this is Salem, a land filled with magic and maladies. It is a place where witches and their elemental familiars gather, a home to legend and
lore that predates time itself. Yet of all the wicked and wonderful stories the past can tell us of, the most magical are the ones yet to happen.
This is Salem - this is the start of your very own journey. Welcome to starfall
Starfall is an animaga witch roleplay set in mostly modern times. Members play as witches in a world plagued by monsters, where the only safe spots are walled cities. Starfall strives to be a character-driven roleplay with expansive lore and a highly interactive plotline. We want to allow members to
create and look back on a magical journey, and mold the site and its plot as their characters grow.
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
Percy doesn't respond with immediete derision, which is nice. He doesn't scoff, or sneer, or look at her condescendingly, or awkwardly shuffle away, or clam up, or display any of the other reactions she's gotten used to getting either. In fact, he kinda looks... blank?
His reaction is explained a moment later with his question, and Ling immediately feels like whacking herself over the head for her unnecessary defensiveness and her stupidity. She hadn't even considered the possibility of Percy simply not knowing what runescripting is despite its comparative obscurity - no, her mind had immediately jumped to worst case scenarios. Again: stupid of her.
Though, now she has to figure out how to simply explain the concept of runescripting. "It's... it's basically manipulating mana and creating effects through a written script, which is usually runes. So like, I write out a runic array that sort of means what I want the effect to be, then I imbue the array with mana, and stuff happens. Think enchantment, but written out, and a lot more versatile and useful when you get to the higher level stuff." There, that's a pretty good introduction, right? Summing up the basic concept, not too complicated - she didn't even touch on the geometric or mathematical or linguistic aspects of runescripting, nor the possibility of scripts outside of runes - the details would take far too long to explain. Or rather, if she gets started, she'd never stop.
Sometimes it's hard to learn from all your mistakes
He seems to come back to life once she explains what runescripting is, and he leans back in his seat. He seems to understand, at least in theory anyway. Runescripting isn't his kind of thing, he has a feeling he's not smart enough for something like that. He accepts this easily though, files it away because it's not something useful at the moment except for a conversation piece.
"Wow that actually sounds pretty cool? Useful and junk, but I bet I couldn't do it. Sounds like a smart person thing and I'm not the brightest."
He laughs quietly to himself and pops his joints.
"So give me an example of how it works? Like some real beginner level stuff."
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
As she waits for Percy's reaction to her impromtu introduction/lecture, Ling winds her braid through her fingers in a quietly nervous gesture, far too used to being judged or even just percieved differently for her affinity - and her pride in her affinity - to feel otherwise. Oh don't get her wrong, she'll extole the beautiful brilliance of runescripting any day with whole-hearted genuiness, but sometimes... Huffing silently, Valkea discreetly whacks her across her shins with his tail in a gesture telling her not to worry; she twines her fingers through his fur and sends a sheepish smile through their mental bond, grateful in a way she could never explain but her familiar intuitivly understands.
"Wow that actually sounds pretty cool?" Percy says, his expression open and at ease, and Ling grins back, bright and wide, something warm and soft flowering in her chest. "Useful and junk, but I bet I couldn't do it. Sounds like a smart person thing and I'm not the brightest."
"It is really cool!" she replies enthusiastically, eyes alight and passionate as wildfire, then flails her hands up as if it would emphasise her words. "Nah, you could totally do it. Runescripting is actually a lot less complex than what most people think once you get the hang of the logic. And you're definitely pretty smart-" here she gestures towards the many many books surrounding him- "these aren't easy you know."
And then he asks her to demonstrate something, show him something, and gods yes. Pulling out a fresh sheet of paper and an ink pen, Ling hums as she considers what kind of array to draw out. Most of what she knows thoroughly have to do with dispelling illusions or enchantments or breaking spells, and useful as that is, it isn't really much of a demonstration. If only she were more confident with her Kenaz - creating and controlling fire would be an awesome trick - but her control is shaky at best and she doesn't want to burn down the building. Really, that only leaves barriers of some sort - she's been practicing them and she's reasonably sure they won't explode on her.
Yeah, barriers sound about right.
Decided, Ling quickly sketches out the basic pentagonal structure of a simple barrier array, then links together a series of runes all without lifting her pen from the paper, the array twining in through itself in one continuous inky line. No focus rune 'cause she's going for basic and temporary, which makes everything a lot easier - she's done in a few minutes.
