RO > call me out; a forever open RP post, version 2

[midvalley]

NEW OPEN RP POST

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[animated]

Mental, for the most part. [ he inclines his head to indicate a pillow on the far end of the couch ] Throw that pillow at me.

[cultivations]

[ Dorian smirks at him. ]

Ah, I don't usually toss around pillows until it gets particularly heated, but if you insist--

[ He moves over to the far end of the couch and tosses the pillow, as directed. ]

[animated]

[ And the pillow just... suddenly stops, frozen in the air about a foot from Charlie. He lets hang there for a moment, before a motion of his hand sends it flying to the other end of the room, where it bounces harmlessly off a wall ]

Easy as that.

[cultivations]

Remarkable.

[ This time he has no compunctions about moving forward again, fingers tracing along the tattoo on Charlie's arm. It's not an affectionate touch, though, more like someone skimming their fingers along a page as they read. ]

And all of your spells require these runes? That sounds rather limiting.

[animated]

[ Considering he almost did it once before, Charlie is ready for it, and lets him run his fingers over the mark. ]

It is, in a way, I guess. I mean, the alphabet we have to work with is vast on an insane kind of level. Enough so that no one could hope to learn everything there is to learn in a lifetime, so we pick Specializations- runes that serve a similar sort of function- and devote our studies to those.

[cultivations]

Ah, that's familiar territory. Back home we have basic schools of magic for anyone with the gift, though one may pick and choose as they see fit. Beyond that, more skilled mages might pick up another specialization along with the basic spells.

[ Dorian, for instance, has started dabbling in the art of Necromancy -- though he decides it best not to mention that. Most people south of Nevarra tended to be rather put off by the idea of death magic. ]

Tell me-- your people here. Fond of mages?

[animated]

[ Well, it's nice to know some things are the same, sort of.

... And then some things are very clearly not the same. ]

Uh. First of all, we tend to go with "wizards". Second of all... while they're really quite fond of themselves, normal people don't know we exist.

[cultivations]

... Tell me you're joking.

[animated]

Not in the slightest.

[cultivations]

But why keep it secret? I should think magic would be a gift to be shared, not hidden and squandered away like some tome of smutty literature.

[animated]

Religion? Politics? The Salem witch trials? I don't really know when or why it was kept secret in the first place, but at this point, it's probably for the best.

[cultivations]

Salem witch trials?

Maker above, what sort of backwater land have I dropped into?

[animated]

[ flatly: ] Hah.

Not so where you're from, then?

[cultivations]

Depends on the area. Back home, mages rule the land. Literally. There's a caste system in place -- coming from a long line of powerful mages tends to get you places, so long as you can stand the rampant backstabbing and political intrigue.

Other places, mages are herded into little towers and clumped together for the good of the people, their abilities feared as much as they're needed.

And other places still, mages are bound, gagged, and leashed, subdued and unleashed on unsuspecting foes like warhounds.

[ He sighs wistfully. ]

Ah, how I miss Thedas already.

[animated]

Jesus Christ.

No offense, but I almost prefer to stay under the radar. [ though that first one... hits oddly close to home. ] It simplifies things.

[cultivations]

[ Dorian waves a hand. ]

I am, of course, simplifying things as well. Things are getting better in some places. Sweeping reforms, quite a bit of kicking and screaming, a fair bit of bluster and political posturing, but-- well. At least we haven't got to hide.

[animated]

I'm not hiding. I own a business, I pay rent. The girl at the coffee shop by my store knows my name and what I like to order. But as far as they know, magic is a thing of fiction, and I don't bother to tell them otherwise.

[cultivations]

[ Insistently, ] But think of the people you could help. If a man has a gift for numbers, should he hide that gift? If a woman has a knack for mixing healing poultices, should she conceal it? Why should it be the same if someone were able to conjure a bit of ice of lightning from their fingertips?

[animated]

Look, I get the sentiment, I do, but you have no idea how this world works, so don't presume to tell me what I should or should not be doing with my magic.

[cultivations]

[ He gives a lazy wave his hand as he leans back. ]

Then make me understand.

I come from a place where magic, while frowned upon in some less civilized places, need not be sequestered away like a shameful family secret. If I am to be here any longer than a day, I would certainly like to know why it is that my gift -- and I should say it is quite the gift -- should be feared.

Small, petty minds, perhaps? Religious reasons? Did a mage set a man's coattails on fire, perhaps, eons ago, and since then the populace has been out for magical blood?

[animated]

... [ the fact that he's so flippant kind of pisses Charlie off. ]

They would not be scared of us, Dorian. I've seen people die over a lot less than magic.

[cultivations]

[ He notes the anger with a silent quirk of his brow, then turns to him, fingers steepled together, elbows resting on his knees. ]

Then endeavor to explain, my dear Charlie, and I shall endeavor to listen. I am, as they say in the south, all ears.

[animated]

Are you really, or are you just going to look down your nose at me some more because you've already decided how it should be?

[cultivations]

[ Another wave of his hand -- dismissive, this time. ]

There are worse noses to find oneself below, you must admit.

But, no, I'll be on my best behavior. This is, after all, your home, and your area of expertise.

[animated]

[ Charlie doesn't deign to respond to that. True, Dorian is almost criminally attractive, but right now he's finding his attitude insufferable at best.

He leans back in his seat. ] I guess you could say it's a combination of things. Wizards are selfish, they don't like to share, and maybe that's where the fault lies, I'm willing to admit that. But in this day and age? It's far too late to come out and start throwing our magic around and have everyone be okay with that.

If you can imagine for a moment, a world without magic. A world where everyone is mundane, normal people, living mundane normal lives, and then one day some guy shows up and says that the world is not as mundane as you think, and starts flinging spells around. Suddenly there are people out there with unknown kinds of power that do not follow the laws of reality as you've come to know them.

People are going to panic. Governments are going to want to know if this is something they can use. Scientists are going to want to know how it works, and if they can duplicate it through artificial means. Mothers are going to wonder just how many more of them are out there, and will they set my children on fire? And we, who want to live normal lives, will not be able to because of the things we can do.

Maybe two thousand years ago, coexistence could have happened, but I wasn't around back then, and I don't know why it didn't. Maybe someone tried and it went badly, or maybe they didn't try at all, but the fact of the matter is, we've been a secret for too long.

So I'm sorry, but you're going to have to forget the notion that- respected, feared or leashed- mages are something that is a normal part of life, because here? We're only stories.