[ prp ] Bounding Forward (Leila, America, Kaleb)

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nearly panicked when he accidentally met eye contact with America.

"I-I don't have any ideas, really, the only magical bonds I know of are warg bonds, and they have always felt sorta like... a thread that ties the two together, but warm and alive too." He picked nervously at a hangnail on his thumb while he stammered out his thoughts, regretting the babbling the moment the first word came out of his mouth.

He desperately glanced over at the professor, hoping she would have something to add so they could forget his blunder.

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cibarium

lizbot

shibrogane

 

[cibarium]

In spite of her experience being bonded to other living things, Leila felt about as out of her element as Kaleb did with all this. Part of her wished her wife had taken on this task instead of her. She was so used to the blood and gore way of doing things she'd witnessed, it was hard to think of any other way to do it.

"I've had power given to me through physical contact, so that could factor in," she offered. "But honestly, I'm having trouble getting past not knowing what the frame is made of, so that's all I have to give on this topic for now."

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grey dragon

lizbot

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Renard arched a slow eyebrow. "And when is the birth in this comparison? When should the Charter, whatever that is, cease drawing power from you? I have some experience with magically growing living beings through umbilical connections, and those bonds do not ever break." He sighed. "Still, it has potential. If there was a standing connection between your intent and your framing, then you'd have the ability to change the Charter mid-course. Whether that's a good thing depends wholly on who is connected to your frame."

He gave Leila and Kaleb both an incredibly disappointed look. "So it's acceptable to you to waste my time when you have no thoughts or questions on the topic yourself?" His demeanor was rapidly cooling, at least towards Leila and Kaleb. Towards America, he seemed as calm as ever.

lizbot

Grey Dragon

cibarium

 

[lizbot]

"I'd like to say, whenever the charter had enough power to sustain...if there was a point, in granting something enough power that you can close that bit of the connection and let it become a closed circuit," the girl explained.

She gave Kaleb an interested look. "That should be help us gauge things you know. Sensing things like that. Um..." her brow furrowed a bit. "Since there's three of us, and three is likely to figure into the making, that reminds me of the ah...the one that spins, the one that measures, the one that cuts...I forget their names," America grimaced. They were weird names, okay?

"But breaking things down into three actions...that, too, would that help with something like this?"

grey dragon

cibarium

shibrogane

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb wilted visibly. He couldn't agree with the similarity America was trying to draw, since he was altogether too inexperienced to assist in more than a basic way. He wasn't sure he could be counted as one of three of anything when it came to important magical issues.

But at the same time it was false to assume he had no questions of his own. He had a mountain of questions all crammed into his head, and it would have been a greater waste of time to indulge them instead of letting the others get straight to the important parts.

"Threads do figure into a lot of symbology," he offered meekly, trying to focus his courage towards helping the ladies. "Joining, or wrapping, its... Can magic be spun into a thread, used to weave together the pieces, and then rejoin itself to form that... uh... closed circuit?"

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cibarium

lizbot

shibrogane

 

[cibarium]

After spending a few seconds pinching the bridge of her nose with her eyes squinted shut, she tried again: "For reasons I really don't want to explain, I'm going to pretend the childbirth metaphor was actually an egg metaphor for a bit." She figured America wouldn't mind. A minute ago she'd started scribbling something diagrammy down in her field notepad, as Renard had turned to complaining about her lack of initiative and she really wasn't in the mood to answer it.

"If the new Charter is being symbolically gestated, and its body is the new frame... then the binding mechanism would be like the yolk." She crossed her arms in thought. "Something finite, designed to become wholly part of the frame. This approach could define the cutoff point and make the closed circuit part happen."

That all sounded completely reasonable, right? Leila hated magic and how clueless she felt right now. She briefly looked at Renard for signs she might not be clueless after all.

