The Red Robe looked shocked at being addressed thusly by the young Vion.
"Please, sir, there's no need for that 'sir' nonsense from you, young master," stammered Eago, his eyes flicking nervously to Altair, "It isn't proper, and I should think your father would not be too pleased either. I am a servant of your father, and thus always in your service as well. I require no displays of respect from you young master."
Now that he had that straightened out, Eago focused instead upon the boy's request which, he admitted, pleased him and intrigued him.
"So young master, you wish to file a patent? Well then, I suppose the first order of business would be to establish the terms and parameters. What exactly do you wish to prevent others from doing? What exactly would you like to reserve for yourself?"
Eago had once again taken out his writing implements which had, again, changed. Now he wrote with the sharpened stem of a leaf upon a larger, smoothed out frond.
"But it is only right," Vion said, "to be respectful of one's elders. But talking honorifics is not why we came-" Vion paused while he thought of a proper title to call Eago, since apparently "sir" would not do. "Honorifics are not why we came, Chancellor Eago."
"We wish to patent life. Not that we wish to prevent others from creating living things, if that so strikes their interests. Instead, we wish to provide the proper way in which this should be done. After all, there is much life already created, it would be undesirable for one of us, or a future god," here Vion's eyes darted towards where Altair had secured the eggs, although his features were so dark that this wasn't apparent, "to create something that is in fundamental conflict."
The Black Lord raised his hand and the shadows that shrouded him parted to reveal the image of a tree. "This thing takes in certain gasses and expels others. What if someone created a creature for which the expelled gasses were poisonous? Or, if that creature expelled gasses that destroyed this thing?"
"We wish to set down a broad framework for what does belong in this world," Vion concluded.
Before any of the others could respond, however, Vasa spoke up. "We also wish to claim for ourselves rulership over all life. Father rules all light, does he not? Would it matter if another source of light besides the sun were created by another god? Still, it is his. So too we wish to rule life."
Vion glanced at his sister. They hadn't discussed this, but he didn't want to question her infront of the others. "Yes. Of course," he added, "we don't wish to usurp the claims that others might have to their own creations. Just that, as long as it lives, we are entitled to our say."
"Children, I am not sure I agree with this proposal of yours. Do you not remember the wonderful diversity of forms that existed in the Potentiality before the Universe? We needed no rules then, when Dobbits cavorted with gnomes and Tsarok-hem and Fallen hunted side by side. Why should we have them now?"
His voice grew wistful.
"What of your Mother and I? She Dark and I Light, we, by all accounts, should have been in (as you put it) fundamental conflict, yet instead it was wonderful. Do not cut off entire realms of possibility simply because it does not meet with your own aesthetic preferences."
Altair raised his hands and in the palm of each appeared a creature. In his left hand, a floating orb that shone in dim homage to the Light of the god itself. It bobbed over Altair's palm and seemed to beacon to those present to 'follow.' In his right hand, what appeared to be a large scab-covered mass with a circular mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth that moved blindly back and forth across the God's palm, mouth reaching out for non-divine sustenance.
"Which one Deserves to live in the world, my children? This object of light in my left hand, or this ravenous creature in my right? Divorce your mind from your own opinions and tell me honestly that either of these has a better 'claim' to existence."
Altairb flicked his hands and the creatures vanished, reappearing in significantly greater numbers in the Wood below.
"How can we proceed without your approval, Father?" Vion said, turning his palms so that they faced Altair in a show of submission. His face, it it could be seen past his dark aura, seemed more angular now than just a few moments ago. "However, if you may tolerate my boldness, might I humbly suggest that you misunderstand our intent? Our concern is not about aesetics but rather about practicality. I remember our house between the ticks and the tocks, and you know that I loved the dobbits, but surely you have noticed that here in Time things cannot remain potential forever. Eventually, what might be has to become what is. And when that happens, not everything can survive alongside everything else. I wish to patent life so that, by limiting our possibilities, the end result will be something worthwhile. The alternative is..."
Vion closed his eyes and formed what appeared to be a replication of the Chancellor's worms. However, he then spun it and the difference became apparent: it was alive, but it had no depth. The Black Lord released it and the creature fell to the mountain below. It didn't land so much as slide between the motes of earth that comprised the shattered mountain. There was a simple slurt and the creature was gone, falling through the earth since it lacked the mass necessary to interact with the world that was.
"Unfortunately, that creature will keep falling until it dies, and it will not die until its body gives out. There isn't anything there for this world to interact with, but it exists nonetheless."
He was not done, however. Next he pushed existence away from a single spot. Air, light, time, everything had to go. To call the result a void would have been generous. Only the barest sliver of potentiality remains, and this Vion formed into something that was simply wrong. The mountain, the air, these things were made of matter. Even light was related, in some way, but not this creature. It was comprised of something that the universe did not know, did not understand. As Altair and Eago looked at it, the creature's appearance seemed to try to bend them, to conform them to an existence that was the antithesis of everything that this world was. Vion held it for a moment, letting the shame of what the creature was wash over the other gods. He waited until he thought he saw a glimmer of horror in his father's eyes, and then he released it. It fell out of the near-nothingness that Vion had created and, as soon as its unknowable substance interacted with this universe, it erupted into what, in retrospect, was probably an explosion. The creature's substance and that of the universe eradicated each other. The result was a portion of the world that was simply no longer there. In a moment the rest of the world rushed to fill in the gap, and parts of the mountain below were ripped from their roots in the process.
