(open) look what remains

[scholiast]

who: Lucretia & you
what: open/catch all
when: before & after the chalice event
where: a bunch of places!
warnings: n/a, will add if necessary

01 gramarye magic research institute

(You might have heard about the researcher who has been asking around her colleagues about the different ways they cast and use magic.

Lucretia is working on a personal project, one that she's been heaping her free time on lately. This is what she loves to do: ask questions, gather information, write everything up at her desk for hours at a time, eyes darting between her notes and the page as she transcribes everything she's learned so far. She's even put up a general message on the Gramarye network to ask around: a simple message, asking politely for anybody to seek her out if they would like to talk about spell casting methods, and how they obtained their powers.

You can find her at her desk with a pen in each hand, writing in two books simultaneously- or leaving a lecture theater, several heavy books in her arms- or perhaps in the library, checking her phone for responses to her message board.)

02 the river

(While Lucretia has often admired the river running through the middle of the city, she has never thought to follow it before. It's with this objective in mind that she sets off on what she hopes will be a long, distracting walk out from the center of the city; her morning has been far too quiet and reflective for her liking*.

She walks for what feels like a good two hours in silence, enjoying her unorthodox method of touring the city via the twists and turns of the river through the middle of it. The sheer greenery of the surroundings is startling to her: she can't remember the last time she saw so much foliage on a world before. She even stops to take a couple of pictures on her phone, for future reference.

Eventually, she stops walking when she comes to the edge of the first wall and finds a small cove along the riverline that opens up into a beach. She finds a place to sit that borders on the sand, pulling the strap of her bag off her shoulder and dumping the whole thing unceremoniously down beside her. In it, she has her phone (now switched off), some food and water, and a book taken from Taako's shelf that she's still half-way through.

If you're in the area, you'll find her with her elbows propped up on her knees, staring contemplatively out over the water in somber silence. Anybody who knows Lucretia even a little bit might find it odd that she isn't taking notes, or sketching; she's left her notebook at home, tucked underneath of her pillow so she doesn't have to look at it.)

*((ooc: big ol spoilers for the adventure zone in corresponding thread, take care!))

03 future prowess (chalice event catch-all b/c i forgot to do one earlier hwhoops)

(While the chalice pitching her abruptly into the future might have revealed a lot of things about her that Lucretia isn't exactly sure how to even begin processing, she is at least happy with one thing: the big increase in power. Turns out she's mastered spells she'd never dream of knowing, and her knowledge feels almost limitless, like there's nothing in the world she couldn't do. It also gels with her appearance: she's a bit taller now and her body has finally been allowed to age, released from the stranglehold of the IPRE's mission. If she had to guess, she'd think she looks around about sixty years old. Her hair is white, cropped close to her skull. In Lucretia's opinion, she finally looks every inch the powerful wizard she has grown to become.

It's hard, warring with the guilt of knowing what the future brings and wanting to be excited about this, that she's been learning how to defend her, how to keep people safe. It's all she's ever wanted to know.

Today she's trialing her magic in a wide open, grassy area on the fringes of the city. Unfortunately, she doesn't have her staff, but she's borrowed a spare wand from a friend that is working out just fine. Of all the new spells in her arsenal, her favourite is a shield that she can conjure like a wide, arcing half-bubble.

She's playing around with it now, and there are several small shields rippling and shimmery in the air about her, as if she's trying to seal herself off from the outside world.)

04 inbox

(You know you wanna be the first one to post on this sweet, sweet ic contact thread.)

05 wildcard

If you'd like to plot out something/want me to write a specific starter for ya hit me up at blisters

Comments

[ 01 ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki keeps a certain situational awareness of the people at Gramarye. It's habitual, to know who works there, who might pose a threat, who might prove useful. Even if he hasn't made contact with all of them, preferring to remain in the fringes of their peripheral knowledge.

Either way, he hadn't expected Lucretia to walk into him with a pile of books that seem larger than her. Loki blinks before stooping low to pick up them up. ]

[scholiast]

I'm sorry–

(She crouches to help him make a stack of books, which she eventually hefts up into her arms again.) It's hard to see where I'm going. You're alright?

[dothelokimotion]

No matter. A mere pile of books is hardly going to be the end of me.

[ He glances over the titles curiously. ]

[scholiast]

Of course. (They're a mix of subjects, about as many personal discitations pertaining to magic that she could get her hands on.

Lucretia smiles, fleetingly.)

Sorry, but have we met? I'm Lucretia- I don't recognise you.

[dothelokimotion]

[ Hmm. ]

Unsurprising. I am Loki. I was one of the first here.

[ Carefully, he hands her books back to her. ]

03

[hevenly]

[ When Angela, walking along the edges of the city, having been dismissed from her duties in the perimeter guard due to the fact that she's currently missing an arm but not wanting to remain idle, comes across Lucretia, looking older and practicing magic, something inside her makes her stop and watch. The sight of magic being used so openly is familiar to her, reminds her of something inside her which she cannot name, something that is missing just like her missing arm.

She waits, watching Lucretia cast spells, just close enough to be noticed but far enough away to be ignored, should Lucretia choose to. ]

[scholiast]

(The spells require a level of concentration that Lucretia does not break until she's satisfied with the outcome, despite registering the presence of somebody in the clearing with her. When she finally turns her head to see she's pleased to recognise Angela, who is standing patiently as if waiting to be noticed she was there at all.

