Magic/Support Reserves, The Preserve, Wednesday After Workshops

[glacial_queen]

There were two tables at the front of the meeting today. The first held the requisite snacks and drinks that people expected from their meetings, but the second was covered in skeins of silk, hollow wooden frames, a few small baskets of dried plants, some salt, candles, incense, and a few books.

"Kiss kiss and thanks for coming," Karla greeted when it looked like everyone had assembled. "In the past, we've talked about the different kinds of magic there are. My Craft differs from Tara's magic which differs from Raven's powers. But even a single witch or magic user may need many tools to cast the spells they know. Some spells can be accomplished with a thought or by will alone, others may need somatic and verbal components to be spoken aloud or specific hand gestures. And others still need materials. Again, because there are so many different kinds of magic, what materials are needed for a spell or ritual will vary from person to person and spell to spell--" she gestured to the second table "--but oftentimes, there is a bit of overlap."

"At home," Tara added, "you need ingredients for just about any spell, unless you, um, kind of go overboard with power. But that'll just drain you. And besides" -- she shrugged -- "most burning herbs smell kind of pretty. Helps you focus while you're chanting."

"Incense and candles also are sometimes a helpful aid for meditation," Raven said, "which can aid in focusing your powers, as can something like my chakra." She touched her fingertips to the red jewel on her forehead, then continued. "My healing gifts do not require any sort of spell components, but other spells I know do need some sort of object to focus them on, an item for the magics to be contained within." She swept her hair back so that the glow of her earrings could be seen. "These were originally simple gold earrings, but I have attached a spell of light to them. For the spell to be most effective, they had to be of pure gold and finely crafted. The better the quality of the item, the more powerful the spell."

"It's important to learn and understand some basic spell components," Karla continued. "On the one hand, if we're under attack and need to cast a spell, knowing what items are at hand will give you a better idea of what spells can be cast. Knowing the difference between rosemary and rue might be vital, especially if the magic user casting the spell can't be with you when you're collecting the materials for the spell. And, should you ever be in a position to observe an enemy spellcaster, it's good to know a little bit about what they're doing, too. Will knocking the candle over interrupt the spell or just alert the caster to your presence? If you scuff the summoning circle, will you send the evil demon back to its hell dimension or just let it loose on Fandom?"

These were some pretty important questions, okay? No one wanted to deal with ravening demons on the loose.

"So today, we're going to spend some time talking about some of the material components to our spells. Then, we're going to talk about where to find those components and the best ways to interfere with spells that rely on them."

"They kept telling me I'm not allowed to say that you'd find the stuff I use to make magic at 'Dite's," Emmett added with a grin. "So this is me not saying that, and just shutting up and listening this week."

[Co-written with the amazing life_inshadow, trigons_child and hazlehurstmiss. Please wait for the OCD is up and has been for awhile. *facepalms* Many thanks to ancientbschamp for pointing that out to me.]

Comments

Arrive and Mingle

[glacial_queen]

Feel free to eat the snacks, but please refrain from munching on any of the herbs--oh, is that dill?

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[brat_inslayage]

Kennedy would help herself to some of the snacks, yes, and while she was looking curiously at the items on the second table she was keeping well out of arm's length.

She'd have looked more amused by Emmett's addition to the talk if not for the obviously annoyed expression on her face, which just might have had something to do with her still-damp clothes and hair even though that's still being played out.

...she should probably have been paying more attention to the actual lecture. Sure, it might've gotten her attention if they'd mentioned something wacky like, say, shadow puppets, but come on, when was that ever going to come up?

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[glacial_queen]

Karla wasn't snickering at all. Really. "So, uh, rough day with the shower?"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[theotherpeter.livejournal.com]

Peter picked a heck of a week to wander back to these meetings. He was helping himself to snacks with a side order of quiet intrigue. The way it was sounding, magic had formulas. Formulas meant there was a semblance of order and most importantly rules. It didn't just work because it worked.

This was an improvement, to him.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Leda wouldn't mind hearing more about what Emmet would use at Dite's honestly.

Other than that she didn't have much to add. Aside from really advanced spell casting, Elves didn't use much in the way of physical components. It all came from within.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall hung out in the back with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed. Apparently, these people's magic worked COMPLETELY differently from normal magic. Wonderful. He wondered if Shell would still work against it.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

Sookie was very, very deliberately keeping away from Kennedy. Like, other side-of-the-meeting, prepared-to-run kind of keeping away.

It was a bit more blissfully quiet in her head, though. Kind of totally worth it.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa was here. Enjoying the snacks.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Alex was there, helping herself to a couple of snacks while listening to what Karla had to say.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

Tim snacked on some goodies and listened to everyone. He'd have to write up a report later.

