trans_9 | Looking for Someone Magical; Looking for Something Lyrical

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Looking for Someone Magical; Looking for Something Lyrical

[[Bendytimed to after quarantine is lifted]]

An elf floated over the city, trying to find something called a Jedi Temple.

Every so often, he dipped down, to investigate this or that building. After a few false starts he'd come to realize that his idea of "temple" had absolutely no bearing whatsover on this vast hive of confusion and bizarre architecture, so he'd settled for investigations of likely spots or sources of magical energy.

It is entirely possible that a person could say hello, at such a time.

After a while of this, though, Aibghalien finally decided that, potential risks aside, some expenditure of magic might be called for in this case. Coming to an abrupt halt in midair, he made a few passes, chanted a few phrases, then shot off again with a much more purposeful mien.

A few minutes later he dropped from the sky to enter the Jedi Temple, and set out to look for the open office door of one ~~Lady~~ Nanoha.

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Said not-a-lady was currently in her office, working on the project that she and Reinforce had discussed - a comprehensive summary of the members of the Magical Department and their abilities. The door to the austere stone room was open, however, and if she sensed someone coming she didn't show it.

In floated the wizard -- not as an intentional display of magical prowess, but simply because he was so used to flying that he no longer consider it anything of particular noteworthiness. Landing lightly on the floor, he bowed with a razor-sharp precision one might expect to see in a king's court. "Pardon my intrusion, but would you be -- Nanoha?"

The struggle he underwent to avoid using any sort of title couldn't be hid, as much as he tried.

Oh, don't worry. Nanoha flew practically everywhere she could. It kind of came with the "aerial mage" job. And she smiled at the elf as if floating through her door was a perfectly normal occurrence. "Yep!" She nodded. "That's me! You're Aibghalien, right?"

"I am, yes," he said as he rose. "I guess I didn't err in making that communication, which is a relief. Technology isn't my area of expertise..." He quirked a smile. "But that must be obvious, since I'm here trying to enter your department instead of elsewhere in that.... engineering place." He only had to think a moment for the unfamiliar word.

Really, if one wanted a picture of a wizard, Aibghalien might well be it. Braces of wands at his belt for easy drawing, numerous staffs of different construction but great power slung on his back, even robes that looked highly wizardly. "I'm told the means by which my magic works is fundamentally different than that of yours and your world, though. I hope that is not a difficulty.

"Oh no, no, not at all!" Nanoha shook her head with a smile. "We've had people with the most outlandish forms of magic show up here before. As far as I'm concerned, it's better for us! It gives us more options in dealing with things, don't you think?"

"So, what sort of things can you do?"

"Oh good." He smiled, then, taking sort of a half-seat in the air. An odd gesture, but perfectly comfortable, it seemed.

"When speaking directly of magic, my accustomed roles are support-by-enhancement and damage... but in point of fact I have an extremely broad base of spells I have access to. From what I have heard of your magic system, which is comparable to a form of magic I know as 'sorcery', the difference between our two branches is that I must select the spells I wish to cast ahead of time, and cannot cast as many spells of comparable power than a sorcerer of similar strength. In exchange..." He turned his hands palm-up with another smile. "There are no limits to the number of spells I can access.

"I've been at this for a while, so I have a very large library -- as well as the usual assortment of wands and staffs to provide versatility and support. So really... what would you like me to do?" He ended on that note with an outright grin.

Nanoha nodded, frowning as she tapped a finger to her lips in thought. "You're right," she admitted, "That's not like our magic at all - but I don't think it'll be a problem."

"At the moment, we don't have any real projects or threats to deal with, but myself and Reinforce - another one of our members - are trying to put together a comprehensive report of all of our strengths. Is there any way you might be able to write out for me all the spells you know and their effects? I'm sorry if it's a trouble."

"Oh, I can certainly give you a list of the most common spells." Aibghalien reached into a pouch at his belt, from which he produced a folded black square of cloth. This he began to unfold as he continued. "I personally have done a great deal of research into rarer and more unique spells, as well as a few of my own make, so I don't have that in readily accessible format."

The cloth unfolded into a circle about six feet wide. He made a lifting motion with one hand and a mass of books shot out, rotating around so he could grab one in particular out of it. "I do extensive work with crystal magic, too. If you don't know of it, it's basically a way to use the power contained within magical crystals to augment spells I know, or power spells I haven't prepared."

By way of demonstration, he draw a tiny crystal out of his robes, then waved it over the book he'd selected as he spoke a few words. With a shimmer, the book obligingly duplicated itself. The other books sank back into the hole in the ground as he offered the new one (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spellLists/sorcererWizardSpells.htm) to Nanoha.

"So that isn't a complete list. To be fair, most of the rarer ones focus on large-scale devastation or enhancement. However, I am fortunate enough to have my library here. If I can get a laboratory space, and possibly an assistant, I could certainly set my efforts to researching new spells."

