Session Start: Wed Sep 05 16:38:32 2007 * Topic is '-= Chapter 50.3: Aftermath of Starry Storms | Location: Ien island | Pool: 0 MXP =- http://storen.rpgcafe.net/IoG/ =-' Lude! Ready... go! The day finds Mikel once again out of his cabin and partaking of the sea breeze and sun and all of that. He pays some minor attention to the crew as they work, though he seems to be deep in thought as he stares out over the sea from his spot at the railing. * Vytor approaches from the back of the ship, having finsihed some minor repairwork, and knocks on the railing to get Mikel's attention. * Mikel starts for a moment, snapping out of his reverie and looking over at Vytor. He shifts a bit to face him, a small smile on his face. "Hey, Vytor. What's up?" My curiosity. And to a lesser extent my concern. * Vytor settles next to Mikel, leaning on the railing and facing the opposite side of the ship. * Mikel tilts his head for a moment, mulling. "Ah. Well, shoot then. Though I have a feeling I can guess about what." First, how are you? You've been through a real roller coaster these last few days. * Mikel mms for a moment, looking back towards the ocean. "...hard to say. Somewhere between relieved and furious and torn and... well, doubtful I guess. All over the map pretty much." Doubtful? * Mikel frowns. "Of what I can do. What happened up in the tower, well..." He shakes his head. "Not exactly a confidence builder, not being able to stop the witch from getting Emili." To be fair, when have we ever been able to stop her? * Mikel nods, sighing. "I guess you've got a point there. It still hurts though.." Fortunately, we still have a chance to make it right. If the Prophetess would stop running, anyways. The cat and mouse game's getting old. I won't argue that. But Master Hylan is still chasing after her. Eventually, she'll run out of places to run. * Mikel nods. "Yeah.. anyways, that's pretty much it. I'm still sorting it out and all I guess." Everything patched between you, Niri and Trune? * Mikel raises an eyebrow. "You noticed?" It was hard not to. * Mikel scratches the back of his head. "Ah. Uhm, yeah. Niri and I talked after we made it onto the boat and sorted things out. It's a bright spot in this mess, at least." Good. * Mikel nods. "Yeah. Hopefully something like that won't happen again." He glances over towards Vytor. "I'm surprised. You haven't asked about the whole splitting myself deal yet." I'm of the opinion that the whole matters more than the halves. * Mikel snickers. Can't argue with that, I guess. Besides, the close bond that's been made between you Niri and Trune has been a mojor source of your well-being over the course of this journey. And then for the first time, that bond was sorely tested. That's not something I can ignore. * Mikel nods. "I can understand that.. thanks for looking out for that and us." * Vytor nods. "Have you ever regretted it? Hooking up with us I mean?" * Ark has joined #lunar-iog2 * Mikel mulls. "That's a good question. I've wondered once or twice if I had completely lost it or something. Both Tanan and Saki have called me on if I wanted to continue as well, first with the Prophetess and now with Zophar.." He shrugs. "I've decided it see it through with all of you though, one way or another. If I turned back from that I wouldn't be able to stand myself probably." An interesting response, but you didn't really answer the question. If it makes you feel any better, I have. Once or twice. * Mikel glances over at Vytor. "Really?" There's that very small and selfish part of me that wishes I hadn't gotten involved. That I was still back doing the research and inventing I love to do. That I could go back to waking up in the morning and not having to worry about whether or not this is the day that the world I know will come to an end. I still live with that little piece of regret. * Mikel nods, looking back at the water. "I.. suppose that's a pretty tempting wish at times in this ride." He frowns for a moment, thinking. "Going back to working with the Doc... that's a pretty tempting thing at times too." Yeah. But in the end, you realize that you can't do it, can you? * Mikel nods again. "You're right about that, too. Tempting as it is.. well, it'll have to wait." Good to hear. Now that my concerns are met, I can move onto my curiosity. I think you know where I'm going. * Mikel chuckles. "Maybe, maybe not. Only one way to find out though." OK, I'll come right out and ask then. Why is everyone saying that your splitting trick is a bad idea? Personally, I found it rather novel. * Mikel blinks a couple of times, looking at Vytor. "...Well... when I say splitting, I /mean/ splitting. Imagine forcing your body and spirit to divide in two halves. Not along body and spirit lines, but actually cutting them in two. I'm... pretty much doing that, using a sort of projection effect and a whole lot of elemental willforce." * Vytor considers that. So, it would be like taking one object, and trying to make two objects of equivalent size, each with only half the mass of the original? * Mikel waves a hand. "Something like. If I manage to