Professor Zobot wrote:
2. Write a story about a character from MSW stumbling into the Exalted Universe somehow, and what ensues.
And here it finally is, formatted for the board! I call it, "
Fashion,
or Jane Narbon in Yu-Shan".
JN
===================
Day 1 [written retroactively]
It all started when I did the wrong thing in my lab.
After the portaling experiment I was working on malfunctioned, I was sucked into my prototype and ended up flailing in somewhere zero-G that didn't kill me instantly for a while. Then, a flash of light and I ended up in a ginormous cavernous room with lots and lots of spiderwebs around the place. It kinda reminded me of the second time I went Mad... still, I'll describe what I actually felt when I landed.
I got up, and brushed the dust off of my clothes; and I took the time to look around. I was in an incredibly large dome that had many intercrossing protuberances and catwalk endings; the architecture was like something out of M.C. Escher. People were standing on ALL SIDES of the protruberances, most looking at the middle of the dome, where...
I
looked up, and saw how I had made my entrance. The middle of the dome was a gigantic not-tangle of billions— no, scratch that,
quintillions of silken threads, moving back and forth and intersection with each other under the careful shepherding of an uncountable number of metallic spiders as big as my torso. (The Mad part of me, stimulated by the dome, started trying to figure out ways to count them before I dismissed it.)
My entrance had missed the main concentration of fibers, and it didn't look like I had done much damage. Still, a dozen metal spiders were glaring at me.
Then, from behind, I heard the sounds of running feet. I turned around.
Half a dozen people, wearing robes of different colors in asian stylings, ran through an archway onto the very catwalk I was standing on. Several were holding extremely large swords. The rest had glows around them of a sort I recognized vaguely from the time I tried to experiment with alternate power sources for energy guns.
I looked around again. The 'spiders', irate, were still behind me. These people, irate, were in front.
I slowly raised my hands, in the universal gesture of "you got me". This would take some sorting out...
Day(?) 2Wandering around. A whole lot of explaining has happened.
First things first. The portal apparently blew me to a dimension where— well, they call the area of the whole place "Creation". Where I fell into was an area known as the "Loom of Fate"; apparently, it's a big mapping device that plots everything going
on in Creation. We, comparatively, are in "Yu-Shan", aka Heaven (no, I'm not being facetious; they call it Heaven as in the Chinese celestial concept.)
The thing is with the loom, it's also as-above-so-below, in that changing the Loom can affect Reality as is. It is, understandably, something of a secure installation. And I just dropped in.
The only reason I was able to get out of that, and not end up in a dreary dungeon of some sort, was that a goodly number of people, and just about every "spider" in the place, had witnessed my appearance and fall from the roof. I was kept where I was, on the end of the catwalk (I was content to stay there), with a stern admonition not to touch anything, while more people bustled around and examined the area. I was also interrogated on the spot.
After several hours of standing in place, they had done enough looking-around to guess that I wasn't out to do them harm, and least by showing up. I was searched, and a number of sharp objects had been removed from my person, as well as a few devices that I could have used offensively.
Once my unexplained appearance was resolved, there was the matter of my not showing up on the Loom. Normally, the only things that are supposed to do that are very eldritch and spooooky things, and there was quite an argument about what I was (by now, I was sitting down on the catwalk, because standing had become something of a pain.)
With the weapons I was carrying, everyone was generally suspicious; however, after determining that I had a general lack of an "Exaltation", and that I was human... well, the argument grew more frantic. Apparently, they'd figured out that I'd just dropped in here and didn't belong. This went on for some time, until finally the argument was settled by the appearance of an ENORMOUS (~10ft!!) metal spider, made of glittering... honestly, I don't know what she was made of, but it was beautiful.
The appearance of the giant spider shut everyone up. With careful assessment, she (something about her made me sure she was a 'she') looked at me for a few silent minutes, scanning me with multifaceted mechanical eyes. Then, she swung to the nearest wall, beginning to spin a short thread that she trailed along behind her, carefully navigating through the tangle to move the thread where she wanted it.
After a few minutes of directing the thread, she neatly clipped it at the end as she attached it to a far wall, then returned to where I was sitting, with a sort of shrug that seemed to say, "That's
that done with."
At this point, my interlocutors looked at me. Then at the Loom. Then at the spider. Then at the strand that had been strung within the Loom. Then back to me again.
Finally, they booted me out of the building, saying, "Just don't come back in here ever again, will you?"
And so I was introduced to Yu-Shan.
~
The first things that will strike anyone who's fortunate enough to wind up in Yu-Shan is that the city is huge. I saw a map etched on the side of a building. If the scale was accurate, the city was measured in hundreds to thousands of miles; or, to put it another way, the entire place is one giant city.
To add to that, I've lost track of time. There's certainly
something that determines whether it is daytime, with the sun out, twilight, with the moon, or night, with one or another color of stars glowing above. I do not know what it is, though.
Anyway, there I was. For all intents and purposes, I was {A} a know-nothing tourist, and {B} flat broke. Until I found out what sort of currency they used here, I was pretty much dead in the water.
As I was wandering through the crowds, half-considering pickpocketing somebody, a golden blur came through the groups of people at a high speed, ricocheted into me, and knocked me over. As I tried to get up, the golden figure jumped on me— it was about 3 feet long, and began... licking my face??
I pushed myself up a bit and looked at what had felled me. The creature now standing on top of me, making little sounds of excitement, was a lion cub, made out of some resiliant-looking golden metal. I carefully tried to push the 'little' fellow aside (he was heavier than he looked), and get up. However, by the time I had made it to my feet again, the cub's parents had turned up; two very large golden lions, made of the same metal, were standing protectively next to it. I didn't see a lioness anywhere.
The first lion sniffed me, carefully. It turned to the other, saying, "I can't smell Essence. At all. Not even a trace of god-smell, either."
"So?" said the other lion.
