shellphones | text; local human doesn't know what a human is.

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text; local human doesn't know what a human is.

Type: Text
Sender ID: andstill (Ardbert Hylfyst)
To: Public Post
Subject: 🧍‍♂️?
Warnings: None

Figure it's normal that someone would come here and see people the likes of which they've never seen before. Makes sense, that. New place, new people.

Thing that's confusing me is, more folk here look like me than ever did back home. All skin, ears the shape of seashells, two eyes, somewhere on the short side of of the mean. We call people like me hume, back home. Or hyur? I think it was hyur. Something like that. We cluster together sometimes, big families and all. But most cities, you'd see all kinds of folk. And they'd be built to be used by all kinds of folk, too. Everything made for people of all sorts of sizes.

Here it feels like every other person is my size. And I don't know I've seen more than a couple doors that a zun could get through comfortably.

That's not normal, is it? For there to be so many hume and so few of everyone else?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Your description is vague for those that do not know what a hume or huyr are. However, given that you have said they are the most numerous of peoples seen in this world, this venerable one assumes you are speaking of mortals. Human mortals.

In this venerable one's world, in the mortal realm, humans are the only mortals that exist. It is normal for the mortal realm. In the immortal realms, immortals, demons, and gods exist. That is normal for the immortal realms.

This world, it seems to be normal for there to be more human mortals to be visibly present on the backs of the God-Beasts than any other races. So, too, for the settlements they have visited since this venerable one arrived. But as we have not seen the whole of this world, it cannot be assumed they are the most numerous in this world. Only what we have seen of it thus far.

I'll be honest, it did not occur to me that not being mortal was an option.

You've got a point, though. We've only seen a fraction of the world. Maybe everyone else is just out there past the sea somewhere.

There are not many other immortals in this world that this venerable one is aware of, but they are certainly here.

And as far as this venerable one is aware, there is no 'past the sea'. The history of this world says that at one time there was more land than water. But the land was drowned and to ensure people survived, the God-Beasts invited them to escape the catastrophe upon their backs. It has been many centuries since then.

Oh.

[ And that's the last message for a while, because he hadn't looked up his history and the idea of a big flood consuming nearly everything hits a little too close to home. But eventually he at least tries to make more conversation ]

Hope they made it then, I suppose. That someone saved them.

Are they what you'd call Immortals? The leviathans?

[When there hadn't been further response, Daqiang had assumed the mortal was done. The return to the conversation caught him by surprise. But he responded, curious what the mortal may want from him with this line of inquiry.]

The God-Beasts are a type of immortal, yes. This venerable one is uncertain how immortal they are, how powerful. The seal on this venerable one's power makes it difficult to assess. But they have existed for a long time and do have power.

Is that the difference between a mortal and an immortal? The amount of power someone has?

Apologies if that's a foolish question.

Not always. This venerable one has met some mortals in this world that have similar power to the weaker of immortals that this venerable one knows. Mortals and Immortals are largely separated by how much they have grown their wisdom, if at all. Those born to immortality tend to grow their wisdom more easily, but it is not always the case that they will be more powerful than those mortals that have managed to become immortal.

[If that didn't make any sense to Ardbert, well, it was to be expected. Cultivation and practicing was often very complicated and nuanced even for those born to immortal races.]

u mad that humans are around or somethin g ?

Not mad, just confused. Half the time back home, I'd be the only hume in a room.

weird thing to be confused about

Hume? Like human?

Been of an even mix in my experience. I often see various "animal folk" when out and about, especially running businesses and such. Walruses, bears, otters, pelicans — had a squid serve me fish balls once, that was interesting. But maybe since I'm from a human only world I notice them more.

For some reason I attract a lot of bird folk.

Suppose so. Other folk seem to be calling us that, too. I know different places have different names for the same thing, that's why I've heard people call us hyur before. 'Human' must just be another word for it.

It's peculiar. There's a lot of different types of folk here, maybe even more than back home. But more hume overall. It's not a bad thing, it's just odd. Even more odd to hear that so many people are from places where there are even more.

Were humans that much of a rarity?

Not rare as such. You wouldn't be surprised to run into one. But my grandpa and I were the only hume on the island I grew up on.

Small island, mind. Most cities, you'd find maybe one hyur in every ten people. Not rare, but not so many of them as there are here.

[Huh.]

And what were the other people like?

There were all kinds. Some kept to themselves. The dwarves - they're smaller folk, about up to your thigh, with pointed ears - stick to their own big family groups. The ondo, too. They're about the size of a hume, but hairless and scaled with a long fin up their back. They can breathe air fine as adults, but their little ones have trouble with it. So mostly they live in their own groups under the sea. Then you have the fae folk. There are a couple different types, but I leave them be and they leave me be, as a rule.

