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

"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."

The fact that Rita is far more accepting of Cole than Lavellan had feared endears her greatly to her -- she likes to think of herself as an evenhanded woman, but truth be told that those who dislike her friends are met with disdain. That Rita isn't, well. She's glad that she wouldn't have to worry much about that at the moment.

"He mentioned he wanted to stay with the Carnival because he felt there was so much he could do to help. I'm glad he's been busy." Weird and annoying seem par for the course with him. "Are you familiar with spirits at all?"

"More than most people, where I'm from... but that doesn't say much," Rita admits with a shrug. She knows she has a lot to learn about the subject... and that's precisely why she wants to spend time talking with Cole, and with those more familiar with spirits than she is. "The existence of spirits was merely theoretical in my world, until recently."

Lavellan gestures Rita off to the side, attempting to steer her towards chairs set up -- if they're going to have a long talk about magic, they might as well be comfortable. She's curious about the similarities and differences that must exist; she can't imagine that anything would be like spirits in her world. It seems so different than anything else she's talked about.

"Until recently? What changed to make them more than theoretical?" Her curiosity shines through for a moment, eyes bright. She can't help it, even if spirits had never been her area of study.

Rita sits and leans against one armrest. She catches Lavellan's look; seems like she really wants to know. In truth, Rita's happy to talk about it. It's one of the greatest achievements of her career as a scholar.

She tries to keep from beaming with pride as she answers, "I discovered a process for spirit conversion... a way to essentially make spirits."

That makes Lavellan start -- she hadn't expected something like that from someone so young, and her eyes go wide in surprise before they narrow out of curiosity. "Make them? How does that work?"

It's not possible for anyone to make spirits, as far as Lavellan is aware. Solas might have wanted to try, but she imagines he'd have some lengthy conversation as to why that was a bad decision more than anything else.

"It's a complicated process, but I can try to summarize," Rita offers, cupping her chin as she considers her words.

"There's a race of intelligent monsters called Entelexia in my world. When they die, they leave behind a crystal made of... I suppose, a very dense form of magic energy." She's not sure how else to explain it without getting overly technical, so she leaves it at that. "I originally intended to use one such crystal as part of an experimental process to convert magic energy, but my formula ended up converting the crystal itself into a spirit, awakening the dormant consciousness within it and giving it new life."

It's a good enough description. Lavellan doesn't try to parse it into terms that would work in her world, simply because it wouldn't matter -- spirits don't come into existence like that, and no creatures that she knows of leave something like that behind. Similar -- for her blade hilt was made from the remnants of wisps -- but nothing like what Rita is describing.

In some way, she reminds Lavellan of Dagna. Small, young, and very curious about magic. They'd get along, if they ever met, and for a moment Lavellan is caught by the memories of all the people has left behind -- not only in coming here, but in disbanding the Inquisition. It would be fine, in the end, she knows, but still --

Shaking her head to clear herself of the thoughts, Lavellan refocuses. "Do they resemble the creatures that came before them, or are they something wholly new?"

"In appearance and body structure, they're completely different. The way they experience the world is new for them, too. Sort of like... if a fish became a bird. That kind of radical change in perspective." It's an analogy she's used before, but it seems to paint the clearest picture of what it must be like to undergo spirit conversion.

But that's not to say there are no connections...

"It seems like they still have memories of their previous lives, but they don't fully identify as their past selves. The first thing they each did was ask for a new name."

A very clear picture, and Lavellan nods her understanding. That, at least, wouldn't be untrue in her world when it came to Cole finding himself not in the Fade. He'd adapted the only way he knew how, and it seemed to have worked well for him all things considered.

"So they retain their memories, but wish to be something else. Different than the spirits in my world, but nor is it impossible for their to be a similar experience. Not how they're created, but what they remember." A pause, and she considers this. "What happens to them, after you've brought them forth into your world?"

"What happens...?" It's a bit of a broad question, and Rita has to think about it for a few seconds.

"Well... in the specific case of the four created so far, we asked them to help fight against something that threatens all life in the world. They agreed to lend us their strength, so... I guess we're allies now." It's a simplified version of events, but that's probably easiest to digest. "They seem to drift between the physical plane and another, some place that maybe only spirits can reach, but it seems like they're always with us in some way."

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