[UNDIFFERENTIATED] The New Court

[shibrogane]

"Well, yes," said Odal. "It's all worked out fine. Silk is educating the differentiated, as I said. It doesn't seem y'all did something terribly world-changing, just set better boundaries. There's no change to the flow of time, at least, which was my main concern. And we fetches are rather pleased to be able to set up a real society of our own now."

He winked at Cass. "Precisely. And I don't actually expect there will be terribly many more of you, so I'm intending to start the lessons today with an education on the differentiated and what services they provide for the otherworld." Shun got an arched brow. "It's hardly training," said Odal. "I don't do combat. I'll be teaching the basics of magic, coordinated casting, spell creation... If you want to learn to fight, you'd be better off differentiating as a moonwalker. That's their job."

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Grey Dragon

Blade Kuroda

saedusk

Melancholies

Smerdle

demon_pachabel

endejester

Quote:

Please feel free to quote in any undifferentiated players who are interested, I went with whichever players I saw on the first few pages of the guild forum. :3

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb let out a breath, and a little smile of relief crossed his freckled features. It was really good to know they hadn't seriously messed things up. And to be able to have some official magical training... That was more than he could have hoped for.

That particular excitement grew the more Odal spoke of what lessons he would be able to provide, but Kaleb had already had one outburst that evening. Maybe Odal would also know if there were any good books to be found on this side, that would prove more informative than the nonsense back home.  

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun raised his brow back at Odal.

"I count that as training," he stated. It wasn't strictly a combat related term.  

[demon_pachabel]

Cass clicked her tongue and finger-gunned back at Odal. She appreciated his humor, at least. "I didn't realize there was more to know than 'hope for the best'. " Which so far had worked pretty OK. But it was also why she had burns on her hand and had pulled a bird out of a glitchy weird thing. Not that the rest of that hadn't been fantastic, but...

"I'm definitely down for not accidentally breaking things I shouldn't." breaking things on purpose however.....Cass considered it as she took a bite of something-or-other. Lord, this was good. Probably because it was free. Cass was going to be trapped as a bride forever.  

[saedusk]

If there was one thing Eli loved, it was free food. That was something he could absolutely agree with Cass on. As they sat around the table discussing next steps for the undifferentiated, he'd stocked his plate with a grateful thank you and started to eat. Why let all this hard work go to waste, after all? He couldn't believe how many were apparently choosing not to partake.

"I'll be honest with you," he said after swallowing a generous bite. "I didn't know a thing about magic before the incident with the Burning Man. I knew the basic basics, but I've been flying by the seat of my pants the entire time. So, darling, I appreciate the help."

Taking another bite, he let out a small, content sigh. "I want to know what we can do to help the differentiated." Two of his most important people were in that group after all. "Should we simply keep improving our magic in the hopes we'll be of use or is there a way we can really dig in and do something?"  

[shibrogane]

"Hm. We'll simply have to agree to disagree," said Odal to Shun, "I certainly don't intend to do more than lecture on the topics. Your practical examinations will have to occur in the real world." He laughed at his joke. Practical examinations...

He shifted easily into Teacher Mode at Cass's statement. "Hoping for the best is an intrinsic part of magic. If you don't believe that your casting will work, then you'll either receive terribly distorted results or nothing at all. Your force of will and power is what shapes and defines a cast spell; your kavanah, as my bubbe said. Your intention." How many times had he said that during the casting? Clearly, and with intention. "However, the magic itself learns the common forms used over time. Sigils, for instance, hold no power without belief behind them, but once a symbol has been used for a certain amount of time you begin to have access to the belief of all of those who came before you who believed in that symbol's power. Hence, the study of symbology may be beneficial to you. I personally subscribe more strongly to geometrica, use of geometric shapes to create a sort of echo chamber. It traps the magic, bounces it off itself over and over and over, increasing its potency with each collision until it breaks free. This is how we cast the Charter sigil, by the way, resonance given form as thread."

Odal trailed off and took a sip of his wine.

