folklorist | ϡ - Chapter TwentyThree; In which one deals with tricky spells [video/action for housemates/voice]

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ϡ - Chapter TwentyThree; In which one deals with tricky spells [video/action for housemates/voice]

[ You can have a view of Helios leaning back in his chair, rather comfortably actually. He's in his room and in said background are scattered papers and objects. Incidentally he doesn't have his glasses on today, might be due to the fact that he's conducting a delicate experiment in his room. Keyword being delicate. If you catch a glimpse of any of the papers in the background it'll make no sense if you can't read runes. Though one in particular has the diagram of a ring with various lines and runic lettering on it. Helios will lean forward smiling at the journal. ]

Ah, I hope it's on. Erm, yes. [ Clearing his throat he still doesn't get these things. He just brings a hand to his chin, characteristic thoughtful pose is go! ]

I wonder...many of you know about magic, of course. But how many of you can actually apply magical attributes to an inanimate object? Like--ah, enchantments! They're rather tricky and if done wrong they can well...blow up in your face- [ Or you colleague's faces. ] -but they can be used for all sorts of things. Like making a sword into a flaming sword by applying a fire spell to said sword, and when the right incantation is spoken it alights!

[ A thoughtful hum. ] Also are there any myths or legends in your worlds based around objects? Like Excalibur, hammer of Thor, or maybe even the holy grail? Just wondering...all out of curiosity. [ And possibly to further his own research, maybe even get some help on the little project he's been doing since Halloween. Except during his little questioning session the spell he was trying to place on said inanimate objects will begin to sizzle in the background. Smoke is going to start clouding the video and sparks can be seen as well. His eyes will widen as he turns abruptly knocking the journal on the floor and turning off the video function but not the voice. ]

Oh! No-no not again. This wasn't supposed to--! [ There's a very loud bang and the room shakes with it. Sorry housemates there will be a spillage of black, with what seems to have shards of diamonds sprinkled throughout it, smoke coming from Helios' room as he slams the door open. Helios' face will also bear the marks of said explosion as he tumbles out of the room, face and clothes covered in black soot, but he at least has journal in hand. Also people over the journals can hear him coughing rather a lot. Before long you'll hear him laughing though, replying rather amused. ] Ah, yes, very tricky!

[ Going to be brushing off the fact that just happened. You didn't hear anything, everything is fine. Okay, well, Frederic and Giles might be a tad bit annoyed. ]

Um, right, welcome to Luceti all of you who've just been brought here! It takes a bit to get used to everything but we luckily have a nice welcoming committee! You're free to answer those questions as well if you want to! Anyone can as they are open to everyone to answer.

[ Don't mind the fact he just blew himself up, nope. A brief pause on his end. ]

Hm...oh, is that on fire? That is on fire. Just-just a moment. [ Going to go put that out now yup and you can just...talk to him after wards. Derpy derp nice way to introduce yourself to all the new people, Helios. ]

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Yeah, it ate her. Mirador hocuses love their cursed doodads. I think she pissed one of 'em off, and, well, the end of that argument's what you'd call unambiguous. [As Zephyr would say.] What'll it help doing, exactly?

Yeah, sure, like you burning your eyebrows off, and the house around you along with 'em.

I can't imagine why you would have her get eaten though. I would think having a simple agreement or-or consensus would be better. [ Violence, he doesn't like it. ]

Well I'm trying to apply a spell to a ring of mine. I...have done it before with a spell in the past, but this one has been nothing but difficult to solve. I was hoping that maybe a new approach or spell could help with it.

[ Helios might chuckle lightly. ] Luckily my eyebrows grow back and the houses fix themselves! But the barrier I put up stopped most of the flames. ...Wasn't too big a fire either.

Man, you ever seen a hocus? Sides yourself, course. She's lucky she got off just being eaten.

I dunno nothing about how hocus shit works. I may not be the brightest motherfucker ever, but I know to keep my nose outta that shit.

[Somewhere in his voice is the sound of a headdesk. All he can do is grunt; as far as Mildmay can tell, this guy doesn't seem like he'd know sense if it bit him on the ass. Fine, he can blow his own self up, it won't be Mildmay's problem. But, more importantly, the reason why he ventured to comment in the first place:] So what's this Excalibur shit? And who's Thor?

