Bill:
Before you chuckle about Brennan's Deep Thoughts, remember that when I GM'd, the principle problem that the group had to deal with was radioactive ore, and the "magic item" that could detect it's presence consisted of foil leaves suspended from an angled metal rod in a clear stoppered bottle. Sound familiar?
Narrator:
She turns over and is immediately asleep. Brennan glances over at her, sighs and nods to himself. Then, almost as if he had been waiting for permission to grieve, he whispers "Zeke" and tears begin to stream silently from his face.
Just before dawn, Brennan hears the faintest of noises. The slight rustle here, a quiet scrape there, and as he ponders what action to take, he sees the shape. It's a snake, wandering back to its lair in the rock outcropping. Its tongue probes the air, and after standing stock still, it decides to go around the two. As it slithers by, a large bulge partway down indicates that it has recently fed. It's too dark to classify, other than as "huge."
Bill:
Don't even tell me that you've got a dog stuffed down that snake's gullet!
[calming down]
Although I wouldn't expect so, since snakes can't/don't take animals that are on the run.
Neil:
The rule most snakes like this use is, if it's the right size, and slower than me, then I eat it. How fast is a dog? :-)
Bill:
As fast as necessary! :)
Narrator:
Brennan watches speculatively as the snake goes by, but then shakes his head
As the first rays of dawn hit the rock, Maia wakes up. Brennan is composed now, but still looks...hollow.
Maia looks at his face and recognizes the look, but decides not to comment for now.
Maia: [gently]
Your turn for a nap. I'll wake you in two hours, ok?
Narrator:
Brennan nods, grateful that Maia's ignoring his mood. He's not sure he can sleep, but he also knows he'd better. His training takes over, and he drops off immediately.
Nothing unusual happens while he sleeps, unless you count the SIZE of the occasional animal stirring in the grasses and bushes nearby.
Brennan stretches and yawns, then rises to his feet. Maia is already standing and dressed in her leathers for a change. She rummages in her pack and pulls out two bars of dried fruit mixed with nuts, handing one to Brennan, who looks much better now. He's either not feeling the loss so strongly now, or he's more able to hide his feelings after some sleep.
Maia:
Let's not take time for a Real Breakfast. I'd like to go on for another half day and see if there is anything different, then we can turn around and head back to Jhereg's camp. I'm expecting things to stay the same, or that animals and plants will grow progressively larger as we get closer to the castle. If so, I already have all the information I'm going to be able to get for now.
Brennan:
Personally I'd be surprised if they keep getting larger. Things can't change size that significantly and still be made of the same stuff. I mean, we're not built much differently than a squirrel (in terms of the basic materials), but we'd be smashed if we tried the scaled-up jumps and the occasional falls that they shrug off all the time. And they'd have the same problem if they were much larger. Their behavior would have to change radically for them to survive. Now if we were being made smaller, which is still a possibility, then we should be getting more..."capable" as we get smaller. Like I should be able to pick up larger rocks than I ever could before.
[he tries one]
...ugh! Seems the same to me!
Narrator:
Half a day is really all the farther that they want to go. Brennan is in Deep Thought, but still alert. The grass, already waist high, grows to nearly overhead. It just looks like big grass.
Brennan: [shrugs]
Guess I was wrong...this is magic beyond any magic that I have ever see or heard of... Ok, just out of curiosity...
Narrator:
Brennan starts looking closely at the spacing of the trees and the size of their crowns.
Brennan: [thinking out loud]
Are they crowded together in a way that would imply that they became bigger all of a sudden while the space between them remained the same? Or did space in general distort here so that the distance from one side to the other is somehow increased beyond what it was before the spell was cast? That would account for the seemingly great distance from the edge to the castle. But if the change is in "spacing" and not an attribute of the objects in the affected area, then why doesn't it affect us?! Aaagh! If your samples leave the area and then return later, will they be as unaffected as ourselves? How does the spell "know" about what should be affected and what shouldn't? I'd love to learn how this works! Not that I think I'd ever have a use for it, but... the first step to learning is understanding _exactly_ what it does.