"I'm sure there is," said Odal to Eli, "but I don't know it. As far as I'm aware, the best way to assist the differentiated is to become one of them. However, the differentiated themselves may disagree. I would ask them, but I would also be aware..." He looped a hand through the air, a sort of go faster gesture apparently directed at himself. "Their extended powers are, quite literally, tied to their roles. If they don't fulfill their duties, they'll suffer a magical overload. I'm told this is painful, and quite probably fatal without intervention. I have little interest in the topic, to be honest with you."

blade kuroda

saedusk

demon_pachabel

 

[Smerdle]

Chester finally decided to speak up in a moment of silence, setting down his fork and folding his hands before he did so.

"Could our intention work in reverse? Could we weaken a symbol by believing that it no longer holds any power? Or would paying it so much attention just reinforce the fact that we did believe and only make it stronger?"  

[Grey Dragon]

The moment Odal entered Teacher Mode, Kaleb watched with rapt attention. Belief, symbology, intent, he had learned about the strength of these things while working with America and Leila, but Odal was offering more information, and the freckled youth was fascinated.

He didn't know the young man who had spoken up about helping the other groups, but it was a question that resonated with his own desires to be of use.

"If the differentiated are now tied to their roles and duties, does that mean there are other roles that will be left unfilled? If we want to help, could that be a place to start?" Kaleb asked, wondering about Temperance and her hopes for a magical clinic. How much would she be able to dedicate to the task if her Noble duties took priority?  

[demon_pachabel]

Like Kaleb, Cass listened with great interest as Odal reinforced a statement that was fairly similar to what Jeremiah had told her previously. So there had been a little bit more to 'hoping for the best', at least. "So it's reinforced hoping for the best." Though she'd thought similarly of the use of symbols and the practical use of the echo chamber had been seen in practical time. "Do you find that it's easier to use Symbols for some usages and Geometrica for others, or is it really the same and use depends on the user's preferences?"

Her eyes glanced between both Eli (who also seemed to have a taste for free food, excellent) and Kaleb as they prodded about their roles as undifferentiated. Oh, that was also a thing, wasn't it? She didn't feel the roles of the Nobles or the Wargs or the Moonwalkers all that much for herself as long as she had a choice in the matter.  

[shibrogane]

"I doubt it," said Odal, "Unless you were party to the original casting, your intention would have limited effect. For instance, the sigil which created this otherworld was cast by three teenagers. Unless they were made to believe that the sigil was powerless and ineffective, the sigil would hold strong. Your belief, as a person affected by it, doesn't matter. The new sigil is a different story, however. If you as a caster of the sigil were to come to believe that a certain aspect of the sigil no longer had any effect, you could begin the process of breaking the sigil down--but since the system used had principals, it would necessarily include the principals believing that they were useless to the functioning of the world."

Odal paused.

"Such an act of... inception... would be cruel," he said. "As you would be negging someone into believing their sacrifice was without worth."

Odal looked at Kaleb and shook his head. "The roles created within this world are filled," he said. "There are no duties that the magic itself demands that haven't been filled. The other roles that make up society can be fulfilled naturally, as the magic doesn't shape the requirements in that way. Why do you ask?"

Next was Cass. "It's all a matter of preference," said Odal. "Geometrica itself is a matter of mathematics. It pulls from the otherworld in a way that symbology really no longer does; everyone from your world believes in math, but not everyone believes a sword has a special power beyond cutting things. And so on."

Smerdle

Grey Dragon

demon_pachabel

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb shook his head shyly, sinking into his seat ever so slightly. It was rare for him to be so active in any sort of social situation, and he was starting to feel the strain of it. "I didn't mean anything specifically designated by the new charter, more like the latter... I just- I really wish I knew how to do more."

He glanced down at his untouched dinnerware, freckled cheeks turning slightly pink. Maybe he just had to keep doing what he was doing, but it seemed like a pale effort compared to what he knew his friends were capable of.  

[Smerdle]

"Yes. Cruel." Chester could see that when things were laid out this way. He might not have thought the principals had sacrificed much of anything at all, but he could admit that they stood for something that shouldn't have been so easily broken. The sigil they had made wasn't the problem anyway, and he had about as good a chance of convincing three corpses to stop believing in themselves as he did at becoming a fetch. He looked to Kaleb with a gentler expression than the one he had inadvertently turned on Odal.

"I don't think we need to box ourselves in. If there's someone you want to help, just ask them if they need it."

Grey Dragon

 

[shibrogane]

"It takes time to find your place," said Odal, gently, to Kaleb. "But that's in short supply. If there's anything I can do to help, I am here."

grey dragon

smerdle