third lighthouse; VIDEO

[isochrone]

[ Elizabeth holds the new handset up, still marveling at the technology, but getting right to the point. ]

Excuse me Foreigners, I have a request to make. I've been told that there are those here who might be able to teach runes -- or other magics -- to others. Most unfortunately, I've had a young woman named Sonja attempting to obscure who that might be, so I'm making the appeal directly.

If there are people who are indeed capable of sharing these remarkable abilities, and who might be willing to discuss the possibility with me, please let me know. If you'd prefer to meet in person, I can meet you anywhere you'd like.

Comments

[commandandcontrol]

[ Soooomebody isn't making it on the christmas card mailing list. ]

[lightbranded]

You speak as if runes are their own form of magic?

[isochrone]

[ surprised: ] Are they not?

[lightbranded]

[Will was normally rather reticent about his own magic. But then again, that was mostly because the vast majority of the people in his world no longer believed in it. He didn't see much point in hiding his knowledge from someone who obviously knew something of it.]

Where I come from, runes were simply used as a form of writing by some cultures. Magic could be applied to them, yes. But there was no magic in the runes themselves.

[isochrone]

That's what I'm familiar with, is runes used as a writing system. How would one apply magic to them... and would it then stand to reason that one could do the same to any type of writing?

[lightbranded]

That would be quite interesting to learn more of.

[The boy trails off in thought for a moment.]

I'm afraid I can't help much with the teaching of it. My magic is not something that can be taught, and my kind more often use runes as simply another form of writing.

[isochrone]

I wonder if it's something we can experiment with!

Would you be willing to demonstrate it anyway? What is your kind, precisely?

[lightbranded]

I am an Old One of the Light, but I do not think that you will ever meet another of my kind.

[Will laughs with good nature.]

I'm afraid that demonstrations are rather frowned on among my kind. Generally, we only use magic when there is a purpose for it. Because one never knows who might be close enough to listen to it, you understand.

[isochrone]

An old... goodness, that's certainly a grand-sounding title!

[ she smiles, at least she got him to laugh ]

I see. I don't want to ask anyone to do something they're not comfortable with, of course. Could you describe it instead, or is that also frowned upon?

[lightbranded]

One does tend to pick up rather grand sounding titles in our business. [Will says this with good humor.]

It is not frowned upon, exactly. It is more- [He frowns as he tries to think of a way to explain it. ]

My master told me that once, long ago, men lived among magic as fish live in water. And we too lived openly among men. But in our current time, magic has been forgotten. And we have been forgotten as well. Men believe that science and natural law rule the world, and think that magic and the Old Ways and the Old Ones are nothing more than half-forgotten tales to tell children.

[Will glances away sadly.]

We are not forbidden from speaking of our magic, but the truth is that many humans do not take it well when told that there is more to the world than they know. There are some who would reject us, and some it would deeply hurt to know. So it is better for everyone to think that we are only a story.

[isochrone]

Then... how many Old Ones are there? Do you teach each other? Are you an apprentice to your... master? Did you choose to follow this path, or...?

[ Elizabeth, it seems, is going to be a never-ending fount of questions so long as Will seems obliging to answer them. ]

[lightbranded]

Only a few hundred, all told. There were never many of us. [Will sighs.] And now I am the only one that remains.

An Old One is not something you become, it is something you are born to be. We live our lives as human children until the day that we learn what we are. For me, it was my eleventh birthday.

[lasergrenades]

I know a few people that might be able to teach you magic, but not all of them are super approachable, if you know what I mean.

And I learned some magic even though it doesn't exist in my world. I wouldn't be able to teach you, probably, but I can show you.

[Pepper grins; if there was one thing she loved about Keeliai, it was the opportunities it presented.]

I'm Pepper, by the way.

[isochrone]

[ Elizabeth sighs a little; she's gone from one person telling her that people can do this, but it probably won't happen before she's even explored the possibility. ]

Not you too. Is it very difficult for these people to tell me themselves, rather than other people referencing for them?

[ But Pepper does say she's learned magic, and that it's not natural in her world either, so... ]

I'm Elizabeth.

private

[lasergrenades]

[In light of the subject and who she's thinking of, Pepper switches the feed to private just in case.]

Well, some of them are private people, and some of them are… [Manipulative, dangerous, etcetera.] not people you want to mess with. It's not something everyone wants advertised, but I can tell you a few. Raine Sage works at the Healer's Guild and she's managed to teach a few people some of her artes, I think.

China Sorrows might be able to teach you sigils, but you'd have to deal with her perma-magic, which is doable but takes a while to get used to. She's… a lot to take in, and that's putting it mildly. You have to be seriously careful around her. [They were nearly friends, or something like it, and Pepper was still very, very careful.]

