[open] who will go down to those shady groves

[eternalmagic]

who: Anyone
what: General CR building
when: September, post-Dragosta
where: Miscellaneous
warnings: idk are the Taaco twins gonna be there



.I. Waterbending
[Barring a few unfortunate incidents (no offense meant), he was able to avoid most of the chaos that took over the city during the Dragosta festival. Not that he has anything against festivals. He participates in plenty back home, albeit usually for ritualistic reasons. This one just happened to outpace his willingness to assimilate -- primary reason being that if his soulmate is here, he'd rather not know about it.

In any case, he only retreats for as long as it takes all the fuss to die down (especially for those damn fairy lights to dissipate), and then it's back to regular scheduled programming of trying to get Riverview's damn elements to let him play.

The weather's still nice. And water tends to be the most reasonable element to negotiate with. So he's swimming. If that seems weird, then joke's on you, because it's starting to work.]


.II. All-nighters
[Aside from classes, errands and the odd venture into the city, Mordred can typically be found in just one place.

Gramarye has swallowed him. He had high hopes for the resources available within the magical research facility, and so far he hasn't been disappointed. The opportunity to venture beyond the wall for a more thorough pass has yet to present itself, and Mordred isn't so dismissive of Bryn as his guide that he's prepared to risk her extreme displeasure by simply strolling out there himself. What that means is, he has to rely almost solely on Gramarye for information, and he has thoroughly devoted himself to the task of absorbing it.

It's been a few days. And nights. Requiring significantly less sleep means that a) he gets more accomplished, and b) his roommate Draco basically has an entire apartment to himself, minus one corner cloaked in darkness and stars.

This evening (morning? afternoon?) Mordred is three stories up in the library, balancing on a ladder as he selects the books he wants to work through next. Every once in a while, he'll toss a book sideways, whereupon it spirals down and settles delicately on top of a stack accumulating at one corner of a large table below. There are a few plants gathered on the other end of the table, like specimens, preserved in bubbles of what looks like shimmering glass.]


.III. Cocktails
[Through the graciousness of Millennial Loki, Mordred has acquired VIP access at the club Trixie.

However, he hasn't actually used it yet.

He's been sort of systematically trying out all of the places in Riverview that serve alcohol, not because he is often in the mood for a drink, but should the mood strike, ostensibly it's best to know exactly where to go. Trixie has turned out to be one of those places, not just because he gets along with the owner, but because the bartender likes to experiment and Mordred is not opposed to judging the results.

He's there tonight, leaning on the bar, distractedly nursing something that is three different neon colors and has a name he didn't bother to hear before he started drinking it.]

Comments

[spellslots]

Well, over here we have a big ol' stretch of fuck all, and behind us I think there's another swath of emptiness. [He's gesturing as he talks, tone wry but amused.] If you look to your left, you might catch a glimpse of the vast nothingness of space.

[Annnd he shrugs.]

The ethereal plane is a filter, between the material plane and all the others. Not a whole lot happens here, but I do not know this reality well enough to go sticking my dick into the elemental planes.

[eternalmagic]

[His smile grows, and this time he does look away. Lifting his hand draws faint wisps through his fingers, like running them through a cloud. A subtle shift of the atmosphere.]

Best not, unless you know for certain what's going to come back with you.

[He looks down at his palm for a moment, at the glimmering beneath his skin. His own magic becomes more visible in places like this. But in short order his attention comes right back up to Taako again.]

There are many between places like this where I come from. But they're never this quiet for no reason.

[spellslots]

There's things that can live in here, sometimes ghosts get stuck on their way to the astral plane, or other creatures that fuck around with the in-between places. I got kinda used to it being full of scouts for the cosmic terror that'd been hunting us for a century, but we kicked its ass, so....

[So now it's empty again.]

[eternalmagic]

The cosmic terror, hm? [Cue a very expressive eyebrow.] What kind of trouble do you get yourself into, Taako?

[spellslots]

All sorts. [He winks, and with that gesture drops the spell, pulling them back into the material plane because honestly: the ethereal plane gives him the heebie-jeebies a little.] But you can blame Lup for that one, she's the one who wanted to join the institute.

[eternalmagic]

What is the institute?

[OMINOUS. In the meantime, he picks up his drink again, and also flags down the bartender because he promised.]

And what are you having?

[spellslots]

Let's go with a daiquiri.

[Easy choice and they're hard to fuck up.]

The institute is the Institute of Planar Research and Exploration, who we worked for before uh, it got destroyed, I guess? Can you still work for an organisation that hasn't existed for a century?

[Asking the hard questions.]

