aterat | [Log] Same Shit, Different World

Entry tags:

[Log] Same Shit, Different World

Who: Nida, OTA
What: Explorations and Seeking Magic Out
Where: Around the city
When: July
Warnings: None planned, will update as needed

There's a lot to be said about how weird it was to be in a place like this and still be able to feel. Feel in a way he had lost so long ago, the world feeling warm and distant somewhere in himself that didn't... didn't fully make sense. Which of course only led to him wandering, his head spinning with a sense he had forgotten. With the curl of a voice caressing his mind, cradling him with warmth and promise, the touch of a seaside breeze caressing him with all the comfort he could offer.

Magic. He can taste it in the air, and as he wanders the city, Nida will sometimes stop, abruptly, to look at people near him, or some bauble on display. Sometimes his head snaps up quickly, and he moves quickly down an alley or behind a building, only to be visible walking the top of the structure moments later. All of it with an aura of someone watching. Seeking.

"Hyne," he curses as he moves through the Historium, trying to find just what was setting his senses off there.

Or he's there on the top of the Red housing building, his eyes flirting over the city as he draws a map of the place from the high vantage, mumbling under his breath in another language.

There's even a moment when he nearly trips over someone in the market, dancing quickly aside at the last moment because his eyes had been caught up toward the path leading down toward the Curio shop.

In the end, though, he settles down near the fountain, sitting in a meditative position, eyes closed. Until, though, someone started to get close. Then his eyes flashed open, a brief flash of bronze light in his eyes before it settled back down, leaving attentive dark eyes gazing at whoever has approached.

"You feel like magic."

[OOC: Nida is capable of sensing magic, and because of his own abilities, drawing magic from the people around him. That means everyone not-native to the Aterat pings on his senses some because of a natural spell welling up from them in his senses. He can draw a small amount of that power from them, but only with permission which he will seek in-character permission every time. Feel free to message me here or on

churbooseanon to discuss.]

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"So kind, not seeking to harm me," Nida teases before starting off and expecting Caelan to follow him. "Still, it's going to be nice to play with some water now."

Especially with a possible source of it. He can practice his magic.

“Well I can be a civilized fellow when I feel like it, Nida.” He responded with a little laugh and trailed behind, falling into step next to the man a moment later. “Have you not gotten to in a while then? In all those other place you were before?” He added a moment later, making conversation as they left the fountain square behind.

"The other places took my means away from me. But now I know she was always there, just... hidden."

Even now he can feel her swell and sing in his blood, familiar and welcome. Oh he missed her.

"I grew sued to having her, back home."

“So you have a partner of sorts, then?” He’s not going to assume, of course, but it sounds almost like... a beneficial relationship between a being of magic and a human to him. “Your magic is very interesting, how does your partnership work? She stays with you?”

"Oh, there is a cost for her, but yes, we're partners. She resides in my mind, but she needs sustained. They draw power and sustenance from memory."

But there is no way he can store her without keeping her within him. There were means back home, but not here.

There’s sense to be found in that, power always comes with some form of restriction or a price. Even his kind, beings of nature and magic, have their limits and drawbacks, after all. “Sustenance from memory, does she eat them or...?” A bit of an odd question, perhaps, but memories were valuable things after all.

"She consumes them. Usually long term memories. In time I'm going to have to find another way to keep her with me."

But there isn't a rush. Not yet. He keeps walking, trying to process that realization. If this place keeps him as long as the others, then he'll need a solution.

Caelan’s eyes widen a bit, wow... That’s a lot to give up for magic, especially a human... Short lives meant a limited amount of memories, and Nida was far from old. “In time? I’ll say...” Did she have to consume them often? How many memories could the man afford to lose? The selkie certainly hoped the power the man gained was worth it, because that seemed like a very steep price.

It’s been a while since something has genuinely surprised Caelan, especially concerning magic. So, Nida could pride himself on that if he knew. He trails along, following Nida away from the crowds and closer to the shore. A small thought strikes, one that he thinks needs asking, “Does she need to consume one whenever you use your magic, or is it a slower process?”

Because, as curious as Caelan is, he’s not sure a demonstration would be worth speeding up that process.

It was not a surrender that they had been informed of in the beginning. And by this point, Nida accepted the bargain, even knowing the price. Besides, he now had a wealth of new memories, nearly two years, that he saw no reason to retain.

"It's a slower process than that, though it is not well studied. But I have associates that have slung far more spells than me. They still remember their names, so we're probably okay."

And in his world, with the monsters they deal with, it's probably reasonable that some take the weight for the sake of the world.

He eyed Nida curiously for a moment, before humming with a little shrug. “I’ll trust your judgment on that then, you do know more on the subject than I would.” Which wasn’t wrong, Caelan was terribly unfamiliar with this sort of magic. Fae who helped humans with spells did generally require a price, but that was usually a one time thing aside from the occasional partnership. This was something else entirely.

Smiling again, his eyes taking on a different light as he takes a breath as they neared the shore. There was the sea air he loved so... The call from the waves just a touch stronger, reminding him that he could always return to them in. That he was welcome to use it as a surrogate in place of the sea he left behind.

"There aren't a lot of people who truly understand GFs and paramagic, so I'm sorry you have to default to my knowledge."

The walk has been nice, though, and soon enough they're closer to the edge of the water and Nida looks like he's steeling himself for something.

"I will try not to splash you."

