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Post by Jay on Oct 7, 2017 20:59:35 GMT
! | TL;DR: Kenessa made a very poor ritual to commune astrally with beings who use magic (human or otherwise). Feel free to have whatever magically-inclined character you have interact with her.
She has some stuff there as offerings. |
Kenessa Conspiring with the powers of the universe was a dangerous job. Yeah, it was one thing to hop between the fabrics of reality and grift somebody - with the right skillset, that could be done easily. It was a whole other beast to try and get some outside contact with beings of power. The astral planes were fickle, and liked to throw curveballs left and right.
So, what brought Kenessa to do this? Contacting the Outside was stupid - reckless, even. Yet, she had her reasons. Fear was the dominant one, though she'd never admit that to anyone's face.
She wasn't looking for protection, at least not yet. She needed to know a quick way to get some magical prowess. People on Earth were too wrapped up in themselves and their personal struggles to even be remotely helpful, and fuck no she wasn't going to try and find some sage. Time was running out, and her past would be catching up with her very soon.
Thus, she laid out the ingredients of this little ritual circle, did some meditation, and boom - she was betwixt the Astral Plane. She was still in her little house, sitting in her basement in front of the seal, but the surroundings were tinted and shimmering; reality was rippling around her, trying to find its footing. That was probably her fault, considering her physical body adapted to every change imaginable. Every small change in physics meant that she was changing with it, and things were moving a mile a minute here.
"Alright. Uh... I call upon the, um... ancients? Come to me and lend me your... power? Or wisdom, I guess..." She stumbled through the chant. "Uh... Do unto the restraints of, uh, conventional realitism..." She scratched the back of her head, then whispered to herself: "Is that even a word?"
Sighing, she opted to be as forward as possible. "Aye. I'm bad at this, but I know you can, like... hear me. So, uh... get in here and just humor me for like five minutes? I've got some offerings or whatever."
Whatever the hell she summoned would find itself in astral form - unable to directly interact with anything she had, but able to see and talk to the Planeswalker.
She thought that her seal was directly connected to the higher realms, but anyone with any kind of training in Magic Circle Theory could see that she was essentially rolling dice. This was dangerous magic for the ill-informed and ill-educated, but she was running out of options. Planeswalking human True Neutral | 31 | Female
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Post by ninjasoilder on Oct 7, 2017 21:20:18 GMT
Choushin was busy doing his own things within the Astral Plane. He wasn't sure if how he got his powers was for him, and was debating if he should cut how he got it and earn the powers normally. However, these thoughts were interrupted when he felt a Magic Circle near him. He got curious about it and inspected it. He could tell that only his astral form would go through it. After some thought, he decided to walk through it, wanting to humor whoever was on the other side. If anything, he might still be able to use his magic if it's a dicey situation and he needs to leave. Ir he might find a magic apprentice he could try teaching a thing or two to. Or someone he can play a game with.
Once he went in, he soon found himself in a small basement of a house. He could clearly tell that only his astral form was here. To whoever was watching him, he looked like a normal nine tailed kitsune, though he might not be that way for too much longer. He was in his fox form. He then saw the woman who had presumably made the magic circle. He grinned to her, tails swishing about. "Hi!" He shouted excitedly. He could try to have some fun with her, even if for only a little bit of time.
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Post by Jay on Oct 7, 2017 21:40:52 GMT
Kenessa First guest of the day: a fox. Well, no, not a fox - a kitsune. She was aware of those things from anthropology books from her mother. Her brother, the nerd he was, told her all about things like it. Tricksters, they were.
Dangerous tricksters, at that; didn't usually take kindly to people being uppity with them. Even though they were in astral form, she wasn't willing to risk her soul being cursed.
Despite that very logical line of thinking, she met the kitsune with less enthusiasm.
"Howdy," she said in return. "You look... fluffy today." Planeswalking human True Neutral | 31 | Female ninjasoilder
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Post by ninjasoilder on Oct 7, 2017 21:49:52 GMT
Choushin tilted his head towards her. "Am I to assume that you're the one that made the circle I'm in right now? Too bad that you can't hug my fluffy body today." He said as he looked around. "Thought that this circle would be in a more spiritual or magical place than this. But I guess it worked to get me here, so I can't knock your creativity." He said. It was clear that this thoughts were in many places. "Mind telling me your name, fair princess? So I can let you know mine?" He asked.
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Administrator
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Oct 7, 2017 22:15:46 GMT
Whirling swirling smoke in a sphere, ridged with flashed of red lightning and a center so dark it makes a windowless room without light look bright.