When it comes to the folk who live in cities, you have hume. Folk like me or you. Then the mystel. They're smaller than a hume, as a rule. Quicker on their feet, but they need to use a tail to keep their balance. Ears on top of their head, and they can swivel them around to pinpoint sound. Elves're tall with long limbs and leaf-shaped ears. Galdjent are big fellows. They look close enough to a hume, just twice as tall and three times as wide, but they'd have trouble using most doors that weren't built with their size in mind. And ronso are big, too, but they have fur. Horns, too sometimes. Zun are the other really big fellows. Scaled. They have horns, too. As do the drahn - two horns, one on each side of the head. They have skin and scales both. Then you have viis. The women are taller than a hume, and the men smaller. They're old as anything, most of them, and they have long ears on the top of their heads. And the mord. Little furred men.

Thing is, they'd all need different things out of a city. So you needed to build something that'd be comfortable for a dwarf or a mord, all the way up to someone the size of a zun. Different medicines for some of them, too. Can't always use the same ointments on scales that you would on skin.

I suppose that's what I was getting at. What was worrying me. I'm not familiar enough with things here yet to know whether someone who wasn't a hume'd be comfortable. I suppose it mustn't be that much of an issue, if all the locals are well enough.

[...

All right, he's getting some coffee for this— But it's an interesting read all the same, and if it weren't for living in this world for several months now, he'd be hard pressed to believe it. While some of the monsters of his world had some level of intelligence, it wasn't up to a human's level.]

That's quite the world you have, and if it weren't for being here I'd have a hard time believing in it. But I think I have a better understanding of what you mean. If it helps, I've seen specialty shops and things tailored to the non-human denizens, but there are a lot of different kinds that would certainly need unique treatments. I haven't really thought of that, either, now that you mention it. I'll have to keep that in mind whenever I have non-humans in the crew.

But I think you don't have to worry so much. These people have been around for quite a while, and it seems the rifts have been happening long enough that they've already adjusted to readily accommodate us.

That is a thought, however. I don't know the full history, but if more humans came in due to the rifts, it's quite possible what we see now is a result of that accommodation.

[Though the initial message is in text, Nanaki has opted to make his reply a video. And the face that replies back is very much not human looking.]

There are plenty of non-humans here, if you look for them.

[ Give him a second, he needs to figure out how to video. Which means that his hand is in the way for a while at first, covering the feed and muffling the sound. ]

It'd seem so- [ There we go, he figured it out. ] It'd seem so.

[ And he is very much human. The most human human ever to human. Just a whole man emoji of a person. ]

Couple people have called them 'humans', now. I suppose that's a common term.

[That sure is a human. As for Nanaki, he's very much the opposite end of the spectrum. He merely nods.]

It is from my perspective. I take it that "hume" is yours? In my world, there's far more humans than anything else. It's been quite refreshing to see the number of animal-like beings here alongside humans. Though it seems even if they come from different worlds, humans seem more preoccupied with appearances than anything else.

[He's more speaking from personal experiences of how others have treated him, a mere "beast".]

Yo, hey you're right that most people are human-shaped around here. Hyur or hume or whatever you want to call them.

This is my first time seeing some other non-human-shaped people too, though. People with cat ears, talking dogs, that one mean harpy lady at the medicine shop. Are you saying it's more common for you to have non-human-shaped people around?

Right. We were never exactly rare, but it'd be odd for there to be so many, you know? My grandpa and I were the only humes on the island when I was a lad.

Seems like it's a lot of places inhabited only by humes out there, though. Or at least, people from those sorts of places ended up here.

Wow, that's weird to think. Can't say I know much about other worlds and how they work though.

I've definitely seen more human riftfarers like us. The locals, not as much. Probably a decent mix of non-humans there too.

We're all the same inside though, right?

Aye. It doesn't matter, really. Save for that I worry about the little things. I have a friend, about twice my size. And another about a third my height. If they showed up here today, I wouldn't know where to go to find the both of them a chair they could sit in comfortably.

That's what this is about, I suppose. And the solution's simple. I'd just ask for help.

[Bro... That's so real.]

You're right, if your friends ended up here you'd have to spend a fortune on custom furniture. But there's got to be some decent carpenters around.

Humans? You mean? I kinda get it. I was the only human in my village back home so I know it can take a bit to adjust. To get used to. I lived among seraphim, like elemental spirits. It can be a bit to get used to when you aren't used to having other humans around, at all or so many of them at least.

