OPEN MINGLE: Welcome to Thorne!

[magicalarchaeologist]

WHO: OPEN to all Summoned in Thorne
WHAT: A party, info dump, and magic study session all rolled into one! Eat, drink, mingle -- make some friends!
WHEN: A couple days after the newest Summoned start appearing
WHERE: A ballroom in Castle Thorne

NOTES: This is an open mingle log where everyone can tag one another! New characters may hear some gossip and chatter about a few recent important events that happened in Abraxas. This includes many of the Summoned being kidnapped by a cult and experimented on months ago, including a surprise escape on a giant turtle, and very recently peculiar lights on the outskirts of Thorne. There is a new Summoned Conclave with three people from each faction who can represent and advocate for the Summoned. In their first act, they got permission for some Summoned (ooc: Level 3 Influence) to carry weapons on them.



General.

Rhy Maresh will have sent a written invitation to all Thornean newcomers within a couple of days of their arrival, inviting them to meet their fellow Summoned. Otherwise, there will be fliers posted in the dining area that anyone can see. If your character has CR with Rhy, Kell, or Istredd, you can assume they were told and got an in-person invite -- and you can even assume your character helped with setup if desired (decorations, helping set out food, etc.), since they definitely needed the assistance. Up to you!

Istredd will also be hosting a group meditation to allow newcomers to access to the Horizon (and network). New Summoned who wish to learn how to step into the Horizon have an opportunity to have their connections to the Singularity activated. If preferred, they can also get one-on-one help from those who've been around for a bit. He will also discuss the magic in Abraxas and point them in the direction of teachers of magic, combat, or other things they may be interested in.

Banquet.

The large ballroom is bathed in warm, golden light from dozens of chandeliers above, reflecting off the gleaming inlaid floors and brass light fixtures along the walls. It is at once neatly sectioned, yet naturally open, allowing the length of the room to flow from one potential activity to another with ease.

In the center, a circular area has been left clear, and every half hour or so during the first half of the evening, two native Thornean (apprentice) mages come up to offer magic demonstrations -- mostly flashy elemental magic, adding sparks and atmosphere. If any of the Summoned who've been around longer wish to show off as well, they are welcome to do so.

Along the walls stand narrow refreshment tables, where one can serve oneself wine from large glass carafes. Hot tea is also available in a few flavors. (Though those who have been here a while may notice there are fewer carafes, and more expensive options for alcohol and refreshments are missing this time.) For those looking to eat, a large dining table has been set out toward the center of the room, with plates and utensils and large platters of food in the center -- nothing fancy, but perfectly serviceable, and arranged to look good even if the ingredients themselves aren't nearly as lavish as they have been in the past. Still, despite the impending war and tightened purse strings in the face of shortages, the kitchen has agreed to help welcome the newly Summoned as best as they can.

Both the handful of large tables and the smattering of small, taller tables for standing at are in full view of the demonstrations so the show can be enjoyed with food and drink, whatever your desire. Bright summer flowers garnish every table, freshening up the space.

Of course, there's plenty of space to stand and mingle, walk around, and see what everyone else is up to. In the back of the room, the folding screens offer a quieter area, for more private conversation and meditation as desired.

Magic Studies.

Behind the folding screens made of tall, carved wood in intricate patterns, there are a handful of low sofas and chaise lounges around a fireplace at the far side of the hall. This sectioned-off area has been enchanted to provide some insulation from the sound of the banquet beyond, and once you step inside, the quiet is like a gentle blanket settling over everyone who chooses to spend some time here.

This is the best place to ask questions in some semblance of privacy, to learn about your new home, and to receive guidance on entering the Horizon and using the so-called network of telepathic notes only the Summoned can send one another.

A mage named Istredd seems to be the one 'in charge' of this particular endeavor, but others who have been in Abraxas a while are likely also about, lending their assistance to those who are newly arrived and sharing thoughts on their experiences so far.

Just be careful -- even if the insulating enchantment is sturdy, there are still Thornean natives around, refilling refreshments outside and demonstrating their magic. You may want to be careful how candidly you discuss any displeasure toward Thorne or its crown, considering the Queen's notoriously explosive temper, and the rumors of the dungeons deep beneath the castle. It's hardly a secret, at this point: a conflict has been sparked, and the mood around the castle is a tense one, even amidst a celebration such as this.

(( ooc: Feel free to make your own top levels and tag around! This is meant to be an open mingle, with the above as mostly setting and flavor, so don't feel limited if you want your character to do their own magic demonstrations, for example, or even if your thread ends up moving outside the ballroom. Have fun!

It should be noted that if you would like to handwave your character's first experience to the Horizon, you can do so. It's a blanket permission from me / Istredd that he took your character there, helped them leave, and showed them how to go back in with their memory now.

Most of this was written by Lena aka Rhy player! Have fun! ))

Comments

[wasalmostdaphne]

"Bay. I'm one of the new people. Obviously. But a little used to my life going suddenly weird all at once though."

She signs weird as she says the word, three bent fingers, like a claw, swiped in front of her mouth. If she had a nickel for every time her life got completely spun out in impossible ways. She'd have three nickels.

"How, um, how often do new people arrive?" She's eating in small bites after she finishes talking so she can chew and swallow while he answers. Giving her a little freedom to enjoy the intricacies of the food. A skill that she's enjoying a lot out of her current lot in life.

[a_better_man]

"They bring in a fresh batch every couple of months or so." Mat offers another shrug. They keep on bringing in new folks, and some stick around but not all. He's not entirely solid on how it all works.

"Tell us we're important and all, don't give any details. It's the same for all of us. But they keep us comfortable, no one can argue that."