"We've got a real live mortal on our hands," said the first lion. "Mortal," it said to me, "where in Creation do you come from?"
Like I said, a know-nothing tourist.
I could only respond, "Creation? What's that?"
The two lions looked at each other, slowly. I knew that look. I was starting to formulate a reasonable guess that these lions were this place's police force, or some such.
"Mortal," the first lion said, slowly, "how did you get to the Heavenly City of Yu-Shan?"
"Well," I explained, gesturing back at the giant building housing the Loom, "first I appeared in thin air in the dome in there, and was surrounded by grouchy metal spiders and grouchy staff members. Then, there was the whole business about my not showing up on the Loom, but that was resolved when a gigantic metal spider," I gestured to indicate size, "showed up and spun a thread that I
think was for me. And then they booted me out of there and told me to go away. And... that's up to where I am now."
Both lions looked at each other, while the lion cub frisked around me. Finally, the first one, very slowly, facepawed, muttering "I can't believe we still get all the crazies...."
The second lion took over while the first one was still mumbling. "This enormous spider," it said. "Describe it to me."
"Well, she was almost ten feet around," I said, gesturing, "and was inlaid with these different metals. There's the same gold as you, and this strange sort of silver, and...."
Once I had finished giving a full description of the giant spider I had met, the second lion turned to the first (who was still facepawing).
"I don't mean to upset your groaning session," it said, "but there's a
chance— a miniscule chance, mind you, but a chance— that she might be telling the truth."
The first lion let out a growl/groan, and continued facepawing. The second lion explained, "I'm just going to nip along to the Most Perfect and see if anyone's seen a mortal woman mysteriously fall from the sky, all right?"
No response.
"All right then."
The second lion left, leaving me with the first one (and the cub, who was rubbing around my legs in a very catlike manner).
After about 5 minutes, the second lion came back, looking slightly awestruck.
"You're not going to believe this," it said.
The first lion had stopped facepawing, and was looking curiously at me when the second lion returned. Now it turned to the second lion, caught sight of its expression, and immediately started shaking its head, its metal mane going in all directions.
"No. No, I do not want to know."
The second lion chuckled, with a catlike grin. "They do indeed report a mortal woman falling from the sky. And, the description matches quite precisely.
Oh, and they mentioned that they kicked her out without any explanation, so 'would you kindly help her get her bearings?'"
The first lion shut its eyes, though it didn't facepaw again.
"Why do we always get the crazies....?" it muttered to itself.
~
The two lions took me off to a quiet alleyway, and explained
quite a lot. The area I was in was Yu-Shan, a Heaven above Creation, but I think I mentioned that bit already.
Yu-Shan is home to an extremely large portion of the gods, and there's gods for just about
everything around here. However, the really important ones are known as the 'Incarnae': There's The Unconquered Sun, Luna, and the 5 Maidens: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. I kept my wisecrack about Sailor Moon to myself.
Anyway, the reason that is important is the following: The gods play games. Not with the lives of men, they just play games. The "Games of Divinity". Whoever's winning is reflected in the sky. Sunny, and the Unconquered Sun's ahead; twilight with moon, it's Luna. Stars are for one of the Maidens. The lions suggested that if I actually wanted the time of day, that I look at the golden boat that skims its way across the sky every day.
When I expressed curiousity about the Games, the lions warned me that as a mere mortal, viewing the games would drive me mad. Maaaad. I decided not to tell them I was already mad. They were looking at me kinda funny already.
With that out of the way, I found out the nature of the local currency. The Heavenly economy runs on prayer! I'm not joking! Generalized prayers form into "Quintessence", and prayers directed at a specific god turn into "Ambrosia". Gods can then make Quintessence or Ambrosia into just about anything they want. Depending on their position in the hierarchy, gods and Exalted (a term I was then unfamiliar with) might well get a salary of one or the other, or both. Ambrosia is also turned into gold-foil-covered coins.
When the lions found out I didn't know what an Exalted was,
both facepawed (the cub imitated them). They then told me a lot of history, about the Gods revolting and rising up against the Primordials, who came before them. Kinda reminds me of the whole business with the Greek gods and the Titans... anyway, an Exaltation is sort of a shard of demigodhood that picks strong, determined mortals down in Creation and... well... makes them heroic. Strong, and resilient, and powerful, and able to do magic-y stuff, and... heroic. There's no other real words to describe it, though Andrew would have mentioned something about being promoted to a protagonistic role.
There's several kinds of Exalted, and the ones who work in the Celestial bureaucracy are called Sidereals (this includes several of the entities who cornered me on the catwalk.)
Like the map I had seen said, Yu-Shan is huge, and walking is about the worst way to get around. Apparently, there's aerial vehicles for hire, and dragonboats in the city's silver canals are
the way to travel. Unfortunately, as a mere mortal who can't afford all this stuff, I have to make do with praying for and riding clouds, which is still pretty incredible. The lions did explain that I should try not to disrupt or get too close to the vehicles of other gods; apparently, many have tempers.
Once I had called down a cloud for myself by dint of concentrating hard and wringing my hands, the lions explained that I had several options.
"Okay, I do not know how you got here, but as a mortal, you're going to have a hard time making it, and that goes double if you start out flat broke. You have a choice.
1. We give you directions to the Gates to Creation, and you pick one and walk through it. You start a new life, or whatever, and what you do after that is up to you.
2. We show you to a Quintessence fountain and allow you to take some,
once. Then, you're on your own."
I thought for a moment. Yu-Shan... Creation... something told me that getting back to Xyon was an unlikely occurrence for now in both places. Still, up here, among the Gods, would be more interesting... more
fun."I'll stay up here," I said.
And so began my adventure. My first goals were to get the usual; food, shelter, so forth. But there was something else that was nagging at me.
All the clothes I had seen were classical Asian styling: robes and so forth. There was something missing. Something big.
I wasn't sure if I could do this. I wasn't even sure if I could survive here, or if I'd end up walking out one of the great Gates the lions had told me about.
