Pleroma Only

[wolof]

Hello.

[ The voice is clear, and despite the fact that she's rarely spoken through communion, surprisingly clear, and with no lack of authority to her tone. ]

I have discovered that there are some among us who have come into some sort of magic, or abilities, since arriving. Some even have a gift from before they arrived, that has thus gone unutilitzed. [ Rand. ]

If we are to be at war -- to win against a foe with greater resources than we have, then we should utilize every advantage possible. I know I've spoken to others here, who have a great deal of competency with the arcane. I believe it would be best, if we pooled our resources, to teach those among us who are not so practiced. Whether it is powers granted in this realm, or... [ said with a bit of a laugh: ] simply magic, there are methods to make them simpler to call, or with practice, they can take less effort to use.

While I'm no professional instructor, I have advised others on the use of magic when they were new to workings before, and any sufficiently trained magister can instruct another on at least the basics, and I think we should do so before we find ourselves on the field again. Even if you are practiced with your gift, I am sure there is worth in working together, to learn how our respective talents can work together, before we allow each other to be exposed, or even worse: injured or killed.

[ A pause. ]

Consider this a...statement of intent, if you will. I normally favor staying in Godsblood, but given the...volatile nature of unpracticed magic, I think I will find myself an appropriately sized clearing near Greentruth, if others wish to join me. A scant few days of instruction, if you will. I do not think it will be hard to find, if you are in the vicinity in the next few days. If others are willing, perhaps it will be of use, to make this regular for practice.

[ ooc; I'll be intending to put up something of a loose open log for magic-based folks to collaborate/help out any characters who are just coming into new powers, want practice or instruction, or just want to strategize with magic-related combat in general later this week! ]

Comments

[wolof]

[ Akua smiled, a touch of mirth in her eyes, when he started going on about it.

Well, of course it wasn't normal, but Akua could admit, she didn't think it was normal to do this, at least not in this way.

When she'd last taken the form, she'd been a shade, able to change her appearance because she was dead, not a flesh and bone body. ]

It's a form I chose, when I was... incorporeal, and I wanted to move around. [ With her poise and posture, Abel, would she be anything other than a black swan? ] Apparently I still thought of it here, and... I can do it again.

[inutilis]

[ it's talks like this that make him realize how much he has to learn, how big a gap there is between his life experiences and those around him. but it isn't intimidating or frustrating as much as it awes him.

the world is a fascinating place. his world had been filled with wonder, too - but Horos and all the worlds represented by the Aions in its midst... it's truly something else. ]

I can't believe this is just something you can do, [ he's still going to be Dramatic about it?? that's a given. ] But you chose it? You mean, you had some agency over what you could turn into?

[wolof]

I --

[ She paused. ] I did when I was home. I could have chosen any form, but it seemed...fitting.

[ She straightened, slightly, and placed her chin in her hand. Akua was nothing if not pretty, and choosing a swan would be the choice to make. ] I was dead, after all. I could change what I looked like, as well, you know. When I was dead.

Less now.

[ Then, she rolled a shoulder. ] I don't know if I so much as chose it, as... perhaps I knew instinctively what I would want to be? I lost the ability when I regained my body, but... I have the form once again.

[inutilis]

[ instinct... yes, that seems about right from what Abel knows and understands about their existences as 'Aions' here. so much seems to come to them as instinct, and those who had no supernatural or magical abilities, no extraordinary skills, seem to develop things that come naturally to them... like an extension or growth of their person.

it makes him wonder...

but he reaches for the wine and glasses she's brought, and he will do them the service of beginning to pour as he keeps the container of snacks between them, no longer holding out on her. ]

What is it like? To fly above the city like that unknown, it must be beautiful. Terrifying! But beautiful, I'd think.

[wolof]

Terrifying?

[ She asked, her eyebrow lifted. ] Maybe it's because i was dead when I first did it, but it's not really... all that scary. It's simply another mode of transportation.

[ To be fair...from the things she's seen, flying isn't really all that impressive. ]

It is beautiful, though. Especially at sunset, when the sun reflects on the water, and the boats are all in the harbor, so all you see is this... long stretch of unending water.

It reminds me of home. Most of us have never traveled across the Tyrian Sea.

[inutilis]

...That truly does sound gorgeous.

[ there's a creep of admiration and awe in his eyes as Abel clearly begins to picture what Akua's described; flying above the world, bathed in the orange-and-pinks of the setting sun... it is incredibly vivid an image. it's been a long... long time, but he can still recall what it is like to feel so free.

he's passing her a glass with a little smile. ]

Are you fond of the water, then?

[wolof]

[ She raised the glass in a small salute, before she took a sip. ]

No, but it's...novel. Praes is... deserts, as far as the eye can see. Our land is so dry, and farmland requires... a great deal of hard decisions, to make it usable.

[ Hard decisions.

Human Sacrifice. ]

It's one of the reasons why we've taken over our neighbor so many times. We must, to feed our people.

[ And oh, Callow hated them for it. ]

[inutilis]

[ Abel's smile becomes slightly muted at that, fading around the edges; he understands, even if he wishes he didn't. their first talk had touched upon such subjects... and after his dip into her memories in Venera, he cannot help but grasp with totality the dark places Akua had been willing to go, along with others in her world. ]

Have things come to be any easier with time...?

[ things had been changing in her world from what he could garner - and with the defeat of a great evil prior to her waking in Horos, maybe that would tip the scales in the people's favor? make their lives a little less... harrowing. ]

[wolof]

Feeding our people?

[ She shrugged. ] Dread Empress Malicia had certainly prioritized keeping Callow under our control, and it's... worked rather well. Better than trying to control the weather with sorcery. The amount of power required was exorbitant.

[ But... ]

Whether it will be different, in a new age... [ That distant, sad look, again. ] I suppose we'll never know.

[inutilis]

You might, yet.

[ Abel cradles the glass in his hands for a moment, gaze traveling beyond the rail to where the beautiful expanse of the city lies below. ]

We don't know what the future holds for us, what becoming an 'Aion' means for us should we find our way back home. It very well could be a second chance, Miss Akua-- don't you think?

[wolof]

[ It's all...so hopeful. Akua isn't one to the bouts of despair or malaise that would lead her to fall to the Kenoma, but even so... she felt like she was still straddling that in-between.

She didn't know if she could truly believe that she could go home.

Not when she wasn't sure if there was a Calernia to go home to. ]

We can hope.

Although...I do wonder. What if there are worlds of ours that are gone? There is the possibility that we may be here for a long time.

[inutilis]

[ mm... Abel is mulling this over as he takes a bit of cheese and jerky from the assortment of snacks between them, turning it over in his fingers. ]

It's... possible. A possibility, at least, we can't take off the table.

[ but... ]

But even if it were, there is nothing that says those worlds are lost to us forever. Without understanding how they'd even be destroyed... believing there is no undoing, saving them-- that is a little hasty of us, don't you think? Especially with so much we don't know, haven't yet discovered about being in Horos.

[wolof]

[ Her fingers held a piece of cheese, and she worked it between her fingers. ]

I suppose...you may be right. [ Her lips quirked. ] I should be used to impossible odds, we lived and breathed them, when we were marching on the Dead King.

What's a few more?