Tabula Rasa: Adventures In A New World

“You know...” The tips of Krvavy’s fingers glance over the solid stone frame of this wide open doorway as she slowly and leisurely steps on through it. “I kind of expected you to take a little bit longer with this.”

Inanna slowly turns a metal object around in her hand, taking her time in placing it down on her cluttered workbench before bothering to lift her gaze, glancing over at the Drakling with a single thick eyebrow raised.

“Just yesterday you said that these ‘tests’ still need to be prepared a bit more before we can run them.” Krvavy idly explains herself. “But here we are already.”

“Mm.” The grey-skinned Dwarf subtly nods, turning towards a short shelf just a small distance off to the side. “None of these experiments required a particularly large amount of work to set up.” She plainly states, grabbing a blank stone tablet and one of her ornate brass styluses. “Now, let us begin with the easiest of tests. Come over here, my Ushumgal.”

Krvavy can’t help but smile at that serious shortstack’s subdued but still obvious excitement. She was expecting to have to wait a little bit before beginning these experiments, but if Inanna wants to get straight to it... Well, there’s no need to keep that working woman waiting. And so the Drakling does as her Dwarf says, quickly crossing this well-used workshop room, stepping right up to a mostly bare stretch of counter... Which is rather short, by her standards. Lowering herself down onto her knees helps with that.

“Place your hand here,” Inanna immediately instructs, tapping the tip of her stylus into the center of a sizable square drawn beside the base of a wooden ruler, evenly spaced lines etched onto that perfectly straight plank. “Use Sculpt Stone to raise the spots that I have marked out with charcoal. Make sure to stay within the lines so that each pillar is of equal width and thickness. And ensure that you spend the exact same amount of mana each time, though I will leave the initial amount for you to decide. Go with whatever is most convenient for you.”

Palm pressed flat in the exact spot she had been told, the Drakling takes a long and deep breath. “Got it...” She softly exhales, focusing her mind and her will on the task at hand. She normally uses Sculpt Stone to, well, sculpt stone into specific sizes and shapes, not caring too much about exactly how much mana it costs. But now she’ll have to do the complete opposite, aiming to spend an exact amount of mana without caring too much about the size of what she is sculpting...

The countertop within that precisely sketched square slowly begins to stretch upwards. What was a flat surface becomes a short rectangular prism, then a cube with all sides exactly equal, and then a blocky tower... which stops its growth just before reaching the point where it would be twice as tall as it is wide.

“How much mana did that cost?” The Dwarf curiously questions, tapping the tip of her stylus against her thick bottom lip.

Krvavy quickly glances at her reserves, to make sure she didn’t accidentally use more mana than intended. She did not. “Just a single point.”

Both of Inanna’s dense eyebrows rise up, if only slightly. “Mm... Your habit of carving bricks out of the walls has made me forget just how effective Sculpt Stone is at what it does.”

“Yeah... The description – which hasn’t changed by the way – says that it costs one-hundred points of mana to create... or remove... one cubic meter of stone. So I figured that spending just one percent of that would be fine. I don’t have to stick to whole numbers and can use less than a single point of mana if I want to, its just... Might as well keep it as simple as I can.” The barbarian abruptly blinks, a faint frown finding its way onto her face. “But... that probably doesn’t help too much, because I doubt you know what a ‘meter’ is... And I don’t know how Not So Cunning Linguist would have even translated that...”

“Mm...” The Dwarf quickly scratches some angular lines onto her tablet, her sharp stylus shearing through that solid stone as if it were soft clay. “I, indeed, have no idea what that measurement represents. Does this look like one one-hundredth of a cubic ‘meter’ to you?”

“It... is hard to say.” Krvavy lightly chews on the inside of her cheek as she glares at that rectangular pillar. “I used to be pretty good at eyeballing measurements, but that was before I had this much bigger body... Oh!” She sharply exhales, suddenly straightening up. “When I designed this body, the system or whatever told me how tall it was. And while I don’t remember the exact number, I’m pretty sure it was about two-point-three meters.”

Inanna eyes the Drakling, critically looking the much taller dickgirl up and down. She then turns her gaze towards the stone block, staring at it from a few different angles. “If I had to make a guess, I would say that this is more than one one-hundredth of a cubic ‘meter’. Would you agree?”

“Uhhh...” The barbarian tilts her head back just a bit, brow furrowed a fair bit as she thinks really hard about her answer. “Yeah...? Volume is a bit harder to directly compare, but it feels kind of close to that just compared to my hand, which is bigger than what it was back when I would have normally made these kinds of comparisons...” Krvavy’s train of thought trails off into a mumble, having slightly confused herself with her own explanation.

