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Daireem - Micc
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TheWalruss
Starcey Crystal
1/10/2009 3:09:11 AM

Level: 1
Experience: 0

Total Posts: 44
RE: Of Spaceport Markets

(That metaphor is pretty accurate, though - Starcey has the potential to become a strong beautiful woman, but is letting the generally negative influences of her past dominate. She is - consciously or unconsciously - trying to fulfill her would-be "life of crime" as her father's daughter, which causes her to be caustic, manipulative, and distrustful. Ironically, the only reason she ever trusts anybody - including you guys - is because of the subtle magic she inherited from her mother! At any rate, if she can successfully shed whatever concept of destiny, fate, or "right" to the life she is trying to lead, life will treat her much more kindly. And HEY - I'm finally listed in the Active Plots list!)


Why you came here in the first place... echoed in her thoughts, finally driving away the mess in her head. She dried off some tears and lit another cigarette.

Why I came here in the first place? I thought I tricked mom into "telling me" to go and get some guidance, so I could tell her Lao-Tzu told me to go see the Galaxy. That way she'd pay for a ticket to Cerania, or at least anywhere off-Micc. But now it seems like she probably manipulated me into wanting to go. Which means I'm exactly where she wants me to be.

Where do I want to be? Hmmm - not here. Frak, I'll wait until the geezer comes back, thank him for the tea and food, and get the hell out of here. I'll find my own way to Cerania - it's probably best my mom doesn't know where I'm going or how I'm getting there, anyway.


She pondered the situation...

Although... now that I think about it, I'm actually right where I want to be, I think... There's that cute-looking pilot dude with his own transport right in the old man's workshop! Peace of cake!

Starcey smiled to herself a little bit and resolved not to think about her mother, or what she said, while she solved the problem of getting off-planet. She squashed her cigarette butt on the doorframe and flicked it in the dirt.

First things first! The sage is obviously a whiz at mind-reading and stuff - probably even mind-control. So I'll play it totally straight. But what's taking him so long?
Lao-tzu
Ancient Thinker
1/11/2009 6:26:39 AM

Level: 1
Experience: 0

Total Posts: 56
RE: Of Spaceport Markets

The wizard's senses reeled as he stepped into the cavern.  Gobbets of glowing magical energy were swarming around as if taking joy in the scene, which was dominated by a majestic, bright green dragon.  It moved somewhat awkwardly, no unphysically.  The skin was a shiny coat of what seemed like emerald crystals, ever-shifting.

On the floor beside the dragon was a man, Dante, in the lotus position.  Lao-tzu's attuned senses saw a basic but elegant barrier surrounding him around which magic seemed to make a detour. Now why would he do that?  And how come Dante was doing magic?

Dante looked like he would be fine and could be left alone for the moment. The dragon obviously had something to do with Raelan's fetish, but its position in the focal apparatus was worrisome.  As he looked, Lao-tzu noticed the crystal hide was losing its shine and turning dull.  Then he saw it: behind the shiny green there was a staticy quality that was all too familiar.  The darned fool had somehow gotten a hold of raw power from the generator and used it to manifest this animal!

This called for action, because that energy tended to burn and dissolve all it touched. To his credit, Raelan must have realized this on some level and pushed it out in an instinctive defensive reaction.  Lao-tzu looked at the table on his right still covered in magical crystals, glad to see that they were untouched.

With a couple of quick gestures, he sent a large clear gem flying towards the dragon. Loudly and imperiously, the wizard cast a spell on the gem, which began to resonate and produced a single clear note. A moment later the room turned pitch black as all the magical energy was absorbed into the crystal with a giant slurp. Hairline cracks spidered through the crystal as Lao-tzu sent it out the door, where it exploded into dust with a crack of thunder.  

Dante felt an immense relief at the moment the magic was gone.  Raelan felt like the floor just disappeared under his feet and fell to the ground, but was likewise relieved that the grating presence of raw magic was gone.  The elderly sage cast another spell, using a few gems to redirect the flow of magic into next week, and for the first time the underground workshop felt quiet and peaceful.

Speaking up first, Lao-tzu said, "I apologize, I should have taken precautions. Are you alright?"
Raelan
inventor/mage
1/11/2009 12:42:33 PM

Level: 1
Experience: 0

Total Posts: 94
RE: Of Spaceport Markets

Raelan took a deep breath as he fell the tiny distance to the floor, his energy had just been sucked out, he felt weak, dry, sore, and stretched. In the following exhale he managed a profound and pathetic "Ouch..."

