Second Casefile: Casting Lines [Action/Written]

[quicktoanger]

[Action]

I'd been keeping myself busy for the past week or so, starting when Molly arrived, and had thus far found very little success with anything. There were no thresholds to work with, there were no ley lines to tap into, there were no places rich with magical energy to utilize, and I'd be damned if I was going to try and open a gate to the Nevernever again.

I did not need that bitch of a migraine to come back.

So, along with my apprentice, I began scouting around the village looking for any significant mystical resources. She was also interested in the Filial spirits, but frankly, they sound too much like the Fey for my taste, and I've had quite enough of that, thanks.

Today, however, I was doing something more personally significant. I was going to make myself a new staff, because clearly the old one wasn't showing up any time soon. Unfortunately, this process takes freaking forever, and I had no idea where to start.

So I figured I'd phone a friend.

[Written- filtered from Richard Sharpe 3%] [Hey, he sucks at filters, give him a break.]

Hey. Any and all spellcasters, magic-workers, witches, wizards, and anybody else who knows how to work with magic and spellcraft, I was hoping to get some input on the local situation.

Are there any local magic sources, aside from the Filial spirits, that can be tapped into or accessed? Are any of the local flora and fauna significant at all, mystically? Have there been any difficulties you've had using certain kinds of magic? Anything considerably easier?

In essence- What's the deal, anyway?

[Feel free to encounter him as he surveys the village and surrounding environs- he'll be doing odd things like marking, taking paint scrapings, and making notes on a map- or as he surveys the woods for a tree that will provide adequate wood for his staff.]

Comments

[talentsgirl]

[Molly is instantly apprehensive. She already has it in for the wings, and frankly had been tempted to Look at them more than once since she got here.]

Why? What did you see?

[Note how the concern even overrides the fact that she thinks her boss was just drugged. By Jack Sparrow. Slipped the mickey. By Jack Sparrow.

...this is probably a temporary override.]

[quicktoanger]

I immediately paused in mid-scoop of coffee-grounds.

"... Chains. Sickly, oily black chains, tethering us to the ground. Fused to our souls, like an indelible stain."

1/2

[talentsgirl]

[Well, that's not disturbing at all.]

[talentsgirl]

[Focus, Molly.]

...kind of ironic, if you think about it. Wings are supposed to be symbols of freedom.

[She spoke absently, clearly in the process of temporarily boxing her emotions so that she can think.]

I guess the wings really are a product of whatever brings us to this world.

[It's only a little horrifying. Okay, it's fully horrifying. But she can let the fear wash over her, she doesn't have to stay afraid.

It's hard to stay afraid safe in the kitchen with Harry just a little bit away, anyway.]

[quicktoanger]

"Yeah, well, irony's a bitch."

I resumed making my coffee, then sat down in the seat across from her, eyeing the not-coffee warily.

I've yet to be wholly convinced that decaf stuff isn't eldritch. I don't dare look through the Sight and find out.

"But, yeah. I've found a few other magic practitioners here- not surprising, since this seems to be some sort of pop-culture multiverse blender they've got here- and a few have expressed interest in having a semi-regular organization dedicated to magical studies and projects. I'm surprised they didn't already have one."

[talentsgirl]

That is strange... they seem to have organizations for practically everything else.

[She looks down for a moment, sorting her thoughts into order, and offers up a theory.]

Maybe it's because everyone's so open with magic, and what qualifies as magic is so diverse - everyone sticks to themselves, like it's perfectly normal. They don't see any need to group together for protection or to try and compare techniques, because everyone is so comfortable with magic.

[Or maybe they just don't feel like sharing secrets...]

[quicktoanger]

"Or maybe they're all just reclusive and paranoid. We do tend to be like that, you have to admit."

I cast an idly impatient glance toward the coffee maker, silently willing the thing to hurry up.

"But, they did seem interested when I brought it up. So that should be interesting."

[talentsgirl]

["You're such a cynic."

"I think cynics are playful and cute"

Molly abruptly looked down at the flash of memory, not wanting to think about what they'd left behind them. He can't know...

So she doesn't offer up any usual fight to that statement. Instead, she agrees with the next one.]

Yeah, it should be interesting.

[And then she shut her journal, not wanting to take any chances, and drew out a small, baby blue notebook. She flipped it opened and spoke as she was looking for a page.]

So who seemed interested?

[quicktoanger]

"Nobody I recognized, unfortunately. I didn't talk to Willow, which is the one I was really hoping for. So far I've got a Helios Sprensonne, a Sabriel Abhorsen, and a..."

Wait. I never did get that guy's name.

"Some other guy. Either of those two names ring any bells?"

I'd actually met Helios briefly. Nice guy.

[talentsgirl]

I met Sabriel and Helios at the New Feather party.

[Having found the page, Molly set the notebook opened beside her and glanced up at them. Should Harry glace at it, he'll see that it's a list of three things written in his apprentice's neat, Catholic schoolgirl cursive:
-translator matrix
-people we've met/both know
-filtering]

I didn't know Helios had magic at all.

[Besides his skill with pastry, which was another thing.]

Sabriel seemed okay - very open about her magic. But... it's a very different magic. There's apparently two types of magic in her world, Charter magic which relies on some kind of stone and rules and has an actual school for it... and Free magic.

[The best way to say this is just to say it.] And necromancy is apparently a big part of Free magic. She said she was... some kind of necromancer sheriff. It's her job to keep the dead dead and deal with the necromancers who step out of line.

[quicktoanger]

"... She neglected to mention that second part."

[talentsgirl]

[Molly gave Harry an uncertain look.] She said that her bloodline had something to do with why she was able to use both types of magic and remain uncorrupted.

[And there really wasn't any sense of evil there. Not to mention... different worlds, different magical rules?]

[quicktoanger]

"She did mention the bloodline. Not the... other part."

Hell's bells.

"Still. Different worlds, different rules, right? Maybe where she's from, Necromancy is okay. Hell, I'm pretty sure if any place is out of the White Council's jurisdiction it's our little polyfictional paradise here, yeah? So, Warden duties not an issue."

[talentsgirl]

[Oh. She hadn't even thought about how the Warden thing would come into play.]

I'm pretty sure she was all about keeping other necromancers from doing what they normally do. So... that's good to hear.