Unethical alternate solutions

[aestrix]

In an estate in the twilight belt of New Kystle, a group of mages have become annoyed with the Third Bloodline. Their lack of children, their continual refusal to have them - and the clock is ticking. They're worried about what happens if another half-blood's born, and there's no one to stop them from their rampage.

So they research alternate solutions.

They do some scrying, planning to summon whatever something interesting when they find it. Predictably, they find something interesting. Also predictably, they summon it.



------------


With Lazarus and Kolya.

With the Admin.

Comments

[nonbird]

"Eep!" says the something interesting.

[aestrix]

"Hello," says one of the people surrounding the something interesting. "Sorry about this, really, we'll put you back if you'd like to be, but we're looking for interesting magic things from other planes."

There is a shield keeping the summoned something interesting in check. They do not want another repeat of Kystle's invasion. Ever.

[nonbird]

He peers at the shield.

"...This is somewhat unsettling," he says. "Um. Why me?"

[aestrix]

"You seemed obviously magical," says another - obviously magic person. "In a - know things about magic kind of way?"

"Karylis, you're again sure that Adarin's not going to notice us? What if he -"

[darkest_evening]

There is a teleportation, and then a man.

"Hello," he says, pleasantly.

[aestrix]

"Fuck," says a mage, and then they start scattering.

[nonbird]

"...eep?" says Lazarus.

[darkest_evening]

"Wait right there, please, I'll be with you in a minute, sorry for the inconvenience," says the man to Lazarus.

He is carrying a staff. There is a glass globe on the top that he glances through.

"Stop that, you're not old enough for those toys," he drawls to a mage that's muttering something under his breath. Then he waves a hand and the reality the mage is trying to warp disagrees with him on 'aim.' The mage flops to the floor, unconscious, victim of his own spell. The man takes care of the others in much the same way. The last, he hits with the staff once to get him to stop his murderous spell, rather than turning it against him. There are no deaths, but a hell of a lot of casualties. It takes less than a minute.

"This shield is atrocious," he declares, once every mage around him is unconscious or incapacitated. Then he kicks the shield. It stops being atrocious, and becomes extremely thorough. "If you're going to do something stupid and immoral, at least have the intellect to do it correctly."

And then he pulls up a chair and looks at Lazarus politely. "Hello. I'm Adarin. Nice to meet you, wish it were under better circumstances."

[nonbird]

"You are very magic," Lazarus observes. "And somewhat alarming. Possibly less alarming than those other people, though. I'm not sure. Um. I'm Lazarus. I can see magic, sort of."

[darkest_evening]

"I like to think that I'm only mildly alarming," he says, wryly. "But I am indeed very magic, and that is very alarming in itself, so I suppose that's accurate. What sorts of magic can you see, and would you like me to put you back?"

[nonbird]

"All of the sorts, as far as I can tell. Although until now I hadn't ever seen your sort before. But I can see the magic bubble," he gestures at the shield, "and what you did to it, and all the magic you were just doing, and how magic you are."

[darkest_evening]

"To be fair, they did most of the magic, I just - tweaked it so it disagreed with them." Adarin smiles, a bit. "So what did I do to the magic bubble?"

[nonbird]

"I can also see your translation spell," he adds. "It's much nicer than the ones the rest of them had. I kind of want one. You inverted the rules so instead of not letting through anything that's solid or alive or some kinds of environmental disturbance, it only lets through light and air. For a very well-specified and safety-controlled definition of both. You are much better at magic bubbles than those other people."

[ending_of]

The woman they summon is sitting in a chair when they summon her, but the summons does not include it.

Almost immediately upon arriving, however, she's sitting in a chair again - a different one, produced out of thin air.

She regards the mages with mild annoyance.

[aestrix]

The mages regard her with a bit of trepidation.

"Hello," says one. "Sorry about this, really."

[ending_of]

"What is your purpose in bringing me here?" she inquires.

[aestrix]

"We're looking for interesting magic from other planes to prevent horrific disaster if a fourth halfblood shows up," volunteers another.

There is a shield around the admin. It's not quite strong enough to hold her.

[ending_of]

"Your afterlife configuration is extremely unaesthetic," she says. "I dislike it."

[aestrix]

"... Unaesthetic? I beg your pardon?"

[ending_of]

"Not only is everything in your universe impermanent, but some of you leave behind... debris when you die. Purposeless, untidy echoes." She pauses to consider this, then amends, "Not entirely purposeless. But very untidy. And temporary. I am irritated about it."

[aestrix]

"We, uh, really can't help that, but - sorry?"

[ending_of]

"Your attempt to contain me is also extremely inelegant."

[aestrix]

"Wha - but we worked on how to make this shield for weeks, we were very thorough-"

[darkest_evening]

While the mage is talking, another man teleports into the room.

"If that's thorough, I'd hate to see what it's like when you're slacking," he snorts. "Also, hello."

"Fuck," says a mage.

[ending_of]

The woman in the chair observes the newcomer.