Date: 2024-06-08 07:09 pm (UTC)
karsiteweave: (25)
From: [personal profile] karsiteweave
I would like to think we were friends even before, if that isn't too bold, although perhaps not to the same depth. When would suit you? I find my diary entirely open, of late.

Date: 2024-06-10 10:22 pm (UTC)
karsiteweave: (3)
From: [personal profile] karsiteweave
Part of Gale had hoped, perhaps, for a meeting in person. They're both of Thorne, after all, and it would be... somewhat easier to have this conversation that way. In person, part of the problem is more... visually apparent. Istredd might be able to sense something, to understand something, and how much of what they sense here is... real? When your appearance can change at your will.

Still, beggars cannot be choosers.

He's quiet, when he appears in the library. Quiet is, in and of itself, unusual for Gale. He's someone who loves to fill space with chatter, to ask questions, explain every thought. A constant narrative of detail, some unnecessary but he simply cannot help himself. He watches Istredd in silence a moment, studying the curl of his hair and the lines of his back. Then Gale clears his throat. Here, in the Horizon, his own appearance is somewhat neutral. Hair pulled back as it normally is, layered robes with the symbol of the Lovers stitched into them. The glowing mark of the Karsite orb is hidden, but that is his own cowardly choice. He'll have to work up to it.

"Hello," he tries, and there's something about the cheerful greeting that doesn't quite ring true this time. It's awkward, and Gale grimaces himself. "Mmm, I'm usually better at this aren't I? I must confess, I've been feeling a little out of sorts since our adventure. Are you --"

He pauses, takes a hesitant step closer. His own issues aside, Istredd is important too.

"Are you alright?"

Date: 2024-06-12 11:59 am (UTC)
karsiteweave: (24)
From: [personal profile] karsiteweave
"Existing," Gale echoes wryly. He drops into a crouch, holding out a hand to the leosylph gently. If it consents, he'll gently pick it up -- or let it climb him as it prefers. He just wants to stand without risk of dislodging something so soft and small! That, and maybe he misses Tara. The leosylph remind him of tressym.

Ah, but, that isn't the end of his answer, is it? He's existing, but with new problems. That's why he's here. Gale frowns, troubled.

"But something has... changed, in mine, since the Singularity. I'm aware it's a source of power, of potential, but I'm uncertain if the change is... one the Singularity has imposed on me, or one happening as a result of new stress on my decidedly mortal form."

He pauses, then chuckles.

"I'm not doing a very good job of explaining this, am I?"

Talking around it in circles, he knows. The fear of judgement has him holding back, but the consequences of ignoring it all could be far worse.

Date: 2024-06-16 05:01 pm (UTC)
karsiteweave: (7)
From: [personal profile] karsiteweave
Gale patiently allows Reficul up onto his shoulder, standing slowly so as not to unbalance him -- one hand lifted gently to be sure. Even if there is no magical aura to soothe him, the familiarity of a creature settling onto him is comforting all the same.

"Not a power," he corrects, then hesitates. A frown of unease pulls at his features.

"I'm not sure about you, but much of the early years we spent in the Singularity's version of the future are... hazy for me. Likely as not because they weren't real."

He offers a wincing smile, presses on.

"Consequently, I cannot quite be certain if I ever told you about this."

He carefully moves his hand away from the leoslyph to gesture at himself. At his face, down his neck and towards the lines of his robe where the dark pattern vanish.

"Not an aesthetic choice, I'm afraid."

At a surface glance, of course, it may look that way. A tattoo, perhaps, a design trailing over his chest and up to his face. Not that Gale has ever given off the impression of someone interested in tattoos, but it could well have been a hidden depth.

Date: 2024-06-20 11:27 pm (UTC)
karsiteweave: (20)
From: [personal profile] karsiteweave
Gale gives a slight wince, because yes. He certainly has personal experience with Istredd struggling when it comes to subtle things. Still, focus. Come along, Dekarios, out with it.

"When I was young, I was considered a magical prodigy. That sounds... arrogant, I know, but I mean it as a statement of fact -- not a boast. I had a natural gift, an ability not just to cast a spell but to compose magic like a musician or a poet. That talent drew the attention of Mystra herself, the mother of magic. She revealed herself to me, become my tutor, and... in time, my lover. What I am now is a mere shadow of the man I was then. My power grew, but I desired more. A mortal can only scratch the surface of the weave, and Mystra keeps us in check. Enforces boundaries that we simply cannot cross. Yet every time I was with her, I felt as if I was... on the precipice, gazing out at wonderous potential that I was not allowed to touch. I tried to convince her, but she told me only to be content with what I had. So, I sought to prove myself worthy in the hope that it might... change her mind."

