Private - Somewhere between Magic and Science!

thwack, thwack, thwack

Vivian had thrust her arms out and shot her body to the side as her offensive spells collided with the nature of a tree trunk. The dark pellets of energy had seeped into the evergreen before it slowly started to rot away bit by bit. It was not much by any means. The once brown trunk now looked diseased and worn in place of its natural and hardy wood. The leaves had wilted, the once verdant color now a blackened and dry, crusty exterior. The woman sighed, sweeping sweat and hair from her brow as she folded her arms over her chest.

She was not a mobile creature, she liked slow movements that paced with her mind. She wouldn't get freaked out by crazy movements by other people, but she was somewhat paranoid of ninjas and the like. Inhaling softly, the woman shook her hand to get the feeling and the blood circulating. Spell bombs were not exactly her go to attack types, but she needed to understand what limits she had on her own skills. It had been one thing after another since that odd event taken place. Vivian had a horrible time getting her act together due to some time restraints but things were OK so far. Maybe all she really needed was some motivation from a different source?

Brushing the long mauve locks from off her shoulders, Vivian set a course back to town. Her sultry catwalk was more like a slow, and tired trudge as she ached from the day of training. Shifting with a moderate sway, she was still able to keep her womanly gait as she entered the town. Azure eyes scanned around, she would need something hard to drink to get her tired mind awake. Though the option of just logging out for the night seemed rather appetizing.

Vivian was getting more than ready to do just that. She had more than enough time in the game world and getting back to reality and a night's sleep sounded like bliss. She was just started to make the movements to logout when she noticed something rather particular. A crimson haired man with a plethora of junk just sitting out on the side of the street. The woman had tilted her head to the side and just gave a puzzled expression as she drew close. She leaned over a little, her hips pivoting side to side as her body moved as she just looked at this collection of...junk?

"Umm, what manner of witchcraft is this?" she asked out loud, somewhat ignorant about the idea of Tinkerers and what they actually do. She thought it was just some random mastery people picked up because it was a niche skill to have. Or it could simply be that he was a junk collector of sorts? Vivian could respect that, she too enjoyed collected artifacts of the dark variety. @Emerath Katou

 

Emerath wanted to understand tinkering, and so he had spent the better part of his day after logging in just... collecting. He wasn't sure what he needed, so he just kinda grabbed everything. NPCs had given him sour looks all day as he pulled bits and bobs from out of the trash cans of various alleyways, before finally finding himself sitting on a nice pile and random assortment of just... things. Don't worry, he had gone to an inn to wash after dumpster diving.

Idly, Emerath took a rag and wiped down a few pieces that he thought he could use for his current project. He was looking for a way to make a grappling hook launcher in this game. It was very medieval, so he would have to get creative. He couldn't exactly make a grappling pistol if pistols didn't exist. But he had a few ideas.

Everything started with a bow handle. He needed that to give him the grip necessary to fire. So he took an old hand saw he had found and, due to its rustiness, it took him a good ten minutes to chew through the bow wood. But once he was done, he held just a bow handle from a broken bow in his hand.

Next, he grabbed a nearby wooden coaster he had borrowed from the tavern. He didn't think they would end up missing it much. Bars didn't usually care about coasters. And then he grabbed some wood glue. This was about the only thing he actually bought. He couldn't have his inventions falling apart, at least not immediately. And then he glued the coaster to the handle, before taking a nearby metal knife and punching a hole in the center of the coaster to allow room for the hook to mount.

Before scrambling for his grappling hook that he had salvaged, he grabbed some balloons that some kids had thrown away, and then cut a decent sized chunk out of a larger piece of rubber that he had. Finally, he glued this to the back of the coaster in a way that could allow for pulling and launching, similar to a rubber band, but in a more pouch sort of fashion. And then he grabbed the grappling hook, and stuck it in the hole. It didn't fit of course. So Emerath chipped away at it until it did. But when it did, it looked beautiful. Well, that was a lie, it looked like a cobbled together piece of crap. But it was beautiful in its own way.

