out into the unknown (march catch-all)

[funbreaker]

Who: Thancred Waters & others
When: Throughout March
Where: Thorne & the Horizon
What: Eclipse stuff, quest stuff, Horizon stuff, anything and everything.
Warnings: Will add if something comes up.


[ Starters will be placed in comments below! If you'd like to do anything with Thancred this month, please reach out at demonology, demonology#1725 on Discord, or by PM. ]

Comments

[sorser]

[The similarities keep on piling up, though Stephen is sorry to hear about this one in particular. A wide-spanning threat -- just how wide? It bothers him, not knowing, his imagination wanting to fill in the holes with nothing to work with. Leave him hanging like that, Thancred, and you'll have Stephen wanting to nose around for more information on principle alone.

He almost asks in the pause that follows, uncaring if it interrupts Thancred's lingering exhale and sip of his wine, wanting to know. But he's beaten to the punch, asked something else instead, and Stephen's lips twist.]

Me? An Avenger? Maybe in some alternate universe. [And even then, it sounds silly. Stephen's far removed from the team dynamic lifestyle, happy to be relegated to his role as the weird sorcerer guy.] No, I have a different set of responsibilities in my own order. The sorcerers of Kamar-Taj usually deal with magical threats. The Avengers dealt with more Earthly ones.

[Thanos was just... a particularly special case. Magical restrictions do not apply when half of life in the universe had been turned to dust.]

[funbreaker]

[ Magical threats, Earthly threats — Thancred does not quite understand the difference, if he's honest. It might be due to the fact that most of the threats they deal with back home are somehow magical in nature, save for that of the Garlean empire. It would not make much sense to draw such a distinction, but magick must serve a different role in Stephen's world.

Either way, Stephen doesn't appear to be too bothered by this, as if he'd rather not have to function as part of a team. It isn't for everyone, certainly. ]

A sorcerer of Kamar-Taj. [ Thancred repeats the words between another sip of wine. That seems to be Stephen's title, something quite lofty and important from the sound of it, and Thancred thinks back to his slightly hazy memories of his domain. ] Is that a place? One of the structures in your domain, perhaps? And what magical threats do you typically have to deal with?

[ He's asking a lot of question, but he feels comfortable doing so within the privacy of the Horizon. Stephen has been a useful ally thus far, and Thancred would like to learn more of him, especially given what Geralt mentioned about him at the summit. ]

[sorser]

[He used to have a much loftier title, but Stephen isn't here to flaunt that, despite how exasperated he sometimes gets when the subject's brought up around Wong. He swirls the wine in his glass idly.]

Kamar-Taj was the area surrounding the main building in my domain. That [the building, he means] was one of my Earth's Sanctum Sanctorums. Think of it as one of a handful of magic headquarters stationed around the world. You'll have to visit properly next time.

[Not that he would've turned him away during Thancred's first visit, but his companion had been eager to wander like all newcomers. Stephen wasn't about to stifle that.]

As for magical threats, just about any you can think of. [He realizes that doesn't narrow it down at all, so he rattles off a few examples.] Dangers from across the mulitverse, beating back dark entities, or monitoring instances of dangerous magic being used planetside.

What about you? Magical or otherwise, what's the average threat your group faces?

[It was only a matter of time before the question niggling at him made itself known.]

[funbreaker]

[ Magick headquarters? Thancred would say the best example of that in his own world is Old Sharlayan itself, to say nothing of the smaller guilds scattered among other citystates. It does sound like something that it would benefit him to see with his own eyes, and so he nods in agreement. ]

I'll make certain to pay you a visit sometime, if your doors are open.

[ He understands that not everyone wants their domain to be invaded or inspected with any sort of scrutiny. Stephen, however, has been quite open thus far. The fact that he had offered to show Thancred into the Horizon in the first place speaks volumes.

The term "multiverse" means nothing to him, but dark entities and improper use of dangerous magick? Aye, he's familiar with such things. He notices his glass is almost empty and reaches out for the wine bottle to refill it, offering to do the same for Stephen as well. ]

By this point, it's become any number of things. [ He heaves out a sigh, not certain where to even begin with explaining Meteion. He won't start there. ] In my world, it's possible for beings of great magical power called primals to be summoned. Generally this is done by a group of worshippers who believe the primal will keep them safe, or as a show of power in a conflict. However, primals draw large amounts of aether from the earth, and will also temper anyone in close enough proximity, turning them into their thralls.

[ While the primal threat has in many ways been contained now, it's a decent place to start given how long the Scions had been focused on them. ]