Gratitude for Winterstide gifts + Raiders of the Lost Arts recruitment

[emet_sulk]

Type: Video
Sender ID: emet-sulk (Emet-Selch)
To: Public
Subject: Gratitude for Winterstide gifts + Raiders of the Lost Arts recruitment
Warnings: None

[ Hello again, Escordvi. It is Emet-Selch, sitting at his desk in the cabin on the Phantom Moon. ]

Firstly, my thanks to those who left gifts for me during the local celebrations. I would return the favour but only one of you left a name. If you desire a gift yourself, I've left them with my assistant at the Adamantine Forge.

...Now, to business.

[ He clears his throat. ]

The Raiders of the Lost Arts welcomes all who have a keen interest in exploration, discovery, and research whether that be for esoteric relics or more mundane interests. I am currently its acting captain until such time as our original captain returns - if he does, indeed, return. Our ship, the Phantom Moon, has ample space for your needs and will be docked at Eltrut for a week or so whilst our new arrivals find their feet. Do come find myself or one of the crew should you be interested. Your assigned armada matters not to us.

[ He snaps his fingers and faintly shimmering, translucent faces of the current crew - Professor Turo, Ryotaro Dojima, and Reno - appear. ]

--And if you happen to be interested in magitech research and development, the Adamantine Forge can be found on the same leviathan, away from the main docks.

Comments

text / un; Enterprise

[lucky_e]

I keep hearing the term magitech being thrown around. But what is it?

[emet_sulk]

Magitech is the fusion of magic and technology. A heater, for example, which uses crystals instead of heating filaments.

[lucky_e]

I see, so it's using an alternate form of energy to power objects?

[emet_sulk]

Hmm, you could say so. Assuming you come from a land which already has an established energy source. However, though magic can be a source of energy, it isn't typically used as such.

I suppose I should ask first: does your world have magic?

[lucky_e]

We do have multiple sources of energy, and different ways to produce it. But magic is...

...I suppose there's a form of it? I'm not certain if I would necessarily call any of it magic, but it does have a habit of entering into the unexplained for me. A majority of our energy production comes from items known as Wisdom Cubes, as well as oil, coal, and gas combustion, and various forms of clean energy production.

[emet_sulk]

[ That sounds a little complicated. Emet-Selch frowns a little, thinking, before he speaks again. ]

What I call magic here is the common shorthand for what I personally know as 'aether'. Aether is a fundamental force - both material and immaterial - which governs all aspects of my star. A living creature can use this aether and shape it per their will. The easiest manifestation of this would be spellcasting. 'Magic'. That which I refer to as magitech is a combination of this force with practical engineering. So, rather than build a thing that operates on the principles of physical laws, it uses magic to produce the same effect.

[ Another pause, before he offers this: ] 'Tis like the difference between a gun and a mage's staff.

[lucky_e]

[The world in general is a complicated place with more than a few moving parts.]

I see... that doesn't sound to dissimilar to some of the things we can do back home. [If with extra steps added to it and maybe not with as great as an effect.]

Then what sort of machines do you use it for?

[emet_sulk]

Anything, really. Vehicles, manufacturing, home comforts... Magitech does not mean that magic becomes obsolete. After all, it all springs from the same source.

The only concern one may have is the over-usage of a single element. That would cause aetheric imbalance.

[lucky_e]

And what does that imbalance look like?

[emet_sulk]

An extreme version of the natural disasters you may be used to. An imbalance towards fire can result in anything from droughts to wildfires. Imbalance towards ice leads to year-long winters or an ice age, et cetera. It depends on whether the aether tends towards the active or passive.

[lucky_e]

So someone using a toaster oven too long, or too much could cause a heatwave?

1/2

[emet_sulk]

2/2

[emet_sulk]

[ It may be funny to watch this sorcerer of eld perform a facepalm, but he does. ]

No... No, not quite. I speak on a grander scale - say, if someone were to begin burning a great many people across the continents. Fires burning night and day until you can see and smell naught but smoke.

There are other factors which will push the land towards calamity, but I am not sure you would understand without knowing aetherial theory.

sorry not sorry mr mage sir :3

[lucky_e]

[Boy you should have seen a question like that coming! But yes, it does get her to crack a smile. #worthit ]

It sounds like what happens when an area relies too heavily on coal for power and begins to pollute an area.

But you're right, I most likely wouldn't understand without knowing all of the concepts behind it. It's probably for the best that I stick with the electrical generation I know.

/old man voice "kids these days"

[emet_sulk]

That's a good analogy, yes. When levels of pollution pass a threshold, the environment is beyond recovery.

If electricty is what you're familiar with, you'll want to look at the levin-powered magitech. They are synonymous terms.

flying around in their metal plane bird doo-hickies

[lucky_e]

Are they? How so? Electricity is what powers everything back home, with the main exception being how it's produced and delivered.

[emet_sulk]

The difference is that they don't need an external power source, although I suppose they still require something of a 'battery'. When it exhausts that power, one need only charge it again with aether. The internal converter takes care of the rest.

[lucky_e]

Then how is it generated with aether? That sounds like an outside power source to me.

[emet_sulk]

Aether is what comprises all life. All men - at least, the inhabitants of my star - possess an innate measure which they can learn to harness. Alternatively, one may draw it from one's surroundings, but this can have dire consequences.

[ The imbalance he had just been speaking of. ]

What I'm trying to say is: one simply could charge the 'battery' with one's own aether.

[lucky_e]

Um, then isn't that dangerous to the person?

[emet_sulk]

Only if you decide to put all of your aether into it.

[ A roll of his eyes. Who would be that silly? ]

One doesn't stab themselves in the heart when giving blood to save a life now, do they? But I suppose if you never had much to begin with, you ought to source the aether from elsewhere.

[lucky_e]

[Yes, who indeed?]

Well... some people will. [In a sense...] But not everyone has the same amount either?

[emet_sulk]

I would hope that if you are skilled enough to transfer your own aether into a crystal, you would also have an awareness of how much you can give before you faint.

[ He says this in the most tired, deadpan voice. ]

[lucky_e]

Right... um, I think I'll simply stick with the power sources that I know then.

[They sound more reliable and versatile.]

[emet_sulk]

A wise choice.

You mentioned something called 'Wisdom Cubes' earlier. May I ask what they are?