Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Revelations and Endings: Episode 4

Lucretia, Queen of the Water Nymphs, sat in the reflection chamber of her underwater chateau. Serenity and tranquility seeped into her mind as she pondered the state of the world, the difficulties in hiding the fantastic from the mundane, and how much she loved the movies of humans. At that moment of sheer bliss, one of her attendants rushed in.

"My lady, someone has created a Water Nymph." He panted - clearly having run from his post to give her this strange news.

"What exactly do you mean when you say that someone 'made' a Water Nymph?" Lucretia knew magic - knew the groups who could use use it, how they used it, and why. She made it her business to know.  This nymph was one of her magic analysts - trained to read data coming from magical probes placed all over the world.

"Well, if you'll remember, my lady, you assigned me several years ago to watch that mysterious ivory tower and amidst the constant magic readings coming in from that tower, this was the very first piece of data I was successfully able to interpret. Several minutes ago someone working somewhere inside that tower created a Water Nymph through magic. I'm not sure how - or what kind of magic they employed even. But that's what they did." This Ivory Tower, of which Lucretia admittedly knew very little, had nagged at the back of her mind for a long time. The power surrounding and flowing out of it was unreadable even to her specialized analysts. No other magical place or group could claim that status. Who - or what - hides behind those thick walls, she wondered. She had previously resolved that she would simply watch them until she had something to go on. Now, after years of watching, her only piece of evidence forced a response.

"I'm going there myself," she stated bluntly, and she evaporated out of the room. Teletravel wasn't typically a power of Water Nymphs, but Lucretia had spent considerable time studying magic. It'll take everything I've learned before to glean anything about the Tower, she thought, trying to prepare herself for imminent arrival. The first thing Lucretia learned about the Ivory Tower, as her essence slammed aginst a brick wall of magic, was that the entire Tower was covered in an anti-teletravel spell. A really strong one if it repelled me. She found herself standing outside the Tower. She looked around, trying to probe her surroundings. She next noticed that the entire Tower existed on Borrowed Space. Borrowed Space magic - powerful and dangerous stuff designed by a mysterious sect of mystics known only as Whim - allowed magical stuff to "borrow" space from the real world so that no one could find it, realize it was being used, or miss it. However, the danger was that it created a "double" space, and if at any time the spell became unsustainable and collapsed, the double smashed into a single and the mix was disastrous and irreversible. These are no ordinary spellcasters she thought as she continued searching for a door. She found it - open - with a woman in golden robes standing there and smiling at her.

"Lady Lucretia, Queen of the Water Nymphs, welcome to the Ivory Tower. We've been hoping you'd come to visit soon.'

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