towerofanimus | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Characters: Anyone and everyone
Setting: Cafeteria, Noon, Nov 7th
Format: Anything
Summary: A party/discussion mingle after calling a meeting of the residents.
Warnings: tba

The anonymous post on the network was an invitation to gather, discuss and share information. Maybe they would get incredibly lucky and get to the bottom of things, such as who was behind the bombings or the strange things that went on during Quarantine.

Someone has been at work down here in the dining hall, moving the tables around to create a space in the middle in case people felt like dancing. Most of the chairs are around the outside and facing the middle, for everyone to see each other better. There was another space and some chairs for musicians, and a couple of the larger tables were set up with a large buffet of normal cafeteria food (because Zo wasn't likely to poison them) and resident prepared dishes, both clearly marked.

Of course, there was always the oatmeal.

[ooc: Feel free to make your own threads and subthreads!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hmm? [Annika turns her head towards the man, arms remaining aloft for a few moments more. There may be no magic here, Waver, but this lady is having some... complexion issues.]

A bit. Not much, I'll figure it out again, I will... [And she brings her arms out of that casting-ready position, turns herself about, and decides that now's an excellent time to hold forth on the subject. He did ask about it, after all.]

I was attempting to conjure something simpler, but it's been such a long while since I've bothered, that the precise process isn't coming to me. It's not just scaling back the mana input, after all. And even beyond the invocation of shape, you have to moderate the power put into it or you just have a mess.

What is it you're trying to conjure specifically?

[He hadn't so much as blinked at her appearance for whatever reason, looking genuinely interested in what she had to say. It was depressingly rare he got a chance to talk magic with people, and the functions of it in other worlds was nothing short of fascinating.]

I can't say our particular techniques are definitely compatible, but maybe there's something I could do to help.

[She looked startled again, but happily so. He was engaging with the conversation! He seemed to know about conjuration! As she continued to chatter away, she gestured excitedly and moved in a little closer.]

Mana cookies. I've already put together more than enough mana strudel, but it would be nice to offer some variety. Aah, it's awful, I've been letting myself get rusty... I've been so stuck on practical application that I've been letting all the theory slip my mind...

[She wrings her hands together awkwardly, averting her eyes for a moment. But then they're right back on the man.]

You're a mage, then? Of what sort? What's your specialty?

[He raised an eyebrow at the response, looking to be somewhere between intrigued and confused. That definitely wasn't anything Waver had ever heard of, but then again unfamiliar terminology was to be expected in things like this.]

I'm a teacher, primarily of alchemy. That's my particular specialty, but I have a small number of other skills as well.

You'll have to forgive me, but what exactly did you say you were conjuring? I'm afraid I've never heard of anything like that.

Aah, alchemy! Not my field of specialty, at all. I've always left the alchemy to others, though I've been told my field samples were always in fine condition by the time they made it back to.... er, well, I'm digressing...

[She pauses, and she blinks. It's almost audible. (Her eyelids likely have a bit of drag against her not-well-moistened eyeballs...)] Mana cookies. Food. You haven't heard of conjuring food? I suppose it's not one of the earliest lessons they give initiates, but... ah, well, how is it done where you come from?

I don't actually think that's a common practice at all. To tell you the truth it's not something I've ever heard of. The idea of conjuring in itself really isn't my department, but how do you deal with the properties of equivalent exchange to create a thing like that?

It's quite common where I'm from. Equivalent exchange isn't much of an issue. While a bit of base substance is pulled from the environment, they're really mostly solidified arcane energy. They'll dissipate if left untouched long enough, and I can't say that they're particularly nutritious...

Edited 2013-11-10 04:04 (UTC)

It isn't? My world's magic has that as a simple and basic law; if I wanted to create something like that I'd have to provide materials as well as energy.

...Frankly, I'm almost a little jealous your method sounds so simple.

That sounds terribly inconvenient. The principle does exist in my world, where what you put in corresponds with what you're putting out, but there's plenty of room to tweak variables. It's not nearly as restrictive as what you're speaking of... [Aaah, and now he has her thinking even further ahead...]

Would you need a full assortment of ingredients, then, to conjure food? Raw ones? Or could you, say... change a nutrition bar to a piece of cake?

[Waver thought the matter over; combining components to form a single result was slightly more in the realm of simple alchemy, so he could at least consider it from a perspective of some experience.]

No, I think equivalent exchange would dictate the former option. I realized not that long ago that baking something is similar to alchemy itself. So the mundane option would probably be more efficient in regards to preserving magical energy, producing the same result in perhaps a little longer amount of time.

Hmm, I see, I see... and you're right, it would be, wouldn't it? I do still know how to cook, and it's often a far better option than this, but... well. Sometimes there's a lack of time. Or ingredients. [She casts a glance towards the kitchen.] Or ovens. They're really going all-out in there, they are...

I'm not particularly experienced with cooking, myself. But it's still a little simpler than expending energy I might end up needing for something more important.

[Looking indifferent he followed her gaze to the kitchen.]

Well, at least someone knows how to cook around here. [A shrug.] I don't think I got your name, did I?