Given the context of Gale now being a shadow of the man he was, it isn't a stretch to assume this tale goes poorly.

Date: 2024-06-26 08:09 pm (UTC)
karsiteweave: (4)
From: [personal profile] karsiteweave
He hesitates again, wary. Uncomfortable.

"Some more context may be required here. Many years before, a man by the name of Karsus sought to usurp the goddess of magic and become a god himself. Needless to say, he failed, and his empire -- Netheril -- fell with him. The dark power unleashed on that day was a chaotic, primal thing. It fragmented the weave, shattered it, prevented all the mortal realms using magic for some time until Mystra returned to power. She restored magic to us, reuniting all the shattered pieces of the weave. Or at least, so we thought. In my studies I had found hints that an ancient, Netherese tome still contained a fragment of the weave sealed away. Some part of Mystra kept beyond her reach, something that I could return to her. Surely, there was no deed more romantic? No greater act that could gain her trust? So, I sought out the book. I took it back to my library, and I opened it."

Gale frowns, hesitates, gestures with one hand. An illusion of his study paints the area behind them. A work table, littered with alchemical tools, and rows upon rows of books. Gale, with less grey in his hair, unlocks a bound tome and something leaps from it. Dark, powerful, hungry magic slamming into his chest. He staggers back, falls to his knees.

"Netherese blight. It feeds on magic, on the magic running through me and -- historically -- whatever I fed it. Enchanted rings, pendants, anything. When it first clawed its way into me it was... unstable. I could barely use magic anymore, and Mystra... cast me aside. I had nothing, and this... orb of magic in my chest... if I could not keep it stabilised, it threatened to detonate."

Date: 2024-07-03 09:35 pm (UTC)
karsiteweave: (24)
From: [personal profile] karsiteweave
Gale blinks at the open concern, at the touch. As if somehow, despite how kind Istredd had been to him before, he hadn't expected it. Had foreseen more rejection, or anger, or anything else.

He recovers, lifts one hand to gently touch Istredd's arm where it rests against his shoulder.

"That," Gale says, "is the question of the hour. Not long before I arrived here, I had come to an... agreement with Mystra. She sent a messenger to offer me a deal, I accepted and... in return, the orb was stabilised. I felt no hunger, no weakness, there was no... progression of its toxin through my body. All the same, after our little experience with the Singularity I found something... has changed."

There's a moment of hesitation, then Gale lifts one hand and gestures at himself. The purple tendrils of the orb spread a little further up his face, and softly begin to glow.

"I cannot say I... feel any different," he admits. All the same, something in him has changed. Why? What does it mean? Is Mystra's charm... failing, somehow?

Date: 2024-07-11 12:08 am (UTC)
karsiteweave: (25)
From: [personal profile] karsiteweave
"Go to the Singularity?" he prompts, eyes widening. "I have heard that some people have... communicated with it, felt its emotional state. You never have?"

Istredd has been here for longer than he has, after all, had far more opportunity to learn about it and the way it behaves. Why would he have been unable to connect with it? A strange thing. Could it be something about Istredd? Could it be a choice the Singularity was making, to block him out? Though again, the why of it all is puzzling. Surely it cannot consider the man a threat in some way? That doesn't make sense either, given how careful Istredd usually is. Nothing Gale can think of makes sense. Of all the people in Thorne, he'd have expected this man to find it easiest!

Date: 2024-07-21 03:37 pm (UTC)
karsiteweave: (20)
From: [personal profile] karsiteweave
Gale hums in thought, frowning sideways at Istredd.

"Always hard to guess what a higher power is thinking. Sometimes there's meaning, sometimes there isn't. Sometimes we are cast aside, sometimes they just... believe we do not need their help. That we can solve our own problems, self-inflicted or otherwise."

Is he projecting? Maybe so! All the same, he doesn't quite think he's wrong either. The comparison seems... fitting. The Singularity may not inherently seem to behave as one might expect of a deity, but if it communicates... if it has thoughts, feelings, and can uplift them to such heights... well. It certainly seems to be in the right area.