where shall i begin?

[small_magics]

Isibel is without her loves, her mints, her enchannels.

She does have a coin stash. A reasonably large one, in her beloved's shifting geode colors, and a few in the higher denominations imported from Rainbow; she can make small ones herself. And she is still linked to her beloveds - she can still access Ansharil's magic, is still a functional elfmage.

And unlike any other Bell cast adrift without her convenient masochist(s), Isibel can enchant alone. It's the simplest application of hyperfocus: contemplate her spell and wake up again with it complete. Channeling through oneself leaves no lingering discomfort after the initial burst, and she can fail entirely to attend to that initial burst.

And -

She is reasonably well recovered from her earlier breakage.

It seems to her that it is time to do some... Belling, although she has not yet decided how to start.

She teleports from her folded-in-on-itself enchanted village to the town in which Magania resides, and there she looks for the other elf, who has given such good counsel in the past and already knows of the features of Bells.

Comments

[small_magics]

"There is a certain afterlife, shared between many worlds, including, now, this one," says Isibel. "If someone who has died and gone there suffers lethal damage, they reset to a healthy state on the spot instead. And it is possible to distribute that power to those who have never died. I can do it."

[pythbox]

"I'll take it," says Saravasse.

Ancaladar nods.

One by one, so do the rest.

[small_magics]

Isibel torchables them all. "I can do the same for your Bondmates if they are willing, but only in person," she says.

[pythbox]

"It won't take long to assemble them," says Saravasse. "Those who are interested."

"Which will be most of them, I'm sure," says Ancaladar.

"Perhaps a day or two," says Saravasse.

[small_magics]

"Perhaps some or all of you would like to be added to my network of telepathy so that you may speak to me and each other at any distance," suggests Isibel.

[pythbox]

Saravasse laughs. "That would be fun," she says, curling her tail around her paws.

The other dragons echo this sentiment.

[small_magics]

[Here you are, then,] she says to all the dragons, and she explains the features of the brainphone.

[pythbox]

[Fascinating,] says Saravasse.

[small_magics]

[I think so. I can teleport and do not sleep, so you may ask for me whenever it is convenient for you and your beloveds.]

[pythbox]

A chorus of dragons is quick to inform her that this is very convenient indeed.

[Thank you,] says Ancaladar on behalf of all of them.

[small_magics]

"You are welcome. And while I am here - there is another matter I can help you with to some degree. The matter of your collectively - limited ancestry. I am unsure how you would most like to address this issue, beyond what my beloved has already assisted with - but I do not think it beyond my current abilities to conjure from nothing some modest number of dragon eggs unrelated to any of you, for instance. Not a large number, at least not while my beloved is gone, because he assists me with magic in more ways than one, but a few."

[pythbox]

Liselen swishes his tail.

"If you do that, you have to be careful about it," he says. "You could end up stealing a lot of magic from places that need it. But if you make sure to create the magic instead of just moving it around, then it's fine."

[small_magics]

"I will design that in," promises Sarion.

[pythbox]

Liselen nods.

"We could always use a few more kids around the place," says Saravasse.

[small_magics]

"Your opinions about timing or other traits would be valuable," says Isibel.

[pythbox]

"Make them dragons," says Saravasse.

"All at once would make the next few years interesting, especially since so many of us are already going to be laying soon," volunteers a smallish sky-blue female.

"But 'interesting' is not necessarily a bad thing," says Ancaladar.

"All at once it is," says Saravasse.

[small_magics]

"Dragons, of course," laughs Isibel. "I can leave other features up to the magic provided they are not too similar to any of you, then."

She carefully lays down the parameters of the wish in her mind and starts trying coins.

[pythbox]

One evil produces one dragon egg to her specifications.

[small_magics]

"I can do - five. If five would be a good number," Isibel says, evaluating her coin supply. Aurora was always generous; she is not short on evils but is reluctant to expend many in a single go. "...This one is a female. I can produce whatever gender ratio you prefer." The egg she has made has a pretty red-and-white-swirled eggshell.

[pythbox]

"Four girls and a boy," Saravasse says firmly.

[small_magics]

"All right." And Isibel makes four more eggs, all next to the first, designed the same way. One is a glittery, cloudy gray; one is gold, patched with red; one is midnight blue with crackling white patterns; and the last, the boy's, is iridescent black.

[pythbox]

"Pretty," says Saravasse.

"We'll take good care of them," promises Ancaladar.

[small_magics]

"I know you will," says Isibel. "With that I think our business is concluded until your Bondmates are available to be made immortal."

[pythbox]

Ancaladar nods.

[small_magics]

Isibel inclines her head and vanishes back to her folded-up island village.