Grappling Hook Slingshot

Tested the draw on the grappling hook, pulling the rubber and watching the grappling hook pull back with it. It functioned similar to a very small bow, and Emerath could appreciate that. In the hands of an archer, this thing could probably be powerful. In his hands, it probably just relied on not falling apart.

As he tested how far he could pull the rubber so that it wouldn't snap, he heard a voice nearby and it startled him out of his thoughts, as he accidentally released the grappling hook and sent it flying. It had thankfully narrowly missed hitting any people in the street, but he was pretty sure he heard a clang and then an angry cat yelp. He'd have to make sure he found that later. He cursed himself for playing around with it without tying any rope to it first.

Emerath sighed and looked over to the woman, slowly standing so that he wasn't just looking up at her, before indicating his invention to her from her incredulous assumption. "It isn't witchcraft, it's technology. I understand that this game runs on magic, but I'm more science minded. And so I'm tinkering with stuff." He pointed to his grappling hook slingshot and said, "This shoots a grappling hook. So that one could rappel up a building or something. Provided this thing doesn't fall apart. I'm still pretty new at this." Emerath looked over in the direction of the hissing cat noises. "Also you made me lose my grappling hook."

 

As the woman made her comment, it must've have startled the red haired player. Whatever that doohickey thing-a-majig in his hand was, it shot something unfamiliar to the woman as it was launched way skyward. The woman's mouth was agape as she looked on with interest. Her eyes got big and round and cute before he started to talk.

"Umm, no." She said flatly waving her finger side to side, "That was all you. You should have been paying more attention to your surroundings." She said with a matter of fact tone. But her smile lit up as it always had and she moved her arms once more to her back as to not touch anything. It was all looking rather...dirty.

The woman had leaned in once again looking at his pile of things. It looked rather interesting, she had never actually met a Tinkerer in this world, or one who was out in the open about it. A man of science as he seemed to call himself, or at least his mind. The woman turned one hand over and scratched the back of her head, "I kinda wanna see that thingy again shoot. I'm a city girl, so this kind of stuff looks pretty interesting. Hey! Have you tried infusing some of your knick-knacks with magic before?"

The woman turned and knelt down his pile of goodies. She would, for this time only, sift through the junk he collected and began to rummage through it. As she had done so, she kept saying "Mmm" and "mmm" looking for something more exact to what her mind was sculpting out.

Finally standing and dusting her hands off, "Well, if you are new you probably have only the basics down. I highly doubt you are the only Tinkerer in the game. We should go look for a book or something that might help give you access to more...ideas? Stuff? Oooh, maybe one day Astorea will have a fleet of Zeppelins or something? Oh my gosh! Science is so amazing! I'll tell you what! I'll help you find your grappling hook, but you have to let me watch you build your next big-thing!"

Vivian gave a small laugh and shook her head, her perfume coming off as she had moved closer to the young man. She normally did not do this sort of thing, but he was an interesting individual and so she moved her hand out, "My name is Vivian Cruz, it's a pleasure to meet you." Normally, she would give the others the pleasure of meeting her, but this one had some interesting talents she had not seen in the game yet and one who was using technology as a thing, well! There seemed to be some fun in this, especially if he could create a series of automaton bodies so she could fill them with wicked, black magic. The thought only made her smile and her heart thump.

 

Emerath raised an eyebrow as the woman not only blamed him for losing his grappling hook, but also went rummaging through his stuff. He wasn't sure what the woman had managed to grab, as she instead moved to commenting on his newness to the game. Was it that obvious? She certainly was excited though. "Now, I wouldn't go so far as to say that I can learn how to build zeppelins. But it's a possibility. We'd need a lot more for that sort of task. Engineers, shipwrights, and then lots of power." But Emerath couldn't deny that it was a fun thought.

When she finally introduced herself, Emerath gave a light bow and said, "My name is Emerath. The pleasure is all mine," before he stood up again and gave the woman a smile. Her excitement appeared to be rubbing off on him, and at least someone was interested in his gadgets. He would just have to prove himself in time. But for now, he had a grappling hook to find.

