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Antics
May 15, 2020 11:15:15 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 15, 2020 11:15:15 GMT -6
"Nothing special. I was just going to explain how to drive if you didn't know how." He got onto his own fourwheeler and backed up, turning it around to head to the ranch. He waited for Catherine to get on as well, before leading the way back to the ranch itself. It didn't take too long given they were taking vehicles there. He pulled to stop in front of the entrance to the ritual room and winced at the sight of the rather colorful ground. They hadn't finished after all. "Just through here."
He opened the door. The scene hadn't improved at all. "I'm mostly concerned that watering it down outside seemed to result in flowers instead of weakening it to the point it wasn't able to react with anything."
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Antics
May 15, 2020 18:04:17 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 15, 2020 18:04:17 GMT -6
"Right..." Xiaolian commented before she followed the pair back to the ranch.
Looking at the scene before her, she could see that she would have her work cut out for her. Tyrus had done a number and then some on his own ritual room, and it was going to take all of Xiaolian's patience to nullify and disperse it. Patience being something that was in short supply for everyone these days. "Well you've already established that mundane means of cleaning up the reagents does not work looks like." She commented as she fished around in yet another pocket for something.
"This will be a tad bit more than telling a simple fortune." Xiaolian explained pulling a few pieces of crumpled papers. Slowly unfolding and smoothing them before proceeding. "Tools are a bit easier for some of us when specificity is required." She added as she did a quick estimate of the size of the space covered with all it's sugary rainbow glory. Thumbing through the papers, she selected one with a strange sigil made of intersecting circles and lines. Producing a piece of charcoal from another pocket, she waded through the mess with her papers and scribbled something on each of the four walls of the room before placing the paper in the middle.
"It's been awhile since I've done this, given that most of our ward breaking is done by Bronson... so... you might have to reset your wards after this, but I can assure you it'll be clean."
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Antics
May 15, 2020 18:19:13 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 15, 2020 18:19:13 GMT -6
He winced at the idea of resetting his wards. "I suppose I can put some temporary ones up afterwards." His wards required very specific conditions to be met, to contain his magic. "Just try to only take out the ones attached to the house and the ritual room please. The ranch wide ones I needed help to get put up." He was powerful after all, but his wards were beasts of nature. They had to be to keep his magic contained when he was doing experiments, or even just exercising his magical muscles.
But they had also taken his parents help to put up, and somehow he sincerely doubted he could convince Grigore to help him put up wards again. Catherine was a huge maybe as well.
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Antics
May 15, 2020 18:40:35 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 15, 2020 18:40:35 GMT -6
Xiaolian shrugged, "I can certainly try, but will absolutely not promise you a damn thing." Magic on this plane was tricky, whatever anchored it was temperamental on a good day. It often didn't like whenever she or other Guardians tried to convince it to do something that was necessary to accomplishing their goals.
Motioning for the pair to stand outside of the radius and reach of the nullification fields, Xiaolian mentally prepared herself for what came next. Nullifications were tricky and required use of extraplanar magics to vent and redirect the excess. Most Guardians just tended to vent, never bothering to redirect, but Xiaolian knew it could come back to bite her if she didn't send it back to it's proper source. All magic had an origin point, just discovering what it was was the challenge.
Taking another slip of paper and holding it between her thumb and index finger, the petite woman chanted something in an language unintelligible to either one. She had done a bit of research in her down time, and quickly discovered that the magic of this particular plane linked back up with that of the tree through a series of leylines and spots. But, for most users it was thankfully watered down and passed through many layers before they could even begin to access it.
As Xiaolian chanted, the sigils on the walls rose to hover mid air as the temperature began to drop, as violet sparks crackled and danced across the space where she stood. Energy and magic both was being funneled out of the room and routed back to it's source, effectively rendering the material inert and harmless.
"She's an extremely effective null, among other things. Just.. don't step in the field. We had others learn that the hard way." Catherine told Tyrus placing an arm in front of him. She didn't seem phased in the least by how her fellow officer and subordiant in the court was handling this situation.
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Antics
May 15, 2020 19:00:27 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 15, 2020 19:00:27 GMT -6
"I've worked with lesser nulls before. But the truly effective ones..." He watched her work with no small admiration. "They're almost as difficult to commission as I am." He admitted. "And are incredibly rare." He didn't actually know of any that would be able to do the same quality of work as her. But he could feel the change in magic levels and he shuddered, uncertain. "I definitely don't want to step in that field though." He took a step back, just to be sure.
Still he watched. "She uses magic differently than most. Can you feel it?" There was a difference in how she used it versus how other people he had met used it, and it wasn't just the unfamiliar sigils. Though he supposed he didn't actually know all there was to know about magic. It could jsut be a form he wasn't familiar with.
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Antics
May 15, 2020 19:51:22 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 15, 2020 19:51:22 GMT -6
Catherine nodded, "Everyone uses magic to suit their own tastes." or rather with their own cultural preferences for skill and ability. "Her file says class 5 null previously working with the Hong Kong branch, but I suspect that the Council misclassified her." There was a similarity to how Molly worked a ward breaking, but it was also not the same. There was a cold and unsympathetic edge to it, something Catherine had only sensed deep in the throes of out of control veil borne magic.
