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[syvarris]

"Oh, I'm happy you're satisfied with it!  Have you tried the silencing feature yet?  I'm really happy with it, with the shortened barrel the muzzle blast sounds even louder, more like a cannon, I think it would be worth using even when you're just practicing.  I'm less confident about the thaumic accelerator, but it was interesting to work on, thank you for suggesti..."  Ekrov trails off as he looks over to the side, realizing he's rambling.

"Ah, right, it should be good enough for... 'leveling up'...?" he tilts his head quizzically as his gaze returns to Saeko.  "I don't actually know what that means?"

[Devastator]

"I'm glad you liked it.  And yeah, I haven't tried it yet, but the silencer should be handy." She waggles her giant ears for a moment.  "That was really good thinking."

"And.. yeah, levelling up.  It's when you fight monsters for a while, and then you just.. all of a sudden get better?  All at once?
Does it not work like that here?  I haven't actually been killing many things, so I just thought I haven't done it yet."

[syvarris]

Ekrov furrows his brows, thinking. "Some mages gain magic from killing creatures, but from my reading it is no different from when I draw mana from thaum, or when you draw mana from emotions.  I... suppose there might be some kind of mutation in the process?  Mana is life, and it strengthens bodies to receive it, so perhaps if the mana gained from killing were directed inward rather than... but no, that would cause mutations, like with your teeth... hrm."  he pauses for several seconds, hand on his chin.  "Has this happened to you before?  I've never heard of a mage with multiple sources of mana absorption.  Was it common in Japan?"

[Egan_BW]

"You mean some way of subverting that army? The Sculptor who works for Saeko seems to like machines and has the Clockwork Material. Maybe you could get his help?"

[Blank, empty stare into space.]

Spoiler: ... (click to show/hide)

Name: Zavirius En-Drani Haver, Magebreaker
Appearance: A short and stout woman, very fit, in thick metal armor. She has four arms. Her hair is greenish silver.
Mana: 1
Method: Flesh-Inscribed Channel
Strength: d20+5
Speed: d20+5
Endurance: d20+5
Knowledge: d20+5
Will: d20+5
Senses: d20+4

Ongoing effects:
Fire in the Eyes
Permanently immune to nerve gas
D6 Force boosted energy attacks on left hand
D6 Force boosted energy attacks on right hand
Two additional arms

Materials:
Explosion
Lightning
Sunlight
Human
Bird
Drug
Toxic
Volatile
Slow
Diminish
Lightweight
Grand Lodestone
Mercury
Black Sulfur
Glass
Porcelain
Obsidian

Inventory:
180 Gold
Magebreaker Armor (d10)
Greatsword of Explosion (d8)
Compound Bow (d8)
100 Arrows
1-mana/shot explosion powered rifle
200 Lead Bullets
20 Mercury Bullets
Sun Knife (d6) (6 Mana)
Glass Pendant
Backpack
Food and Water
Wooden Pole
Binoculars
Silk Rope
Lantern and Oil
Blank Book
Painting Canvas
Tattoo kit
Paints and brushes
Catch Pole
Manacles
Cloak permanently enchanted to limit channeling to 10 mana/hour


Salt the Condor-Winged Baboon
Strength: d8
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d4
Will: d4
Senses: d6

Small bag
Dagger (d4)

[Devastator]

"Sometimes?  And yeah, it did happen to me.  But not as much as some other people.  It was like.. well, I was from a 'high-level' area, so it was like I'd already leveled up a lot by being around in the right place?

..and no, it was kinda invisible.  You didn't look any different, but you could feel different after you'd done it.  You might learn spells, or you might have more magic, or you'd just be stronger or faster, or you'd figure out more moves.."

"I don't know, you'd know about it if it happened here.  I didn't have to absorb mana until I came here, either.  I had a certain maximum, and after a sleep I'd just wake up full again.  And that was normal, well, if you had magic at all."

[syvarris]

"...Huh." is all Ekrov offers, staring at Saeko.  His head bobs and turns subtly as he watches her, in a way that she's come to realize means he's inspecting something with the third eye set into his forehead.  It's very unusual for him to direct it at her, though.

