tushanshu_logs | [Semi-Open] And With All Your Magic, I Disappear From View

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[Semi-Open] And With All Your Magic, I Disappear From View

Characters: Everybody who wanted in on the magic plot, particularly those who responded here.
Date: Mid-July
Location: Turtle's Head
Situation: Zatanna has a theory. With a little help from some new friends and some not-so-new friends, she's about to test that theory out...

Warnings/Rating: UNPREDICTABLE MAGIC

Note: This Log with be separated into three parts. First will be the Pre-Spell Mingle, which is exactly what it sounds like. Characters will be given the opportunity to meet and greet with one another, discuss their respective magics, theories as to what might happen, etc. The second will be the Spell Casting, where each character involved will be given the opportunity to show off his/her/their stuff.

The third part of the Log will be the Results/Aftermath. Basically, once I have word from the mods how the Spell Casting will go, the subheader will be edited to include every last detail. From there, characters will be given the chance to react accordingly.

For questions/comments/uncertainties, feel free to contact me over on plurk (

hina_mun) or pop over to the OOC post.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[China had not outright responded to the radio, but she'd listened. Of course she had. And followed up, only briefly, to get a time and a location. This seemed the sort of thing it behooved her to keep abreast of.]

[Past the initial smile and wave, she doesn't distract Zatanna, but she does trail her, careful where she puts her feet, watching the circle and Zatanna's progress with undisguisable interest. Hardly her system, but magical symbols are typically her area of expertise.]

What, specifically, is your goal with this arrangement?

[She glanced up just long enough to find out who was speaking to her.]

[Oh. ...China, was it? They'd spoken before, and if she recalled correctly, on friendly terms. It made sense that not everybody who showed up would have heard the broadcast, or paid attention to the subsequent conversations that had occurred. Though part of her wished she had. It would save her the trouble of having to go over it yet again.]

To figure out if there's something we can do to get Asti back.

[China waves a hand dismissively.]

The turtle. Yes, you said as much. I meant this specific array of symbols. You plan to combine the powers of a number of individuals, correct?

[Well, don't ask the most obvious of questions if you didn't expect the most obvious of answers in return.]

More or less, yeah.

It's based on a ritual I studied back home. I mean, I only ever got the chance to see somebody else pull it off, but there were a few similarities in what I was able to fill in the gaps with here.

[China is not exactly filled with confidence.]

[Delicately:] A... few similarities?

How many modifications have you made?

[Zatanna was...about as confident as she was going to get. Not 100%, but significantly improved over even her radio broadcast.]

Here... [She didn't even flinch as she leaned forward, motioning towards a few of the symbols she had drawn.] ...instead of a handful of symbols that could've been from my world, I substituted with a few from the local language. We're trying to contact a being of this world, after all.

And, before you ask, I checked with, like, three different locals who all confirmed I have the right translations.

[A mistake she learned from after her last little misspell]

[Zatanna's correctly intuited China's next question. Excellent on both fronts.]

A good thought. Have you mixed magic from other worlds before?

[She leans over in turn, eying the symbols in question. None of this is the language she's versed in, but the passive pieces of her discipline are lending, at least, an intuitive grasp of how the larger picture fits together. Detail would take more study, though, and thus she's forced to ask.]

What do these mean?

Actually, yeah. I combined mine with some of the local world's. The first time...didn't go quite so well as planned but it was really strong. I think it spanned almost the entire city.

[Another of the few things she had been able to learn from the incident. Her magic could mix. Non-fatally, even; okay, so it had been wild and unpredictable and resulted in a range of effects from abilities or bodies getting swapped to ages and genders getting mixed up...but, in the end, nobody had gotten hurt (at least, not from the spell itself) and it had all been reversible.]

As for the symbols...

[She had to go back over the notes, checking each one with the translation she'd written down as she pointed to each one.]

These here actually correspond with each sector of the City. We have Fire...Water...Earth...Wood...and that one there's for Metal.

[Didn't quite go as planned. Well, what does? But that sounds like quite an accident.] That's an impressive range. Fortunately, we need significantly less today.

