Magical-Casting Fun Times

[malik_caesar]

Who: Zelda, Duke, Malik
When: Mid-Afternoon, Wednesday Nov 28th
Where: The Island
Status: Closed

[Having spoken with Ky about fishing a few days ago, Malik had increased his own desire to do some. He arrived a few hours early in order to try his hand at some sea fishing. Those had flown by with little success. Perhaps Ky was right in turning it down. Sometimes it could be kind of boring.

Malik wasn't giving up, but it was time to meet Zelda and her friend. Their agenda promised to be far more entertaining than the fishing. He packed up his fishing pole and bait, slung his bladerang onto his back and walked back to the elevator, hoping to find the others on his way.]

Comments

[zelda_hylia]

[When they die... Zelda latches on to the possible topic change abruptly, even if it means she's mostly addressing Malik. She can talk about the dragons later with Malik, but this is exactly the subject she wants Duke to not focus on right now.]

How would one being be able to sustain itself if it absorbed the life of a whole planet? That seems nearly impossible.

[radiantwingedone]

... The Adephagos intended to. What it would do post consumption of the planet, would not know.

[ Giant space octopus. :| ]

[malik_caesar]

Does it? [He looks to Zelda.] If eleth is the basis of life, why couldn't a life force contain all eleth?

[He looks to Duke. He has no idea what Duke's history is, but he begins to explain what would have happened on Ephinea, had the plan succeeded.]

This being, Lambda, was made from the eleth core at the center of the planet. He wanted to become the core. By doing so, he would have control of all eleth. He wanted to purge all pain and suffering by destroying all of humanity.

[zelda_hylia]

We're 70% water as well, but too much water and a person will simply drown. Of course, not everyone has the same physiology.

[Zelda glances to Duke. She's heard about the Adephagos before, though only briefly. Most of their studies focused on things that could be manipulated, not something like that. Malik's conclusion draws her attention again.

Destroy humanity.

Why was it that so many other races wanted to do that? Were humans really so terrible?]

I see. I wonder if the Adephagos had similar goals. Do you know if it was sentient, Duke?

[radiantwingedone]

[ Because humans, when they get into a group, become huge assholes, Zelda.

Duke sort-of shrugs. 'Lambda' seemed to have sound reasoning to Duke... ]

It was born of the tainted Aer, and sought to consume it. This is what was shared from the last occurrence, although may have been Entelexeia not wishing to share that ingesting too much Aer - which would be produced because of the imbalance caused by blastia - caused them to go mad and become the parts of the Adephagos. Think it is... mindless interest in eating.

[malik_caesar]

Blastia, I take it are ways of storing aer?

Entelexeia are beings made of aer, but I'm not sure what the Adephagos is. How can aer be tainted?

[zelda_hylia]

[It's not her field of expertise (though she has discussed it on some level with Duke before), so Zelda looks to Duke to answer. Hopefully the subject matter won't upset him too terribly. If he doesn't look well, she'll try to shift it again.]

[radiantwingedone]

Blastia are a variety of things; house-heating, water-pumps, lighting, barriers, weapons, and ability for those not of the Children of the Moon to use magic. [ Or those who don't know the Rizomata formula. ]

They are... a fraction of condensed aer, created by killing an Entelexeia and shattering the crystal that is left, and inscribing one of many formula upon it. Blastia does not... return, as much aer to the world as stable as it takes it in. Aer is... less stable, than mana, and from what I can tell, Eleth. Blastia ... tilts it a little to less so, which requires Entelexeia to come and consume it.

... It is also of the aer, but it seeks to consume it.

[malik_caesar]

[Malik rubs his chin with his eyes closed, absorbing the information. Or at least trying to.

He opens them again.]

I think I got most of that.

[zelda_hylia]

[Zelda listens to the refresher quietly, unsurprised when Malik looks a bit confused. Translating from hermit to socialite is something she does frequently.]

Blastia are remains, essentially. In life an Entelexeia acts as somewhat of a filter for the aer. Because of this, a blastia contains a lot of aer. If glyphs are inscribed on it, this aer can be utilized, but it's not the natural cycle of things and can cause the energy to go out of control. Since aer is unstable to begin with, accumulation alone can be enough to cause trouble - or that is my understanding of it, at least. I think it is because of that instability that magic on Terca Lumireis was developed in such a formulaic way.

[Magic on Malik's world is fairly formulaic as well, but not quite as much as Duke's.]

Eleth requires regulation as well, doesn't it? The Valkines keep it in circulation, and disruptions cause disaster.

[malik_caesar]

That's correct.

Fire eleth is especially vulnerable to disruptions. Even tiny amounts can cause very large explosions.

[radiantwingedone]

[ That explanation is close enough for Duke to not be that interested in attempting to correct anything. Perhaps because this... also isn't a comfortable topic. ]

... sounds like fire.

