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]

"That is good to know. Since," she adds magnanimously, "the dragons presently reside within elven borders, perhaps you would like to know that I mean to offer their population and their Bondmates both the kind of immortality I already possess, and a means of addressing some of their population constraints."

[pythbox]

"I am sure," says Andoreniel, "that the dragons will be pleased."

Liselen swishes his tail.

[small_magics]

Tea. Sip sip.

[pythbox]

Sip sip.

[small_magics]

"This is a fine leaf, and finely brewed," comments Isibel.

[pythbox]

Andoreniel nods. "The teas of autumn have been particularly fine this year."

[small_magics]

"Autumn tea has always been my favorite."

[pythbox]

"Each tea is best enjoyed in its own season," says Andoreniel, "but I find for the most part my taste runs to the teas of summer. They have a lightness to them which I find pleasing."

[small_magics]

Some amount of inane tea talk later, the tea is gone.

"My next stop is with the dragons," Isibel remarks.

[pythbox]

"I am sure they will be pleased to see you," says Andoreniel.

[small_magics]

"Liselen, I would be much obliged if you would accompany me," Isibel adds to the unicorn.

[pythbox]

"Sure!" he says brightly.

[small_magics]

Isibel inclines her head to the King, and she brings herself and Liselen to the cave that her beloveds once lived in.

[pythbox]

Saravasse pokes her large scarlet head in the entrance almost immediately.

"Oh, look, it's Ansharil's Bonded," she says, amused. "And the world's rudest unicorn."

Liselen snorts.

[small_magics]

"I See you," chuckles Isibel. "I have come to offer all the dragons and their Bondmates true immortality, if Liselen offers no warning from the Wild Magic."

[pythbox]

"Nope," says Liselen. "Not a peep. There's something about the other thing, but it's not coming clear yet."

[small_magics]

"One caution about the matter is that - while I cannot access the ability now and do not know when I will recover it - the dead of this world are not irrecoverable, and under other circumstances I can retrieve them to a condition indiscernible from life," Isibel says. "I know that under my particular circumstance, my Bond was cut and then restored when I died and then awoke, but I do not know what may happen when there are larger numbers of Bondmates about."

[pythbox]

"That'll cause a stir," Saravasse remarks.

[small_magics]

"Yes, I would imagine. But it could be many years before that power is restored to me, and in the meantime it will help no one if dragons or their beloveds who are alive now should die."

[pythbox]

"Not to mention, at least we'll stop accumulating new ones," says Saravasse. "Come on outside and let's all have a nice chat."

[small_magics]

Isibel nods and follows her.

[pythbox]

All the nearby dragons assemble themselves - Saravasse, Ancaladar, Petrivoch, and more besides. It quickly becomes very crowded, even in the open air with plenty of perches for everyone.

"Isibel here wants to make us all immmortal," Saravasse announces.

"How, exactly?" says Ancaladar.

[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.