Vincent Hawk
Ireth
Sexy British Professor of Music
~ Sing like no one's listening ~
Posts: 722
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Post by Vincent Hawk on Jun 7, 2010 17:30:06 GMT -5
Vincent knocked on Smoke's door and stood waiting for an answer. Ellie's theory about his magic was running through his mind, as well as a few vague ideas of his own. He'd run them past Smoke and see what he thought about everything.
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Post by Smoke on Jun 11, 2010 18:37:56 GMT -5
The door swung open. Smoke was, as usual, sitting at his desk reading something.
"Good afternoon, Erik," he said, not looking up from his book. "This is something about you finally becoming a mage?"
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Vincent Hawk
Ireth
Sexy British Professor of Music
~ Sing like no one's listening ~
Posts: 722
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Post by Vincent Hawk on Jun 11, 2010 18:43:22 GMT -5
Vincent nodded, only slightly surprised that Smoke had mentioned his magehood before Vincent himself had had the chance to. It must have been easy to tell.
"Yes," he replied, taking a step into the room. "I've had quite the interesting day thanks to my new magic, and now I have a lot of questions that I hope you or someone else here will be able to answer."
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Post by Smoke on Jun 11, 2010 18:55:22 GMT -5
He grinned at Vincent and offered him a chair.
"So long as you're not asking the meaning of life or the origin of magic, I'm sure somebody can help you."
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Vincent Hawk
Ireth
Sexy British Professor of Music
~ Sing like no one's listening ~
Posts: 722
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Post by Vincent Hawk on Jun 11, 2010 18:58:04 GMT -5
"Hah. No, nothing quite that unusual. Besides, I already know the meaning of life -- 42." Vincent grinned as he took the seat Smoke offered him; then his face sobered as he leaned forward to look intently at the younger professor.
"What can you tell me about magic that manifests through music?"
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Post by Smoke on Jun 11, 2010 19:06:56 GMT -5
"Hmm-hmm-hm." Smoke crossed his arms behind his head and looked up at the ceiling in thought.
"Magic that uses music, well, there are always people who can do interesting things to the world by moving air around. You'd be surprised what harmonics can do- or maybe you wouldn't," he mused. "There's vibration and intent and all sorts of things... but the best way to answer your question, I think, would be to see what you're talking about."
"Would you mind?" Smoke smiled. "Just a little something of whatever comes naturally."
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Vincent Hawk
Ireth
Sexy British Professor of Music
~ Sing like no one's listening ~
Posts: 722
|
Post by Vincent Hawk on Jun 11, 2010 19:20:06 GMT -5
"Hmm..." Vincent nodded slowly, looking around the office for ideas. He smiled when he spotted a book on the desk, and an idea came to him. Clearing his throat, he sang a couple of lines of a song from the musical Wicked.
"I'm gonna fly, defying gravity; I think I'll try, defying gravity..."
He felt the magic rising up in him and flowing out into the world via his voice -- it was quite an odd sensation, really -- and the book obeyed his words, rising and hovering about a foot above the desk. When he fell silent, the book fell and landed back on the desk with a thump.
His demonstration done, Vincent looked back at Smoke, wondering what his reaction would be.
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Post by Smoke on Jun 11, 2010 19:25:13 GMT -5
Smoke blinked, staring at the book.
He stared.
He put one elbow up on the desk and supported his head in one hand, staring at the book.
He stared. "Huh," he said with a note of curiosity.
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Vincent Hawk
Ireth
Sexy British Professor of Music
~ Sing like no one's listening ~
Posts: 722
|
Post by Vincent Hawk on Jun 11, 2010 19:35:56 GMT -5
Vincent raised his eyebrows slowly, unsure of what Smoke's reaction meant.
"Why so silent, good monsieur?" he asked, a grin spreading over his face.
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Post by Smoke on Jun 16, 2010 18:56:29 GMT -5
"That..." Smoke looked back up at Vincent, looking calmer and a little more serious. "Well, I see why you're asking. That didn't... exactly look normal. Should I explain, show you, or what?"
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Vincent Hawk
Ireth
Sexy British Professor of Music
~ Sing like no one's listening ~
Posts: 722
|
Post by Vincent Hawk on Jun 17, 2010 12:15:31 GMT -5
"Whatever you think might be easiest," Vincent answered, sobering a little as well. "From the look on your face a moment ago, I'm guessing that what I can do is at the very least quite uncommon. I have a few theories of my own about it, as did Ellie when I spoke to her, but I'm interested to know what you think might be going on here."
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Post by Smoke on Jun 18, 2010 2:36:29 GMT -5
"Hmm. All right then." Smoke nodded in thought for a moment, then gestured to the book. "Try some mage sight, then try the book again and I'll see if I can explain."
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Vincent Hawk
Ireth
Sexy British Professor of Music
~ Sing like no one's listening ~
Posts: 722
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Post by Vincent Hawk on Jun 18, 2010 17:05:17 GMT -5
Vincent nodded, trying to focus all of his senses to perceive any and all nearby magic. Softly at first, and then louder, his ears were filled with music that carried information about the magic in the room.