Mana conservation is always something to keep in mind, of course, of course. Nothing worse than running short when you're in a tight spot. ...ah! No, and I don't believe I've heard yours, either.

[She brings a hand up and starts to extend it, hesitates a moment, then goes through with the motion. She's wearing gloves, but even through them her fingers seem quite boney.]

I'm Annika Whittenberg. And you, sir?

Waver Velvet.

[He shook her hand with barely a second thought; either he was literally blind or had seen some crazy shit to react as little as he was to all this.]

You can just call me Waver.

[His graceful tolerance of the undead is something tthat she is not going to question. For one thing, it's rude. For another, it's nice to be accepted and talked to as an equal, not as a potential threat.]

Waver it is. Please call me Annika!

[Her handshake is not very firm, but she's trying.]

It's very nice to be able to talk with another mage. Even before arriving here, I hadn't had the chance to for quite a long time.

[His apparent guidelines for what was tolerable was 'not trying to kill me' and 'not criminally stupid', so as it stood Annika was doing pretty well.]

I quite enjoy hearing about the mechanics of magic on other worlds. I've found none of them quite seem to match with mine, and the idea of that in itself is fascinating.

There's that much diversity in them? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised... Perhaps that says more about the nature of our various worlds, and what being taken means... [She draws her hand back and lightly rests her fingertips together, gazing down at them. Oh, she is just so full of ideas right now, she hardly knows where to start!

Perhaps with looking back up at Waver. Which she does.]

What other sorts of magic users have you encountered in this place?

Some time ago I spoke to someone that used something I can only really describe as crystallized magic. I'm not entirely certain of its specific method of functioning, but according to him it seemed anyone could simply use magic by wearing or carrying it.

[materia, dude. it's weird as hell.]

Magic isn't really something that can be so easily or universally practiced in my world, so the idea of that is like...well, I'd say it's on par with handing someone the ability to simply do the impossible.

Oooh, crystalized magic... I've seen crystals used as focal points for spellcasting, and as storage reservoirs for mana... I've even seen items made that can produce a magical effect that anyone with the proper training can trigger. Would you say it's anything like any of those?

[She leans in a little closer, then seems to catch herself and takes a step back. Even if he doesn't seem to be bothered, she doesn't want to get too close. It might finally be the thing that bothers him.]

What you're describing doesn't sound entirely out of the ordinary for my world... but magic really isn't something that your average person can do. It takes aptitude, and training, and an awful lot of willpower to not up and... do foolish things with it.

There's an entire department where I teach revolving around minerals and their use in magecraft, but definitely nothing quite that extreme. One of the oldest magical families uses concentrated magic stored within gemstones, I believe. But it sounded like what he described were on a completely different level than that, as though even someone with no magical potential at all could cast with an item like that.

Where I come from it requires something called Magic Circuits. To simplify the concept, they're like a secondary nervous system that conducts magical energy. If someone isn't born with any, they can't use magecraft. Unless there's some freak situation I don't know of, which frankly I wouldn't doubt.

[She'd gasp if she had proper lung function anymore.] Oh! You're an instructor! That's wonderful! So you'd certainly be an expert on the subject of magical crystals. You'd have a lovely time chatting with the Draenei...

I see. Magical aptitude doesn't function that way on Azeroth. There is an element of inborn talent being required, but it's not based on circuits. It's more a matter of... outlook. Or intelligence. To grasp the sort of thinking required to understand magic, and to memorize the means and ways of manipulating it.

I don't know about expert, but I'm at least familiar with the concept if nothing else.

[There were a couple terms there Waver was completely unfamiliar with, but it wasn't too difficult to keep up.]

...hm. I've noticed if nothing else my world's idea of qualifications to become a proper magus seem to be radically different. Others like yours seem vastly simpler--a system like that would solve a few problems back home.

[He paused, deciding to backtrack and actually question what he'd been hung up on.]

Sorry, 'Draenei'?

Well-versed, then? How about that.

[She laces her fingers together and lets her hands hang. And briefly looks to the side as she considers fetching a chair and having a seat, her hips are starting to bother her again... aah, but in a bit. Just a bit more.]

Your world's seem much more stringent. It causes problems? Power of any sort tends to cause problems.

...ah! The Draenei. They're... 'space travelers', is how they put it? Their devices are very much crystal-based. It's... all moot now, I suppose. I'm sorry. I shouldn't bring these things up....

There's a strict hierarchy of aristocracy and the like, where magical proficiency is believed to be based entirely on the purity of one's bloodline. It's quite annoying, to make an extreme understatement.

[Waver blinked a few times, realizing with slight irritation at himself that he might have hit a touchy subject.]

No, I should be the one apologizing. I didn't realize it was a difficult matter to speak about.

Hrmm. You say believed? It's not actually, is it?

[As for the uncomfortable stuff, she shrugs. There's a faint sound of bone-on-bone.]

I do enjoy talking about Azeroth... even if it's gone. It hardly seems real that it is, but it is. No more Draenei, no more Alliance, no more Horde, no more.... all of that.

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Where the heck did that second t come from? :|

whoop i didn't even see it :B

I am a big ol' typo factory tonight, I guess

i am every other night so donworry 'bout it =3=b

Hokay :D

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