[zelda_hylia]

[His expression doesn't change much, but Zelda can tell he's uncomfortable anyway.]

Would you both mind doing a small fire spell? I'd like to see if there are any instabilities in a place like Vatheon.

[malik_caesar]

Of course.

[Malik takes a few steps to position himself, lines up a spot on the ground about 40 meters in front of them and begins casting.

A few seconds later, a fireball five-feet in diameter crackles to life and quickly rushes forward. It explodes on contact with the ground leaving a small crater and the black smoke from the incinerated ground covering.]

[radiantwingedone]

[ The problem is that Duke's smallest fire spell is no longer... quite so small. Curse the adaptability of his magic. He could try to cut it off early, but if he wished to match the fire ball with his own fireball(s)... ]

... The spell adapts. [ So there is his explanation for why rather than one, or three, smaller fireballs leaving the fire his spell spawns before him, there's a good half dozen. They move fairly linearly, and while none are quite as explosive individually, they do hit one after another. ]

[zelda_hylia]

[There doesn't seem to be any difference. Of course, they aren't using mana from their worlds, they're using Vatheon's. Maybe if they used their own mana...]

Would you mind trying it again using only your own mana? I can restore you both afterwards. I would like to see if that makes a difference.

[malik_caesar]

[He frowns a little but does as asked.

He repeats the process. He lines up his target and begins to cast his spell.

The effect is similar, though the spell seems rougher and less smooth. Small sparks shoot off of the fireball as it crackles through the air. It's a little more unstable but at the same time a little more potent. It's almost as if the fireball has more life in it - because it does.

Again it explodes on contact, leaving a small plume of flame followed by rising tendrils of black smoke.

It's not obvious, but he's slightly weaker and would be a little more cool to the touch.]

[radiantwingedone]

.... [ This may take a bit longer for Duke to be able to cast - he's trying to figure out how to only use 'his' mana, when the mana he uses for casting is a mix of gathered and his own. He sort of has to.. strain out the other types before he can cast-

... and unsurprisingly, it looks the same. The formula didn't change at all, afterall, he just used ... the same mana? Different mana?

If he looks tired after, well that might just be his normal look - because he was picking up leavings from the spell already, and replenishing that pool of mana. Paranoid habit... ]

... I cannot tell if I did that as you thought I should.

[zelda_hylia]

[As promised, she restores them afterwards, though once she finds Duke already doing it she ceases that. Duke's spell hadn't changed all that much, but he has been in Vatheon for a long time now.]

You did fine, Duke. There was something a little odd in the way your mana behaved though, Malik.

[It was raw. There simply wasn't any other way to describe it. A lot of potential, but it seemed dangerous somehow. Zelda quiets for a few moments, scribbling down some notes before passing it along for them to look at. It looks like she might think that aer (before it changed to mana) and eleth have a bit more punch behind them, even if they can be dangerous.]

[malik_caesar]

Generally we don't cast spells using our innate eleth. It's more than a little dangerous.

[He glances over the note and hands it to Duke.]

It's also dangerous when you absorb too much of it. [He doesn't expand on the details.]

[radiantwingedone]

[ Duke studies the note a little, then passes it back to Zelda. ]

Aer is dangerous to anything in high enough concentration. Normally not visible, first stage of visibility is green, and tends to make humans ill, wreck havoc on blastia. Messes with metabolism, worse in children than adults but still enough to drive grown humans to their knees. Also causes plants to grow far larger and faster than they ought, monsters to become... closest sickness can think of is 'rabid'; violent, ill tempered, likely to hunt out humans and more willing to enter towns.

Second stage of visibility is red, and contact is usually eventually fatal. Seems to gain some sort of sentience. Enetelexeia do best to arrive and clear up such concentrations before they reach that stage.

[zelda_hylia]

[There are a lot of possible theories. Usually Zelda would attempt to constrain herself to one around a newer friend, but seeing Duke talk again? There's no reason for that.

Sorry, Malik.

She shoots ideas back and forth with both of them until a couple hours later, when Duke finally quiets again.]

Are you getting a little tired? Perhaps we should head on home.

[Zelda smiles at Malik pleasantly.]

Thank you for coming out. It was fascinating.

[malik_caesar]

[He's not particularly tired but he knows a polite cue when he hears it. And, if he's being honest, the endless talk of magical theory with no practical demonstrations does tend to get a bit boring to him.

He bows a little.]

It was entirely my pleasure your Highness.

[He turns to Duke and offers a sturdy handshake.]

It is an honor to meet you Duke.

[radiantwingedone]

[ Really its because Duke ran out of words for the day. So Malik gets an agreeing hum-like noise in reply, and his hand for a sturdy handshake.

Its really been the most he's talked in a while... \