[open] december will be magic again

[kingsroads]

Who: everyone!
When: the evening of D15
Where: A small meeting hall on the moon, close to the portal to the carnival
What: a whole bunch of show-offs meet up to show off their magic, people interested in magic come to learn about said magic, and other people show up to see if something inevitably gets set on fire. (aka mage club)
Warnings: none so far, will edit if needed.

The meeting hall is a large open space, with hardwood floors and a rustic decor. A few chairs and tables are scattered around, though there aren't enough for the amount of people who'll hopefully show up. Some food has been set out: mostly finger foods (tiny sandwiches, fruit, veggies & dip) though there are some savory options and plenty of home-baked cookies, courtesy of Rin. Drink wise, there's water, hot chocolate, hot tea, and a few bottles of wine because tipsy magic sounds like an awesome idea and this is what happens when the alcoholic makes the dinner menu. Aside from the food table and the few tables, there's not much of anything in the room: plenty of open space for showing off or getting out of the way of someone who wants to show off.

One of the doors of the meeting hall leads to the outside. There's a wider, 'backyard' sort of area with plenty of room for people to cast magic as large and impressive as they want. A fire pit stands outside also for warming your hands and other fire-based magic. Please don't set the building on fire.

This is all very informal. If pressed for details, Strange would have told anyone to just come whenever, stay as long as you like, and so on and so forth. The emphasis is on learning about each other's magic, displaying one's skills and talents, and helping anyone who wished to learn magic decide on a path for them to take.

Showing off is just a given.

( ooc: This is an open mingle log! Feel free to make your own top-levels & tag around! )

Comments

childermass, ota

[atouts]

The biggest problem with inviting Childermass to anything is whether or not he chooses to show up (ever) and if he does, does he show up in a way that visible to all? In this case, no, no he does not, which is a total asshole move, but one that he's been meaning to put to the test. While he is there, he's picked the back of the room they're meeting in, a spot on the wall to lean idly against, arms crossed, and...

Invisible. Kind of. The spell is more of a "don't look here" kind of spell, prompting people who do look his way to grow disinterested in whats there and look away again, never quite retaining that, yes, someone is there. It works well enough on the mundane but not always versus those who also happen to be magically inclined.

Strange has called him out on it before, lurking in the shadows, hidden from the casual eye, but how many other people in the carnival can do that? Well, he's here to test that out. With how many more magic users they've picked up lately, it'd be nice to know. So with a sharp enough eye, anyone can notice the magical impulse to forget Childermass is there and carry on with their business. It doesn't necessarily apply to only those who are magical, either, but also those who can figure out and be irritated by the fact that they can't focus on one entire corner of the room.

Time to see just how many people call him out on it. He'll at least refrain from rudely taking notes (aside from mental ones) as it happens.

[whattaprick]

"For someone who used to perform in the big top, you're being a real wallflower."

Lambert says it quietly, because if Childermass is making an effort to be unnoticed he's not going to go out of his way to drag him out of it until he figures out whether the entertainment value of it would be worth Childermass's irritation. It's not through any magical means that he's picked up on the magicians presence -- with so many spells going off, his medallion is a constant hum against his chest, so that would have been impossible to pinpoint -- but his more distinctly non-magical senses. He leans against the wall adjacent to Childermass, and it's obvious enough he still can't focus on him, since his gaze still keeps slipping past the general direction of where the magician is standing, the witcher's brow furrowing slightly.

But he's absolutely confident he knows exactly who it is standing in that corner, sight unseen.

[atouts]

There's no answer to Lambert's aside for a minute or two, the magician simply observing for now. He isn't exactly surprised that he could be found by a witcher, knowing all too well how sharp the other man's senses are, but it's curious that he can't see through the illusion directly. That much, at least, still works.

"I performed because it was the job I had at the time," Childermass finally replies, though once he does, the reason it took so long becomes all too apparent. His spell only works so long as he doesn't do anything to draw attention to himself, such as speaking directly to someone. Where the spot on the wall that was impossible to focus on was before, there's now no illusion, no compulsion, and just a man in well-worn black and white clothing.

Against the more normal people of England, it's undoubtedly foolproof, but here? Well, that's why he's testing it out now. It's too good an opportunity to pass up.

"But surely you already knew that."

[whattaprick]

"Was enjoying it part of the job, too?" Lambert grins, turning to face the magician when he becomes visible. "Because I'm pretty sure you were having fun out there, too."