First and foremost he heard the magic inside himself, singing with Vincent's own voice; then he perceived Smoke's magic, singing in a vibrant tenor. A magical coffeemaker in a corner of Smoke's desk had a soft bass voice. There was very raw magic nearby, where Smoke had recently moved Yaodensi's lab to adjoin to his office; it had a voice that Vincent classified as baritone. The very walls were singing in chords in every register from soprano to bass, every stone threaded through with the complicated wards that held Dunehelden relatively stable in time and space. It was strange and beautiful, and rather overwhelming.
Vincent looked back at the book on the table and repeated the lines he'd sung to make it levitate, willing his magic to obey him. The voice of his magic united with the voice from his throat, ringing out strong and clear. The magic floated out to the book, surrounding it, making the book join in the song as it hovered above the desk again. He fell silent and let the book fall, and its part of the song died away too, leaving only echoes that died to a soft humming; that was gradually overwhelmed by the mingling songs of magic from the rest of the room.
Vincent mentally shook his head, breaking his focus, and one by one the music died away. His mind buzzed with the after-sensation of magic, and the echoes still lingered in his ears.
"That," he said eventually, unable to keep from grinning, "was quite likely the single most bizarre and glorious thing I have yet witnessed."
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Post by Smoke on Jun 18, 2010 20:46:01 GMT -5
Smoke chuckled. "Isn't it?"
"Okay, I'm not sure this is going to make sense to you, but here goes." He extended his finger, concentrated for a moment, and made the book hover again. "Our magic is called high magic, as a kind of pretentious way to differentiate it from the magic of werewolves, vampires, et cetera, and in all other things. How it usually works is this: a mage extends themselves outwards, touches the magic in a thing or a person or a concept, and depending on how exactly the interaction is performed, it does various things."
He let the book fall. "It's an interaction between yourself and something else. Now... yours..." Smoke licked his lips and paused a moment. "Your magic is still clearly high magic. It... looks different, high magic from vampire magic from shapeshifter magic, and most individual kinds have their own thing, et cetera... you'll see it sometime. That's how we know that so-called mortal magic is essentially- entirely- the same thing as what we do. But yours also doesn't act like an interaction between yourself and something else."
"It acts like you're commanding the book, and it responds. That does remind me of something, but I'd like to know what you think first."
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Vincent Hawk
Ireth
Sexy British Professor of Music
~ Sing like no one's listening ~
Posts: 722
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Post by Vincent Hawk on Jun 18, 2010 21:22:58 GMT -5
Vincent rested his chin in one hand, watching Smoke curiously as he gave his explanation, and many more questions began to rise in his mind. Why was his magic more like commandment and obedience rather than cooperation? Was it something to do with his personality? He had never thought himself a very commanding person. Was that a bad thing?
He thought back to the night his magic had first manifested. What had he done then, but to try to assuage Ellie's fears and calm her down? She hadn't been in control of her own powers then -- not until he had sung to her and broken the enchantment on her. There was no real cooperation there, but a command and obedience, of some sort at least. Admittedly the result had been quite different than his intention, but that could be blamed on his newly-risen, untamed magic knowing what needed to be done and doing it without Vincent's knowledge.
"Well," he said, after a lengthy pause, "I can see how my magic is more commanding than others', in a way. A week ago, the night it manifested, I was trying to calm Ellie down from what I thought was a perfectly normal nightmare that had her sleepwalking. I sang to her, meaning to calm her down, and my magic acted in response and broke an enchantment that had been put on her by the Fae, as I found out much later on. The Fae's magic was pulling her in one direction, and my magic fought against it and broke their hold."
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Post by Smoke on Jun 18, 2010 22:00:18 GMT -5
Smoke nodded slowly. "That makes sense. Magic awakening and immediately interacting with Fae glamour..."
He pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'm going to have to look this up, but there's got to be something about this in the archives. There's more- well- let's just say the work the founders got up to is really fascinating." One corner of his mouth twitched up. "I'm sorry I can't help you more, but I can try to have an explanation by the end of the week? In the meantime, you can feel free to use any of the open labs to practice, and if you have any other- wait."
He facepalmed. "Sorry, I'm eager to figure this out. Is there anything else you wanted to ask?"
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Vincent Hawk
Ireth
Sexy British Professor of Music
~ Sing like no one's listening ~
Posts: 722
|
Post by Vincent Hawk on Jun 18, 2010 22:09:51 GMT -5
Vincent chuckled at Smoke's facepalm. "Mostly I'm just curious as to how this will affect my position as a Hunter; I don't know if mages can be Hunters at all. It could be quite useful, I think, depending on said mage's specialties."
He stood up as well, smiling. "Thank you very much for helping me figure this out. I might do a bit of research on my own as well. Two brains are better than one. I'm sure between the two of us we'll manage to find something."
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Post by Smoke on Jun 18, 2010 22:13:28 GMT -5
Smoke laughed. "Ask Tristan about that."
"You're more than welcome. Good luck."
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Vincent Hawk
Ireth
Sexy British Professor of Music
~ Sing like no one's listening ~
Posts: 722
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Post by Vincent Hawk on Jun 18, 2010 22:19:26 GMT -5
"I'll be sure to seek him out," Vincent nodded. "Thank you again."
He left the office quietly and headed down the hallway toward the mess hall; it must have been getting close to suppertime. Maybe he could get a start on some research after he'd eaten. From what Smoke had said about looking in the archives, Vincent's magic seemed to be something arcane, that perhaps not many mages these days knew about. This was going to be very interesting to learn about, that much was certain.
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