would have to see. He is a master of illusion, but changing shape is part of an illusion sometimes..." Bouquet gives an impish smirk. "Both, really. For if the Box could hold a small person physically, then... Speaking of which, in my absence, what has been done, if anything, to the Soul Vassals? For why not have the body be held in a Box, and their Soul in a Vassal?" "They are where you left them...." he says, although she got the impression he wasn't telling her something. Bouquet places the box down on the table next to her. "Master Herman??... where is Blue and MORPH? I have not seen them around, really. Is something wrong, sir?" "Blue and Morph are where you left them. Nothing is wrong. Herman just likes to leave gifts sometimes.... to help the students..." he blushes slightly. Bouquet blinks, not quite sure if what to make of her Master. "Shall I fetch you water, sir??" "No, no, I am fine. To your Vassals, if you wish. Shrinking... a Tome over the semi-precious gems.... that shelf..." Bouquet is not quite sure what to make of Master Herman, but fetches the Tome. She also asks if he would walk with her to check on the Soul Vassals. The tome, a LARGE blue book made of an odd fuzzy material, reads, in big Gold Letters "Transmogrification; the mathematical theories and hypothesis on size and shape." Herman accompanies her to the Kiln. They are on the cooling table, where she left them; sad imperfect blobs of clear-ish glass. "Oh Seelie..." grumbles Bouquet, really unhappy. "Perhaps I SHOULD just choose shape-changing." She reads on. "Chapter One: Basic theory. In order to understand how you can do something as simple as turning a little gold into a lot of gold, one must understand the basic principles behind such a transformation..." Bouquet skims this because she is not interested in wealth. She reads, looking for the how-to on a person/living thing. "As you read, you will learn that the more complex the change, whether it be size, shape or type of matter, it is important that the ratio of the potion is directly proportional to the size, weight and mass of the object in question." *thinks* Does that mean a bucket full of potion for a cat and so on, or...? "Chapter 23: Humans: how to shirnk your adversary down to size. A human, like any other creature, requires several things to stay within the Laws of Proportions, as discussed earlier. As always, make absolutely sure you have some item of theirs, such as hair or fingernails, or even skin or blood BEFORE you start the process. Remember, for the Duration of the potion, must have at least one thousandth of their overall mass in personal items of fluids for the effect to be at least a day in length. Any less, the results can be varied, depending on the material." ~Fluids... like water and food... I think.~ Herman speaks up. "Blood, tears, or urine." Bouquet almost drops the book. "Tears?! Why would I need tears or blood or-the other? Surely they cannot live off that?!" Herman explains. "If you are going to change or shrink someone, you need a certain amount of these things or the potion will not last long." "To put into the potion? Or to keep them that size?" "To put into the potion. The only other way has to do with Geometric transduction. That's chapter thirty, for advanced students of the art." Bouquet's mind balks at the two big words Master Herman has said, and just nods. "Alright then, I need to place tears in part of the potion. My adversary would drink his own tears or..." *clears throat* "Start adding swamp water to your cauldron; we suggest more of a Bog than Swamp, but it is the silt in the water that will make it potent, since the water itself will boil away. For an average sized person, you will need about two Bailfuls. Prepare your Base solvents beforehand: 6 hands of ground toadstool 3 hands of bat guano 7 hands of lotus flower 1/2 hands of tiger's eye, ground fine." "Bailfuls?" Bouquet blinks. She asks Herman what a Bailful is. "A Bailful is about one and a half buckets," Herman answers, pointing to the buckets over by the water source. It never occurred to her before they were all exactly the same size and shape. "I have to get someone to drink three buckets full of this stuff? That is near impossible, unless you were to shrink the buckets to begin with!" groans Bouquet. "The Potion gets boiled away. It takes over a month to prepare." "OH?" she perks up. "So what would I be left with once its boiled away?" Herman smiles. "Stinky soup." "... that is it?" "And about 3 applications of a Shrinking potion." "How much is an application?" He hands her a small vial. "This much. It would hold about a tablespoon of liquid. And, when it's done, the potion will be a dark sickly green." "... yum-maaay." Bouquet glances at it, gives it a swirl, and says, "How can it be administered? Through Water? Or would it be diluted?" "Potions like this are usually made for the person. They would drink it whole. The book explains what to add if you wish to add it to ale or whatever, if it is for an enemy. In this state, it is for a single person that had asked for it. In other words, you make a brew for your questing party, yes?" "Yes! But I would want to test it first. See how far down one goes, and if the body is just affected, or the clothes, or whatever. I really want to see if this works." "That depends on what you put in it. There are many more ingredients you have not read, much more to the process." "And this one?" She holds it up again. "Is this one all set?" "Will shrink any member of the Hidden Order for about a week to about five inches tall." "What about a hero of the Realms?" "It was not made for any hero in the Realms. If made the same way, it would last the same time and shrink them the same size, items and all." "Wow, including clothes... would this work on me, or Gryf?" She indicates the one in her hands. "No. You were not around when I made this." "So downing it does nothing." Herman smiles. "Except make you sick? Yes; nothing." Bouquet smiles back. "Then I should like to make my own, as quickly as possible. You keep many an experiment running at all times, even before I was born..." she hands the potion back to Herman. "I will admit, Master, if I thought that had effect on anyone of my friends or adversaries now, I would ask for this one." She catches the glass blobs from the corner of her eyes and sighs, dog-earing the page where she was reading before closing the Tome. "What happened to them? Is this the Gift?" He places the vial back on a rack, where there are twenty of them. "No. The Gift is the blowing rod. Try it, try it." "Blowing Rod??" Bouquet looks at the blobs on the table for what Herman describes. "When blowing glass, the Blowing rod is heated at one end, then the glass is rolled on to the Rod, and heated again. Once at the proper temperature, the glass bubble is removed, then you blow into the long iron rod to make the sphere, all the while slowly rolling it so the glass does not sag to one side. Then, as it cools, you swing the rod to elongate or continue to roll to keep it round. Once you get that down, the trick is how to twirl the rod and cut it so that the sphere closes, which is a combination of rolling, melting, add more glass, et cetera." As he speaks she locates the Blowing rod, and it is not the one she had been using. This one was shiny and had some blue runes written on it. Herman goes back to his experiments. "Hmm...Thank you, sir!... Free of Lein?" Herman looks at the insectafae. "HMMM? No longer wish to be my apprentice? Or you mean the Gift? That no price is upon it? Consider the Lein to be your mastery of your Vessel." "My own Vessel... have I been saying the word wrong? I thought it was Vassal?" "Vassal is a servant. Vessel is a container." "Oh. My term definition was incorrect." Bouquet very carefully begins work again on a Vessel. She finds work oddly easier; her hands seem to be guided, her instinct sharp on what she needs to do. She works steadily and does not stop. The next Sphere is a vast improvement, but not perfect... so she immediately tries again. In a few days, she was able to complete a perfect Sphere of Glass, without any imperfections. |
Created by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee at 04-18-14 11:40 PM
Last Modified by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee at 04-18-14 11:40 PM