Not in so many words, and one could argue the exhilaration of a challenge wasn't the same as enjoying a performance, but it's all semantics in the end. Nonetheless, they're ostensibly here to talk shop, so he nods at Childermass, not dwelling on the subject of his lapsed performance days for long.

"That spell's the one you used back at the Celebration, isn't it?"

[atouts]

Yeah, he isn't about to confirm or deny whether he had fun out on stage. It had been something to warm up to, that much is true enough, but why would he ever admit it? So instead, he just rolls his eyes a bit and then pulls a grimace across his face at the very mention of the Celebration.

Had it been? At the start, right?

"It is," he confirms that for Lambert. "Not that it did me much good in the end there."

[whattaprick]

"Did plenty of good for me," Lambert drawls. It's sharper in his memory, because he's revisited it of late: they'd had that spell to buy time for Lambert to thoroughly freak out a vampire and squeeze information out of her. It's a memory with a different context for him now, knowing what Childermass has been through, but being all sensitive about it won't change what factually happened.

Even if he'd been aware then, it probably wouldn't have changed how he acted one bit.

He wonders, briefly, if he used this at the manor too. That explains why he hadn't been as easily caught as his subordinates. He steps up closer to Childermass, sizing up the distance between them.

"If I remember right," he says, "It covers whoever else you want it to. Or whoever's close enough."

[atouts]

"Ah, you meant the time with the vampire."

It's not like Childermass would expect it to go any different had he known, either. The vampire had information, they needed it. It may make him uncomfortable, but he can't deny the results of outright torturing a foe for information, nor does he care all that much for acting honorably when faced with a literal monster.

In any case, different spells. Similar, but different.

"That was full invisibility," he corrects the witcher as he steps in closer. "It does a good job but isn't meant to be mobile. This is merely redirecting attention. You did see me before, it's just the spell telling you otherwise."

There's that one, the invisibility, the blending into shadows almost seamlessly, the handful of spells he had up his sleeve before he ever stepped foot into the carnival. They were by no means on the same level as Strange or even Norrell, but that never really bothered him.

"But yes, this one will cover another person as well if I want it to."

[whattaprick]

"But it's easier to dispel," Lambert murmurs, frowning slightly. That's a weakness most of the stealth spells seem to have in common, he supposes. And something that makes him more certain of the idea prodding at the back of his head, though he has no notion of how to go about it. Witches don't create spells from scratch.

In any case, the frown's chased off his face by a smarmy grin. "Were you planning to hide in the corner this whole time to see how many people actually notice you?"

[atouts]

"I'm not taking as much an active role in maintaining it as the other," Childermass points out as a way of explaining it. Still, even the full-on invisibility would have been useless if anyone had seen through it. In the end, it's a lot of smoke and mirrors, just without any of the actual smoke or mirrors involved (seeing how he isn't Strange).

To the question, though, he tilts his head to one side a little, raising his eyebrows as he does.

"I am not that against socializing, Lambert, but nearly all our magicians gathered in one place? I doubt I'll have a better setting to see just that."

[dirthena]

The first time it happens, Lavellan is content to write it off as magic inherent to the carnival, and remains unbothered. The second time it happens, her eyes glazing over the spot, reminds her so much of what happened with Cole after arriving at Skyhold that it catches her attention fully. Someone, she thinks, eyes trained on the closest spot next to the spot she can't see, is purposefully trying to avoid being seen. A third try, and she's certain of it.

And it isn't Cole, for once.

When she speaks to whoever is there, Childermass might recognize it from an earlier conversation. But whether or not he expected from a short woman with pointed ears, face tattoos, and a missing arm is another thing. "Is there a point to this, or do you simply wish to be left alone?" Because if that's the case, then Lavellan is more than happy to leave whoever it is to being aggravating.

[atouts]

The newest woman from the radio. Yes, he recognizes the voice easily enough, and Childermass imagines she'll figure out the same once he actually answers her. His own voice is deep, gravelly, and fairly distinct, not to mention there are only so many Englishmen around.

"Putting a bit of magic through its paces is all, Miss Lavellan," he answers and, in doing so, immediately dispels the illusion that had been making it impossible to focus on him. Behind that spell is a tall man in well-worn black and white clothing, almost unnaturally pale and adorned with black feathers along the sides of his face. As far as veteran workers go, though, he's still mostly human-looking.

"Very few ever notice it, but I am more used to a mundane audience, not one full of magic users."

