01 : video 🕷 daemon : happyd

[ptrprkr]

[ The video feed starts off shaky, a close-up of the front of a red t-shirt taking up most of the screen while the muffled sounds of sight struggle are heard -- although, nothing serious, it's more fumbling and clearly frustrated sighs. ]

Okay. [ It's the voice of a teenage boy! ] Is thing working? Is it on?

Yes. [ The daemon replies in a familiar older male's voice, sounding clearly Done with Peter Parker. ] Now back up, you're way too close to me.

Yeah, sure. [ He backs up, and who would have guessed that the voice of a teenager was coming from a teenager? ]

Uhm. Okay. [ He straightens his shirt out, clearly he isn't used to addressing any large groups of people... even if he can't actually see them ]

Hi! I'm Peter! [ He gives a quick wave of his hand. ] And, wow, this is a pretty long way from Queens, am I right? [ Awkward laughter. ]

Listen, kid, hurry up and get to the point, okay?

Right. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has any special skills, or abilities, or hidden talents. I once knew someone who was double jointed in their shoulders, they could turn their arms in all these weird directions

[ And, then he starts attempting to do the same..... but, very unsuccessfully. It just ends up looking odd. ]

Okay, they get it, quit it before you hurt yourself.

Okay, okay. [ Nod. Nod. ] So.... Yeah. [ He claps both of his hands together. ] If you do, is that something normal where you're from, or do you have to keep it a secret? Did someone teach you, or was it something you were born with?

Or is it the result of a run in with a radioactive insect?

[ Well, that's oddly specific.... ]

Alright, enough questions already, these folks have things to do. Wrap it up.

Fine, fine. turn off. End transmission. Stop--

[ The video then ends abruptly. ]

Comments

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[astralera]

For most of those in my world we are born with the ability to manipulate their natural aether. It is an inherent magical energy - the life force of my world.

Some are born with instinctive knowledge of how to use it while others spend years mastering it.

Any additional abilities I have beyond the norm were granted to me by the Mothercrystal. She is similar to this 'God' of other worlds.

Everything else I know is the result of intensive study and training.

text ; daemon : happyd

[ptrprkr]

[ Peter reads the message a few times over, and mutters a soft whoa out loud in response. ]

So, everyone in your world is born... magical?
That sounds really cool. Is it unique to every person? Or is everyone born with the same abilities?

The ones that were granted to you, what are those?

tl;dr and if anything is inaccurate blame the wiki );

[astralera]

Essentially, yes. Not everyone is able to access or shape the aether within them, but every living being does contain it.

Everyone has a different amount of their own aether to draw from. I am not sure if one's natural aether stores increase with age and training or not as it is not my area of study, but age and training do allow one more refined control and less waste.

With training one may also draw aether from the ambient, elementally aspected aether of the planet itself. This is especially important for those who practice the healing arts, as otherwise they spent their own life force to heal and die well before their years.

Magic is not unique to every person - there are various disciplines of magic and combat that use aether in all differing ways that everyone can learn with dedication. A very quick list of the strictly magic-based disciplines are as follows:

Thaumaturgy/Black Magic. Offensive magic. Uses lightning, ice, and fire aether.
Conjury/White Magic. Healing magic. Uses air, earth, and some water aether.
Red Magic. A mix of Black and White magic, and physical melee attacks with a rapier.
Arcanima. Using geometries to shape one's aether to attack enemies with venoms and unaspected spells. Also can unlock the latent power of gemstones to summon familiars.
Scholar. Healing magic based off of arcanima. Can summon a faerie familiar.
Summoning. Powerful offensive magic based on arcanima. Can shape latent primal aether to summon powerful familiars.
Astromancy. Healing magic. Reads the stars to give foresight in battle.

Aether can also be used in physical combat disciplines, such as a ninja's ninjutsu.

Hydaelyn blessed me with the Echo. It is a blessing that is not uncommon and manifests in different ways for different people. There are a few constants with the abilities it grants: first is that it prevents them from having their mind tempered by a Primal god; secondly, it can grant visions from a person's past though you cannot control where and when this happens, nor what you see; third, those blessed with the Echo are also able to understand and communicate with any sentient being that contains a soul, regardless of language or species.

My Echo manifested in a way that I am able to see what an enemy's attack will be a few seconds before they do it. It also allows me to live through a fight I would otherwise die to in the form of a vision, so that I might avoid such a fate in combat.

One of my friends had it manifest so that she is able to trace aetheric signatures.

My unique gift is the Blessing of the Light. It grants me strength and resilience when I need it most so that I can push far beyond my limits. In return, I use this strength to keep darkness from spreading across the Mothercrystal's world.

completely canon blind, so I wouldn't know the difference! 8'D

[ptrprkr]

Wow. That's. Wow. Your world sounds... Really cool.

[ Cue Peter Parker taking actual notes on all this. ]

I kind of have a sense like that. Sort of. I can't see the specific attack someone is going to do, but I can sense it, I guess? It's like really advanced anticipation, in a way.

[ He's never actually tried to explain it, but now that he is, it's a lot more difficult than he thought it would be. ]

It sounds like the Blessing of Light comes with a lot of responsibility. Are you the only person with this kind of ability, it seems like it be something really difficult to do all alone.

a lot of people not canon blind wouldn't know the difference either tbh aslkgjh oh, canon :')

[astralera]

My world is beautiful beyond compare, but for all its beauty it is also much more dangerous than most worlds I've heard of so far.

[ it's a very 'if you wander out of city limits with no combat knowledge you're liable to get eaten by raptors or some other such monster' type world. combined with bandits and feral Beastmen and an invading empire makes for fairly frequent Echo visions of interesting ways to die. (ʘ‿ʘ✿) ]

It's quite useful, isn't it?

Thus far I am the only one with this Blessing of Light that I or my companions are aware of. If there is another, Hydaelyn has not deigned to tell me.

It's not often that I need face things on my own. In most cases I have allies with me, though usually I am the one to lead the charge as I tend to be the most durable.

[ptrprkr]

All that beauty comes with a price, I guess? Two sides to every coin.

Sometimes it is, but there's no way to turn it off and it can be kind of overwhelming. I've gotten a lot better at honing in on it, but at first, it was like sensory overload.

Wow. That's really cool! You must be a really important person to have been the only one it's granted to. My powers are sort of like that, there's no one else that I've found with the exact same ones, but there are others with different abilities that I don't have.
Not as much responsibility involved with mine though 😅

In my experience, things are a lot less scary when you have a team backing you up.

[astralera]

It would be nice to be able to turn it off at times. I would likely be dead by now if that were the case however, and so am simply grateful that it continues to aid me.

I am happy to hear that you've managed to hone your intuition to be less intrusive. It will be an invaluable skill. :)

I believe when one is burdened with great power there is also a great responsibility to go with it. I have seen too many with immense power use it to subjugate others for their own personal gain.

I hope that you will not bear that burden until you are fully grown, and with allies by your side.

There are different fears when working with a team. I always am afraid I will fail them - that they will die, and it have been something I could have prevented. Yet the security in having friends fight alongside you is a feeling without measure. Their presence pushes me past the limits of my strength even if only to see them to safety.