A message from kfae

How often do magical objects gain sentience (ie Tully)?

It’s actually pretty rare. So much so, it didn’t even happen to Tully. What is more common is for magically constructed intelligence to contain vagueness in the spell that leaves room for magic to solve the problem of making a thing that does x, y and z, and that leaves open the possibility that magic’s solution will be to make it sapient enough to understand what it’s being asked to do and how to do it and when. It’s a bug/feature.

When Tully was created, the vagueness was in place on purpose and the results expected and accounted for. His growing into sentience was really more a matter of growing beyond constraints that concealed what was already there.

A message from Anonymous

How would Hearth react if its "people" where taken far, far away from the rest of the body? What about the "people"?

None of Hearth’s parts has it’s own separate mind, the body and little people are all essential parts in his collective brain. The further away the people are from his body (or from each other) the longer it takes for his thoughts to traverse the space between and resolve into full, whole experiences, ideas and reactions.

So what happens is he develops a pronounced delay in his thinking and reaction time. He finds the delay terribly uncomfortable, because there’s a point where his reality appears to jerk forward suddenly at regular intervals with lost time in between. His senses also dull considerably, in a bid to avoid this - like a computer with a bad connection displaying lower quality video.

A message from Anonymous

So, dryads are typically thin, but can vary some in thickness (luz and all); is it possible for Dryads to build a lot of muscle? Or would that be something a Dryad just wouldn't invest so much time in? I guess that brings the question of how concerned a Dryad is with their appearance (if it's of any significance). Sorry, these are weird questions, ah-- "does the concept of 'beauty' exist to a Dryad?" is the ultimate question here I suppose, ahah!

Dryads can build some muscle, but they tend to remain pretty wiry and ropey when they do, and their thick skin masks sharp definition. Dryads don’t really seek to build muscle on purpose since it carries no particular value to them.

Dryads do have a concept of beauty. Like humans, some individuals are just considered easier on the eyes. Many of the things about a Dryad’s physical appearance that make them look especially pretty aren’t really things they can do anything about, so they don’t concern themselves too much about it. Other things affect how beautiful a Dryad is perceived to be by other Dryads, some of which they can do something about - they focus on those things, generally.

For example, they can keep their tree in nice shape, pruning off dead branches and such, and they can keep the area around their tree manicured and decorated. They can also learn to move and walk in a quiet, graceful manner, since Dryads prize that.

A message from Anonymous

What made you make Dimespin initially; why a Saratoan persona over the other options? On that note, have you ever drawn yourself as a Dryad or other creature of the world? I'd love to see what tree you'd use

DimeSpin was one of the first creatures I ever created, and the Saratoan species was built up around her. I initially made her just because I liked dragons, and wanted to pretend I was a dragon on the internet.

I’ve considered drawing myself as a Dryad several times, but usually don’t just because one of the things that really defines the way I look are my glasses, and Dryads can’t really wear them, so it’d be tricky to communicate it’s supposed to be me. But on the topic of what tree I’d choose, the thing about the tree bonding process is Dryads choose trees they feel a connection to, trees that seem to be calling out to them, and when I think of what that would feel like, I actually think of a specific tree I came across as a kid and sort of fell in love with. It was a weeping willow.