audio; un: cardmaster

[fateality]

Now, I'm sure we've done something like this before sometime ago, but you know how it is; people come, people go, and we get new faces all the time. So it's a little hard to keep track of y'all sometimes.

But here we are, and I've god a question.

There's a good lot of us that got magic in us before ALASTAIR made, ah, any offerings as such. Maybe even got some magic in your world, sure.

Suffice it to say, I got some interest in what kind there is -- and what magic is like where you're from. How it works. The variety, the limits.

Always good to know about the trade elsewhere, as it were.

Comments

[mistruths]

[ One eyebrow ticks up when he looks at the card, and as he sets it down onto the table (face-up), his illusions disappear in a shimmer of golden light. ]

I don't know that your magic is at all compatible with the methods I used to learn how to control mine, but it may not be impossible. [ he taps the card with one fingertip. ] Will you teach me your ways? What this means, for example?

[fateality]

I suppose so. Might be easier to show you step-by-step what I do.

[Twisted Fate pulls over a chair. The deck of cards are still floating in the air around him, but he does take out another deck: this one is clearly without any sort of enchantment, all normal playing cards.]

That one you picked is a card I enchanted to explode when I throw it. So it's a bit like a small bomb goin' off.

[He picks out a blue card from the air.] This one hurts the most if I use it on someone. Pure magic, that's all there is to it. Gives me a little more strength when I use it on someone, too.

And this one. [A gold card is now selected.] Lets me snare someone for a brief moment. Keeps 'em stuck. Usually good if I need to get out of a fix.

But all cards speak to me, one way or another. I usually know if I'm in trouble, for example; the cards'll tell me, even if I ain't put my magic into them yet.

[mistruths]

You've made weapons of your cards.

[ Loki's voice is low, smooth with deep appreciation and curiosity. He reaches out to slide his fingertips over the blue card, curious as to how it'd feel--especially in comparison to the red one he'd initially picked. This magic is definitely not the same as his own; certainly, Twisted Fate and Loki make use of magic quite differently. Still, he finds himself fascinated, the discussion piquing his interest in a way few things here have. ]

Have you tried imbuing magic in other weapons or tools? Or simply using it without a conduit?

[fateality]

[The blue one is more soothing. If one could place it akin to anything, it feels like the flow of an easygoing river, smooth and rolling.]

Doesn't work for me, I'm afraid. River folk always have used cards. If there's a way to bridge it another way, I ain't found it yet. But the cards have always meant somethin' to us.

Far as I know, I'm the only one who uses 'em in this way.

[mistruths]

Because of the fortune-telling. But what of your ancestors, before there were cards? I wonder if rune stones might have the same effect in allowing you to channel your magic through them?

[ And last, of course, he'll pick up a golden card. Incidentally, what did the red one feel like? ]

[fateality]

[The golden card glimmers, a sensation not unlike a static shock running through it, tingling. The red card, on the other hand, had been warm, almost hot to touch.]

I... couldn't really say. I don't think my people really knew what we were like before then, an' I wasn't 'round long enough to ask.

But I wouldn't be opposed to findin' out if that's true.

[mistruths]

If you'd like to try, I should be able to create a set for you. Though... Though whether it would then be linked to my magic or not is the next question. Or even, indeed, if our magics are at all compatible.

[ he slides all three cards back over. ]

You spoke of fortune telling, but surely you cannot have meant these cards to be your medium? These are your weapons and defenses.

[fateality]

I'm not against givin' it a try. Won't know til we give it a shot either way.

[The cards all slide back into a deck, and he pauses before he offers a calm smile.]

I haven't done any fortune telling since I was a boy. 'Fraid that's irrelevant.

[mistruths]

Ah. Pity. I did hope you could tell me what my future holds.

I suppose I owe you more information in exchange. To be fair, though, I've never had the chance, exactly, to speak of my own skills and capabilities in this manner. What is it you'd like to know?

[fateality]

A man's future is his own to determine.

[Suffice it to say, he hasn't felt like doing any of his old ways in a long time.]

I'm definitely interested in your illusions, but I figure you got more tricks up your sleeve than that. If you're willin' to share.

[mistruths]

How could I not, after all you'd shown me? Though it would be difficult to show you how I fight with magic when we are--here. The library, after all, isn't quite the appropriate place to demonstrate combat abilities and mine are a little more difficult to explain. As for my illusions... They are, the most of them, simple simulacrums that disappear at a touch. I am also capable of changing one being into another--though I suspect you would not welcome a demonstration of that without warning.

[fateality]

I doubt anythin' you turned into would be too alarming for me. [Certainly nothing personal that could get to him. Loki may know his skills, but nothing beyond that.]

Might be hard for a good offensive demonstration, then. Suppose I'll just have to try to keep an eye on you during a fight or somethin'. [Which he can do so, from afar. If need be.]

[mistruths]

[ Loki laughs, dipping his head in a slight nod of agreement. And between one blink and the next, his form has changed to be a perfect replication of Twisted Fate himself. ]

I did mean that I could change your form to appear as though you were another.

[ Even his voice sounds the same. ]

[fateality]

[Oh. That's good. He debates on using his Trickster's Glass to do the same, but he refrains; that's not his magic. Just a tool. There's no reason to reveal that hand. This is Loki's skill alone.]

That ain't half bad, Loki.

So it is shapeshifting, or just like a mask to the eye?

[mistruths]

It is neither, and both. [ He tips the hat with a rakish grin before allowing it to fade away along with Twisted Fate's skin, once more revealing Loki as he actually is. ] Some of my illusions will vanish at a disturbance; others are as real as anything else until I dissolve them.

[fateality]

Is there a way you can explain how you do it? Somethin' like that would make it pretty hard for someone to find you, I'll bet.

[mistruths]

[ drums his fingers briefly against the tabletop before he gives a brief explanation. IT PROBABLY DOESN'T MAKE MUCH SENSE??? idk man the movies don't give me much to work with here shhh ]

It is indeed rather effective for distraction and disorientation.

[fateality]

[i getchu i getchu]

Hmm.

Not sure I could pull somethin' like that off, but I'll have to give it some thought.

In any case, this was a nice eye-opener. Thanks, Loki.

[mistruths]

And my gratitude as well, Twisted Fate, for your willingness to speak of your own craft and past. Not all, after all, would share their knowledge.