perfect it each elemental self should be... well, equal to me. To manage that requires even more power than I poured into it in the tower, though, so that's a while off." He grimaces. "It also hurts. A lot. Then it suddenly cuts off when I'm split... then when I rejoin, right back to feeling like something is tearing me apart from the inside." Something else I need to work on, there. Hmm, I can see why some of the others are concerned. Add in that most folks have advised against it... Emili said Headmaster Hylan tried it once, too. I assume it didn't go well since she really wasn't happy to see that I went ahead with it. That may be true. But from what I understand your magic and Master Hylan's are different. Right? I lack the ability to tear apart reality on a whim, yep. Instead I just work with Water and Thunder. So maybe you need to think less about tearing, and try something less drastic. * Mikel chuckles. "Drastic times and all that. The spell /worked/ though, and I did manage to put myself back together... my head was a mess afterwards, but." Then perhaps you need to take some time and practice doing it more slowly and incrementally. For instance... Let's say I'm working at the forge, with some composite material. If I want to break it down into its components, I'm not going to grab two different ends and start pulling, right? * Mikel nods. "Makes sense." So to me, that sounds like what you're describing. You're grabbing one elemental aspect of yourself, then the other, and pulling until they give. How many magic spells do you have that use ice and thunder at the same time? That one's it at the moment. I was manipulating both water and thunder when we were heading for Ien, but other than that.. So, I'd wager that everything about your willforce has previously been used to focusing in one direction at a time, in an elemental sense, right? * Mikel nods again. "Pretty much. I got some pointers on the projection side of it from Emili, but that was still focusing on one element." What kind of pointers did she give you? * Mikel taps a finger on the railing, looking at the water. "Demostrations. She summoned up a copy of me, just made completely of thunder." Did sahe explain how she did it? * Mikel chuckles. "She aligned me to Thunder and had me watch, and said visualization was key. Then warned me to not try it with multiples." So, she wanted you to try just to focus you energies in one direction at a time? * Mikel nods. "She was warning me to not... well, do exactly what I did up in the tower. There's a difference between just the usual projection magic and manhandling the technique to split someone into elemental versions of himself." What Tanan and Ryllan did to make a copy of Ryllan before Emili blew it away is how it usually goes. Hmm Why is that? Why do did they say to not do it, or why is there a difference between normal projections and what I did? Both questions actually. * Mikel shrugs. "Close to the same answer. Normal projection creates a double under the control of the person who cast the spell, rendered completely of willforce and such. Depending on the strength of the spell they can mimic the target's abilities to some degree or another. What /I/ did... neither of them are under 'my' control, because when it is in effect I'm literally those two." They're kind of their own person, and the memories of the whole affair I have are from their perspectives instead of just one. Which makes sorting it all out a real headache. And... for a moment there, they didn't want to rejoin. Why was that? Imagine if you kept someone locked in a cage with only some ways to communicate with the outside world... then suddenly you just threw the doors open and let them out. So, once free to express themselves, the two aspects had no intention of going back to what they were? * Mikel nods. "They weren't inclined to go back in the cage. I managed it at least, but it took plenty of effort on... their... my part?" He shakes his head. "Sorting out who is exactly doing what at that moment is hard after the fact." I wish I could offer you some advice, but this kind of thing is outside my specialty. * Mikel smiles faintly. "The sound advice is probably to quit it, but with time and effort I should be able to sort it out. Niri's already offered to help with sorting it out to be easier." Here's hoping you find a way to pull it off safely. Just no more experimentation in the heat of battle, OK? * Mikel glances up at the sky. "All bets are off if one of you is in that sort of danger, but otherwise, I can do that." I suppose that means that my previous request will be ignored sometime in the near future then. ;) * Mikel grins. "It's a dangerous profession, saving the world." True enough. Just be careful, OK? * Mikel nods. "Sure. With all the warnings about it and stuff, I can't afford to not be when I have the chance." All right, I'll accept that then. * Vytor claps Mikel once on the shoulder as he turns to leave. * Mikel nods, returning to his sea gazing. "Thanks again, Vytor." No problem Mikel. * Vytor heads belowdecks, back to his cabin. Lude end! Ta-dah!