Luckily, Inanna seems to have understood what Krvavy meant, as she simply makes an affirmative sound and jots something down on her tablet. “If you would raise the next spot now.”

Krvavy nods and, making sure that she hasn’t accidentally moved her hand, immediately focuses her magic back towards this task. The surface within the next sizable sketched square begins to rise, making the gap between it and the first feel even more obvious as it reaches a similar but noticeably shorter height.

More cuneiform-ish letters are scratched into that slab of stone. “Mmm... And now the next.”

One by one those blocky pillars are grown, their square bases exactly the same in size and equally spaced apart, creating a descending staircase with each ‘step’ shorter than the last.

Inanna slips her stylus behind her ear, that brass rod nearly getting lost in the voluminous mass of her coal-black hair, and places her tablet down on the counter. She then grabs another, smaller, marked stick and meticulously measures the height of every single rectangular pillar.

“Interesting...” The Dwarf scratches numerous angular lines and wedged triangles into her tablet, recording the data gained from this experiment. “The efficiency of your magic, or at least of Sculpt Stone, decreases at a non-linear rate: the difference in height between the first and second iteration is greater than the difference in height between the sixth and ninth.” The studious shortstack nods to herself. “By my estimations, the original pre-trait efficiency likely lies between the fourth and fifth points.”

A bit of pride wells up within Krvavy’s heart as she looks over this physical bar graph that she has made. Not because of the information it provides, but purely because of how much stone she created with less than ten points of mana. Those ‘squares’ are all identical to the one she put her hand in, and her fingers – outstretched as they were – didn’t touch its charcoal lines.

Inanna’s intense, copper-orange eyes flick up towards her larger lover’s face. “We can go over the fine details and exact numbers later, my Ushumgal, but for now let us move onto the next experiment.” She She authoritatively states, her sturdy fingers grabbing onto Krvavy’s wrist to gently but insistently drag that Drakling across the room.

Which is something that Krvavy could easily resist if she wanted to, having three times the Might as this Dwarf. But she is curious to see what other tests this wonderful and smart shortstack of hers has whipped up...

And so, after taking just a moment to get back up onto her feet, Krvavy lets herself get guided on over to the next countertop, where two flat wooden planks covered in runic patterns await her. Both of those etched boards have similar patterns carved into them, but there are enough differences to give an idea as to the purpose of this particular test. The left plank more closely resembles a circuit board or an electrical diagram, its lines straight with sharp angular turns and jagged zigzags, while the right is much softer and swirling, adorned with gently curved corners and meandering wiggles.

“Place your hand within the central circle on the leftmost board and feed it a small but steady amount of mana.” Inanna instructs, almost impatiently tapping her stylus against the stone tablet in her hand. “Mm...” She leans forwards as the Drakling does as ordered, those etched lines glowing with power while the many small quartz shards embedded into that plank begin to light up like little stars.

The Dwarf idly bites the dull end of her stylus, her dense black brow furrowing as her intense copper-orange eyes dart between various points on the board.

Krvavy forces her eyes shut, as to not be distracted by that surprisingly cute sight.

After nearly a full minute, perhaps even a bit longer, Inanna hums again. “Mm. Now do the exact same to the rightmost board, my Ushumgal.”

The barbarian nods, moving her hand – the same one she has been using this whole time, for consistencies sake – over into place. The lines and little crystals on that second plank light up as her mana runs through its carved runic channels, shining steadily and strongly.

Krvavy tilts her head ever so slightly to the side as she looks over that glowing, squiggly array. To her untrained eyes, there isn’t really a difference between these two boards. At least not beyond their layout. The small quartz chunks embedded into this one are just about as bright as those on the previous plank.

But Inanna seems to see things differently. An inquisitive expression fills her normally neutral face as she intently inspects this runic circuit, closer than she did with the first. Her lips twitch with the faintest hint of annoyance as she meticulously jots some notes down onto her stone tablet.

“Mm...” The Dwarf eventually hums. “That is enough.”

Krvavy stops the flow of mana and pulls her hand back, the board dimming and going dark within the span of a few seconds. “What exactly was that test about?” She asks, curious to see if her guess was correct.

The grey-skinned shortstack calmly places her mostly filled tablet onto that countertop. “I wanted to see how your magic would interact with runes of different ‘natures’.”

A slight smile plays at the Drakling’s pale lips. She was indeed right. “And?”