But, if it was at all possible, a certain 'mere mortal' was going to introduce Xyon fashions to Yu-Shan.
Look out, Heaven...
Day 5Have been wandering the streets of Yu-Shan for some time. Discovered a few important facts which everybody failed to mention.
First off, the amount of Quintessence I was given is not much. Enough for a few days' worth of food, mainly. I've been sleeping on roofs in shadowy corners and hoping no one notices.
No one has, so far.
The second thing is, finding anything better— a job, a place to bunk down— is all sewed up. I don't usually use the term
hidebound bureaucracy lightly, but Yu-Shan really
is! I'm going to have to do some investigation to get anywhere, but this looks like a slow process.
The good news is, I should be able to find a way in somehow.
Third, most of the Mad stuff in my purse, the stuff that I brought with me, has mysteriously failed to work. I have no idea why— it just doesn't work. It looks like a few of the chemicals are still good, but I don't have great quantities of them— so, I'll have to save them for special occasions, at least until I can figure out what went wrong.
And finally... eavesdropping by cloud is a
really bad idea.
I willed the platform into a dive, thankful that the clouds in Yu-Shan didn't let their passengers fall off them. The watchers who were chasing me (what were they? birds?) were good, but flying in chaos corkscrew dives will shake anyone off enough if you keep at it long enough.
I hadn't kept at it long enough.
Time for one final trick. As I zoomed close to some pagoda-esque building, I leaped off, holding on to the guttering, as I mentally made the cloud twirl off in a crazy spiral, then right itself and disintegrate as though I had become unable to control it (I dismissed it). The 'birds', zooming past, didn't notice me hanging on under the roof edge, and eventually turned back.
I hung there for a number of minutes, then prayed up another cloud and made an exit.
I have found out a few useful things in the past few days, eavesdropping getaways notwithstanding. Turns out not everyone here is a god or an Exalted.
Gods are a lot more corporeal in this dimension. They can walk among their mortal supplicants, etc., etc. The thing is, they can also father (or mother) children with mortals! Normally, this results in a kinda-mortal child with attributes of both the human parent and the god (so a fire god's kid might have a ruddy pallor and orange hair, or perhaps something of a temper), but it's not necessarily obvious. The Lions can apparently smell it on you, but not everyone— and there's a
lot of gods in heaven. And I doubt it would be too much trouble for me to pretend to be one.
I think I've found my personal way into the system. Now, I just have to pick a god to use as a starting point, and navigate the favor webs of this place appropriately. Which is why I've been eavesdropping. And I
think I have a good idea of what to look for.
I need to pick a god low enough in the hierarchy to be describable as 'disgruntled', but high enough so as not to be completely below notice. Then, I need only spin a bit of adventure for him or her. Enough for him/her to agree to provide an introduction for me to a job. After that, the rest's easy.
In a way, it's kinda like the classic-type 'surround' con games I've done back in Xyon. Control the information flow, and....
This is going to be fun.
Day 7Finally found a god worthy of my talents. Uffaugh, otherwise known as the God of Being Put Upon. I think the best description for him would be "the busiest god you've never heard of". He gets enormous amounts of prayers (and thus Ambrosia— you wouldn't believe), but he has SO MUCH WORK that he's busy 24/24/366. (Gods don't need to sleep.) "Disgruntled" doesn't even begin to cover it.
Better yet, one of his godly tells is pretty easily replicable. The number of arms and the reminders scribbled on every square inch of skin— no, but I can match the exact shade of his green hair with a few pinches of my remaining chemicals. After that, the rest is just posture and attitude.
I hope this works.
Day 9Finally got in. It took me a while to get past the small hedge-maze of paper that serves as his in-tray. A few runners come down here to deliver extra work, but most of it just appears to... appear. The good news is, as a visitor, I'll be noticed. I've got my story all worked out, and a cloth to hide my hair (for now).
Let's do this!
~
When I got in to see the guy, he was less than happy to see me. His greeting was as follows:
"Yes?"
"I bear a message for you," I said, trying to look serene.
"Oh, no, not another one,"
he said. "Just leave it on the table. Or the floor. Or a stack. Or something. Anywhere's fine."
So far, so good. Time for
intrigue!"It's not a paper message," I said, smiling slightly. "I am supposed to deliver it to Your Worship in
person."
He said nothing, only waited for me to get on with it. He was slightly hard to read.
"The message is:
There is a small group of a few gods who believe it would be a blessing if the great, Heavenly city of Yu-Shan who share a faith in the way things used to be; namely, how, in the distant past, Heaven's bureaus worked much more smoothly, and things ran with perfection in symmetry and order. As things stand now, there are imbalances, and many entities (such as your eminent self) are overloaded support pillars in the great, vaulted temple building that is the city of Yu-Shan, while other entities who have many responsibilities have rapidly redistributed these, and bear no weight in and of themselves, even though they are intricately carved and painted. Er, the columns, that is, to extend a metaphor. As such, the group who sends this message believes its aims and intentions run in parallel, or at the very least, in similar directions, not unlike how the silver and gold canals of the Heavenly City feed into one another; they would like to extend an auspicious invitation in the direction of your esteemed person in the hopes that you will see eye to eye, or at least face to eye, with their selves of varied stature, such that all could help all achieve a common dream, vision, and goal."
Uffaugh looked at me suspiciously. "With all due respect, miss, please go back to your group of gods and tell them I'm busy. And their sales pitch needs work."
"They said you'd say that. In that case, I am to tell you the following message:
As a proof of our good faith, we offer to you as an administrative assistant, the bringer of this message; she is prepared to help in any way necessary. We have prepared an identity for her (namely, she will pose as your God-blooded daughter) to smooth the way for her to assist you."
I took off my scarf, revealing the hair I had dyed the same shade of green, and looked at him, still acting as though I was quoting the message.
"...what say you?"