"How old are you, Saeko?  That sounds like something from the distant past--the very distant past, before even the time of Gravid.  A thousand years ago, perhaps.  Outside of Telcal's reign, magic has been scarce and rare, for centuries.  Simple sleep hasn't been enough to replenish it for..." he closes his eyes and shakes his head, no longer scanning Saeko with his third eye.  "...You're telling a story that sounds like a heroic myth about ancient history.  Not something from five years ago."

[Devastator]

"Is it that weird, though?  I mean it is different.  But here I can fly like a bird, which is awesome, and I could just change my class.  One spell and these things are permanent.  There were things that could be done like that in Japan, there were spells that could make someone fly for a few minutes, or spells that could make someone fast or strong or something, but those were all temporary, they'd only last a few minutes."

"I mean, here there is indeed a lot less magic around, and it's harder to get ahold of it, but you can do so much more with it, so many more.. profound things.  In Japan you could do lots, but it'd all go away after a few minutes."

[syvarris]

"No, no, that's... it's different.  You can fly like a bird, because you are part bird, your lifeforce powers your wings.  All living things have mana in them, it is life, and it's constantly burned away just by your heartbeat.  Muscles are very efficient, that's why flying with your wings feels so much easier than casting a spell to do the same, but they still burn magic.  Even short, temporary spells still burn far more magic, permanently, than your wings do."

Ekrov suddenly squats down, and pinches a piece of dirt between his thumb and middle finger, staring at it intensely as he stands up.  He holds out the speck of dirt towards Saeko, then snaps his fingers, the flecks of dirt scattering away--then falling into a floating orbit around his hand.  "Even this, a small spell, is burning magic.  I only gave it a very, very small fraction of the mana I could have given it, so it will only last a few more seconds, but it's still burning more mana than a muscle does.  And either way, that magic is lost now, gone forever."  as he speaks, the specks of dirt begin to slow down, individual grains losing their charge and falling back down to the earth.  "In the old days, a spell like this could have lasted indefinitely, running off the mana in the air.  The tiny loss of mana spent on it would be replenished naturally, as simple as breathing.  but now, there is very little mana in this world, it is so little in the air now.  Literally, we can test this!  You can take the rocks, and the earth, and even the air if you're careful, and melt it down into thaum.  It will take great amounts to get even tiny dregs, and that's burning all the matter entirely, turning its basic form into mana!"  He pauses and sighs, shaking his head again as the last of the dirt specks fall.

"...Something must have been very different in Japan, if what you're describing is true.  To make an environment like that, it must have been the work of a god.  One with immense untapped power, and... strange ideas on how to spend it."

[Devastator]

"You know, in Japan I was a white mage.  That was a mage of the magic of life, of living creatures.  And it was so different, so more limited.."

"I did know the spell that made people float for a bit.  It was called that, Float.  And I couldn't do it with dirt or sand or rocks.  It was people.  And only certain people, heros and what not.  Here it can be anyone, anything whatever you want in whatever direction you want it."

"As for what Japan was, or where it was.."

"Well, it was certainly different."  She's troubled for a bit, thinking about things.  "I mean, it didn't seem strange until I came here, but you could go a fair distance, and the new place would often be like completely different.  Different architecture, different rules, different magic, maybe no magic as I knew it at all.

Maybe.. maybe that's what was different.  Everything was contained.  The rules were this way here, that way somewhere else.. everything in a box or a square.  I was in a 'high level area', but that was just an area."

"I really do feel like this is the real magic when I came here.  Things work here like this is the real, fundamental way it should work.  I don't know if I'm getting it across right, but this stuff is so versitile, so free, so beyond what I knew in terms of power and ability..  I can't think I was the product of a great time in the past or such.  It was something, yes, and yes I could fill back up just by sleeping, but it wasn't the real stuff we work with here."

"Maybe it was the product of a god or something.  You have a god of your own here, right?  Telcal?  And he's the reason you have magic here, isn't he?

