crystal

[pathlit]

FORM: Crystals
SENDER: Jayce Talis
RECIPIENT: All of Riftwatch
NOTES: Midday, Wintermarch. A call to testing the limits of an enchanted barrier system. Participants are encouraged to go ham on the barrier with physical and magical force (please stay clear of any boom zone), kind of like a wreck-it room but more productive. There's no separate testing log; you can handwave your character's involvement or you can thread out a scene in this post if you want to! OOC details on the barrier system are here. They'll be utilizing the full system for assessing how much damage it can take before becoming functionally useless. The recharging will be tested with two posts only to minimize strain on participants.

Simple refreshments will be provided: tea, biscuits (he made them himself!), butter and jam, sausages and a pot of mulled wine on his and Viktor's hot plate (for afterward).

Hey, it's Jayce from Research. Not to worry, this isn't about an unintentional combustion event. I'm looking for any available hands that won't mind testing the resistance force of a project intended to benefit the defenses of the Gallows. We'll need physical and magical force to mimic another siege, so... well, if you're looking to let off some steam, then this might be the perfect excuse to do so in the name of science.

Since these barriers, which are powered by lyrium, will eventually fail under enough force, I'd like to see if they can be... recharged, you know, in a pinch with magic, either from an anchor or a mage. Given how lyrium-hungry this system is, it probably won't amount to much, but we can obtain a baseline and extrapolate the data.

If you're available, let's meet outside the Gwaren outpost in forty-eight hours. Barrow, the Master of Works, will oversee us. Let us know so we can form a rough headcount. Oh, and, uh... if that time conflicts with the majority, then we'll reschedule. All right, thanks.

Comments

[aberratic]

[ his tone is a surprise, but of course it shouldn't be. sarrux didn't only happen to her. she forgot. ]

Of course. If it were anything like that—it wouldn't be useful as a barrier if Rifters couldn't get close, would it?

[ but she has more questions, morbidly focused while her stomach crawls; nails set into a patch of skin that looks wrong, even if it bleeds. ]

But how do you know it's different? Did you do something to the lyrium, is it contained somehow?

[pathlit]

[ There's a small pause here, thoughtful while shoving shadows back where they belong. ]

Lyrium's not a problem if we wear adequate protective gear. You don't have to worry about the barriers themselves, either. The lyrium's contained, but... you don't have to if... you know, if you're not comfortable.

[aberratic]

Oh—

[ on repeating the conversation back to herself, it does sound like she's being forced into this on the edge of a knife, doesn't it. ]

No, I know, I apologize. It's worth doing, and I'm sure if it's got to the stage where you're inviting others to test it it's as safe as you can make it. I'm just...

You know. Sarrux left a particular taste in the mouth, I suppose. What does adequate protective gear entail, exactly?

[grindset]

If I may,

[ through his own crystal, elsewhere, ]

Lyrium is altered during the enchantment process—most enchanted equipment is completely safe to be handled by anyone. By and large, it is only raw, unrefined lyrium that we as rifters must take care in handling. You have absolutely nothing to fear from Jayce's prototype.

That said, I would not recommend prolonged contact with the barrier field... and there is a slight chance of unforeseen arcane interaction, which could result in unexpected energy discharge. But aside from that—

[aberratic]

"Unforeseen arcane interaction"?

[ the problem with who ness is as a person is that she hears could and thinks well, we need to find out for certain. ]

You "wouldn't recommend" getting too close, there "could" be these arcane interactions—have there already been incidents, or is this all hypothesis? If it's hypothesis, we should determine the barrier's behaviour in fact before proceeding.

Not that I doubt your methodological rigor, or Messere Talis'—or think you'd put us in danger on purpose! I am... merely offering to assist with either experiment, as necessary.

[grindset]

[ This moment of hand-wringing slides right off him, almost as if he's had nigh a decade's worth of practice swanning past it. ]

Then we'll see you in forty-eight hours.

[aberratic]

Right, of course. I'll be there.

[ someday she'll figure out how to friend you, viktor. someday. ]

[grindset]

Excellent.

[ He does sound pleased. ]

Should you happen to arrive early, we can go over the mechanics of it in greater detail.

🎀 i just need the finality of the bow

[aberratic]

I'll be there bright and early, waiting for the both of you!

[ unless you guys sleep there, or something. ]

[boeric]

This barrier you see, in the Pass. It resists only Rifters?

[ hi (: ]

[aberratic]

[ uhhhhh hi?? ]

Oh, it wasn't a barrier, it was just—a very large lyrium crystal. It... had some adverse effects.

[ how much is she allowed to say to Who The Fuck Is This, oh dear. ]

[boeric]

Raw crystal? As the dwarves mine?

[aberratic]

Yes, suspended in the chamber. A strange color, but otherwise like natural, raw lyrium.

Sorry, who am I speaking to? I don't recognize your voice.

[boeric]

Sennara. I am with Research, [ wry: ] No booms.

[ intentional combustion only ]

This is red lyrium?

[aberratic]

[ well if she's really part of riftwatch...! ]

No, it was... a sort of greenish-yellow. It wasn't blighted, just wrong, it had strange properties. Have you read our reports on the interactions between Rifters and lyrium?

[boeric]

No. This acts differently to what we know?

[aberratic]

Not... differently, [ which isn't a total lie, though it does feel like a gross oversimplification, ] but more strongly. Our report is still in progress, but you can read it when it's finished, it will have all the details.