"....I think you're a liar. But if you're willing to work for me, then I don't give half a damn. And tell Chejop or the Veils or whoever to stop letting their agents go to tacky drama plays. Fill out these forms in triplicate, and we'll see what we can do."
Day 10Have installed myself in a back room of Uffaugh's office (though 'room' is only defined by the wall of papers surrounding it). I now have somewhere to sleep, and get to use a small amount of Uffaugh's Ambrosia after I pointed out that the gods can go without eating, but lesser entities are another matter. (Technically, any god can work the stuff, but not everybody's good at it. Or has the free time.)
With the Ambrosia, I've been buying food, and got myself a few alternate outfits as a one-off. The rest, however, is going into parts and materials.
I'm going to figure out why my Mad technology hasn't been working here, or die trying. Well, at least grow stale trying.
The work is mostly bureaucracy: forms
in multiplus, prayers, documents about prayers, documents about documents about prayers— and its greatest challenge is the amount of it. Still, it's slightly comforting. It reminds me of M, a little. And Uffaugh reminds me of Xerox.
(Oddly enough, Xerox has his own extremely large prayer file here. I have no idea why.)
The work does have other benefits, too— reflected in the paperwork are little bits of information, scattered from all over. Nothing clear, mostly. But en masse, I might be able to pick up a few things about the politics of Heaven.
This actually could work out rather well.
Day 16The project to get Mad technology working here has, so far, been unsuccessful. It's not like my Madness has been crippled— it still works. The only problem is, everything I make with it doesn't. I've examined the failures, and one of two things seems to be recurring. Either the whatever-it-is isn't able to draw from the power source I've set out for it, or, some part during the running of the machine (or chemical mix) doesn't work
quite as it's supposed to, as if it needs one extra thing to bring it all together.
From references to the "five magical materials", I've learned that there's several materials which are unusually durable, useful... basically, magical. All sorts of artifacts are made out of these, or have a tiny bit of the stuff in them as a core. And they're not the only things.
Of the five, orichalcum basically looks like gold and acts like titanium. It is also the primary substance of the Celestial lions I met earlier. I have no idea where
it comes from.
Moonsilver looks like silver. It's a bit more malleable and multipurpose, apparently. I think it's refined from moonlight, but I could be wrong.
Starmetal is basically supersteel. It's derived from meteoric iron from stars that fall in Creation, down there. It's pretty rare. I have yet to see any.
Jade is... well, it's not the jade I'm familiar with. Comes in different types, which seem to be color-coded to the old 'classical elements' dichotomy (fire = red, water = black, wind = blue, so on). Apparently, talented gods can turn Ambrosia into this on about a 1:1 ratio. As such, there is a
lot of it here. Unfortunately, mortals and such still (it appears) have to pay through the nose.
Finally, there's soulsteel. No one seems to want to mention it much, and when they do, it's usually in connection with the same kind of nasties who don't show up on the Loom in the first place.
I have access to just about none of these, except probably jade. For now, I think the mundane stuff will have to do (though I suspect I might get better results if I could use magical materials...)
The other question is of a power source. Electricity— the old reliable— behaves rather unpredictably here, and most other workarounds have failed. I did find out one intriguing bit of information, however. Apparently gods and Exalted can do "Charms" that they've learned, which sound suspiciously like magic spells to me. I haven't looked into what powers them, but maybe if I could find out what it is, I could get ideas of what could drive my own creations.
Have to get back to filing. There's always filing here.
Day 27I'VE CRACKED IT!
The answer is: Essence. Essence is the perfect source of energy, of power, for my creations.
The only tricky part is getting access to some.
Let me start this again.
By a random chance, I discovered an old tome dealing with Essence and whatnot while delivering a message for Uffaugh. Essence is... every God and Exalted has it. Exactly what it
is, I don't know. But it serves as a source of power on par with nuclear reactions, or with the inner fires of the sun. It's almost an unlimited source of energy— and users get it back after they've spent it. It's even used to power most artifacts (there's a process called 'commitment' where artifacts are 'plugged in' to an amount of the user's Essence, the portion of which is then unusable). The only downside is that Essence is
so powerful that most everything that's not a magical material won't be able to stand the strain over time, and tends to disintegrate.
The primary problem I have is getting Essence. I am not an Essence user, and convincing other gods to give over motes of Essence may be tricky.
Still, now I know what I need. The only tough part is getting them. I guess I'll need to save up my stipend for the materials, and for the Essence... I'll figure something out.
I'm baaaaaaaack.
Day 34I've figured out how to store Essence. If my calculations are right, a small, solid jade block with an orichalcum core should be able to hold Essence cleanly, and release it in a semi-long-term manner, though I've yet to have anything to slot it into. I've been saving Ambrosia for days (weeks, actually), and I think I have enough to get this made. I'll have it made up soon.
Filing never ends here. I've gotten kinda used to it, though... and there's sometimes tantalizing hints that make up for it. Apparently, the Sidereals Exalted are divided into mostly two factions, though officially they're the model of peace and harmony (hah!) The factions are divided in their opinion of what to do with the Solar Exalted— but I can't find any information on them, or the nature of the difference of opinion! [sigh] The squabble reminds me of some of the more fractious Mads, back in Xyon.
...
I miss Xyon. Someday, once I've fulfilled my destiny as a boutique owner, I'm going to see if I can craft up a portal back.
~
When I went out to buy food, I took a detour and got my design made. I was able to get the artisan to charge it with a few motes of Essence for an extra fee. If this works, the thing won't bleed out Essence while I save up for my next item, and the idea came to me just last night: a Glorious Machine of Fabrication. (See, I'm starting to adapt their naming conventions.) Sort of a big metal box, inlaid with magical materials for reinforcement. Quintessence or Ambrosia goes in one end, manufactured goods come out. At least, that would be the idea. I'm not sure how it would handle incorporating magical materials, but we can cross that bridge when we arrive at it.
