abraxaslogs | ❄ october catch-all

Istredd understands possession and vessels but this sounds like something else. Two people sharing a body? Or they're mostly the same person? As long as it makes sense to Jill, it's not as if he has to understand it entirely. Everyone has their own details around here, and he finds them fascinating, but he tries not to pry past what they feel comfortable offering.

"So you're accidentally calling on it while using other magic because they're intertwined in your head." That seems to make a kind of sense to him. He gets it because he does something almost similar at times when doing his illusions, since his instinct is to use Chaos first. It can be hard to get around what feels right in your gut with magic.

"It just takes practice. At least with Academic Magic, you really just get used to learning spells themselves. They get very precise the higher up you go."

Jill nods, glad that Istredd understands. That she wants to avoid using it because it chips away at her life every time it does is what she does not say. Not yet, at any rate -- not unless she absolutely has to. Perhaps it's selfish to keep such a thing a secret, but Jill does not want anyone else to worry about her while she's here, Clive does it enough for all of Abraxas.

"The precise nature is much more of a change than the magic in my world, which is more on instinct for all who wield it. Dominant and Branded are alike in that matter." And so it will be easier for her to separate the two, eventually. "I think I prefer it this way. Learned, and with purpose."

Instead of a fact of nature, inscrutable and feared.

"In my sphere, most of the people who are untrained in magic die. It's made of Chaos energy and without learning balance, it will eat you from the inside and burn your life away." A harsh reality but one that Istredd is used to. He learned that lesson as a child after watching someone's arm start to die because they didn't use Chaos properly, and it's not the sort of lesson you need again. Magic kills its wielder in his experience too.

"Using it causes a ripple of a kind that alerts older mages to use, and they try to get to us before we die." There are always people who sometimes fall under the radar or do burn out before they get there, and everyone else is taken back to the Brotherhood. He doesn't remember anything about his own family, only the one he was brought into.

"It is very difficult to die from using this magic. At least not the spells that are already written out for all of us to use. It's safe." He suspects that the people who tried spells out until they worked probably were less safe, but it had to start somewhere. "What does Branded mean?"

What he describes seems, by Jill's estimation, almost idyllic compared to the realities of her world. Which is not to say that she does not mourn for those who have died before mages got to them, far from it. But they are found, they are taught. That is far better than the fate of Branded in her world.

"That is good to know," she says, with a small smile. It was not something she was concerned about but she will happily tell Clive of it later, to put his mind further at ease.

"Those who can use magic are branded on the cheek, giving rise to the name. "Bearer" is also a common term, for magic is considered a curse one must bear."

"They've spent centuries perfecting everything written down in Academic Magic texts. It doesn't make them very inventive, but it does make them very safe." There does lack a certain fluidity that works better with natural-born magic in his experience, once you learn how to balance Chaos there are a lot of things you can do, but it means Academic Magic is very good for newcomers. Once they learn a spell and keep trying at it, they can perfect and use it easily. He appreciates that, it makes it easy to teach.

He's slightly surprised, although he has heard of all kinds of reactions to magic from other universes. At this point, there is no end to the things that separate each sphere from another. Istredd recently got memories of losing the mages, but that was an in-fight, on the whole mages have been treated with reverence by others. Or at least the kind of fear that serves them well.

"Is there a reason why they treat mages so terribly, outside of them fearing people with powers not everyone has?" That is a common reason why, but he wonders if there is another.

There is, and Jill is silent for a moment as she gathers her thoughts on the matter -- pieced together from the lessons of Vivian and the book Clive went to fetch for her. "It is not as simple as fear." That she can say with certainty. "You must understand that I cannot recount the fact of our history with certainty, because time and willful meddling has taken its toll on it. But understanding it, I think, will help place it all into context."

But that can hardly be different than any other world. Though perhaps without direct 'divine' intervention.

