unplanned landing

[characterquarry]

She's at the lead of a formation of six Witches, flying her metal not-quite-a-broom out on a routine patrol. She carries her bow, sword, quiver of arrows, four loaded flintlock pistols, two pot-bombs. The usual loadout.

What she finds is not any alien invader she's familiar with. It's a flying snake with a mirror for a head.

"Pull up! It's faster than us, so use formation wagon-wheel!" Bows come out, and arrows fly at it, but they bounce uselessly off its mirror-head and scales. After a few minutes of this she charges in, drops one of her pot-bombs on it at point blank range, then pulls a roll to dodge as it charges past, but not fast enough-

And she's somewhere else entirely.

Comments

[characterquarry]

"I think I'd very much like to learn that. How difficult is it?"

[maggie_of_the_owls]

"It's very...in order to perform a spell, you need to know the ritual for the spell. Most rituals are too complicated and time-consuming for convenient casting, so you replace individual steps with a gesture or an incantation--some action that can be solidly associated with the component. And then sequences can likewise be abridged, etcetera."

[characterquarry]

"So using it effectively relies on practice and memorization of mental associations?"

[maggie_of_the_owls]

"Essentially, yes. Once a step or sequence has been attached to a word or gesture it stays attached, though, even if you forget it."

[characterquarry]

"Can it be reattached to something else? Will the original, more complex ritual still work?"

[maggie_of_the_owls]

"The original ritual still works. If there's a way to reattach it to something else I don't know what it is."

[characterquarry]

"Interesting. I foresee stacks and stacks of notebooks, in case I forget something. What kinds of things are the rituals for?"

[maggie_of_the_owls]

"Nearly anything. Yes, stacks and stacks of notebooks so you don't permanently forget things is standard operating procedure."

[characterquarry]

"If it turns out there's a way for me to go home, I'll definitely want to bring this new training with me. Anything that gives us a better chance against the Neuroi is welcome."

[maggie_of_the_owls]

He drums his fingers again. "I'm not sure I can give you anything like the whole thing. There are very many rituals, and my own knowledge is more practical than theoretical..."

[characterquarry]

"Some is better than none. I'll just go through what I can as efficiently as possible. Are we almost to the quarters, though?"

[maggie_of_the_owls]

"Yes, this is Lucy Hall, where they live," he says, rapping on the door. A young woman opens it and lets them in before wandering off.

[characterquarry]

"Thank you for your help, by the way. I'm not sure what I'd have ended up doing. Might have tried to hawk my amulet and gear, or something."

[maggie_of_the_owls]

"You're welcome. You're very lucky you landed here, Borgia University is used to odd goings-on."

[characterquarry]

"You're very lucky there isn't a Neuroi invasion here. They're the devil to fight. Unpredictable, and they don't seem to have morale or a command structure or even a supply chain."

[maggie_of_the_owls]

"True. That does sound exceptionally nasty. If you're facing something like that, I can probably convince--or convince someone to convince--someone with more experience and expertise in theory to help tutor you."

[characterquarry]

"Can you do lie detection? In your place, I would be worrying about my honesty right now. I'd like to clear that up."

[maggie_of_the_owls]

"Aha. Yes, I can, but no, I haven't been. To be honest, strange things happen to me so often I'm most likely more inclined to take them at face value than I ought to be." He stops, turns to face her, taps his pinky finger under each eye once, and says, "kastvoi. Alright, could you please repeat the salient parts?"

[characterquarry]

"I'm Major Annette Gepard of Italica's 23rd Witch Wing. Everything I have said to you thus far is the truth as I understand it. Our founding charter is to fight the Neuroi, devilishly tough alien invaders who destroy entire countries, given the opportunity. I have no intention to harm humans unless they are murderers or similar."

[maggie_of_the_owls]

He nods. "...And what about nonhumans? That aren't these Neuroi types."

[characterquarry]

"I won't harm Witches either, of course. There's some debate over whether we count as humans."

[maggie_of_the_owls]

"This world has many other kinds of nonhumans," he tells her. "Vampires, werewolves, fey, succubi, and incubi to name a few."

[characterquarry]

"Are they genocidal? The answer to that is the answer to whether I might try to hunt down and kill them. Are they unusually likely to hurt humans? The answer to that is the answer to whether I will use lethal force if one confronts me."

[maggie_of_the_owls]

"No, and no. Not ones you're likely to meet, at any rate. Werewolves can be violent on the full moon when they're not in control of themselves, for example, but in most cases they make arrangements ahead of time to render this a nonissue."

[characterquarry]

"Good. Unf. Which room number is it? I'm getting tired."