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Post by redcoat on Jul 30, 2022 16:18:29 GMT -5
Still exhausted and spell scarred, Bones didn't stay above decks long- long enough to get caught up from her comrades, and then head back to the cabin of the boat. While Bones didn't generally hate small spaces, the portable hole was starting to feel a bit cramped and boring.
Commandeering a corner of the steerage of the boat so she could have a little privacy, she'd activate the necklace.
"So, it appears that we now have a tribe of kobolds that will be living in Bulgup's cave, and a myconid colony being established in New Haven or Nyanzaru. Seems... unclear which one Mbanje will choose."
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Post by opius on Jul 30, 2022 18:00:29 GMT -5
There was some noise as the amulet was activated, the stone glowing as Bones spoke her words. There was still a solid chunk of time left for them to converse, at least eight minutes due to their conservative spitballing hours prior. When Crosp spoke his voice was a little hoarse, as though he'd dozed off. "Oh. Oh! Uh. Kobolds- the ones from the mistcliffs? How did you end up over there?" He paused.
"Myconids- more important. Mbanje can... probably figure out where they want to colonize... Honestly, if they're anything like the research papers suggest, their presence would go pretty much unnoticed. Though there's some tangential evidence suggesting that Myconid colonies result in a healthier soil microbiome, it's hard to tell if it's them or the inherent magic of the places they tend to settle." He paused a moment. "...So how the hell was it? That sounds like an experience."
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Post by redcoat on Jul 30, 2022 18:15:26 GMT -5
"Absolutely beautiful. If I wasn't tired I would have been more open to the telepathic spores, but I wasn't ready to be in everyone's mind and vice-versa. I can't wait to bring you here- they are very friendly, and were excited to share knowledge with us." She smiled a bit.
"Oh! I figured out that bubble spell that Lia likes to use. Tiny hut?"
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Post by opius on Jul 30, 2022 18:26:15 GMT -5
"They can just pull people in to their hive mind? Fascinating... There's so little documentation out there, but it's been a subject of curiosity for some time for me. I'd... honestly love to check it out. From what I gather they're friendly and communal. So long as there's not too much attention drawn to them, I could see this colony, this... Mother figure... being a good.." There was a pause. "... I guess neighbor? Neighbor sounds right." She could hear him drumming on his desk before snapping his fingers "And hey! good going on the spellcraft. It seems like you're picking things up quickly. It feels like you've stumbled upon a new understanding of the weave."
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Post by redcoat on Jul 30, 2022 19:55:29 GMT -5
"Understanding might be a strong word." Bones said, with amusement in her voice. "I know how the spells are done from you and Lia, at least mechanically. And I know I can do magic because I've done magic. The rest is just... feeling, I suppose."
"Oh- on more mundane matters, I've started putting my notes into some sort of order for that Temple we found under the damn latrines at Camp Righteous. Nothing else I'm working on feels like it's anywhere near ready to be a complete project."
Just ask. Just ask. He literally said 'Love you' earlier, why does this feel like a bigger step?
"We could co-author it, if you wanted?"
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Post by opius on Jul 30, 2022 19:58:38 GMT -5
There was a pregnant pause.
"...Co-author...?" She could hear the drumming stopped, and in the background things were quite quiet. Despite his silence, the amulet remained active, seconds being chewed into. Almost a minute, even. "...I mean, I- absolutely, that would be incredible- Great, I mean. But... You did most of that footwork yourself. Are you sure you don't want to just put me in the footnotes with the Dundougers brothers?"
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Post by redcoat on Jul 30, 2022 20:15:49 GMT -5
"You're better at the hard sciences, Reg. I can write pages and pages with language, historical, and cultural analysis, but it'd be much better with at least a good chunk of it devoted to the rune work and the magic. Especially about the piggy back runes thing- I remember you mentioned borrowing the rune script for use in the future, so it must not be common knowledge."
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Post by opius on Jul 30, 2022 20:23:08 GMT -5
"Oh, no, arcane gymnastics like those are at least third sphere levels of intricacy. Picking it apart and reverse engineering it would be huge. Though, I'm certain I could with a little more work." She could hear a faint scratching in the background, recognizing it as pen hitting paper. She'd provoked him in just the right direction.
"I could certainly break it down into words. Maybe not words with the typical casual-but-formal irreverence of Ms. Daefaren, of course.
