kaolinandbone | Tea in the Gardens and Antechambers

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As the many multiversal guests are gated in, singly or in groups, a crowd slowly begins to form in the entry hall. Lioncourt looks up from her meditation break and claps her hands twice: in moments, a dozen automaton servants file out from the adjoining rooms, hands of gleaming white porcelain holding equally elegant china tea-sets. A pair of the automatons open the doors at the far end of the hall, revealing a tiered rose garden, the stone benches dotted here and there ringing a large central clearing.

"Tea is served, either here or in the gardens: I would appreciate it, however, if some of my guests might proceed onward so as to reduce crowding."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

aestrix

"So - I don't know, do you have questions about my world? I don't really know what to say, mine feels kinda boring, there have been no - I wasn't called anywhere in particular! I have an apartment."

From:

calledtoventure

"Well... what does your Empire do? Are there other countries in your world that you trade with? How does your government treat outsiders?"

From:

aestrix

"My Empire mostly just runs things! And keeps the world trees working and keeps people fed and happy and safe. There are other countries that we trade with, but I don't know very much about them besides some stereotypes and it seems mean to represent them with just those. I - don't think my government's dealt with a lot of outsiders. I don't see why they'd mistreat any of you! They're nice to foreigners."

From:

calledtoventure

"That's good. We don't have a lot of empires in my world, nowadays, and some people think they tend to go badly. But I'm glad yours is working out."

From:

aestrix

"It is! And we have really nice stuff. And a lot of time to find what we want to do! I mean - humans get a century! Maybe. Ugh, it's awful, I'm sure we could fix it if I could get an arcanist to look at you."

From:

calledtoventure

"Immortality? That would certainly be welcome. Are arcanists rare?"

From:

aestrix

She nods. "There's a whole - testing process for them. You have to apply. I didn't qualify. It's very complicated stuff and it seems like there's only a limited number of people that can be arcanists, so they need the best."

From:

calledtoventure

"Well, maybe we can trade some time. Do you know what sorts of things the Sunrise Empire imports?"

From:

aestrix

"Quartz. Precious gems, too, but quartz is the big one! Um... Hm. I don't really know, I don't work in that area."

From:

calledtoventure

"Interesting. Quartz is a reasonably common type of crystal, where I come from; I'll make a note of it." She pokes at a device on her wrist. "...huh, no signal. Suppose it makes sense. I can still take notes, though." Poke poke.

From:

aestrix

"Sure! It's pretty common for us, too, but we use it a lot. I mean, a lot a lot."

From:

calledtoventure

"So you'll probably be wanting industrial quantities, then. ...Would gold happen to be valuable in your world? It's considered a precious metal where I come from, but I happen to have access to some."

From:

aestrix

"A little bit. Maybe not enough to be worth it, I've got lots of golden jewelry, it's not very expensive. My dress costs more."

From:

calledtoventure

"Probably not, then. Maybe we'll end up buying it from you."

From:

aestrix

"Maybe, yeah. But this is kind of an expensive dress, so..."

From:

calledtoventure

Ahrotahn shrugs. "Maybe." She sips her tea.

From:

aestrix

Prism has no tea to sip, alas.

"Is your lifespan really just a century or so?" she wonders. "I saw it on the forum but it seems kind of ridiculous."

From:

calledtoventure

"Less than a century, usually. A few people – humans, sorry – have lived to be a hundred and ten, maybe a hundred twenty, I forget exactly. The average is somewhere in the high seventies, I think."

From:

aestrix

Prism winces and looks incredibly pained.

"How do you get anything done? That's awful, I'm so sorry!"

From:

calledtoventure

"I'm not sure how it works in your society, so I'm not sure how to compare. Sometimes a lot of people work together over several years to do something big, like designing a large building or a complex machine, and of course we have books and schools and such, so we can learn from the people who came before us, and build on their knowledge for the future. What do you do that it seems like we wouldn't have time for?"

From:

aestrix

"There are some things that take centuries, though! I have a friend who has a garden, it takes thirty years or so for most trees to grow, and then that's half of your lifespan and what if the tree doesn't look right where it is? What if it catches fire and burns, you don't have time to grow another unless you start when you're ten and you can't do a lot of things when you're ten. And - I was an idiot when I was seventy! I didn't know anything about anything!"

From:

calledtoventure

"Okay, trees take a long time to grow. If we're just doing gardens for aesthetics, we usually choose plants that grow in a single year; flowers and bushes, mostly. Grass. There are people that grow trees for a living, and you can buy a tree for transplanting where you want. And... if it looks really terrible you can always cut it down? I guess we just don't really have strong opinions about trees, mostly. Or not really detailed ones, anyway. And it's possible to influence how a tree grows, somewhat; it's not just a matter of waiting to see if we like a totally random shape. Or it doesn't have to be, anyway."

From:

aestrix

"I don't know. It still doesn't seem like enough time to get things done. It'd be like - I wake up, I just get used to figuring out about my life, and then - boop! Death." She shudders.

From:

calledtoventure

"I'm sure if we had more time, we would discover all sorts of things to do with it. But... people adapt, you know? No matter what, in any situation, we find ways to get by."