The shattered mountain was no longer flat, but countless needle-like peaks formed its top, each one bent towards the direction of where the creature had been.
"Some things are just too alien to ever exist in this world. These are just two extreme examples, but our intent is to try to limit the creation of such creatures."
Cantrip x 2 = Vion creates two very non-natural creatures. 1PP Mold Minor = The Shattered Mountain is a little more shattered; it has been broken up into earthy needles, essentially.
"I doubt that anyone is going to attempt to make a living bomb, but your point is well taken. Perhaps some limits on what life is and is not is acceptable. Very well, Vasa and Vion, you have my blessing. Eago, make it so."
4 PP to all Gods (progress to next PPs will begin in a few weeks when we actually have divergences)
To avoid any confusion, we are looking to ascend between two and three Gods this week. We thank everyone for their patience at the start of the game when we need to throttle the entry rate in this manner. We are committed to getting everyone in in a timely fashion. (Ary, gogogogogoggogogogoggogogogogogogoggo!!!!!!!!)
You will note that it has changed in shape a little bit. We didn't like its first look all that well and added a little more variety. FULL sized version is in the group. Maplib map will be up shortly, and will likely be quite large this week (playing around with bitmap sizes and qualities). Remember that the maplib map can be gotten to from the LoC Wiki.
"Well hang on just a moment, 'make it so', this is a rather large piece of paper-work, and quite a bit of pomp and ceremony must go into officiating it! I am not merely legitimizing some sprouts here, or authorizing the construction of some simple causeway. No, this is big business! This is not a document that can just be whipped up! No! This needs signature, and authorization! And stamps! Oh heavens, the stamps! It must be approved and officiated by at least-"
Eago rambled along, speaking faster and more flustered and with an increasing sense of obvious enjoyment. Bright pink patches were appearing upon his blank cheeks, and his robes rippled with something approaching ill-concealed indignation. In fact, his whole body seemed to be alive with some electric spark. As the observing gods watched, tending more and more to ignore the rambling of the reddenning steward, the saw the writing implements the man had pulled out previously begin to drift vaguely off to one side, as though forgotten. After drifting about two feet to Eago's left, they suddenly snapped to attention.
The sharpened leaf stem suddenly began to dance accross the surface of the frond, leaving vague white figures in its tracks which were utterly unrecognizable to the onlookers. In fact, if they hadn't known any better, they would have supposed the figures meant nothing really. Which, they supposed, didn't. Not until meaning was suffused into them.
As the leaf scrawled on, more and more fronds came to replace the filled ones. The leaf did not even pause as a new frond was added, and merely snapped onto the new one as though there had been no change. Meanwhile, the rambling Eago was descending into fits of increasing hysterics over the obvious ignorance of his fellows, apparently completely unaware of what his implements were doing without his supervision. Finally, the leaf drew a great long line across the bottom of a frond. Eago sighed.
"Well, I suppose that's it then," with a startling return to normality, and the leaf and frond presented themselves to the waiting Vion,"Now if you'll just sign on the line, all should be in order."
Altair and Vega sat with their feet dangling in the bend of the river where it began to flow back uphill towards the Suspended Sea. Carp flowed in the shadows of her feet, avoiding at all costs the regions of the river that were illuminated by Altair.
They watched the Carp for some time before Vega turned to Altair and said simply. "Lets go home."
And that is what they did.
A shimmering tear fell from Altair's face and plummeted downwards towards the earth, landing in the sea that surrounded the continents. From its impact point spread thousands of fish, but most prominently of all were Carp with alternating white and black lines down their backs.
"Yes, Vion. Please sign on the line. I have other business with you and your sister when this is finished. You too, Eago."
"Sign?" Vion asked. That was a very strange word. The Black Lord searched his memory for the meaning and finally found it among things that might yet be. A system of putting abstract thoughts to physical media through the use of particular shapes. So, then, signing the thing meant putting some of these shapes on the form. But, not just any shapes, ones that represented his unique mark.
After giving the matter a bit of thought, Vion caused his mark to appear on the line. Specifically, this was the mark that he left on all the things he created, as that seemed most appropriate. This was not so much a word as it was a combination of three chemicals: Adenine, Thymine, and Guanine. Done, he handed the form to his sister and, reluctantly, she followed her brother's example and impressed her own signature. They were the same things, but in a different order: Thymine, Adenine, and Guanine.
"Is that it then?" Vasa asked. Not waiting for Red Robe to respond, she turned to Altair and her face softened. "Yes, father?"
"We are in a new world, Vasa and Vion, and there are things in existence that are not of our blood. As such, with this new world bereft of Potentiality, I would like to formally adopt both of you, to acknowledge you as my kin and that I will protect you against any foreign entity. Would you accept?"