Hocus pocus well it used to be a widely used term in my world. Now it's just a term given to something that causes a magical effect or...impossible result. I-I suppose you could call me one then, though, magician is...more common terminology.

Well it's not for everyone definately. [ But blowing himself up is just an occupational hazard at this point. Just be glad there was no dragon god involved like there usually would be. ]

You mean you don't know? Excalibur is a sword imbued with magical properties. It can only be pulled from its stone by the rightful heir to England's throne. It can apparently cut through steel and even its scabbard has some mystical properties. Such as the wielder of it not dying from blood loss from wounds incurred. And wearing the scabbard didn't make your wounds bleed at all. As for Thor he's a commonly know god in my world. God of thunder and he wields a hammer.

Magician, wizard. Them's all just fancy words for hocus.

I'll never fucking understand why some folks are so keen on poking around in dangerous shit. Suppose that's why I'm annemer. [Shrug.]

[Mildmay is dead silent, listening raptly. Stories are serious business, and trading stories is only fair, really.] Sounds right nifty. And what's this holy grail business?

I suppose keeping up with the times is a good enough excuse. I have no intention of making a bed eat someone though. The thought is just awful, really. [ Just a frown. ] Not really in my personal preferences of using magic for things like that.

It's not dangerous exactly. O-of course my spell wasn't really the best example of it...but like anything it can go wrong, unfortunately. [ He knows of this all too well. Lost everything because of it too, yet he still continues to do it. He must be pigheaded or something. ]

Holy grail...is a sacred object in christian religion. But is occurs elsewhere as well. It's usually depicted as a cup or dish that the savior Jesus drank from. And has the power to grant immortal life among other things. Usually only the righteous and good can find or use it even. It's a rather well known story in my world, I think you'll be able to find books on it in the library if you're interested.

Good to know, I guess. And, yeah, I get the sense she weren't to happy about it neither. What do you use magic for, then?

If it can explode, it's probably a bad idea. I ain't a hocus, though, so I'm thinking you maybe know better. Or hoping, at least.

[More about this Christianity stuff, HMMM. Mildmay listens intently.] I'd rather hear it from folks upfront. It's different, telling stories and writing 'em down.

Mm, well, daily living I suppose. [ He's never gotten a question like this before, it's a nice change. ]

It's almost become routine to use it for simple things like traveling or cooking. But it's also used for protection and fighting unfortunately. A-And there are some who are still using it for curses. But-but we have a system that prevents that from widely occurring. I personally like using it to make new spells! Just the feeling of being able to combine old ones with newer ones and make something better or more refined...it's fantastic!

[ Helios approves with that statement. ] As a folklorist I have to say I agree. Hearing it from personal experiences is much better than any book.

You need magic to live?

...huh. All I know is, hocuses back home use it to fuck with people. Ain't never seen none of them use it for... cooking and shit. Pretty sure they do the whole combining thing, though.

Folklorist? That a flashie word for storytelling? ...You got any more I ain't heard of?

It's not necessarily to live per-say. But we've gotten so used to using it in daily life...it comes as second nature to use it when normal non-magically inclined people aren't around.

We have strict rules and policies laid out by The Magic Council to prevent such things for happening in my world. You could call it a ruling magical government of sorts. [ He pauses as he thinks on how to explain it. ]

Not storytelling, no. A folklorist is a person who studies folklore and traditions while also looking at the social and cultural aspects of said stories. So it's basically a storyteller who analyzes the stories they read. [ A hum. ]

It depends on what you haven't heard already. I'd be happy to oblige sharing more though. [ He always enjoys this kind of thing, he could literally talk for hours about it. ]

Yeah, so, I'll never understand hocuses. No offense or nothing, but... yeah, never gonna understand 'em.

Yeah, we got that too, but it don't stop folks from finding loopholes and just fucking with people for fun anyway. And doing stuff that's still okay by them.

...Didn't know you could do that for a living and not go hungry.

I haven't heard any of that shit you mentioned. I'll trade you. Ever heard of The Swan's Lover? It has a magical doodad, too.

You'd be surprised what you can do to make a living. It helps that people are curious about this type of thing in my world. People do love to dabble in the unknown after all. Ah, but, it's not my main profession. I'm actually a headmaster at a school.