[eternalmagic]

[You should let Mordred fix you a drink sometime, Taako.]

I think that'd make you the organization. Did this cosmic terror start hunting you before or after that?

[spellslots]

[Yes??? absolutely??]

Well, that tracks. [That makes Davenport the boss-boss. Which is an odd thought, considering the past year.] But it started coming for our crew, so - after. We kept taking its toys, if by toys we're talking about the realities it wanted to consume to make itself more powerful.

[eternalmagic]

[Okay, so... yeah. Cosmic terror.]

I can honestly say that sort of thing doesn't happen often where I come from. [There are apocalyptic beasts, sure, but nothing quite so extra on that scale.

Unless you start talking elder gods. Which you shouldn't.]

[spellslots]

Doesn't happen often to most people who're here, but we went through like a hundred worlds that did get absolutely fucked over by the Hunger. [So, you know, it happened a lot.] And we were just the ones that got stuck with fixing it.

[There's bitterness there, because even if the fact they had to fight the Hunger is the only reason they didn't die during its first attack, it still controlled their lives for far too long.]

[eternalmagic]

[Mordred frowns a little, sympathetic to that bitter taste in Taako's mouth. That's a responsibility to no should have, and to hell with whoever could be blamed for causing it.]

Sorry to hear it. [His tone is genuine, and he finishes his drink.] The trouble with being someone who can do things is that you usually have to.

was it tho

[spellslots]

Well, let's not overestimate my abilities too much, it was mostly Barry and Lup who figured all our shit out.

[He was the one who came up with the final plan that stopped the Hunger, but they never would've made it as far as they did without Barry and Lup working with the light, and, Istus had a lot to do with Taako's idea.]

But it's done, Morrissey the cosmic terror is super dead.

stop

[eternalmagic]

Sure. I wouldn't discount a group effort. [...okay, but.]

Its name was Morrissey?

never

[spellslots]

Oh, no, it's name was John but like... it's whole deal was how terrible existence was so it wanted to destroy everything because he was sad, I guess?

[Existentialism, the cosmic horror terror.]

So.... Morrissey.

[From Fantasy The Smiths.]

[eternalmagic]

[He is... so offended, on behalf of everything magical and dignified.]

If I was a cosmic abomination going around named John I think I'd want to start unmaking reality, too.

[spellslots]

He started out as a dude, actually. I'm a little iffy on how the whole process worked cause the only one in our crew to talk to him was real bad at relaying information except the wrong way around.

[AKA Merle kept giving John info on them without getting good info out of John.]

[eternalmagic]

That makes a little more sense, but I'm still grossly disappointed.

[So disappointed, in fact, that he's going to order another drink. Since Taako is also getting that daiquiri.]

Did he still look like a person?

[spellslots]

Uh... kinda? I only saw him right at the end, and he like-- [Taako carefully alters his glamour to show what John's skin looked like, with the black opal cracks, then reverts the glamour back to normal.] That was kinda creepy and then once we killed him it got hella fucked up, he got real big and real spooky.

[eternalmagic]

[Mordred actually pauses for a moment. That looks... unexpectedly familiar. He doesn't dislike it, either. Aesthetic.

Thanks for confirming what that glamour was, by the way.]

So you killed him, but he didn't die?

[spellslots]

Killed him, he got a final form cause that's just how this shit fucking works, but we killed that too, and then we trapped the Hunger in a real powerful shield. It can't - it needs bonds to exist? So when we cut it off, it died.

[Or as much as it could die. More like it stopped existing and the worlds it had consumed reverted to normal, but same diff.]

[eternalmagic]

[Mordred is fascinated by this story. And, weirdly, sort of jealous? Nothing like that has ever happened to him, his world is mostly treasure hunting and high-stakes puzzles, in a manner of speaking.

Wouldn't be the worst thing if something devoured reality out his way, either.]

Well. For a resume like yours, buying you a drink seems like the least I can do.

[spellslots]

[Don't be jealous it was horrible.]

With a face like mine buying me a drink is the least someone can do. [He's so full of himself.

And will also be full of daiquiri, thank you.] Shame we fucking bit it, I could've got used to everyone knowing we saved the entire universe and shit.

[eternalmagic]

[He is willing to barter horrible.]

With an attitude like that, it's the least I'm going to do. [He doesn't have to encourage this.

But he does raise an eyebrow there.] You died? [It is pretty cavalier, the way he says this.]

[spellslots]

Good man.

[Taako winks, not at all perturbed by the whole death thing, which he waves away dismissively.]

I've died like twenty times and hasn't stuck yet, maybe it won't this time.

[He's not that hopeful, really, but it doesn't matter. He can't change it.]