video;

[exiledsummoner]

[Tris has been rather lonely since arriving and spent most of his time working with the kedan and continuing his practice and studies as best he could alone. He has tried to make an entry many times, but given up each time until now.]

The passage of time here is surreal. Perhaps because I was so used to being on the road and surrounded by friends and suddenly I'm alone... I think were I back home it would be about time for Winterstide. We always have lavish banquets and festivals and a ball, but I suppose my home won't be celebrating this year - there is very little to be joyous about. And I should have held the Court of Spirits to help restore balance to the flow of magic.

But that isn't something I can do here. Not least because I can sense people's souls and their magic, but I have been unable to project onto the Spirit Plane. It's as though it doesn't exist here, like there are no ghosts and no spirits. Perhaps what they said is true, that this is a land between death and life. [His lips press into a tight line. The worst part is that where ever this place is, he is no longer able to sense his sister's spirit and guarantee that it hasn't been devoured by the Soulcatcher...] Still, it's like losing a part of myself, even though I've only been able to do it for a few months.

Has anyone else discovered changes to their magic or their abilities?

Oh, speaking of abilities, I worry that in my time here I may lose practise - I don't suppose there are any other swordsmen here who would be willing to spar?

Comments

[notdreaming]

My powers don't seem any different, but not sure I would know if they were.

Did you go to the masquerade?

video;

[exiledsummoner]

I see. It's not so much my abilities, I suppose, but rather it's like the plane I'm trying to access just doesn't exist. [A brief frown.]

Masquerade? No, I don't believe I was present for it, I only arrived a few weeks ago.

video;

[notdreaming]

It was about two and a half weeks ago. It sounds like what you were talking about.

video;

[exiledsummoner]

Ah. [He shakes his head.] I wasn't here then. Winterstide is a festival that lasts many weeks and has a lot of ritual. It is to welcome in the new year. Was that what your ball was about?

[traumatizing]

I haven't noticed any changed. Though I'll admit, I haven't been using my powers to their fullest since I got here.

[he wrinkles his nose in thought - not least because now he's wondering about how his powers even work]

I guess it makes sense, if this place is separate from all our worlds, then it would be separate from all the dimensions of said world too.

video;

[exiledsummoner]

I see...

[Tris can't decide if learning that other's powers are unaffected is comforting or not - after all, it stacks up the argument for the Spirit Plane not existing here. That thought is discomforting in the least.]

It's odd to think that the Spirit Plane doesn't exist, though. Where do the spirits of the dead here go if there is no realm for them to exist?

video;

[traumatizing]

There were ghosts a couple of months ago. [...] Maybe they have something similar here that outsiders can't... [what's the best word?] Access.

video;

[duelkatana]

[There are several things that draw Leo's attention to this network post, and he hovers in silence for a long while after the man stops speaking. Eventually, though, he'll respond with a sort of hesitant interest.]

What's this..."Spirit Plane", exactly?

video;

[exiledsummoner]

The Spirit Plane is a plane between the land of the living and the next world, where the souls of the dead pass to. It is where spirits bound to the world who cannot or do not wish to pass over remain.

video;

[duelkatana]

[It seems similar to the spiritual plane Leonardo himself is familiar with - but he suspects they're not quite the same. A place for souls stuck in limbo...it sounds a bit like their whole situation, really.]

Do you think it's possible that this world is something like the Spirit Plane? [Maybe that's why he can't project onto it?]

video

[depicted]

[There is so much about this that catches Dorian's interest and also makes him wary. But with his characteristic, frank smile, he decides to contribute.]

It may be that another plane for spirits has a different--relation to this one. I'm by no means a physicist, but my understanding is that these worlds connect in particular way. If this really is between life and death, the world of spirits may be connected to it in a different direction than you are accustomed to, so to speak.

[And that may be why Dorian has not been haunted by the spirits bound to him. Maybe their purgatorial existence forbids them from coming here. That would be a relief, when he feared that they would instead manifest.]

