Can't be a wizard without a hat

[les_magique]

[Video]

I have taken the time to figure out the use of this communication device for two reasons. The first is to show off my hat.

[She has a hat on. It's a wide brimmed pointy hat that looks exactly like the kind of hat a wizard would wear. She looks quite pleased to have it.]

I suppose a hat isn't that important in the grand scheme of things, but I like this hat, and having ANYTHING from home is something of a luxury, given our current situation.

Anyways the other thing I wanted to talk about isn't quite so trivial. I'm curious about magic.

I have spent the last few years devoted to unlocking magic's mysteries, you see, and I THOUGHT I was making good headway. But now that I'm here, I'm realizing that this is a MUCH more complicated subject than I thought it was. Magic works entirely differently depending on what world you come from. Some worlds don't even HAVE magic in the first place!

So if you know anything about how magic works in your world, I would be interested in comparing notes.

[And then, a minute later.]

Oh right also. Gladio, if you wanted to try teleportation, now seems like as good a time as any.

Comments

[laurefindil]

[Personal response, and Glorfindel hopes this works right|

That is a nice hat. Similar to what the wizards back home would wear. Though with less bird droppings than Radigar's.

I understand from Mithrandir that the first piece of magic a wizard must learn...is how not to lose their hat.

I know a little of my world's magic, but it is mostly practical magic, so I don't know if it is of any use to you.

Unless you are after magic rings used to control people, in which case I will come visit, but only to convince you to give up that idea.

[les_magique]

Is this a particularly wizardly hat, then?

[laurefindil]

To quote Mithrandir, who was the best wizard I know, if it is your hat, and you are a wizard, then it is most definitely a very wizardly hat.

[les_magique]

This Mithrandir character sounds like a very wise fellow.

[Action] Because my brain wouldn't let up on me until I did SOMETHING.

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita has her Manual open, absently sketching a chord for a spell diagram.]

The Speech's power comes in two parts - the ability to understand someone or something else, and the ability to persuade.

Most spells are convincing part of the universe to act in a way it couldn't do on its own, or just to do something faster or slower than it would normally. For that, you have to give something of yourself, usually energy. No spell without its price and all.

[Common knowledge between them, but it's still part of what Samata asked for.]

[les_magique]

That is a completely different paradigm from the world I know. It sounds almost like your magic is alive.

[As she said that, she peeked down from her bunk to see what Nita was sketching.]

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Bobo made a noise of quiet approval in the back of Nita's head; she smiled.]

In some ways, it is. To read intent at the level of complexity it does - what a wizard says tends to come true, so it pays to watch what you say - it practically has to get in your head itself.

Not in an invasive sense, though. If a wizard defaults to that, back home, they're doing it wrong.

[And not just in the moral sense.]

[les_magique]

My research has shown that magic is a natural force. A sort of energy flow that passes through the world. Sorcerers naturally draw it into themselves and can use it to power their spells. I can't draw it into myself but I can still change its flow and, through that, effect reality.

What are you drawing?

Video

[yep_stilldead]

Oh, what a grand hat! Just one look at it, and I can tell you're quite the wizard.

Re: Video

[les_magique]

You can tell all that from my hat?

[yep_stilldead]

Well, that and all the talk about magic, but it IS a very wizardly hat.

[les_magique]

It's just my hat.

But...I guess I AM the first wizard! Maybe I'm a trend setter across the multiverse!

[ Video ]

[shutupnail]

There's magic in the universe I'm from although trying to explain how it works... is a completely different story.

[les_magique]

Sorcerers wax poetic a lot about how magic cannot be understood intellectually, only on an intuitive level.

Which is absolute nonsense, if you're willing to actually apply your brain to the problem instead of just going off of gut emotional responses.

[shutupnail]

I've never given much thought about it. I'm a warrior, not a magician. I understand how ki works, I've trained others in martial arts and ki manipulation. But when it comes to magic it either just happens or I...forget about it.

[That sounds as awkward as it's phrased. And perhaps a little bit of embarrassment peaks in there, too.]

[les_magique]

Tell me about ki, then, if you don't mind. I'm afraid I've never come across the concept.