I guess the next thing I need is time. I think that me and Uffaugh, working in concert, might actually be able to clear up his backlog. I'll put this journal down for a while, and get busy. It might take a looong time, work-wise, but... he deserves a break.
To work.
[the obverse page is blank]~~~~~~~~
Day 148Just rediscovered this journal - it seems I had let it get buried under a stack of papers. With my help, Uffaugh's been gradually able to deconstruct the labyrinth in the waiting-room of his office. He's even started looking happy, occasionally.
On my end, I've been hallucinating designs, when I've slept. I've almost got enough Ambrosia saved up to buy the requisite materials (or have them made) to construct the fabrication machine, and I've been getting ideas. The most recent was the most important.
I realized a while ago that I can't run a clothing store and work here at the same time. So, when I leave here, Uffaugh'll need another assistant. It took me a while to get an idea of what such a thing would look like; in the end, I
think my subconscious modeled half on a bird, and half on one of the metal spiders that tends the Loom. It should even be better at the job than I am.
Uffaugh's calling. Got to go.
Day 151The machine is complete!Finally. This is a
major step up. Now, I can make things, without having to pay half again as much Ambrosia to the gods in the Street of Makers (which are rather nice, but they charge steeply). I'll still have to save up for magical materials, and for Essence charges, but I'm in business! I already fed a tiny bit of Ambrosia into the thing, and it output the entirety of the non-magicalmaterial parts for the assistant design. I've got the design set up to use very little in the way of magical materials, so I should be able to have the finished assistant done in a couple of days.
Soon, the time will be right for me to strike out on my own. And, I've learned enough about Yu-Shan localized politics to have a good idea how to get what I need to set up my dream storefront. Hopefully, I can get a space canal-side!
I feel like I'm making progress. And it's a good feeling.
Day 157The past few days, I've been preparing. I picked out a nice empty building. It indeed is canal-side, in a relatively upscale neighborhood, and I know enough about the local government to figure out how to get it. It's simple, actually. I've already sent a request for a permit to the requisite god, at the same time as another god asks him for a favor (my permit), an event which I set up through a long chain of deals, set in motion by a small bribe to the Goddess of Knives and Cutlery and some name-dropping to the God of Supine Motion.
I got the components for the assistant made yesterday, and today I'm going to assemble the thing. I'll introduce it, and let Uffaugh get used to it, in lieu of me.
Finally, there's one last thing I have to do: save up Ambrosia, so I can decorate the new store. I'll need beautiful furnishings... but also, outfits for my new career: saleswoman.
~
Assembled Uffaugh's new assistant. With an Essence battery, it runs flawlessly, and the starmetal neural net (you don't want to know how much it cost, even for the tiny amouny of the stuff it uses) should help it learn things
very fast. I'll keep it inactive until I'm ready to leave.
Day 171Explaining was harder than it looked at first glance.
"Um, Uffaugh," I said, "I... well, I made you this. It's an assistant for you. It should do the same sorts of things I help you with now.
And... um... well... I made it because... I'm going to have to leave soon. I'm sorry, but...."
I held out the assistant, slotting the battery in place. It began to float above Uffaugh's desktop, ready for instructions.
"...I'm going to be leaving in a day or two, and... I didn't, I mean, I don't want to leave you bereft of..."
I gave in and hugged the god (who really wasn't expecting it). I'd miss him. He'd grown familiar, after a while. I think one pair of arms hugged me back.
Once I pulled back, Uffaugh was silent for a long moment. Then, he said with a smile, "If it explodes, I'm going to curse you."
I smiled at the remark. Was that humor?
"Don't worry. It just needs to have a dozen motes pumped into the Essence battery— that's that bit, there— every few months when it stops floating."
Uffaugh nodded, then got back to filing, as he started to instruct his new assistant what to do.
I went into the 'back room' and started to get my stuff together.
I slept in Uffaugh's office that 'night'; the next 'morning', I left, carrying my belongings and the pieces of the fabrication machine over to my new storefront / residence.
The next step: moving in.
~
I've got the room setup worked out. There's a large front room, which'll be the sales floor. From there, the building sort of divides into two parts, with a mid-size introductory room, branching off to a set of spaces. I'll put the machine, and my living quarters, in one of the parts. It's certainly big enough (I've found that almost
every building in Yu-Shan is heavenly, or palatial, or just large with lots of dramatic arching).
I don't know what I'll do with the second half of the building. Rent it out, maybe?
For now, though, it's getting a sturdy locked door instead.
~
I've just finished setting the machine up, and bolting it to the floor. The core fabrication box was almost too big to carry; if I hadn't taken off the ingredients hoppers, removed the heavy-duty Essence batteries, etc., the whole thing would have been impossible to move. I reinstalled them once it was all in place.
Once I finished placing the final touches, I slotted in the battery again, and watched as the machine awoke with a hum. It was almost beautiful, in a way; from the prayerstuff intake tray with precision slicer and Quintessence-impermanence warning light, to the magical material input hopper, to the output window, everything was in place, and glowed in the light from the sun and moon (the Unconquered Sun and Luna had evidently tied). A stack of empty Essence batteries lay off to the side (the only charged one I had was half-full), and the metal plate that I could press my hands to to control the fabrication process stuck out invitingly on the front of the machine.
I'm going to enjoy my new career.
~
Finished decorating my 'apartment' in back of the building. This wasn't hard. The entirety of my furnishings at present are 1 bedroll. I'm saving most of my remaining Ambrosia for decorating the shop and making things for clients— I've got the machine making draperies and parts for tables now.
Uh-oh, there goes the completion bell.
~
Bluuuuuh. I'm glad the day's almost over. I'm tired. Still, the shop looks a lot better.
It's a bit sparsely furnished, but the basics are there: sales podium (a counter was too big for the machine), a few tables of buy-immediately trifles, several mannequins displaying the styles as they were when I left Xyon, as well as a few in popular styles of Yu-Shan (the mannequins are all in my size; this simplifies things should I want to model one of the display outfits), a sign to hang outside the door.... and me. I've recolored my hair (decided on blue, this time), I've practiced with a measuring tape, and I'm ready.