Ever twisting, folding in on itself, with no front or back like a fragment of chaos incarnate.
The longer you look, the more likely the sight may start to feel like jaws snapping at your soul, twisting, tearing into your sanity by the very nature of the sight. Neither physical nor spiritual contact is necessary for the effect, while the hissing sound it makes is like a nails against a chalkboard, a precise razor against the mind. wewwwhatdowyuuuwhssanthyumaaaanth the words are barely able to be picked from the spiritual background noise as the twisted chaotic being stalks the human mouse.
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Post by 0 on Oct 7, 2017 22:17:27 GMT
All right. All right, all right, all right!
What number next? What digits? What letters and miscellaneous symbols?
The number pulled back a hand, cracked it, snapped it, whipped it all around. It rolled back one of the dials on the old black rotary phone, pulled a lever, ate a cookie, listening to the tone change on the other end of the line, a voice crackling through.
Then it was suddenly elsewhere, popping in with little hustle or bustle, just a simple black amorphous smear that couldn't quite decide what state of matter it wanted to be in. It wasn't so much the number's spirit, as, well, that's pretty much all that it was, if ya wanted to get right down to it.*
Down 'n' dirty.
Smoke drifted out behind the shadowy figure as it stared around at the dingy basement, drifting slowly closer to the human who sat in the middle of a circle she'd made out of drawings and random items.
"Bad basement, cool candles," the number commented in a perfectly normal voice, as its body slowly reformed to mimic the silhouette of the human. "What's an offering?"
*Or, well, maybe...somethin' like that--really, who could keep track of all these various elements and entities? They couldn't even keep track of themselves!
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Post by Kishar on Oct 7, 2017 22:49:08 GMT
It had been a couple days since I had raised my Sanctuary and thus had the manses, among other things, done and ready. I had taken a couple days to recuperate from that before I got to experimenting, at the rather vehement insistence of Shinzo since he was worried about me overworking myself or something silly like that. I knew my limits and I knew how much I could handle, but I had listened to him as it wouldn't hinder things too much and it would let me have time to come up with some more ideas for experimentation, not only that, but it would help to foster a bit of goodwill. So all in all, it was something that I deemed was worth the break from my work. And in that time an old question for research that had come up came to my mind, and that was whether prayer was something inherent to Creation or if it was something that predated it, and was universal to anywhere in the Wyld. Since we were pretty much outside the boundaries of Creation by as far as was physically possible pretty much, now seemed like a good way to check that out. I had used some in the construction of my Sanctuary, but it was really more just ritual behavior to make the Sorcery work, so it wasn't quite the same thing. However, I had designed something just for this and it was sitting in my Elsewhere portals, so I quickly appeared in my work room in my main manse and found just what I was looking for.
It was a rather heavily modified and upgraded Vestment of Holy Vigilance, which would let me not just hear prayers, but record bits and pieces about the nature of how prayer functioned when it was hooked up to a transceiver to my manse network. Not only that, but I had modified it to allow me to appear as if a hologram to the sender of the prayer if I so chose, and it acted as an Arcane Link between myself and them, allowing for more Sorcerous study and the like. All in all, it was the perfect tool for the job, and as such, I quickly donned it and attuned to it, investing twenty seconds of my time and ten motes of essence into it to get it working and hooked up to the Manse network to study the data and began to meditate, searching for anything that could be construed as a prayer at me or any being in general. After all, it might allow for some to reach from Creation or simply just have some people praying to anyone or anything for help to be picked up by it. I wasn't sure of this thing's range, after all it reached through creation and all the known worlds, but this place was an anomaly to say the least. I couldn't tell if I would be able to reach anything with it.
After half an hour or so of waiting, a prayer came to me from someone who was obviously trying to contact someone or something with her magic circle. Such a thing would normally not even catch my notice, but the frank admission at the end and the offering at the end, despite how...crass it seemed made it count as a prayer, and thus it came to my mind. Such a seeker of knowledge willing to perform rituals beyond their kin to gain knowledge despite their admission they are bad at it tugged on something that reminded me much of the days long passed when I was still mortal, and as such, I decided that I might as well appear to the woman and at least hear her out and see what she had to offer for knowledge. That was the least I could do, really. I might even get some knowledge or powerful mystic ingredients out of it so that it would be win-win, let alone the possibility of a constant source of such things.
