[OPENING] magical training log

[spellslash]

Who: Brie, whichever newbies want to show up.
Where: The beach.
When: Day 4
Open/Closed: OTA

[It's about noon on the island, based on the position of the sun. The newbies have had a few days to settle in, but that doesn't mean they've fully mastered their newfound abilities.

As much stock as Genette puts into telepathy, Brie is more concerned about their other newfound gifts. She's aggressively tried to wrangle as many newbies as possible onto the sandy shores of the beachfront area for some magic practice.

She's got a list of everyone's magic -- only a few vague notes, limitations are for you to discover -- and she's handing out missions for magic training. If you want to participate? Feel free. If you don't? Suit yourself.

But understanding your magic isn't just an activity that benefits the group. Learning your magic's abilities may be what stands between you and survival, which is something she makes perfectly clear.]

Comments

[imsorey]

Sorry. I'll have to start carrying pillows around if this is going to be a regular thing.

[normally Sorey would be a Polite Young Man in someone else's soul, but since it's Mikleo's he wanders over to the nearest wall and tries to get a better look at the faded carvings.]

Did you make things like this, or were they just...like this when you got here?

[oneandmikleonly]

Pardoned, I think--? Well, I volunteered, anyway.

[the ripples intensify under Dirk further, a soft pulse; under Sorey, they shift, radiating into strange fractals. the wall carvings are readable to anyone, though they look like the ancient tongue at first glance. some letters have faded entirely, but ik eo of t e vill of Ely is still present.

It's like this normally...it feels about right, anyway. There could be more than just walls and a floor, but you probably need to figure out how to put in more energy for that. This is enough for a test run.

[he's frowning a little at how the place reacts to them too: analyzing the analyzers?]

[splinten]

[Oh, a pulse. Dirk is curious, his eyes flickering over the walls briefly before kneeling down to touch the ripples. DO THEY REACT MORE he's curious.]

My soul powers from home are lame in comparison to this adventure in abstracted hearts.

[imsorey]

I think this is pretty good for a first try! Mikleo's doing most of the work, though.

[smiling a little as he traces in the missing letters on the wall with a light touch of his finger, and then looks over to see how the floor reacts to Dirk's probing]

I didn't realize soul powers were that common. What would they do, if not this?

[oneandmikleonly]

[Mikleo's just listening to their conversation for right now, less ruffled. the water from the floor climbs Dirk's arm in an exploratory way. he can actually feel curiosity radiating from it: it's just literally feeling him out, not trying to yank him under or anything.

the letters are a little warmer than the rest of the wall. there's power humming in them, faint but very present.]

[splinten]

[Huh. That's cool. Dirk shifts, moving to sit cross-legged, and tries to play with the water. Is he Moana? Does the ocean like him? Really, it is a lot nicer than the uncaring and empty seas he grew up in. It's comforting, even.]

It wasn't that common in my universe, it was just the aspect I was assigned. The form they took was basically supervillain bullshit. I could rip them out of people and destroy them.

Like I said, this is a lot more interesting.

[imsorey]

[THAT'S CONCERNING, DIRK???? it distracts him from inspecting the wall further]

This is a lot safer than that. You shouldn't be pulling people's souls out of them anyway.

[oneandmikleonly]

That sounds painful. Though you bring up an interesting point. I'm not going to try it, I've had enough madness for one day, but what happens if a soul walks out that door? Would it lead to a soul leaving the body?

[nods towards the one they came in from, still kinda minding its own business over there...he's a lot calmer about things than an awake Mikleo might be. strange.

the water also starts to respond to Dirk a bit, shaping itself as it runs through his palms into little there-and-gone heads and paws and tails, like half-liquid otters, batting at his fingers: sure, let's play]

[splinten]

They were going to get all my friends killed, so I'm not exactly sorry, but it also isn't a thing I'm into doing all the time.

[So he agrees.

I can't believe Dirk's playing with an adorable water friend. He decides to try that game where you stick your hand out then yank it away at the last second? this seems reasonable.]

You might be able to infer that once you learn more about the rules that govern your situation.

[imsorey]

[pursing his lips and dropping the subject of soul murder; there's still a frown on his face that says he's unhappy at the idea, but it's also not an argument he's going to start with someone he's known for like a week without fully understanding the situation that brought it about.

he turns his back to the wall so that he's facing Dirk and Mikleo, leaning up against it and mimicking Dirk by tapping at the water to see if it will respond to him.]

Even if it's possible, I can't think of any benefits of pulling your soul out of your body.

[oneandmikleonly]

[dirk's water friends be like this, sorey's poking the water immediately results in this except it's a grown bird and trying to nip his fingers]

That's a thought for another time, then, though I hope we won't run into any occasions where we'll need it -- oh, jeez, you two.

[he's covering a smile, like, what. why are you both being cute in here.]

