crystal, closed to mages

[altusimperius]

FORM: crystal
SENDER: Benedict
RECIPIENT: mage group chat
NOTES: bl..ood magic??

How does one use a phylactery?

[BENEDICT HAS ENTERED THE CHAT]

--Isaac was on the mission with everyone we forgot for a time. He's still gone, nobody can remember where it was, but I found his phylactery.

[sometimes you do a little theft. just for pals]

Comments

[exequy]

Is it glowing?

[ Or is he dead. ]

[altusimperius]

...yes.

[exequy]

Good. Keep an eye on it.

[ While he sorts out the rest with Julius, presumably. ]

[overharrowed]

[Wow, what an alarming collection of sentences.]

Given how our sending crystals have been acting, I'd prefer to discuss this in person [is this chat even encrypted] but I've been privy to the use of phylacteries before. If you'd like to stop by my office.

Anyone else concerned can stop by too, I just feel this is better discussed face to face.

1/2

[altusimperius]

Oh. ...yes, of course.

[portalling]

I’d like to observe as well; I know how to scry on Earth, but I’ve never seen how this particular thing is done, here.

[grindset]

If we can be of any assistance, please, let us know.

[aberratic]

I'll get extra chairs, we should stay out of the Seneschal's way while he works.

[grindset]

Agreed. I'll be there as soon as I can.

[ With special thanks to the crystal network's volatility for deciding he's a mage today. ]

[succise]

(We listen and we DO judge.

And make our way silently to Julius' office also.)

2/2, action

[altusimperius]

[arriving a short while later with Isaac's phylactery, Benedict taps on the doorframe of the seneschal's office.]

handwave everyone else getting here whenever desired

[overharrowed]

Come in. It sounds like we'd best wait for a variety of other arrivals.

[He could have objected; he hadn't.]

May I ask where the phylactery was, while we're waiting?

[altusimperius]

[a flash of guilt:]

With Isaac's things.

[He hands it over with a little flex of his fingers, like he wasn't quite comfortable holding it,]

...I was hoping to find some kind of... intentionality. Like a note, perhaps, if he had reason to stay away. But this was all.

[overharrowed]

[Julius takes it without a flinch, looking it over.]

It's far from nothing, under the circumstances. [A beat.] I helped to make these, many years ago.

[It seems like he might expound on that for a moment, but instead he looks back up at Benedict, the phylactery resting in his palm.]

Unfortunately we can't just ... it won't give us an instant location. But we can use it to confirm he's alive, and it will give us a direction. That's much more than we had.

[altusimperius]

[A cautious glance is Benedict's only reaction to the news that Julius was once part of phylacteries' creation: they're all different people now. Hopefully.]

A direction is good, [he remarks, his attention briefly caught by the sight of far more people filing in than he'd had any intention of inviting. He looks at Julius, eyebrows raised: is this all right?]

(if others are doing anything beyond observing, feel free to jump in at your leisure)

[overharrowed]

[Julius looks briefly nonplussed, but in fairness, none of the people who have appeared give him individual cause for concern. He could have booked them all into the Research workroom if he'd known they would need more chairs, but so it goes. (He isn't, at least, annoyed; that's clear.)]

As some of us discovered in the Inquisition years ago, one can use a phylactery to cast magic on a mage from a distance, though that is presumably more useful to those with hostile intent than it is for us in this case. But the way they were most commonly used in Southern circles was as a way for Templars to hunt down mages who attempted escape and tacitly, by their existence, to discourage such attempts. As such, using them for location had to be done by those without the ability to cast spells themselves, you see? So it's ... it opperates something like the children's game "warmer or colder."

[He's mainly talking to Benedict, but glances up to include the other listeners.]

For those of you who never had one of your own, when a phylactery is the corresponding mage's presence it glows. Quite distinctly. But no matter the distance from its subject, a given phylactery will always go fainter or brighter as you move. The closer you are, the more precise you can get with it, but the phylactery will always at least show you the right choice in a general way.

[altusimperius]

[Used for hunting down mages: he knew this, but to hear it stated so plainly still gives Benedict a chill down his spine, such that he diverts his gaze from Julius to stare at the little vial instead.

