likesfootnotes | 3rd summon [text]

There doesn't seem to be any understanding of manners on this boat. Twice now I've had people abruptly disconnect on me in the middle of a stirring discussion of how utterly imperfect their grasp of reality¹ or revenge² is.

Did your mothers never teach you it is impolite to hang up on a djinni?

If not that, then someone must have taught you it was unwise, surely.

Though there are beacons of hope amidst the sea of rude. A lupophobic, a well-mannered compulsive talker, and an anti-environmentalists who mocks the sanctity of marriage. ³ They have potential and there are sure to be others.

1 - This involved mock indignation for the sake of magicians. It could hardly be a serious sentiment as it came from an otherwise acceptable young woman. If she truly took offense, then my primary concern becomes the state of sanity that any on this boat possess.

2 - This being a disagreement about vengeance and patience. All I recall is something about claiming to be a God. He could be any magician, as I have known many to make that claim. They all end up the same way: Squished under some afrit or another.

3 - Being an affront to many mainstream religions simply by existing, I have a special place in my essence for anyone else that contravenes the religious norm.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A djinni? Now, that's interesting. If the people you were talking to were humans I can only suggest patience, after all, mortals tend to have very limited abilities in that regard.

Finally, a kindred spirit! There are so many humans and magicians around here that I began to think myself alone against this tide of corrupt normalcy.

They do lack in certain regards, but one claimed to be a God of sorts. That seems ludicrous even for this place. Who would summon a higher being here?

Personally, knowing that they are fakes, I find those who proclaim themselves gods very amusing (and their punishments even more).

I can't give you a reason but so far, I can tell that what happens on the boat doesn't really need one.

These things are bound to catch up with them. ¹

I've been able to see that. How else could I have even ended up here in the first place, when already summoned by another magician. What about you? Had you been summoned, or were you just resting in the Other Place.

1 - It takes on a very literal form that I've witnessed plenty of times. Riotous mobs are never very nice to false Gods once they've chased them down.

Oh, magicians. I prefer witches, they have better manners.

I wouldn't say I was resting (Hell is a very busy place. Paperwork, paperwork for everything!).

Hell, huh? That doesn't happen to be a suburb of London, does it? The whole area is reminiscent of the human concept.

Thankfully, no (tough I may or may not have had something to do with the creations or suburbs). I meant literal Hell.

Literal Hell? That's a construct of human fantasy where I'm from. ¹

1 - That doesn't stop me from tapping into its standard artistic interpretations. Brimstone is one of my favourites, for that smell a magician just can't get out of his clothes.

[ Lucifer can't concieve a world without his realm. He's that full of himself. ]

But how are sinners punished then? Do all the humans of your world go to the same afterlife?

London's a modern hell. Have you heard of a commute? Humans sardined into tiny forms of transport, all going to a dreary existence in servitude of the ruling class. Why look forward to death's hell when you have all that to live up to?