Time for me to join the ranks of Yu-Shan's artisans. Fame, fortune, and success, here I come!
Day 173Have discovered something about sales: people won't buy from you if they don't know you exist. So far, I've had a few walk-ins (mostly Quintessence sales, too— sigh), but as for being on the verge of introducing new fashions, I am proverbially dead in the water.
I need some way to get known, to get the word out. To advertise, in short. But how?
Day 178Still nothing. I'm getting a few customers, also still mostly walk-ins. It doesn't exactly pay much, but I'll be at least able to live on it. I'm guessing word
will spread of my store, especially as the fashions are for the most part new— still, I'd like to be able to introduce Xyon styles to Yu-Shan
before my hair becomes white without me having to dye it.
Something tells me flyers and posters are out of the question, and I really can't afford anything more substantial, advertising-wise.
I guess my only option is to wait for a lucky break.
Day 180Heard strange sounds up on the roof earlier today. Wary of burglars— or worse— I climbed up there, ready for anything. Instead of a cadre of villainous thieves, I discovered a single Exalted, reading a book and doodling a beetle sign on my roof with chalk. Some secret society thing.
I invited him into the store for tea and cakes. It seems his name is Baoshi. He's rather nice. Reminds me kinda of Andrew...
I don't know what possessed me to offer him a mint. Maybe I was bored; I like to think I knew what would happen. Nonetheless, he accepted the mint, then promptly fell over from both surprise and balance issues.
I say 'balance issues', because in female form, Baoshi has an extraordinary figure. And that's putting it mildly. Once s/he had adjusted, I knew what I had to do. This was my chance.
"How would you like to advertise for my humble shop?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" s/he said, looking at me skeptically.
"Simple!" I said. "I make up clothes for you. You'd look great in one of these," I held up a dress and corset, "and all I ask is that you... wear them somewhere public. Walk around. Be visible. And, if anyone asks, tell them where you got them. You get paid in more custom-designed clothing (whatever you like, for whatever gender you prefer).
What do you say?"
After being assured that I could turn her male once more, Baoshi accepted.
"All right, then... 30 minutes, and 15 minutes at the outside table at the tea shop."
"Deal." I smiled.
After Baoshi had finished trying to balance books on her new cleavage, I sent her on her way. If I can, I'll try to employ him/her twice a week.
I think I've finally cracked the problem of getting known!
Day 184I think my new advertising has paid off. It's only something I noticed by counting, but sales have begun to pick up a bit.
Turns out Baoshi has a partner Exalted. I met her the other day— her name's Mei. She's sort of ingenue-ish, but something about her reminds me of... well, me. She's good-looking, too, so I made her the same offer— and she agreed! This is working out splendidly!
Baoshi comes again today, and I had a brilliant idea after seeing him.../her... in a corset a few days ago. It's pretty simple. A cloth band that fits snugly below the bust (under your clothes), with a sort of pouch in front. Mess with the pouch to give bigger-inside-than-outside storage, and hey presto! Whenever you want to access your money (or whatever), you just reach in... well, I don't need to spell it out. Not in a diary. Maybe on the promotional materials.
I'll show the prototype to him and see what he thinks.
~~
Baoshi was actually rather intrigued by the money 'belt'. He gave me a business card. Turns out, his aunt, somewhere in Creation, has a high-class house of courtesans. As he explained about his aunt's "refreshment garden":
"Her staff— the ladies. And some boys... I asked about that once, but Tensile Stregth of the Bamboo Grove had his mouth covered by Prowess of the Lion. And Auntie mostly laughed."
He gave me their card. It shows an elegant lady under a tree... well, until you turn it. Then it shows something...
else. Charming, really.
In any case, he said his aunt would be interested in my new device, for advertising— and he promises to pass the word along. He also mentioned that Mr. Tensile Strength (
that name's certainly shameless) might like a male version, so I should be prepared.
I think I'm getting somewhere.
Day [b]Night 184[/b]
Sat bolt upright in bed just now, and had to write this down. I can't believe this never occurred to me before.
Why do you
have to have your front accessible to get into your inventory storage? If you could collapse the outside footprint of the thing to be flat, you could wear it under your clothes and have it Essence-set-up somehow so that you could just bring objects into your hand with a gesture. Or a word. Or a thought....
You know, there's a lot of possible uses for this. And not all of them (let's face it) are aboveboard. You could do all
sorts of intrigue-y things with it....
I'm-a going to try and make one tomorrow.
Day 185Had a good day today. I worked on the new version of the money belt— it looks like it might take a bit more in terms of design than the sort of thing I've made so far. Still, that's not the source of the 'good' for today.
I got my first Ambrosia sale!!!
It was from a god (I didn't recognize the name... Burnished Claw or something or other), and he claimed he "wanted to try something new". And he ordered like, half-a-wardrobe full!
He'll surely wear the clothes to best advantage; he takes the appearance of an extraordinarily handsome man - with a... well, let me explain this one from the beginning.
When Burnished Claw entered my shop, he had a pet of some kind on his shoulder. The whatever-it-was took the form of a small, semi-transparent red blob. Every so often, it made a little sound, like "nom?"
After I had made the clothes for Mr Claw (he was
quite impressed by the turnaround time), he picked up a square of leftover cloth that was lying around (I had been testing generating new fabrics), and sort of... tied it... oddly. As he smiled faintly, the finished project came to life: a miniscule bird of prey of some sort, made out of the tied cloth. The bird promptly flapped to him and landed upon his shoulder, using the red blob as a footstool.
The blob didn't like this at all. As it slid around, making angry "nom!" noises, the bird held on, until finally the blob slid out and onto the other shoulder, leaving the bird to fall over. The god regarded to the two creatures with an amused expression, then gently removed the bird and handed it to me.
