EVENT: A Certain Confession

[joybound]

Who: everybody!
When: Day 16, evening
Where: wherever you are

[As the sun sets and the new stars come out, there's a message on the ChainChat app. The username is new -- it's not The Construct, but it also doesn't have a profile attached, and doesn't accept private messages. It appears to be some different admin account.]

★: Hi everyone. Good news and bad news here. Good first: you should find your new train car attached as of this message! You guys wanted a garden, so hopefully you'll like this one.
★: As for the bad news: we're having a bit of a problem generating positive energy, so from now on we're adjusting the whole "sparks of light" thing. Starting tomorrow, you'll only get a payout when you consciously make a decision to increase your bonds. We're talking about increasing prices, too, but... one thing at a time.
★: Sorry for the bad timing.

[There's a pause, and then a follow-up.]

★: There are some things I ought to explain now, but I'm not sure where to start. Just be aware that things might get rougher in the future. And that Trials... I might've lied a little about those.
★: I'm sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen. Please try to hang in there.

[It's not a cheerful message, but on the upside, there is in fact a new train car at the end! On the outside it looks like one of the communal cars, with a stylized flower symbol on the door. Inside, however, it's a huge greenhouse. There are several different "rooms", each about 50 feet square, aligned to different climates. It also comes with various basic gardening tools - trowels, gloves, etc -- and enough seedlings to get started growing flowers and veggies. There's always (artificial) sunshine coming down through the glass roof, and the soil in the beds never loses fertility. There are even benches here and there -- it's not only a practical facility, but a nice place to relax!

More seeds and seedlings, equipment, and decor, can be bought via the sparks shop. You may in the meantime assume any simple plants you want are provided -- but they won't be re-issued for free if you kill them!]

[OOC: You can use this toplevel to reply to the prince's chat message. He'll respond for a limited time, but you can use this opportunity to uncover some major plot info! You're also more than welcome to talk to eachother -- it's a chat room and the conversations are public. The changes to the sparks system are outlined in this OOC comm announcement. Thank you!]

Comments

[bowtiedbones]

He's sweet, but he's still gross!

[gives him a last affectionate shove, sending him to pounce on Isolde next]

I'm sorry he if he made a mess downstairs.

[ewestmarch]

I just assumed you wouldn't want him coming back with used bandages on his nose. It can be cleaned.

[bowtiedbones]

They'd be more than on his nose... They're skeletons, but they still want to chew on stuff. I've had to untangle so many weird things from his skull.

[ewestmarch]

They really act more like dogs than reptiles.

[bowtiedbones]

Dragons are a big group! They don't all act like these two.

[ewestmarch]

So you've said.

[Emilia settles on a counter, crosses her legs primly at the ankle.]

I've been thinking - would teach me? It would be a source of sparks for both of us, and the lack of a library is making me a little ...

[She raises her eyebrows and twitches her hands. Antsy. Cabin fever. Very bored.]

[bowtiedbones]

Oh! Sure! Did you want to learn something specific? Obviously I have my specialties, but I'm good on a lot of trivia.

[ewestmarch]

More of a regular arrangement. You seem to know the field... and I don't want to interrupt whatever you're doing.

[She frowns, her cracked lips twisting.]

I didn't get much formal education in magic. At this part of my life ...undeath... it's become increasingly important to learn whatever I can whenever I can.

[bowtiedbones]

I'm happy to teach what I can, even if it ends up being only theory, especially since a finalized education is important— for safety, if nothing else! That's a big part of why I have my own tutor at home at all.

But you'll have to remember that we're from two different magic systems. A lot of what you learn from me might end up being of no practical use to you.

[ewestmarch]

I know. Yours sounds better anyway. And if both of ours' work here, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to cast from it.

[maybe.]

[bowtiedbones]

There could be physical differences with how we process our magic flow, but that's easy enough to test for at a basic level. Do you do any array work already?

[ewestmarch]

I can summon demons with arrays, but it's pretty foolproof stuff. Copy the exact lines. I don't like doing it, anyway. They're little bastards.

[bowtiedbones]

Mmmm, yeah, that's a thing. Rote copying doesn't work in my system. It's not foolproof at all.

[ewestmarch]

My position right now is basically a lab technician. The qualified people do experiments, I just repeat procedures to fix the things someone else already made. I can do more than that -

[Frown.]

- but I can help with my current goals better where I am currently. So that's what they let me do.

[bowtiedbones]

Neither of those is really anything anyone does at home, but that's still good. We won't have to spend a week teaching you to draw a perfect circle.

[ewestmarch]

You can use a pin and a string, right?

[is she missing something]

[bowtiedbones]

For drafting, that’s fine, but you need to be able to do at least a beginner’s ward freehand.

[ewestmarch]

[This is the attempted poker face of someone who thought she was too smart to do the studying and has just been using a shortcut for a long time.]

Alright.

[bowtiedbones]

We can have you start with that, then. I learned with tracing hula hoops when I was little, and that's about the size you'll need for a regular one.

[ewestmarch]

I've been drawing them, I can get it.

[A little defensive. She can just do it without the string its Fine, she's Got It, she's Competent.]

[bowtiedbones]

[unruffled. if she's teaching someone, they're getting every basic on the way— no such thing as too much safety and repetition when a one poorly-drawn spell can be your death.]

Do you know what a beginner's ward does?

[ewestmarch]

Only what I can guess from the name. I've worked with wards to protect the summoner from what's being summoned before, and wards sewn into battle robes.

[bowtiedbones]

Those sound a lot more specialized. This is going to be just a circle, but it's going to be the foundation of every piece of spellwork. My world's magic doesn't work as something you can just print out or hand off to someone else to use, so by practicing a perfect circle, you're investing focus and training yourself to keep to that flow by habit. Normally our field of influence is restricted to our bodies, but this is the first step to expanding it.

[ewestmarch]

[this is chafing at her pride, and she breathes out through her nose - its noticeable on someone who normally doesn't breathe.]

Alright.

[you asked. this is the first step. we're gonna do it. it's worth it to get the goal accomplished.]

Does it have to be drawn on a particular surface?

[bowtiedbones]

No, any surface or drawing tool is fine.