D5, Nightrunner Channel

[whattaprick]

[ The nightrunner channel comes to life in the mid-afternoon. ]

This is Nightrider Lambert. We'll be making a stop at a new world tomorrow. For some of you, it'll be the first time, so if you've got any questions now's the time to get them out of the way.

Keep a lookout for trouble and tell me or another nightrunner if you can't get ahold of me. You're not on a leash, but I'd better hear from you at least once a day, even if it's just to tell me there's nothing to report.

We also got a warning that we might need to watch for any sign of other fae. A lot of you won't know what that looks or feels like, so Strange will fill you in.

[ And he lapses into silence for Strange to take it away. ]

If you aren't magically sensitive then I'm terribly sorry, but you might not be able to tell fae magic apart from other magic in the first place. For those of you who are, the thing that I've always associated with fae magic is the sheer power behind it. Even a faerie artifact can radiate more power than your average magic user and certain spells can linger long after the enchanter dies. It's also...simple, in a way? Carnival magic is a bit of a hodge-podge, a combination of all sorts of magics from different worlds. Fae magic is more pure and...primordial, perhaps. [ Strange is 100% not certain about that word choice! ]

Though, at least with the Portland fae we've encountered, they weren't too good at making certain things fit their surroundings. Mysterious berries, a large gathering of birds, roses springing up out of nowhere...if you see something that looks out of place, take a picture and ask someone about it before you decide to metaphorically poke it with a stick.

[ And Lambert will tack on: ]

One person screwing up is all it takes to land us all in a load of shit. So if you see someone doing something that could be a problem? Stop them. Be ready for anything.

Comments

[dirthena]

An egg. That's it? I can't even imagine what sort of spell-- Do you know the details of it, or just that?

( she trails off, shaking her head. clearly she needed to learn fairy magic at this rate. perhaps the ringmaster would be open to the request, if she could get a hold of her. )

And how was that accomplished? Lady Pole, by the way. Unless someone here has been raised from the dead recently.

[kingsroads]

Didn't I say I hadn't witnessed either of those resurrections? [ Strange grumbles. But he wants to seem cool and wants to seem important and he's the fae expert in the carnival, dammit, so he continues explaining and extrapolating from what he knows. ]

I know that both of them required something in exchange. With the Ringmaster, if she is to bring someone back from the dead, she can't do it on the spot. She requires some blood and the ritual must be done beforehand. With Lady Pole's resurrection, the faerie who brought her back to life took one of her fingers as a token.

[ just...said very matter of factly, yep, that was a thing. ]

[dirthena]

Before one dies? Or before one goes to resurrect those individuals that have passed?

( strange has successfully convinced lavellan that he knows what he's talking about. except for the part that clearly took place in his world, at which point she stops. she'd stare at him if she could, but radios. )

What purpose does losing a finger have? I can understand an arm, but that seems rather small unless he was planning on doing blood magic of some sort.

( what sort of world do you even come from, strange. )

[whattaprick]

The value's probably symbolic. Tokens usually are.

[ Lambert chimes in. He's never much heard about rituals in Strange's world, but... ]

Fae can be tricky shits. Wouldn't surprise me if he asked for a finger and made it sound like it wasn't a big deal.

[kingsroads]

As for your first question, the blood must be taken out before one dies. Deals and contracts are important with the fae, it's important that there be at least two parties in an agreement.

[ The fact that Lavellan's world has blood magic as well is interesting. Something he'll have to bring up with either her or Solas later (cause who has two thumbs and did a blood magic that one time, it Strange). ]

[dirthena]

Of the person who dies? So it's a preemptive measure -- in case one is going into danger. And the second?

( but noted. )

Thank you, both of you.

[kingsroads]

As for your second question, resurrecting individuals after they have passed can be...imperfect. A lot depends on the state of the body and the magic used to resurrect the individual.

[ Strange is speaking in a tone that's as clinical as he can make it, though this doesn't hide the underlying wariness in his tone of voice. It's not exactly a secret what he did in the peninsula, but it's something he rarely talks about.

Still, Lavellan wants to learn which endears her to him so much. And, he knows Lambert is listening in and this is a channel just for the nightrunners and really, considering how much he's talked, other people would have stopped listening already so maybe...

(besides, he just desperately wants to know about her opinions of that sort of thing) ]

I only know two methods of resurrecting the already deceased, without any previous preparation. One of them is fae magic and again, I haven't seen the specifics of that. The other is blood magic. I performed that sort of magic myself in the peninsula.

[dirthena]

( something in his tone stops her from pressing him more on the matter, and while strange cannot see her expression there's something in the long seconds after he admits to using blood magic for resurrection. she knows what solas said -- about how it was the mage that mattered, and not the magic. blood magic could be used for a number of useful things, just as the magic of any knight enchanter could be used to hurt rather than to defend.

so her tone is carefully neutral when she speaks again. )

You brought the dead back to life yourself? I assume, if it was blood magic, it didn't work quite like the Ringmaster's version.

[kingsroads]

That's correct, [ Strange simply responds. When he speaks again, he's choosing his words carefully, fully aware that Lavellan's tone is probably neutral for a reason (but man, is he glad that her tone is a calm and controlled neutral right now.) ]

It was through blood magic—some people call it black magic instead. Blood, drawn from the caster, and the proper magical incantation brought them back to life. Those resurrected were brought back speaking a dialect of hell. A different spell made it so they spoke their native tongue.