Bakura has been able to teach a few other people, but I think I'm the only one he's taught who didn't have some kind of magic in the first place, and I can only do it because I found something that let me. I don't know about anyone else who's taught people that's still here, but now that you've put out a call you might get some more volunteers.

Re: private

[isochrone]

Artes are... the system of magic? I confess I've only read about magic, in my world, but a good many of the most compelling fictions relating to the topic have defined rules in place for how magic works.

Sigils? I wonder if that's what Miss Sonja meant by runes, or if they're different... what sort of 'perma-magic'?

Found something? At the Welcome Center, it was mentioned that things from our homes sometimes arrive here. If I may ask, what was it you found?

[lasergrenades]

Uh, yeah, I think a system of magic would be a good way to describe it. Or maybe, like, a specialty. Raine's a healer, so most of her magic is associated with that.

Sonja might have meant runes, I've at least heard of them in mythology in my world. I don't know of anyone who uses runes here, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. [She hesitates over explaining China, and speaks carefully.] China kind of... makes everyone around her adore her. It's always on, she literally can't turn it off. So just-- be careful around her.

[Pepper looks away from the handset and rummages around in her bag for a moment, pulling out a burgundy fingerless glove.] This. It's called a Duelist Gauntlet. It's not actually from my world, or at least I don't think it is, but it lets me use a specific kind of magic.

[isochrone]

Healing magic! [ Elizabeth just sounds positively enchanted by that. ] It sounds wonderfully noble, being able to help other people like that.

[ You can see her silently mouthing adore her? before focusing on the gauntlet. ]

It... that's a glove. A rather tacky one, actually. How is that magic? Is it in disguise?

[lasergrenades]

Yeah, Raine is pretty awesome. I'm not sure if that's the magic she chose or the magic that chose her. She works at the Healer's Guild, no surprise there.

[Pepper laughs quietly at Elizabeth's assessment of the gauntlet.]

Yeah, it's not the most fashionable thing ever. It's... like a power source, I guess. I'm still learning, it doesn't let me just do whatever I want with the magic. I'd be happy to show you some time, if you'd like.

[isochrone]

That's one place I haven't explored very much. I've dropped a few parcels off there, but never gone beyond the front entry.

[ She smiles widely. ]

Yes, a demonstration would be wonderful!

[lasergrenades]

She's pretty busy, but she's a teacher as much as a healer so she'd probably happy to meet with you at some point.

[Pepper grins as well, nodding.]

Sure, yeah, I can totally show you some time. Maybe you can come by our house; it's sort of better to do outside and we've got a nice backyard.

audio;

[inkulcation]

It sounds like you're looking for me, my dear.

[Faint Irish accent, a note of interest in the voice.]

I do my work with sigils primarily, and I have been known to teach on occasion, yes. Why don't you come visit me?

Re: audio;

[isochrone]

[ Oh, finally! Someone she can at least speak to directly rather than by proxy. ]

I'd like that very much, thank you! Even if the you end up electing not to, at least I'll know it's what you've actually decided.

[inkulcation]

It's so much tidier to conduct such business without an intermediary. I have an apartment in the Fire Sector-- here.

[Location ping.]

I'm available this afternoon, or later this week.

[isochrone]

Thank you! I'll be by when I have a chance.

[inkulcation]

Until then, my dear.

[There's a smile in her tone. China's interested by this girl already.]

[highprofilerichkid]

You mean sigils? China's the expert [Tony's not keen on sending anyone China's way, but he sees she's already responded, so he guesses that cat's out of the bag] but I know some of the basics.

What does Sonja have against sigils? [Tony thinks they're pretty cool. And way too useful to let them disappear with China. The more people know how to use them, the better, as far as Tony's concerned.]

[isochrone]

Technically, I believe runes and sigils are not meant to be interchangeable terms, but perhaps in other places, they may be.

[ She leans forward toward the screen as Tony says he knows some basics. ]

Would you demonstrate something, please? Anything at all.

I believe she more had something against me getting to know this other person, to be honest. It's possible she's jealous, I suppose.

[highprofilerichkid]

I don't know anything about runes, but sigils are a magic anyone can use, so that's probably what you're looking for.

[She explains Sonja's reluctance, and Tony makes a face.] Oh. China. Yeah. She's not jealous - China is... you shouldn't try getting to know her unless you're prepared for her. Everybody who meets her gets obsessed with her. It's some kind of passive magical aura. She knows even more about sigilwork than Anton did, but you've got to keep your guard up all the time if you're going to work with her.

[It's an experience Tony is far more familiar with than he'd like. He still feels like he needs to take a shower after every sigil lesson.]