Ritual spellcasting

[glacial_queen]

When you're casting magic, do you use anything specific? Chanting, gestures, candles, incense, smooth jazz? Does wearing armor interfere with your ability to cast? Can you substitute one thing for another or improvise, or must your spells be cast precisely as written? What are the most common materials you need, so in case of emergency, we know that to have on hand?

Don't mind Karla taking notes. She's thinking of making up a few Emergency Spellcaster Kits.

Re: Ritual spellcasting

[life_inshadow]

Tara had about a dozen herbs -- rosemary, basil, catnip, holly, and other things that looked as if she'd cleaned out either a florist's shop or a supermarket. She quickly explained their purposes and waited for questions.

Re: Ritual spellcasting

[glacial_queen]

Karla picked up one of the wooden frames and a bit of the silk and began swiftly weaving a pattern. "I weave tangled webs for a lot of my more intricate spells. While webs can be used for any number of spells, there are two basic web types that come in handy a lot. The first type acts as a power buffer and funnel. I use that one lot in while I'm Healing; if I'm working on something really delicate, like repairing blood vessels or injuries to the brain or something. Too much power can cause even more damage, so I pour my power into the web, and it releases it back to me in a much smaller, more manageable amount."

"This kind of web," she continued, holding up the frame, "does the opposite. It increases the power I add into it. It travels along the tether lines and increases in strength, every time the lines meet." Her fingers traced the tether lines showing how they formed the base of the web itself. "The radial lines provide shape and stability to the web, so I can either create a spell that will last long after I've stopped providing power, or so the power woven into the web can be used at a later date. Then I can tap into the power reservoir in this web to cast spells before I start using my own power to do so. When that happens, however, the silk burns away as the power is drained from the web. Which is a useful way to keep track of how much is left in the web. And once the power is tapped, I must use it all or it will go to waste, because the web is no longer holding the pattern."

Re: Ritual spellcasting

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Fine, then. It was sharing time.

From where he was hanging out in the back of the crowd, Squall waved a hand to try to get people's attention. "To cast a spell, I just need to have some of it stored," he told the group. "If I run out, I can draw more from monsters, or refine it from stuff."


Because instead of having MP like a NORMAL game, FFVIII has screwy game mechanics.

Disruptions

[glacial_queen]

Brainstorm ideas for how to disrupt enemy magic. Will interrupting their chanting work? Blowing out their incense? Adding extra shapes to the images they've already inscribed?

Both groups are welcome to give suggestions and debate tactics. You never know what might turn out to be useful in the next invasion.

Re: Disruptions

[trigons_child]

"Many magical rituals rely on words being spoken and gestures being made in a very precise order," Raven said. She wasn't thinking about the ritual she was supposed to take part in soon at all. "To interrupt the ritual at all by striking down one of the casters or disrupting their words or actions could cause it to backlash, but the backlash may be just as dangerous as the ritual itself."

Re: Disruptions

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"I've got a spell that stops other people from casting magic," Squall offered. "Doesn't everyone?"

Re: Disruptions

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"People who can use magic -- or whatever -- without needing to perform any kind of a ritual...we have an advantage, right?" she suggested. "We can strike while they're still speaking in tongues, and protect our spellcasters."

Talk to the Leaders.

[glacial_queen]

Suggest ways that items from Dite's shop could come in handy. Two of the leaders have discounts, after all!

Re: Talk to the Leaders.

[trigons_child]

Raven was there, trying not to think of ways items from 'Dite's shop could be used for magic.

Re: Talk to the Leaders.

[glacial_queen]

Karla was there, taking notes about everything the reserves brought up. Next to her was a bag stuffed with books, notepads, pencils, spidersilk, and her wooden frames.

Mother Night! Not having Craft was really annoying. All that...carrying!

Re: Talk to the Leaders.

[life_inshadow]

Tara was there and couldn't stop sniffing the lavender in her basket of supplies.

She kept blushing when she glanced at Emmett.

Re: Talk to the Leaders.

[mississippiqueen]

Emmett was there, and would, if asked, point out that there were some reasonably innocent things you could buy at Dite's that at least might help on the disruption front. Fluffy handcuffs were still handcuffs, after all, and it's hard to do the magical hand-jive when you're cuffed.

OOC

[glacial_queen]

Yeah. So I don't have access to my kitchen today. The pipes are all kind of...spontaneously breaking.

Uncool.

Re: OOC

[brat_inslayage]

I'm just stating for the record right now that any and all canon-referential jokes I make today are all Nuance's fault. I WAS GOING TO KEEP THEM TO MYSELF, BUT NO.