Nanoha watched in (understandable) interest as he worked his magic, the books rotating around him seemingly out of nothing. She wondered what the big Rein and Yuuno would have made of it.

Still, she took the book when he gave it, and offered a polite smile. "I understand. And thank you for this list! I'm sure it'll come in handy."

"The owners of this place have been kind enough to let us set up here. Please, feel free to help yourself to any space you need for your laboratory. I can't promise you an assistant, though."

"I'd settle for an apprentice, if anyone wished to learn," he said with a smile in return. "I spoke with an old subordinate of yours, if I remember correctly, Vita. As I understand it, magic is inborn on your world?" Not that Vita had been an incredible fount of magical theory, but she certainly had known enough to keep Aibghalien thinking.

"My form of magic is different in that it is learnable by anyone with the intelligence and willingness to study and apply themselves."

"Oh, Vita!" Nanoha brightened immediately. "It's... hm, sort of. Some people have it and some people don't. She's a bit different, though." Nanoha stopped short of saying just what exactly Vita and her other Wolkenritter were, though. That was their business.

"That's very interesting. So there's no innate skill involved?"

"Not inborn, no. It requires extraordinary dedication and no small amount of intelligence, but... " He dug in his memory for just a second. "Vita made mention of linker cores, I believe was the term? My world has a similar restriction on magic -- you need to have immortality in your blood, either as an elf or of the gods, to use magic innately. That branch is called 'sorcery'. The path I follow, 'wizardry', is studying to use magic rather than it being innately inborn."

He offered a ruefully self-aware smile as he slipped into 'professor' mode. "The two branches actually have a great deal of overlap in terms of what effects they can produce. The main difference is in the caster themselves. A sorcerer may freely select any spell they know to cast, and may cast more spells of comparable power than a wizard of equal strength in magic. A wizard, conversely, must prepare their spells ahead of time, but those spells are significantly more malleable by virtue of that fact. And a wizard, who learns spells rather than having them innately, has no limitation on the number of spells they may know."

She nodded as he spoke, clearly transfixed by his descriptions and explanations. "Yes, Linker Cores, that's right."

"That's so interesting. So... it seems to me that a sorcerer might be better off in the midst of combat, but a wizard is more versatile? Is that right?"

"Perhaps," he said with a shrug. "To be more explicit, a sorcerer can do a few things repeatedly and skillfully, while a wizard can do numerous things less frequently.

"However," he continued with a smile, "a wise wizard prepares plenty of wands, scrolls, and so forth, so as to increase his versatility and ability to bring to bear the proper skills for the job."

Nanoha tapped her finger against her lip thoughtfully. "So... by wands and scrolls, you mean you can give items some magic power? Or are they magic items to begin with?"

To begin his response, Aibghalien drew a wand made of slim oak heartwood from the brace at his belt, then reached for the pullstring on a wide roll of leather attached to his backpack in just the right position to enable that motion. As he tugged the roll unraveled into a long band with countless narrow pockets, each of which had at least on piece of paper slotted neatly in. Selecting one from a thick sheaf at the top, he placed it and the wand on her desk, allowing the scroll-case to roll back up.

"Neither of these began their life magical; it takes training and skill to imbue them with magic. They differ substantially in their forms." He tapped the parchment first. "The scroll is, essentially, a spell prepared on paper rather than in my head. By reading this, I can cast the spell as if I had prepared it for the day.

"The wand, on the other hand, is basically the same spell cast any number of times. This wand, for example, can discharge fifty fireballs, with less effort and attention required by me. The downsides to this method are that spells past a certain strength can't be crafted into a wand."

He left both on the desk for her to examine if she so wished as he sat back a little. "Unfortunately, I don't believe it would be possible for most other people to use either of those, though I'll be happy to submit it to testing. That's mostly to demonstrate what I can do beyond or besides the spells in my head. What may be more useful to the crew in general are potions."

From a pouch at his belt he produced a small vial full of electric-blue liquid, stoppered firmly but with a tab so that said stopped could be easily popped out with a thumb. This too he set down carefully. "Whoever drinks that will become substantially stronger, physically, for example -- and unlike the wands and scrolls, anyone can use this. It requires no special training or skills.

"The only problem," he continued with a slight frown, "is that to make more of any of these, I need time -- which is in no short supply -- and resources. I believe that I can set up a crystal-condensing apparatus here, to make more of the particular crystals I use over time, which can in many cases substitute for the necessary resources -- but that's not ideal."

Perhaps surprisingly, he actually stopped talking at this point. This had been a very small taste of how verbose and garrulous Aibghalien could get.

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Looking for Someone Magical; Looking for Something Lyrical

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I should just copy the character class descriptions from the SRD here and call it a day...

XD

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