Finally looking back up at Percy, Ling grins, then slaps her hand down onto the center of the array and activates it in a burst of mana; five small balls of light burst outwards - one for each point - gossamer barriers springing up where they collide with the ground. Clear, iridescent, and flimsy, they wouldn't stand up to more than a single attack, but they don't need to right now. "Barrier arrays," Ling says, unable to tamp down on the trace of pride in her voice.
Sometimes it's hard to learn from all your mistakes
He blushes, is very sheepish about her calling him smart. He's never thought much about himself before, but there's a strange satisfaction in knowing his work is not easy. He's been at this for a while, and knowing someone appreciates his efforts is like some sort of relief. Something in his chest seem to loosen and he allows a small smile to cross his face.
He watches the demonstration raptly and is severely interested in what's going on. It's not something he'd do probably, too much writing and not quick enough in his eyes when needed, but he can appreciate it a lot. He gasps when the balls come to life and spread around, creating the admittedly very pretty barrier.
Honestly he's proud of her, something in his chest ebbs and swells.
"Oh wow."
He whispers with amazement.
"That's so....wow...I'm super impressed!"
He's a little loud, and controls himself quickly. He leans forward in his seat to get a better view of the array, and grins widely.
"Man that seems so like.....I don't even know how to describe it."
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
Warmth swells in her chest like the rising of tides at Percy's gasp, at the appreciation and amazement in his eyes as he views the result of her work; runescripting has never really been a showy, fancy affinity in the perception of the general public, far too slow and complex to be truly impressive. As much as Ling has fought against notion, as much as she genuinely takes pride in her work, something like this is a moment of validition, of affirmation from someone real.
She tries not to beam too widely at Percy's exclamation but she's pretty sure she fails spectacularly. When he leans in to take a closer look at the array, Ling, too, takes a moment to sweep a critical eye across the shimmering barrier enclosing them. It'll hold under casual touches, she decides. "You can touch it, you know," Ling tells the blond, an amused light in her eyes. "It's made to keep stuff from hitting us from outside, not to contain us inside."
If Percy does reach out to touch the barrier, he would feel an intense tingling sensation rush up from where his skin makes contact, then a sort of thrumming mana forcefield that offers slight resistance before allowing his hand to pass through. She's quite proud of that, actually. It had taken her a while to work out how to get the barrier to let stuff get out while still not allowing stuff to get in.
Sometimes it's hard to learn from all your mistakes
He is very seriously impressed.
Like ridiculously giddy if he's being honest. He looked at her, wide eyed and excited, and touched the thing. The thing, the thing was amazing. It sent tingles and a weird feeling up his arm, and he laughed a bit too loudly.
"Oh, this is... this is wow. Incredible. Wow, you're so good?"
Part of him wondered if he could show anything off, but nothing really came to mind. This somewhat upset him, but a true hero wasn't about flashy antics. A true hero was quiet and considerate, something that he desperately tried to be. He smiled to himself though, quietly in that moment, and felt his heart swell with adoration for the witch sitting across from him.
"You must really love your affinity huh? I bet you can manage wonderful things with this."
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
Percy looks like the sun, wide-eyed and bright like the air is shaded gold, excitement sparkling in the quicksilver of his laugh. Ling can't help but grin back at him, her veins glowing incandescent with joy and pride and mutual wonder at the awe that is runescripting; she has always been enthralled with the beauty and wonder and mysterious magnificence that is runescripting, and to now share that feeling with someone - it's amazing.
"Runescripting is amazing," she agrees, a helplessly soft smile on her face. "Thank you! But, uh, I'm still an amateur - this is... really basic compared to what the masters can do."
And those, those barriers - there are no words that can fully describe and encapsulate the experience of seeing the arrays of masters, the beautiful, complex, awe-inspiring loops and links and runes that create effects that seem to thrum in the very marrow of her bones. ( a memory stirs - tiny feet dancing between the golden lines of mana, warmth and love draped around her shoulders like a feathersoft cloak - and then it fades back beneath the blanketing void that is her amnesia, slipping between the cracks of her fingers before she can grasp onto it with a desperate, anguished longing )
"You must really love your affinity huh? I bet you can manage wonderful things with this." Percy's voice jolts her back to the present and she blinks, mind parsing over the words that had only partially register.
"Yeah, I do." she smiles, again helplessly soft and loving for the warmth that swells in her chest ( but there's a corner, a tiny corner tucked away where she isn't fully conscious of, that aches or something she cannot remember ). "How could I not? Runescripting is- runescripting is beautiful."