[Dorian shrugs.]

Idle speculation, but I imagine that the people of this world must also go somewhere when they die.

video

[exiledsummoner]

[That actually made a lot of sense. Perhaps he was reaching out the wrong way. It could even be that because this wasn't his world that he may never be able to reach it.] I hadn't thought of that, but it's a comforting thought. Better than worrying that my abilities have been affected. [Because it's bad enough being on Wormroot and not being able to access any of his abilities.]

video

[depicted]

[Dorian's expression is kind in its reassurance.] For lack of any other evidence, it may be best to assume. Unless, of course, you can invent some way to test it. But if your other abilities are unaffected [his voice lifts as if in question] then it would be peculiar for these alone to be lost, I should think.

[survival_isnt_living]

[It's been almost two and a half months. The soldier and life-long swordsman in Septimus is getting more and more on-edge. He isn't sure he should be thinking about this. But he can't help himself.

'Magic,' though, is a word which could be used to mean two different things in Aleran. More, Tris' intent encompasses both. As a result Sep is frowning when he finally replies.]

What do you mean, exactly, by 'magic'?

video;

[exiledsummoner]

[Tris frowns a little back, if only because the man on the screen is doing the same. And also maybe because describing magic when one isn't even the most competent in his own skills, is difficult. It's never taught what it is, but is something everyone knows about.] Magic, in my world, is a gift given to select people by the Goddess. It can manifest at different levels and be light or dark and takes many forms. For example, I am a spirit mage; I have the ability to interact with ghosts and spirits and to access magic .

video;

[survival_isnt_living]

[Tris should be grateful that Sep isn't a theorist and will not go into a long, detailed, overly pedantic rant on it given encouragement.

Also, 'goddess' is a concept he has only come into contact with here. That one, however, he will let slide for now.]

What kind of forms? And what does being 'light' or 'dark' mean?

[Video]

[tactile_telekinesis]

Total bummer on the magic thing. I'm totally fine with mine, only problem I had was when I got here.

[Video]

[exiledsummoner]

[Tris isn't sure what that means, but he'll go out on a limb and assume it's condolence.] Yes, it appears after speaking with some of the other people here in this land that it's not my magic but the absence of the plane I'm trying to access. It's good that your magic works well.

As for problems when I arrived? Well, I was under the effects of a poison from my world which blocks access to magic anyway. I couldn't have known if it was that or this place.

[Video]

[tactile_telekinesis]

It's not magic, it's tactile telekinesis. Totally different.

[He exhales and shakes his head.]

Wow, that's even worse. Well, when we woke up here, people who had powers, abilities or magic found they were on the fritz or kapoot for a long time.

audio; anonymous

[demon_brat]

[It's Robin's voice, a bit lower than Damian's own... not particularly old, but haughty enough.]

If you do not object to a masked opponent, I can offer a reasonable sparring challenge. What kind of blade?

audio;

[exiledsummoner]

[This response only makes Tris frown. Secrecy. It was one thing coming from his friends, but from a stranger in a place he didn't know? It didn't feel right; set his pulse and his mind racing. Worse yet that they did not plan to show their face. Despite knowing this wasn't his world, it made him uneasy, made him fear the extent of his brother's - of Arontala's - reach.]

I... would rather see the face of those I spar with. There is no way to trust a man who hides behind a mask.

audio; anonymous

[demon_brat]

[Well. Great. There went that. Damian pursed his lips, then shrugged to himself.]

Your loss.

audio;

[storm_warning]

None of mine are screwed up, sorry. [Then again, she doesn't need astral projection or voodoo to make her weather workings happen.]

audio;

[exiledsummoner]

It's alright. I was simply curious to see if mine were the only affected. It seems as though it might not be my magic so much as the... lack of a Spirit Plane here. [Which is altogether baffling and terrifying.]

audio;

[storm_warning]

The way the kedan go on, I'd say this is the Spirit Plane.

[A bit of disbelief on her part, whoops.]