[Open] Gray November Days

[teratias]

Who: Waver and whoever wishes to join him
Where: In and about the Temple of Beginnings and Lakeside
When: Early November
Rating G
What: Mucking about, practicing some magic



Fighting Ring
[Autumn seemed to have settled over the Temple in the way that it always did after any version of the Halloween holiday. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Waver suspected that Bonfire Night was either on the horizon or recently passed by.

That holiday wasn't why he had a little fire going beside him within the fighting ring. There was a far more practical reason, and with no one else around, he felt confident practicing. His magic was strange and particular, requiring an on-going flame and the destruction of paper to make it all work.

But it let him do things he'd never be able to accomplish otherwise. He puts a single piece of paper to the fire beside him (it's small, of course, nothing that can get out of control.) As the stuff turns to ash, iron spikes rise from the ground, impaling the dummy that has been his enemy. It's a nasty sight, stuffing going everywhere, and it ends with a genuinely shocked Waver staring at the scene.]

...Woah. That...that worked a little too well.

[The surprise means that anyone watching can get the better of him, but...well no one's that rude. Hopefully.]

Forest of the Fey
There's still something unnerving about the forest, but Waver has tried to walk it several times recently. Today's adventure is no different. He trudges out into the dense greenery (now autumnal, perhaps soon wintery), eyes everywhere and ears strained to see if there are more secrets this place is willing to give up.

In doing so, he is not paranoid, just keenly aware. It is for that reason he tenses when he hears something. There have been big animals before and...perhaps this is one of them?

There's no noise from him. Waver is still, waiting for the noise source to reveal itself.

Shores of Lake Dona
[Waver can't say what it is that draws him back to this place. Exploring the caverns alone is a poor idea, and getting too closer to the water invites mermaids to be well...dicks. But there's something about this place that needs to be explained. It's arrival saw the intermitten return of powers, and that still says something.

He sits quietly on the shore (far back, of course), his hands resting on the ground to support his weight, a discarded notebook to one side.]

If I was a source of some kind of overriding power, where would I be....


Wildcard
You know what to do

Comments

lake!

[inheritedearth]

[The lake isn't too long a walk from the temple, but long enough that Aerith feels it's enough to give her legs a good stretch, and getting to stop and relax by the shore for awhile before heading back is always a treat. She likes the scenery, even if she's usually more partial to flowers— there were no lakes in Midgar, and when she finally had seen the shore for the first time back home, there hadn't been time to stop and enjoy it.

As it turns out, she's not the only one who's taking a liking to relaxing by the lake, and she smiles and offers a wave as she approaches, waiting until she's well within earshot to say:]

Looks like we both had the same idea. I'm not interrupting, am I?

[teratias]

....Huh?

[Being so lost in though, Waver hadn't even realized that there was someone else near by. He doesn't jump, nor does he look particuarily startled. He just glances up, unable to recognize the face of the person talking. She's new? Maybe?]

Oh uh. No, not at all.

[inheritedearth]

[She's not so sure she believes him, given that he was clearly lost in thought, but if she has interrupted, it's too late now.]

The scenery out here is lovely— the lake was revealed not long after I arrived here. I've enjoyed coming to visit it when I get the chance, especially while the temple was so overgrown.

[Her first weeks here had been... interesting.]

I don't believe we've met. I'm Aerith.

[She holds a hand out to him. Shake?]

[teratias]

Waver.

[The shake is tenuous at best, as Waver's not terribly keen to talk about scenery when he could be trying to divine lake mysteries. By sitting on his ass, of course.]

So you're aware that the appearance of this thing brought back normal abilities that were stripped away, right? What's your opinion on the source of that?

[inheritedearth]

A pleasure.

[Fortunately, she has similar interests. All of the sudden change is absolutely cause for concern, after all.]

Well, the fact that Astoria is the one who caused all of this to appear, and our powers coming back at the same time— it makes me wonder if it's not that there was something about this place that keeps us from using our powers, but that she didn't want us to have them. Which, if that's the case, is curious— most of us would be more useful with them, I would think.

[And if they're supposed to be saving worlds, wouldn't Astoria want them at their best?]

Whatever the cause, our abilities aren't reliable at the moment, so at the very least, there's some kind of unstable magic at work here. What do you think?

[teratias]

Interesting.

[Waver considers the theory carefully.]

But in that case, why not leave us without any ability at all? Why swap them out for something else, something often at odds with what the previous skill happened to be?

[His own explanation is...well, an inverse.]

I've suspected that there's something here that's more powerful than her skills, hence the change in abilities. Astoria's not given much away, but I can see her having certain...skill gaps, to put it politely.

[inheritedearth]

I suppose giving us something at all allows some level of control over our usefulness?

[Maybe. That's a wild guess at this point, but the 'why' of it all has been weighing on her heavily for awhile now. His explanation, however, offers an interesting perspective as well, and she nods slowly as she considers it.]

That would also explain why there seems to be so much she doesn't know or remember, if she's being honest about that.

[teratias]

I mean, for all we know it could be a combination of both our theories.

[Waver makes a thoughtful noise, then flops backward onto the shoreline entirely.]