[ See, this guy understands! ]

Likewise. 'til I left my village, the only hume I knew of were myself and my grandfather. It's a little odd, finding so many all in one place.

Yeah, after Mikleo and I lost our parents as babies, Gramps took us in. We're not related, but that doesn't matter. I guess I'm just used to being around others that are different to me. It's something else being here, or back home leaving the village meeting other humans. Their customs and celebrations and rules and everything.

By hume, you mean humans?

In which case, figure it must be whiplash for you if you're the only human wherever you came from. Back where I'm from at least, humans were the norm for the most part. There were some special cases, like human-animal hybrids or ghosts but those were in tribes hidden away or summoned. But other than those, it's been just humans for me. I know there's some non-humans here, though I hadn't met all of them myself.

Edited 2024-02-04 09:30 (UTC)

Seems like I do. We seem to be called that everywhere but the places I've been before. Humans.

But aye, that's what's strange about it to me. There are plenty of folk here who aren't hume, but so many more people who look like me than I'm used to. And so many people from places where they're the only sort of people there are. I'm not complaining, it's just peculiar.

human, I think it's called here.

From my experience, humans are the majority in most worlds, or at least give the appearance of such.

Here and a lot of other places by the sound of it. So far, it seems it's only the worlds I'm familiar with that use different words.

The appearance of such. You mean, folk that aren't hume but can make themselves look that way, the way the fae do?

That's not too surprising...and better than the words you're used to meaning something completely different, no?

Fae, demons, devils...all manner of things can change their form. For many of them, it becomes a matter of safety, to blend in.

The other way round, where I'm from. There's other folks besides humans--werewolves, moogles, dwarves--but they all keep to themselves for the most part.

Sounds like it'd be a pain in the arse to make sure your house had a set of chair for every size of arse--or shape.

You know, a lesser man would tell you that having a good set of chairs is what saves you from a pain in the arse.

Werewolves. Are they furred fellows? Canine in the face and hands? I've met similar back home, if so.

[Hmm. Okay. Grudging respect for that answer, which Ardbert won't ever know about.]

Aye, the only difference 'twist them and typical wolves is the clothes and the talking.

[Time to poke at another loose tooth.]

Wouldn't happen to live in a place by the name of Quelb, would they?

[Sorry buddy, video is the default for this guy.]

Well, where I'm from, your species is a newcomer to the entire galaxy.

A galaxy is- that's one of those things up in the sea of stars, isn't it? The swirly ones?

[ Video it is! Give him a moment, both to figure that out and to get his head around the galaxy thing, he's not from the part of his canon that has spaceships. ]

How would someone go about being a newcomer up there?

... Swirly ones. I - you know what, sure.

[It's not wrong!! Not wrong at all, really, some of them are very swirly things.]

It took your people a while to leave your own solar system, that's how.

Are you from [ not 'Etheirys', none of these mortal things know the name of their own star ] Hydaelyn?

[ He immediately wants to punch something just having to type that name out. ]

Edited 2024-02-06 10:59 (UTC)

It's complicated.

[ If it weren't for the name, he'd just say 'yes'. ]

You understand why, assuming that name is no coincidence.

[ He resolves, once again, to change his username the first opportunity he gets. Ugh. ]

You recognise my title. Who are you exactly?

Ardbert. One of Elidibus' little works of charity. I can tell you more if you care to hear it, but I can't say it's anything of interest.

Important thing to know is that I'm not here to settle any scores, I'm just worrying about whether a galdjent's arse would fit any of the chairs around here.

How magnanimous of you.

I saw Elidibus' attempt to drown the First in Light again so you needn't trouble yourself explaining. You must be the Warrior of Light whose identity he assumed.

[ A pause. ]

Also yes, the population of this world appears to favour hyurs. Or humes, as you call them.

You must come from a pretty colorful place then.

Short side of the mean though?

Aye. If you figured out the average of everyone's height, I think hume like you and I would be a little less than that.

You don't strike me as a short guy though.

[ Cloud is just short, tbh ]

That's the funny thing. Seems like I'm taller than most, at least here.

Back home, with my friends, I'd be one of the smallest. One of was half my height again, and the other two had a head and shoulders on me at least.

It's them I'm worried about, with this. Or not worried, really. I had this nagging thought that maybe if they found themselves here, the place wouldn't be kind to them. I know that's not true, but that doesn't stop the idea from rattling around in my head.

Why wouldn't this place be kind? As much as a place that kind of yanks people from where they originally are from can be.

Haven't really had issues here myself.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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