Open Post: Curiosity

[sporesprouter]

Tress is, as she often is, in her workshop. However, what she is doing in her workshop is not even close to her usual activities.

Instead of her usual array of spores and sprouter's gear, she has found some more standard tools which are sitting on the table next to a rubber mat that is holding... a toaster. She secreted one from a kitchen that isn't particularly used. To the side are a couple books from the library as well as her open notebook.

She turns the toaster upside down and starts undoing some screws on the bottom of the case.

After all, the best way to figure something out is often to gain practical knowledge.

Comments

[summerdude]

"Are your ovens electrical or fire? Or something else?"

[sporesprouter]

"Fire, on land. At sea, we use sunlight spores."

[summerdude]

"Sun... light... spores," Magnus says. "Okay. Sure. Yeah. Why not?"

[sporesprouter]

"They're not actually sunlight," she explains. "They just come from the Sunlight Sea on my world. If you add water to them, they make light and heat. We use them for flares, too."

[summerdude]

Magnus supposes that this makes as much sense as him being able to generate light and heat -- which he can, though not enough to make a huge difference in most situations. "That's pretty cool," he decides. "Enough light and heat to actually cook, though? Wild."

[sporesprouter]

"Depends on how many spores you use. But, yeah, our ship's oven doesn't heat very evenly. Maybe if I figure this out, it will help with trying to improve that."

[summerdude]

"Do you have sunlight spores with you?" Magnus asks, curiously. He kind of wants to see one in action.

[sporesprouter]

"Among others," Tress says with a nod. "I've kind of taken up most of my workspace right now, though, so I've tucked my spores away. Normally you'd see some of those out instead if I were in here."

[summerdude]

"Can I... do you mind if I see one in action?" Magnus asks. "How big are your spores, anyway? Are they, like, spore-sized? I mean, my understanding of spores spore-sized. Or bigger?"

[sporesprouter]

"They're about the size of sand. Varies a little bit depending on the kind of spore, but sand is a pretty good comparison." She steps back from the table and walks over to her spore chest. "Did you want to see sunlight spores? Or a different one?"

[summerdude]

"I'd love to see a sunlight one," Magnus says. "What are the others? Sorry if you've already told me. I've been learning a lot since I met you and there's so much going on." He makes a self-deprecating face. "I remember the whole moon thing. And that things get weird when they get wet."

[sporesprouter]

"I mostly have the ones that are useful on a ship." She starts checking off her inventory on her fingers. "Verdant spores grow vines. Roseite spores make crystals. Sunlight we've been over, but it's heat and light. Zephyr spores make a burst of air. I also found a small amount of crimson spores, which grow into really sharp spines. And midnight spores, but those are... a lot, so not the best idea for demonstration purposes."

[summerdude]

"Do they swallow light?" Magnus guesses. "Or like, cause nightmares? Or something?" He has no idea how anything except, perhaps, sunlight or air could be useful on a ship, but then again, he only knows ships that travel on water.

[sporesprouter]

The crimson and midnight were the two she has that are a bit less directly relevant to sailing. "They make... well. Creatures? Kind of. They're not exactly fully alive, but they're controllable to an extent."

[summerdude]

"Oh wow," Magnus says. "Your planet sounds so... interesting."

[sporesprouter]

"You're not the only one who thinks so. There's a dragon who lives in the Crimson Sea who came to study the spores."

[summerdude]

"Is the Crimson Sea a wet one or a spore-y one?" Magnus wonders.

[sporesprouter]

"We don't have any wet seas. They're all spores."

[summerdude]

"So a dragon came from a spore sea to study other spores?" Magnus asks. "I'm sorry. I get that I'm just asking you a ton of questions about your world, but it's so different from what I'm used to that I'm just trying to get a handle on understanding it." He gives her a crooked grin.

[sporesprouter]

"Oh, no. The dragon came from another world to study the spores."

[summerdude]

"Wait," Magnus says. "But... okay. Uh, is the Crimson Sea another world, then?"

[sporesprouter]

"I think I probably didn't start that off too well. Let me try again. There's a dragon who came from another world to build a lair in the Crimson Sea, which is one of our seas, to study our spores. Did that help?"

[summerdude]

"A lot," Magnus says. His smile is self-deprecating. "Your world sounds really awesome. I think it would be fun to see it."

(Mostly it actually just sounds confusing, but he figures a field trip outside of the Nine Worlds could be fun.)

[sporesprouter]

"It's wonderful. If you ever get to visit, you're welcome to sail on my ship for a while."

[summerdude]

"Oh! Thank you," Magnus says. "So, these sunlight spores...?"