driftfleet | Libuscha IV System Mingle (no. 1)

[His ears twitch at the sound of his name (or something close to it). Despite his ruffled feathers, he has the presence of mind to bow slightly.]

Belthazar. You can, ah, shorten that if it's easier. [His full name is ridiculous and he knows that.] I don't mind.

I suppose it's too late to convince you that I know what I'm doing.

[Shorten it? She's happy to indulge in that. She also offers up a playful salute, because a bow is way too formal.]

Belth, got it. And hey, not sure I can really judge you on knowing what you're doing- not sure I fully get it at first glance either. You're infusing rocks with magic essence or something?

[He can learn to relax. Maybe. Eventually.]

Something like that. I can conjure a mana gem and infuse it so I can use it later when I need to recharge, but because it's conjured it doesn't last forever. This planet is absolutely abundant with energy so I thought of using some of the crystals as more stable vessels for power.

The most stable gems have to be mathematically perfect-- an even number of sides, and without flaw in the gem's structure. But they aren't attuned to my mana like a conjured gem is, so I'm having trouble keeping the energy in there.

I'm trying to make batteries but so far I've only made bombs.

[Citation needed…

She hums thoughtfully, stepping closer to lean over his table and the crystals, or whatever is left of them. She reaches down but doesn't touch, giving him a questioning look, like- is it okay to do it? She's not too keen about blowing her hand off.]

I wonder if that sort of problem could be fixed with an bit of artificing, maybe some specialized transmutation on the side. What kind of specifications do you need with 'em? Was that one precise enough or does it need more tweaking?

[This sounds like a proper magical math experiment, which is 100% her jam. Hell yeah.]

[Belth gestures to the table to invite her to look. The ones on the left are somewhat broken, still with traces of lingering arcane energy but not enough to do anything. Some have been cleaved in half, others are just shards. The rest haven't been touched at all-- perfectly inert-- save for the original shaping. Lup will be able to tell that these are all taken from the rocks in and around the caves.]

It might be that my transmutation isn't good enough, too. I usually enchant things or I conjure them. I don't do a whole lot of actual transmutation unless I'm trying to make potions.

[He picks up one of the shards that fell into the snow.]

I thought this one was good, but then it started cracking from the inside. There was probably an inclusion I couldn't see. Or maybe...

Do you think a prime number of facets might be more stable? I've been patterning them after the mana gems I conjure, but maybe it doesn't matter.

Edited (whoops forgot that first line) 2018-11-25 01:11 (UTC)

[Permission given, she closes a hand around a broken piece, turning it over a few times to get a feel for how it was made, reshaped, and how his magic affected it- and subsequently shattered it. She then sets it down and lifts one of the untouched crystals for comparison, examining it in a similar fashion.]

Think you nailed it, there. When in doubt, always go prime. It gives the magic less of an escape route, and from my experience, magic is like a wild animal. If you don't have the right arrays to tether it, it'll just get loose and bite your ass off.

[She sets the crystal down and presses her palm to an empty spot on the table, casting Prestidigitation and tracing out a complex magical array, circles upon circles, split by a series of too many lines to be sensical. She presses a finger down on one of the lines, leaning into it.]

Here's your crystal; too many smaller sides makes each one too weak. That sucker's gonna shatter, kinda like it did a minute ago.

[The illusional array shatters under her finger, fragments spreading outwards. She casts it again as it dissipates, this time with fewer details, sharper corners.]

There's strength in simplicity, and it leaves less room for error. I say go for that.

That's true, especially when it comes to arcane energy. I heard a story once about a man trying to disarm a magical trap, but because the wind was blowing northeast instead of northwest, he ended up turning the entire trap into cheese.

[He comes closer so he can examine her demonstration. She's certainly talking sense. Their magic doesn't seem to be so different...]

It's just like architecture. The strongest shapes are the simplest ones.

[The architecture of a spell...

He traces his fingers over the lines she makes in order to memorize them, even if he can't feel them.]

Symmetry is still important, right? That's what makes this difficult for me to construct. But there's different kinds of symmetry, too. To make it a prime number of facets and rotational symmetry like in a real jewel rather than just a blind sixteen-sided cut...