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grey draon

lizbt

shibogane

papers please? o:

 

[shibrogane]

Renard said, "The Moirai. The three fates." He put a hand to his chin, thinking. "I'm not sure. My instinct is that it may be too complicated, but... if the three of you were willing to serve as binders for the will of the spellcasters, that could work. It would take a certain kind of casting style, but I'm sure that Silk can guide you in that when the time comes. It would be iterative casting, like singing a round."

He seemed pleased by that analogy. Kaleb had won his way back into Renard's good graces, if the approving look was anything to go by.

"I'm unfamiliar with the life cycle of chickens, so unfortunately I find your analogy unclear," said Renard. "Are you suggesting that, rather than an umbilical approach, we take the placental? Submerge the frame in the intent of the casters until it is forced to absorb it?"

lizbot

Grey Dragon

cibarium

 

[lizbot]

America made a thoughtful noise, "We'll have to consider it carefully then, whether we can sync up."

Considering Leila suggestion, she asked, "Is merging like that possible? Leila was right, we don't know a great deal about frames either. Is this something we can test on the small scale?" She added, realizing they were potentially going to be doing a science with this.  

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb was a tight ball of doubt wrapped in uncertainty, missing Renard's approving look entirely as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. Repeating magic, following someone's guidance... it might be possible, but if it came to that he thought the ladies might want to find someone more experienced than himself to assist.

On the other hand...

"If it's treated like an egg, magic wouldn't necessarily have to weave it all together, just act as a conduit for the intent to enter the frame..." He murmured out loud. "Under the right conditions, we might not have to force anything."

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cibarium

lizbot

shibrogane

 

[cibarium]

Leila had nodded at Renard's attempt to clarify. "Yes, something like that. In nonmagical human reproduction the umbilical cord actually connects to the placenta, and the placenta's connected to the birth parent." And she was back to the childbirth analogy in spite of her wishes to steer away from it.

"Yolks just don't have that second connection, and in addition they're absorbed completely." Looking to Kaleb briefly, she continued, "We could invoke the absorption symbolically by wrapping our hypothetical thread around the frame until there's no more, something like that."

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grey draon

lizot

shibrogne

 

[shibrogane]

"Unfortunately a magical womb has no connection beyond the umbilical," said Renard dryly. He sighed, thinking on America's question. "You'd have to create a frame to test it on, or... Hm. Do you still have that fragment of the stone I gave you?... No, that's indestructible, not impermeable..."

He said, "You'd likely have to craft a frame of your own as well. Something capable of holding magical power. Possibly several somethings; you could test your theory on the stone and on a created frame."

lizbot

cibarium

grey dragon

 

[lizbot]

America gave a firm nod, though had a curious look at indestructible. "We can do that. Is there any sorta basic template for magic frames that we could work with?"

cibarium

grey dragon

lizbot

 

[Grey Dragon]

So it looked like they were going to do some experimentation. That was well within the scope of Kaleb's ability, applying the scientific method to magic would hopefully provide some of the insights they needed. Even helping create some of the mock frames for the trials might be a job he could handle.

He remained silent as America followed up with her question about testing frames, and glanced over at the professor to see how she was assessing the situation.

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cibarium

lizbot

shibrogane

 

[cibarium]

As Renard and America spoke, Leila kept on taking notes. This was difficult with the molting eyes thing. She had to squint to make out the words on the paper.

"You mentioned the approach America described is a little complex..." she recalled after America's question. "I appreciate you not wanting to limit us, but can you also give us an example of an alternative methodology? I think after that we can get out of your hair, unless Kaleb or America have something I've missed here."

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grey dragon

lizbot

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"I'll send a few your way," said Renard. "If I may have your email?"

He shrugged at Leila. "How do you meld anything with anything else? Submerge it in your intent, like tea leaves in water; tie it with magical bonds like a package and a bow; create an arcane collection of symbols, a collection of things representing your intent, and burn them together. The last one is obviously not possible."

lizbot

grey dragon

cibarium