I don't believe I have. How does it go?

Where I'm from, at least, nobody'd pay for a story. Guess that's different worlds for you.

[And so, Mildmay begins the story of Lady Leda Philomel and Svenja-Clear-As-Water, and their cursed love. He speaks far more openly than before, almost happy, not at all surly or withholding as he was before-- he'll never quite trust wizards on first glance, but storytelling, now, that is a horse of a different color:]

[He talks about how the Lady Leda Philomel came to the northern land of Norvena Parva from her native shores of Troia. And he talks about Svenja-Clear-As-Water, a particularly intelligent swan who could turn herself into a woman with the use of a sword that had been cursed by accident, as a wizard had fallen and died on it and left his blood to rust. He mentions how Svenja fell in love with Leda upon seeing her, but could not recognize her when she became a swan again, nor could Leda tell Svenja apart from the other swans. And then he tells the end of the story, where Svenja finally admits she is a swan, but Leda misunderstands, and beheads Svenja in swan form with that very cursed sword.]

[...And then he clears his throat.] There you go.

That's a rather sad story. But I've found that many myths usually are. [ Helios doesn't like sad stories. But it's an intriguing one regardless. ]

Let's see. [ What myth could he tell, there's so many after all. ]

Oh how about one of the classics! King Midas.

[ Helios will go on then about the old satyr Silenus going missing and winding up being brought to King Midas. Midas was hospitable and treated Silenus to comforts for ten days while Silenus told stories and shared songs. Midas returned Silenus back to Bacchus and in return Midas was rewarded by anything he touched turned into gold. Obviously it was more of a curse, as Midas soon realized, as he could not eat and he even turned his own daughter into a golden statue. Midas prayed to Bacchus and Bacchus told Midas to wash in the river Pactolus. However when Midas did so the entire river turned into gold.

Frustrated with his lack of a solution Midas became a follower of another god, Pan who was the god of fields and satyr. Pan compared his music with Apollo, another god, and Apollo was awarded the winner. However Midas disagreed and Apollo turned his ears into those of a donkey. Midas tried to hide it but his barber found out as was told not to mention it to anyone. Unable to do so the barber went out into the meadow, dug a hole in the ground, whispered the story into it, then covered the hole up. A thick bed of reeds later sprang up in the meadow, and began whispering the story, saying "King Midas has an ass's ears" ]

And that's one from mine.

I heard versions where they live happy ever after and all, but those never have the right kick to 'em.

[Mildmay listens raptly, mentally taking notes as to how he'd retell the story later, and what the focus is.]

That's a good one. You just... sit around reading stories all the time? ...when you ain't blowing shit up, I mean.

Most of the stories, or ah, myths in my world end sadly as well. I suppose they're there to teach a lesson or sorts.

I usually visit the people in said stories actually. And well run my school, it's been awhile since I've done any actual story telling.

I reckon it's because sad shit sticks with you longer. Nobody wants to be forgot.

Wait, how d'you--... more hocus shit?

Sad, yes. I suppose you're right. [ Different tone here but it's quickly pushed away as he laughs. ]

Magic? Hardly! You could say my world's myths and legends aren't exactly myths or legends...if you know where to look.

You mean y'all're just really good at telling stories that just happened, or something else?

You could say that, why just telling a story about said myths is one reason they exist at all! Myths and legends do require people believing in them to exist in my world. Not all the time, but, it does help them.

You're gonna have to explain that for someone who ain't a hocus, I can't make heads or tails of... you're saying if folks believe in something, it'll be true?

Well yes, that's essentially it. Gods and mythological beings in my world were beings that existed in a plane beyond our own. They needed energy from human belief to bring them into our world and thus believing in them caused them to come into existence!

...Well, fuck. Why can't I live there?

[ Helios will definately laugh at that. ]

Perhaps one day you can visit. I do have a good few people interested!

[ Speaking of he didn't catch your name. ] Oh my apologies! I haven't caught your name. Helios Sprensonne it's been a pleasure speaking with you.

Mildmay. Same over here. [Strange as that is to say, it's true, and Mildmay supposes that's what matters.]

ϡ - Chapter TwentyThree; In which one deals with tricky spells [video/action for housemates/voice]

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