Engineered Magic

Ellen

Sarah and Companion went up to Enchanter’s place, while Todd and Alex were in the inn’s kitchen. It seemed that word of Todd’s Londontown Stout returned to Seagrass square with Ray-Do-So, the portal keeper. The local brewer wanted the recipe. Todd negotiated an exchange. Alex went along to help with translations and to do the tasting.

Grandmother and Ellen were sitting at the ‘tables’ outside the inn in the central pond. Or at least these would have been tables back in their square. Here they were stones. The table top was clear of the water, but the seats were almost level with its surface. They were both wearing integrated clothing. Grandmother even changed out her boots for the trip. That turned out to be a very good decision since they were pretty much in the water up to their hips. They both set their gear on the table to keep it dry.

“How are you doing on figuring out those unknown tools?” Grandmother asked. She was watching something in the central pond and didn’t turn to face Ellen when she spoke. Ellen looked out and saw that there were two very young selkie playing in the pond. They swam with grace and beauty and yet somehow still possessed the clumsiness of the very young.

They hadn’t seen any young selkie on the previous trip. Ellen suspected these two's mothers were going to be horrified when they realized how close the two youngsters got to the scary humans.

“I think I’ve identified about a third of them. I have some with me. When Alex or Companion is free I plan to visit the stone sculpting shop and try to confirm their use,” Ellen explained.

“So they were stone sculpting tools?” Grandmother asked.

“Some,” Ellen replied. “There was a tool in there to cut leather. It defaults to the vellum sheet pattern, but you can use it to cut other patterns. I have a feeling I haven’t completely figured it out yet. There is also a handheld sewing machine. It is basically the mythical sewing needle. I think I can use it to sew the covers onto upholstered furniture. I really love it.” Ellen said. “What is interesting is I can now buy all of them, even the ones I don’t understand from the vendor. I remember we talked about that once and you said you didn’t remember if you could buy them before you found them.”

“Honestly I don’t remember,” Grandmother replied. “I still have problems figuring out what the tools are from the icons the vendor uses.”

“I think the vendor sometimes uses an icon of the real item and not the structure tool. The icon for a loom looks more like the images for hand looms in the Speedwell’s database than the tool,” Ellen commented. “But it isn’t exactly the same as those images either.”

“It is probably a loom in the builder's history. I think a lot of the icons are like that. That is why we can’t figure them out,” Grandmother responded. Grandmother got to her feet and picked her pack up, swinging it over one shoulder. “Come on, let's go shopping.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Alex?” Ellen asked. Ellen asked the question thinking they would need him to help with communications. Although both of them understood selkie, neither of them spoke more than a few words.

“By now either one of the selkies has healed him, he has dropped dead and Todd can’t face me, or Todd is right about intent and Alex should be alright,” Grandmother responded. It took Ellen a second to realize what Grandmother was admitting. The older woman was waiting here in the central pond in case she was needed to heal Alex.

“I meant to help us talk to the shop owners,” Ellen replied. She picked up her own pack, crossbow and quiver and swung them into place.

“We'll point and make hand waves and if that doesn’t work I will smile. That usually terrifies Companion,” Grandmother responded. “It will be interesting to hear what they say if they are not certain we understand.” Grandmother headed into the first shop past the inn, it was tailor.

“Most glorious lesser god have mercy on me. I am but a servant of the master crafter. In what way may I serve you,” the sales clerk almost whispered, if a selkie could whisper with their high voices. A distinctive clicking sound was filling the room, revealing the selkie’s fear.

“We have come to see your goods,” Grandmother said in her own language. She stepped forward to a very nice display of cloth bags of every kind. Ellen followed behind.

“I don’t think this sales clerk came to sell us spells,” Ellen observed.

“Me neither,” Grandmother replied as she looked over the gathering bags. There were bags in a variety of sizes. Some of them were very large, it made Ellen think of her sister and her latest project. There were complex cloth bags, the equivalent to leather backpacks. Ellen made some of these patterns herself. What Ellen found most interesting was another display of net bags.

“Wouldn’t things just fall out?” Ellen asked Grandmother as she handled one of the bags.

“I think they are for gathering things underwater. You actually want the water to fall out,” Grandmother offered.

“That makes sense,” Ellen said. She continued to finger the bag as she considered buying it. Having one in her possession would increase her chances of revealing the pattern.

Grandmother moved on to an assortment of wizard silks. Versions in orange, yellow and green were on display. The garments were shorter and wider than what Ellen would have crafted for human shoppers. Ellen noted that Grandmother was very careful not to touch the integrated fabric.

A second selkie emerged from the back room. They entered at a fast pace, ready to do battle with whoever or whatever frightened their sales clerk. They took one look at their customers and deflated.

