WEEK 1

[bathymetric]

Well, you've now met the brains of the operation, as well as the shockingly nice-looking young lady in charge of day-to-day business. Now all that's left is to get used to your accommodations - there's 24 other people in similar shoes to yours to meet in this building, you know! And who knows how much longer you might have them...

The daily routine in the facility quickly becomes obvious - the only way to tell time moment to moment is to check the strange device The Professor gave you, but at the same time every day the lights in and out of the facility go up, and at the same time every night they go down. Otherwise, it's almost maddening sometimes, how little happens in here. At least you have a few rooms with enough to hopefully keep you occupied. Who knows what secrets they might hold? And there's always that vending machine, if you can find something that fits in the coin slot...





MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Peace Week! Enjoy it while it lasts. Remember, office hours for The Professor's Assistant are over here if you're interested, while regains can be deposited over here! ]

Comments

[emberserker]

Of course not, that's ridiculous. What would you do instead, if you're so modern?

[mouflon]

Remember when I said one of my specialties is using magecraft to manipulate technology? The idea of working that closely to modern technology would be anathema to old world magi. It's a field that was only discovered within the last few decades.

Actually, speaking of that. You mentioned magic stones, didn't you? Tell me about them.

[emberserker]

We use them to channel our spells. The large ones you'd normally just hold, but the little ones are more common. Usually, those would be in an accessory we have on our person, like an earring or ring or hairclip -- or something.

[Anna shakes her head at "hairclip" as if she's trying to get something out of her head. She doesn't seem to have any accessory with a stone on her like she's describing.]

Inside the illusory world during GRANBELM, they're mirrored as the core of the mage's ARMANOX. Break the core, shatter the stone, since the two are connected.

[mouflon]

I asked because my other specialty as a magus is jewelcraft. Channeling mana directly through a stone is one thing you can do with it, yeah, but in the long term, it's a lot more efficient to use gems as a storage device. If you only have a few drops of magical energy at a time, putting them inside something else let's you save up until you have a full glass.

[emberserker]

I see. So you're essentially creating new magic stones with your own power.

[mouflon]

I guess you could look at it that way? But what I'm asking is if you couldn't come up with a way to do the same thing. Trap little bits of magical energy until you have a lot of it you can spend all at once.

[emberserker]

We used to be able to do something like that, but it's a lost art. Magic stones are only inherited now. No idea where that new girl got hers, but I'm sure it was from whatever family she came from. But finding a way to add power to what we've got would be useful to manage.

[mouflon]

When you say it's a lost art, do you mean the old method is no longer possible, or just that no one knows for sure how to do it anymore? If it's the latter, recovering that information seems like it should be Priority #1 to me. Actually, if it's the former, figuring out a new method should be Priority #1 anyway.

[ This is what she means about people getting too caught up on restoring the past to find a way forward!! ]

[emberserker]

With so little magic leaking out into the world, creating new magic stones hasn't been feasible. The way you describe it, though, I suppose it could. We can do so much more inside the illusory world, so perhaps it'd be possible there, but I'm not going to sit around in there waiting for someone to attack me because I'm busy doing something else. I have one goal in there.

[mouflon]

Obviously. [ It's a subtle nuance, but the scoff is less obviously you would think that way and more obviously those are the correct priorities to have. ] Still, if this GRANBLEM thing doesn't work out for you guys again, calling a truce so you can take advantage of that might be something to think about.

[emberserker]

I'm not making peace with that demon.

[It's immediate, and Anna grits her teeth.]

But after I've dealt with Ernesta, I'll think about it. There aren't many left in the game.

[mouflon]

[ Rin raises her eyebrows. It's not like she can't relate to the feeling, but... ]

What's your deal with her, anyway? You're pretty adamant about it for someone who apparently likes her.

[ You know. Courtesy of the profiles. ]

[emberserker]

That profile doesn't know what it's talking about. She's ruined my household, lords her talent over me, and claims it's some kind of mercy. Everything in my way is her doing, and I refuse to let her just take whatever she wants just because she can!

[mouflon]

...I guess I can relate. She sounds a lot like someone I know, and eating glass is a more appealing prospect than working together with him. Not that I think there would ever be a goal we have in common, anyway.

[ And, you know, asking then why does your profile say that? seems like a pointless endeavor here. ]

[emberserker]

[Anna forces out a sigh and shakes her head.]

Regardless, it looks like we're both going to have to deal with this before dealing with anything more pressing in our own homes, anyway.

[mouflon]

Apparently. I'd say, "Like we need it hanging over our heads," but that's probably part of the point, isn't it.