let's get down to business

[whattaprick]

Who: Nightrunners and whoever wants to make use of the training yard for whatever reason.
When: S2 D1-D5
Where: The Training Yard
What: Training, or pointing and laughing at people training.
Warnings: Explosions and swearing, probably.

Though it's never really been off-limits, once they're down off the moon, Lambert wastes little time informing the nightrunners he officially expects them to get back to training and getting in shape. They can make ample use of the training yard facilities to learn how to work with each other after their extended vacation, or just get to know their newer coworkers in an environment closer to what their actual working conditions will actually be like.

The yard, as usual, isn't limited solely to nightrunners. Anyone who wants to work on their physical or magical skills are welcome, as well as anyone from the other departments who have anything they might want to test out that requires a combatant, for some reason.

Lambert's generally a constant presence at the fringes, sometimes participating in exercise or sparring himself, but mostly just watching and making sure no one's about to put someone's eye out or break the equipment, because that would be bad for obvious reasons.

[ ooc; this is an open log, so bring your own toplevel! ]

Comments

[chronosynthesis]

[He doesn't see much of a pause from Strange, so now he knows what his magic isn't capable of. Once Strange is in the tunnel there's little Syrlya can do. But while Strange is running for it, he gestures to place one of his ticking clock wells right at the entrance. It'll be familiar to Strange as the one that slowed time down, making him move in weirdly slow motion.

It's not even for a challenge, Syrlya's just being an asshole.]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange runs smack into that clock well and almost instantly slows the hell down. At least he's used to this magic before and has seen it in action. That makes it all the easier for Strange to break. He starts muttering a counterspell as he moves through the tunnel.

Breaking the spell takes a solid ten to fifteen seconds though, just enough time for Syrlya to place another clock well somewhere or just be an asshole in a different way. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[For better or worse, the well only lasts about six seconds with Syrlya not attempting to maintain it in any way. So Strange won't have to struggle as long, but also won't get the chance to break it.

Once he disappears into the tunnel, there's not a lot Syrlya can do. So he's left waiting to see how Strange tries to handle the dodging panels.]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange handles the dodging panels decently. It's obvious he's not used to cardio and running the entire obstacle course: his breathing is starting to get heavier. But, he's navigating the turns fairly well and more tightly than expected.

However, his mind is more worried on what's up ahead than what he's doing. It's that low rope that's going to be the hardest thing for him to climb on his own, and Strange is already thinking of ways he can attempt to cheat at that. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[Ah, yes, the rope. The portion Syrlya didn't even do, but he was invisible so nobody can prove anything.

He also knows exactly how he can mess that up for Strange. He brings a hand to his mouth to call out.] Well, go on then. All you have to do is climb up it!

[kingsroads]

[ Strange looks up at that rope with a frown. This is going to suck. He know this is going to suck.

He grabs the rope and just clings onto it with hands and feet. And veeeeeeery slowly, Strange starts to shimmy up towards the top of the rope climb. He hates this thing, it's awful, why do rope climbs exist, what sort of cruel person designed this form of torture? ]

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya lets Strange make some decent progress on the rope--about half way. It almost seems like the wall, where he's just going to let Strange suffer through his own last of physical prowess.]

I hope you have a good grip, Strange. [Almost.

He waves outward the hand with the rock, causing a purple line of magic to appear on the ground behind the rope. And then, a second later, the magic twists inward and disappears--and some invisible magical force tries to pull Strange right to the center point of where the line as it disappears.

At least he gave a warning this time.]

[kingsroads]

[ He does not have good grip in the slightest. As such, Strange gets yanked right off of the rope and hits the ground hard, swearing up a storm as he does so.

The theme of this so far has been Strange getting his ass kicked by Syrlya. Time to find a way to be an annoyance right back. So, Strange doesn't go back to the rope just yet. Instead he frowns, mulls things over for a bit, before taking a pause to start casting a spell.

Clouds gather over the training yard as it starts to rain over the obstacle course (and pretty much the entire training yard to begin with, sorry anybody else who's trying to train). Once that happens, Strange mutters a different spell, still keeping an eye on Syrlya to see if he's going to try anything. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya looks up at the clouds developing over the course. He shields his eyes briefly as the rain comes down before looking back at Strange with mild intrigue. He doesn't have any immediate assumptions about why Strange wants to make it rain. Except maybe just to make it muddy.

He'd rather not get his clothes wet, but he's not terribly bothered by the rain itself.]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange looks at the ground for a moment: it's now muddy as heck but, most importantly, there's plenty of puddles all over the course. If Syr's going to cheat with teleportation, then Strange is going to also and just teleport through all those reflections.

Which isn't going to help with the rope climb, of course, but he'll cheat at that too. Satisfied, Strange waves a hand and the rain starts to let up. At the same time, he turns to smoke. The smoke snakes up the rope, staying fairly close to it as Strange floats his way towards the top. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya watches, intrigued. So even as smoke he can navigate more complexly? Is it maybe in some form an illusion, and his body operates like normal (sans being touchable) or is it like being broken down and moving every part?

He brings his hand to his chin, momentarily forgetting he's supposed to be giving Strange a hard time as he inspects his smoke form as well as he can from this distance.]

[kingsroads]

[ As Strange makes his way to the top, he solidifies, sitting on top of the rope climb. There's a moment where Strange looks downright woozy, as if he's about to vomit for a moment, before he pushes past it and slowly climbs down the rope, sliding a bit too quickly near the end and getting a bit of rope burn.

