"It doesn't sound arrogant. Some people are more naturally inclined." Gale is talking to another magical expert here, someone who went through a full education in magic. It's a simple fact that some mages are stronger than others, and in his case, stronger in specific areas. Istredd is probably the best psionic mage of his generation, or since Stregobor. He's only reassuring Gale so he doesn't think he has to keep downplaying his skills to avoid seeming arrogant. Facts are facts.
That message given though Istredd listens to and considers the rest. So he had an affair with the goddess of magic, or at least that's what it sounds like. Istredd would have been confused about that before he came here, as gods don't openly exist in his sphere, but now he is only too familiar with them. He understands on a personal level the sort of drive that takes someone to act so irresponsibly.
"I see. And what is it you did to try and prove yourself worthy?" Clearly not something good. And unlikely to prove anything to her outside of that she was probably right to give him limitations.
"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."
Istredd continues to not interrupt because he believes strongly that people need to tell the full story or details get lost. He also finds that people reveal more than they would if they are allowed to speak freely, and that has served him well in the past. He doesn't think Gale would hide things from him, he's talking about something very private and dark in his past, but no one knows what they'd admit to with silence stretched out.
Gale won't get any judgment out of Istredd on this. He understands mistakes made in the name of love and also in the name of greater knowledge. Whatever his reasons, what happened, happened, and now Gale has to live with it. A feeling that Istredd has experienced himself about his own choices.
His eyebrows go up at the last part though. "And you think you could still detonate here? Are you concerned about being unstable here?" It would be a reasonable thing to be concerned about! Istredd can carry that worry for both of them, for all the Summoned, if he has to. As a defender of them, but also as someone who cares for Gale. He reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Are you in danger?"
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?
"The Singularity is known for sometimes taking on elements people had with their former land or gods. It sustains them instead." Istredd has heard about it more than a few times, from Kell and Rhy's spiritual connection, to Adora's sword bond. It makes sense that the Singularity merely steps in. "If it senses an imbalance in this sphere, it may correct it. Gently." Istredd knows it doesn't think like a normal person, it wouldn't be conscious of what it is doing. More instinct than anything else.
"What I mean to say is ... you may not be in as much danger as you fear." Istredd has no proof of this, just a theory. Gale might have already detonated if he was this long away from his goddess otherwise. He takes a closer look at the purple tendrils. It must be difficult to have such an obvious physical reminder about a bad decision that nearly wrecked his life.
"You could go see it for yourself. I myself have never been able to connect with it." Istredd doesn't know if Gale could, but it's possible it is a solution.
"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!
"You can physically go to it right here." Istredd nods in the direction of where it is from where they stand right now in his library. "In person, we can only go during the Dimming in December, but it reacts to people here. Certain people. It picks and chooses."
He is trying to say it with the least amount of bitterness possible because he refuses to let the giant magic rock hurt his feelings, but considering he is the biggest defender of the Singularity, the only person who has visited twice in person, it seems to be intentionally snubbing him. That's how it feels at least.
"Recently it appears to be more encouraging, wanting people to visit it." Istredd knows more people have made connections since their return, Lucifer included. He sighs and crosses his arms, shrugging. "I visit but it doesn't communicate with me. I don't know why."
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.
"Maybe it thinks I'm too eager. If I played hard to get, it might have worked." Istredd smiles faintly along with his dry tone to indicate he's joking. Mostly. If he could get an answer on why the Singularity snubs him, that would be helpful, as it makes his job of trying to find an anchor far more difficult. Still, he'll persevere and find a way, he's determined.
"But I think there's no harm in you visiting and seeing if it reacts to you. If not, it's no downside for you. I don't think it will let you implode on yourself though. It is highly invested in us existing." That much he feels confident of. The 'future' they witnessed only underlined to him that its connection to them was deep. Istredd may not be one of its favorite people, but he trusts that as long as he has a space in the Horizon, it means the Singularity wants him there.
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Thank you for your patience I'm back from vacay!
Date: 2024-06-25 08:25 pm (UTC)That message given though Istredd listens to and considers the rest. So he had an affair with the goddess of magic, or at least that's what it sounds like. Istredd would have been confused about that before he came here, as gods don't openly exist in his sphere, but now he is only too familiar with them. He understands on a personal level the sort of drive that takes someone to act so irresponsibly.
"I see. And what is it you did to try and prove yourself worthy?" Clearly not something good. And unlikely to prove anything to her outside of that she was probably right to give him limitations.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-26 08:09 pm (UTC)"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."
sorry a video game took over my life
Date: 2024-07-01 11:06 pm (UTC)Gale won't get any judgment out of Istredd on this. He understands mistakes made in the name of love and also in the name of greater knowledge. Whatever his reasons, what happened, happened, and now Gale has to live with it. A feeling that Istredd has experienced himself about his own choices.
His eyebrows go up at the last part though. "And you think you could still detonate here? Are you concerned about being unstable here?" It would be a reasonable thing to be concerned about! Istredd can carry that worry for both of them, for all the Summoned, if he has to. As a defender of them, but also as someone who cares for Gale. He reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Are you in danger?"
no subject
Date: 2024-07-03 09:35 pm (UTC)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?
no subject
Date: 2024-07-06 07:00 pm (UTC)"What I mean to say is ... you may not be in as much danger as you fear." Istredd has no proof of this, just a theory. Gale might have already detonated if he was this long away from his goddess otherwise. He takes a closer look at the purple tendrils. It must be difficult to have such an obvious physical reminder about a bad decision that nearly wrecked his life.
"You could go see it for yourself. I myself have never been able to connect with it." Istredd doesn't know if Gale could, but it's possible it is a solution.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-11 12:08 am (UTC)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!
no subject
Date: 2024-07-15 12:42 am (UTC)He is trying to say it with the least amount of bitterness possible because he refuses to let the giant magic rock hurt his feelings, but considering he is the biggest defender of the Singularity, the only person who has visited twice in person, it seems to be intentionally snubbing him. That's how it feels at least.
"Recently it appears to be more encouraging, wanting people to visit it." Istredd knows more people have made connections since their return, Lucifer included. He sighs and crosses his arms, shrugging. "I visit but it doesn't communicate with me. I don't know why."
no subject
Date: 2024-07-21 03:37 pm (UTC)"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.
let's wind down, maybe wrap on yours?
Date: 2024-07-24 07:24 pm (UTC)"But I think there's no harm in you visiting and seeing if it reacts to you. If not, it's no downside for you. I don't think it will let you implode on yourself though. It is highly invested in us existing." That much he feels confident of. The 'future' they witnessed only underlined to him that its connection to them was deep. Istredd may not be one of its favorite people, but he trusts that as long as he has a space in the Horizon, it means the Singularity wants him there.