Strange Growth

Keen

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Nov 23, 2016
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Smokey had themself draped over the top of the couch after Judegelo let them into his house. For a while now, Smokey had been feeling comfortable enough to do weird things like this when in the house. And this time, Jude invited them in for a meeting, so really, it was Jude's fault for any weirdness they did. He didn't need to let them in.

Swaying their tail gently over the couch, they gave Jude a lazy look before explaining why they wanted to chat. "So. Talking to Altizica the other week didn't go so well. And yes, I know, I should've expected that. But anyways, I wanted your help with my powers. You should be able to see what I'm working on. I wanted some advice or a good place to practice, but I don't want them public yet."


 

Romi

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Did smokey even know Jude's long and storied history with Altizica? No, probably not. Altizica liked to allude to it, but he didn't exactly talk about it.

"You mean the fact that you're starting to stick your head into eldritch stuff?" Jude said.

He was, at that very moment, in the process of drawing out some arcane circles. He didn't normally do magic, but setting it all up... he could do that. He could set it all up and then get someone who actually was magic (like Clarence, who was definitely his number one pick) to charge it.

All those art classes he was taking were definitely paying off.

"Altizica is myopic. He can't see beyond himself, and finds it more or less impossible to relate to humans. I thought cutting him off from his bigger self would change that, but it obviously hasn't."
 

Keen

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Smokey nodded their head when Jude hit the mark about them working on eldritch magic. But when Jude mentioned Altizica being myopic and not being able to relate to humans, Smokey just laughed.

"You know what's funny? He kept relating me to humans even when I tried to get him to stop. He mentioned someone called Selkris, apparently one of the greatest human magicians who used eldritch magic. Said I could go beyond him when I said I was magic. The whole teaching was a mess. Not sure what I expected. I ended up getting angry and leaving in the end."
 

Romi

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Jude considered for a moment, then offered a nod.

"I'm not surprised. I wish there was a term for humans-and-things-like-humans, because he's none of those things and can't relate at all. Like, you, as a non-human, can mostly bring yourself to our level to think about things, even if you don't agree. He just doesn't seem to get it. I'd hoped making him quasi-mortal would help that, but apparently not."

Nope, minimal changes.

"So, what's your actual goal? I'm not exactly an expert in eldritch stuff."
 

Keen

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"Seemed like I really hurt his feelings anyways and got him worried about our relationship. I guess that's some kind of progress." Smokey waved a lazy hand. That was inconsequential at the moment.

"My goal is..." Smokey was not going to say their goal was actually to prove Altizica wrong. It made their last meeting with him all the more frustrating. "I need more useful abilities. I've been researching the subject for some time, but I'm not too sure where a good place to actually get practice. I don't want it to be public or anything, since I just know I'll get more, 'But you're not strong enough for eldritch magic.' My power teacher also doesn't specialize in eldritch magic, so that's not a good option. Since you have a lot of connections and you can tell people's powers, I was wondering if you'd know anyone or anyplace I could go to. Or, well, let me at least practice around you. I bet you could give me tips"
 

Romi

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"Eldritch magic deals with insanity, but insanity itself is... a side effect. The purpose of eldritch magic isn't to inflict insanity, that's just what happens when you use it. Tapping into an eldritch source involves dealing with something that most mortal minds can't even process. Like... the way it was described to me was a two-dimensional being looking at a three-dimensional one. It can only see the three dimensional being through a very thin slice. To a two dimensional being, a three dimensional one would be popping around. So, in theory, gaining eldritch magic would mean... effectively extending yourself out into that third dimension."
 

Keen

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Smokey's smile into one that could effectively be described as that one cat emoji they see everywhere on the internet. "I knew it! Altizica essentially said people who take eldritch power use madness to give themselves that power and that madness is an emergency escape to keep you from feeling pain. I disagreed with that because I'm not stupid."

Smokey's "I was right all along" smile never disappeared as they continued. "I don't know how well I'm doing at extending myself to the third dimension yet, but, uh," Smokey looked down at all the weird critters climbing on them and the couch. There wasn't any way they could probably explain what they were to Jude. "I definitely see... things. Sometimes I'll touch something and it feels like... blood? Organs? Something like that. No one else points it out though."
 
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Romi

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"You're glimpsing... whatever. The fifth dimension, lets call it." There were definitely at least four dimensions that were nearly narrowed down, so calling it the fifth simplified things a bit. "So in theory, when you see weird things, you're peeking... sideways. Like a two dimension being turning its head to see something beyond. It's there for everyone, but no one else has the ability to actually... see it, I guess?"
 

Keen

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"That's... good? I guess I'm turning my head sideways all the time then. So what about my, uh..." How would you describe their existence manipulation? It wasn't true existence manipulation, because it was in a state of both existence and non-existence... Wait... did they give themself the power of Schrödinger's cat?

Smokey put a hand to their nose at that. They went for a complicated concept on top of a complicated concept when they were at an amateur level. No wonder Altizica was so concerned. "Okay, so, I can kind of phase things out of existence? Only small things and they're definitely not just invisible. Let me demonstrate."

Smokey slid off of the couch and rolled onto the floor. Very. Gently. They took the tie holding up the bun in their hair out, then let it hang between their index finger and their thumb. Then, they blew smoke to surround the hair tie. When the smoke dissipated, the tie wasn't in their finger anymore.

"I'm not too sure where stuff like that goes, but it can't be the fifth-dimension because I would still be seeing it, I think."
 

Romi

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The universe, as it turned out, as self correcting. In one moment, Smokey had pulled out a tie and blown some smoke onto it, vanishing it from existence. In the next, Smokey had never reached up at all. There was nothing to reach up for, and Jude was left sitting there, blinking, waiting for something that wasn't going to happen.

"Alright," Jude said, deciding that it meant Smokey was waiting for their confirmation before they demonstrated.
 
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