Emerath pointed off to the alley way across the street, before walking in that direction and talking as he walked, "I've considered magic infusion as a major way to get power in this world. There isn't any coal that I know of, and modern electricity as we know it isn't going to be invented for quite some time. But magic exists in this world, so magitech would probably be the best course of action." Emerath rubbed his chin as he walked up to the trash can where he had heard the cat cry out and presumably where the hook had landed. Sure enough, as he peered his head into the can, he saw a cat angrily pawing at the metal object that had disturbed its current home. Thankfully to Emerath though, the creature appeared to have suffered no real damage from the hook.

Slowly, Emerath went to reach his hand into the can, but the cat wasn't having this, as it hissed and the claws took a swipe at him. "Well. I don't think I'm going to be getting that back right now..." he muttered, before turning his attention back to the woman while he thought of the best course of action. "Do you use magic? Is that why you asked about tinkering and magic infusion?"

 

Vivian tucked her hands behind her back to watch Emerath sink his hand into the can. She heard the loud hiss and him backing away. The woman laughed with a small smile and shook her head, "Shall I?" She asked. As she moved towards the can and the cat, the woman looked over her shoulder as Emerath asked is she used magic.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I might dabble." Looking down at the adorable cat, Vivian smiled at the cute thing and lowered one hand down not to grab at anything but to let the feline get a feel for her hand. She could feel the whiskers on her finger tickle her flesh. Then there was a soft meow from the kitten. Vivian leaned over a bit more and took the cat out and placed it over her shoulder where the cat pushed its face into her cheek as she scratched his chin.

"Your hook is free, Sir Emerath." Lady Cruz stated while she kept a finger curling over the ears of the kitten. The woman moved away for Emerath to retrieve his object, "My form of magic is probably not the best for infusion. I am a malefimancer. Curses. Hexes. Make things rot...pull the life force from things. These are the sort of things I can do, but still quite useful."

The woman took the cat from off her shoulder and placed it on the ground. The cat turned about and circled her meowing as it leaned into her, the long tail flicking back and forth as it sat by her and started to groom. Vivian's azure eyes looked down at the cat, and she started to smirk. Her finger started to roll around in the air calling a sort of dark power. Even the very air she stood in seemed to slacken as a black wisp of smoke seemed to form from the tip of her nail.

It circled down towards the cat, spiraling around the creature as it started to paw at it. "At this point...it's just very basic. But if I go a little deeper..." The woman's eyes sat on her target, the cat, her finger moving a little more as the flash of azure was now slightly stained with a vile, purple color. Slowly the cat seemed to have some trouble moving as the smoke traveled around it. The wisp of black fog, while inhaled, would cause the creature to immediately drop dead. However, she was not cruel to such innocent creatures and before anything devious were to happen, the black smoke was gone.

"You said you would need a powerful source, correct? Perhaps a rock or a crystal as the host for a soul?" her eyes flickered at the player while her purple brows raised. "What if we were to trap something, a spirit or perhaps an NPC and bond its life to this crystal as a source of power. Do you think that would help fire something up? Besides, human life is the best source of electricity is it not? Of course that would be a gray area, would it not?" The feline seemed to be doing alright, suffering only mild side effect of her small blossom of deadly magic. She wondered if it was possible to capture a spirit into a stone or crystal of sorts and then use that to fuel a machine of some sort. That would be interesting to create an army with.

"The problem would be finding a crystal, rock or thing for the spirit to possess and using that object to be the power source of your invention."

 

As Emerath watched Vivian's actions, after stepping aside to allow her access to the trash can with the cat in it, he was simultaneously amazed and appalled. The amazement came from the way in which the angry creature had simply gone to the woman with such trust and ease, while Emerath had met with nothing but scorn. The appall had been in her dark magic, enveloping the creature in what Emerath could only assume would be something that killed it. It had already frozen in place, sluggishly looking around, its eyes growing wide. Emerath's eyes grew wide as well, and his heart nearly stopped in his chest as he wished that he could do something to stop the impending doom enveloping the creature.

But then, it just stopped. The smoke was gone, that cat was okay, and Emerath was free to retrieve his hook. So he did, slotting it into his slingshot and making a mental note to not do anything else with it before tying a rope to it. Slowly, he had turned back to her from the can, almost expecting that same black smoke to be enveloping him. His next breath to be his last. He still wasn't sure how player killing worked in this game, and he hoped he wasn't about to find out.

