driftfleet | Iskaulit Mingle - Problems with Psychics

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Iskaulit Mingle - Problems with Psychics

Who: Anyone on the Iskaulit!
Broadcast: If you'd like?!
Action: Iskaulit!
When: Today, as Sora's augment glitch starts.

[It's your average day on the Iskaulit. Absolutely nothing seems out of place initially, but without any warning- you might find yourself or your friends experiencing some problems. What's up on that?

In other words, it's an Iskaulit mingle with a twist! Come on in everyone! You don't need to interact with Sora to have it effect you, so feel free to start your own threadstarter! Or talk to Sora, that's cool too. ]

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[Had Fenris not been reeling from suddenly having magic, he would have thought the idea of elves being in a position to have a problem with any kind rather hilarious. Or at least in a position to do anything about it.

Instead, he takes in a shuddery breath, fingers threading through his hair in panic- trying and failing to calm himself. ]

I didn't-

[He didn't what? Cast the spell? t came from his own fingertips. His horrible, traitorous fingertips. This is wrong, everything is so very very wrong and he doesn't know how to explain or even start to fix it. ]

I'm not supposed to be able to do that.

[Okay, pop quiz time. What's more absurd: an elf that doesn't hate him on sight or particularly seem to care what he is, an elf that's panicking and losing control of his magic, or an elf that thinks he shouldn't have magic at all?

Yuan doesn't seem to have a good answer to that, and pauses to just stare at Fenris in utter confusion while he reassesses his reaction.]

What- what do you mean? Fireball's one of the simplest spells there is.

[His brow furrows in concentration more than irritation this time.] ...Look, breathe. I have no idea what's going on, but whatever's happening to your magic, you're not going to get it under control if you're panicking.

I'm not a mage.

[That comes out in an angry hiss, and lighting crackles around above his head, arcing across the ceiling. He notices, and panic crosses his features again. Nonononono.

He tries to breathe, to bring himself down. He needs to control this. He can't hurt people with it. As much as he hates it, as much as it makes his skin crawl, he can't just...let it lose. ]

I don't have magic.

[He winces slightly at the feel of the wild lightning on the ceiling, and continues to look utterly baffled at Fenris.]

...You're an elf. What do you mean, you don't have magic? ['Having magic' is pretty much one of the defining traits of elves to Yuan, and he's seen nothing here up to now that would contradict that image. Elves are so magical they invariably pass it on to their descendants. That's part of how the mess that is his world started. How can an elf not be magical?]

Look, whatever. Obviously you do have magic right now. [He tries to put himself in the shoes of a person who's never felt mana flows before. It's harder than he thought.] You should be able to feel where it's gathering in your body. Find that feeling and let go of it, or at least stop pulling on it.

Because I'm not a mage

[He hisses it out, like a wild animal trapped in a corner- angry and scared. He hates all of this, he hates that it's happening, that he can't control it. Lighting crackles all around him, threatening to arc out.]

I don't want to let it out, I want to keep it in.

I know that. You think I want to get hit with another fireball or something? I'm trying to help you.

[He grimaces, trying to think of another way to word it.] ...Magic responds to fight-or-flight instincts. If you want all this- [he waves at the lightning, and the nearby scorch marks] to stop happening, you've got to stop trying to fight.

[A pause as he realizes what he just said, and then a little quieter,] ...I recognize that might be easier said than done.

[Fenris flashes a GLARE in Yuan's direction. The lighting arcs across the ceiling, before he closes his eyes taking a deep breath. No. He won't let people be hurt by it. He's lectured enough, on knowing how to handle magic- on treating it like the dangerous curse it is, on not harming others with it. He can't let himself be like the sort of mages he hates. ]

I don't know how.

[How to stop panicking. Stop fighting. Either, both. ]

[Yuan's lips curl in some bitter mockery of a smile at that response. Isn't that what he himself has been having trouble with, this past year?] ...Yeah. Me either.

[That's not helpful, so he takes a deep breath. Got to keep trying, he can't leave this guy alone to short out the whole ship or blow a hole in the hull.] You're not in any danger right now. Nothing is threatening you. There isn't anything to fight - try to focus on that. [He must have some way of checking himself when there isn't a target...]

There's always something to fight.