Materializing before her, my Solar Essence was even more apparent than it normally was, leaving me shining at my full bonfire, but not iconic, splendor in front of her and seeming all the more golden for it, as swirls of deep reds, blues, and purples came through my anima and passed around me. "I have heard your prayer, young one. It is audacious to perform magic that you are not familiar with, but I can feel the sincerity in your pleas so I came to speak with you anyway. I am Kishar, Solar Exalted of the Twilight and Queen of Ur-Nahaptish. May I inquire into who you are, what you wish of me, and what you have to offer me for my knowledge and blessings?" I figured that would be a sufficient answer to her prayer, and should she entertain me I could drop some of the formalities later and get down to business. But mortals usually expected this sort of thing from the Exalted, so such was my first reaction to being prayed to.
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Post by Jay on Oct 8, 2017 0:34:17 GMT
Kenessa Choushin The kitsune's teasing didn't go unnoticed, nor was it necessarily appreciated. However, despite herself, Kenessa didn't want to ruin anymore of her chances here. She already had more than three higher beings after her, no need to ruin it anymore for herself. So, she simply took the playful comments of the fox in stride, and answered its next question. "Nessie," she wasn't keen on giving out her full name to a magical creature. That would only spell disaster. Then, she began a prompt. "I... want some advice. In return, I'll give some offerings."Shagul The moment Shagul congealed into existence in front of Kenessa was one of instant regret. "UM, WRONG NUMBER, SORRY LOVE!!" She was quick to try and move away from the smoky being, but the circle's binding kept her there despite its approach. Fuuuuck me, ummmm... She was ready to protect herself despite it all. Then, it dawned on her that she was in astral form, and thus nothing this thing could do would harm her. And, even that was tested, since this preternatural discomfort began to nibble at her. The creature's aura was obviously to blame - Presences were something she was used to. Her own power kept the monster's form from overwhelming her, but this thing was obviously dangerous. Not only that, but its voice was completely overshadowed by some... noise. She was used to that, as well. It seemed like this thing's communication was on a frequence that was a little cloudy. So, Kenessa began to Listen. Her power was extremely useful in times like this. "S-say that again?" She prompted the entity. It's voice would be clearer for her now, despite the apparent fear she had at what the hell that would even entail for a monster like this. 0 Okay. She was going to be honest with herself; she had no idea what the hell she was looking at. Must have been one of those more abstract beings she heard so much about. However, she heard a voice. A very strange, uncanny voice. That insulted her basement, no less. "Wow, excuse the hell outta me," she muttered. The weird voice asked about offerings afterward. "Uh... so uh... what do you want?" She asked. Then, she realized how rude that sounded, and opted to rephrase it for the, um, thing. "What would you like, I mean. For something like you, maybe a... fuck. Hm... a book? You like knowledge, right?"When she held up the book, she held up a finger. "In return, I want some information... that okay?"Kishar Compared to some of the others, this particular response was more grand. It seemed like Nessie had successfully called upon a deity; or at least, something that resembled one. Hi... She said, taking in the radiance of the being before her. Something in her told her she needed to bow, but she didn't dare do so. She wasn't here to venerate, she was here to ask questions. After all, she had dealt with highborn creatures who felt the need to assert that all ephemerals should have their faces in the dirt whilst in their presence. Nessie wasn't willing to be that accommodating, anymore. Still, this being was straight to business, and thus she was willing to speak. "My name is Nessie. I wish to... ask for advice. Mystical advice," she continued on, looking around herself. "And, for your troubles, um... well, what would you like? I've a lot here. Souls? Treasures..."She looked to the being again, cutting past the absolutely blinding light. The Goddess looked like an angel. So, she turned to lifted a vial. "Uh, some of this... 'liquid virtue'?" She asked with a sheepish grin. Planeswalking human True Neutral | 31 | Female ninjasoilder Loner。 Kishar 0
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Post by 0 on Oct 8, 2017 0:51:24 GMT
The number faced the human, staring at her. Uh, maybe--it was rather difficult to tell, what with the no face thing.
It popped a few "eyes" into existence, a pair of burning cinders like cigarette butts glowing in the dark, and directed them towards the human.
Oo, she was asking what IT wanted? The number twirled its hazy fingers together, twisting them around each other like it was braiding a rope. Wait, no--what? She was already onto something else...she wanted to give it a book? In exchange for information?
The shadow turned its face down to stare at the book. ...What a crummy gift.
"Bah!" the number scoffed, poking a hand forward in an attempt to push the book away from it.