I think I can do something with this.

[She grins at that story. Spells turning on their casters is a familiar one- both she and Taako have done that to themselves, to varying affects, though she fared better than him in that category. She's not sure she could survive on just Gogurt that long.]

Symmetry's crucial, yeah. It's a factor in the simplicity of the design, and it adds stability. If there's a difference between one side versus another, that's another crack for the magic to exploit. You want to minimize that risk as much as possible. A square block of refined wood's a lot harder to break than the unbalanced shape of a tree branch, yeah?

Oh, definitely.

[He picks up one of the inert samples and turns it over in his hands. It's a beautiful blue-green and translucent at the edges.

The crystal begins to glow as his eyes burn a brighter gold. He shapes it like a sculptor shapes their vision, invisibly pulling the bottom of the jewel into a point by way of some hidden string. Obviously this takes some concentration, but he goes slowly now, in case Lup wants to make improvements. And just in case the thing explodes... but it shouldn't with this gentle reforming. He isn't altering the shape too dramatically.]

What about a square pyramid?

[Lup leans back to watch him work, fascinated, and not even bothering to hide it. It's a very different type of magic than what she's used to - equally flashy to the wizardry she's known nearly her whole life, but with a lot more glowing. It reminds her more of the way sorcerers work, something more innate and natural, part of the body rather than learned with books and math and materials. It's very interesting to witness, to say the least.

Her gaze drifts to the crystal as he shapes it, examining the way it transforms in his hands with a more critical eye. For all her love of evocation, there's no denying that transmutation magic has plenty of uses.]

It meets all the requirements we just went over, technically, but your symmetry's limited to four of five sides. Even the smallest inequality can wreck your shit. How about a triangular base?

[He pulls another invisible string to reform the sides, though at this point Lup could probably see the wisps of arcane magic winding tightly around the object if she wanted to. He bites his bottom lip as he concentrates. His ears stick straight up, bright and alert to any change that could indicate something is about to snap. The dozens of facets the gem contained previously all mold into four different facets.

It's technically not a prime number of facets, but it is symmetrical. And triangles are the strongest shape in anything.]

Like this?

[Sharper corners... He pinches and pulls his corners to tighten them up.]

[Very cool. Her eyes follow the path of those wisps, watching them weave in and out of the spell, around the crystal, molding it to match the shape he's envisioning. And yeah, the trade-off on prime versus symmetry... it's going to be a tricky balance to reach. Well, if it doesn't work with one, they can always try the other.]

Looks about right. Once you're done, pass it over, I can double-check. Four eyes are better than two.

[And four sides are better than five, now that it's coming together. It feels right.]

[Belthazar passes his fingertips over the sides to make sure they're perfect. He finds that gravity helps a lot in this respect, so it takes some rotating and more pulling of those arcane threads.

At last he nods and closes his hands around the pyramid, ending the spell. He checks it over one more time, then hands it over. It's warm and smooth in texture like a hearth stone if one forgives the pointy ends.]

I have a good feeling about this one.

[She takes the crystal in her hands, turning it over a few times, feeling out each side, first with her eyes open and then closed, searching for defects. While her eyes are open, they don't... glow, per se, nothing like his, but there's a silvery sheen to her irises that glitters as she activates her identification abilities, those honed carefully in the Arcanum twenty-odd years ago.

It's easy to fall back into old artificing habits: the design process, the debates, the physical development, the pure, delicious arcane exploration of it all. It's familiar in a way that many things about this place has been, though at least in this instance it's a pleasant way.

She taps one finger to a side and releases the crystal, and with her Levitate spell active, it floats in the air. She uses that same finger to flick it gently a couple of times, watching it rotate in the air, her keen eyes searching for signs of wobbling or off-kilter rotation.]

Looks pretty damn good, by my estimate.

[Belthazar watches her and her reaction carefully, like someone nervously presenting something to a mentor. When she gives her stamp of approval, he lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

With it comes the excitement and the realization that he's actually making headway on a project he's had for a few years now.]

If this works-- [His voice trembles at the edges.] -- if this works, it'll change my life. And I'll be one step closer to making something that can produce mana on its own.