“That’s fine, I appreciate the attempt.” He responded with a light tone, “It’s still more than I knew before, after all.”

Following Nida up to the waters edge, he tilts his head curiously as he takes in the man’s expression and body language with interest. Caelan wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but he was eager to find out what the magic Nida had drawn from him could do. “Splash away if you must, a little water certainly isn’t going to kill me.” He added with a grin, amused at the idea.

Alright then. Time for this. Nida closes his eyes, holding a hand before him. Again that strange bronze flash of light dances across Nida's eyes as blue light starts rising around him in sparks and moments of shine. And then he thrusts his hand outward the light flowing forward from it as an orb of water forms around a piece of wood floating on the water. The orb is clearly large enough to wrap around a full person, and it rises to the sky, before slamming down into the waves. Granted, it would hurt more hitting something other than the ocean.

But even this should hurt.

Caelan wasn’t entirely sure what he could have expected, but it clearly hadn’t been that. Not if the impressed expression that crossed his face as he watched the strange display was anything to go by.

That was definitely a strong power. To use that elsewhere, on a person? Oh that would smart... He turned from the water to face Nida again, “Well colour me impressed! Never seen something quite like that before.” Not often, anyway. Certainly not from just any person. There were a few sea monsters and fae that might, but humans had to be pretty skilled, with some fae blood in their lineage to pull that off where he came from.

"Water is easier to demonstrate out here. I've never cast Aero or Tornado over the water. I'd be half worried to create water spouts," Nida admits, letting his hand fall to his side. But he doesn't even look remotely tired. He could cast until his spells ran dry, and he wouldn't be bothered.

"But it can seriously hurt. The surface of that water seemed calm. Inside, it roils and buffets."

“No, the creatures in the water mightn’t thank you for that.” He responded with a little frown in response to the idea of creating water spouts, he’d seen his fair share of those, and they could be dangerous for sea life and sailors alike.

He focuses instead on Nida’s further explanation of the spell. “Really? Well I can’t imagine the average person would enjoy being entirely encased in water even if it was the calm sort, but that definitely makes the spell that much more formidable.” He responded, tilting his head back towards the water a moment later. “Rough waters can be a pain enough, let alone with a hard landing that appears to go along with the spell?”

No, he supposes they wouldn't.

"I have nothing against sea creatures, luckily," Nida muses, staring out at the waters. Seas didn't tend to have as much in the way of monsters in his world. Not as much by half. Or even 90%. Sea monsters just were't a thing.

"There's a reason it's offensive magic."

“Lucky, indeed.” He responded with a thoughtful little grin. “You wouldn’t want to make the sea angry at you, she’s nasty when she wants to be.”

Of course, he wasn’t sure if there were sea monsters in these waters, he hadn’t seen signs of the sort he was used to in his own world. There were, however, some bloody huge sharks further out. They were very alarming, and intriguing at the same time, he’d kept his distance in his explorations thus far...

He turns his attention back to his friend and nods, “The reason is apparent enough, It’s quite impressive! Is it limited based on what you drew from me?”

Wouldn't want to make the sea angry? Nida turns to look at Caelan and raises an eyebrow at that statement. The sort of look that said 'you just said something funny but I don't know if I should laugh or not.'

"No, there's no limitation based on what I drew. Only number of charges. And how it interacts with magical reinforcing of myself," Nida shrugs. "Stronger if I've got more junctioned to magic. But that's a whole fucking school course to explain, and I'm not in lecture mood at the moment."

Caelan met the look with a small smirk, he’d said what he’d said for his own amusement and it seemed to him like Nida was amused in his own way. He would have been delighted to get a laugh out of the man, but it seemed he was resisting.

Too bad.

His smiled shifted to something more curious, “I don’t know that I’d have the attention span for a lecture anyway, but I admit this is all very fascinating? Hopefully you won't have need of such magics while your here, but I’m glad that I could provide you with it in the off chance things get unpleasant.” Not that he doubted there would be a need for it, not with some of the rumours of the creatures in the sewers and such.

He's lost a lot of what would have made him laugh. It was sad.

"I've been to a few places, and the magic is always something I felt I needed, even when I didn't have a chance there. Something always goes wrong. There are always attacks."

So yeah, he was certain the magic would be useful.

Very sad, Caelan might take it as a challenge though if he went too long in this world without hearing a little laughter from the guy.

He doesn’t comment on it for now, focusing instead on the conversation itself. “I imagine there are very few worlds that remain peaceful for long, as nice a thought as it is. Considering why we’ve been brought here, I expect it’s safer to expect the need for defence.” Not that any of his own magic was offensive, but hey, that was what knives were for.

"Prepare for defense, because then you're just as ready for offense," Nida muses as he stares out at the sea, rolling and flowing.

"I think this time, I'm going to bypass the whole try and peaceful life. Just go straight to opening a dojo."

“Yeah, I’ve heard something like more than once from my group back home.” He shrugged lightly, it was definitely a sensible idea that had been drilled into him over the years after one too many careless escapades.

Of course, a peaceful life was highly over-rated to Caelan to begin with. He got bored far too easily for that. “Well they have been encouraging everyone to open businesses and the like. I’m sure you won't have any trouble getting something set up.”

Nida's never known a peaceful life. So to assume one now is stupid. Even the place that was supposed to be his relief, his retirement, had been stolen.

"Start up will be expensive, what I'll need for it. But I'll consider it."

[Log] Same Shit, Different World

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