The Churchgoers and the Magic Holders - Session 8

Session 8 - 06/15/2024
***the story so far***
 
We make our way over to Warehouse Isle to crash at Uta's place. As we pass a series of blocky houses, we locate Uta's house and make our way inside to Uta's apartment.
I sneak over to Dr. Motby's shop to get an Arcsthetic Hand. It feels accordian-like, muscles flexing back and forth, and it *feels* like a glove almost. This Hand is very interesting - I hope to do some Runic stuff with this later...
We sit and have a meal in Uta's apartment, watching the time pass by. Willow takes a restroom break.
Recalling with Diaga, there seems to be a bit of unrest with the amount of Promaticous guards roaming around the city. It seems like a military exercise of some sort, but why its occurring is completely unclear. (This is especially strange as Promaticous is not at war with Vomethnda or Ezlekh.)
Having marked one of the Promanatican patrolling groups, I remind myself of their smell - the guards I fought directly seem to be in the opposite direction of where we're heading (to the east side of town). A ghostly hand grasps my shoulder, seemingly wanting me to question our decision to loot the guards, but I don't see anything. We press on.
We locate a troop of Promatican guards that we decide to follow. We revisit the bar to our right, but the lights in the bar are out, displaying a "We're Closed" sign. All sign of life is gone. As the evening sets the sun, I smell little bits of blood from the guards we fought (we don't talk about the loss...). As I crouch down to sniff the ground, the smell seems to go down an alleyway to the North.
I follow the smell, while Willow follows Roger and Diaga down a different alleyway. This is almost like a business-y district, a low-to-middle-income housing.
Roger and I sniff the flowers to our left, as one of the Promatican guards notice us. The guard retorts, "when is the official gonna get here?" "There's supposed to be some sort of agreement regarding the movement of troops." "Better be damn soon, this Vomethndan food makes my stomach sick!"
I sniff further for the scent of where the guards are, but I'm able to strongly smell the guards are somewhere in the building behind the statue of the courtyard. I meet up with Roger and Diaga at the East of the courtyard, and let them know the guards are inside.
The guard notices us and questions whether we're homeless. He points up at the sky, noting that it is now dark. The guard seems to recognize me from the barfight, based on the description he was given (...ohfuck). Diaga, with the confidence of a badass, strolls right into the guardshack, and takes a shortrest in the house. The guards are *stunned*, but resign in defeat, noting that they should have better security protocols.
The guard, confused, but not from around here, goes to retrieve some blankets, as Roger and I aim to fall asleep in the guard's courtyard. Willow, miraculously vibing with it all, takes in the fresh grass and falls asleep. A guard emerges from the guard house, and offers a pillow to Willow, Roger, and I. A second guard offers tattered bedsheets (I think mine is a tablecloth...).
Willow, unsure of Diaga's whereabouts, asks Roger where she is. Roger tells Willow that Diaga went off to bang a guard in one of the alleys.
Willow doesn't like the sleeping conditions, and walks out of the courtyard, away to who knows where.
Roger hears church bells off in the east, and notices a large number of men and women in gray robes, brandishing intricate necklaces (holding stone?) who are walking from the North to the South. Its some kind of religious group (based on the eye logo and the robes), but the items they are holding are not religiously related.
Roger has a chat with members of what they proclaim as the Church of Küvüagaar. They're adjacent to technological advancements, but it doesn't seem like the good kind. Roger and I decide to follow the churchgoers and see what they're up to. There's a member holding out a bin, asking for sending stones. The bin is holding ovular rocks, with little sounds and lights peeping out of them. The churchmember notices we're not from around here. The churchgoer remarks that sending stones are essentially telecommunication devices.
Roger spots an aasimar with blinding white eyes, and goes to sit with them.
The bells go off in perfect harmony. The service begins. It was... unremarkable. Roger makes his way out, and there's a presence almost... following Roger. There's a vague outline of a humanoid figure following Roger. I don't exactly see it, but I feel its presence. Roger rounds the corner, having pocketed two Sending Stones. Roger didn't notice the presence. It's probably not a big deal.
Roger and I go to sleep in the courtyard.
I get kicked awake, as its the morning now.
We head back to Warehouse Isle to visit Uta. We knock, and a sliding latch in the door opens. Uta answers. There's about 5 locks that get undone before her door opens up. Having given Uta her pass to the Kappi Research Institute, Uta offers to give us a tour of the campus.
We see a MASSIVE University campus as Uta welcomes us to the Kappi Research Institute. There's about 8 large structures around campus, along with a host of campus housing. We head to the dining hall to get a bite to eat. The stone architecture is very interesting. Uta puts her pass in the lock, and the door unlocks. There's a bunch of people waiting to get breakfast meals from the dining hall. I ask Uta how much breakfast is - Uta says that for guests, its free. We grab some food and head to the front, per Uta's recommendation. After we eat, Uta says she'll show us around the Institute. Uta tells us about the annual Senior prank that gets pulled on the Yarl. Uta is very happy to be a Vomethndan. Uta finally offers to show us around the campus. Uta first takes us to the Head of Engineering Building, the students of which are planning on something for the Yarl's 50th anniversary. This is where I should go for Mystek and Runic Magic related inquiries.
Uta tells us she lives in the Teacher's Hall, and departs to finish up her research. Uta leaves us in the Kappi Research Institute. We split off.
I head back to the Engineering Building, Hall Miskunner. As I walk through these grand halls, with arched marbled hallways, there's three grand lecture halls that are down each corridor. There seems to be more on the backside of the building. As I walk down, the hallway I am in appears to be the Runic Magic hallway. As I go across passing a flight of stairs, I find the Mystec portion of this building. The classes over here seem to be wrapping up, with some students taking notes on projects. I locate a Mystek weapon that appears to shatter air bolts, being supervised by a professor, who is talking about carving runes in a crystal. The professor hammers it in with an ice pick, and makes a different type of runes (more refined). The output of this launcher is significantly stronger, wildly blowing the books in front of them. I approach the professor and ask if he has a moment to talk. We talk about Mystek technology:

