genessia | [Video] Part 4: Magic

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[Video] Part 4: Magic

[Darc is filming from his campsite, the crackle of his cooking fire in the background. Those who know him will notice that he's looking a little healthier since last they saw him. He's been eating better, at least.]

Hello. This is Darc. I haven't used the communicator much in a while, so...

[Right, socializing isn't one of his strong suits. Get to the point. He takes a deep breath to collect himself.]

I have a question about magic. I know people can use it here, but what I want to know is how. My people, the Deimos, could use magic in my own world. But only by drawing power from spirit stones. They were mined from the earth, or found by killing monsters.

However, when my friends and I saved the world from evil, all spirit stones lost their power. There's no magic for us anymore. Besides that, I haven't found any spirit stones in Genessia.

How does magic work for you and your world?

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"From one non-human to another, I might as well display some solidarity. You do have humans in your world, don't you?"

Satori isn't a mage or a scholar, but her powers as a youkai might count, won't they? She's sitting in the open air, the half-light of Chireiden's spires in the distance. Seems like she's out for a stroll...

"Magic is much more plentiful where I hail from. More specifically, my home is /usually/ located in a land called Gensokyo, a place that's separated from the rest of the world. Magic is difficult to find outside of that place."

She crosses her arms for a moment in thought as her third eye - a troublesome orb-like organ attached to her body by external arteries - curiously regards the video feed. She's talking as she heads back towards home...

"The Satori are few and far between, where I come from. All of us tend to stick to our own kind, but our abilities are something we're 'born' with when we took form in the world. In most cases, humans can wield magic so long as they learn it, while more magically beings - youkai like myself included, can use it as naturally as breathing. Granted, my abilities are a little complicated and don't quite have as pleasant a reputation as someone who can launch a well-thrown fireball or magic beam. But most people in Gensokyo have found ways of adapting to such disparity."

She takes a seat on a bench part-way through the walk and takes a moment to admire the scenery as she continues...

"Humans and youkai can both use magic, but the difference in power is wide unless humans dispense with their humanity to become something else. But if a human becomes a Magician and lives forever, humans often grow suspicious. Instead, most people adapt their existing powers into what we call 'Danmaku'. It's something of a combat art as well as a sport. Its name roughly translates into 'a hail of projectiles', or something alike to that. This, it seems, has no risks or consequences, and the weak and strong all follow the rules. The one who enforces those rules is...uncompromising."

Edited 2019-09-26 23:00 (UTC)

Darc nods, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Yes, there are humans in my world. I..." His features harden. He doesn't like this truth, but it's the truth, and he feels he should answer her solidarity with honesty. "My mother was a human, but I'm a Deimos first. Through and through!"

Although he notices Satori is floating - and that she has some sort of extra eye - he focuses more on her words. This response is in-depth, and he doesn't intend to waste it.

After a moment of consideration, Darc begins with what he hopes is an accurate recap. "So magic is rare outside of Gensokyo, where you're from. Humans and non-humans can wield magic, but it's weaker in humans, and they have to learn it. Danmaku is a sort of competitive form of it with very strict rules."

"Interesting...humans can't use magic at all in my world. They use those spirit stones I mentioned to power their machines and their...technology." He had to take a moment to remember the word. "Even if it's weaker than your magic, the fact that they can use it at all is already very different."

"What's your magic like? You said it's not as simple as throwing fireballs for you."

[He doesn't want to ask how Darc knows about the latter method of obtaining magic.]

PLEASE DON'T MURDER MONSTERS FOR MAGIC, NO MATTER HOW COOL OR HANDSOME IT IS.

[That disturbing fact out of the way...]

A-ANYWAY!! MAGIC WORKS PRETTY GOOD FOR MONSTERS LIKE MYSELF, CONSIDERING IT'S WHAT WE'RE MADE OF. IT LETS US DO COOL STUFF LIKE BULLET PATTERNS AND POWERFUL ATTACKS!! HUMANS CAN'T DO IT THOUGH. EXCEPT IN THE PAST, WHERE A LOT OF THEM DID, BUT I...GUESS THEY FORGOT!!

[Monster history isn't very clear on that point.]

[Oops, little bit of egg-on-face here.]

It's fine, I won't. The monsters I'm talking about aren't people like you and me. They're like animals, but more dangerous.

If monsters are made of magic, it makes sense that you can use it. But where do humans get their magic from? Humans in my world can't use it at all.

GOOD!!!

...THAT, UM, SOUNDS A LOT LIKE POKEMON. THAT WASN'T WHAT THEY WERE EITHER, RIGHT!??

[Easy there, Pap. You know he has his own he hasn't beat up...besides battling.]

I DON'T KNOW! I THINK MY GOOD FRIEND ELISE GETS IT FROM BOOKS. THAT'S NO BOOK I'VE EVER READ!!! EXCEPT THE GREAT BOOK OF PAPYRUS; THE GREATEST TALE NEVER TOLD.

It's difficult to explain how my magic works, but I'm said to be the second generation of people who were born with magical potential from a long extinct people. A reappearance of the power, really. To use it, I have to draw in threads of mana from the air arround me and "weave" them together into an element of my choosing.

So...you can just pull magic out of thin air? You can feel it around us and that's enough of a source for you?

Edited 2019-10-09 01:28 (UTC)

Yes. It's as abundant as the air we breathe. Would you like a demonstration?

[Nods] I would.

[She nods and sets the device down so she has her hands free. A wave of a hand in the air reveals a small trail of icy blue wisps that follow her hand as she holds it close to her other hand. The wisp flows from one hand to the other, and back, repeating and getting thicker and faster at an increasing rate until it transforms from a wispy state into a watery state, flowing between her hands. Finally, it stalls and hardens into a small block of ice.]

There. I stayed within the elements I am most attuned with for now.

Impressive. [And he means it. There may even be a little envy in his tone.] All that from your own power, no stones or anything to make it happen. [A wry smirk, for a moment.] You make it seem so easy.

Tell me, do you think that this is something that can be learned? Not by just anyone, but as someone who was able to access some kind of magic before?

Edited 2019-10-19 04:17 (UTC)

[It feels nice to get a compliment. Such things are few and far between.]

Catalysts sure help keeping things stable. I use grimoires for larger magic.

Theoretically it's possible to learn mana weaving, but I, for one, wouldn't know how to go about teaching it. There may be books based on similar methods in the bookstores in Fayren.

For this unit's world, there's... Many forms of it, but most depend on a specific resource - the thankfully neutral Weave.

This unit is a 'divine' caster, meaning its magic comes from the patronage of a powerful extraplanar. "God" is the common shorthand, but not always the actual case - for this unit, for example, its patronage comes from a custom-built force...

... Whose presence here is unlikely, but this unit's powers are still able to work?

That's weird when this unit thinks about it...

[That's a lot to take in - especially the whole "this unit" thing.]

Let me see if I understand you. Most magic power is drawn from the Weave, but it can also come from a divine source, too. If yours is custom-built, then does that mean you - or anyone - can just construct a source of their own?

This whole place is pretty damn weird. [Said with bitterness. He'd probably use something stronger than "weird".]

Don't know shit 'bout magic. Ain't really a thing where I'm from. But I learned a bit 'bout para-magic in a differnt world, sounds kinda like the same deal, but it don't work here in Genessia.

Do yer people need magic to live or somethin'?

Not to live, but being able to use it was a part of our identity.

We don't have magic back home. We have Haki, but it's not the same thing.

Not at all? What's Haki?

It's an energy in all of us. Or at least, it's in all of us back home. It's not as flexible as magic, from what I'm seein'.

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[Video] Part 4: Magic

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