aterat | [audio/action]

[audio]

--this button, and then it should start broadcasting? [ The next sentences fade in and out as G'raha flips his tell phone back and forth to look it over. ] Did it work? I can't tell, but I did follow the instructions to the letter, so I must presume it's working and proceed accordingly.

Ahem!

Hello! I am G'raha Tia, and I am but recently arrived to this world. I am given to understand that this device will put me in contact with others in the same situation. I understand that not much is asked of us, but given that we are all in this together, I would very much like to get to know you all. If you would rather meet face-to-face, you can currently find me near the apartments we have been so kindly provided. It should prove quite easy to spot me, as my feline features seem to be vanishingly rare among the populace here.

And now, let's see, it should be this button that--

[action]

[ Sure enough, G'raha can be found near the apartments, sitting under a tree and dutifully reading the user manual for the tell phone. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A pleasure to meet you, Lauri-Ell. [ It has kind of the same rhythm as a mystel name, but she's definitely not a mystel. He's used to the idea of naming conventions differing between worlds, though, so he's not too concerned about it. ] Have you lived here long?

I believe that, by the reckoning of time in this place, I have been here approximately seven 'months'.

[She was quite happy that he did not hesitate over her name, though. It was nice when people could handle it.]

It is... nice, if low in technology here. Many places do not even have electricity. That is concerning.

Electricity?

[ Give him a minute for the wheels to turn; technology works differently where he's from. ]

Ah, as a power source? Interesting. Lightning crystals are sometimes used as such where I'm from but it is not especially common.

Lightning crystals?

[That's different, and she is actually interested to hear more of that if she's being fair.]

How do you keep electricity in crystals?

It is not that we store anything in them; the crystal itself is aspected to the element of lightning. Such crystals are commonplace where I'm from, as well as crystals aspected to the other five elements. Is that not the case here?

[Her face lights up. This is definitely something she's never heard of, and she's excited.]

No, it is not the case here, or where I am from. What are the other five elements?

[ How wild. The elements are so foundational that they're taught to schoolchildren. Lauri-Ell may as well have professed ignorance to the states of matter or something. ]

Lightning is the firstmost and most active of the elements, and is followed in turn by fire, then earth, then ice, then water, and then wind, which brings us back to lightning.

[Each culture found different things foundational. But she nodded along with what was being said.]

What of the void? The lack? Space is more lack than it is presence.

[ He tilts his head to the side curiously. ]

You speak of the rift between the stars? Even there, aether exists, not in living creatures, but in the stars themselves and the thin flow between them. Mages powerful enough to harness that aether, however, are rare to the point of legend.

[Aether?]

DO you mean light? Yes, there is light in motion through the stars. But little else beyond limits of galactic systems. Perhaps the occasional space dust, but not much more.

[ Oh, he. He needs to explain aether itself. Ok, let's back aaallllll the way up then and take this from the top. ]

Aether is the energy of magic and life itself, and it exists throughout all creation. A star without aether could not shine, a land without aether could grow no plants, and a man without aether is well and truly dead. It is aether that is shaped by the six elements, not the realm of the physical.

[ That's how we can get away with having ice and water as two different elements when they're the same damn substance. ]

I apologize for the confusion.

[No, that doesn't make sense. Lauri-Ell tilted her head.]

Stars shine because of nuclear reactions, processes whereby extreme heat and pressure causes one atom of matter to fuse with another, creation great, powerful explosions of heat and light. They are chemical, not magical."

[ Now it's G'raha's turn to tilt his head in confusion. There sure are a couple of words in there he's never heard before. ]

Then it must be aether that allows that process to happen, as is the case with most things. A fire needs fuel and a spark to burn, but if the fuel is bereft of aether, it will not catch, no matter how you try to set it.

[That... is scientifically wrong but she supposes she cannot explain science to magic.]

That, you will find, is not true here. Fire needs fuel and oxygen. There need not even be a spark, as some things start the chemical reaction without a spark.

'Twas but an example that I sought not to make overly complicated, but you are correct that fire may be chemically induced and that it will not burn without oxygen. But that does naught to disprove that aether is also necessary. You may not be able to perceive its presence, but it is there and essential nonetheless, as unerring as gravity itself.

[That was literally nonsense to her, and Lauri-Ell made a choice in this moment. It was not one she made very often. She chose not to argue. Perhaps it was true of his world, even if it wasn't true otherwise. Better not to get into the complicated situation of trying to prove a negative.]

Well, perhaps you will find things a bit different here. But I am intrigued by the way these crystals of your world work. What can you do with them?

[ G'raha could prove it positive pretty easily by simply casting a spell, though he doesn't really feel a need to. If Lauri-Ell wants to dismiss an entire branch of science just because it's unfamiliar to her, that's none of his business. /kermitsippingtea ]

As physical stores of aetheric energy, crystals have many uses. They are a staple of most crafting disciplines, thanks to their convenience and ease of use. Fire crystals can be used as heat sources, ice crystals can be used to keep perishables cold, other things of such nature. And those are but the most basic uses of the most basic types of crystals.

[Mysticism and science are not the same, and she has chalked up what he's saying to mysticism, which was a Skrull thing, not a Kree.]

Oh, heat sources, such as in a forge? Do they generate great amounts of heat or smoke?

[Now she was very invested in his knowledge and experiences, because it might well suit the work she does here.]

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