[ that spell involved spit. Strange is keeping that detail to himself for the moment. ]

Of course, the magic does nothing for the...erm, state of the corpse. And though I raised them, I could not find a way to undo the magic. All in all, it was exceedingly primitive. Fae magic helps push past those limitations for a more thorough resurrection.

[dirthena]

Your blood magic relies solely on the caster's willingness to shed it? ( her voice turns to surprise then -- she knows some blood mages aren't afraid of that, but the ones she knows to be wary of are those who'd rather use the blood of others. of slaves. of elves. ) Blood magic in my world cares little for who's blood it is.

( and he can fill in the blanks about what she means with that. but it sounds more like what dorian does, if a little twisted, and she taps her fingers against her radio as she thinks. )

It's not unheard of in Thedas -- to tie the spirits who are drawn to death to corpses, but it isn't a full resurrection, or a return to the consciousness of the person whose body it once was. But you said you couldn't undo it -- did you murder them again?

[kingsroads]

[ Well then. He can fill in the blanks and connect the dots pretty easily with that. ]

If I may be honest, I think I prefer my world's blood magic to yours.

[ Less chance for murder that way. As for her last question... ]

I didn't murder them myself. I performed that magic when I was at war and was needed somewhere else. Another member— [ and then there's the sound of Strange dropping the radio, followed by him swearing slightly. There's scuffly noises as he picks the thing back up and continues talking. ] Another member of the company had to kill them.

[dirthena]

I think I do, too. It also lessens one's connection with the Fade, which means the more you use it, the more it becomes your only option for magic.

( and therefore, more inclined to do murder for. ah, thedas. )

Not a pleasant memory for you, then. ( a pause, and a frown, although he cannot see it. ) You were at war and couldn't kill men you brought back from the dead? Were they too busy attempting to express how annoyed they were at it for you to do so?

( sorry strange... )

[kingsroads]

The corpses had been dead for weeks. [ Strange responds, trying to be as matter of fact as he could despite the fact that this wigs him out more than he wants to admit. ] Killing something like...that is harder than expected.

Besides, I still fancied myself a gentleman at that point.

[dirthena]

You get used to it. ( she says, idly. as if possessed corpses were a thing she dealt with on a day to day basis. and, to be fair to strange, sometimes she doesn't fight corpses. sometimes she fights people. or demons. ) Especially when they're trying to kill you first.

Is that something unreconcilable with fae magic and raising the dead?

[kingsroads]

It something I thought irreconcilable with fae magic and raising the dead. Now, however, I find it's a bit meaningless.

[ Strange can't use that excuse after his literal descent into crazy. There's a bit of an awkward pause before he asks, ]

So I assume you've had experience killing corpses?

[ because what the fuck ]

[dirthena]

Then you have my apologizes, if it was something of value to you.

( she knows how that goes, a little. and lavellan pays no mind to the awkward pause. )

Corpses of the dead who've been reanimated after a demon has possessed them. Normally the shemlen of Thedas burn their dead so that they do not turn against them, but sometimes plague or war prevents them for doing so.

[kingsroads]

War prevents a lot of things from going the way they should, [ Strange responds, with a bit of a siiiigh. ]

It's interesting to hear that demons are such a large part of your world, as they aren't a part of mine. There are strange similarities between Thedas and England, but then you mention the demons or I mention raising the dead and the similarities come to a halt.

[dirthena]

Indeed they do. I imagine that's one of the reasons for waging them in the first place.

( wars are just as complicated as anything else, in lavellan's opinion. )

You have no elves, which makes it quite unimaginable to me. ( she points out. ) But there's enough similarities that even we thought that we might have been from the same place. Perhaps there's other worlds out there that we might visit that bridge the gap between our two.

[kingsroads]

In that case, I hope we visit some of them in the carnival. Aside from the fact that we both could gain so much from that, I'm overdue a world that I'm familiar with!

[dirthena]

Has there not been one that's similar enough for you recently? I only have that time spent on the moon to compare wherever we end up to.

[kingsroads]

The most similar was probably Greysol. And even then, that had people's souls wandering around externally as animals.

There was the Prince's realm, but that doesn't really count.

[dirthena]

( uh. ) Walking around as animals?

( that's unheard of to her, how on earth does that work. )

Why doesn't it really count?

[kingsroads]

It'd be easiest to show you. Lambert, I know you're listening, be certain to introduce Lavellan to Celandine sometime.

[ just casually bossing his boss around, nbd. ]

And it doesn't really count because the Prince chose that aesthetic himself. Likewise, the Prince's realm was just a large manor, not an entire world.

[dirthena]

( can you just casually boss your boss around like that? that's a move lavellan is going to have to try sometimes, damn. )

I see. Was it separate from the other worlds -- from what I understand they seem to be as large as my own. If it was a realm, then it stands that it was smaller and more self contained.

[kingsroads]

It was smaller. The Prince's realm was technically an Earth elemental that he enslaved and built a manor out of.

[ though, with Lavellan talking about the sizes, Strange feels the need to clarify a bit. ] The size of things is a bit flexible with regards to the fae. Faeries can have their own domain, but things like size, spacial arrangement, and boundaries can be easily changed.