"For you," he said.
So now, I have a cloth bird, a
large pile of Ambrosia (I was able to charge my "exclusive fashion" prices), and the warm and fuzzy feeling that things are only going to get better.
Day 192It's now been a week since my last entry. Sales have picked up a bit. Unsurprisingly, huge purchases like Burnished
Talon's (that's his proper name) are rare, but I have had a few lesser gods of note come into the shop and inquire. I'm pretty sure Baoshi's advertising has been helping, too.
I've named the cloth bird Socks, because I couldn't think of another cloth-related name, and because he does look fuzzy from a distance. Still, he (?) seems to like the name. I have yet to see him eat anything, but he's nice to have around. He does draw glances from customers.
I just finished the new money belt yesterday, and I'm testing it out today. It's really useful to have pens and so on handy at a moment's notice. It's obvious that no one's noticed that I have it on.
I told Mei about it yesterday. She said she might have a few ideas for people who could make good use of it...
That gave me another idea. If my new invention could be used nefariously... why not go with it? There's got to be
some sort of demand for the sort of thing I used back in Xyon - ways to hide things, covert recording devices, chemical concoctions, ways to send secret messages.... I could run a nice side business in the part of the building that I'm not using.
Clothes in front, sneaky stuff behind closed doors.
Honestly, it sounds perfect.
Day 196Still no response back on the sneaky stuff yet. Clothes sales are still rising, slowly— not the utterly slow grind of before, but a slow, steady greater amount of traffic.
I've been furnishing the second part of the building with shelves and so on, as well as making devices. When someone comes in, I'll be ready. I've even started crafting chemicals again: enthralling perfumes, sedatives, and so on. To make them work here, I have to pump in a mote of essence at the very end. Otherwise, it's just the same as making 'em in Xyon.
In some ways, making sneaky devices is actually
easier here, because once you attune to your whatever-it-is, you've basically got silent, undetectable mental control over your device if the thing's made right. (And, when augmented with the whole 'Essence battery' idea I cooked up, even mortals like me can use these gadgets. Apparently it's something of a concern.)
This whole business... business is rather fun.
I still miss Xyon City, but it can wait. Maybe, when I go back, I'll be able to set up the portal so it's only been a minute for each day I've passed here, or something like that....
An-y-way, back to work. So many fun plans in the here and now to take care of!
Day 199Just discovered one of the downsides of business ownership today: I was robbed. Or, at least, someone tried to.
During the later part of the day, two entities dressed all in black, and carrying very sharp and very large swords walked in, and demanded a large quantity of Ambrosia. I let them get close; then, I acted. The first one got a foot to the gut, and then a small fury of blows drenched on him. He flailed (I don't think he knew how to use the sword properly), and I was able to knock him over.
What happened to the second one deserves mention. I had moved away from him, taking on the first one. When I turned back, the second one was on the floor, with Socks flapping victoriously and digging cloth claws into the second one's back.
Socks has officially earned his keep.
~
A short time later, two Celestial Lions showed up— and guess who it was, and who was with them! It was the same two lions who had met me on my first day in Yu-Shan. The cub was there, small and adorable as ever.
Once the lions had safely draged the unconscious robbers outside, they turned to me.
"Well," the first one said. "I never expected you to become a shopkeeper, but congratulations."
"Your hair looks rather nice when it's blue," said the second lion.
The cub merely came up to me and licked my palm.
"Oh, yes... where was it?" said the second lion, fishing around somewhere I couldn't see. Finally, it dragged out a very small orichalcum gong.
"We've been having trouble with a rash of thefts in this area," the first lion explained. "If you have any more trouble, just hit the gong hard and with purpose. It'll bring us right here."
I gratefully accepted the gong. What happened next was something I don't think happens often.
As I was chatting with the lions a bit about my business, Baoshi and Mei entered the store (I was paying them today). The lion cub gamboled playfully over to them, bounding around the pair. He seemed to have a special attraction for Baoshi.
Then, the cub ran back over to its parents (or guardians, I wasn't sure), and made a number of little growls, which sounded like a question of some sort.
Both lions turned to look at the cub. The second lion made a deep growl (I
think it meant 'no'). Whatever it was, the answer didn't please the cub, which looked up at its two parents with extra-big eyes.
The first lion started to growl out a reply, then hit upon some kind of verbal snag— perhaps a concept too complex to convey in Growl— and switched to English.
"
NO!! I forbid it! Even if this hare-brained idea of traveling with a Sidereal was officially sanctioned, you're still too young to even attempt such a thing!"
The cub responded, "But... he's...." the cub dropped back into Growl for a few long seconds, "...and it'd be so fun and I've read his destiny record and he's not one of
those Sidereals, and... come on!!..."
The lion cub ran over to Baoshi, and leaped, landing in Baoshi's arms only because he had them extended. Baoshi was as surprised as the two lions, who came over to him. One of them tried to pick up the cub by the scruff of the neck, but by then, the cub had scrabbled so it was sitting on Baoshi's shoulders.
At this point, I decided that this was going to be going on for a while, and said, gesturing at the door, "Got an argument, take it outside." Everyone trooped out, the lions encircling Baoshi as the lion cub hung on to his shoulders.
I never did find out if the cub got to travel with them, but I did see him, in Baoshi's company, a number of times after that.
Day 202I finally got a response back from the White Veil Society earlier today. I packed several of my products, as demonstrations, in a package— a vial of sedative, a cloth-and-starmetal hidden dart shooter, several recording devices, among other things— then locked the package and sent it off by a semi-respectable courier service. I also included a price list. I'm charging
quite a lot, on the basis that my goods are the highest quality.
And they are. But the markup is my little game, you might say...
Clothing-wise, sales are still starting to pick up. It's been 20ish days since my shop's started to get known. By my count, I should probably change the styles on display every 3 to 6 months or so.
The more important gods are still mostly out of reach, but I'm getting there.
