Detect Magic

[les_magique]

Who: Samata Mahto and YOU, the reader
What: Samata gets some new glasses and a new spell. Sort of.
When: Grasshopper 18
Where: Quite Car, Standard Coach.
Warnings: Nothing as of yet

A package had arrived in the luggage car for Samata. A small one, but one she was VERY pleased to receive. A wizard's power came from knowledge, after all, and with these things, certain kinds of knowledge were VERY easy to get...

-Scouting-

Samata was sitting in the standard coach with a book, but she wasn't really reading it. She was just...hanging out and looking occupied, while wearing a new pair of fancy looking spectacles. She glanced up at everyone who came through, and took notes in her notebook as they passed.

The truth of the matter was that these glasses took magical energy and turned it into patterns of light. She could see the flow of energy through the train almost like everything was underwater. People became complicated trees of glittering energy that cut patterns through the current as they went about their tasks. People with inherent magical power held whirling pools of magic in a sort of stable orbit around themselves. Objects that contained magic glowed as brilliant silhouettes. There was no hiding your true nature from Samata's spectacles of Detect Magic. (as long as your true nature involved magic. They didn't do anything for warrior ki energy or psychic powers or alien technology.)

-Flash bang-

After the last mission, which had involved a whole lot of darkness and monsters that hated light, Samata had had an idea for a new spell. A relatively simple one, even. All she wanted was a magic lamp, that could let her see in dark places while keeping her hands free. Easy, right?

Well, compared to other spells, yes. But it still involved a godawful amount of math to figure it out. She was currently taking advantage of the extra quiet rooms to get some quality research time in without getting interrupted. She had gotten as far as the first attempt at casting the actual spell.

We'll play this out from a viewpoint in the hallway.

The room is soundproofed, so a hypothetical passer-by would not be able to hear her shout the incantation. But the shaded windows weren't light proof enough to hide the blindingly bright glare that suddenly shined through the room. It cast shadows on the wall across from the door.

A moment later it winked out as Samata slammed the door open and staggered into the hallway, cursing and covering her eyes with her hands as a cloud of smoke poured out after her.

A moment later the fire alarm went off.

Comments

The glasses

[les_magique]

If you're not sure how the glasses would show your character, we can plot it out here, OOCly

[queenofsparkles]

Given how Glimmer is connected to one of THE MAJOR sources of single-type magic in her world, is a budding soon-to-be-powerful sorcerer in her own right, and is the daughter of an immortal god-queen and the ACTUAL most powerful sorcerer, I feel like she'd be a bit bright.

And also whatever else she looks like, it's sparkly as shit.

[les_magique]

Yeah that sounds about right!

Re: The glasses

[runicfeathers]

Samata would see swirling fire that's got a holy feel to it, which is... ahh.. how do I explain? Sorta like fire that's being tossed around by the wind, only gently? It would be very bright with the holy aspect on it.

As for Nova, who is relevant as well since she's often around Willow or will be flying around on her own: The appearance is similar as well, but a little more fiery than Willow's

I can attempt to elaborate if necessary, feel free to ask!

[les_magique]

It would probably take a while to pick up a fire motif. She can glean a lot of information with the glasses, given time, but they don't show a metaphor for your soul, they show a direct visualization of magical forces normally invisible to the human eye.

It would probably be easier to pick up a connection between her and her bird, for example, than to pick up that they had a fire theme.

[bloomingdespite]

A living hurricane of magic walks past Samata.

While she's wearing the glasses, Samata can't even see who's inside—it's like someone stuffed the magical energy of two, no three, two?, no definitely three souls into one body and let it loose with overwhelming, uncontrolled force.

It's... mostly human. Mostly. A whirlwind of shining white light and crackling, garish, fiery pink and orange and a smooth purple with an undercurrent of black, veins of obsidian that indicate something darker, deeper, demonic that lies deep within, dead beneath all the pressure exerted by the souls above but its influence still felt-

It's just too much.

[les_magique]

Samata glanced at him and abruptly sat up straight in her chair.

Well. That was...alarming. This guy wasn't a sorcerer. Sorcerers sucked magic out of the air and stored it in their bodies. This was something else entirely.

Flash bang

[queenofsparkles]

While she's been wearing her glasses, Samata's probably been able to see random patches of sparkles here and there, human-shaped silhouettes like a pale pink afterimage in existence, attached to a trail of floating glitter that whips through the air and leads... who knows where. Somewhere else entirely. Usually through the walls or ceiling.

The source of them happens to be passing through when the giant, blinding flash goes off in the silent carriage, and gets Glimmer's immediate attention. She's not blinded by it, too used to bright lights as she is, but she's definitely darting forward when she sees Samata stumble out, to grab her shoulders and keep her from falling. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"

[les_magique]

"Drowned timing line can't keep itself straight I swear to god I will rewrite a universal constant if I have to I don't care if it makes biological life impossible!"

