PM to join Never a Dull Moment (Marlay, Beatrice)

[Marlay]

Of course she would never admit to making a mistake, but she realized she had indeed made one when she found out exactly what the glyphs had been placed there for. But then that's what she got for sticking her nose in someone elses business, and expecting to be a know it all. He was using his glyphing for something else entirely. And while she had some skill in this she was by far no expert.

Of course that had given her an idea of her own, an experiment for later for herself. Applying a glyphed circle of safety to a shield. She wondered how that might work out.

Marlay was confident enough to know that in this case it did not matter, Barrier, Channeling Magic, it was all the same. A weak spot in the glyph, was just as devastating as channeling a magical spell. In Mienskils case it could compromise the area of safety. Certain things she understood others not so much, her and Mienkal could talk for days about glyphing and ultimately reach different conclusions based upon what they were using the sigils for.

Yes that's correct, miscalculation is a step towards disaster. A great many mages that toy with glyphing often face unpredictable results with there craft, what ive pointed out is one of the most precise reasons why. Penmanship is key, so yes at its core conveying the meaning of the glyph is not only key to success its critical to your safety in harnessing or containing magic.

Marlay was not surprised that Mienkal did not react to her story about Zeltiva, but that's because the two thought almost on the same wave length. They were here because they had made something of themselves, they were not barbarians brandishing arms like monkeys brandish sticks. They were mages, elevated among there peers destined for greatness. To dwell on sadness was a path to self ruin, she could be upset but to expect sympathy or be fueled by misery would make her weak. A weakness here in Sahova that she could not afford.

Her circular lenses seemed to soak in the lighting in the room at the angle she was now at, this turned her glasses into these grim disks of light devoid of emotion or soul in a way infernal but in another almost natural. She smiled at Beatrice and while not intentional her signature smile beamed with this feeling that was gleefully malicious or dreadful to best describe it. It was like from this angle she went from a mousy scientist, to nothing short of a monster you heard about in children's tales. There was a level of madness mixed with excitement like some dark secret was dissected and what it had been hiding spilled out.

She wanted to shake hands with a Leecher, not just a leecher but Master Witsles apprentice.

Her hand extended towards her, and now as it lifted you could see something sprawled into her palm. Glyphs arranged to create a path, and a focus. It was not hard to tell that her glyphs were weaponized.

The contents of the technique was to use a Path to funnel stolen Djed into a Focus. The Trigger would be for her to go into a state of focused leeching. The idea is to use the glyph as a battery to allow herself to remove Djed and protect herself from arcane contamination. It was a brutally efficient method to throw a Mage into over giving without poisoning herself in the process. Should she need the Djed however she could consume the glyphs contents.

A test of curiosity.

Its a pleasure to make your acquaintance Beatrice, you sound like you have a lot to look forward to with Mienkal.

The words in her voice sounded genuine, but was it? Did Marlay have a trap? Did she want to test an experiment? Was this level of courtesy to mentally entrap and make this woman feel morally obligated to shake her hand? Or was Marlay just being genuinely friendly? Hard to tell if this was a game to her? But then maybe she was being just being friendly, what could possibly go wrong with a little handshake after all?

Marlay was more then willing to shake Beatrices hand and seal the deal, but now the ball was in Beatrice's court.

How would she react?

[Beatrice]

Beato just stood there didn't show anything on her face. Did she share this feeling to her? No. She didn't even know if it's true or a trick. She wasn't even sure if she should do this. Shaking hands with her would mean that she accepts her. But manners... always manners somehow tortured her that she has to do this because others expected her to do it like every little person did it. It wasn't a pain it was a her remaining human-self maybe. She slowly moved her arm to her. So slowly... It could be strange. She made a big sigh. "I..I ... it's a pleas..ure too, Marlay. I hope I can see you... more often now on, funny creature." Her face twitched while said that. But she couldn't let her sarcastic way either. It was so uncomfortable feeling for her. Socialization... a flame which burned her from inside. The further the better. She got the strange and she grabbed her hands suddenly too. At that very moment she saw circles on her hands. That became interesting. She just held it didn't say anything about it. A game. She waited for it and she didn't know the rules or how to play. She squeezed Marlay's hand and looked at her eyes. " Yes I definitely hope it, Marlay you bad, bad girl."

