mage meeting open to all mages and mage allies

[birdhousesoul]

Date & Time PIE DAY. Um, fuzzy timing - post-mission, post-spamming of everyone by Martin Septim, pre-United Earth Boat Trip, pre-leadership meeting
Location: Magehouse aka Unit 205
Characters: Anyone who didn't block Martin Septim's spam private message; anyone who considers herself a mage; anyone who likes pie
Summary: Time to get this MAGE COLLECTIVE started so it can exist ICly before the upcoming plot kicks off
Warnings: Anders is a loudmouth, look out blood mages


INITIATIVE DOSSIER: TRANSPORT HOUSING UNIT 205 aka 'magehouse'

Unit 205 is the haunt of mages and cats. Its human residents are Martin Septim (a mage), Anders (a very loud mage), Nathaniel Howe (a Grey Warden who doesn't mind mages in certain contexts), and sometimes, unofficially, a woman named Delphine (a stalker grandma who hides under Martin Septim's bed).

Its feline residents are a large tabby of Thedosian origin, male, intact, named "Ser Pounce-a-lot" (possibly also a mage), and a grey kitten (native to Exsilium) recently rescued by Martin Septim.

Like all standard transport housing units, Unit 205 contains three bedrooms. The Thedosian residents share a room, Martin Septim has a room to himself (Delphine, officially domiciled elsewhere, does not always succeed in secreting herself within the emperor's quarters, and is usually commanded to leave when he discovers her presence), and the third bedroom has been converted into a headquarters for seditious activities and scrapbooking. Cat beds also reside in this room.



A long time ago (okay, seven or eight years), in Amaranthine, the fugitive mage known as Anders declared that the smell of freshly-baked pie was, for all intents and purposes, the smell of freedom.

Sadly, he's not much of a baker. The pies on offer at tonight's possibly-a-mage-collective meeting are not fresh, but shelf-stable and store-bought. There are, however, a lot of them. There is also lemonade, mixed from concentrate. Convenience foods are strange to the people of Thedas, strange in a good way: readily available! full of preservatives! preservatives are good!

Anders isn't sure how many people will actually come to this meeting. The word has been spread informally, and as discreetly as is possible given that he's sure the network is monitored by the Initiative. He doesn't have an agenda written up; it wouldn't occur to him to do so, being from a world where xerox machines are unknown and laser printers are right out. He has, however, appropriated a flip chart and some markers from the Initiative Hold, and set them up in a corner.

Every piece of furniture usable for sitting — desk chairs, kitchen chairs, cushions — has been dragged into the living room, and the dining room table has been pushed up against a wall to create an impromptu pie-and-lemonade buffet.

This is a far cry from gathering in the sewers of Darktown. No one wants to eat pie in a sewer.

Where Anders comes from, mages aren't always open about their identity, thanks to systemic religious persecution. He won't be surprised by anyone who shows up, and he won't turn anyone away. Even if they're just here to eat pie.


[No posting order, everything's totally pretty much freeform (I tried to give it some structure but don't feel constrained); anyone should feel free to threadjack into any conversation unless someone marks in the subject line of the comment that you shouldn't for some reason, like "Anders and Martin are arguing in whispers about blood mages, don't interrupt" or something]

Comments

serious business part 2: working groups?

[birdhousesoul]

"When Martin messaged you all through the network, he put out a call for healers, not just mages but any sort of healer. He and Watson have their clinic running, and it's using technology donated by the Initiative. What else can we bring to the table? I know Bariyan can conjure maggots, for example, which is quite useful for debriding putrescent wounds," Anders shares brightly.

Are you trying to put everyone off their dessert, Anders?

"Not to single you out or anything, Bariyan, but honestly, I think it's brilliant.

"There have got to be other groups of affinity. I'm sure not all our classifications will map one-to-one against each other, but it's a place to start."

This is when he breaks out the flip chart.

"I started out asking my flatmate Martin what schools of magic they use in Tamriel. This is what he gave me, more or less — I'm not the best note-taker, so he'll correct me if I've got something wrong, of course. But the accuracy of the descriptions isn't really the point here, so bear with me a moment."

Anders shows half the first sheet; the other half is covered with a second sheet.

Tamriel

• Alchemy (make potions and poisons)
  
• Alteration (alter the physical world)
  
• Conjuration (summon creatures, spirits, artefacts)
  
• Destruction (attack magic, includes elemental)
  
• Illusion (create deceptive appearances, affect people's minds)
  
• Mysticism (absorb and reflect magic, bind enemies)
  
• Restoration (healing)

"Then I tried to align these with the schools I learned in Thedas. The result was ... well, here, I'll show you," and he uncovers the other half, to reveal that the list was only one column of a table he's kludged together.

Tamriel	Thedas
•Alchemy (make potions and poisons)	•Herbalism (make potions, poultices, dog treats)
•Alteration (alter the physical world)	•Force magic (affect gravity)
•Conjuration (summon creatures, spirits, artefacts)	•no clear equivalent
•Destruction (attack magic, includes elemental)	•Elemental (attack magic - fire, ice); •Primal (attack magic - earth, sky)
•Illusion (create deceptive appearances, affect people's minds)	•Entropy (attack magic - horrible visions, put enemies to sleep, confuse enemies)
•Mysticism (absorb and reflect magic, bind enemies)	•Arcane (protective/shield allies, defensive/bind enemies), •Spirit (drain energy, turn enemies' power against them)
•Restoration (healing)	•Creation (support - healing, strengthening, speed), •Spirit (drain energy, turn enemies' power against them)

"And this," he concludes, "is why I think it might not be so useful to try matching up our various systems."