[dirthena]

Ah. Childermass. Her expression brightens slightly at his voice and the dispelling of magic -- he's not an unknown, but someone she thought she got on rather well with, all things considered. "Please, just Lavellan," she says, echoing what she told Strange. He is not what she expected from someone who had sounded like he had experience here among the Carnival -- but she has seen a range of changes, and so what little there is she still attempts to take in stride.

"Of course," she replies, on both accounts, casting a look around them at the gathered mages. If they use magic, then that is what they are. Not magicians, or whatever Strange had called himself. "I must admit I'm unused to being surrounded by so many. It's not a common thing where I'm from." Both magic and being allowed to gather in such large numbers -- the only thing she can think of that would be similar was Arlathvhen. And that was very far away from this place, in time and space.

[atouts]

"You'll get used to it," Childermass says with a shrug, attention drifting off and away to the rest gathered here. Some actual magicians, some suddenly finding they can do magic, others simply curious. Not wholly unlike his own experiences back home, now that magic has returned to England. Not as much showing off there as there is here, though. Not even close.

"The magic of the carnival is faerie magic. It changes people the longer they're surrounded by it, which does include them picking up a spell or two on occasion. Then, of course, you have the lot who were magicians long before ever stepping foot in the Ringmaster's realm. Seems to me there are many worlds with a fair share of them about."

[dirthena]

Mages showing off seemed to be standard, even if Solas, Vivienne, and Dorian did it in their own ways. Dorian was flashier, Vivienne made no pretense not to be dangerous and deadly, and Solas was noticable by how unnoticeable he was. That made a lot more sense in retrospect than it did at the time. Of course a man who was used to magic surrounding him would know the exact amount of energy he needed to use to cast and nothing more, who would find it so natural it was like breathing.

Which puts her into mind of the problem facing his world, and her attention back on him. "I don't doubt I will. It's a pleasant change," she admits. Better this than be locked up in towers, at least." Anything is better than that. "That, or those from worlds where such things are common are more likely to find their way to a magical carnival, faeire magic or not." And believe that they can work in exchange for something, if that's how they joined.

[atouts]

"Could be," Childeramass replies after a moment of consideration. He finishes doing a sweep of the room, idly noting who's there, who isn't, and turns back to look at Lavellan again. "That magic calls to magic. It seems to have worked that way in England when there weren't even enough of us to count on a single hand and I know well that I sought this place out on purpose rather than by accident. If the rest can say that..."

It's not really for him to say for sure one way or another. He doesn't know everyone's story, why they ended up at the carnival's gates, why they chose to stay (or, just as likely, what they broke or cheated at).

"Well, you would have to ask them about it."

[dirthena]

Magic calls to magic. It's an interesting theory, and she crosses her arms in thought, looking out at the number assembled. "Your England must be an interesting place indeed. Some of it sounds familiar -- your magic mirrors, for instance -- while other times it sounds far too fantastical to believe. Only a handful of mages in an entire country." A shake of her head, and a small, worn smile. "I can see why Strange is glad to have returned magic to it."

Even if she wonders what the consequences to that were, if any.

"I'm not sure most would be forthcoming about it," she says, musing on the thought. "I understand some are not here by choice, like I was." Although Cole said that the Ringmaster tried to help, and did the best she could.

[atouts]

"Some by choice, the rest by bad luck," Childermass admits. It's true and he isn't going to try and candy-coat it. "Or because they make poor decisions. Whichever it is."

Sneaking in, stealing, picking a fight, breaking something that didn't belong to them. The fact that it was a faerie carnival didn't change that those particular people chose to do those things, but then again, Childermass isn't really much for pity and sympathy for the foolish. Though that few share the sentiment, well, that much he does know, and so he'll just leave it at that.

But back to the topic at hand, the one the entire group has gathered for. In this case, English magic, he supposes.

"So Strange has told you about the King's Roads?" He asks that, curious enough to change the topic. "He had pictures of them drawn, for his book, but he is the only one who's seen them in hundreds of years."

[brightspot]

It takes a while for Five to figure it out. In her defense, there is no magic in her world, not that she knows of, so she's not magical. Also? There's a lot of distracting things going on here, which grabs her attention more than a corner she can't seem to focus on.

Eventually, it starts to bug her though. Not enough that she's super suspicious, but... Well, she knows magic exists now, and there's something not normal about how her eyes keep skirting away from there when every other place in the room she can focus on, and has, because she's the kind of girl that looks for all possible escape routes on instinct when she's in a new place.

A nice little way to test her mild curiosity here? Toss half of a cookie she's been munching on into that corner and see (or hear) if it hits anything.