"Mankind was created for a singular purpose: to give birth to an individual who's physical form could withstand the most powerful magic not only in our world, but all worlds. The creator of man retreated into slumber, awaiting that birth, and in that time men gained their own free will -- making their own way in the world. Once there were a race of men who used magic as they willed, creating marvels we can only dream of, including airships, though they fell to war and the cost that using magic takes from the land, the people who use it. But magic was not lost; it lived on -- and those who had it were worshiped and adored by those who did not. This, you can imagine, led only to what is called The Deluge of Blood," a breath, and Jill folds even further in on herself, arms crossed in front of her. "And so those who could not overthrew those who could, and intended to keep it that way to prevent a second war. It has remained that way ever since, even as Dominants arose from the ranks of the Bearers."

It is perhaps the most words she's said to anyone besides Clive since her arrival, and Jill isn't sure of what to make of that at all, either.

Istredd listens to her intently, absorbed by every word. As a historian there are few things that interest him more than learning about each sphere and where they come from. It has been one of the better aspects of being in a multiverse situation for him. He loves learning. He follows what she says while understanding that all she can do is repeat history; he's had to do the same. While he's tried to find the secrets of his continent, it's hard to do if you're not looking in the right spot.

"The Dominants being powerful mages like your Shiva?" Mages, magical entities, again he's not sure the exact definition but they're both past trying to make exact sense of it. "Are the Dominants just exceptionally powerful magical beings that are birthed from mankind or are they something more? I suppose my question is, what purpose do they serve to the greater plan of that individual, or are they separate from it?"

He knows that Jill is revealing a great deal to him and he appreciates it, if at any point his questions push too hard he'll understand. His curiosity is a constant and it can be annoying. He's always wondering what makes other people tick.

"The Dominants being myself, the people that host the Eikons." What purpose do they serve to the greater plan of that individual? Jill frowns, considering it. "We are normally in control of the power within us, and you could argue that the Eikons are this power personified. But I am Shiva, and she is me, except for where we are not." Jill gives him an almost sheepish smile, aware of how strange it might sound to someone who hasn't seen multiple Dominants, or grown up around the concept.

"I do not know a better way to explain it, I'm sorry."

"No, it does make sense, in a general way." Not entirely, but Istredd doesn't have to understand something to accept it as truth. There are a lot of things that his mind can't fully comprehend as it is alien to him, and he shrugs and goes 'seems reasonable enough.' So the Eikon is bonded to her or a part of her somehow. He doesn't have an equivalent but he doesn't really need one.

"But that is why I'm curious what the purpose of the Dominants is in the world you have. If you said a person created all of it to use later, was this all planned? Or is it more random?" Istredd's curiosity can be impossible to sate and he does know that he's pushing into things that may be more private. Realizing that in the last minute though, he smiles faintly at her.

"If I'm asking too much, feel free to tell me so. I can be a little too interested." AKA he can be very, very intense at times on his search for knowledge and he knows that.

She gives him a reassuring smile -- he hasn't pried too far, though Jill will be careful to keep Clive's name and involvement out of it. Not because she doesn't trust Istredd, but because she doesn't trust Thorne. Clive still has all of the eikons within him even now, and Thorne cannot be trusted with the two of them if they were to find out how easily they can become weapons.

"The eventual evolution of mankind to produce Dominants was always required for the plan to come to fruition, as far as any have been able to discern." For Clive to take in that power, to become Mythos -- to become Ultima's vessel.

"That's what I thought." Istredd makes leaps in logic, but he likes to make certain with people. He's very thorough as a historian and makes careful notes. It seemed like the evolution of power like that would make more sense if planned, if one person was in control of what was to come.

"I'm happy to teach you how to feel good about your own magic, and also any native spells here you're interested in learning, as they're all over the spectrum. And quite easy to use." Academic magic is so simple, even children can do it, and they can. Memorization, pick of spell, results. Istredd prefers using his own but he's learned a lot of helpful new ideas from the books they have.

"And you don't have to worry about any behavior that is against magic. Every person has magic here from the moment they're born. It is native across the land."

❄ october catch-all

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Maybe wrapping on this one soon and we can start something new?