01 | Open | General introduction and foundation building

[kartereo]

WHO: Waver
WHAT: Waver getting to grips with surroundings
WHEN: Post inital arrival on 8 Firstfall-End of th month
WHERE: Location
NOTES: Content warnings, OOC notes, links to other relevant posts, etc.

I. Stables
Staying near the stables so much isn't exactly a good choice, Waver knew. It meant he smelled like horse constantly, and the smell lingered in his hair most of all. Lingering also made him look just as much as a fish out of water as he felt, but such things weren't quite as important as why he insisted on frequenting the area so much: horses meant fast transport. Fast transport meant greater paths to learning outside of the immediate area. And being thrown into another world entirely, Waver wanted to learn everything he could as quickly as he could. He was at a disadvantage now, and he disliked it intensely.

So he stayed, watching tack go on and off the horses, memorizing the order of events. Observing horses and their personalities, so that he knew which ones might eventually accommodate someone who had never rode a horse before. Trying to figure out who to approach for lessons with minimizing awkwardness or needing to take up more of Iskandar's time. It was a delicate balance of observation, and one that got involving after some time. Enough involvement to ignore the rest of his surroundings, and for him to become more obvious than he'd like.

Then again, it was fairly hard to miss a strange tall man in a red coat, looking at horses like he was going to write a book on them.

II. Outside
One thing that Waver had insisted on doing, was adamant about doing, was trying to keep himself doing was walking the grounds and trying to learn them as quickly as possible. Certainty staying with and near Iskandar would be safe enough for his untrained self whose primary form of self defense was starting to dwindle, but on the off chance of something going wrong or else getting separated, Waver wanted to have some routes available to him.

But he was informed by his desire for safety as he was by Iskandar's preference for staying outside of the primary buildings, sleeping in a stable or a tent like the man was on one of his legendary campaigns. Waver had to admit, perhaps there was something there, but not something he wanted to dwell on.

So he simply walked time and again, retracing paths, a cigar sticking out of his mouth and the smoke billowing ahead of him, the acrid smell announcing his approach. From time to time, he took the thing out and examined it, before muttering, "Where can I get a steady supply of these anyway? I'm nearly out."

III. Additional
For additional prompts in and around the location!

Comments

[kartereo]

"And swearing," he added helpfully. Waver was excellent at both of those things, if nothing else. God knows that teaching and dealing with fellow magi had given him ample time and ways to master both.

"London, England," was the immediate answer to the question, once Sam asked it. Waver was far more interested in analyzing Sam's movements than thinking about home, but it was an easy sort of question to answer while keeping his eyes elsewhere. "Big capital city, fairly noisy, very crowded."

[el_tybs]

"You'll want to hold the reins like this. Enough slack that you aren't pulling on the bit constantly, but enough that you can direct her movements," he shows quickly once Waver has answered. Once the man seems like he gets it Sam gets his horse to start walking along the fence.

"You're from Earth then?" He doesn't know London, but he's heard mention of England from others who have come from the same place - even if not the same time. "Being here must be different then."

[kartereo]

Waver looked to Sam for an idea of how much slack was needed - the visual helped more than anything else - then adjusted the tension accordingly. Just the right amount of droop without being too lax. Perfect.

"I'm honestly in awe of the fact it is a popular point to come from," Waver admitted. "But yes, very much so. There are periods of our history where the technology levels are similar to Thedas, but for me, that's long past."

[el_tybs]

"Yes, it does seem that a great many of you come from there," he agrees with a nod, slowing his horse down just a bit so Waver's didn't try trotting all of a sudden to catch up.

"Do you then per chance live in a time period like Kirk? Or would it be more like Hermione's?" Given that Waver even knew who either of them were.

[kartereo]

"I've caught Kirk, and he's er," Waver paused, trying to remember the exact time frame. He gave up after a moment, it was just far away. "Way ahead of me, actually. I've not met the other person you've mentioned."

But it did give Waver another thought, coupled with a frown. "It is weird that the rifts keep dragging things over from Earth though."

[el_tybs]

"Or different times from Earth?" Sam is very aware at this point that not only is it the location, but time periods, which has taken some getting used to. Flying ships in the sky took a while. "I can only guess that there's some connection between magic in your world and ours that is making it possible."

[kartereo]

"That would make sense, but then again, that makes me want to question what exactly the connection is and how it works," Waver said. He'd tap a finger to his chin, and nearly did so, before remembering the reins in his hands.

"We do have theories about parallel universes and whatnot at my time and place in history, so at the very least this proves a few things."

[el_tybs]

Sam seems less concerned about having two hands on the wheel reins, and lets one of them sit on his leg, tapping at the fabric.

"Parallel universes? So something like the Fade?"

[kartereo]

"More like," Waver paused, trying to find the right words in the right order.

"More like, having two lines running side by side, but instead, they're different timelines. Events happen differently there."

[el_tybs]

As he listens Sam tilts his head slowly at the explanation. Well that was different.