“They just came in and started wandering around,” the sales clerk said to the crafter. “They said something in their monotone, but I don’t understand it.”

“Don’t worry,” the crafter said. He said the sales clerk’s name but it passed so fast Ellen didn’t catch it. “It will be my honor to serve the god. Go on back and help with the custom order.”

“Did you see this?” Grandmother called to Ellen. Ellen turned from the little drama behind the shop counter to find Grandmother looking at something on the side wall of the shop. She joined the older woman viewing a beautiful tapestry that was hanging on the wall. The displayed scene was a selkie in orange facing off against a giant sea monster. The selkie held a huge ax at the ready. While the sea monster’s tentacles reached out to the lone figure with crushing power. The entire scene was underwater, with light filtering down from above, giving the scene a holy appearance.

“Most of it is made with the primary colors carefully mixed, but I don’t know how they did the light,” Grandmother commented.

“You’re forgetting about the white thread,” Ellen responded.

“Oh, yes,” Grandmother said. “Touch it and tell me if it is as soft as it looks. I’d like to, but I am afraid my magic might stain it and that would be a real shame.” Ellen needed little encouragement. She ran her fingers across the surface.

“Actually, it is a little rough. I would say it is made for durability and not comfort. It is definitely a wall tapestry and not a blanket. The weave is exceptionally fine. Even with structure tools it must have taken a long time to craft,” Ellen reported.

“Are you interested in the holy work?” the new selkie asked. “The image is of the great battle between the saintly warrior Me-So-Ray and the…” here the selkie sang a series of notes Ellen didn’t recognize.

“Kraken,” Grandmother said quietly to Ellen. That didn’t enlighten her any more than the selkie’s notes since she didn’t know what a Kraken was either.

“It has been in my family for many years. We are diligent in our care of it,” the selkie continued. Ellen could hear the trace of nervousness in the crafter's voice. Grandmother must have heard it too. She turned to face the selkie.

“Is it not for sale then?” she asked him.

A soft clicking started up, as the selkie started mumbling something about dishonor and his mother’s wrath. If the god wanted it, consider it a gift, since no value could be placed on such a thing.

“That is alright,” Grandmother told him. “I am only looking at it. It is a beautiful piece.” She stepped away from the tapestry. Ellen could see the selkie couldn’t decide if this meant Grandmother accepted his offer or refused it. As Grandmother moved to look at the next display, Ellen caught sight of a splash of color on the floor. She leaned down to pick it up.

Ellen found herself holding a rag doll. The doll was made of orange and yellow fabric, while the miniature hunter’s outfit it was wearing was made of green. What was most interesting was that the doll was clearly human, even with the orange skin and bright yellow hair. It was stuffed with something, but as Ellen squeezed the doll she couldn’t decide what it was. It didn’t feel like fiber scrap, Ellen handled plenty of that in her crafting and thought she would recognize it.

“Grandmother, look at this,” Ellen said.

“Oh holy attendant, please forgive us for any unintended offense. It is but a child’s toy,” the selkie almost cried when he saw what Ellen held. Grandmother gave the selkie a sharp glance and turned to see what Ellen held.

“I can’t tell what it is stuffed with,” Ellen said to Grandmother. “It doesn’t feel like scrap. If it isn't, perhaps we could use it to make upholstered furniture or maybe even mattresses.” Grandmother took the doll from Ellen and gave it a squeeze.

Almost as soon as Grandmother accepted the doll its color began to change. The orange color leached out of the doll’s ‘skin’. In an almost reverse of what sofas did when Grandmother sat on them. It took moments for the doll’s skin to be the same tan color as rest furniture in the wild. Its yellow hair dulled to a blond. The most surprising thing was the hunter’s greens. The green clumped and separated forming into a complex forest scene. It reminded Ellen of the tapestry in the queen’s suite. She wondered if it was related. Instead of a dozen different animals among the trees, there were only three. They were all the same type. It was with some amusement that Ellen saw they were tiny earthen squirrels.

“Oops,” Grandmother said. “I guess I will have to buy it now.”

“I have not seen anything but furniture do that before,” Ellen observed.

“I wonder if it's because it’s a toy?” Grandmother questioned. Grandmother walked over to the counter and held up the doll.

“What is inside it?” she asked the selkie. She poked the doll with her other hand.

The selkie was almost babbling now. He was saying something about mercy and his nephew.

“Stop,” Grandmother said, clearly in selkie. The crafter stumbled into silence. Grandmother smiled. She made a pinching motion with her hand and pantomimed pushing something into the doll. “What is inside?” she said again. She reversed her motion pinching the doll and pantomiming pulling something out. She held her hand up still in the pinched position. She set the doll on the counter and pointed at her pinched fingers.