[Mienskil Ostovik]

Finger running against parchment, Mienskil studied the words of the book thoroughly and committing much of it to memory. While he did not distrust Ms Marlay’s judgement or advice, there was no certainty as to her qualifications and experience. There was no doubt in Mienskil’s mind that she spoke the truth and offered instruction that may well prove invaluable, but there was a wealth of knowledge sitting before him with pages open to any inquiring eyes just waiting to be used. It would be foolish to work on the words of a fellow wizard alone, it was always best to gather as much knowledge as one could about such things from as many different sources as possible, that way one could often rely on their own judgements and interpretations to start. Of course Magecraft was a dangerous science to feel around like that, but it was early yet and so far his projects had been relatively small. Much of what he was reading seemed to be similar to what Marlay had said. Each glypher had their own unique style developed much the same way as penmanship was. Just like each person had their own handwriting, so too did each glypher have their own way of writing glyphs. So when writing for the various tasks that glyphs were to carry out, it was more than simply drawing a shape and intending it to do something. A much closer analogy would be writing something about safety, or writing about something being safe. This conveyed meaning into the glyphs, which coupled with the physical aspect of actually being a closed circle or a direct channel would provide a much more stable and reliable glyph. Looking at some of the barriers illustrated, they contained far more glyphs in the ring than Mienskil’s, who tended to draw straight lines between small gaps in is glyphs. Now it seemed like corner-cutting in hindsight, and maybe it was. A mental note was made to avoid that in the future. Looking up from his book at that time, he saw that the two women were still introducing themselves to each other. He was too late to see the glyphs painted on Marlay’s hand, which was now hidden within Beatrice’s, but he could still see the look of savage interest in her eye. Cold and cruel fascination, as if studying something alive and pathetic but far too curious and useful to simply stop. Beatrice seemed quite disinterested though, creating an interesting contrast between one who looked almost evilly interested and one whose interest only carried her so far as to be somewhat polite. No doubt both had an ego the size of the lab they stood in, Marlay to think herself in the position to be studying and Beatrice to think of the pulser apprentice as nothing more than a nuisance. Whatever was going on, it had little to do with Mienskil, so he turned back down to his book  and flipped the page. He’d already introduced himself and had made a deal with Miss Beatrice, if either of them needed him he was right there.

[Marlay]

Her social experiment seemed to be over before it could really begin, Beatrice took a moment to shake the Leechers hand. And there was a momentary pause, it was not what she had expected. Many had the audacity to talk to the little wizard like she was a sniveling underling, but she had the power to unravel them. Beatrice had a tendency to talk down to her, and she wanted to see who she was. Not based upon what she did as a profession but what she was as an individual, what she was at her core. Her time in Zeltiva made her realize that many who spoke in such tones were cowards, and she was expecting Beatrice to retract in some fashion.

She was expelled because she trifled with magic that they dared not touch, they were afraid so very afraid of forbidden and dark magics.

The results were an unexpected twist, her hypothesis was deemed a failure. Beatrice was uncomfortable, but she seemed more afraid of a simple conversation then she did grabbing her hand. She could bleed this woman dry, and plunge her into the depraved depths of over giving and send her off into an infernal realm of torment and suffering so awful even Kyrsus would have to turn away. And yet she was more stunned by simple sentences, it was just so hard to perceive.

She was smiling but it seemed like it was blank for a moment as she was analyzing her collected data. But it wasn't adequet, she wanted to know exactly what made her do that. But right now there wasn't anymore time to pry she had to move forward.

Mienskil was busy burrowed in his book, and everyone in the room seemed like they could be doing more.

There wasn't much she could say to the scientist, at this point in time he was so collected in his studies that it would seem rude to pull him off course.

Except, well...

You know, maybe we all should try and make something.
I think you could even try and use what you've learned from that book and apply it in the field.

It will be good for everyone, me, you. ....

......

.....

Beatrice...

There was a pause between me, you and then Beatrice... It wasn't a rudely long silence before she spoke her name, but there was something in the way she spoke that might have raised an eyebrow. It was like a private eye inquiring about some perpetraitor, it was inquisitive on her part to say the least.

The fact that Beatrice was afraid of the conversation, and not Her.

Irked her.

[Beatrice]

Beatrice let Marlay's hand. Her smile has gone like it was never there before. She didn't know if she likes Marlay attitude or hate or ... nothing. She didn't care. She didn't even care about that pause. She used to it. She was a creep for everyone. She didn't want to become a mindless nuit like she thought about the other in the city. Just to live.... live in death... She still looked at Marlay's hand with the circles on it. Why didn't she do it? Boring. "Let us go then. I am... amused by to see it with my eyes. So who will lead?" Like she really cared. She got what she came for. But the manners. And she wouldn't be bored while waiting. Maybe it turns out into something. She again examined the lab again. But she will have time for now to this. A place to do something. She looked at Mienskil. She was wondering if this man will help her. He will be capable to produce something useful or he will fail. From the moment he will fail Beatrice will leave from here. She again looked at Marlay. " So? Please guide us.... bad,naughty girl. Let me see your real power this time and don't hold back like before." She was a jerk wasn't she? She was going for Marlay's nerves this time. Beatrice was the worst person when she was bored.