[syvarris]

"Yes.  Or, well, not exactly, but in a manner of speaking Telcal is the reason we still have mana.  I don't think he is the source, no, but he protects this land, and I don't doubt he affects how it grows.  I think Japan was a very different situation; your description lines up well with the theory that it was the domain of a more controlling god.  Normal magic was stifled and hidden, locked behind that limited system of pre-defined spells, which themselves were all temporary and weak, probably to limit mana usage.  Your access was directly rationed and allowed only to chosen individuals.  Even your description of the areas fits in, different places had different designs and different rules, even if they were near each other.  Not an organic civilization at all, more like a collector took places, or took inspiration from places, then added them to his toybox to add variety.  It would also explain why I've never read anything about Japan, if it were the private domain of some--" Ekrov suddenly stop himself for a second, cringing slightly.  "Err, I'm sorry!  That must be unpleasant to hear, I wasn't meaning to say your home was--I didn't mean to say such negative things about Japan!  I-If it was the domain of a god, I think from the stories you've said, that god was at least benevolent!  It seemed to want to protect the people within its land, it was just very careful about how it lent magic.  Only natural, like an overprotective parent, worried about their children overeating and leaving themselves without any food."  Ekrov opens his mouth to say more, but then seems to think better of it and goes silent, still cringing.

[Devastator]

"No sense in being down about that, Ekrov, just because it was insular doesn't mean it wasn't a good place!  And in the end I was able to leave, you know?"

"..but it does sound like we have a proper quest now.  I mean, I was just thinking of things we could do before, but now I'm sure of it."

"We should go find the goddess of the sky, and ask her some questions.  Find out where mana comes from, find out where it goes, and find out if we can bring more mana back to the world.

Or, if not, what can be done to make things live, or stay alive, even without magic at all."

At that, Saeko sort of poses, wings outstretched and pointing a finger to the sky.

[syvarris]

Ekrov's cringe slowly relaxes into a wide, goofy smile as Saeko speaks, right up until Saeko mentions the goddess of the sky.  His smile disappears in an instant, replaced by a deep frown.  He still waits until she finishes, his frown lessening slightly when Saeko makes her pose.  Then he takes a deep breath, and gloomily responds.

"The goddess of the sky, Samsasra, is dead.  We can't just go find her and ask her questions.  Her remains are angelic beings, something I do have power over, after creating the Universal Lubricant, but also something very dangerous and mysterious."

[Devastator]

"Well.. yes, that's true.  But when I was asking questions about Telcal, if he was even known to be still alive, I was told something specific.  If Telcal, the god of fire was truly dead, there would be no fire in the world."

"There is a sky.  There is a sky above the sky, the remnants of her fallen kingdom.  Samsasra might be dead, but that doesn't mean she is gone.  We have a good many powerful magics, you have human, animate, and Angelic, the word for servants who sprung from her.

Maybe it won't be as simple as going up there and casting a few spells, but it shouldn't be impossible to learn some of what she knew about magic, and the world."

"Also, it looks dangerous up there, and deadly.  There are many hostile and powerful robots, and all sorts of strange and bizarre things.  Maybe those robotic dragons came from the sky rather than somewhere on the ground.  Even if we cannot find anything of Samsasra, or learn anything of magic, removing that threat will be a great boon to the world."

[syvarris]

Ekrov hesitates, thinking over Saeko's words, before a slight smile reappears on his face.  "I suppose you're right.  Magic can summon a lot of information, and there's surely many relics of Samsasra still left in the sky.  It would be an excellent adventure, and there is so much we might yet learn!"  His smile widens further as he continues, a bit of excitement building back up.  "And what you mentioned earlier, trying to find the source of magic, or find a way to create life that doesn't require something so fleeting, that's a great goal as well.  It's.. strange to think, that we might be able to solve these problems.  I've lived all my life knowing these things as simple... basic facts, the history of the world and how it works, I've never really thought about working to change them.  You, you've brought a unique perspective, I think--coming from this Japan, you see the world in a different way.  I hope, someday, after we've found our answers, that we can go back and visit.  It's a little scary, thinking of a place where magic is so tightly controlled, but it also seems like such an amazing place in many ways.  Perhaps we could even meet with Japan's caretaker god, speak with it and ask it questions of the world's history, and its own motivations.  That would be wonderful!"

[Devastator]

Saeko, upon viewing Ekrov's enthusiasm, smiles happily.

"Well, maybe.  I don't know anything about said caretaker god, but it's an interesting concept.. maybe there is indeed one.
As for visiting.. I don't know.  I don't quite know the way back there, and it was a very long way, we'll have to go look for it."

At that, she thinks for a moment.

"There is something I've been wanting to do for a while now.  We could make a painting of a town or city that would belong in Japan, and then have you animate it, and make the frame into a portal.  We could then go visit Japan, or at least a facsimile of it."

"And if we do it at the ruins, it'd allow painting-me to be less lonely."