He slowly opened his eyes, wiped the blood from his nose, coughed up a little as well, and slowly turned his head to look at Lao-Tsu. He cleared his throat and whispered "thanks" with a slightly embarrassed blush. With a somewhat stronger voice he said "what was all that? If I hadn't thought to use the crystal I probably would have passed out." At which point he looked down at the crystal on his left arm. "Slag..." The crystal looked like it's been through a fire and then beaten on by hammers, cracked and blackened.

He weakly opened the netting and pulled it out to look at it. "I haven't been this drained since." He cut off the sentence, but flexed the fingers of his right hand reflexively reassuring himself they were there. he dragged himself to the wall, and used it to stand up, repeating more confidently "ouch."
TheWalruss
Starcey Crystal
1/11/2009 1:28:11 PM

Level: 1
Experience: 0

Total Posts: 44
RE: Of Spaceport Markets

CRACK-a-BOOM

The sudden explosion right outside the workshop caused Starcey to fall over backwards, and rub her eyes to get rid of the vivid after-image of a glowing orb with electric tentacles.

Ooookay... I think I'll make some tea - that was delicious, and those crazies seem like they could probably use another cup!

Starcey went back in the cottage, put on some tea, and waited for the others to return.
Dante
Eccentric Assasin
1/11/2009 1:29:32 PM

Level: 1
Experience: 0

Total Posts: 42
RE: Of Spaceport Markets

  He answered with an "You don't look so good...are you going ta be ok?" Dante watched as the green bubble formed. He tapped it making a solid clunk. He had seen something silimiar to this before. But it wasen't exactly the same, different in subtle ways. He tapped it once more and then saw it encased Raelan. "Can you hear me?...Can you even breath in there?" He talked at the bubble.

  Dante noticed the bubble meld into Raelan's form. He saw Raelan's Dragon features clearly. It startled him for two reason, One just because of the sight of Raelan looking like a dragon hybrid. And two because he wasen't used to being able to see magical effects so clearly. This caused him to open his own magic up a bit not enough to cause severe pain only as far as a minor headache. He rubbed his temple with his wrist then looked back at Raelan and muttered "Whoah".

  He sighed once the magic was gone and relaxed his body. Dante, using his cane for support, stood back up  He breathed deeply and looked over at Raelan who was struggling. "My friend do you need help?" he looked down then back towards Raelan "You look like your in worse shape than I".
Lao-tzu
Ancient Thinker
1/11/2009 7:14:48 PM

Level: 1
Experience: 0

Total Posts: 56
RE: Of Spaceport Markets

Dante looked shaken and somewhat tired but otherwise none too worse for wear.  Raelan looked more... well done.  But the damage done to the crystal showed the fate that he had barely managed to avoid - scorched, cracked, pitted, and dead.

Ever the gentleman, Dante offered his handkerchief to his friend, who wiped his face while Lao-tzu spoke.  

He said, "Curiosity killed the cat, they say.  How fortunate that you take after the dragon and not the feline."

The wizard offered some mild restorative substances before continuing, "About one decade ago, I began to develop this device in earnest. It is a dam for arcane energy, a focusing lens, a generator, and a dozen more metaphors besides. Nobody knows what magic is, what it comes from, where it goes, or even what it should be used for.  Maybe these questions do not even make any sense."  

As he talked, Lao-tzu became very animated and seemed almost like a young man. Gesturing at a table covered in multicolored crystals, he said, "These crystals can be set in motion, turning the room into a magically active four-dimensional manifold capable of producing a nearly arbitrary energy density. Ordinarily, when a spell is cast, the mind of the caster gives a form to the magic.  This form is peculiar to the caster and the function of the spell and it hides the Truth of Magic. Using the patterns gathered from my book of magical styles and inverting them, I've been able to scratch away successive layers of this obfuscation."

At this point, Lao-tzu's face fell.  "That nearly raw arcane power is what you just experienced. Its power is terrible and I've taken steps to protect myself from it, but I did not think to warn you or delay the device's action the way I just did. The oversight was inexcusable."

"Come, let us go back to the cottage and take refreshments. You will find it helps you recuperate.  But you must go first. I will stay another moment to prevent another mishap."
Raelan
inventor/mage
1/11/2009 11:31:31 PM

Level: 1
Experience: 0

Total Posts: 94
RE: Of Spaceport Markets

Raelan nodded to Dante breathing deeply to calm his system down. "I'll be alright... I've been worse... almost." He listened to Lao-Tsu's lecture, focusing as much of his mind on it as he could while taking the mild restorative. He felt enough energy coming back for him to concentrate at least. As he listened to Lao's lecture thoughts crossed his mind. From what I could tell magic comes from living creatures themselves, from life, the magic is used differently by each mind, but if you look at the effect you should see the similarities, that's how I use my detection sphere, what the magic itself is attuned to is the body, granted I have managed to absorb some from stars, and electronics so life may not be the answer.... Hold on, invert?