Mystek is based off of any magic sort that involves fantasma crystals, and the integration of those crystals with simple machines. Say, if you wanted to use a Mystek cannon, the projectile may be Mystek, and Runes etched in, with fantasma dust sprinkled in. Once you use the crystal to empower, well, imbue the item with magic.

It works well with geomancy and Runic Arts because it amplifies the magic that those technologies have. One particular thing about Mystek is that fantasma crystals have an innate mechanical function. With the different types of elemental magic, fantasma crystals innately have one type of magic they are geared towards (one type of energy, but could amplify any). There are different laboratory techniques to find out those innate properties. Transforming, manipulation, specific gearing towards X school of magic, etc.

I also ask the professor about the interaction(s) between Mystek and Runic Arts.

Runes, and by extension geomancy, can be used to *hone* fantasma crystal. Say you have a fantasma crystal that is keen to target metal objects. If you inscribe it with fire runes, you could cast a Heat Metal spell with that crystal that is engraved, as you are applying an effect to it. You add something you know, and something you think would make sense with it.

The same can work the opposite. Say you have a fantasma crystal that's focused on damage in wide areas. If you inscribe specific item duplications (geomancy sigils) as well as a piercing effect, it could summon a Knife Storm around that crystal. The size of the crystal is also indicative of that power (not always, but typically).

I prod the professor about my idea for a "flexible hand". The professor recalls an idea about carving multiple Runes and symbols, with specifc activations to achieve a specific effect. With a large enough crystal, you could use only those parts to, for example, do Poison, and other parts to do Fire. You could carve more Runes on the fly as needed, since the crystal could be adept at shooting things. Better yet, you could even use a Geomancy Sigil that hones in Fire *or* Poison sprays.

With Channeling Runes, this professor is not familiar with the effect of those, but recommends going down to geomancy. He offers the basics, that the medium you use to cast a spell, the crystal, in turn allows you to Hone the wild magic of the crystal. Basically, you usually use a medium that is very adept at casting magic (say, an experienced spellbook) that can cast magic reliably. With a strong enough medium, less Channeling Runes are needed. A smaller medium may require more Channeling Runes to reliably output. Without a reliable output, the medium tends to fizzle out.

I thank the professor for his time, and he lets me know he lives in one of the Teacher's Hall. I can also knock on his door anytime. He lets me know his name - Professor Vishara, Department of Mystek Technologies.
As I head over to the Geomancy Wing, I spot Roger and Diaga hanging up posters for the music competition. I give them a thumbs up and a little wave.