her_imperial_radiance | Milliways Again

her_imperial_radiance

It lurks. Oh how it lurks.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

prima_sequentem

"Bella has an empire now," Libby says cheerfully. "And it's the most fun I've had in years."

From:

her_imperial_radiance

"Oh, congratulations! How's it going? I bet you didn't call it the Golden Empire, that's kind of a theme name that only makes sense with vampires involved," Elspeth says.

From:

self_composed

"Empire of the Stars," Bella says. "I'm colonizing not-Earth locations and sprucing them up nice and inviting people to move in, rather than attempting direct takeover. What does gold have to do with vampires?"

From:

her_imperial_radiance

"Vampires who eat people," says Elspeth, "have red eyes. Vampires who eat animals, or the lovely advanced synthetics they have here that we haven't invented yet, have gold eyes."

From:

self_composed

"I can see building a theme around that, assuming vampires eating humans was a major problem," Bella says. "You have brown eyes. They look like mine."

From:

her_imperial_radiance

"I'm a half-vampire," Elspeth says. "Female vampires can't have biological children, but Mama had plenty of warning and she's smart, so she got some eggs taken out before she turned, and got a friend to carry me for her."

From:

prima_sequentem

"Has there been any progress on analyzing the stuff you brought back last time?" inquires Libby.

From:

her_imperial_radiance

"R&D's working on it," Elspeth says. "So far they know... it's carbonated." She shrugs. "I really doubt that's an essential feature, that's just what the bar gave me." She explains to Bella, "Blood substitutes. Major research interest for us."

From:

self_composed

"I'd imagine. I don't have that problem," says Bella. "Are drinks just free here? If not, can I pay for them in imperial asters?"

From:

prima_sequentem

"They're not, and I would love to know the answer to that question," says Libby.

From:

self_composed

Bella looks around and fails to see a bartender. "How... does this work?"

From:

prima_sequentem

"The Bar is magic," says Libby, pointing. "And sentient, and female. You ask her for things and she gives them to you, within fairly reasonable constraints. There is a magical tab board that may or may not be visible at any given moment, which records how much you owe. I've never actually seen somebody get collected on, but I like to pay it off once in a while anyway."

From:

self_composed

"Can she," Bella says, "answer questions, such as 'can I pay in imperial asters'?"

From:

prima_sequentem

"Yes she can!"

From:

her_imperial_radiance

"She gives out napkins," Elspeth says. "Sometimes they have writing on them. The writing is what she has to say. Just go up to the bar and ask."

From:

self_composed

"Hello, Bar," Bella says, walking up to an empty space at the bar. "Can I buy a virgin piña colada in imperial asters?" Come to think of it she's not even sure if the bank system extends here. Can she check her balance? Yes: it's zero, because she's still just making asters exist on an as-needed basis. Can she make more? Yes, she can.

The beverage and a napkin slide up to her. The napkin reads in pretty, ladylike handwriting, Why, I don't see why not.

"Thanks," says Bella, making the Bar an account so she can pay off her tab later. That'll be fun to explain to Mary.

From:

prima_sequentem

"Well, that's convenient," says Libby.

From:

self_composed

"Quite," Bella agrees.

From:

her_imperial_radiance

"The Golden Empire doesn't have its own currency," says Elspeth. "We just work in the currencies that already exist on Earth. It contributes that we moved into a power vacuum after removing the previous vampire rulers."

From:

prima_sequentem

"Also you probably couldn't design and implement a magical currency system," says Libby. "Which is a pity, because watch."

She withdraws a *500 bill from her account and says, "Fold, please." It folds itself into a tiny, perfect origami swan.

"This is hands down my favourite anti-counterfeiting measure."

Edited Date: 2013-01-11 01:04 am (UTC)

From:

her_imperial_radiance

"That's adorable!" exclaims Elspeth. "Oh my word. What kind of magic do you have that you can do that? It's an anti-counterfeiting measure? Do they just all do that?"

From:

self_composed

"Wish magic," Bella says. "Very comprehensive stuff. They do all do that - but different denominations make different birds. The coins just glow in assorted colors."