He's silent as the explanation continues, but does raise his head when a question occurs to him:]

Then if we were to-- to test it by going through different Eluvians, it would be able to indicate the one to which he's closest?

[overharrowed]

Theoretically, yes. Although it can be hard to notice fine distinctions when you're just standing still, so unless he's very close to one, it might make sense to do some baseline measurements on foot, or maybe horse, first. Get at least a rough compass direction to narrow down which eluvians we should focus on. And I suspect we won't get readings at all in the Crossroads unless Isaac is also there, though that's ... Fereldan templars obviously weren't hunting mages in the Crossroads during my time in the Circle.

[So that part is an educated guess.]

But still, with eluvians and griffons, we should be faster at it, at least in theory. Even if you haven't seen it before, the glow is evident once it gets stronger. If he were dead, it would look fully inert, which it doesn't. But all I can say from this office is that he's not especially close by, but with a trained eye, I could walk into the Gallows courtyard and tell you he's slightly more south, or east, or less. The farther you go, the more difference you'll be able to detect.

I replied to this in my mind and apparently never actually wrote it

[altusimperius]

I see. ..I see.

[A glance to Clarisse; this is something, anyway-- especially with griffons.]

That all seems pretty straightforward, doesn't it?

[who needs Templars]

a well-known rp hazard

[overharrowed]

In theory. If he's far away, the differences will be subtle. But you have to remember that these were used for pursuit on horseback, not via eluvian. So the expectation is you would be moving one direction at mount speed and could watch it fade or brighten. Unless he's near enough to an eluvian for it to be quite bright, I think it will be challenging to hold a brightness level in mind for however long it takes to get from one to the other.

[A bit softer:] I don't mean to be discouraging, I only mean to adjust expectations. The phylactery will certainly help, and perhaps we'll be lucky.

[Presumably they could ask a templar for help, as a more trained set of eyes, but also Julius doesn't think he needs to spell out why he doesn't raise the possibility.]

[laruetheday]

[ Right now she's just so relieved that Isaac isn't dead. Compared to the possibility of him being dead, everything else seems like a pretty solvable issue. ]

We have a rough idea of the direction to head in, so we'll just have to start with that.

[altusimperius]

[Looking from Clarisse back to Julius, Benedict raises his eyebrows. Yeah??]

[reparo]

...was it just lying around?

[altusimperius]

I mean,

[no,]

I had to... look for it,

[reparo]

Ah. [ Connecting the dots. ]

Of course, it's a very reasonable thing to look for, when someone goes missing, I suppose. Something a good friend would do.

[ Take the excuse if you need it, Benedict. ] Is he - what does it mean if it still glows?

[altusimperius]

[ok Miss Implications, point taken,]

I mean I wasn't-- looking for it, I was looking for. You know. Anything, a letter or a map. A journal. [just the regular kind of privacy invasion]

...I assume it means he's still alive, that it's glowing?

[reparo]

I'm not really clear on how they work, but given that nobody has started crying yet...

[ A quick little smile. ] Reasons to hope. Are you going to try to find him?

[altusimperius]

Neither am I. They're not something we go for, in Tevinter.

[a pause,]

Yes. If he was forgotten, he may not have gone willingly.

[reparo]

If you want back-up, I - [ Would likely make for poor back-up, but she can be menacing if he needs it. She can't just not do anything, not when faced with a problem. Even if the problem is Disappearance of Spooky Mage. ] can offer up my services.

It's a shame there are no other types of tracking spells available - or, well, helpful, because imagine if people could just randomly track you like that? [ rambling now, she realises after a pause. ]

Do you have not also have a Templar order in Tevinter?

[altusimperius]

[She's begun to hit on unpleasant, even if he keeps it under wraps for the most part. Yes, imagine if people could just randomly track you,]

Not the same, [he explains, patience unable to fully overtake the anxiety creeping into his tone,] they're more like... mediators. They're not there to track or imprison anyone.

[a pause,]

...in fact there's. Not much use for them at all, really.