|
Post by Noa on Jan 30, 2023 0:53:42 GMT -6
It was not unlike the northern lights phenomenon that was reported to be visible at night sometimes in the far north. Noa himself had never seen it in person, but there were depictions of it enough in journals. Of course, it also resembled a lot of other things -- gemstones he had seen in person with some level of iridescence; creatures in the region, especially those that incorporated gemstones as part of their anatomy; and even the effects of some spells; all of these came to mind. It wasn't an unflattering effect, though it was curious that the crystal spire would display its colors only under specific circumstances, possibly relating to the light level and the viewer's proximity to it.
... But this wasn't something he could take home. It was much too large, and he somehow doubted, looking at it, that he would be able to chip away a manageable piece.
21
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 30, 2023 0:53:52 GMT -6
Not to mention that the Mansion itself might not take kindly to an attempt at property damage. Noa hadn't tried it before, or at least not intentionally, but there was a limit to his own audacity, and he didn't believe in tempting fate to no purpose. Surely there would be other things, more manageable spoils, that he could find to take home.
To that end, he let his gaze drift further down to the base of the spire, to see if there was anything useful to be found there. No such luck, but upon lifting his gaze to inspect the next few spires over, he did see a scattering of objects around the base of another one, not far from where they were currently standing. "I wonder who leaves these things here," Noa said, closing the distance. Now that he was close enough to see what they were, the objects seemed especially eclectic.
22
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 30, 2023 0:54:03 GMT -6
There were two roundish things that turned out to be star globes; when he picked one up and shook it, small glittering particles scattered about in the liquid, surrounding a much larger star-shaped decoration affixed to the center of it. He had something like this at home, though he couldn't quite recall where it came from -- whether it had been a previous personal trip that just hadn't been particularly memorable, or if he had traded for it somehow. Regardless, these seemed like toys, or decorations at best. The kind of thing the trader liked, to be sure, but of no more use than that.
Beside these were scattered articles of knit clothing, which struck him as the oddest of the bunch. Why anyone would leave their own clothes here, he could hardly fathom at all. The articles were also clearly winter clothes, and it was much too cold to contemplate taking things off.
23
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 30, 2023 0:54:14 GMT -6
At least, Noa thought so anyway. There was no telling what someone else might get up to, and it was also true that people suffering from hypothermia did sometimes reach a point where, paradoxically, they began to feel too hot. By that point, taking off what they were wearing was only hastening their inevitable demise, but... Noa scanned his surroundings, and a cursory look certainly didn't reveal any corpses. If there was such a victim here, they had since been removed, or their body was hidden out of sight. Their things had been left behind, but they themselves were nowhere to be found.
{Are those mittens?} said Rhys, breaking off from his vigil to peer down at Noa's finds. {You don't think they belonged to a little kid, do you?}
"I have no idea who they might have belonged to," Noa said, which as far as it went was the truth.
24
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 30, 2023 0:54:33 GMT -6
What went unspoken was that he also didn't have much interest in finding out. Knowing the identity of the former owner of these mittens wouldn't help him in the least, and in the meantime the mittens might still be of interest to the trader. After all, he did find them in the Mansion, even if he wasn't sure as to whether or not they originated there. And it was possible that the Mansion had created these, and even possible that it had left them here for him to find... Though if the house was trying to tell him to layer up, that was definitely something Noa wouldn't have anticipated.
If that was the case though, he rather thought it was wasting its time. He had his own gloves, of a much better and more expensive make than these mittens, which looked to be knitted with no more than normal yarn.
25
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 30, 2023 1:07:20 GMT -6
And as for a hat, he wasn't wearing one, but he did have a cloak with a hood that was pulled up over his head; and a scarf wrapped around his neck over that to make the fit a bit more snug. He wasn't the warmest he had ever been, and his fingers were already colder than he would have liked, but better clothes wouldn't really have fixed the issue. He had as good as money could buy, and was likely about as warm as he was going to get, barring more restrictive and cumbersome clothes. And there was a limit to what he could wear and still be mobile in; he had never been very physically strong, and if he was weighed down beyond his capacity, he wouldn't have been able to do much.
Kneeling down, he began picking up the objects and putting them away in a bag he'd brought.
26
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 30, 2023 1:07:32 GMT -6
He had come here with the intention to take things home, so it would have been remiss not to bring along something to transport them in. Normally this would have been a little beneath his dignity, to be picking things up off the ground, but there wasn't anyone else to see him do it. And besides, it was also a little much to conjure up a magic servant or a magic hand to do it simply to save him the pride of bending his knee.
Or, if he thought about it another way, it was also kind of a luxury that he could still do this. In another few years, maybe even this simple range of motion would be beyond the ability of his failing body. Everyone deteriorated differently in his family, but after a certain point, they inevitably had to rely on magic to do even the most basic tasks.