He's always very careful with his words at these things. They are comfortably kept. Thorne takes care of them. Most folks can draw the right conclusions, that obviously there's some reason and there's bound to be a catch. But he won't actually speak ill of their hosts.

Not where they could hear.

[wasalmostdaphne]

"Comfortable save the culture shock. Earth has things about mixed genders for bathing and sleeping." It wasn't bad so much as it was weird, and about the only thing so far to make her Deafness feel like a weakness.

That and the lack of heavy metal music she could listen to with her body.

And there was the feeling she had that the whole thing had to be more complicated. She knew the feeling of an open secret, whispered around and never said. It didn't feel it was about her, this time. Nice change.

Now how to go about asking without asking, "The lack of privacy in the castle is another thing to get used to. Any use trying to find a place out of the way of people?"

[a_better_man]

Ah, good, she's clever.

"Sadly, true privacy is very hard to come by here. Very close living, all of us in the castle. And the places we're allowed to go are all attached to the castle, more or less."

There's Nott, but Mat knows better than to bring that up here and now.

"Of course there's the Horizon. That gives us a great deal more room to spread out, space of our own. And it's a place only we can gather."

No locals, no castle mages, no one to listen in or keep an eye on them. It's the most privacy anyone could ask for, really.

[wasalmostdaphne]

"The- Horizon?" The question is both making sure she read that right, but also to elaborate more on what he's talking about. She's very new and has spent a lot of this time trying to get her head around the day to day. Plus it is easier for her to miss specific things.

Bay's eyes flit to the various castle servers in the area, at least two seem to be trying very hard to look like they're not listening. It's subtle if you're not looking for it. "So other than the Horizon, we're restricted to the Castle?"

[a_better_man]

"The Horizon is a bit confusing. It's a place that isn't a place, and we visit it with our minds but it all looks and feels real. There's folks here tonight that can explain it better than I can."

Mat knows he doesn't often offer the clearest explanation. Magic and all its realms have never been an area he's studied, not till he came here. And he studies what's relevant to his magic.

"But not exactly. There's forests and hunting trails we can make use of, and the city down there. I'm in town most nights, I perform at a few taverns there. Juggling, knife tricks, barding..."

[wasalmostdaphne]

"So leaving the castle without leaving the castle." Bay makes a note to find out more on that later. Maybe then she can ask the questions she's been thinking about, but a little too aware of the castle to ask.

"Maybe I'll catch your juggling or knife tricks, as I don't think I'll get much out of barding." Not that she got a ton of value out of poetry in her normal life, it wasn't the art style she was enthralled with. Poetry books had a hand in helping her shape new visual pieces, trying to mix word and meaning into visual works. "It'll be nice to watch something and not have to focus so hard on what I'm seeing."

[a_better_man]

"Exactly."

They are always watched is the message Mat is saying without saying. He's satisfied she understands clearly.

"And you should! I juggle all sorts of things. Including the knives! Also...magic."

He holds out his hand, flat and palm up, and concentrates very hard. His lips purse tightly together and the fingers of his other hand twitch and flex as though he's conducting some small, unseen symphony.

The air over his outstretched palm darkens, a black mist forming. It shapes itself into the stylized shape of a horse that rears up on Mat's hand before dissipating.

[wasalmostdaphne]

"Woah," And Bay is going to just check out studying the way the horse moves and the smoke twists as long as it's there. And a little bit after its gone trying to see the edges of the trick to it.

Which there aren't, because she lives in a magic castle and needs to get used to that. She eventually pulls back to see him talk, if he has anything to say. "That's the sort of thing we're expected to learn being here?"

[a_better_man]

"We are encouraged to learn magic." Mat makes sure he's looking up, rather than titling his head down towards his hand.

"But they teach a magic you can learn out of a book. I do what's called channeling, it's an ability in my world. Manifested a bit after I'd come here, it usually hits around this age. Found a pair of teachers here, among us Summoned."

He lowers his voice, and realizes he can lower it to barely audible.

"Yennefer and Istredd. She is terrifying sometimes, and a brutal teacher, but fucking brilliant. Istredd's the handsome old fellow who looks as though he's in charge around here. He's who you ought talk to about the Horizon."

[wasalmostdaphne]

"I've seen people practicing. There's a lot of saying magic words." Words well outside her ability to parse out with reading lips. It's not that she thinks its impossible, but she prioritized other things about being here over trying to learn magic. Getting a better grasp of the local languages then learn how to use magic.

Also trying to read lips when they say something and immediately an array of lights form out of their hand makes it very hard to just watch.

"So scary and brilliant, and the guy in charge of this little first day of school mixer." Bay recognized something changed in how Mat was talking, it took a few seconds to put her hand on what it was. She smiled. She stepped around him, positioning herself so that — should he turn to face her properly — his back was to most of the castle servers. "You don't actually have to make any noise, makes no difference to me."

And now with this positioning, there's no real way to read his lips either. If he wanted to quickly say something before the spies got wise.

[a_better_man]

"Hand gestures, too," Mat clarifies. He's seen mages who do it that way. He's not sure if one bit is more important than the other, he only uses Academic Magic when he's asked to. And then there's a mage giving him a bit of paper and making a few hand motions for him to copy. It's not his area of study, and he can count the proper spells he knows without running out of fingers.

"And it's alright, I just would prefer it not get back to Lady Yennefer that I said she was frightening." He knows better than to say anything truly compromising within the castle walls.

"But if you're interested in magic, they've got a few houses worth of books on it lying about."

[wasalmostdaphne]

"I'll probably need to read on magical theory then. And pronunciation guides. Fortunately since I became Deaf I'm great at reading." Occasionally she remembers the world around her exists and she should look up and see if people are around. But often she just reads until she realizes she's hungry or notices the sun has moved.

"Anyone can just learn magic here? Kind of cool."