"Who needs knowledge?" it said. "The facts are always changing! Besides," it added with a shrug, "I can get a book from any old library. Whatever you got there, Babel's got it in infinite versions."
"Nah, man, nah," it continued, waggling a finger at the stranger. "If you want directions, I expect DOUGHNUTS."
With a huff, the shadow crossed its arms (which, given the nature of its shadowy figure, seemed to simply disappear out of sight, with fingertips poking out past its chest) and turned its...not-nose upwards.
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Administrator
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
PLAYER NAME
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Post by Loner。 on Oct 8, 2017 1:07:32 GMT
The noise was part of it's aura almost, sometimes breaking up into voice-like 'pseudowords' that might have been a different language altogether, sometimes too grating for anyone in their right mind to want to tolerate long.
It reveled in her discomfort, disappointed it wasn't worse. it liked to see its prey squirm tsuuuu late... It hissed. The number had been called, the signal sent. If it really wanted to, it could find the girl now from another 'door' nau whasth dozzsss the human whantssss?
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Post by Kishar on Oct 8, 2017 1:12:32 GMT
How unexpected, it seemed this one had the mental fortitude to not instinctively humble herself before the Exalted. A few reasons came to mind, but I decided to give her the most charitable interpretation, that she was a being with a strong enough will to remain true to her purpose when someone like myself answered them. That was points in her book, that much was for sure. Not only had I grown tired of being treated as such over so many years, after all it meant I had to live up to their expectations in return, but it also was the marking of one who had the capabilities to become a Sorcerer or a practitioner of the Supernatural Martial Arts. Given that she seemed to be looking for that sort of power, and perhaps more, that made me all the more inclined to be willing to take the time to teach her. After all, it was folly to attempt to teach someone without talent. Not that it couldn't be done, I was an Exalt after all, but it was something that definitely took natural talent to be worth my time to teach. It would also serve as a good experiment into just how far mortals from other realms could go in such things, which would be rather valuable data as well. It would also be something that would allow me to gain valuable resources, if that bottled virtue of hers was legitimate. Such things made for excellent reagents for Artifacts, and while I had a good number the amount I had was finite and limited in scope. If I could get access to someone with the ability to find such things, that would be quite beneficial.
I scrutinized her for a bit to give her the feeling that I was judging her and making decisions about her offer, even though I had already decided rather quickly that I was amenable to such a deal. It was only proper after all, even for someone such as her some social etiquette was to be expected between a Solar and a Mortal, even though she did seem to have quite high potential for one. Perhaps mortals in this world were different, or she was special. Perhaps some combination of all those factors. I would figure it out in time as I watched her learn, after all. That much was certain, I was a Devonian and a Twilight. The secrets of the universe were mine to uncover and bend to my will as a result of those things, moreso than any of my peers. While they were content being God-Kings who ruled, I preferred to be the one who sought truth beyond that which was obvious. That was my pride, and that was my duty to my Mate who had sacrificed himself for me when he was far more valuable at that point...
"Very well then Nessie, I am more than willing to work with you. You have shown the will and resolve to stand firm to chase what you seek despite the natural impulses of mortals to worship. Such is necessary to master the arts that I am willing to teach you. However, I do not wish for a one time deal, for I am relatively new to this plane and am seeking connections," I said, letting her know straight up that a simple bargain is not what I wish, "I can bestow you with a part of my power, expand your mind so that you may wield Sorcery, and even give you a place to study in peace, however in exchange I wish you to help me obtain a good supply and variety of items like which you offer. They are quite useful in my pursuits to study this world after all." Before she responded, however, I made one more point clear. "I am willing to negotiate further and such, but I would prefer if you come to meet me face to face. I cannot bestow such knowledge through an ephemeral connection such as this after all. I currently reside in the region this world calls Sonlas I believe. Follow the rather large energy signature bearing my Essence and you should be able to find me. Failing that, simply pray with me and mind and I can speak to you again."
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Post by ninjasoilder on Oct 8, 2017 1:23:18 GMT
Choushin smiled when she said her name. "Ah, Nessie. That's an interesting name. My name is Choushin. Nice to meet you, even if I can't touch you." He said, bowing to her. "Ah, so you want advice, huh? Well, be careful on who you ask that to. There are those who will claim your soul for such information. Anywho, what sort of advice and offering do you want and have?" He asked her in a curious tone.