But as he turned, the woman was simply discussing the finer details of how he could contain magic and harness it. Slowly, Emerath's heart calmed itself and he put himself at ease, before flipping the trash can over and sitting on it to continue their discussion. "A fine point," he said, trying not to sound exasperated from her nearly horrific display of magic. "I suppose as a magic user, you would understand these concepts of containing magic better than me. I have known other games to capture magic in crystals. The main issue comes in getting the magic back out. Non-magic users can't easily do this."

Perhaps he would have to make the crystals unstable, so that shaking them produced an outburst of what he was looking for. Alternatives could be using magical tools to draw out the magic in these crystals, but Emerath had no such knowledge of these types of items. "Would you happen to have any experience with magic tools? Do you know of any tools capable of drawing out magic energy from a source? Unstable crystals are also possible, but can be incredibly dangerous, and not to mention volatile."

Emerath just watched the cat saunter off out of the corner of his eye. It appeared to be as healthy as could be. None the worse for wear, besides the fact that it seemed miffed that Emerath had flipped his house over. Emerath tried to push the creature from his mind. Best to stay on the good side of this woman and keep her interest as his own, so that he didn't ask any of the wrong questions.

@Vivian Cruz

 

The woman shrugged neatly at his question, "Not at the moment, but I will eventually. It is on my to do list, I suppose you could say." The woman flicked violet hair off her shoulder, the veil over her eyes from the curtain of purple unmasked her eye as her lithe fingers combed through it. Azure blue, an almost cold steel, looked back at Emerath.

"I have not experienced everything Terra has to offer me. There is much of my Malefimancy that I do not understand as well. The boundaries and the limitations. I might know a person who would though. If you would care to meet up with them?" Her expression held plain, if only her red lips curving into a smile.

"The person I speak of is actually a Duchess and a really good friend of mine. In fact, what I would find interesting if she would allow someone like yourself, a Tinkerer to be part of her Court. Mixing magic and machine is well and good, but would you be able to create siege weapons or defensive armaments as well? Yes, employing such an Artificer might come in handy to her."

The woman mused, a sweeping voice with a honey laugh as she clapped her hands. She was interested in what this boy could do for her Mistress. It was beyond coincidence that she would find him all alone out here. And with money to cover expenses and not only that, he would not be working with trash items.

"Of course..." the woman said looking back at his pile of junk, "You could stay here. In this little town and tinker with...modest resources." The woman said with a small dust off of her hands. Blinking a few times and her eyes moving back to the young inventory, she made her way towards him. Full hips in sway as she brought her arm around his neck, their bodies close enough so the young artificer could smell her perfume well enough. The woman breathed slowly, and lifted her hand towards the air and then as if to cut through the air, her finger made a small visible purple light emanating from the point.

"But she will not readily accept you as you are now. We must prove your worth to her. What can you make that might make someone go 'wow?' I don't think this little contraption of yours is going to do it. We need to think larger and out of the box." Vivian knew very little of the sort of technology or magic tech that could be used in this world. She had yet to even scratch the surface of her own Malefimancy. It was a problem, but a solution would be in hand soon.

"You are far more knowledgeable with the workings of mechanics than I am, there must be some real world knowledge you have that could help with bringing things together. I understand you will need a source of power and something to contain such power. Crystals...Oh!"

The woman spoke, still clung to him closely until she brought her heavy bosom closer to the male squeezing his neck as if she were to whisper into his ear, "How do you feel about going on a little trip with me? Have you heard of the Crystallized Zalra? It's an interesting place and I am sure we will find crystals galore there."

 

Emerath's eyes narrowed as the woman spoke, and he could see her for what she was. A temptress, and a good one. Though the jury was still out on whether or not it was unfortunate that Emerath had little interest in such temptations. Perhaps she was the type who preferred it that way, instead more interested in those that didn't fall for her immediate whimsy. Perhaps that was why she was so interested in what he could offer, outside of his own gentlemanly charms.