“I did not expect there to be a meaningful difference between the layouts, for the runic matrix itself carries the mana and should be exempt from your new trait.” Inanna pauses for just a split second, a very faintly frustrated frown finding its way onto her face. “But that did not seem to be the case.” She states, staring quite intently at those two boards. “The leftmost one, done in the typical Dwarven style, was marginally less efficient than the rightmost one, which was reminiscent of runes made by some of the more primitive races. But that change in efficiency only effected mana that was coming directly from you: the mana that was deposited and then withdrawn from a quartz crystal appeared to be exempt from that.”

“Huh. So are sharp angles unnatural then?” Krvavy asks, not being too serious with her question.

“According to ‘Touch of the Ancients’, yes.” The Dwarf softly shakes her head, the voluminous mass of her coal-black hair swaying from side to side. “I suppose that the mana ‘wants’ to flow like water in a river, even though there should be no difference between these layouts. Provided that the materials have the same amount of resistance and the channels are of the same length, of course. And I ensured that was the case for this test.”

The barbarian furrows her brow, just a bit. “If they’re supposed to function exactly the same, then why do your people prefer the more... mechanical layout over the other? Is it just the aesthetic?”

“I will not deny that the orderly aesthetic may play a role in our preference, but that is simply a side product of the actual reasons rather than a reason in and of itself.” The grey-skinned shortstack almost affectionately brushes her stout fingers across the angular lines etched into the leftmost board. “To put it simply, straight lines such as these are easier to carve into the tough materials – primarily stone and metals – that serve as the mediums in which we Dwarves primarily inscribe runes. There are other benefits of such a neat and compact style, but again those are more akin to byproducts than an intended goal.”

“Ahh, right... So this is really just a slight annoyance for you, huh?” Krvavy shoots her shortstack a slightly apologetic smile, even if this ‘side effect’ isn’t exactly her fault. “It shouldn’t really mess with your usual work, thankfully, but I guess that painting runes onto my body will now be a bit more of a pain...”

“Mmm... This is, at most, a minor frustration. It is hardly an issue.” Inanna dismissively shrugs her shoulders, stepping away from this second counter. “Now, let us move onto the next test, the results of which are less significant but will still serve to satisfy our shared curiosity.”

The barbarian raises an eyebrow as a crude piece of armour, which she had wrongly assumed was mere scrap, is picked up off a shelf and pushed into her hands. A single leather strap dangles down from an oval shaped copper plate which, much like the wooden boards, is covered in runic lines and quartz shards. Though these crystalline chunks are considerably larger than the tiny pieces used in the previous test...

“For the first stage,” once more, Inanna wastes not a second as she gets straight to giving her instructions. “Simply secure it to your arm and prepare to feed the device as much mana as it needs.”

Cool metal presses against Krvavy’s black scales as she carefully places the coppery plate atop the back of her wrist. It doesn’t even cover half of her forearm, but that is surely intentional. Considering who made this thing and all. The leather strap digs into the Drakling’s arm as she pulls it taut, clumsily looping it into a simple but secure knot, using her other hand and her teeth to do that job.

“Ready?” Inanna calmly asks, smiling faintly as her Draconic lover confirms as much with a nod. “Mm. Let it pull all of the mana that it needs from you.” She instructs, reaching over and pressing a finger into one of the crystals.

Immediately, the runic lines light up with a faint glow. Energy is pulled from the channel in Krvavy’s arm, flowing through the coppery plate and into the clustered quartz chunks. Those many crystal shards begin to shine, glowing brighter and brighter and brighter over just a few short seconds. A couple of the smaller pieces crack and fizzle, but the larger ones remain rather intact, doing as they are meant to.

An array of auroras beam out from each uncracked crystal, coalescing together into a single swirling point roughly a hands width above the plate. Without warning, that twirling halo of light flashes, spreading into a thin disk which fades into nothingness at its edges.

Inanna grabs her stylus and gently taps its tip against the magically projected shield. The pointed metal pen collides with solid light, causing a rippling flicker to echo throughout that glowing disk. “Mm.” The Dwarf nods her head and moves the stylus further along, repeating the process onto a slightly thinner part directly above the Drakling’s uncovered arm. Another flicker.

Krvavy quirks her brow as she watches that studious shortstack lift the brass stylus up and unceremoniously swing it back down at a... a really quite glacial pace.

But, despite the fairly slow speed of Inanna’s strike, that pointed metal spike of a writing implement penetrates cleanly through the magical barrier. Without even making the presumably fragile projection flicker at all. The stylus pokes into the black scales atop Krvavy’s arm, painlessly scraping across them as its tip trails down towards the coppery plate.

Tssssskksssskhhss!