[Mienskil Ostovik]

The interplay between Marlay and Beatrice went completely unnoticed by the Magesmith, simply because he was so absorbed in the book. He made careful note of the existence of paths, channels which the djed could travel across unimpeded and directed by the walls of the barriers on either side. That could prove useful if he were to isolate the various types of reagents and place them elsewhere, then stand outside the barrier containing the djed. It would mean less exposure, and less chance of becoming deformed and incapable of continuing his work. Though perhaps, if he grew a bit closer to Thomas and learn more intricacies of Animation and gadgeteering, there was a way to circumvent even that crippling consequence. It was just the inkling of an idea, but Mienskil stored it away carefully in the archives of his mind. What brought him out of his contemplation and study was Marlay's mentioned of a collaboration. His eyes and head swiveled up, meeting the mousy apprentice's eyes hiding behind those wire-rimmed spectacles. From the moment the suggestions was uttered, Mienskil's mind ran with the possibilities that could result from a collaborated project. Leeching, a harmful and potentially fatal magic for whoever was the victim, but also for the user. He knew not what effect the foreign djed would have on the item that used it, for he had not toyed with that dark magic before, but since the Magecraft item's djed itself had been tampered with by infusing it with external djed, it could not be anything more stressful than the process of Magecraft itself. "Perhaps I could," the Magesmith repeated, if only to hide the fact that his mind was running a mile a minute. Then he picked up on the less than gleeful demeanor of the Nuit, and realized that her eyes were still drawn to the hand of the living apprentice. He had no idea what was so fascinating, for he could not see from his angle the glyphs painted on Marlay's palm. For a moment, he wondered what the focus of Beatrice's apathy. She had displayed a good amount of enthusiasm when talking about working with himself, so he doubted he was the cause of her boredom. Was it Marlay then? Had to be, but what about her? The Nuit's words were confusing, though it was clear that she was expecting Marlay to lead. However, Mienskil had other plans, seizing upon the gap in the conversation to take charge of the flow. "There are many opportunities that arise from this proposition," he commented excitedly, barely pausing to breathe. "With Leeching as a paradigm personal magic discipline to be absorbed by the Magecraft item, there is so much we could do. Draining other items, people, maybe even the product of another Magecraft item that can regenerate its own djed to provide a base supply for the wearer to use, though that might be complicated and unnecessary." Standing up to his full height, which wasn't too impressive, he began to pace back and forth along the alcove where his pedestal sat, currently unmarred by glyphs. That was an aspect that would soon change, however. "Perhaps it could be used as a font of magic for wizards," he mused, "sort of purifying the wild and foreign djed around it into a more base form that is friendlier for the wizard to use, at least diminishing the harmful effects Leeching has on the body. Or, if we are going to use it offensively, perhaps some kind of chaing that wraps itself around a target and then drains them of life?" As the suggestion left his mouth, he stopped pacing at once and turned to the other two in the lab. "Actually, I quite like that idea. If we can get a gadgeteer onto this project who can find some mechanism to launch a chain, perhaps similar to a crossbow, then it can wrap itself around the target and then proceed to Leech their djed, draining them of their vital essence and weakening their integrity and health as an existing item. Or perhaps something more conventional." His head bowed slightly, chin cupped by a his hand and resting his elbow in the crook of his other arm, which folded across his body. "I'm currently - supposedly - helping an Animator in his project elsewhere on the island. Unfortunately I've not had the presence of mind to catch up to his level of progress, but if we play with Leeching then perhaps I can still contribute something." "What if we Magecrafted a small batch of bolts with Leeching and program them that once they pierce something - be it flesh or wood or something else - it begins training the recipient's djed. If a living being is hit by one of these bolts, the result would be disastrous for them until they could remove it, which might take more self-discipline and time than many can allow themselves in such a situation. Eventually the bolt would just sap them dry of all their djed, killing them. The same intelligence course of action could tell the bolt to stop Leeching when there is nothing solid to drain from at the tip, which would stop it from constantly Leeching the air." Then he looked to Marlay, who was the key to making this possible. "If you're willing to help of course. Perhaps if you deem it a fair exchange, if you also help tutor me in the etching of my glyphs I could, in return for your lessons and assistance, teach you the basics of Magecraft for you to contemplate your own engineering items. It is a fair trade, believe me, for the science of Magecraft can be used to enhance all other schools of magic, not just items. Of course, you will need your master's permission to do so. If you would like, I could contact him myself, perhaps bargain for your time." His blue eyes were coldly alive, excited for the project to get underway but adamant in his last offer. While many would dismiss Mienskil as lacking in presence, that meant nothing for when he actually brought himself forward. He wasn't the domineering type, but when it came to Magecraft he needed to remain in control. The potential of this project was too great to let an amateur ruin it or to let it slip through his fingers, so he had to make his position clear now: he was in charge. His last offer was to establish a pecking order among the three of them, and since Beatrice had already - in her own words - promised to help him that left only Marlay. She was key to his plans, and he needed to direct her as he so required without fear of her trying to take things her own way and destroying whatever potential there was. That was why he made the offer of tutelage in Magecraft, which was the positive reinforcement in his arrangement. That wasn't enough though, and so the gentle reminder that she was an apprentice - and he a wizard - was to call into order just who would be running this project. And who would wield the majority of the political power because of it.