Day 225The package I sent out came back today. The reason listed for its return: "There is no such entity as the White Veil Society." [sigh]
Sending to the alternate address I got, which was given to me in case of just such an eventuality. I wonder how they knew this would happen....
Man, this journal's running out of room. I'm going to save the last few pages for particularly important events. (Not that running a shop isn't interesting, mind you.) Still, it's amazing. It's been over 6 months since I arrived, and I've done so much....
There's someone on the sales floor. Back later.
Day 252Sales for my store have really begun to pick up, now. I just made up a suite of dresses for a Ms Flashing Peak (no easy feat— Ms Peak is 8 feet tall and made of living basalt), and she seemed
very pleased with them. Ms Peak is apparently a relatively important goddess— her domain is a certain very tall mountain that is directly at the center of Creation, and she's certain to be noticed.
I've been getting more Ambrosia sales, and have been decorating the shop. Just two days ago, I
fiiiinally got around to upgrading the fabrication machine. It's much larger.
My store has a nice polished counter now, and Socks is its official mascot.
Checking back through the order book, it's more obvious as to the amount of business I've been getting (from "Marilaq a'Lam, set of satin/soulsteel femme fatale's dresses + accessories (fabric modified for DNA capture on contact — just what is she up to?)" to "Jenzer [God of Pioneers and Explorers], hard-wearing tunic and trousers, 3 of each"). I'll have to keep a close eye on the records, so I can know when to change the styles (pretty soon now). I am the only boutique in Yu-Shan selling Xyon fashions right now, after all (though I have heard the occasional rumor of imitators), and I don't want to become a fad myself...
The back room is doing surprisingly well, as well. The bureacuracy of Heaven has, apparently,
quite a lot of intrigue revolving around various persons... and my devices are flying off the shelves. I properly furnished my living quarters some time ago.
It's satisfying, in a way, to watch my shop grow. I hope it will last for quite some time.
Day 276Finally heard back from the White Veil Society, in the form of a confusing letter— and a large amount of money. Here's a sample.
"If the White Veil Society did exist, it would assess your products as to be of the highest quality, and would purchase more if it were not a mere figment of the imagination. It would not use these items to conduct secret business in all parts of Creation, which would not further any sort of secret agenda that does not exist..."
I get the feeling this is something of joke with them. On the bright side, they ordered an enormous amount of stuff, as well as several custom-design items.
I'm going to be rich! (They're going to be sneaky.)
And this is going to be fun...
Day 277Just finished updating the displays to the newest styles (that I made up). Loose wraps are out, colorful neckerchiefs are in... to name just one "innovation". The store's been now doing good business among the gods of Yu-Shan, and I'm also planning to add mainline Yu-Shan styles to my store's offerings, for the extra business.
Now that I've got a good idea of the way of the bureaucracy (not to mention that one time I was involved in the intrigue with the God of Parrots—ugh!), I've been slowly realizing what the highest pinnacle of artisanship would be for my humble store.
Someday, somehow, the Maiden of Serenity is going to be seen in a custom-made, blue femme fatale's dress, designed by me. It'd look good on her.
Still, such a day is far off. But I'll get there.
I know I can do it. . .
Uh-oh. Looks like there's only about a little under a page of journal left. I'll save the last entry for something really earthshattering.
Day 730I just rediscovered this journal... again. I can't think of a more fitting time to have done so. It has now been two years, to the day, since I arrived in Yu-Shan, and almost fifteen months since I opened my shop. And so much has changed since then!
The shop's expanded a bit. Every square foot of the entire building is in use, and it's a lot shinier and decorated in luxury. I'm thinking about installing a second-floor gallery for aesthetics (and for the extra space). I even hired a helper.
My assistant's name is Melody (or, Melody of the Dawn Star for long), and she's a God-Blooded who claims to be half-... Fair Folk? If that's an accurate claim, she certainly looks it. I picked her up out of a rather sticky spot (it seems she was being pursued in connection with the dubious regards of fast-talking her way into free stuff
and a fraud charge), and vouched for her. It kinda feels like passing on the lenience the Celestial Lions showed me... anyway.
Turns out, Melody was pretty persuasive to
start with. I promptly trained her in both subtle and high-pressure sales tactics. Business has... since gone up.
Me & Melody even do house calls occasionally— and we're now rich enough to travel by dragon boat.
Speaking of business, I probably shouldn't be writing
this down, but I can now proudly state that my sneaky-stuff has been used in at least two minor regime-change operations! I won't say which ones, in case someone else ever is reading this journal (hey you out there: GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF MY BOOK ALREADY!!), but the (high) quantities of Ambrosia that I've been receiving in exchange for the things have contributed to the growth of my shop significantly.
Clothing-wise, I've now changed the store's styles 4 or 5 times, and expanded my purview. I now do shoes and custom-design accessories and jewelry (imbued behaviors or abilities cost extra). If I'm not careful, I'll turn into a regular department store!
My policy of updating the styles seems to have kept me popular, and it's paid off. Just the other day, I received an order for a goodly number of thick veils from Nara-O himself. I've yet to attract the notice of the Maiden of Serenity
yet, but I feel like I'm on the right track.
The one remaining concern that nags at me occasionally is the matter of getting back to Xyon. Every so often, I see something, and think, "Chic would like that," or "I should tell Andrew about this"... and the memories well up in my mind.
I've looked into getting back to my home. It would take an extraordinary amount of energy to pull off, and I haven't figured out how I'd have to modify the portal mechanics to play with time so that I would arrive in Xyon not long after I'd left. But there's two things I am sure of:
First, that I
can return to Xyon City, my home.
And second... someday, after some time has passed... after I've had my fill of life and politics in Yu-Shan, the City of Heaven... and after I sell the Maiden of Serenity that dress...
I will do just that.But, for now, there's business to attend to, and it's Melody's day off.
To work!The twilight outside /
makes the clothes appear divine /
business is good.{signed} —Jane Narbon
===================