tushanshu_logs | May catch-all [Open~!]

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May catch-all [Open~!]

Characters: Raine Sage and whoever feels like dropping by.
Date: Early May, or at your convenience during the rest of the month
Location: All over the city! Especially the hospital.
Situation: Various, mostly open-ended. Helping to keep people on their feet and not ill, exploring the world of cooking, possibly making unwise overtures at the palace barrier. And so on.
Warnings/Rating: None right now, will edit if that changes.

1; the hospital

The last few weeks have been hectic for a variety of reasons, and Raine’s been spending the greater portion of her time, sleeping and waking, at the hospital. It kind of shows; she doesn't look quite as put together as she normally does. She’s probably cast more Recover spells in the last little while than in the entirety of the regeneration journey back home.

She can be found fairly easily, usually with staff in hand, ready to heal anyone who so much as coughs in her general vicinity.

---

2; the markets

Raine hasn’t had the chance to subject anyone in Keeliai to her unique brand of experimental cooking. Yet.

Unfortunately, she’s finding it necessary not only to feed herself, in the absence of any better cooks, but also to try her hand at baking shortcake, in the hopes of keeping her spiritual energy up.

There’s no actual logical reason she should be picking up spices for the latter, but that is definitely what she’s doing, judging by how she’s having a thoughtful (and fairly one-sided) discussion with a kedan vendor about the possibilities inherent in spicy cake.

---

3; outside the lamentably changed palace

When she feels secure enough to leave healing and turtle-parenting duties to the others who are equally capable in them, Raine occasionally makes the trip up to the palace to see what she can see.

She’s not foolish enough to start by heading straight for the barrier, but she makes a long, slow circumference of the palace, noting what’s changed. Occasionally she squints at it, screwing up her eyes like she’s gone abruptly nearsighted.

The next logical step is clearly to see how the barrier reacts to thrown rocks, and she's already got one in hand, hefting it in consideration.

---

4; other

[ Raine is turtleparent to the hatchling known as Ryder, and lives in Earth, in suite 2B. She does rather a lot of healing magic, including curing poison (such as spores, if she gets to it fast enough) and some general purification, and enjoys recreational archaeology. If any of this catches your attention or if you just want a different starter than’s here, drop me a line at

makaricrow or at makari.crow[@]gmail.com, and we can work something out. I prefer prose but am good with either and will gladly fall in line with whatever you prefer. c: ]

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Tazendra was interested in the barrier herself, though she had tried to touch it (twice). "Ah. Are you going to throw that?" she asked, with interest. "It is just a rock, correct?"

"Yes," Raine confirmed, disguising a startled flinch in another adjustment of her grip on the rock. "Completely mundane." She hauled off and flung it at the barrier, angling the throw just a little. The rock bounced back, along the same plane, with less force than the initial throw.

She didn't quite step out of the path of the returning rock in time, and it glanced off her shoulder. "Hm," she said aloud. "Reduced velocity, but reflection, rather than deflection. I wonder." And she picked the rock back up, rolling her shoulder absently, looking very much like she was intending to try that again. "We haven't met, have we?"

"I do not believe so," Tazendra said. "But I am very interested in this barrier and what lay beyond."

"Aren't we all?" Raine rejoined, one corner of her mouth quirking up in the barest of amused gestures. She aimed again, flung, this time was fast enough to side-step the reflection. She considered the barrier, then the stone at her feet, then finally her new companion. "Would you concur that the velocity is roughly halved on its rebound?"

She didn't push the lack of an introduction. Experimenting took precedence, for now.

"I would! Which would imply that some of the energy had been absorbed by the barrier," Tazendra said. "Which implies that it must go somewhere."

"It must." Raine folded her arms, frowning at the barrier. "Perhaps the obvious conclusion is to assume it uses the kinetic energy to reinforce itself. That alone wouldn't be enough to power it, of course, but it would certainly be a tidy way to deal with projectiles. If it does that to physical force, however... hm."

She glanced aside again, to Tazendra. "You said you'd been interested in this. Have you had much of a chance to investigate?"

"I have had tried some spells," Tazendra said. "To test whether it reflected energy as it did physical matter. It does."

"Fascinating. Was the response proportionally the same-- roughly half the return? I'd attempt it myself, but that would seem unwise. And did it respond in any other way?" She'd make do with the stranger's input for now. And if all else failed, she was sure she could take one or two of her own spells. For science.

"I have not the means to measure the exact force," Tazendra said.