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Post by redcoat on Jul 30, 2022 20:29:21 GMT -5
"Well that's fine- I like your tone too. You can tell when you get really excited about a piece of information, because you start using nesting brackets and parenthesis. Besides, you said rune work was tricky, and dangerous. Sarcasm might not be the correct tone." She said, the grin evident in her voice.
"But I can reword it if you want- I've gotten very skilled at just repeating the things you've told me back to you."
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Post by opius on Jul 30, 2022 20:42:37 GMT -5
"That sounds like a plan. I'll collect my notes, and you can translate them into people-ese, sans brackets. Maybe don't tell folks how the sausage is made, but maybe definitely do explain to not try it at home. It's... Frankly impressive that these ancient people had magic like this. The Baelnorn existed, certainly, but after they... Shut down? Went into hibernation? Enough practitioners remained to pull things off like this. It's a wonder the jungle claimed so much between then and now." He tapped the back of his pen a few times.
"There's old things out there. Old magic, I know it. But now I'm beginning to wonder if it's supposed to stay buried..."
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Post by redcoat on Jul 30, 2022 20:47:13 GMT -5
"Oh, of course. I leave it up to you how much detail you want to release as far as runic instructions. I admit I am not the best at thinking of the negative applications of magic- honestly, I just look at the notes you wrote at the time and go 'Damn I bet we can use that to make some sort of elevation platform in the tower'." She said, her tone amused, and self deprecating.
"But, like the portal research. We can decide together what's safe and what's not."
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Post by opius on Jul 30, 2022 20:56:05 GMT -5
"Elevation platform..." He paused for several long moments. "Oh- OH! Gosh, we need to take some time off at some point. Off island, you need to see Iliya. There's this Arcane college, a huge Alabaster tower where hundreds of mage scholars hold discussions and theorycraft and- the books, Summer. There's floors and floors of just libraries. And from floor to floor- yes, there's stairs, BUT, there's also intricate arcane machines that control levitating platforms. You'd love it- or hate it, probably hate it at first, but it's so, so worth a trip."
Another momentary pause. "Oh! Teleportation, right. I'm still puzzling over the math, very little is adding up. After Rorr's friend passed along what he knew, it lines up with what the Gunslingers told us. Even the White Tower seems to be experiencing transit woes- at least incoming travel. I've got no way to reach colleagues over in that part of the world... But their research on solid state teleportation sigils is robust, anything we could cobble together would benefit from the references."
She could hear a faint scratching, and recognized the sound of him scritching his stubble. "I've been thinking about this idea that was brought up. Places where the Aetheric anchor- the running theory we're working on- is weaker. Places where another force of Aetheric interference is disrupting the pull. I think Mister Biff's Points of Conflux might be a great starting point to investigate, as well as the Sentinels. Keep your eyes open, and if you or your friends can see or sense magic, look out for places of..." He clicked his tongue. "Places of power, I guess, for lack of a different term. The math isn't a hundred percent, but it's got a heading."
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Post by redcoat on Jul 30, 2022 21:06:18 GMT -5
"You had me at floors and floors of libraries. Access to the archives was probably the biggest perk I used when I was in the commission. Everything I know beyond my language skills I learned because Muriel can be sweet talked into loaning out books."
As the conversation turned to portals, she nodded- before realizing that Crosp could see her- and instead spoke up. "I'll certainly keep my eyes open- I wouldn't be surprised if this mushroom cave counts as one, but I'd have to check with the others for confirmation though. I have a... preliminary theory about the magic on the island- why it's so different and strange- but I think it would be hard to explain in ten minutes."
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Post by opius on Jul 30, 2022 21:12:19 GMT -5
He nods. "We'll have more time to chat during your travels. It's only... a few minutes a day, sure, but it charges back up each dawn. I'll consider it a practice in deferred gratification, until you share your thoughts." He chuckled.
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Post by redcoat on Jul 30, 2022 21:19:44 GMT -5
"I love it. Even if it's limited, it's nice being able to talk to you. If I can figure out a coherent way to put the theory, I'll write it down and send it with the telescription pens. But it's still very murky, and I've not got all the pieces I need yet. Honestly... that's how I feel about most of my projects at the moment. Acererak, finding my father, the conflux points and the strange magic on the island... they feel like the corner pieces of the same puzzle."
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