crystal

[pathlit]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Jason Talons & Viktor Tendercrisp
RECIPIENT: One thread private to Cosima, Marcus, Yseult & the current Diplomacy representative; otherwise, open.
NOTES: Context under the cut.

[ It's an ordinary day in post-sieged Kirkwall. The air is muggy with intermittent summer showers that dampen dirt and stone, invoking the scent of earth and, in the lower streets, aerosolizing the stench of a crowded populace. Reparations continue, maneuvering around them normalized.

So it's an ordinary day in Kirkwall up until the exact moment that a workshop in Lowtown erupts with a brilliant hue of blue light bursting from every open window, door and crevice. The blast is felt more than heard; a subtle drop in pressure 'round the block seconds before acute release, its pulse strong enough to rattle the foundation and knock an average-sized human off their feet.

A pillar of fire shoots out from the building's chimney, high enough to be seen from The Gallows for all of a few seconds before abruptly vanishing. Light blue particles glimmer in its wake, as if suspended amongst the humid air, then gently float downward to vanish the moment they alight.

No casualties (aside from whatever creature may have been naïve enough to roost upon the chimney's crown). Mild property damage. Elation. ]

( open )
[Viktor's voice, broadcast to Riftwatch at large, is at first distantly quiet.]

What should I—

[Suddenly much closer and clearer:]

Ehh— should anyone happen to have noticed a combustion event on the mainland just now, please be assured it's nothing to worry about.

( closed to Division Heads )
[ Minutes later, the sending crystals of the division heads light up. ]

Hey! Hi, uh-- [ Jayce clears his throat. ] Hello. It's Jayce. Jayce and Viktor. Research div. There was a-- an incident in Lowtown. That was us, not an attack. Everything's okay. Could you let the Viscount know?

[From a few metres away, raised thin with excitement, Viktor's voice:] Tell them! Tell them what we've done!

[ Jayce, with a breathy laugh and an excitement scarcely backdropped by the worry of reprimand (and-or shock of success): ] Yeah, we've-- we've got it! Runic enchantment. Viktor and I figured it out. How to do it ourselves, I mean.

Comments

[dissolving]

That's great, Jayce — [ is it. evenly: ] — Sounds like the Commander's picking you up, ask Hedda if she wants to come.

[ plain citizen's under guard jurisdiction. but if it gets them on the bird, ]

But go with him, alright? Nobody got hurt, 's gonna be fine. Just need you back here to help settle it.

[pathlit]

[ His stomach drops when Cedric says the Commander is retrieving them.

Like, not just a member of Forces or anyone else, but actually the Commander. The “who” doesn’t bother him; he’s never had reason to interact with Marcus. It is entirely the “what” and its implication that sinks like a boulder in his gut.

A moment of apologies and sorting things out, and then, quiet and grave, he says, ] Hedda intends to remain here. Is she— [ Knuckles to lips, he breathes and tries again. ] Will they treat her fairly? The guard. She didn’t do this.

[dissolving]

[ maybe he's wrong, maybe marcus is delegating someone right now. don't much matter. he's still the one who decided: whoever gets there gets them out. ]

They're professionals, [ says the cop ] And I'll stick around, make sure. Anything in there gonna be dangerous?

[pathlit]

[ They’re professionals would’ve assured him once, but that brand of naivety started crumbling before Jayce had ever set foot in Thedas.

Instead, Cedric’s personal assurance provides a degree of comfort that one might find peculiar given that they barely know each other at all.

Perhaps it’s relative. ]

In the wrong hands, sure. We’re not leaving it.

[ Nor their journals and schematics. They worked too hard on those to let them get confiscated. Again. ]

[dissolving]

Alright. Guard's probably gonna be looking for blast charges, anything looks like 's got a fuse. Mining shit, or recovered grenades. Long as she's upfront on that, better to leave it, focus on what we can't lose.

[pathlit]

[ For a moment, he wonders of the viability of utilizing said blast charges for cannons rather than gunpowder or the coveted gaatlok, but-- focus. ]

Right. Yeah, all right. Thanks, Car-- Cedric.

[ Genuine, said plainly. Does he know Cedric? Not really, no, but his sincere attempt to empathize with Jayce in the ruined waters outside The Gallows struck him deeper than he's voiced, prompting sincerity in return. That Cedric happens to be the current Diplomacy representative provides a small measure of comfort that is founded on sentiment rather than logic. ]