Fourth: Myths and Legends, backdated to Valentine's Evening (Video; un: Caster)

[colchismagecraft]

[There were advantages and disadvantages to using the money she'd gotten from carrying out Morgana's suspicious request in order to find a larger place to stay. On one hand, she had more space to keep her things and it didn't feel so cramped - she might even have room for a potion-brewing workshop at some point. On the other hand, yes, she had more space to herself, but it was Valentine's Day.

And she was here by herself, without the one person she wanted to spend it with.

After spending a week or so chasing around a man from her world who was responsible for her demise.

Desperate for something to take her mind off all of it, she took to the network to try and find a distraction.

Caster can be seen sitting in a darkened room, face and body mostly hidden by the shadows of her cloak. You know, because that totally didn't look ominous.]

For those who haven't met me yet- I am known as Caster. A pleasure.

As the people who've been brought here are from many different worlds, I can't help but be a little curious. Tell me, what myths and legends are the most well known, where you're from? What about those you personally find the most interesting?

I'd say that the Greek Myths are my personal area of interest, but... picking a favourite would be difficult.

[A hint to who she was, perhaps, but it wasn't as if she'd actually told many people she was a heroic spirit from myth - so it should be a safe comment.]

Either way, feel free to share. I'm curious to know who's myths overlap with the ones I know, as well as learn a little about other people's worlds.

[There was a short pause, before a dark smirk comes into her face. She may have been just a little bitter about the whole cupid arrow nonsense.]

...Ah, and Archer? If you're watching this, I will make you regret humiliating me with those arrows of yours-!

Comments

[colchismagecraft]

[If you had any idea about her actual reputation Klaudia... Still, despite herself, the comment made her smile.]

oh not at all
but people certainly had a reaction when i appeared that was for sure

all it means is that spirits like myself made a significant impact on myth or history
for better or for worse

[More like 'March of the Witch Hunters' than anything else.]

well this might make a nice change

[There was a pause as she tried to find the phone icon...sending a picture first of her confused face, half hidden by her hood. Then of her floor with her finger half obscuring the shot.

And there we go, there was a photo of a housecat sized skeletal dragon!]

it's easy to find ritual components if you know where to look

i found putting the dragon to sleep first more affective than fighting it directly 🐲💤

[sulit]

So you *are* famous! My commentary still stands, then. I'll have to go find the nearest fainting couch; I'm starting to feel light-headed already~ 😔

[She's not going to let this go now.]

Oh! Those look like my first pictures! But I had the good sense to delete them. 🤭 I'm going to save these in case I ever need blackmail~

But I like your skeleton dragon! It's so cute! I would say that I want one, but then Favi will get mad at me, and I won't see her for a day and a half. So please take note of my desire to speak the truth here!

Do you kill the (not skeletal) dragon once it's asleep? I can't imagine it would stay asleep if you start pulling its teeth out. And I don't imagine it'll be happy to wake up without a bite.

[colchismagecraft]

well i will take fainting in admiration over fainting in fear i suppose 😳

oh no whatever will i do now it's too late to delete them

[She's not sure sarcasm will come through text, but hey.]

do you have a picture of favi i'd like to see her
but thank you the little one is sweet
i think it was worried i was lonely and now won't move from my lap

putting it to sleep with magic meant it didn't wake up and i didn't stay around long enough to see its reaction

have you encountered dragons before?

[Maybe in some dungeons?]

[sulit]

[Her next message comes attached with a picture of a fiery red-gold bird, about the size and shape of a falcon, save for the long peacock-like tail feathers. Despite the chill of mid-winter, it sits perched on an open windowsill, glowing bright enough to cause a lens flare on the picture.]

This is her. Her name means "glowing ember". She's very picky about when she comes and goes, so I am probably going to freeze before spring comes. 🥶❄️☃️

You're very lucky that those dragons don't wake up while you're pulling their teeth! I'm sure plenty of people have lost arms and more that way.

I haven't encountered any dragons myself. I don't think they like living on the ocean? Unless they're sea dragons, I guess. I don't really want to meet a sea dragon! 🌊⛵️🐲

[I will fight you over that pun.]

[colchismagecraft]

she's pretty
hopefully she won't leave you getting too cold before the weather warms up again
or else you'll need a good blanket

oh i'm sure
i've teased the little one about using its fangs for ritual components before and it usually gets whiny with me
it's rather endearing

[Caster don't pick on your familiar like that, it's not very nice.]

oh have you spent a lot of time at sea as well?
i suppose the closest to a sea dragon i've seen would be a hydra but thankfully that one was dead before our ship encountered it

🌊⛵🌊

[sulit]

I live on the sea, so yes, I have spent a lot of time on it! 🌊⛵🌊

[Not as much as some, but half a year is a lot of time by her standards.]

Do hydras live in the sea where you're from? That's weird. I'm used to hearing about them nesting in marshes or by lakes and ponds. I guess if a hydra is used to nesting in saltwater marshes, they might make their nest by the ocean instead... But I've definitely never seen one. I don't think they'd like deep water very much.

[colchismagecraft]

interesting
i used to live on the sea but that was a long long time ago now

[The voyage certainly felt like it took an extraordinarily long time.]

swamps are more usual certainly

what is the most dangerous creature you saw out at sea?

[sulit]

Ah! A fellow seafarer! 🌊🥰

I don't know which is the most dangerous creatures we've seen so far... Do other people count? Because it's probably other people.

We did have to fight some huge crabs, though. And skeletons.

[colchismagecraft]

yes it was
an interesting voyage

that is fair people can be dangerous but they are also easiest to manipulate
you can't do the same with monsters
or gods if you've angered them

skeletons hm?

[sulit]

Interesting how?

