shellphones | [open]

Type: Video
Sender ID: hasapoint (Lashan)
To: Public
Subject: waterproofing charms
Warnings: none!

[FIRST: You get a very close shot of Lashan's eye as she squints at her shellphone. We have here that double-doozy of a medieval and an old person and while she's pretty sharp, these devices are not intuitive to her.]

'S it working? The bead's glowing.

[aka 'the light's on'. The video pulls back a bit but like, it's still pretty close and the angle is unflattering. This whole thing feels completely unnatural to her and the lines between her brows are deepened in a frown.]

I'm Sister Lashan. I'm a lay sister, not a nun. I've made some charms for waterproofing. They're not well-tested though. If you help me with that I'll give you one. Want to know their tolerances and if I have to tweak anything before I start selling them. I'm on Elrut.

[yeah this has made her feel ridiculous and stilted. She prods at the phone with a finger.]

...How do I- [she found out how to end message! this was Not guaranteed.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Stepping into the water is very much a strange experience—one that Alhaitham will examine after and find himself unable to decide what he really feels about it besides 'different'.

Until then, he mostly lets it pass through him, even taking a breath before he goes to fully submerge himself underwater for a few moments just to really test things out. At the very least the one part about having returned to Sumeru for a year is that he's no longer as affected by his near drowning experience at Norhpip... a trip to Fontaine to swim in their lake certainly hadn't hurt either.

But all in all, Alhaitham doesn't linger for too long in the lake before getting out of it, and its really only then does he feel the difference. Since he didn't have the charm on any part of his actual body he can very much feel the water on his skin, but there's not so much as a lick of it on his clothes. He even wrings out some water from his thoroughly soaked hair onto his hand just to be sure, only to see for himself how it easily slides off the material of his glove.]

It works. [He says as much as he glances back up to her, gathering more water into his hand that he lets fall off just to demonstrate again.] Much better than I expected too.

[He wasn't sure how the parts of his body that are covered by his clothes would fare, but since they're all rather skintight he doesn't really feel anything having soaked through at all. The full effects might be better observed on Kaveh in that aspect, but even then its hard to find any fault in it.]

[Lashan nods, unsurprised.]

It's a talent I worked long and hard to cultivate. Pressing a spell into something and making it actually, flexibly applicable for someone else, that is, not dryness. This is just something for food and, regrettably, rent.

[If he wants to ask what other spells she can do this with - well, some come easier than others.]

Mind you, I expect salt water will be more taxing on it, but I'm sure I can sort things out.

[Alhaitham hadn't thought too much of the idea of other spells, really; at this point he's just taking in whatever has been said to him as it comes. And truthfully he's also the last person to really pry, even if the possibility comes to him. He's never been on to press others on what they're unwilling to share unless the circumstances deem it necessary.]

Taxing on the material, or the power of the charm itself? [He inquires at the second bit. It's hard to imagine why salt water would be so different seeing as they're both still water in the end, but he's hardly the expert here.]

On the charm's power. It's only got so much strength, see. Each application uses up some, and whatever the reason, it holds up longer against sweet water. I imagine seawater's not as bad as blood, but there's a sort of corroding effect to salt.

I really want to get an idea of how long these could be expected to last before I start turning them out to sell. Reputation's important. Overpromising doesn't get a lot of repeat customers.

[Alhaitham would be lying if he said that he isn't intrigued by the exact nature of whatever powers these charms, especially after hearing that explanation. Exactly what kind of powers are these, that they could be affected by a difference between salt and freshwater? Not even the Hydro Vision users back in Teyvat were ever affected by something like this, as far as he's aware. Most intriguing indeed...

With that sort of mystery before him, Alhaitham sees no reason as to why he shouldn't keep up this arrangement. Maybe whatever he gets to glean from here may help with his own things in some form or fashion.]

Of course. [He says, nodding.] If you're willing, I do not mind holding onto this and keeping track of its use, including when its no longer effective.

Please do. If you can tell me roughly how many times you've gone and immersed yourself when it frays that will be informative.

I've made ones that lasted three quarters of a year against rain, sweat, and battle, and ones that only lasted half that but those were messier times. It's not an exact art, unfortunately.

[it can be, magic in Velgarth can be broken down and analyzed with scientific precision, and when it is she - or, well, the thing that has her soul and values - will keep up, but that won't happen for a long time yet.]

[Alhaitham sees no problem with this request, especially after the subsequent explanation, so he nods again in acquiesce.]

Is the difference between regular water versus salt water the only thing to look out for? Or is there anything else you are unsure of.

[Might as well see if there's anything else that can be done, since they're already here.]

It seems there's a lot of types of magic here that I'm not familiar with. It might interact with things I make, or it might not.

Do you have any charms or talismans?

[Alhaitham hums at the answer, easily acquiescing to her point. He's been here for quite a while now and it is still fairly fascinating how the abilities of other worlds work.

At her following question, Alhaitham is about to open his mouth to shoot off a quick 'no', only to pause and consider for a second. In most other cases he would not call a Vision a 'charm' of any sort, but its also not inaccurate considering he does need his close by in order to use any of his abilities, so...

He'll make it down as a 'maybe' for now.]

I suppose Visions work in a way that could fall in line with those things. [He shrugs his left shoulder forward as he says that, allowing the Vision that hangs there to dangle forward, Dendro gem shining a brilliant green as it catches the sunlight.]

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