[She glances sidelong at him, curious, and a little concerned at the wobble in his voice, the sudden gravity added to the situation by whatever realization just came upon him. She doesn't understand what he's talking about, but it's obvious that this is real important, in one way or another.

Hmm.

Lup releases the spell, catching the crystal deftly as it drops, but she doesn't hand it over just yet.]

Question for you, first. Your magic- is it affected by your emotional state?

[He trusts her enough that he doesn't get all worried when she doesn't hand it over right away. He's not crazy. A little mad in the head, but not completely batshit crazy.]

I-- [He feels reprimanded even though there wasn't a trace of that in her voice at all. His ears flatten against his hair, a tell if there ever was one.] -- yes.

[The lack of argument is reassuring, so she smiles, setting the completed crystal down on the table, apart from the rest so it's distinct, not to be mixed up by mistake.]

Thought so. Natural arcana's twitchy like that sometimes. Take five, my dude! Walk around for a minute, shake off your jitters, find some zen. If it's as important as you say, then there's no sense in making it all go boom because you've got stage fright.

[Her tone is casually matter-of-fact, not meant to be judgmental. He seems to know what he's doing well enough, but over-eagerness can be as much a flaw in the design as sides or symmetry.]

[That's... actually pretty sound advice. He drags his hands down his face.]

Okay. Okay. Yes, you're right. I should... [probably do something about this impending anxiety] ... take a small break. I'll drink some water, maybe have something light. I don't remember the last time I ate.

[He kneels down beside his satchel, which is half-hidden underneath the table. He removes a canteen and a meticulously-wrapped bundle, checks it, and then glances over his shoulder.]

Are you hungry at all? I have some cookies and bread with cheese. It's very basic, but it keeps well out here.

[Hey, there we go. Her smile shifts to a grin and she folds her legs beneath her, sitting cross-legged beside him.]

Sure, I can always eat! Hit me up.

[Basic isn't usually her jive when it comes to food - or most anything, truthfully - but any port in the storm. She can always make it tastier if it doesn't suit her as she likes it.]

[Belth finds a metal cup from somewhere and fills it with water, then passes it to her. He takes the other one for himself. One never knows when they'll find a friend out in the wilderness who's in need of some kindness. Then he sets the package down on its waxy cloth to keep out the water, and unwraps it to reveal a small basket.

The bread is airy and soft, though a bit cold at this point, and a smaller wheel of cheese is tucked beside it. He splits the bread lengthwise with a small knife so that each of them get half, and then he unwraps the soft white cheese and the cookies. The cookies are less basic because Belthazar can't do anything halfway; they smell of brown sugar, butter, caramel, and a hint of peanut butter, because they're filled with the stuff.

Belthazar spreads some cheese onto his bread first. Cookies are for dessert and dessert comes last.]

I love conjuring food as much as anyone, but there are some things I'd rather just make myself.

[Lup wastes no time in diving in, trying out both cheeses to see how the flavours mix before adding both to her bread and folding it over. She hums her approval- the bread is soft and crisp, obviously baked with care, and everything smells great.]

Hey, no argument here. Even when conjuring food I like to just make the ingredients and piece it together into a proper meal. Cooking's awesome.

Cooking is very awesome, [he agrees, and rips off a piece of bread to shove into his mouth. Despite the cold it's really not all that bad. If he felt like warming it up, he would. He chases it with some nice mountain-cold water, already feeling a bit at ease just by taking a break from what he was doing.]

I used to work in the kitchens of the nobility. It was the best way to put food on my plate, assuming I didn't mess it up.

That sounds like it could be either super cushy or a huge asspain, depending on who the boss is.

[Nobles are fickle as hell- they could either be generous with their rewards or, more likely, selfish and reluctant to spend a single copper more than they're forced to. despite having more of it to go around than what they could spend in a single lifetime.]

Mostly the latter. I was either washing dishes, chopping vegetables, or acting as a busboy. But it taught me a lot about cooking and how high society worked, and it was how I got my foot in the door for an apprenticeship.

[He rips off another piece of bread.]

I'd rather be homeless than hungry.

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