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]

So gates are common enough that the first person-who-needs-destroying he finds happens to have a vassal who can make one. Good.

"I have no intention of doing that. And that intention would not be changed merely by returning to my world. I don't exactly have a shortage of subjects."

[alicornucopia]

"Leaning towards 'deluded'," sighs the fairy. "Maybe I'll sell you to somebody. In the meantime, don't leave the house, don't drink the lakewater, tell me if you get hungry, if you get thirsty you may take water from that basin over there, don't go swimming or break anything or make a racket..." He taps his chin. "Don't get creative with anything missing from that list," he finishes, and he goes into another room of the house.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

If the yellow man is stupid enough to pass up that offer, maybe the next person-who-needs-destroying won't be. Demonstrating powers beyond the human is probably a bad idea, and wouldn't prove world rulership anyway.

He drinks from the basin.

[alicornucopia]

The fairy leans out of the room. "Do try to get along with my other vassal when she gets home, by the way," and then he's behind closed doors again.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

With the person who can make gates back to Scadrial? Rashek is very definitely going to try. The slaver, on the other hand, he has no desire to talk to.

[imeanforever]

Eventually she comes home.

When he hears the door open, Yellow emerges from his room. "Promise! I've caught this mortal - mortal, pick a nickname."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

He can't very well go by "The Lord Ruler" here.
"You're Promise? Alendi."

[imeanforever]

"Hello," says Promise.

"I'm probably going to sell him but it'll take me a while to find a buyer, probably," says Yellow negligently. "Keep an eye on him. Alendi, don't do anything Promise tells you not to."

And then Yellow goes out.

Promise looks assessingly at Rashek and goes to put her bag down in a different room of the house, then comes back out and sits and peers at him thoughtfully.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

Alendi peers back. Jumping straight to "how'd you like to make a gate and order me not to stay on this side" doesn't seem likely to work, and he needs more information anyway. For all he knows Promise is all in favor of this system.

"So, I've only been here for hours and don't know the basics. I gather the orders thing happens by name and sometimes by food, but can you tell me what exactly we're in for?"

[imeanforever]

"If you're about to be sold, I don't know what you can expect from your second master, but as long as Yellow has you - well, for the bulk of your time that depends somewhat on what you're good at. He has me do incidental sorcery and keep up my study of that, and I'm allowed some hours to myself, and he's also occasionally inclined to sexual use, although I can't predict whether he'll want to use you for that."

Thoughtful finger-tapping.

"Did you bring any mortal food of any kind with you?"

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"I'm...sorry to hear that. Would you like revenge?" Revenge is definitely a thing he can offer, all he needs is a gate.
There's only one possible reason for that question and it's very promising. "Depends what counts as food. I could break off and regrow a bit of a finger and cook the spare. It'd be painless but extremely disgusting; how desperate are we?"

[imeanforever]

"There is a sharp limit to how much revenge is available while he remembers our names," says Promise. "I want out. We can both get out - probably - and I think we are, in fact, that desperate. Yellow isn't very smart; I'd be long gone but I have lingering orders from a previous master and I can't help you until they're countermanded. Did Yellow already tell you not to give out your name? - Don't say it yet, if he hasn't. But what were his exact words?"

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"He got my name and then said 'don't tell anyone else that.' But that was before he ordered me not to do anything you say not to, so you might be able to just ask.

On my own world, I have an army of people whose names he doesn't know. Yellow said you know how to make a gate?"

[imeanforever]

"I know how to make a gate. I know where one already is, too, but it might not open anywhere near where you want to be in the mortal world. I don't have to work out a complicated way to tell you not to not tell me your name, though, with that wording you can write it down or say it backwards or something - but my idea only works if I go first. There's nothing less disgusting than part of your finger available?"

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"Less disgusting? Most things are.
I have vials of dissolved metals that are meant to be swallowed, but something cooked and formerly alive is at least a more foodlike kind of thing. Depends entirely on what counts."

[imeanforever]

"Cooked is not necessarily, formerly alive might be. All right. So, that, and then you will be able to rescind all my previous orders. Then you tell me your name and I can do the same thing for you and we can get out. I can't feed you because once I'm your vassal food from me will no longer have power to capture you."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"All right, try this and hopefully we can avoid the other option."
He hands her a glass vial containing flakes of differently colored metals in a transparent solution.

[imeanforever]

She peers at it, then downs it in one gulp. "Right, try telling me to do something."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"Ask me to write my name."

[imeanforever]

"Write your name," Promise says at once. "...Okay, I don't have to eat part of your finger, that's good. I'll get you some paper." She gets him some paper, and an inkpen.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

Alendi considers whether to write his name. He could order her to open a gate, call some Steel Inquisitors, and torture Yellow until he rescinds the orders. If gate-making is fast enough that it'd finish before Yellow gets back. And if it's directed enough that the gate wouldn't open into the middle of the burnlands. And if this world's natives don't have some way of stopping Inquisitors. Too many unknowns.

He picks up the pen and writes Rashek.

[imeanforever]

Promise reads it, and then the paper ignites in her hand; she drops it and it's ashes before it hits the ground.

"You have to rescind my orders before I can cover yours; I had a cleverer master before Yellow and many of his commands still apply."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"Then I hereby order you to ignore whatever previous orders you want to."

She doesn't seem likely to try anything dangerous, but Alendi taps zinc and steel to speed up his perceptions and reactions. Just in case.

[imeanforever]

"Thank you. And I rescind your previous orders - and - never give me an order that I do not expressly request of my own uncommanded will, or that you do not sincerely without mental contortion believe to be in my best interest as you genuinely understand it, except the reciprocal of this one if you so desire."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

Ruin. She's ordering him.
As soon as he hears "never give me an order," Alendi starts filling a tinmind. Rather than storing his sense of hearing for future use, he's making sure he won't hear anything until her mouth stops moving.

Sound fades out, and he manages to cut off the rest of Promise's orders. At least whatever came after "never give me an order I don't request" won't affect him. Looks like she's going to need destroying along with Yellow.

For now, though, he still needs to get out of this house and back to his world. "Thanks for removing those. Do you have a safe place in mind, or do we just pick a direction and go?"