But thankfully, the more she spoke, the more she offered, and the more the gears in Emerath's head began to turn. This allowed him to focus on the thing he did immediately fall to whimsy for, and that was his ability to invent. A few paths opened up during her monologue. The first, was that of politics. Though Emerath was uncertain that Malefimancy would be something that could adequately be used in magitech, the woman she spoke of was one with connections. Creating inventions and proving his worth could allow for him to get more of a political standing in Astorea, if what the woman was saying was true.

The second path was that of the crystals. Emerath was still too new to the game to recognize the name of the place in which she spoke, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested. Though Emerath had to take everything with a bit of caution. For all he knew, this woman was leading him to a trap. A temptress she was, and Emerath had to be ever considerate of such things. Last thing he needed was a Death Affliction at the hands of his own carelessness, as he thought of the purple smoke enveloping the feline from only moments before.

But Emerath couldn't truly die, and a Death Affliction, while an inconvenience, might be worth it if the places she spoke of were true. But perhaps he could use his own skills as leverage. As she put her arm around Emerath's shoulder, his nostrils were filled with the smell of the woman, a tempting perfume to go with her tempting ways. Emerath stiffened. Though he made no attempt to pull away from her sudden embrace, it would be clear that he was uncomfortable and rigid from the contact. But he would continue to focus on his own bargaining chip.

"Before I can prove myself, I will need a power source," he explained, "and so that means that I would be interested in showing you just what I can do." Emerath looked at the contraption in his hand, before moving it to his belt and clipping it there, "I can create traps, small turrets, reinforcements and addons for weapons, and I can do so with relative ease now. But I have an idea for one of the crown jewels of my repertoire. Something that will make the little gizmo I made seem like child's play."

Emerath's pupils shifted to the corners of his eyes as he tried to focus on the woman in his peripheral, "But I won't tell you what that is until I have a way to power it reliably. So you scratch my back, and I'll make a backscratcher for yours. Deal?"

 

The woman laughed, cute and warming at his little bargain. She had removed her arm from his shoulder, allowing the tail of her fingernails to softly scratch upon his shoulder as her hand was removed from him completely. Soft azure eyes turned and she moved to his forefront to gather him in all her vision.

Her red lips parted into a smile as she looked to him with a certain nobility factor, perhaps even some delight of a new friend she could make with him. Of course, Vivian was always fond of meeting new people especially when they could be ones to possibly elevate her in status. What girl doesn't like a man who can rise to the occasion?

Vivian of course nodded her head, "I don't suppose I could actually get you to scratch my back yourself. Inventors seem so much more impersonal with their hands towards people rather than their gadgets. But, if that is what it will take, then you have my full attention. I will make this deal with you. I obviously can't let an opportunity such as this slip from my grasp."

The witchy woman had no doubt she might end up having to look for the crystals on her own. Or she could impart some of her temptations upon someone else and have them come along for the ride. She was not one to be especially hands on when it came to things, especially when it was considered hard work. If someone else could do it, she would leave it up to them.

With her hands behind her back and keeping an eye full of the young man, Emerath. She continued with her unrequited smile, her eyes flashing with that azure charm and temptation as she grinned fully. Yes, this was most definitely an appetizing plan. But back to the matter at hand, "What is it you need from me, exactly to help with your endeavors?"

 

Emerath's goal was simple, contain magic. So that was what he needed from the woman, and she seemed to know where to find the answer to this. "I need to contain magic in a shell. Something that can act as a mana battery of sorts. I myself dabble in a bit of aeromancy, and while this means I can create electricity to power creations, it takes my own personal energy to do so. So instead, we need to make a battery, something I can put magical energy into without having to expend my own."

Emerath rubbed his chin as he said, "Bonus points if you can find crystals that already contain this energy. And don't worry, once we find them, I'll be happy to find a way to contain them. No doubt handling them won't be easy considering it'll be charged with energy." And so, Emerath was excited to get on their way. What new place would she take him, and would this spell his doom? He sure hoped not. He'd just have to trust the woman for now, despite her dark powers. Though, if Emerath had learned anything in this world, it's that darkness doesn't necessarily mean evil. He had to hope that was the case here.