He turns the page to reveal a page divided into quarters. Each quarter has a heading:

1. Offense
2. Defense
3. Support
4. Miscellaneous

"The looser the classification, the better."

1. Offense

[birdhousesoul]

(Tag to this if your character wants their name in the Offense group)

Re: 1. Offense

[birdhousesoul]

Anders writes his own name under Offense, and notes (fire, ice, lightning) next to that.

Re: 1. Offense

[checksum]

Osprey, who's been quiet through most of this, raises his hand. "I have a question - what, if anything, do you all have in the way of non-line-of-sight offensive capabilities?"

[septim]

"I'm speaking for Tamriel's magic school of Destruction but," Martin begins, projecting his voice to the entire room, "there's magical runes that explode into a shower of ice, fire or sparks if stepped on, and magical walls of ice, fire of sparks you can cast as barriers."

[checksum]

Osprey nods. "Definitely useful," he says. "However, I was thinking more along the lines of sympathetic contagion or the like - make someone's head explode or something with a lock of his hair or blood or the like. I take it that's not on the table, then?"

[bladehood]

Delphine writes her name under Offense, and after a moment, adds (conjuration, fire, ice) next to it. She plans to be largely....physical in battle, cutting through enemies with the honed steel of her sword, but it'd be a waste to forsake the magical aptitude her Breton blood grants her when there's an obvious need for it.

[last_man_standing]

Vitali writes his name under Offense then adds (element magic. Fire, earth, water, air...the works). He'd really rather not have to use his magic this way but he has it and it may as well be used, should the need arise.

2. Defense

[birdhousesoul]

(Tag to this if your character wants their name in the Defense group)

Re: 2. Defense

[birdhousesoul]

Anders writes his own name under Defense, and notes (barriers, shields, dispel) next to that.

Re: 2. Defense

[last_man_standing]

Vitali writes his name under Defense too along with: (element magic. Same stuff as on the Offense list. Yay for flexible skill sets.).

3. Support

[birdhousesoul]

(Tag to this if your character wants their name in the Support group - this would be healers, for example)

Re: 3. Support

[birdhousesoul]

Anders writes his own name under Support, and notes (healing) next to that.

Then he writes Ser Pounce-a-lot (revival).

[bladehood]

With a great deal more reluctance, Delphine also adds her name to Support along with (minor healing) just so no one would happen to expect a miracle from her.

[septim]

His original handwriting, lean, elegant single stroke, appears too conceited in these modern times, so Martin is practicing his printing. This new style still has curves characteristic of medieval times, but now each letter is written individually, not into a word in a single stroke.

4. Miscellaneous

[birdhousesoul]

(Tag here if you are Bariyan e Kodhi your character has some Miscellaneous power)

HEH EXCUSE ME /sidles in here

[stonefaith]

Bariyan winces when he hears his name and winces again at the following remark, then does an awkward shuffle back towards the corner he'd been hovering near. Gods, no one was ever going to leave him alone about the maggots, were they. Maggots. Of all the things that you could summon.

He waited until the presentation was over before edging around to meet Anders.

"I'll put myself and the maggots under 'miscellaneous', I suppose," Bariyan said, straight-faced. Without changing tone, he added, "And I'd like to speak with you about, er. Some new developments."

[septim]

Martin hadn't expected the meeting to be at their flat—too small, too personal—but his duties at the clinic kept him from leading the meeting, so he isn't going to undermine Anders' hard work.

These pies are...okay. As everything in Exsilium, they're too rich, loaded with preservatives and sweeteners. This is probably what skooma tastes like, a over-indulgent punch to the throat that settles heavily into your stomach. A single slice seemed enough punishment.

"New developments?" Martin raises an eyebrow, soon distracted by the sight of his pet pawing at pies. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to pry," he offers apologetically with a struggling, rheumy-eyed grey kitten on his arms.

[stonefaith]

Bariyan turns to Martin, but is immediately distracted by the kitten. He's seen Anders' cat before, but hadn't been expecting another one. Not that he minds. He favors the kitten with a small smile, before recalling his manners and looking back up at Martin.

"I don't mind -- I'd be glad to talk about them with you, if you're curious." And then, realizing that they haven't met in person before, Bariyan quickly tacks on, "I'm Bariyan, by the way. Martin, correct? I believe we've spoken a few times over the network..."

[septim]

Martin cradles his kitten, speaking in a gentle, jovial tone. "Only if you would like to discuss it." His eyes widen in realization, placing the kitten onto the carpet, then offering his hand to shake. "Yes, I'm Martin Septim. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

[stonefaith]

"You too." Bariyan takes the offered hand somewhat reluctantly. The handshake he gives is awkward, and his touch is cold, so he lets go quickly.

"In any case..." He looks at his hand after he's taken it back, frowning. "They told us that our, er, weapons would develop when we first arrived. I didn't pay much attention at the time but now I'm wondering-- has anything happened to your powers since coming here?"

It doesn't even occur to Bariyan that another mage might've chosen something other than their magic to develop. It seems like the obvious choice to him.