glacial_queen: (Sapphire-Jeweled Queen)
glacial_queen ([personal profile] glacial_queen) wrote in [community profile] fandomhighdorms2010-06-09 12:27 pm

Magic/Support Reserves, The Preserve, Wednesday After Workshops

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 [livejournal.com profile] life_inshadow, [livejournal.com profile] trigons_child and [livejournal.com profile] hazlehurstmiss. Please wait for the OCD is up and has been for awhile. *facepalms* Many thanks to [livejournal.com profile] ancientbschamp for pointing that out to me.]
trigons_child: (Staring)

Re: Talk to the Leaders.

[personal profile] trigons_child 2010-06-09 05:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Raven was there, trying not to think of ways items from 'Dite's shop could be used for magic.
life_inshadow: ([neu] talking)

Re: Ritual spellcasting

[personal profile] life_inshadow 2010-06-09 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
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.
life_inshadow: ([neu] smirky mcsmirkypants)

Re: Talk to the Leaders.

[personal profile] life_inshadow 2010-06-09 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Tara was there and couldn't stop sniffing the lavender in her basket of supplies.

She kept blushing when she glanced at Emmett.
brat_inslayage: (Bitchface: Leaning Against Counter (Empt)

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[personal profile] brat_inslayage 2010-06-09 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
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?
Edited 2010-06-09 18:02 (UTC)

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[identity profile] theotherpeter.livejournal.com 2010-06-09 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)
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.
brat_inslayage: (OOC - Fairy With a Crossbow)

Re: OOC

[personal profile] brat_inslayage 2010-06-09 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
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.
trigons_child: (B&W watching)

Re: Disruptions

[personal profile] trigons_child 2010-06-09 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
"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."
brat_inslayage: (Drill Sergeant (Get It Done))

Re: Talk to the Leaders.

[personal profile] brat_inslayage 2010-06-09 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
There was a distinctly more-abashed-than-usual cast to Kennedy's features to go along with the still very damp clothes when she wandered Tara's way; ordinarily she'd have a few cracks to make about Emmett's brand of magic sounding like hers, but... well. Someone had put a damper, pun intended, on that tendency today.

"Should I be concerned about what you're sniffing in there?"
mississippiqueen: (checking that out)

Re: Talk to the Leaders.

[personal profile] mississippiqueen 2010-06-09 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
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.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[identity profile] anarchist-queen.livejournal.com 2010-06-09 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
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.
life_inshadow: ([pos] sneaky smile)

Re: Talk to the Leaders.

[personal profile] life_inshadow 2010-06-09 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"Not unless pretty smells are addictive now," Tara said, but the smile died on her face as she looked up. "... you're all wet."

Keen powers of observation, there.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[identity profile] theotherpeter.livejournal.com 2010-06-09 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"It takes a little more than some hocus-pocus to scare me off," Peter said. "After a bit of soul-searching," he exaggerated, "I decided if anything this club would be at minimal entertaining, if not actively educational. Today, it looks like a mix of both."
brat_inslayage: (Pissed and Skeptical (Showtime))

Re: Talk to the Leaders.

[personal profile] brat_inslayage 2010-06-09 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"You noticed," Kennedy replied, a touch cranky. "There was a whole fun thing with a bucket of really cold water and me."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[identity profile] theotherpeter.livejournal.com 2010-06-09 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"It did. I'd lost track of my soul completely and it was only after checking the pockets in my laundry that I found it," Peter joked. "But I have to say, I'm intrigued by the concept of the secret herbs and spices to create magic. Sounds an awful lot like chemistry to me."

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