lostcarnival | [open] december will be magic again

Entry tags:

[open] december will be magic again

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! )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hmm," Rita hums, visibly interested. "I'm a mage myself, but where I'm from, magic doesn't come naturally to anyone." Almost anyone, to be exact, but what she says holds true for the vast majority of humans.

"What do you use magic for, generally?"

That thought alone is strange -- what would it be like, to simply choose to be a mage? And how many people would want to with the consequences of being one? Possession isn't an idle threat, but real and present. It isn't something for the untrained, not with how wrong it can go. "If that were the case in Thedas, I wonder how many would readily pick it." She would, of course. She cannot imagine not being a mage.

"Lately it's been mostly combat, but it's not restricted to that."

Rita folds her arms, seemingly giving the woman an appraising look. "You do have the look of someone who's seen a few fights," she observes. Between the equipment and the missing limb, that much is obvious enough.

"Why would anyone pass up the chance to be a mage?" she goes on to ask. Even if magic doesn't happen to be everyone's calling in life, it's better to have more opportunities than less, isn't it? And even non-mages sometimes learn a spell or two to help them along while they pursue other paths.

Her lips twitch up, amused. "Was it the sword hilt or the missing arm that gave it away?" Regardless of the fact that she didn't lose the arm in an actual fight. The question is of more interest to Lavellan than the statement, so she focuses on that.

"I certainly wouldn't, but some may feel the price isn't worth it. You're the target for possession by demons, and for being rounded up and thrown in Circles." She shakes her head, dispelling the thought. "As a Dalish mage, my training was different. But the danger is still there."

She's never quite understood the shemlen fear of magic; the Dalish manage just fine. But they do fear it, they fear that mages could harm themselves or others and react to it in a way Lavellan has always found distasteful.

"Demon possession?" Rita furrows her brow. If not for her experiences with other worlds up to this point, she'd wonder if this woman was being serious. It still sounds... out there, though. "What do you mean by that? Why are mages targeted?"

She has a number of other questions on the tip of her tongue, but she restrains herself and gives her a chance to answer before barraging her with more.

Lavellan gestures towards the side of the room -- somewhere they can stand aside out of the main group and talk. For with as many questions as she's having leveled at her, she figures it's best if they get out of the way of others. "I mean they are possessed by demons -- lose all sense of self and will over to what possesses them. But we're targeted because of our connection to the place where they originate, as it is the source of our magic."

A risk one takes, although one can't simply opt not to be a mage. Not without become Tranquil, and Lavellan would rather be dead than face that fate.

Following that gesture, Rita walks along with her to the side of the room.

"A place where demons and magic originate? What kind of place..." she begins to ask, but then something clicks. There's something familiar, both in what she's saying, and in the magic Rita can see in her...

Eyes wide, seemingly staring through the woman rather than at her, Rita voices her guess. "You mean... the Fade?"

What-- Lavellan blinks, and then nods. "I do mean the Fade. You've met Cole? Or Solas?" Or both. Or perhaps someone that isn't either of them, although Lavellan thinks Cole would have told her if someone else from Thedas had arrived. She's seen Solas around this gathering, although they've both steered clear of each other.

"What do you know about it?" She says, attempting to recover from her surprise and figure out where to pick up from, if she's still curious.

"Both," Rita confirms with a nod. "Cole's staying in the same cabin as me. Just met Solas recently."

As for what she knows... "I was told it's a realm of spirits and magic. Mages have a greater connection to it and can reach it while dreaming." That's what Solas said, anyway. Cole was a lot less clear. "Didn't know about the demons, though."

"Oh!" She says, brightening up. "Cole offered me a place in your cabin for the remainder of our time here." One of his friends, then, and Lavellan smiles down at her. "I'm Lavellan. To him, I think I'm still Inquisitor Lavellan." It's the first time she's introduced herself as much, and the title falls from her lips far more easily than it should still. "Cole, Solas and I used to work together."

Until-- just until.

"Demons are perversions of spirits, twisted by people's assumptions of what they should find." Something very cheery, she's sure. "But yes. In essence, that is what the Fade is. It is separated from the waking world by the Veil, and in pulling magic through it in order to cast and use it, mages draw attention to themselves."

"He did? Wonder when he planned on bringing it up..." There's a flicker of irritation in her expression, but it quickly passes. There is room for another, especially when Cole hardly takes up any space himself. And having another mage around doesn't seem like a bad thing...

"Wait. You're the Inquisitor?" Interesting that the two people Cole mentioned to her just happened to show up within the month. "What is that, exactly?"

She'd like to press and ask more about these spirits and demons, but figuring out just who she's talking to comes first.

That's the first Lavellan has heard of Cole not running it by his roommates, but as she doesn't seem to hold it against her, Lavellan doesn't bother apologizing for it. Too used to being accommodated, of her presence not upsetting others. But her question causes her to smile. "Former. That part hasn't happened to Cole yet, or he's forgotten." Which was troubling, to say the least.

"I was tasked to lead the Inquisition, a paramilitary force meant to close a breach into the Fade and hold the man who did it accountable." They only half succeeded, for while Corypheus was defeated, the man who allowed that to happen escaped, unknown to all of them. Until recently, of course.

It hasn't happened to him yet...? Right... time works differently in this realm. It can be confusing to keep in mind all the ways the fae defy common sense.

"Breaching into the Fade... What are the implications of that?" If Lavellan considers the man responsible her enemy, she must have some reason to take issue with his actions. Breaching into a realm of spirits and magic... it could mean any number of things.

