Kobold Plot

[archmagetrust]

Khadgar's spent most of the week in the library reading up on, well, everything. It's been incredibly difficult to tear himself away from the tomes but his responsibilities to his world have been an itch in his brain that's getting harder to ignore. So today he's out exploring the edges of Milliways' lake. He's been drawn to the edges of the Caribbean inlet and his heavy outer robes, and their many pockets full of all sorts of things, are draped on a boulder while he searches the ground for...something. Every now and then he bends over and picks up a rock before shaking his head and chucking the stone over his shoulder.


Later in the day he can be found at a table inside, its surface holding a collection of crushed gems in jars, satchels of herbs, and a book he's referencing. A smooth lake stone the size of his fist is in the center of the mess. It's been a long time since he's had to make one of these and would behoove him to make sure he's doing it right.


[OOC: Taggable in either place!]

Comments

[steals_yo_stuff]

There's magic in the air at Milliways, though there's so much ambient magic usually that an invisibility spell might easily be overlooked. Regardless, Khadgar might find that his pockets are being emptied, one by one.

By the time the creatures have finished, Khadgar's reagents, his mana buns and cookies and strudels, and his jeweled mechanical cricket are have all disappeared, with only a trail of crumbs leading to the bar to show where the sweet treats have gone.

[archmagetrust]

When he returns to his robes sometime later he finds them considerably lighter. That's strange. His pockets are empty...he could've sworn he returned all his components to them this morning. And he did conjure his lunch, didn't he?

Apparently not. Frowning, he pockets the fist-sized stone he found and returns to the bar to check his room. He must have left his things there.

[iprotectyou]

A giant of a man, armorless, sits at a nearby table, methodically taking his repeater cannon apart. The coolant tank and belt are nowhere to be seen. He's aiming to strip the gas conversion enabler--also known as the XCiter, the part that excites the gas particles with energy--from the cannon for use in his lightbow. A sweating pitcher of ice water rests near his left elbow, as well as two glasses--only one of which is full.

He spots the newcomer at his own table, and hails him with a hand.

"Hoi! I'm Baze Malbus. May the Force of others be with you! What are you working on with all those gemstones?"

[archmagetrust]

The mage looks up from his book, face breaking into a smile as he returns the wave.

"Well met, Baze Malbus! I am Khadgar of Azeroth and I'm remembering how to craft a hearthstone."

[iprotectyou]

"Oh! Is Azeroth on Earth? Pleasure to meet you, Khadgar. What's a hearthstone?" Baze says, all in one breath. He unscrews a compartment on his weapon.

[archmagetrust]

Nobody has mentioned Earth to Khadgar yet. He is quite thrown by Baze's first question.

"...does being made of earth mean it is on earth?"

That's about all the sense he can make of that.

"A hearthstone is an enchanted rock that is bound to the place of its creation. It can be used by its owner to return to that place whenever needed."

[iprotectyou]

"No, no, Earth is a planet. I'm going to guess that you're not from there," Baze says, laughing. It's almost a relief to find someone not from Earth!

"Oh! That hearthstone sounds awfully useful! Will you use one to return here whenever you wish, and bypass the door?"

[archmagetrust]

"No, Azeroth is a different planet. Are you from 'Earth'?"

Who names their planet after dirt? Have they no imagination?

"That is indeed the intent." Khadgar grins a touch ruefully. "I believe something pulled my teleport here when I first arrived. I don't think I could come here on my own otherwise."

[iprotectyou]

Right? And they named their moon, Moon! Baze thinks that's hilarious.

"Oh, no, I'm from Jedha. But most of the people you see here are from Earth. It's a strange planet. Humans are the only sentient creatures on it, and they don't even have space travel!"

Baze grins at the confirmation about the hearthstone, and Khadgar's own rueful grin.

"So you teleport around? Is it science or magic?"

[archmagetrust]

"The only sentient creatures? Nothing native qualifies?" What a strange idea!

"Magic. I'm not certain if that counts as 'space' travel, though. We use portals to travel between worlds."

'Space' is another strange word to him, not that different than 'Earth' and 'Moon', really.

[iprotectyou]

"Yes, they're the only sentient creatures," Baze says, shaking his head, as he, too, is floored by the very idea.

"Magic! Wow! We had no magic that I was aware of on Jedha, or even In my galaxy. A lot of people thought the Force was magic, but it's not--it's energy."

[archmagetrust]

"The Force? That's how you greeted me, was it not?" Curious.

"Well, magic is energy, really, of different kinds. I work with arcane energy, mostly, which is the ambient energy of a world. But there's also nature and light and a few others."

The others are darker magics. He doesn't care for them.

[iprotectyou]

"The ambient energy of a world sounds somewhat similar to the Force. It has a will of its own without being fully sentient, and binds and surrounds all things," Baze explains, though he's not sure how useful an explanation that is.

"What do you do with nature magic? Make things grow?"

[archmagetrust]

"None of the magic I know has a will of its own," Khadgar says thoughtfully. "Arcane energy isn't quite that prevalent, either. It's more like the lifeblood of a world?"

He's not sure that's the best way to describe it.

"It has very little to do with living things. That's more the domain of nature magic." He grins. "And yes, druids grow things. Great big things. The night elves have been practicing the longest and their homeland is in the boughs of a giant tree."

Land, not city.

[childofrebellion]

Cassian's not good at resting, after sitting for the morning, he's thinking about maybe doing some cooking.

On his way to the kitchen, he stops when he sees Khadgar's set up, "Are you making something?"

[archmagetrust]

Khadgar looks up from his book, smiling when he sees him.

"Well met, Cassian! I'm refreshing my memory on how to make a hearthstone." He gestures to the spell reagents.

[childofrebellion]

"What's a hearthstone?" The name seems like it might be about warmth.

[archmagetrust]

"An enchanted stone bound to a location. It's used to let its owner return there at will."

His taps the stone at the center of the table.

"I'm binding this one to Milliways. It'll be less draining then finding the energy to teleport myself every time." He could do it, he's sure, but he's concerned he may not always have the mana for it.

[childofrebellion]

"Like a tracker or a beacon, interesting. Is it hard to make?" To be able to come directly to Milliways would be useful.

[archmagetrust]

"Somewhat. It requires a great deal of energy imbued into the stone, more than most mages can hold on to at once."

He points to the jars.

"Gems can hold that energy for you instead but they're used up in the spell."

[childofrebellion]

HE leans on a chair to shift how his rib is feeling, "Like storing up fuel?"

[archmagetrust]

"Something like that. It's a one time cost, hearthstones recharge on their own after being used. It's just the initial enchantment that requires the gems. Which are expensive, at least on Azeroth."

He could, perhaps, enchant it without the gems but he doesn't fancy holding that much energy if he doesn't have to.

[childofrebellion]

"I've yet to find a place where gems aren't costly. It makes them useful for trade when you don't want to be tracked."

[archmagetrust]

"How is that different from gold?" He's curious!

"You're welcome to sit. I haven't started setting up yet so there's nothing to disrupt."

[childofrebellion]

"I don't know but most trading is done with credits in the galaxy and those have ways of being traced,"

He sits down with a small wince.