The ditch is next...and honestly, Strange just doesn't want to jump it right now. That trick with his smoke was interesting, but it's thrown him for a bit of a loop. So, he mutters as he starts running. He only goes two feet or so before both of his feet hit a puddle and he vanishes...and then reappears on the other side of the ditch in a different puddle.

Perfect! Time for the corridor and a break from jumping or climbing! Good job, Strange! ]

[chronosynthesis]

[Ah, so that's it. Syrlya folds his arms as Strange teleports across the ditch. The corridor includes crouching and crawling, and the dirt's all wet and muddy now, so Strange is probably going to have fun with that.

Syrlya raises a hand to call out:] You're almost there, Strange!

[Is that encouraging or ominous.]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange just gets splattered with mud as he starts crouching and crawling through the corridor. Thanks for the encouragement Syrlya, you're the best.

When he pops out of the corridor, Strange's shoes, hands, and knees are muddy as heck, but the rest of his outfit is speckled with mud as well: some even got on his face (don't ask him how that happened.) Not really caring about the fact that he's dirty as hell, Strange continues running towards the balance beam. If Syrlya's going to try anything, he's got a feeling he'll try it here, where there aren't any puddles and where Strange can totally wipe out. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[Strange wouldn't be wrong about that. Syrlya turns his attention to the balance beam and narrows his eyes as he holds his hand out, focusing. It's very small grounding, so he needs to be careful that he anchors the spell on the balancing beam and not the ground below. That means it takes longer for him to have the confidence to cast.

Part of the beam coats itself in that purple magic of his, the clock hands hanging weirdly as it tries to fold itself over the tiny space. If Strange crosses it, oddly nothing happens at first... until the spell snaps to an end in a couple seconds, and suddenly granting Strange a surge of energy that propels his movement at twice as fast. There's a true test of balance.]

[kingsroads]

[ As he spots the beam coating itself in the purple magic, Strange comes to a halt. Wobbling precariously, he gestures at the purple magic and starts to mutter his spell-breaking incantation, hoping that he'll at least be able to piece out the magic fairly quickly.

Of course, this also means that he's trying to balance on the balance beam while attempting to dispel Syrlya's magic. Just chuck a rock on him and Strange'll probably go over or stumble forward right into the spell itself. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[Lucky for Strange, Syrlya isn't enough of an asshole to start chucking rocks.

He holds the spell for longer this time out of anticipation as Strange stalls. What he does expect, however, is control of the spell to be ripped from him as its forcibly dissipated, leaving Syrlya gaping at the beam with his magic gone.]

[kingsroads]

[ Victory!

With a bark of laughter and a grin that's way too smug on his face, Strange makes his way through the balance beam...before wiping out as he jumps down to one of the platforms, slips slightly on the wet surface, and falls face first into the mud. Pride goeth before the fall, asshole.

The main thing wounded is his pride as Strange wipes away the mud from his eyes with the least dirty part of his sleeve as he makes his way to the window...where he's honestly just planning on cheating and reflection-teleporting around the thing unless Syrlya stops him. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[And thus, Strange was his own demise once again.

Syrlya doesn't interrupt Strange for the rest of his trek across the course, which is probably just fine when he's made enough of a mess of himself, and instead approaches the end and gestures animated to the balance beam.]

What did you do up there? [His tone is a little more urgent, although his expression is controlled and tight. Sure, spellbreaking is known in Tyria. But it takes expertise with the kind of magic you're breaking, and he certainly expected it to be the same with Strange's own ability.]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange finishes the rest of the training course with ease. As he skids to a stop in front of Syrlya, he gives the other man a wide grin, a sort of 'take that' smile, despite the fact that he's covered in mud. He completed the obstacle course even with Syrlya fucking with him, isn't he amazing, Strange is counting that as a victory.

At Syrlya's question, Strange stares at him a moment before responding. ]

What, on the balance beam? I broke your spell. I thought it was obvious?

[chronosynthesis]

Yes, but how? [He gestures vaguely at Strange.] I am looking for more of an explanation than that!

[kingsroads]

[ And now we reach a new problem: Strange attempting to explain his magic. He frowns slightly, thinking as he tries to piece the words together. ]

Admittedly, I don't really know what spell I broke specifically. But I do know your magic. I can see and sense these things and, considering that we live together, I've had plenty of experience seeing your magic at work. It's like...if someone hands you a sweater. You don't have to know how it was knitted but tug on enough strings or snip the right thread and the thing unravels.

[ Does that make sense? Strange is frowning, a quizzical expression on his face like he's not entirely sure what to think of the whole explanation. ]

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya brings a hand to his chin, furrowing his brow.]

So it is... unguided destruction rather than a calculated reduction. [Maybe that's a harsh way of putting it. But it is less developed than he anticipated.] How long does it usually take? Have you attempted to use it against more complicated, less familiar enchantments?

[kingsroads]

[ Strange can't help but frown slightly because dude, unguided destruction? That's a bit harsh. But, then again, it's not like Strange is good at anything subtle to begin with. ]

If I can understand the magic, it rarely takes longer than a minute. As for your other question, this is a more refined version of the spell that Lambert and I used to break the Prince's curse on the bicorn during the Hunt.

[ more refined = less smooches. ]

[chronosynthesis]

Oh, yes, the kiss. [Because of course during the night of investigation, Syrlya asked got the details. Fae magic was different, however--something Strange was familiar with if not connected to.

Syrlya clearly underestimated how much of his own magic Strange has managed to identify.]

Do you remember what we discussed before, about learning to cast magic from each other's worlds?