A forest that was not there yesterday

[unprophesied_of_ages]

The Lord Ruler is in his palace, when he sees a sight he hasn't seen in centuries. Trees, sunlight...is he hallucinating? The fact that there's a forest in his living room isn't the surprising part. The fact that there's a forest on his planet is. As soon as he walks through the door to where his living room isn't, it's definitely not a hallucination.

His stores of Allomantic metals abruptly disappear. They're still physically there, but the power is completely gone. He immediately turns to go back, only to see more forest.

At least his Feruchemy still works—he can tell because he's still alive—but that won't last him forever. He only has so much stored youth, and without both sets of abilities he can't replenish it. He hasn't been in so much danger since the beheading that one time. Returning to Scadrial is the highest and currently only priority. If spontaneous forests are a thing, he needs to find someone who can explain them and more importantly how to get back.

The next few hours are spent walking in an essentially randomly chosen direction, with the sun to his right. He's quite certain that suns are supposed to be moving across the sky, but that's not a pressing emergency. He already knew he wasn't on his own planet when he saw proper trees and plants instead of ash-covered monstrosities. Whenever he calls out, nobody responds. If it's an empty spontaneous forest, he's probably doomed.

After some time, he hears his stomach growl. He hasn't seen much that looks edible, but possibly that's just because he's not used to real plants. Berries. Berries used to exist. Those berries look tasty, and if they're poisonous it's not like he needs to worry about it. As always, he has a truly ridiculous amount of stored health in his gold jewelry. Tapping gold just in case, he eats a handful.

Comments

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"I don't think there was any time where I wasn't planning on it.
At first because him capturing you would be a very bad thing on several levels even without you knowing my name. More recently because he's near enough to the steppes to be threatening. And now that you've mentioned it, army of sorcerers."

[imeanforever]

"Ah."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"We could even go to Fairyland and make a gate from there to the other side of this planet, then to Thorn's court from there. Then anyone who comes through is definitely not getting to us. Can't say the same for whoever lives there, though."

[imeanforever]

"Obviously you can do as you like."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"Well, yes, but I want to avoid Thorn's people rampaging here as much as you do. Would he be deterred by the gate going to somewhere buried deep underground? To a deserted and distinctly uncomfortable wasteland? To somewhere it could plausibly have been directed from on purpose, with people to conquer if he wants, but that won't lead him to us?"

[imeanforever]

"I can't claim to really understand his motives beyond that he collects sorcerers, he's very good at it, and he's more than sadistic enough that staying here with you transmuting metals all day is idyllic by comparison to what I'm looking at if he takes me back again."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"So he really needs capturing, then.
We can just put the gate in one of those hidden rooms that take Allomancy to open. If anyone other than me comes through, it might not stop them for long but you'll have a chance to run for it and come back in three hundred years."

[imeanforever]

"I can't get very far running on a 'take no new action' to which you've been adding as-needed exceptions."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"I'm going to edit it of course. Something much broader, about saving the world and not overthrowing me. Once I work out how best to phrase it."

[imeanforever]

"I wasn't overthrowing you or endangering the world before," she points out.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"You weren't endangering the world. You were giving me orders and taking issue with how I run my empire, and that's a combination that I plan to avoid."

[imeanforever]

Promise is silent.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"If I don't go after Thorn directly then he'd be adjacent to the likely future human colony, and he doesn't sound like a good neighbor to have. Unless this is a really terrible idea in some way I don't know about, it seems like an obvious decision to me."

[imeanforever]

"He's very, very smart. He is much worse than Yellow."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"That makes this higher stakes and more important. But he shouldn't get a chance to give me loophole-less orders, and he surely won't expect any of this kind of magic."

[imeanforever]

"I can't stop you."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"No, but if it were an apocalyptically bad idea I'd hope you'd try to talk me out of it.
As it is, let's go get started. Follow me."

He heads downstairs.

[imeanforever]

She follows. Of course. "I don't have much to argue with, if Thorn being preposterously dangerous won't cut it. You could send me to find someplace farther from him than the Steppes."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"Not much to argue with is a good sign.
Is there such a place? That would be strictly better. but from what you said earlier there aren't a lot of places uninhabited enough."

[imeanforever]

"It's not a good sign. He barely had me do anything for him because he likes a certain amount of psychological brokenness in his vassals before he lets them take any substantial actions, that he couldn't get me to quick enough to suit him, which is why he sold me; I don't know what defenses he has but he collects sorcerers. I don't know a place better than the Steppes but I could look."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"How good are Fairyland's maps? If I tell you to come back in a few days with the best place to put a human colony, would you be likely to find a better suggestion? Thorn can be dealt with later."

[imeanforever]

"There are maps; they aren't very high-resolution. A few days wouldn't be long enough because the existing gate isn't near a library and I can't guarantee that a new gate made to a library would settle quickly."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"It could take more than days? We really were lucky last time around."

[imeanforever]

"It could, potentially. You were very lucky."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"Well, I would want to capture Thorn eventually anyway even if there were somewhere better than the Steppes. And I'm not going to gain any more useful powers, so it may as well be now."

They reach the room where the chrome and cadmium came from. He opens the door with Allomancy, audibly moving the bar that locks it. "If you put one end of the gate here, you'll at least have warning if anyone who isn't me comes through."