un: GoldenGuard; text

[cardinalrule]

WHO: Hunter
WHERE: Network
WHEN: Early March
WHAT: It's raining!
WARNINGS: Morbid/gory weather patterns. I'm serious.

[Weather is something Hunter learned about in the Boiling Isles, but this is really the first time he's had the chance to experience it. It's raining out, the first real rain of the year, Hunter's very first rain, and you can bet he has headed outside to experience it.]

I was told the rain doesn't boil here like it does back home.

[Remembering how he learned about rain in the human realm is... complicated, but for those scant few minutes it was a good memory. It was nice learning about the differences between here and the Boiling Isles, and even better getting to hear the fondness Belos holds for this realm. Moments like that were a rarity with the man, and Hunter values each and every one of them.

... He really wishes Belos was here, so he could experience this with him, but he isn't and Hunter tries to not dwell on that.]

Experiencing weather instead of plagues is really something else! This is normal throughout the entire world, right? It must mean there aren't any boiling seas here, as well. Does anyone know what other kind of weather this city has?

What's the weather equivalent of a painbow again? A rainbow, I think? What about those?

Comments

[camaleonico]

Big! Not as big as a giraffe, but about as big as a person — super muscular. Strong enough to kill a man. They drag their prey into trees to eat, sharp fangs, big claws, all that. That’s the animal my little brother rides around on, heh… So sometimes you’ll just find a jaguar lying on a couch in our hallway now. No big deal.

[ No, big deal. More Madrigal fun facts. ]

[cardinalrule]

It's very plain-looking, but it sounds like it would actually fit in pretty well in the Boiling Isles.

[Terrifying predator, yup.]

Is your brother the only thing keeping the jaguar from eating you all?

[camaleonico]

i guess
if it weren't for antonio, the jaguar wouldn't even be around
they don't usually hunt people. but if he wanted to eat us, yeah, he could.

if a jaguar seems like it'd fit in where you're from, though, sounds like the animals in your home are as bad as the weather.

[cardinalrule]

They don't? Fascinating!

[For real! It's a predator, why wouldn't it hunt people??]

They are. They're worse, sometimes, which is why it's so crucial to have some form of magic to be able to defend yourself.

[camaleonico]

So do you have magic, then? What's your Gift?

[cardinalrule]

[Luckily, he's getting better at answering this question.]

I happen to be the head of the Emperor's Cove, which is the only coven in the Boiling Isles that allows witches to retain all of the magic. Every other coven - Illusions, Plants, Bard and so on - restricts magic to their specialty upon entrance.

[camaleonico]

...Soooo— what's your Gift? "Everything?"

[ You're talking over his head, Hunter. The surely fine esteem of his position is lost on this sheltered rural Colombian one-trick-pony. ]

[cardinalrule]

[Seriously? He wants to facepalm.]

Yes. Members of the Emperor's Coven have 'everything' as their form of magic.

[camaleonico]

That's impressive. I've only ever known people who can do one magical thing. How do you figure out what you can do? You have a Gift Ceremony each time you learn a new kind of magic or something...? Or is that just a, uh— a Madrigal thing...?

[ Camilo has very little frame of context to reference here. His life seems so small here... It's pretty fascinating talking to someone — whoever this person is — about magic elsewhere, but just as much a little... uneasy. Confusing. He never really thought about life outside the Encanto too much until he found himself, well... suddenly living outside the Encanto. ]

[cardinalrule]

No. All witches are born with the anatomy that enables them to use magic. There isn't any kind of ceremony to begin using magic. The closest we have is the branding that happens when a witch joins a coven.

[At least, he certainly hasn't experienced any special ceremonies. He can't speak to the traditions of other witch families.]

[camaleonico]

Branding?

[ Just breezing over the witches part, because, um...? ]

[cardinalrule]

[It's totally and completely normal, nothing strange to see here.]

Yes. When a witch joins a coven they receive a brand, their coven's symbol, on the inside of their wrist. It seals off their magic except for whatever they're specializing in. The only exception is the Emperor's Coven brand, which doesn't seal any magic at all.

[camaleonico]

So you aren't branded? And that's why your Gift is "everything?"

[cardinalrule]

No, I am. But since I'm part of the Emperor's Coven, my magic isn't sealed. That means I have access to all of it - "everything," as you put it.

[camaleonico]

So what's that include? Can you shapeshift? Super strength? What can you do?

[cardinalrule]

Any member of the Emperor's Coven can perform magic that falls under the Coven System: Abominations, Bard, Beast Keeping, Construction, Healing, Illusion, Oracle, Plant, and Potions.

[camaleonico]

I got "Beast Keeping" — my brother can do that. "Healing" — my aunt can do that. And "Plant" — my cousin can do that. I don't know anything about the others. What're "Abominations?" That sounds— not great?

[cardinalrule]

Abominations is actually one of the more prestigious covens. It's the creation and control of magical golems, and the substances they're made of. It has a surprising amount of versatility, and can be very powerful.

[camaleonico]

Huh... And "Bard?"

[ Camilo can't deny he's pretty fascinated hearing about Hunter's perspective on magic. The organization and structure and understanding of it all is such a contrast to what he knows about magic — which he's suddenly realizing, since their first conversation, is, uh... very little, actually. ]

[cardinalrule]

Spells cast via sound. Music, specifically. Most people in the Bard Coven use some kind of musical instrument instead of casting spell circles with their hands. The new Head is particularly skilled, they're a master of every musical instrument on the Boiling Isles.

[camaleonico]

Woah! Music magic? Heh! What can it do? If my dad could have a Gift, I bet he'd want that...! Magical tiple! Is there dancing magic, too? Magical cumbia~?

[ That clearly cheers Camilo right back up, smiling more openly and genuinely. He loves his Gift, buuut he wouldn't complain if that was his Gift instead, not gonna lie. ]

[cardinalrule]

There may be some hobby coven for it, there are hundreds of those. Or I suppose you could get creative when drawing spell circles.

[He doesn't dance and he can't draw spell circles, so he's never thought very much about it.]

[camaleonico]

What're spell circles? You've gotta draw something to use your Gifts?

[cardinalrule]

That's right, and they're exactly what they sound like. Circles drawn in the air or the ground, it doesn't really matter where, that is the conduit to accessing the spell the witch or demon wants to cast.

[camaleonico]

...My Gift works in, like, seconds. I'm so glad I don't have to do that.

[ He says it in good humor, but, uh... yeah, no, he also means it. That sounds annoying af, but at least he has the courtesy not to say that outright. ]