godbent | 48th: The Officiousness of Haruhi Suzumiya

[Action ]

[ Kyon went home. Kyon went home and the world didn't even notice. Which in some ways is not surprising - he went home just as they were going to Malnosso World. Oh sure the Brigade in Luceti probably noticed as the (increasingly infrequent or at least shorter due to the small size) meetings had him absent where he never really was before but for the most part? Who cared?

Well, Haruhi did.

And because of Haruhi caring around that, she threw herself hard into studying again. In Malnosso World she could work on making progress with her Extended Brigade but in the first week back she signed up for all sorts of missions to not get accepted to any. And so... she studied. Magic, technology, history, cryptoids, anything she could do apart from people because she didn't want to deal with people. Which is why apart from jogging in the morning, going to the Brigade HQ for meetings, and going home at night (maybe a snack between) much of Haruhi's time was in the library and she looks increasingly frumpy. As in she hasn't slept great and her hair has been better. You can encounter her doing this, or you might encounter her practicing some sigils, or meditating for spirits as the weeks drag on... but eventually:]

[ Voice ]

A lot of people have shown themselves to be sort of stupid here before now, but does anyone have some interesting facts or stories to tell me? I want to know more about whatever you want to tell me about. And if you don't, someone come to the HQ and help me test out some things. I've been working on some spells or ways to work with the Filial Spirits. So come on, Luceti.

[ She may or may not be a little distant sounding, but she is interested ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Oh, of course not, but it's still interesting.

So why do you want the rainbow thing?

Because it offers a delicious blend of fresh tastes that no man-made recipe can quite reproduce, with certain aromas that remind the taster of extremely rare flowers growing only in the most distant of forests.

[A beat.]

...Most inns and restaurants are also willing to buy a single serving for 100 000 gil, which is handy when a member of your party throws half the weapons he touches.

Do you ever eat it for yourself though, if it's so delicious?

Whenever I get the chance and have no pressing need for gil. Properly harvesting one is rare enough that we usually have to share a single serving between a handful of people, but if anything that improves the taste.

Why would that improve it?

Any meal tastes much better when it's shared with loved ones, of course.

[My, that certainly came out sappier than he thought it would.]

Or you could say that realizing you've found a group of friends that are both willing and able to kill hundreds of monsters to find a dessert help you appreciate said dessert much more.

Are there so many flans that killing hundreds of them doesn't depopulate everything?

There are. You can spend a week in a cave, killing every flan you meet along the way, and still be ambushed by a dozen of them when you attempt to leave. It's the case for most monsters, actually.

That's strange. Do you know why there are that many?

I know that certain factors such as the cycle of the moon and the presence of strong dark energies can encourage their presence, but I've no idea how they maintain their usually numbers. They'd have to breed much faster than normal animals for that to suffice.

Or they could be created artificially, or they could reproduce in a more efficient way than breeding, like mitosis or something!

...If someone has been creating them this whole time, I might have to free some space in the dungeons. Would that 'mitosis' of yours be possible in any sort of environment?

Well "mitosis" basically means that the monsters would split themselves in half and come out as two new monsters instead of one, reforming into complete monsters. So a little like cloning?

......And could it be triggered by, say, a group of warriors ineffectively trying to cut them in two with swords?

Maybe? Though usually, it's a process that an organism does by itself.

In other words, a single flan could become a thousand, given enough time and a relatively safe location. Would they all have the original's memories, too?

I don't know. Honestly, most of the things that do it in my world are so small they don't have room for memories in their "brains" or whatever's the equivalent for them.

- Oh and in addition to time they would need whatever flans need to power themselves. Like food or photosynthesis?

Their favorite is human flesh, though they can live off animals and other monsters. And there are enough of those to sustain a very healthy population in all regions of the world.

Why would they like human flesh the most... I don't think humans are very healthy to eat as a main prey. But I could be wrong.

The majority of humans are not poisonous or electrified or covered in spikes, which could explain why they like us so much. Most monsters are unsafe to eat unless you are extremely careful.

But why not eat livestock? Or is our livestock shocking? That would be strange.

As flans prefer to live in caves, feeding on livestock is not an option. The few farmers who need to move their herds between towns prefer to do so by ship, as monsters rarely roam the seas.

Oh... that's strange. On Earth, there's actually more life in the sea than on the land. Or at least a lot more types.

There is? I know of plenty of fish species, but even if you count aquatic cave monsters and ignore the underworld species they're outnumbered by aerial and land-bound creatures. Could it be that your Earth has much larger seas than mine?

I don't know, because I don't know your world. But- Earth his about 70% covered in water. What about yours?

Edited 2013-12-11 20:31 (UTC)

[voice]

paladinlost - 2013-12-14 05:08 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2013-12-15 00:03 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2013-12-19 02:58 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2013-12-19 16:56 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2013-12-21 21:49 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2013-12-24 23:43 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2013-12-26 01:28 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2013-12-26 17:08 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2013-12-27 20:45 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2013-12-28 06:32 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2013-12-30 03:38 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2013-12-30 05:28 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2014-01-03 05:42 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2014-01-03 05:45 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2014-01-05 02:07 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2014-01-05 22:58 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2014-01-11 17:55 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2014-01-11 18:05 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2014-01-14 03:08 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2014-01-16 01:30 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2014-01-17 17:59 (UTC) - Expand

Re: [voice]

godbent - 2014-01-18 19:49 (UTC) - Expand

paladinlost - 2014-01-20 00:23 (UTC) - Expand

godbent - 2014-01-20 01:43 (UTC) - Expand