[open] may catchall

[techmaturgy]

Who: Viktor and special guests and YOU
When: throughout May
Where: Cadens, the Horizon
What: open stuff, closed stuff, quest stuff, general nerdery, horizon visits, whatever I WANT
Warnings: the usual references to terminal illness, will list additional warnings as needed.

[open and closed starters in comments! If you want a custom starter or something specific, just hit me up. full horizon details are here for any and all wildcarding needs. For everything else, I’m on plurk at whitticus and on discord at whitticus#8139.]

Comments

[speak_n_spell]

[Standing idly by while someone else applies a well-honed skill doesn't come easy to Sypha. As Viktor begins to sort the birds, she takes a cue from him and searches the case for any pieces that may have fallen loose. These she arranges in neat lines, like with like, in the nearest open patch of tabletop.]

It sounds like you're doing well for yourself here! Your talents must be in demand?

[techmaturgy]

[He won't object to the assist--she needs this quickly, and sorting pieces that look similar or diving out all the screws will help things go faster. Once he determines that she gets the idea, Viktor stands and grabs a bin off a nearby worktable filled with rags and various bottles. Might as well clean everything, while he's at it.]

Oh, yes. People will always need tools. Equipment. Various improvements, repairs.

[Viktor picks up one of the bigger pieces, turning it over in his hand to inspect.]

What sort of show are you in?

[speak_n_spell]

[Sypha takes up the cleaning supplies without complaint, perfectly happy to polish off any oxidation or tarnish so that everything will fit together smoothly in the end. It frees Viktor up to study the construction, which is decidedly beyond her abilities.]

Does that mean that your home and Cadens are somewhat similar? As far as technology goes, I mean.

[She dips a swab into one of the solutions and carefully inserts it into one of the birds' eye sockets. She's always found the heads a little creepy, with the way the original designer left the eyes empty.] One of those classic stories about star-crossed lovers meeting in secret. It's funny, I think that might be a universal archetype. No matter who I talk to, they have some equivalent on their world.

[techmaturgy]

We’re a little further along— [Especially when it comes to things like theoretical physics and the marriage of science and the arcane,] —but it’s all familiar enough.

[Enough that he’ll be able to re-assemble her props with little issue. It will just take some time. Luckily, most of this is methodical, meditative. He works on the larger pieces, combining the contents of two bottles into a shallow tray, letting the delicate wings soak. Cleaning, then repairs, then reassembly. In the meantime, he’s content to listen to her talk about the play—Viktor doesn’t get out to that sort of thing, so it’s interesting to hear about.]

Oh, yes. We have that as well. Lovers, meeting in secret on the bridge that separates our two cities. Does yours have a happy ending?

[They very rarely do.]

[speak_n_spell]

Ah, so not the same place as the woman who's walked in space? Which is a concept I've just recently wrapped my head around, by the way.

[Sypha grins wryly at herself, at the rapid expansion of worldview she's experienced in Abraxas. If nothing else, this - sojurn? kidnapping? vacation? - has been an exchange of ideas.]

No, it's very formulaic in that way. Their designated meeting point is a graveyard, of all things, which would be an even heaver-handed metaphor than a bridge, except that the actresses are quite talented.

[techmaturgy]

No, we haven’t been to space. Such a thing is almost unbelievable, to me.

[He’s from somewhere a bit in between—further along than Cadens, and certainly technologically aided by Hextech, but the thought of interplanetary travel is unheard of, even for someone who effectively invented magically-aided teleportation.

It's almost easier to talk about the play, keeping his hands busy with the broken props in the meantime.]

A graveyard? Thematic. What is your role, in all this?

[Maybe he'll come catch a show.]

[speak_n_spell]

Mhm, it's safe to say that traveling to another reality is more likely from my home than somehow flying to the stars. [Even before Abraxas, though that's the main gist.

For the most part the opportunity to sneak peeks at other worlds' innovations has been exciting, but...Sypha's used to townsfolk thinking she's ignorant and unlearned. She's not used to it being true.]

Oh I handle the atmosphere. [A wave of her hand pulls moisture from the air, condensing it into a palmful of fog. It wisps around her fingers like the tendrils of a jellyfish, forming unnaturally artful coils.] Mist, rain, lightning, that sort of thing. It's been fun, using magic purely for storytelling again!

[techmaturgy]

We had near-instantaneous travel, of a sort, but traversing the continent is much different than going to space. Or to another plane.

[Viktor is more reserved than Jayce when it comes to displays of magic, but the truth is he’s no less fascinated by it. He looks up from the broken pieces of metal to pay attention to what she’s doing, eyebrows raising slightly at the display, lips quirking upward.]

Explains the state of these, at least. [Oh, maybe that’s rude.] What do you usually use magic for?