[littlefury]

Well...what do you want to know, I guess?

[this is the sound of the Nasubabble Alarm, please run while you still can.]

[les_magique]

[Samata didn't get to where she is in life by having a sense of self preservation, unfortunately.]

Well, the basic paradigm through which you think of magic and how it works. Is it a natural force, subject to natural laws? Does it come from god at his whim? Do you eat magic fairy mushrooms and burp fireballs?

[littlefury]

...I can't tell if you're making fun of me or not.

[waver, please.]

The first option, if I had to pick one. Magic is...well, unfortunately, kind of a genetic trait where I'm from. Depending on who you ask, it's either a trait that can be enhanced and improved through effort, or the capacity one's born with is kind of what they're stuck having.

[sacrament_of_blood]

It is quite a nice hat and already I am finding that there are people here with abilities straight from legends and stories. In my world, magic comes from the gods and spirits. Those who earn their favor can be bestowed with a fragment of their power. For instance, I serve the Bloody Goddess, may She slay our enemies. As such, She has given me a part of Her lethality. I have greater physical capabilities, knowledge of some sacred rituals, and I can command blood. When necessary, I may became as Her, or rare a lesser version, thus becoming more deadly.

[les_magique]

Are you saying that you have more than one god?

[sacrament_of_blood]

[Oh no, you broached the subject of theology. Her face lights up at a chance to talk about her religion.]

Indeed! Now to understand our gods, first I must tell you about the Creator. The Creator is the being that created our universe. Though to call them a being is misleading, as they are many and they are one. At times they will present one face, at others three, at times hundreds or thousands. Likewise, their names are countless.

At first the Creator took a more active hand, but eventually they decided to withdraw from interference with the world. Some say out of sadness and disappointment at us failing to follow their messages of love, while others say the Creator wished to let us grow on our own.

Regardless of the reason, they have been silent for a long time. During that time, humanity created many wonders and many horrors. Live-saving technology, technology that takes life. They raised up great cities with buildings reaching to the sky. They crossed the world in flying vehicles. They could talk to each other across the world. They created devices that could think many times faster than a human, yet were very simple and only did what they were instructed to, for better or worse.

Such was humanity's greatness. But that brilliance came with a darkness. There was hatred. There was poverty. There was greed. There were the power-hungry. And so on. Regardless, there was some glory. There were many kind people who did their best to change the world for the better.

Then the Empty Ones came. Abominations from the void that hungered to be real, to be people. So they stole faces and usurped identities, expelling the original inhabitants from their bodies to wander as lost souls. Yet no matter how much they pretended, no matter how much they usurped, no matter how much they stole, they could not make themselves whole.

Such was the Empty One blight. They threatened to overflow the world. But then a woman awakened to the power of slaughter, becoming the Bloody Goddess. She slew many and was as a wind of death, but even slaying a thousand each second was not enough against the endless hordes of Empty Ones. Then a man awakened to the power of sacrifice, becoming the Living Corpse. He urged She Who Walks In Blood to slay him in order so that his life might flood the world in blood in order to stem the Empty Ones' tide. And thus the world changed.

Slowly but steadily, we are reclaiming the world, driving out the Empty ones, rebuilding, recreating our technologies. And other gods have risen up as well from other humans, but of all the gods closest to humanity, the greatest are the Two Gods of my people. We are the most numerous, the most blessed.

[Video]

[callmegladio]

[Isn't on screen for a moment, clearly talking to someone just out of view and earshot until a loud curse is heard and Gladio is pushed into view, looking somewhat irritated by someone.]

Well how the hell was I supposed to know?

[Looks at the screen now, clearly not too comfortable with this. What the hell is wrong with a phone call or talking in person?]

Uh yeah, any time you're free.

...

And nice hat.

[les_magique]

Fantastic!

[But she CAN read the mood.]

...is this not a good way to get in touch with someone? Sorry, I don’t know what the etiquette is for a machine like this.

[callmegladio]

Uh... no. It's fine. Just not a tech guy.

[Gladio flashes a smile he HOPES comes off as confident and reassuring.]

Just have a friend showing me what to do is all. But I'm down to have you show me this teleport magic of yours.