"She came to us in Dallas on the heels of something that went very wrong in China. All I've managed to sniff out is that she did something that the Eastern Council wasn't terribly keen on condoning, especially from a Black Lotus program graduate." Catherine added crossing her arms and watching as Xiaolian was allowed to work without MCU's preferences. It was efficient, and powerful; nothing at all like the small woman that often struggled to rein in her over zealous partner.
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Antics
May 15, 2020 20:05:51 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 15, 2020 20:05:51 GMT -6
"She's certainly not lower than a class 5." He said simply and watched. "Though it's possible she's more than a null. Her magic is very...potent. I wouldn't be surprised if she could do other magic at all." He shrugged. "But again. It feels wildly different than the magic I'm used to. Perhaps it has something to do with the Black Lotus program itself. She's the only graduate I know of."
They weren't exactly common on the ground after all. "And most of Dallas came on the heels of something that went wrong." That was what made Dallas, Dallas. He didn't know how Catherine managed to hold the team together at all. He also didn't know the stories of everyone on the team though. He was curious about the newest member. She seemed entirely too stable to be on the team.
Something had to be wrong with her. Ra knew that Bronson was a menace after all, and was only not in Broadmoore as a detainee because she was useful. And Boyuan apparently had a history in China. And that was besides the hush-hush black lotus graduate fact. Something he suspected he wasn't actually supposed to know.
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Antics
May 16, 2020 14:31:21 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Circe on May 16, 2020 14:31:21 GMT -6
"Nullification is just her speciality." Catherine commented. Xiaolian's file was sparse, and she suspected that there was a lot that their eastern partners were unwilling to disclose to the west. "The lotus program was started in China in the 1920s war lord era after the unrest during the Boxer Rebellion. I'm not sure what they were trying to accomplish, but it seems that it wasn't dissimilar than the west's efforts during the second world war." She added.
The Council and it's other partners throughout the world were often given over to the proclivity to withholding information from others, with the reason that to do so would be problematic.
"The reason you haven't heard or seen anymore alum of that program is so few survived. Those that did, didn't last long on the outside." It was often a sad reality of many programs, who often served or operated at the whims and desires of their government patrons.
Soon though, the strange magic died down and the room was left much as it had been physically. Metaphysically however, it had been wiped clean. Tyrus's smaller wards on the building and room itself had been wiped away, but those that protected the ranch had been left intact.
"You had a lot of residual contamination from the singularity event with your little experiment last year with the circle, and seems that the second and third circles you cast not long after only complicated it." Xiaolian explained abruptly to Tyrus as she picked up the piece of paper at the center of the room and began to wipe away the drawn sigils with a small piece of silk.
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Antics
May 16, 2020 14:38:34 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 16, 2020 14:38:34 GMT -6
"That would explain it. The normal measures to remove contamination wouldn't have been enough. Not given the size of the events in question." He tugged at his braid and considered his options. "I'm going to have to decontaminate the outside area as well then. I don't suppose I could hire you for that job as well?" The others who had meant to fix the issue clearly hadn't, and if it was leaking over still, outside the initial area, then that meant everything was probably contaminated. He'd have to shift to working from the court until he could get everything fixed. And ti meant he'd have to check everyone one of his reagents for contamination given the reagent shed was likely still contaminated despite it having been theoretically cleansed.
Dammit, he'd have to throw out a hell of a lto of reagents again if they tested as contaminated. The stones could probably be sold ont he mundane market once cleansed at least.
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Antics
May 16, 2020 17:22:31 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 16, 2020 17:22:31 GMT -6
"Given that this is technically an auxillary property to the court... you could hire someone else, but I wouldn't suggest it." Xiaolian replied. She could tell that others had been called to nullified and despell the property, but they had very clearly missed some things. It seemed that they were only interested in the fee for their work instead of actually doing the job properly. "And yes, you'll have to have the same thing done outside. Again, I can't promise that the periphery wards will be kept intact." She explained plainly.
With persons like Tyrus, it seemed that the less complicated you could make it the better. There were moving pieces with nullifying that had to be taken into account, and based on what she had seen in the magic as she worked, he had been sloppy and hurried through everything. "A word of advice so I don't have to do this again, pay attention to your details, Rahal." Xiaolian commented off hand. The first circle had been tampered with, that much they had been able to discern through Chrysanta's investigations aided by Molly and herself. The other two however had left suspect imprints in the magical landscape of the property. The third one especially had drawn her attention, there was nothing wrong with the structure persay, but something had gone wrong.
"Also, I don't know if this is a new to you or not, but I'd appreciate it if you'd get the hell out of my head." Xiaolian had been polite when she arrived, and said nothing about the passing brush from the other's mind, assuming it had been an issue on her end. But as the night wore on she could sense another mind in addition to the solid, warm, familiarity of the Warden's.