She looks... different. This shouldn't be surprising to Lucretia (the chalice has had its way with many people over the past couple days), but she still makes a face as she approaches, attention immediately caught by one thing in particular.)

Angela, (she calls, and pockets her wand.) It's good to see you again.

[hevenly]

Likewise.

[ Now that Lucretia is finished with her casting, she approaches. ]

I did not know you were a magician.

[scholiast]

Uh, yes.

(A magician? Why does everybody here have to have different words for everything?) I'm a wizard.

And- you are missing an arm. (She can't pretend to ignore it any longer.)

[hevenly]

[ Angela spares a glance down at her arm. ]

Yes. An old injury.

2

[soundsfishy]

[Llŷr had been keeping to himself at the deepest part of the river after the mess with the chalice had been taken care of, feeling horrible that he had tried to drown and hurt someone.

He would probably have stayed there for a long time if it wasn't for the fact that he was getting hungry, and the fish he enjoyed eating didn't go down this far. Finally heading for the surface, the merman breaches the water in a small cove and brushes his hair out of his face.

...only to see the woman sitting close by.]

Oh. Hello.

[scholiast]

(She startles out of her thoughts, gaze snapping to the water's edge and is surprised to be somebody there, head and shoulders above the water. Lucretia supposes it isn't really that strange, though she does personally think it's far too cold to be swimming.)

Hello, (she calls back, without moving from her place on the shore.) Sorry– um, were you swimming here?

(As if that means she can't also quietly be here.)

[soundsfishy]

[It felt a little weird to be interacting with the land people again after that mess from earlier, but he couldn't just ignore the rest of Riverview forever.

(Lucretia was safely on land, at least.)

He swims closer to the little beach area, as far as he can get without pushing himself on the bottom. Curiously looking at her and her book, Llŷr smiles and shakes his head a bit.]

Nah, I live here. [He lifts his tail fin out of the water.] What are you reading?

[scholiast]

(Oh. Well, that's different.

It might have been a little more shocking to Lucretia if she hadn't spent the last thirty years meeting people of every sort from different corners of the planar system. She looks down at the unopened book on her lap and holds it up to show him the cover.

It's a biography: fantasy Rachael Ray's, to be exact. Unfortunately she's already made it through the very small selection of magic books in Taako's shelf, and cook books are all that remains.)

Nothing special.

[soundsfishy]

[He's still having a little bit of difficulty knowing what to say, his normal endless curiosity muted and dull from what had happened with this other self he had experienced while the chalice messed things up.

Instead he simply nods as she shows him the book, peering at the title for a moment. Llŷr has to squint slightly to read from this distance, but it looks like it has to do with cooking.

Humans cooking their food was just one of those amazing things that made the surface so interesting. That was a good thing... right?]

Does it have any fish recipes?

i.

[aeturnus]

[ Seeing as Cain stops by Gramarye more than he ever would have before thanks to his own magic lessons, he definitely catches wind of the researcher who's been asking about everyone's home magics. He isn't on their network, of course, but word still travels around.

He finds his way to her desk, knocking on the doorframe to alert her to his presence. He doesn't have a whole lot of insight he can give her, not really in comparison, but maybe they can figure something out. ]

Hey, Lucretia.

[scholiast]

(She glances over her shoulder as he comes in and blinks, both pens paused in mid air above her journals. While she's pleased to see him, she's also a little confused.)

Hi, Cain. Do... do you work here? (Surely not; she would have known.)

[aeturnus]

[ That double-writing thing is certainly impressive. He shakes his head and shrugs at the question. ]

No, I just get lessons here. Heard someone was asking about magical practices from other worlds, though.

[scholiast]

(Pretty neat huh.)

Oh. Well, that'd be me. (She grins, embarrassed.) Is word really getting around? That's good.

What kind of lessons are you taking here?

[aeturnus]

Somehow I'm not surprised. Getting good data out of it?

[ He lets himself in further at the question, wiggles his fingers. ]

Magic lessons. One of the people here agreed to teach me.

(3)

[signifies]

[ Clark is often on the fringes of the city. He lives in this area and often picks out grassy, open places like this to practice. He has a few books with him on boxing stances and some basic martial arts moves, although it's been difficult to find something that doesn't encourage the use of a weapon.

He doesn't recognise her at first because he's used to relying on someone's heartbeat for identification. Hers has changed subtly.

But it's Lucretia. Clark waves to her as he approaches. ]

I'm not disturbing you, am I?

[scholiast]

(It takes her a moment to notice somebody is approaching: she's quite fixated upon her shields, taken with the way they reflect the clouds off their glassy surface. His wave catches her attention however, and she blinks, smiling once she realises who it is.)

No– no, not at all. Hi.

(She's aware that it must be odd for him to see her like this. She shifts self-consciously, tugs at the sleeve of her robes.)

It's good to see you again.

[signifies]

You too.

Do you remember being here?

[ He treads carefully. Bucky had recognised him, but he was vague about everything.

Lucretia looks like she's gone in the opposite direction. ]

[scholiast]

I do. Shouldn't I?

(Then again, she's met quite a lot of people who don't seem to remember ever being here– but they had all seemingly been cast into the past by the chalice instead of the future.)

[signifies]

Just checking.

[ He's been lucky. Nobody's forgotten him. ]

How far in the future are you?