"Chaos," she says, remembering the green glowing gash in the sky, the demons, the twisted remains of the Temple of Ashes. But that was simply opening it -- the implications, well. "He wished to become a god. If he could have -- I don't know. But the breach allowed demons to flood into Thedas, and it would have widened further had I not closed it. My world has spent too long separated from the Fade to survive direct contact with it."

It was barely hanging on now, as far as Lavellan knew.

Tension creeps into Rita's expression, her hands clenching. Lavellan's world wouldn't survive...? Bringing spirits and mortals together shouldn't be that harmful... but it's true that Rita only sees part of the full picture. She needs to understand more about spirits.

"You said demons are perversions of spirits..." It's a choice of words that doesn't jive well with Rita's preference for scientifically sound explanations. It does remind her of something similar Cole mentioned before, though in language that was even less precise.

"What makes them so different from, say, spirits like Cole? And... how do people change them?" With their... assumptions?

"Cole is--" Cole is unique, as far as Lavellan's aware. But he's a spirit, true; she helped guide him become more at ease with himself, with what he was. Shaking her head, Lavellan refocuses. She tries to explain it differently, Solas's words coming to mind. "Demons are what happens, as someone I know would say, when a spirit is denied its original purpose. Because someone tried to force it to do something against its nature, or because the minds of mortals it encountered have twisted it so. And in turn, to survive, they must feed on the emotion that defines them."

A tap of her finger against her glass, trying her best to figure out how to explain this. "Rage, desire, pride. They hold a lot less care for the wellbeing of others as, say, Cole -- Compassion. If a person sees a spirit and believes it to be a demon, it will change to reflect that, in some way." And tearing down the Veil would mean that neither would be safe -- spirits and those of flesh and bone.

"That's really all it takes?" Rita's expression darkens. Simply believing a spirit to be a demon could change them? That's just...

"But that can't happen to Cole, right? He said he was protected." When he talked about being bound, he must have meant something like what Lavellan's describing.

"In some cases, not all," Lavellan says, attempting to reassure her. Spirits and the Fade are complex -- nothing about them is simple, she thinks, and the voice in her head sounds familiar. "It's easier to do in the Fade, because the Fade shifts to meet your expectations."

The question about Cole causes her to smile more, however, for the fact that he has people here concerned for his wellbeing means much to her. "He's protected from that, yes. Solas and I -- we made sure of it." In their own ways, for Solas was the spirit expert, after all. She... was merely there to make sure they had what the needed. "And it has been tested, so it will hold. if I can access my magic here, then I don't doubt it will continue to."

Her shoulders sag slightly, indicating relief. "Good." Lavellan's story lines up with Cole's version of the events, so Rita can probably trust that what she's saying is accurate.

It's alarming, hearing how vulnerable spirits can be. Even though they can seemingly vanish from sight, there are plenty of ways people can harm them. It's a sobering lesson, but a valuable one.

"Right... I should introduce myself properly," Rita realizes, straightening her back and looking Lavellan in the eyes. "Rita Mordio. I'm a magic researcher. My specialties are offensive spells and magic technology... but my future research will largely focus on spirits."

Lavellan nods, a shallow dip of her head meant to convey respect, but it's still something. She is far too used to people deferring to her in all matters for her to begin to budge on how much she gives other people now. "Which explains why you've gotten on well with Cole. Although depending on your approach to spirits--" Well, that would determine how both Solas and Cole reacted to her, although she doubts the spirit would put himself around anyone who'd want to hurt him.

The name finally clicks, and she stares at the other. "Rita -- one of Cole's roommates?"

Rita meets that stare with a look of mild surprise, then nods. "Yeah. He mentioned me?"

He better not have mentioned anything embarrassing. Considering it's Cole, Rita doubts he'd spread gossip maliciously, but he sure can make things awkward without really trying.

"In passing. Just that you were one of his friends." Which means a lot to her, and so Lavellan smiles -- kindly, this time, without a twist of bleak humor to her lips or wit. "I appreciate it. He doesn't have many back in Thedas." For people considered him dangerous, a demon.

That Cole has ever only wanted to help, that he was Compassion, seemed to have been missed by those.

"Friends, huh..." Rita looks mildly uncomfortable with the word. She usually isn't quick to call anyone a friend, even though she's made a few over the past year or so.

When thinking of why people might not like Cole, a few things come to mind. "Hmph... I'd imagine most people don't like having some weirdo blab their inner thoughts and feelings in front of them." As well as Rita manages to get along with Cole these days, they had a bit of a rocky start, and that pretty much sums it up.

Lavellan's brow wrinkles at Rita's obvious dislike of the word. She'd avoid it next time, although she tends to trust Cole's perceptions of things, for better or for worse. The spirit hadn't ever lied to her; he'd talked around things as he does, but he never lied. So perhaps friend was more on his side than on Rita's.

"He's Compassion," she says, gently, echoing her previous thoughts. That part of Cole had never bothered her in the way it maybe should have, and Lavellan had -- for better or for worse -- never once considered telling him off for it. "He's simply wanting to help the only way he knows how." And she wouldn't ask him to be anything but what he is.

"...I know," Rita admits with a sigh. She usually doesn't pull punches when criticizing people, but Cole's a spirit. He can't exactly be expected to have the social awareness of someone who grew up in human society. Not that Rita isn't lacking in that department herself. Still, the fact that he's a spirit means that she can show him a level of patience she'd normally never have for a person.

"He can be weird and annoying," and embarrassing most of all, "but I know he means well. He... is pretty helpful, most of the time."

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