“What is inside?” she asked.

“You want to know what is in it?” the selkie asked, some sanity returning to his eyes.

“Yes,” Grandmother said in selkie.

The crafter sang a word neither Grandmother nor Ellen recognized. Grandmother tilted her head and held her free hand open. “Not know,” Grandmother sang.

“I will get some. Just a moment,” the crafter said. He stepped away into the back room. Ellen looked down at the doll on the counter and saw that it now had a face etched on it, all in black, except for the eyes, which were violet.

The door to the central pond opened and a small selkie came running in. They stumbled to a halt before the two humans, frantically searching the floor.

“Have you seen my newcomer?” the selkie sung in an almost painfully high voice.

“You must be looking for this,” Grandmother said, lifting the doll from the counter. She held the toy out to the child. Ellen noticed that there were two more earthen squirrels on the back, one with red eyes, while the other’s eyes were yellow. Ellen was willing to bet the squirrels on the front bore eyes of green, blue and orange.

“You made him beautiful,” the selkie exclaimed, accepting the doll from Grandmother. Grandmother didn’t smile at the child. Instead she just nodded. The selkie turned and rushed out of the store saying something about showing their friend.

“Do you think the transformation will last?” Ellen asked.

“Yeah,” Grandmother said. “When her mother finds out it will probably become the next family heirloom.”

“Do you think that’s how they got the tapestry?” Ellen asked.

“No, he called the selkie in the tapestry a saint, not a god. I think that means they were tier five,” Grandmother replied.

The crafter came back out of the back carrying a roundish brown item. He sat it down on the counter. “This is a…” the selkie repeated the unfamiliar word.

Grandmother picked it up and examined it. She handed it to Ellen. “It is a sponge,” Grandmother explained. “I should have expected something like that. They are a primitive ocean animal. So primitive I can see how both Earth and this world could end up with something very similar.”

“A sponge,” Ellen repeated. She squished the sponge in her hand. “I think it might work.” She looked at the crafter. She sat the sponge down and asked, “Do you have any bigger?” She put her hands around the sponge and expanded them out.

“Holy attendant, you want it to grow?” the selkie asked.

“No,” Ellen responded in selkie. ‘Yes’, ‘no’, ‘not know’ these were about the limits of Ellen's vocalization of selkie. Grandmother managed to say ‘stop’, but Ellen wasn’t certain she could accomplish the same. She held her hands around the small sponge. She moved them to surround an imaginary larger sponge that sat beside the first sponge on the counter. “Bigger,” Ellen said. “Do you have any that are bigger?”

The outer door opened again. This time two young selkie came rushing in. Ellen thought these must be the two that they watched playing in the central pond. The second child came right up to Grandmother and thrust a rag doll out at the tier six player.

“Fix mine too!” the little selkie demanded.

“What did I tell you about manners?” the selkie said in such an old worn way, that Ellen knew he spoke before any actual thought. She glanced over at him and found him rolling his lips together, like he wanted to take the words back, even as he rubbed his flipper-hands together and shifted on his flipper-feet.

“Please!” the young selkie squeaked. The doll grasped in its flipper-hand was also a human. Its skin was yellow and its hair orange. Its green outfit was shaped like wizard silks.

“Lets see what we can do,” Grandmother said, kneeling down to take the doll from the child. Instantly the yellow leached from the doll’s ‘skin’. The bright orange hair dulled, but stayed recognizably orange. The green of the mini-wizard silks divided and clumped, forming into an open grassland. Instead of earthen squirrels, large butterflies formed. There were two that Ellen could see clearly, one with blue wings, while the second one’s were bright green. She caught a hint of a splash of orange on the dolls far side. She was certain a red and yellow butterfly were on the back.

Grandmother was softly talking to the young selkie. She asked what the doll's name was and what game the two children were playing in the pond. The selkie didn’t understand Grandmother’s words and didn’t respond. Grandmother took no offense. The child danced around the toy, watching the transformation with his full attention. She held the doll until a small face appeared on it. It looked like it was drawn on the cloth with a stylus in deep black ink. Except for the eyes of course, which were violet.

“There you go,” Grandmother said when the transformation finished. She handed the doll back. The young selkie accepted the toy. He shifted on his feet and hugged the doll to himself.

“It's beautiful,” the selkie said, then with a glance at the selkie behind the counter he added, “Thank you.”

“You're welcome young man,” Grandmother said standing back up, releasing the youngster from her attention. “Go play with your friend.”

They two young selkie rushed out of the room. The second one was singing, “Mine is better than yours!”

They just heard the first one’s response before the door swung shut behind them. “No way, mine has nuisances on it!”