That called for testing. Raine ignored her staff, reasoning she wanted the least possible power. Her fingertips began to glow; a circle of white light in complex, angular shapes spun under her. "Photon."

Golden light glowed, swirled, and-- rebounded, too quickly for Raine to do anything about it. She took the brunt of her own spell, gritting her teeth through the worst of it. "Definitely not halved," she said shortly. "But I'm not about to try it again to be sure. Damn."

After another moment to catch her breath, Raine turned fully to her companion, thoughtful. "Physical force is roughly halved, but magical force is -- perhaps -- increased. Not something I care to test much more. What would you make of it?" She did have some ideas, but a fresh perspective was always good.

"I do agree," Tazendra said. "That is a puzzle. Surely if it strengthens our spells, it must have some means to do so, which would deplete the energy for powering the shield. Perhaps a concerted attack at multiple points..."

She paused. "Do you need me to find a physicker? Alas, I have not studied healing."

"Physicker-- interesting." Raine shook her head, ignored the unfamiliar term for now. "No, that's unnecessary. I have, I'll heal myself if it becomes detrimental. I'm more interested in the presented conundrum. The barrier certainly must have a power source, and the idea of draining it is promising, but I'm concerned about what and how powerful that source may be. Not to mention that anyone attempting to help break it down would have to be either very fast or very tough, to deal with the rebound."

"Or it was done in concert, with some forces set to dissipate the backlash," Tazendra said. "I wonder if such defenses can be prepared in advance. I have been working on that problem."

Raine nodded at that, not quite enthusiastic but certainly pleased with having a thoughtful person to discuss this with. "That could potentially work, yes. Though part of the problem then might be finding people with appropriate skillsets... What have you come up with so far?"

"Oh, I was working on an attempt to anchor a spell to dissipate energy to a stone. I have often anchored explosive spells to such things for my friends, but... it is easier to make things explode than to stop an explosion. And it is often easier to will an attack than a defense."

"Destruction is often easier," Raine said, a little ruefully. "But spell anchoring-- that's useful. Not something my artes are capable of. How successful was your attempt? Do you know anyone with similar abilities?"

"There was a man who had created stones that held heat," Tazendra answered. "At least, he offered such during the winter. And... it requires work, but the theory is sound. And instruction on its use."

"Do you happen to know if he's still here?" Not necessarily a guarantee, Raine was learning. It still disconcerted her that people simply vanished, but there was little enough to be done.

"If you can get yours to work reliably, that could be a good place to base a concerted attempt on the barrier." Not to mention it would free up magic-users that might otherwise have been stuck defending. "Though I'm a little concerned there's no real way to estimate its upper limit."

"Only by trying to breach it can we find out if it is breachable by us," Tazendra agreed. "I do not know if he is still present. There are many foreigners here, and most of them are what would be Easterners were they in my world."

Raine did not look particularly fond of the idea that they would only learn if they could succeed by trying, but she subsided easily enough, with a minimum of quiet grumbling. "Whether the one you have in mind remains or not," she said finally, "it seems an idea worth looking into. Perhaps we can find other people with similar abilities, or someone who knew him. Do you recall his name?"

"Bah, I cannot recall. But perhaps those who organize the newcomers would know?" Tazendra suggested. "They had more mundane things to distribute as well."

"The welcome center." Raine nodded. "Most new foreigners do go there, don't they? Logical. And, if that fails, perhaps the radio, and the people who run it, will be able to help make the connections." And she retrieved her staff, swinging it up behind her and out of the way in an absently habitual gesture, before turning back to Tazendra. "I don't see any reason to wait. Will you accompany me, or were there more possibilities you wished to explore here?"

"I am finished for the moment. Sadly, I must reflect on this, and allow my own reserves to recover." Tazendra would love to just blast through the shield and end this situation (or die trying), but it was turning into a complicated situation, which required she actually use her intelligence and knowledge, rather than her raw ability to channel power until something falls down.

Another nod at that. "I understand. In that case, I'll-- hm." Raine had been intending to say she'd contact her new acquaintance over the network if something new came to light on that front, but the network was disturbingly use-impaired of late and it occurred to her that neither of them had ever actually introduced herself. "How should I contact you if I learn something more?" she said instead. "For my part, I can most often be found at the hospital. Raine Sage."

"I am Tazendra." She wasn't quite sure if she should list her titles, mostly because no one else did, even those who actually had them. Tazendra isn't terribly good at figuring out the artifice of classlessness. "And I have a residence in the Fire Sector, which you may call at." Tazendra gave her address.

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ruinsprofessor - 2014-05-27 09:03 (UTC) - Expand

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