[splinten]

Maybe if the body was incapacitated and it needed to be moved elsewhere.

[When Mikleo breaks off, Dirk looks up, giving the water-friends a chance to grab his fingers.] Did I do somethin' wrong? [HE DOESN'T WANT TO HURT MEEBO'S SOUL]

[imsorey]

[--immediately pulling his fingers out of reach of the waterbird's biting]

Your soul started it, not us.

[oneandmikleonly]

You're being appreciative. It's just . . . nice? Restful? To have that in here. You're not hurting anything.

[a water otter separates entirely from the floor to climb up Dirk's arm; the waterbird extends a little further out to try and do the same to Sorey.]

I think you might have a hard time hurting things in here, actually. There's not a lot out that you can affect, I know you both, and other than having a creepy power and not being sure about being on this island I'm doing all right. Other people's might be different, though,

[splinten]

[Hello water otter on his shoulder. Dirk stretches out its arm so it can have a fun climb??]

Do you think damaging something would hurt you?

[That would be Bad.]

I'm a little curious about what power is creepy.

[imsorey]

[holding out his arm so that the bird can sit, after making sure it's not going to bite him.

he'll still let it sit as long as it doesn't bite too hard regardless.]

It wasn't as creepy as expected.

[but he leaves it at that; mikleo can talk about that one]

[oneandmikleonly]

Damaging something would in fact hurt me, though I don't think it would be a physical effect. You'd be messing with my soul directly, so . . . being and identity, perhaps formative traits and experiences . . . things like that?

[both of their clothes are getting kind of wet, but it's fresh water, at least, easy to dry off later. the otter slowly makes its way up Dirk's arm, rippling, to drum on his hand with its dumb little paws; the bird inches sideways like a parrot up Sorey's. it may be eyeing his ear with its beak open.

Mikleo frowns; a shadow wells up under the water they're all perched on, a pattern of scales filling the entire floor just under its surface.]

I would rather not have gotten the power to turn into a dragon; it has some very serious associations at home. However, Sorey is right that the way it happens here isn't the same. It's just going to take some time to get over it.

[splinten]

That... would be super fucked up. How do you know that it'd hurt you for sure, though?

[Adorable sea otter. Dirk drums back at it, before his attention is caught by the massive scaled shadow.]

That's a little ironic. Hopefully, we'll have the time you need.

[imsorey]

[Sorey pats the water beneath them, an automatic, absent gesture to soothe the scales underwater. his eyes, though, are warily trained on the bird, and he leans away from it.]

You don't go into someone's house and break all of their stuff, do you? I think it's a little like that--except more personal.

[that's all he's able to pull from the magic without it being his soul that's being poked at, though. he's still got a lot to learn.]

[oneandmikleonly]

[the scales fades and smooth into blank, silvery water again. the otter shoves its nose into Dirk's fingers; the bird makes a last-moment lunge for Sorey's earring.]

What he said, pretty much. This is very new, though, so perhaps there are other applications too...?

I wonder if all our powers have some tie to what we are and what we can normally do.

[splinten]

I would if I was in an RPG adventure, but I take your point. Still, that wouldn't hurt the owner.

Maybe you can do repairs, if you can do damage. That's what people keep insisting, at the least.

[What if Dirk tries to pet the water otter.]

Mine is connected to what I used to do, same with a friend of mine. The powers of a few other people I know, too. Is this soul thing related to what you used to do, Sorey?

[imsorey]

This is different, there's no purification involved here.

[but he doesn't dismiss it completely and takes another few seconds to mull it over, holding the arm with the bird on it waaaaaay farther away from him and leaning to the opposite side]

Although, maybe if it was someone else's soul there would be something to purify. Or, not purify, but...repair, like you said. If that's the intention then there are some similarities.

[oneandmikleonly]

I'm guessing that even though we can't feel malevolence, it might still reflect inside a soul. So maybe you could purify it . . . it really depends what shows up? That's the risk of this, you definitely can't predict what someone's soul is going to look like or how hospitable it will be to outside interference, even if it's to help.

[the otter makes a faint buzzing noise under Dirk's hand, a mildly purry vibration rather than a noise. the bird . . . decides to try and bite all of Sorey's fingers instead if he's going to be like that]

It seems to vary. The power granted to me has absolutely nothing to do with water, which is what I normally use, but has a relation to what I am. Perhaps it would be a good thing to poll people about?

[splinten]

It'd be helpful to get a sense of all our powers before we travel together to a new world anyway.

[It's purring. That is really cute. He has to put it now??]

For the record, I have no damn idea what 'purification' and 'malevolence' mean in this context. It does not sound figurative.

[imsorey]

Purification is--OW, ow, OW! Hey, cut it out!

[whatever Helpful Videogame Explanation(tm) Sorey was going to give about purification and malevolence is abruptly cut off by the bird trying to eat his fingers. please help him]