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Antics
May 16, 2020 17:30:54 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 16, 2020 17:30:54 GMT -6
He winced. "I'm sorry. I'm still...I tend to relax my shields at the ranch. It was an accident, but it won't happen again." He slammed his own shields up and kept them up. "And I'm afraid the king has cut off my funding from the court for the ranch. Entirely." His face was lit like a beacon on this one. "I have been graciously gifted it as personal property, but it's no longer part of the court." Grigore was not going to pay for the damages to the ranch of for maintaining the shrines or anything of the sort.
Tyrus was thoroughly on his own. He considered himself lucky to have an allowance for court costs, though that had been deeply curtailed as well, in comparison to what his parents had given him. It was an interesting situation and he wasn't fond of it. Some of the ingredients he used could be incredibly expensive. Replacing all his reagents was sure to pack a punch to his wallet as well, especially because Grigore would certainly protest if it came from his court allowance.
Still, knocking down the periphery wards.. He bit his bottom lip. "I don't see much of a choice but to risk the warding. I'll have to piecemeal them back up, if I can't convince Gri-" He quickly corrected himself, given Xiaolian was here. "Grandfather to assist in raising new ones." And one other, though he didn't want to risk asking Catherine.
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Antics
May 16, 2020 17:51:43 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 16, 2020 17:51:43 GMT -6
Xiaolian held up a hand to stop Tyrus stammering, "Look, it is what it is. Just remember revealing yourself as a telepath is dangerous." In many instances, some of the cultures she had encountered regarded telepaths with a great deal of suspicion and anger. A man's thoughts should be his own, at least that's what she had been told many times before.
"Well.. given it's not part of the court.. I don't mind doing for the low low cost of say... coffee?" Xiaolian added with a mischevious grin. She hadn't even considered how much she'd charge Tyrus for this sort of thing, given that she'd never worked contract type gigs like this. It had always firmly been her role as a Guardian first and a MCU officer second; there had never been any thoughts that she could do anything outside of either. "Show me how your wards are constructed and I might be able to figure out how to avoid bringing them down." Xiaolian added after a moment's thought. The Guardians were expected to be able to identify any kind of magic they might encounter, or at least it's roots, and from that know how to work with it or despell it if it came to it. But if the property no longer belonged to the court, then it made everything that much easier. "But seriously, it's my job to fix these sorts of blunders.. innocent in intent though they may be." At least it wasn't being run flat over by Molly and being the laughing stock of the Guardians for ended up tied to the vampires.
"If push comes to shove, I'm sure between the three of us we can raise the wards back up." Xiaolian had a slightly better idea of how the magic on this plane worked now. It didn't mean there wouldn't be any bumps along the way however.
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Antics
May 16, 2020 18:13:15 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 16, 2020 18:13:15 GMT -6
"I'm afraid given my lineage, that's not exactly something I can hide. The family line is known for throwing telepaths. And while we're able to keep uncertainty on who my sire is, there's no real hiding my line." He shrugged. "I should still have the ward diagrams in my study here. And of course I'll buy you coffee." That was a lot less expensive than he feared. He definitely would owe Xiaolian something rather serious, wouldn't he?
That was going to be interesting. There's no way she wouldn't know that either. Lieutenant Boyuan was incredibly sharp. "And it was definitely a blunder. One I don't intend on repeating. I've been working on portable magic suppressants, in case I get knocked out like that again." For everyone's safety. He didn't like the idea of them, but regular ones only barely cut it and he was worried under the wrong circumstances they wouldn't work at all.
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Antics
May 16, 2020 18:28:45 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 16, 2020 18:28:45 GMT -6
"It's painfully obvious, Tyrus." Xiaolian pointed out, and Catherine just shook her head. This was not a discussion they were going to have here and then. Eventually perhaps, but for the most part it was an open secret between the three. "Now let's take a look at these diagrams, that's really what I'm here for. Not to discuss the royal family's drama." She really wasn't, and hadn't wanted to get looped into whatever was going on, but Tyrus's mouth had run away with him during that first court event.
"Portable surpressants... hm.. that's a bit of a tall order. But a small nullification field would likely be durable enough." She mused as she followed Tyrus back to where the diagrams were stored.
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Antics
May 16, 2020 18:35:59 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 16, 2020 18:35:59 GMT -6
"I never said we were trying hard." He pointed out. "I'm fairly certain Grandfather is just being a hassle for the fun of it." Though there was still some uncertainty. Theoretically, it made the most sense for Catherine to be his sire. When it came down to it though, she was less his sire and more a blue print for the magic. So it wasn't entirely clear, despite how it seemed.
He led the way to his study and pulled out a large roll of paper, laying it flat. It was gridded, and an outline of the ranch was laid down. Over top the outline were several interlocking sigils.
"The smaller wards are actually a bit more complicated. The periphery wards are meant to warn when someone comes on the land and to mask the magic from being sensed. Anything else is asking too much of the wards, given the area they're covering and the purpose I use them for. Smaller wards cover different areas." He pulled out a second roll, and unrolled it on top. IT was transparent, so the underlayer was visible through it. Different warded areas were highlighted. "The intrusion wards didn't go off, which means they were cleared to come on the land. I'm hesitant to put anything more stringent up because of the ranchers tending to the herd."
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