"Then... not like the Fade. It's part of this world, but separated by a magical shield that only certain people can get some access through. Putting it simply." There's a moment of silence as he considers something further before turning slightly in his saddle so he wasn't sitting quite properly, instead facing Waver a bit better. "Is it parallel universes even though this is Thedas and you're from a place called Earth?"

[kartereo]

"I mean, as far as I can understand it, yes," Waver said. It was actually a good thing that Sam knew Kirk, Waver was going to guess that there was some discussion of space travel had at some point. "The other option is that we're within the same greater universe, but on deeply different planets. Either way, it is within the realm of possibility."

[el_tybs]

Yes, there had been plenty of discussion of space and the traveling of it, as well as a number of other things. "If it is the latter of the two then Thedas is still a place unknown to Earth. Least that is how I understand it from talking with Kirk; his travels or that of his organization has not come across this planet."

[kartereo]

"Well, that isn't too surprising. The universe is big and as far as the last time I checked with science, still expanding," Waver said brightly. "But there's explanations no matter how you approach it is the point, I suppose."

[el_tybs]

"Even if you cannot figure it out at the moment," he concurs, more interested in the fact that Waver was talking so energetically now. "So where you're from you have both magic and this science?"

[kartereo]

"We do, although the existence of magic is kept pretty well under wraps," he explained. It was an effort to keep both hands on the reins, truly. "Not everyone would be thrilled, and more would want to use that type of power. Plus magi like to cultivate their own sense of mystery even among themselves, mostly just because."

[el_tybs]

"Sounds like that is a popular idea for magic on Earth." Keeping it under wraps that is, at least from the people he's talked to. Or in some cases doesn't even exist. "So do you know magic, or just know of it?"

[kartereo]

Waver smiled thinly. "I've been advised that confirming such things might not be very safe in Thedas."

Which was to say yes, he did. "But if you were to ask me what I do to earn my living I'd have to also say I know enough of it to give formal instruction."

[el_tybs]

"Oh?" He wants to ask who advised that, but it isn't very important. "Well they're things you certainly don't want to go around bragging about, that's for sure. I'm honestly just asking because I'm curious and a bit concerned. I know one rifter who knows magic but it's done different in her world so she's had difficulty adjusting. And then I know one who doesn't know magic and now he has magic because of the shard."

[kartereo]

"Oh, the differences between magic here and home are miles apart," he said, cheerful. Where they lay was within Waver's realm of interest, if he was to be honest, as cross-cultural study always yielded fascinating results in his mind. "I haven't tried much yet because there's been too much else--" bullshit, Waver was always a weak spellcaster back home, he didn't want to know how being in another world impacted it. "--But the understanding of where magic energy comes from alone is night and day."

[el_tybs]

Even if it is bullshit, Sam buys into it considering he's already met others who were having difficulty with their spellcasting because it was different to how they normally did it. "Really? Where does magic come from where you live then?" He's curious to know since here it came from the realm of the Fade.

[kartereo]

"One of two places," Waver began, feeling his entire body shift into lecture mode. He was ramrod straight, eyes intense, and his voice had that air of scholarly pomposity that he loved to use on the first day just to mess with his students.

"There is the magical energy in an individual. To create magecraft, you harness the energy from within, channel it through one's magic circuits - think of them like chanels for a river - and then force that energy into the world to twist that energy to do what you command. There is also magical energy in the larger world, but harder to tap into and very, very slow to replenish. Magi rely on the former. There's no Fade, no demons unless you go out of your way to summon them, nothing of the sort."

[el_tybs]

Certainly seemed that Waver was getting more comfortable with a horse considering it wasn't stopping him from using such a posture and tone.

Once more Sam finds himself raising a brow. "So you're saying that anyone in your world could learn magecraft?" They called it magecraft, huh? "They just need to learn to harness the power?" Was he understanding that right?

[kartereo]

"There's a biological component to it, unfortunately." And there was no mistaking the fact Waver hated this next part. He spent years chafing against the kind of attitude this basic fact brought. "Magic circuits have to exist within a mage, and not everyone has that. Once they appear though, you can begin a family line. By and large, families grow more powerful generation after generation as there are usually more magic circuits in each successive offspring.

"Once you've got the ability to channel the energy though, you can start to learn. The question of how is up to an individual's family."

[el_tybs]

So not so different from here after all. "So not everyone is born a mage, but families with magical tendencies try to pass that down the bloodline. Well that isn't guaranteed to work here, but that certainly sounds exactly what Tevinter does. Now that is a subject I would certainly be careful about talking about. Tevinter is a touche subject..."

Considering that Tevinter was associated with a lot of bad things; Venatori, blood magic, just to list a couple. Not to say that everyone from Tevinter was bad, proof by several members of the Inquisition, but even they still got looks from people.

[kartereo]

"Believe me. From what I've heard about their society, it sounds like the kind of bullshit magi from back home would absolutely do if they could function out in the open."

It was funny, in a way. Of all the universal constants to be true, magi being terrible at setting up a decent society was one of them. Not that Waver would ever say such a thing out loud, but it was one of the thoughts that had stuck in his mind since arriving.

"I've been taking pains not to bring it up though. Or being a mage in general, based on how everyone who isn't Tevinter tends to react."