27
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 30, 2023 1:09:01 GMT -6
It was part of why magic handling ran so strongly in them, or at least that was what his parents told him. Without magic, without power, without wealth, they would simply be cripples dependent on the mercies of those around them. And Noa knew from experience that mercy was generally something found wanting in people, especially if those seeking it had nothing to offer in return.
What a good thing, then, that he wasn't forced into such a position. He intended to keep it that way for as long as he could.
As he was putting the things away into his bag, he uncovered something that he hadn't spotted previously. there, rolled up under the hat, was a piece of... paper? No, that wasn't quite it. Noa picked it up, and again Rhys's attention diverted, and the Faeron shifted around to get a better view of what Noa was looking at.
28
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 30, 2023 1:11:10 GMT -6
Unfurling it revealed a map of stars, though in the dim lighting, it was a little tough to make out heads or tails of it at first. Noa had to squint at it for some time just to orient himself and determine what exactly he was looking at, and he had to squint at it for even longer to determine whether it was a real and accurate map, or just some scribblings of fantasy penned by someone looking to create a prop. But no, upon closer examination, it did appear to be at least somewhat accurate, though a few of the markings weren't quite where he would expect them to be. Then again, astronomy wasn't his field of interest, generally speaking, and he had only the passing knowledge required to navigate in a rudimentary way if he found himself lost and without any other means to orient himself towards home.
29
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 30, 2023 1:13:48 GMT -6
Perhaps this star chart was more accurate than the ones Noa had learned, but he had no way of figuring that out until he compared it to other charts elsewhere. For now, he rolled it back up and placed it with the other things he had gathered. If he couldn't find or come up with a use for this thing, the trader might like it. That was the main purpose of his trip, after all.
Now that he had a few finds, Noa was in a better mood. This wasn't enough to satisfy him, so they would stick around and search a bit longer, but it was always good to know that he wouldn't be going home empty handed. It was no small effort to make these trips, and increasingly he felt the need to make them count. "Tell me if you see anything else we can take," he said to Rhys.
30
|
|
|
Post by Nadia on Jan 30, 2023 3:15:44 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 31, 2023 0:35:46 GMT -6
{I'll try...} That was what Rhys said, though Noa didn't know how much stock to put in that, given that the Faeron's attention had mostly been on potential dangers instead. Or at least Noa assumed that was what he was concerned about, anyway. He never did quite get to the bottom of what Rhys was being so cagey about, mostly because Rhys had been evasive about it even when asked directly, and Noa simply didn't have the patience to fish it out of him. But, well, Noa had his own set of eyes. He would find things sooner or later, with or without Rhys's involvement.
He was casting around, looking for any likely-looking shapes on the ground that seemed different from the... crystalline stuff that had taken the place of grass or snow or whatever else was supposed to be there, when he felt a faint sense of... something else.
31
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 31, 2023 0:35:57 GMT -6
It was hard to figure out what it was at first, though the reason for that became clear once he realized what he was picking up. He had to clear his mind, really focus on the sensation of it to the exclusion of all other distractions; only then did it become a little clearer. It was faint, but he narrowed it down to a particular direction, and began to head that way. Then, as the sensation grew stronger, he recognized it for what it was: a weak trace of magic, the kind that might be given off by a magical crystal rather than a node proper.
Rhys seemed to pick up on it too, as they got closer to the source of it. Rhys never formally studied magic the way Noa had, and he didn't have the same ability to tap into it, but as a familiar, he also had some awareness.
32
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 31, 2023 0:36:08 GMT -6
As well he should, Noa thought, given that Rhys was practically steeped in the stuff just by virtue of his association with Noa. But it was still Noa's sense for this sort of thing that was stronger, though how long that would still be true would have to remain to be seen. He was certainly not as sensitive as he was when he had first begun practicing magic in earnest, though it wasn't so much that his senses had dulled as that he simply had to fight against more background noise now.
It was, he thought, the one detriment of carrying so many live nodes around on his person all the time. He didn't mind when other people picked up on that about him, which was the other inevitability -- that magically attuned people would not only be made aware of his presence, but be able to sense how much magical wealth he had.
33
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Jan 31, 2023 0:36:22 GMT -6
Some might have found that cumbersome, but Noa enjoyed the attention, and he had the magical prowess to back up his mana pool, so it was a wretched fool who thought they could steal anything from him.
But having that much ambient magic around himself, his sense for magical energies always picked up his own nodes, and it became increasingly difficult to sense anything else through it. It was like looking through clouds, or a fog; seeing things was still possible, but difficult, and he didn't notice things that he might have noticed if he didn't have something obstructing his... vision, metaphorically.
The magic crystal here could only be of the remnant variety, but... what was that saying? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth? Any crystal was a welcome addition, especially when he hadn't been on the search for one, and hadn't expected to find anything of the kind.
34
|
|