[open] Catch-All for the Remainder of August

[tempredmental]

who: Keith & YOU
what: Various things... training, exploring town, Perimeter Guard stuff, whatever! Open to backdated amnesia stuff if desired, just let me know.
when: Can go all the way back to the beginning of August if desired, but definitely carries through until September 1st.
where: Around town!
warnings: None right now, but will edit and add if needed.

Top levels below for things I already know are coming. Feel free to make your own if you want something specific! Hit me up if you want to plot. I'm open! duches77

I can thread in just about any style. I'll match yours. :)

Comments

[tempredmental]

"I guess?" Keith shrugged. "That would depend on what you consider an airship to be." He thought for a moment. "You have... boats? Think of that, completely sealed closed, and it can fly up among the stars. Like past the mooon." Of course, they were currently on a moon, but it didn't feel like a moon, so that was kind of moot. But, he was hoping that made some sense.

[verflair]

“An airship is very much like a seafaring vessel, only it flies thanks to a special kind of fuel called ceruleum.” Which sounds somewhat like Keith’s description, though it’s clear that Eorzea has a long way to go before they’re flying men out beyond the moon. “But they can only go so high. Nothing quite like what you’re suggesting.”

It’s a fascinating thought, though, to be able to travel between stars in a ship, negating the need for powerful and questionable magic like that used by the Ascians, who slip through space as they please.

“Anyroad, you’ll have to forgive an ignorant old man. We’ve not even half the technology I’ve seen here where I come from.”

[tempredmental]

"That's okay," Keith said. "It's actually relatively new for where I'm from, too." He looked around as they made their way along. "The stuff here is pretty on par for what I've seen, but we've also been to some planets where things aren't quite as advanced." The differences could sometimes be a bit jarring, but it was something Keith was slowly getting used to. They had gone from one planet that thought they were gods because of their technology, to another that was even more advanced than they were. So, it was definitely all relative.

[verflair]

That makes sense, all things considered. If this world can exist alongside his own and be so vastly different, then surely there must be more out there all along the scale of development and technological advancement. Not forgetting the situation in his own world, as well.

“I’ve seen that sort of disparity even across a single continent, so I’m not surprised there are entire worlds that are like that.” The Garlean Empire, with their inability to use magic, mastered magitek instead, and brings it down on the heads of anyone they please. But that’s a dark line of thought, and sure to ruin the mood.

“Do you have magic where you’re from?”

[tempredmental]

"Sort of..." That was an odd answer, but definitely the best he could think of. "There are some groups of people I've met who can use something that seems magical, but I'm not exactly sure how it works. But, from Earth? My own planet? No. Nothing real beyond slights of hand and tricks to fool people."

[verflair]

“I see.”

He knows that not everyone from his home possesses the ability to wield magic, but its presence is still everywhere. How strange it is to think that there entire stars out there without it. They probably get by on their technology, like Keith’s suit. If the blade at his back had some kind of technological element to it, he wouldn’t be surprised.

“I was simply curious. I myself am a mage, so don’t become alarmed if I suddenly start throwing lightning and fire around.”

[tempredmental]

Keith nodded.

"Nah, it's fine. I don't mind answering, and thanks for the heads up."

He definitely would have been startled by that kind of magic. Even what he had seen so far didn't involve actually doing that kind of stuff.

"How does it work? Is it just spells and stuff or is it like an innate power?"

[verflair]

He cants his head a little as he considers. For X’rhun, magic was as natural as anything, so having to explain it to someone who had never experienced it was going to be a challenge.

“Yes and yes,” he says finally. “There is a force called aether that is in everything around us, including you and I. It’s the source of life, and the source of magic. Certain mages channel aether in different ways to fuel their spells. White and black mages draw from the ambient aether around them, and if left unchecked, can lay waste to entire nations just by draining the land dry. A red mage, such as myself, channels their own internal sources of aether for spellcasting, using their body as a conduit.”

[tempredmental]

A lot of people believed in this 'life force' thing, it seemed, and they all seemed to have different names for it. But, at least Keith was able to make a connection to the idea by mentally thinking of it to be similar to quintessence. It was the closest he knew of, anyway.

"Huh... and you use that to make your spells and stuff." He nodded a little. The idea of someone being able to drain it completely and lay waste to something also, unfortunately, wasn't something Keith was all that unfamiliar with. Zarkon's Altean witch companion, Haggar, had come up with something called the komar that was able to do that exact thing... drain the quintessence from an entire planet in mere minutes, essentially killing it off. It made him wonder how the five of them had survived inside Voltron and were still able to power it back up after she had hit them with it that time... but he didn't want to question it too badly. He felt like that was potentially a very dark road to send his mind down.

"It sounds similar to something I've heard of back home. We hadn't been exposed to it knowingly on Earth, but, once we joined up with Allura, she uses it all the time." He considered it for a moment. "In a way, she's probably like you. She uses her own energy to do stuff. It drains her pretty bad sometimes."

[verflair]

Much like the War of the Magi, a conflict between the mages of black and white, which ravaged the land so badly that magic of any sort was outlawed for a time. White magic drifted its way back into use, thanks to its healing spells, and its practitioners are carefully guided by the Conjurer’s Guild. Black magic is more of a touchy subject. It is practiced by the Thaumaturges of Ul’dah, but sparingly. Anything more is still considered illegal.

“If a red mage does his job right, he shouldn’t suffer for it.” Granted, there were limits to one’s mana, but that only becomes an issue if the fight goes overlong with no time for rest. He flashes Keith a wide smile, a glint of mischief in his eye. “Mayhaps something will trundle its way out of the brush in search for lunch and you’ll get a chance to see it firsthand.”

He’s just teasing, and would never attack something that did not, in fact, attack him first.

[tempredmental]

Well, if it was in search for lunch, there was a pretty high chance that they would be that potential lunch, so Keith wouldn't have minded if X'rhun attacked first, quite honestly. The monsters in the woods weren't all known for being cute and cuddly and friendly. Keith had met a few when they had traveled to the temple to set that god asleep.

"Yeah... maybe." He shrugged a little, giving a small smirk of his own in response. It was all good either way. "Though, personally? I'd rather this ended up being a blander patrol." Not that he minded fighting, but doing it all the time could get pretty tiring.