If we assume she's being honest, then things are weighted towards what I proposed. But that could be a pretty big assumption, and I've avoided talking to this witch.

[inheritedearth]

You make a good point.

[They really don't have enough evidence either way to say anything for sure right now.]

Well... I've spoken with her, a little.

[It wasn't at length, but Aerith would like to think she's a decent judge of character.]

As skeptical as I am about all of this, I really wanted to believe her? She seems genuine, but there's just too much we don't know for me to be sure.

magic time.

[courtmagic]

[there's an impressed whistle coming from the entrance to the fighting ring, and Merlin steps in. robe clad, staff in hand, he doesn't seem like he's much ready to do fighting of his own. but he is intrigued by the magic he just saw happen.]

That's pretty nasty work, Waver.

[if that had been a real person, he means.]

[teratias]

...Oh! Uh.

[Waver turns around, seeing Merlin and becoming several fascinating colors of red.]

Yeah I....didn't think it would be this effective. I don't think this is a use again spell.

[courtmagic]

[you know that's only going to make Merlin want to pry more, right.]

Never hurts to have something on hand for last resorts. But that said, I've got to ask how you did that in the first place.

[teratias]

I...ugh, just walk over here I'm not gonna yell across the ring!

[Waver's red face at least begins to fade, and he proceeds to burn something else over the fight. The spikes in the impaled dummy disappear, and soon it's just Waver and another handful of ash.]

[courtmagic]

[amused, he complies, striding over in no particular rush. it would have been funny to make Waver keep yelling though.]

There are more comfortable places to make a campfire.

[teratias]

Good thing I'm not camping.

[Waver doesn't bother to explain. He instead reaches into his pants pocket, and pulls out another little piece of paper, neatly folded. Into the flame it goes, and within moments, there is a rainstorm over the dummy. The downpour is fast, furious, and soon enough a great puddle begins to form, reaching out and out until it reaches Waver's feet.]

It's a required part of my magic.

[courtmagic]

So, magecraft triggered by incineration? How complex do your commands have to be in order to be effective?

[or how simple can they be dumbed down to? Merlin's mind is working fast.]

[teratias]

What I've worked out is that the more specific, the better, as it lets me direct things with greater accuracy.

[He hands Merlin a slip of paper, one that just says rain.]

This'll make it go everywhere in a whatever foot radius. The thing I just did specified it on "my enemy."

wildcard-ish!

[lumberlady]

[With their next "trip" coming up, Konoha is on a mission. Since life had returned to the Temple and an abundance of fruit with it she'd been keeping busy, and part of that came in the form of drying fruits and vegetables in preparation for travel... potentially to a world like Struxta again, with grey goop for meals.

So with a basket full of tasty dried persimmons, peaches, and berries in her hands, she starts making her deliveries.

The sight of a familiar face coming from the fighting ring pulls her off course, though- Or, not really off course, since she'd been planning to give him some anyway, but. She kicks into a trot to meet him, waving with a smile.]

Hello~!

[teratias]

[Waver is quite spent. His day of practice with his magic has yielded some useful information, but now he's ready to sink his face into his pillow and sleep for as long as humanly possible. He walks slower than normal, a bit ragged, but hardly looking as if he's done much physical exertion.

Seeing Konoha approach, he stops. It's impossible to ignore the basket, and he looks from it to her with no small amount of curiosity in his eyes.]

Hey. Uh...is that some of the fruit in there?

[lumberlady]

[Smiling, and rather glad to see he's curious, Konoha gladly holds her basket down and out for inspection, revealing a variety of carefully leaf-wrapped packages of dried fruits.]

That's right! The drying worked out just fine!

[Selecting a big one, containing a selection of dried peach rings, whole dried persimmons, and various berries, she holds it out for him to take.]

This one's for you! I wanted to deliver them before we go anywhere.

[teratias]

[The basket is...holy crap! Holy crap!? They made that!!! Okay, Konoha did most of the work, but still! Waver lights up all at once, suggestion of exhaustion gone.]

That's amazing and...! [Oh...well. The package is taken with no small amount of gratitude, and Waver can't help but peak under it.]

Thanks. I really hope I can just use them as snacks, rather than have to survive on them versus grey goop.

[lumberlady]

Haha, me, too.

[She handles the heavy basket easily, shifting it one-handed to rest it on her "hip"... well, equine shoulder, as she points at the package contents to explain.]

See, here's the peaches you collected... and here's some persimmons I made... and I found these berries in the forest...

[teratias]

I didn't know there were persimmons out here.

[More importantly though, Waver picks up one of the peaches, and holds it out between the two of them.]

Since we made this one together, is it okay if we test out our work together?

[lumberlady]

There's not! I made them with my power, since they're so good.

[Super useful! And what was an autumn without persimmons, or a winter without dried persimmons?

What he says makes her smile, though, and she reaches down to grab a dried peach piece herself.]

Sure! I hope you like it- Ready?

[teratias]

Mmm!

[Well, time to see how it goes. Waver takes a small, experimental bite, then blinks when the concentrated flavor hits his tongue. It's??? Really good?

He looks over Konoha, delighted.]

This is amazing!