Raelan stopped on his way to the door and turned around. "Lao... from what I can tell, most people's casting comes from the energy generated by their life, I know energy can be generated other ways as well, I've siphoned off of vehicles, and electronics on occaision. Be careful, with energy that cold, if you invert too far you may end up casting with death... I would like you to tell me some time where all that energy is being siphoned from... It burned like Hades, and the sheer mass almost burnt me out by overload." He flexed his fingers, so now he had the option for claws as extra storage as well...

And with that he stepped out headed for the pantry again. Even though he'd eaten recently, and thankfully that was already starting to digest, he was ravenous from all the lost energy. (he still has no clue about the green dragon shape armor, his eyes were closed during the whole thing.)

He slid into the kitchen still quite plainly exhausted, and fixed Starcey with an honest, appreciative smile once he noticed she'd already started the tea. "Oh, thank you... I'll need that... soooo bad..." He then dragged himself over to the larder and then grabbed some of any high energy, compact calorie type foods he could find, plopped into a cross legged sitting position on the floor and tore into them with all the table manners of a wild version of the animal he was so fond of.
TheWalruss
Starcey Crystal
1/12/2009 3:51:09 AM

Level: 1
Experience: 0

Total Posts: 44
RE: Of Spaceport Markets

It didn't seem that Raelan or Dante were in speaking moods when they shuffled in.

Slag! What happened in there? Typical male peacock behavior, probably...

Starcey found a rag, dampened it with some warm water, and handed it to Raelan so he could clean his face properly.

"Here, you can give it to Dante when you're done. I hope there's a washing machine in that transport of yours - but otherwise you can use those bloody shirts as oil rags, I suppose." Quite some blood had dripped down, and would probably leave stains.

Once Dante and Raelan had cleaned themselves off a little and stilled the most voracious part of their appetites, Starcey tried to start a conversation.

"Soo - what brings you fellows to the mountain of Lao-Tzu?" she asked in a somewhat sardonic tone, challenging them a little. "I mean, coming here just to play around with magic seems a little childish, no?"

Lao-Tzu entered the cabin at this point, having finished securing the resonator.
Lao-tzu
Ancient Thinker
1/12/2009 6:14:22 AM

Level: 1
Experience: 0

Total Posts: 56
RE: Of Spaceport Markets

When Lao-tzu entered the cottage, everyone looked at him expectantly as if asking for more explanation. Since he had heard Starcey's question, he began there.
"At the Fractal Spaceport, Dante was accosted by a man, never mind why. Raelan stepped in and prevented bloodshed. They made friends, and I thought Raelan's actions warranted a reward so I invited them both for tea."

He held up a green crystal. "Here is a gem similar to the one that was destroyed. If you can tell me what enchantments yours contained we can perhaps fashion it into a replacement."

After a brief summary of the events in the lab for Starcey (including the bit about the dragon), he said, "Raelan, your view is quite common, but it is entirely based on the form your magic takes.  Indeed, one can be a very powerful wizard and still believe that the form reflects a real grounding principle.  However, if one takes a rigorous approach to the question of where magic comes from, then it becomes immediately apparent that a living being cannot produce a significant fraction of the energy required.  No, magic has little to do with life or death itself."

"The nearly formless magic produced by the focusing engine is dangerous not because it is malevolent or death-like, but simply because it has few limits and no direction to guide it. Apply the Second Law of Thermodynamics and you will agree that such energy will inevitably destroy more than it creates. You may be wondering why I have spent considerable effort in producing so much of a dangerous thing. My goal is to trace the stream of magical energy to its ultimate source, and the larger the stream the more clearly does the source manifest itself. I am by no means done, but I have determined that the power of magic stems from another dimension - a parallel universe if you will. The exact nature of this dimension and its relationship with ours is still a mystery. Are your curiosities satisfied?"

(man, he's been talking a lot lately!)
TheWalruss
Starcey Crystal
1/12/2009 7:42:38 AM

Level: 1
Experience: 0

Total Posts: 44
RE: Of Spaceport Markets

"Well, why can some people tap into this other dimension, while others can't? That hardly seems very fair," she said sullenly.
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