...out of sheer, morbid curiosity, what did go wrong?

[China lingers over each symbol a little longer than Zatanna does, in the interest of memorizing them for future reference. Simple enough.]

Not Sky? Are you intentionally mirroring the layout from the time when the turtle was-- awake?

[Since Zatanna's apparently tying it to the city, not just an elemental set.]

[Well, since she asked...]

Bit of a mistranslation the first time. I was trying to set up a charm meant to negate magic, and accidentally unleashed a bunch of rogue spells in the process.

[And then, before China could say anything in response, she made sure to quickly add:]--but we got it under control! I got the right translation and fixed everything right up. Some people even had fun that week, I heard.

[So China might see why she made a point of emphasizing that she had the right translation this time.]

Sky isn't an Element, the last time I checked, so I didn't see a reason to include it.

[That's an impressive error, to create nearly the exact opposite of your goal. China's brows rise.]

I see. How... exciting.

[It's a good thing she's been emphasizing that.]

You specified the sectors, not the elements. I would quibble that there are so many magic-users here, it's improbable any more than three or four honor the same elemental system, but as we are attempting to contact a being from this world, it's clearly this world's underpinnings that are the most critical, yes?

[Just checking Zatanna's logic.]

[She raised a curious eyebrow, wondering just where China was going with all of this.]

Well, yeah. The Sector Elements.

Quibble all you want, just because they added Sky as a sector doesn't make it an Element. Technically, there's a Center or something else, too, right? That's not an Element, either.

[Her point is that Zatanna identified the symbols with the sectors before the elements. Evidently Zatanna's on the element page, though, so it's immaterial.]

[Still, she looks skeptical for a moment or two before smoothing it out.]

No. Simply a fundamental part of the city.

Is there anything left to be done, or which you're uncertain of?

[To her credit, she sat back and thought about it for a moment.]

Mmm...no, don't think so.

At this point, we just have to wait for everyone to get here, then gather 'round the circle, hold hands, and hope for the best.

[Ah. Hoping for the best. She's filled with confidence again.]

I'd like to make a small superficial modification. Simply to channel energy. It won't affect much, but I don't commonly use my magic... raw, so to speak.

[Always happy to oblige~]

I'm open to suggestions. What were you thinking of?

Just this.

[She pulls a pad of paper from a well-concealed pocket, flips it over to show Zatanna. There's what looks like three interlocking symbols scribed there, mostly circular, with obvious breaks in the pattern which probably prevent the sketch from being 'live.']

For my own benefit, really, though I suppose anyone else whose magic takes a more passive form might use it to channel energy more purely. It shouldn't interact poorly with anything you have here.

[Mostly because she was careful to tuck all its ends in, so to speak.]

[She cranked her neck to get a better look at the sketch. The fact that it looked very similar to a triquetra, if more circular, didn't go unnoticed, and she smiled at the coincidence.]

I've see similar symbols before in my own practice. Always in threes, just like that.

[She glanced around, pressing her lips together in through.]

So, what, are you thinking to place this at each spot around the circle where someone stands?

Only if necessary for easier transfer of power.

[Though she supposes that entails polling the assembled mages, which sounds a lot like work.]

I'd use it for myself, of course, but that can be the limit of the modifications if you prefer.

[Of course she'd usually assume she knows better, but this is someone else's magical tradition. Even if her magic is helping her make sense of it-- China's forced to admit that she is not, in fact, the expert here.]

Well, I certainly don't mind. Like I said, it's familiar enough to me that I doubt it would do any harm.

As for the others...I'd say ask them, personally. If they want the help, you can draw the symbols for them too. If not, leave them to whatever.

That was what I meant to ascertain.

[She won't adjust anything else, but if she does spot someone who might need the helping hand... well, it's not like she does things out of the goodness of her heart, but this is a worthwhile endeavor to have go smoothly.]

[So, a goal defined and permission for minor edits to someone else's work. That should be it.]

I'll do so. I wish you the best.

Thanks. You too.

[They'll all need it.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Semi-Open] And With All Your Magic, I Disappear From View

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