Jay
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Post by Jay on Oct 8, 2017 18:55:14 GMT
Kenessa Choushin Okay, so he was amicable. The kitsune, now identifiable as Choushin, wasn't outright malicious, and that took a weight off of Kenessa's shoulders. "I need advice... for the mystical. How do you do it... I guess I should ask a question," she struggled to find the right word. "What is magical energy for you?"So, she looked to her side, and lifted a plate of assorted foods. "In return, I've got a lot of food from the East... um, unless you're not hungry. Lots of stuff here. Energies, talismans, sssssoooouls??" She was hoping the latter wasn't Choushin's choice. Shagul She could hear the creature more clearly now, though there was still an obvious glitch. Whatever it was, it was speaking from a dimension higher than even her powers could effectively pick up. "I want to know... what is magic to you?" Kenessa asked. She looked at the creature, and dreaded the answer. It reminded her far too much of the thing hot on her heels. "In return... what do you want?"0 Kenessa only blinked. Then, she lifted a box of doughnuts she had been eating out of while prepping the Circle. "Still got like... twenty in here?"
She held it away from the being, however. "But, in return, tell me what magic is to you."Kishar Kenessa lifted an eyebrow. Okay, maybe this lady wasn't that different from other gods. Apparently, she'd just read the planeswalker's soul and immediately judged her. Flattering as it was, being deemed worthy carried that niggling implication of becoming one of her followers. The fact that she was new to this plane more or less solidified that theory. She wanted connections - Kenessa had that in droves. Still, she didn't know how time flowed for this Goddess, but she was moving way too fast for the Planeswalker's liking. Still, it was worth at least checking out. So far, she was the most... outwardly generous of the things summoned today. That would come at a later date, though. She'd have to do a lot of recon. "Sonlas. Got it," she said. Then, she put the liquid virtue down, and slid it into the Circle's center. The vial would cross the interdimensional boundary, and find itself in front of the Goddess. "For your troubles." Planeswalking human True Neutral | 31 | Female ninjasoilder Loner。 Kishar 0
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Post by ninjasoilder on Oct 8, 2017 19:08:54 GMT
Choushin laughed. "You really are so eager to offer up souls? While I would enjoy them to tease and/or help them, I know of others who will outright take souls away from others. At least with me, I would keep souls safe and help/toy with them." Choushin said before he calmed himself down. "As for magic, I just grew up with it. Using illusion and mind magic, with it getting more powerful as I aged. I guess I don't know how to explain it without a little hands on demonstration." He said. He wasn't sure what she meant by magic. To him, it was something he grew up with, and never gave much thought to it outside of using it for fun or for defense.
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Post by Kishar on Oct 8, 2017 19:23:49 GMT
I took note of the rather interesting transportation phenomenon established through the Arcane Link that was performed by the Circle. Interesting, this world had some rather intriguing little effects. I figured that it was probably more dangerous than I had assumed if that kind of connection was possible through the circle. I'd have to think more on that and review the data recorded by the Manse later to figure out more about it. I probably could do it with Celestial Sorcery fairly easily, especially with an Arcane Link and on inanimate objects like that, but that could come later. I didn't exactly have a need for that sort of thing right now. Right now I had to analyze this little offering she had given me to see just what it was composed of, I had something around here in my elsewhere storage that might do the trick, might need to tinker with it to make it effective at analyzing objects from this dimension, but I could then run the raw data through the Manse's Artificial Intelligence to get a better idea of what was going on. Still, I didn't find it proper to just be offered something of this value for just my time, so I figured I might as well offer her a few questions about other things in order to make it all equitable in the long run. I could analyze it later after all, I didn't want to be rude to a potential source of data.
"I appreciate the offering, but I cannot accept it just for my time, such a thing would simply not be proper for me to do since all I did was acknowledge your talents," I said, giving her a smile and a shake of my head, "If there are any questions you wish to ask me, feel free to do so now. I am willing to answer as many as you wish for such a fine gift of a substance quite different from what I am used to in my home world. I very much believe in giving back to those who give to me in kind after all." Hopefully that would do as a good response, I always hated more formal interactions like this, but so long as I was answering her through prayer, I supposed that was something of a formality that I had to live up to. The formalities between the Exalted were, after all, a far different matter than formalities between the Exalted and normal humans, after all, all Celestial Exalts shared in veneration by humans, and even the Terrestrial Exalted had that in some quantities as well. Hopefully what she asked of me would be something I could answer despite being new to this world, after all, it would not do to not have that sort of answer for her. I supposed I could always ask Shinzo to ask that spider of his and get back to her on it, but that just felt like very bad form for me to do something like that. Oh well, I supposed it couldn't be helped.
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