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It probably assumes it is, by default.

[ It is, after all, a nug. ]

Warden Adrasteia thought it was a cool idea to catch a shard on purpose. Think we need a PSA on how that's a terrible idea?

I warned her such a thing would be quite dangerous. Did she tell you why she was considering it?

I assume Warden reasons.

She wondered whether a Warden with an anchor might successfully close the gate in the temple of Dumat where others couldn't.

Yeah. Not the craziest idea, but we'd need another Warden with an anchor before we risk testing that theory. 'Cause, you know, it's kind of rare, being able to do it yourself.

Like I'd wanna keep updated on if more people figure out they can do that.

For data reasons.

I take it Mister Dickerson spoke to you.

He was very concerned.

That's very thoughtful of him. Yet you and I both know that anchors have been known to sometimes develop additional characteristics. I have had mine for almost three years, Mister Stark. It is only natural that some change might eventually occur.

Yeah I guess that'd be a pretty scientific conclusion to draw. 'It's only natural'.

Baudin, me, you, and the Herald of Andraste, and zero of those incidences have anything in common.

What else would you call it?

There was nothing so unusual about the rift we were studying when it occurred so as to suggest a cause for the...development of the thing. It was exactly the same as any of dozens of others, save perhaps that Mister Dickerson and I were attempting to conduct magic through it. Which was successful, by the way. But it can't be a matter of excessive exposure to fadeiation, unless Madame Baudin once spent significantly more of her time closing rifts before you or I arrived.

Okay, there's a lot to unpack right there, but up top? Acting like you're cool with the word Fadeiation will only half work on me.

Well, half is better than none at all.

Uh huh.

When do the pain symptoms manifest?

They are irregular. I have yet to determine any true pattern, though it does seem rather more reactive to rifts and the arcane energies of the Fade than it has been in the past. When we returned from fetching those Fade-touched animals - there was some tenderness for a few days following that. But I hesitate to definitively say it is a matter of exposure. The strain in the limb might have easily been due to the exertion of the work.

[ Somewhere, sensitive magic cat ears can listen to footfalls wandering deeper into the office, towards the desk currently loaded in documentation, books, maps, and at least one stale cup of coffee. Tony does a shocking lack of sitting behind it like a normal person, but does pull out the chair now, sit down, kick his feet up.

He stress-rubs his forehead, but not for an audience. ]

I would like to know more about this successful magic experiment you did, please.

Yes of course. I have some notes written up on the subject. Remind me to stow them in Felandaris' files—But you recall me mentioning whether I thought it possible to pull objects through the Fade. Well, I wondered also if it might be possible to conduct more foreign kinds of magic near to the Rifts.

Mister Dickerson has—stop that [is for a softly squeaking animal in the background]—has certain Talents which lent to testing both, and so we opened a rift and he was able to summon that magic construct of his, the cat, ...not through it exactly. But perhaps because of it.

[Deep breath.]

But of course it was only the one time. It may have been a coincidence. I have expressed to him a desire to continue testing.

Okay. Stow your notes in Felandaris' files, by the way.

[ She wanted a reminder. Also: hmm, cat. Very interesting. ]

So why am I hearing about this now and not back in fantasy-April?

You know that I dislike half measures, Mister Stark, and without additional testing it would be irresponsible to commit it to the record.

And I was somewhat occupied otherwise.

Wysteria, [ Wysteria ] do you know how much of my desk space is committed to your reporting alone? And I'm not even talking about 'why didn't your latest thesis make it to my in tray', anyway.

Anchor shards hurt when we play with rifts, we're somewhere with high fadeiation levels, and when we're separated from the herd. If at any time your shard does something outside of those situations, I would like you to tell me. If it starts manifesting new attributes, I would like to know about it.

And if you wanna trade, I'll kick you some of my own observations. Baudin took down details too.

I have notes written.

[It wouldn't be accurate to say that she snaps it back. There's no heat it to. But she is very quick about it. Defensive, maybe.]

Awesome,

[ is also quick. ]

Anything you wanna share about 'em, while we're here?

What do you expect will be in them that I haven't just shared with you?

I dunno, I just don't wanna hear about it by cat-mail.

I wasn't hiding it. What possible reason could I have for that? I simply had—other concerns.

Maybe because it's a sign of our tenuous attachment to this plane of existence and comes pre-loaded with implications about our relative mortality and then also maybe because it's doing some crap we don't fully understand that freaked you out.

(no subject)

heirring - 2021-05-26 15:50 (UTC) - Expand