---
related:
- "[[2021-12-08 Mock (DRAFT)]]"
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universe:: [[Verraine]]
year:: before [[2021-12-15 Shock (MF)]] and [[2021-09-08 Petrichor (MF)]].
status:: complete
market:: [[The Iceberg]], [VSS365](https://twitter.com/EleanorKonik/status/1435340880613986318)
protagonist:: Jiri
mentions:: Surzi
location:: aetherglass desert
length:: microfiction
pitch:: A mage proves that trying to kill Surzi with magic is pointless, but his king doesn't care.
notes:: Origins of the aetherglass desert.
analysis:: [[2021.12.08a Sometimes quitting is the right choice]]
%%
It cost Jiri six years and a toe to build a mockup of the forest. His mage-bolt turned it into slag, but the lizard-skin at the center stayed pristine.
"The strength of our magic is irrelevant," the old scholar pleaded with his king. "It won't die."
"We have to try."
## Analysis
- [I] Something about how much I hate "we have to try" and how sometimes trying to stay safe makes things worse, for example antibiotics resistance and protecting children from everything.
- [I] Could also do something with immortality / [[2021-12-13 Regeneration (DRAFT)]] / the scott alexander stuff. Talk about pop culture like Altered Carbon & vampires.