Those many crude crystals fizzle and crackle and hiss in the exact moment that Inanna’s stylus taps into the crude bracer. The projected barrier flickers and shudders, straining against the solid rod penetrating through its surface.

The hissing sounds abruptly stop. “Curious.” Inanna idly states, dragging her brass spike off to the side, keeping its tip pressed into the Drakling’s scales as it effortlessly exits the glowing shield of light.

Krvavy sharply exhales, that breath of air forced past her clenched teeth. Discomfort, nowhere near the point of becoming pain, rolls through her arm in waves... growing more intense by the second. A steady stream of mana is sucked from her channels, leaving those nonphysical extensions of her soul feeling a little tingly and hollow. But that pales in comparison to the heat seeping into her skin and scales, an orange glow bleeding into the copper plate and competing with the white-blue light of the mana projected above it.

The grey-skinned Dwarf slips her left hand between that barrier and the barbarian. The glowing disk flickers and shudders as the stylus presses into it, but that resistance immediately disappears when Inanna’s hand moves out of the way, allowing the brass rod to freely penetrate this protective magic.

“Alright.” Inanna quickly pulls her pointed stylus back. “I’m done.”

The quartz shards hiss as the energy being fed into them is abruptly cut off. One last flicker rolls through the glowing disk of light before it blips out of existence.

Krvavy hastily unties the strap and pulls the hot coppery plate away from her arm. The metal wasn’t searing into her just yet, but it was getting close. She idly glances at her stat sheet and isn’t particularly surprised by what she sees.

This little experiment lasted less than a minute. Probably not even a full thirty seconds. But it still burned through a lot of mana.

Over four-hundred points of mana, in fact.

“And here, one last test.”

The barbarian barely has time to put the crude bracer down before being forced to quickly catch something thrown her way. Which turns out to be... her leather pants...?

An uncomfortable grimace briefly fills Inanna’s face, quickly fading back to her usual neutral expression. “Mm. It would seem that Touch of the Ancients also extends to enchanted items in your possession: I did not experience the same degree of discomfort scrying those pants just now as I did before they were in your grasp.”

“Oh.” The barbarian blinks, her brow furrowing as she faintly frowns. “That’s annoying...”

“Mhm.” The busty Dwarf nods and grabs a second stone tablet, scratching notes into its surface. “Please place those pants down,” she requests without lifting her gaze. The sound of that piece of clothing dropping onto a stone countertop draws an absentminded “thank you” from her dark-grey lips.

Krvavy gently bites the inside of her cheek and tilts her head to the side. With just a single thought, her Soulbound weapon manifests in her hands. “Doesn’t seem to have messed with my axe,” she idly mutters, giving the large weapon a good look over. “Though, to be fair, it isn’t exactly enchanted...”

Inanna makes one last chiselled stroke with her stylus before turning her copper-orange eyes towards those discarded pants, focusing on the dark metal rings dangling from its belt loops. “Nnh...” She winces in pain, taking a moment to recover her composure. “Your new trait does not appear to have a lingering effect: the enchantments return to full strength shortly, or immediately, after they leave your direct possession.”

“That’s good, I guess.” The Drakling dismisses her oversized axe with a shrug. “Being able to passively ‘corrode’ enchantments could have been useful, but it probably would have been more of a pain to work around...”

Inanna simply nods, tucking her stylus back behind her slightly pointy but mostly stubby ear. “Would you like to hear the results?”

“Yes, but,” Krvavy holds a finger up to stop the Dwarf from continuing. Not that she really needed to do that. Inanna isn’t exactly a fast talker. “Before you melt my brain with all the details and numbers, I have a question or request. Which isn’t really about anything we just did.”

“Go ahead.” The busty shortstack gestures for her Draconic lover to speak.

“Would it be possible for you to build some sort of device that can lure slimes towards it?” The Drakling asks, drumming the fingers of one hand into the back of the other.

“Mmm...” Inanna thoughtfully hums, her thick and dense eyebrows knitting together. “Potentially.” She replies after a good long second. “Certain frequencies of vibrations and sounds could catch the ‘attention’ of such simple beings, but I can make no guarantees about the effectiveness of such a device.”

“That’s alright.” Krvavy warmly smiles down at her lovely Dwarf. “This is really just something to make it a little easier for me to level up again. A convenience, really. So it doesn’t really mater too much.”

“I would argue that a method to increase the rate in which you level up is quite important.” The grey-skinned shortstack plainly states, collecting both of her note-filled tablets. “So I will see what I can do. Now, are you ready to learn the peculiarities of your new trait?”

“Yup.” Krvavy resolutely nods her head. “Just... let me find a seat first.”