After cursing some more and rubbing her eyes a lot, Samata stepped away from Glimmer to get her balance back and blinked cautiously.

Okay, everything was blurry, and she could still see spots, but she didn't appear to be blinded.

Flash bang - ... and that is EXACTLY why he likes her

[tinkerheart]

The sequence of events that followed was all too familiar to Fëanor. Maybe not the fire alarm, they didn't have those in Valinor. And for a good reason, everyone in the nearest neighborhood would go deaf before the end of the week, if anyone made a mistake of installing those in a house inhabited by this particular Noldo and his sons.

It's a true miracle he hadn't set anything on fire on the train yet. Not even the kitchen. Fëanor can barely believe it himself.

"Two questions," he starts after the string of curses has ended. "Are you alright and did it work?"

[les_magique]

"What about that looked like a victory dance!?"

Give her a minute. She's a hot head.

Quiet Car

[unfavorableinstigation]

While Nita's wizardry was, to Samata's lenses, a variety of shades of blue with gold and silver undertones, if she happened to be wandering the Quiet Car she'd see Nita without that aura.

Oddly enough, there was still blue near her - but only a projection in the corner of the room Nita was in. The young woman herself seemed to be writing something, sitting at a bench and looking both forlorn and utterly emotionally exhausted.

[les_magique]

She noticed Nita before she set off her explosion, just for some variety from the other threads, and stuck her head out into the hall. She hadn't spoken much to Nita lately, but the girl seemed a bit down in the dumps.

"Nita?"

glasses;

[sunbloom]

Today Itsuki's trying to put some elbow grease into cleaning the kitchen; she'd gotten a cloud of flour in the face for her trouble and was on her way back from washing her face and hair as she passed through the coach, a towel in her hands still taking a pass through her hair on occasion as she grumbled.

Samata would notice Itsuki herself with a small-ish telltale of power around her... and something shaped like a moderately-sized bottle in a cargo pocket shining like a lighthouse observed from three feet away.

[les_magique]

She jerked her head back as the glasses filled with glare. Fortunately, she had long since altered them so that sufficiently powerful sources of magic couldn't actually blind her or cause them to explode (Because honestly, who would attach something to your face that could explode?), but it was still quite a surprise. She pulled the glasses off, blinking a bit, and stared at Itsuki for a moment. She LOOKED like a normal enough kid, but you never could tell, around here.

Of course, now she was openly staring at someone she didn't know. Or more specifically at her pants pocket.

specs

[nocawsforconcern]

[Enna's ability is... probably close enough to magic that it counts, but it'd look weird. Enna's power, after all, seems vaguely draconic, twisting around in serpentine ways, and... seemingly, drawing things into itself. Light drawn to her like moths to a flame.]

Cawww. What's that on your face? I've never seen glasses like that before.

[les_magique]

Do you like my spectacles? I made them myself.

Flash Bang

[runicfeathers]

[Willow hasn't really been going out of her sleeping area, but seeing as there's chores to do, she has to at some point and that point is today.

However what distracts her is a flashing light, and then the individual that came out.]

Are... you alright? What happened? [a moment later, she glares at the noise, infernal and painful.] What is that wretched noise as well!?

[les_magique]

Fire alarm!

[Cough cough.]

It'll shut up in a minute!

AUGH my eyes!

scouting

[flatteries]

Samata has probably been seeing all sorts of interesting magical patterns on people all day, considering the variety of people and magic there is on the train.

But then something suddenly blots out her vision. It might take a moment to register just what it is, since it's Inigo suddenly being there - he probably ran up to her while she was distracted writing something down - and leaning close in to her glasses, a big smile on his face.

"Samata! What are you doing?"

There's absolutely not even the slightest hint of light about him.

[les_magique]

"Ngah!"

She had been so focused that having someone right in front of her had taken her embarrassingly off guard. She quickly calmed down when she realized it was Inigo, though.

"J...just people watching, you know? There are so many new faces around."

[laurefindil]

[If you thought Glorfindel was bright without the glasses on....]

Glofindel came in to replace a book on a shelf and noticed her. "Hello, Samata, new accessory?" He paused for a moment. "Are those the glasses you've been working on?"

[les_magique]

Of COURSE he looked like a bonfire. Glorfindel was just like that.

"Not exactly. I was having trouble building new ones with the limited facilities, here, so I just...spent some points, had them send the ones from back home here."

flash bang

[mimidaeia]

From the next car, an android with a decidedly obliterated face steps into the hallway and starts yelling. Well it’s not so much yelling as ‘her normal synthetic voice, but as loud as she can play it’, but it’s the closest she’s got to panic emoting.

“There’s a fire in the Quiet Carriage!”

The fire alarm might’ve fooled her.

[les_magique]

"It's not on fire!" Samata yelled back, though she wasn't one hundred percent on that point. She was still having trouble seeing, with spots in her eyes.