[atouts]

Childermass could simply step aside, let the cookie hit the wall, avoid being revealed altogether, but that's hardly the point of this exercise, now is it? That Five has managed to figure it out, without any apparent magic on her own part, at least deserves some sort of reaction for the effort. Which means that cookie?

Gets caught before hitting anything, right out of the air. It looks like it's suddenly suspended by an invisible force for all of two or three seconds before the interaction breaks the illusion. It's a decent spell, the magician likes to think, but also rather fragile.

Regardless, now visible, he holds up the thrown cookie half and quirks an eyebrow in her direction.

"Wasting food, are we?"

Which is said in jest for the most part. It's definitely not the norm for a suspicious someone to chuck cookies at him, of all things.

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya's magic is all about altering perception, so of course he's been taught how to recognize when his is being altered in turn. So, just like at the ball, it doesn't take much for Syrlya to realize that something's amiss with that part of the wall, that he always seems to overlook whatever he was just trying to see while scanning the room.

He doesn't approach immediately. Instead Syrlya ends up mingling between the crowd, counting out the people around that he can tell aren't present or pay attention to that spot of the feast hall. He hasn't kept track of everyone who's come in and out, but it gives him an idea who likely isn't to blame for the spell.

That's when he makes his way over, leaning against the wall just outside of the illusion's threshold and folding his arms as he looks out at the rest of the hall. "Tell me, are you targeting me directly or is this actually affecting anyone who looks this way?"

[atouts]

Out of everyone here, Syrlya had already been on his short list of who he expected to spot the illusion right off the bat. The man was an illusionist in his own right, as far as he could tell. In any case, now that he's been spotted — again — he will, of course, answer. That was a part of this little game, after all.

"Anyone who looks," Childermass replies, the spell breaking and fading away as soon as he does. Drawing direct attention to himself will do that, fragile as this particular bit of magic has always been. Now visible, leaning lazily against the wall with his arms crossed, he gives Syrlya a nod.

"Hello again, Mr. Syrlya. How's the arm been?"

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya didn't know exactly who it was, but Childermass is one of the least surprising potentials once he's revealed. Of course he would have more than one trick up his sleeve to hide himself.

"Healing well, thank you." Although no need to mention it started healing differently. He's more curious about Childermass's illusion anyway--its effect is compulsory, but instead of targeting an individual he can blanket it over an area?

He pauses thoughtfully, reviewing exactly what misdirection had occurred in his head, trying to pick out the specifics. "Clever. Although odd, it is harder to recognize its influence when their mind isn't a direct target. How strong is it?"

[atouts]

"Not terribly," Childermass admits with a shrug. Although, if the point of the spell was to make it harder to detect, he wouldn't know. The magic he knows, it's all cobbled together from what he could teach himself in secret.

But there's a story for another time or maybe even for no time at all, considering. 'Self-taught' can be a dicey thing to admit when it comes to something like magic.

"It only convinces anyone who looks at me that there's nothing here, but if I interact with anything outside the spell or make too much noise, it'll end it, just as it did when I answered you."

[chronosynthesis]

Perhaps because the focus of the spell is spread out between multiple minds, rather than one target? That's the line of thought Syrlya is considering, or that it could just be an extremely basic level--and thus weak--spell. Syrlya's regime had started hard, so he had little time to fool around with half-baked spellwork.

Which leads him to his next question. "Do you need to focus on the spell to maintain it, or does it hold itself provided you do not become obvious?"

Syrlya's main focus may be on magical systems and regulation, but let it never be said he isn't interested in ways to improve his own magic. Invisibility is stronger and removes the visual risk entirely, but it does require attention on the spell to keep it going more than a few seconds. That makes it too easy to miss details, even as practiced as he is.

[atouts]

Now there'a question he actually has to give pause over and consider, head tilting a little to one side and brow furrowing, gaze drifting off for a few seconds. Childermass knows he doesn't pay it all that much mind once it's been cast, but surely it would shatter should he become too distracted. He is, however, not a man often distracted when he has cause to misdirect attention.

So in the end, he returns his gaze to Syrlya and shrugs a bit.

"Not consciously, I suppose. I only need to let it settle once and then not again until it breaks, but seeing how I must take care not to become obvious in the first place, I think I may be maintaining it on some level if only because it never truly leaves my thoughts. I admit that I have not experimented with it much..."

As he's no reason to and hasn't actually ever had other magicians to discuss anything with in-depth back home, not until very recently and even then, that's been such slow going.