Narrator:
The paths they walk on must be game trails. The tracks on the trails get bigger too. It takes Brennan a moment to realize that what he is looking at are probably kitty cat tracks, not mountain lion tracks. Certainly there are signs of plentiful food for cats that size.
He looks down a cross trail and tries thinking fast. Staring at him is a cat the size of a lion. It doesn't know what to make of the two of them, and hasn't decided yet what to do. It looks a little large for Animal Control to work... The colorations give Maia an idea - this is a domesticated cat raised in the wild.
Maia:
Here, kitty, kitty.
Narrator:
Brennan stifles a laugh and hopes that it all works. The idea of trying to elude a cat this size is something he doesn't care to consider.
Something powerful tugs deep in the cat's instinctive memory. Its head pops up, out of fight/flight posture to the curious gaze of an interested cat. One ear cocks sideways...
Maia:
Here, kitty, kitty.
Narrator:
... and then the cat saunters on up to Maia, sniffing as it goes. When it gets to her leg, it rubs its face against her whole left side. At this size scale, Maia can smell that the cat has marked her. She scratches all of the places where cats like to be scratched and shortly they have a purring housecat. One that masses hundreds of pounds. It gets difficult to stay upright when it leans into her for more intense scratching. It seems very interested in the smells that come from her pack. It also has decided that as long as the scratching continues, it'll go wherever Maia goes.
Maia: [switching to Cat Speech]
:Hello, my beauty... I am called Maia. What are you called?:
Narrator:
Brennan switches speech modes as well so he can follow their conversation.
The Cat:
:My mama calls me Scamper. I think that's a baby name, don't you? I'm not a baby anymore.:
Maia: [chuckles]
:No, you're hardly a baby, that's for sure!:
The Cat: [irritably]
:Hey. Don't stop scratching! You weren't done yet.:
Maia: [goes back to her job]
:Where is your mama? Do you have any people-pets?:
The Cat: [curious about the latter question, ignoring the first]
:What's a people-pet? Is it good to eat or play with?:
Maia:
:They aren't good to eat, but people-pets will feed you and scratch you and admire you, just like I'm doing right now.:
The Cat: [petulantly]
:You're *not* feeding me.:
Maia: [laughing]
:No, you're right. I'm only scratching you and admiring you. If you'd like to come with me, I'll see what I can do about feeding you as well.:
The Cat: [even more petulantly]
:*I* didn't do anything funny.:
Narrator:
She stops purring, turns her back on Maia and begins to groom herself.
Maia: [apologetically solemn voice, eyes still laughing]
:Come, Beauty. We're going for a walk. I would be honored if you would choose me for a people-pet.:
Beauty: [abruptly stops sulking]
:I like being called Beauty! It's not a baby name. And it fits me. All right. You can be my people-pet, at least as long as it pleases me.:
Maia: [back to human speech]
Looks as if we have a friend. Do you have any dried meat for her? I'm not sure that she'd appreciate my fruit bars.
[thinking aloud]
It will be interesting to breed her and see if the size is dominant. Or if she can even breed with regular cats.
Narrator:
Brennan chokes at the thought of breeding this little kitty with a normal sized tom. Tuath genetic practices and artificial insemination aren't well known outside the Enclave.
Maia looks up at him.
Maia:
Are you all right?
Brennan: [nods, and wisely decides not to comment right now]
Sure. And I have some jerked beef if that's what you're looking for
[he hands a pouch to Maia]
...
Maia:
Then let's go; we've got a long trip back. How soon do you think we'll meet up with the dogs? We'll want to tell Beauty about them, but she won't remember them well until she's met them, so I can't do it too early.
Brennan:
I expect that we won't meet up with the dogs until we get within wind of our sleeping trees. At least I sincerely _hope_ we don't. And how Beauty and your samples react to leaving the affected area will have an impact on how we introduce the dogs.
By the way.
[smiles and nods at her appreciatively]
Good thinking there. I was at a loss.
But be careful about how well Beauty takes our apparent increase in size (given that's what happens.) I'd like to keep her around for a foray back in to see if the spell "remembers" her. The other samples aren't alive, and that may make a difference.