[Which is the mentality which has got him where he is today, in all honesty. He's not good at letting his guard down, at relaxing in any feasible way. CONSTANT VIGILANCE and all that. He exhales slowly. Calm. Calm thoughts. ]

Though. I will endeavour to keep that in mind.

All right, but there isn't anything here. [A sharp smirk - he can't quite help himself:] Unless you intend to fight me, which I don't recommend. ...Keep your mind on the here and now. It looks like you're getting a better handle on it.

Not unless you give me reason.

[This is why you never make friends, Fenris. This is exactly why. His fingers twitch as he takes in a deep, shuddery breath.]

...Yes. I suppose so. But I will not allow myself to be lulled into a false sense of confidence with it. This is a dangerous thing, thrust upon me - I must remain vigilant.

[Yuan nods slowly, and now that the immediate crisis seems to be abating, he's eyeing Fenris like a puzzle again.]

...You really aren't used to having magic at all. That's unbelievably strange to me - where I come from, all elves are inherently magical.

Not all elves are mages in Thedas. Anyone can be a mage, if it is in their blood.

[He talks about it with considerable distance in his tone. He hates the subject, and doesn't really want to dwell on it. ]

...It is said that once all elves had magic, but that may only be a tale told by the Dalish.

In Aselia, 'in their blood' is the same thing as 'elvish ancestry' - elves have mana in their blood, and pass that down to their descendants. I wonder what the common factor is in yours, then. [He's also mentally comparing now with Azeroth, where elves are apparently tied to magic, but anyone who studies for it can be a mage if they want to. Surely there must be some connection...]

What's 'the Dalish'?

I honestly have never felt the need to ask. It is not subject I particularly enjoy. I have seen the worst of magic- the least I wish to do is learn more of it.

[Ironic, given the current circumstances. ]

They are a group of elves whom try to keep to the old ways. They live in the wilderness, keep to the old ways. They are...frustratingly dense to the reality of what elves face in the world at large.

[An elf not knowing or wanting to know about magic is still so strange, but he feels like making this guy angrier when he's just got it under control isn't the best of plans, so he'll let that go for now.]

...Honestly, that sounds like all of the elves where I come from. Hence my initial reaction.

[It would have the same effect as stepping on a landmine, in all honesty. ]

That seems to be a common thing in most other worlds, I have found. But the Dalish make up a significantly small portion of the elves in Thedas.

[He shouldn't be curious. He doesn't like elves. He can tell himself he has no reason to care.

...But he can't stand not knowing things.]

...Then what of the rest? [dryly] If it's not too impertinent of me to ask.

[Fenris gives him the sort of look that suggests while it not be too impertinent, it sure is circling the ballpark of impertinence. ]

They either live in the sums of cities or are slaves, for the most part.

[That mentally sets Yuan back on his heels a bit, and suddenly all trace of dry humor is gone from his expression. Elves have always been a distant ideal, something he can never reach. Humans were the ones surrounding him as he grew up, jealous of abilities they would never possess and treating him like dirt because of it; elves were the faraway ones who wouldn't accept him because he was tainted by human blood, who would turn him aside for what he was even if he could match them in power.

He resented them, sure. He'd told himself he didn't care to be given the respect he knew he could never have, until he started to believe it. But the idea of elves being treated with anything other than reverence or bitter envy, the idea of elves being regarded as something lesser, is a new and unpleasant one.]

...I had no idea such a place existed. Could exist. I... [He shakes his head.] ...It's...not so very different for half-elves, where I come from. ...That's why I thought you were attacking me.

[Fenris gives a soft shrug of his shoulders. It's not the first time he's come across this mentality, he's sure it won't be the last. ]

It seems rather regular, outside of Thedas. We seem to be an anomaly.

Though half elves can often pass as human, they do not look like elves. For the most part, they're human.

[Because Thedosian genetics are an amazing thing. ]

...Honestly, despite everything my blood has brought me, I can't say it sounds appealing to be no different from a human, either.

[He gives the elf a considering look, seeing him in a new light now given that revelation.] ...My name is Yuan, by the way. What's yours?

A human has a better chance of a normal life in Thedas than an elf. I do not blame those who can pass trying to blend in.

[It's hard to hold on to your heritage with pride when it just causes you to have more trouble than it's worth. ]

Fenris.

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Iskaulit Mingle - Problems with Psychics

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