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.