Hmm. I'd rather face monsters and gods, honestly. Those seem easier. There's a lot of people that you can't manipulate, no matter what you try. At least if a monster wants to kill us, that's not personal.

What's that hm about? You can't just type hm and put a question after it; that's unfair. Do you like skeletons? ☠️💖 Do you not like them? ☠️❌

[colchismagecraft]

[There was a hesitation before she replied- and even then, her typing seemed to somehow get even worse as she did so. There was... a lot, there.]

it was my first time leaving home
andthe last timem i saw itt

monsters i can manage but a
a godcan desstroy your will or twist your emotions on a whim
youre right about people though some can be truly horriblle

[Herself included.

Oh, Klaudia had asked a question hadn't she?]

i used those dragon fangs to summon skeletal familiars to fight for me at home
they proved useful enough if not very resilient

[sulit]

[Oh. That's a whole lot of emotion that she doesn't know how to relate to. Someone who doesn't view leaving home as a good thing? Wild. She has enough awareness to realize that Caster is upset, but not enough understanding to know what to say there. Just an awkward pressure that's lodged in her chest.]

[But the mention of gods messing with people... That's something she can relate to little more.]

Well, if I notice any gods messing with you, I'll help you take them out. I already have one on my list, so why not another~ ⚔️🌌🔮 (I would select better pictures if I knew what kind of god, but I will make due~)

[This is helping, right? Unrelenting optimism and irreverence in equal measure always makes her feel better.]

We met a group of skeleton pirates while stopping at an island that we thought was deserted. They're not very resilient, no-- so I don't know why they kept insisting on fighting us, but we got them to stop eventually!

[colchismagecraft]

[If Klaudia didn't press, she certainly wasn't going to elaborate. That comment about Gods gave her pause, though-]

does that mean you have killed a god or you plan to? i suppose it wouldn't be impossible

but thank you i appreciate the thought

i think for goddess of love and beauty i would go with 💔💘💋

[Yup possibly has a grudge against Aphrodite. Oh dear.

At least she was cheering up a little.]

was anyone controlling them or were they simply reanimated of their own accord?

[sulit]

Oh, we plan to kill one. You don't mess with our crew and get away with it. And they seem like a terrible deity, anyway.

⚔️💀😭
⚔️💋💔

Consider your terrible goddess added to the list~

As for who was controlling the skeletons... It's complicated? They died on the island we visited, which had a temple dedicated to this god. There was a lot of necromantic energy suffuse through the island, so they were reanimated automatically--but the only reason they died in the first place was because this god manipulated their captain into killing them.

I don't think it could control them directly, but it was definitely responsible for them being the way that they were.

[colchismagecraft]

she is terrible
perfect 🔥🔥🔥

that god sounds pretty awful as well to be honest
but puppeting people to fight for you has its uses

[sulit]

I think most death gods are pretty awful, even when they're not mind controlling people.

Do you do that sort of thing? Puppeting people? Other than skeletons, I mean.

[colchismagecraft]

at least they don't tend to toy with people for fun

i was in a war between magi at home
puppeting people was one tactic i resorted to in order to get an upper hand

[sulit]

Since when? I thought that was normally godly behavior. (Exceptions withstanding, of course. 🌙🧭)

Hmm. Next question: Do you do that often, then? Or is magically manipulating people's actions a sometimes thing? Or a rarely?

On a scale of 1 to 5, how frequently would you say you control people? 1 being about once a year, and 5 being about once a week.

[colchismagecraft]

it is normal godly behaviour
exceptions withstanding indeed 🧙‍♀️🔮🌃💫

it feels a little strange referring to her with those symbols

[Was it disrespectful to describe her Goddess with emojis? She's not entirely sure.]

in my lifetime i didn't make a habit of calling on magic like that
during the war itself it proved itself rather useful

[So something like a 0.5 usually and a 6 during a war, by Klaudia's scale.]

[sulit]

They're good symbols! She should be proud of them!

Hmm. Interesting. Good to know!

Is that a thing you can do here? I don't think you've mentioned which kind of magic you're capable of.

[And if she did, then Klaudia's already forgotten.]

[colchismagecraft]

i would hope so

not here not yet
dark magic
and you?

[sulit]

Alchemy. I hadn't considered this a school of magic before, but it's rather a lot like Transmutation magic that I'm used to.

I guess if I have to be saddled with having only *one* kind of magic, then this is a pretty good one!

What's yours like? What can you do with it so far?

[colchismagecraft]

alchemy hm? the potion brewing side of that seems useful
transmutation?
changing things from one form to another?

mostly curses
i miss being able to fly

[sulit]

I haven't tried potion brewing just yet... It never seemed particularly useful to me. My captain dabbled in it a bit, I think, but mostly ones of a medicinal nature.

To answer your question: Transmutation is the school of magic that involved altering the nature of things. Not just from one physical form to another, but larger or faster, more graceful or charismatic. It could also control the existing elements, grant levitation or flight, disintegrate or regenerate matter, or place a creature into suspended animation. Incredibly powerful transmuters could even turn objects into sentient, autonomous creatures or stop time itself.

So far, alchemy seems to be a limited version of only the core tenets of transmutation magic, but I'm still working with it.

[colchismagecraft]

you can do a lot with potion brewing if you know how to use it properly
although medicinal potions are a little more difficult than poisons in my experience

i see
it sounds as if in your world that one school of magic covers a very wide range of abilities
in mine magecraft is a little more granular in how it defines itself
for example projection magic to create or change things
or reinforcement to make them or people more powerful
creating boundary fields to affect the conditions and properties within an area

that sort of thing

but yes from what you've said it sounds as if alchemy encompasses a small part of that