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day 2 network (late afternoon)
Good afternoon, everybody. I hope you're faring well today, or at least better than before.
I'm pleased to announce that as of now, Mister Mystery's Menagerie of Magecraft Miscellany (MMMMM for short) is up and running. What that means for you, good folks reading this and stranded alongside yours truly (Caster/Mister Mystery/Mister M/just M), is that I'm offering my services to take any materials you may have gathered, from demons or otherwise, and use my magecraft to, well, craft you something more usable out of them instead. Within reason, of course.
I won't bog you down with boring details, but the main thing to know is this: One of the core tenets of magecraft is equivalent exchange. I can't make something out of nothing, so you'll need to provide the proper materials while I handle the rest. Regarding what counts as "proper", here's an example.
[ Merlin starts the video feed, which shows a table with two things resting on it: what looks like a clump of red leaves, and a small tub of medicine. ]
In legend and folklore, the Mandrake is a poisonous plant that's also used as an ingredient in potent healing potions and other restoratives, when used properly.
[ With the hand not holding the COMP, he points to the left side of the table, a clump of Mandrake leaves. ]
So naturally, the test product I thought of making—and succeeded in making—from the leaves of one of them was a medicinal salve.
[ He points to the right, a tiny tub of faintly reddish medicine, the tiny container itself pilfered from the hospital. The lid is off, allowing people to see the topical salve inside. ]
Another example... Perhaps, tired of all those pesky wind spells messing up your perfect hair, you want to make that the demons' problem instead? Then, obtaining some feathers from those helmed goose demons strutting around should be enough for me to create a condensed wind spell mini-bomb of your very own.
[ He pans the camera and points, momentarily, to a small, unnaturally green stone resting on the table as well. It's hard to capture on video, but an extremely faint breeze is wrapped around it, rustling the nearby papers ever so slightly. ]
In the end, it's mostly about the elemental properties of whatever you've got, really.
[ With that, he shuts the video feed off. If he sounded somewhat winded while presenting all of that, it's because he is. Guess who spent most of his day trying to figure out his limits and ended up expending a lot more magical energy in the process, for far less than he'd expected, than he's used to? This guy. ]
Got all that? Don't be shy about asking. Like it or not, we're all in this sticky situation together, so I don't see much point in me keeping these capabilities to myself. My workshop's in the church, the rightmost small study in the corner among the other rooms.
[ Yes, he claimed a corner room. ]
Just don't overwork me, okay? There's only so much I can do right now in terms of both magical energy as well as complexity. If I die of exhaustion, YOU'RE the ones who'll have to go down to the underworld to pluck my soul and bring it back to the world of the living ☆ Or something.
[ ooc: TL;DR, item synthesis unlocked. Sidequests unlocked. Characters do NOT need to thread things out or even have CR with Merlin to utilize this; it can be handwaved. Merlin will generally be perfectly fine simply taking provided materials and synthesizing whatever basic items your character might need (as long as it isn't eyebrow-raising), no questions, no muss, no fuss, regardless of whoever comes knocking.
For stuff from demons, the materials also don't have to be demon parts wholesale; getting bits and bobs from negotiation (e.g. asking a demon for some of their hair in exchange for something) work just as well as procuring said bits forcefully. ]
action (church);
I'm pleased to announce that as of now, Mister Mystery's Menagerie of Magecraft Miscellany (MMMMM for short) is up and running. What that means for you, good folks reading this and stranded alongside yours truly (Caster/Mister Mystery/Mister M/just M), is that I'm offering my services to take any materials you may have gathered, from demons or otherwise, and use my magecraft to, well, craft you something more usable out of them instead. Within reason, of course.
I won't bog you down with boring details, but the main thing to know is this: One of the core tenets of magecraft is equivalent exchange. I can't make something out of nothing, so you'll need to provide the proper materials while I handle the rest. Regarding what counts as "proper", here's an example.
[ Merlin starts the video feed, which shows a table with two things resting on it: what looks like a clump of red leaves, and a small tub of medicine. ]
In legend and folklore, the Mandrake is a poisonous plant that's also used as an ingredient in potent healing potions and other restoratives, when used properly.
[ With the hand not holding the COMP, he points to the left side of the table, a clump of Mandrake leaves. ]
So naturally, the test product I thought of making—and succeeded in making—from the leaves of one of them was a medicinal salve.
[ He points to the right, a tiny tub of faintly reddish medicine, the tiny container itself pilfered from the hospital. The lid is off, allowing people to see the topical salve inside. ]
Another example... Perhaps, tired of all those pesky wind spells messing up your perfect hair, you want to make that the demons' problem instead? Then, obtaining some feathers from those helmed goose demons strutting around should be enough for me to create a condensed wind spell mini-bomb of your very own.
[ He pans the camera and points, momentarily, to a small, unnaturally green stone resting on the table as well. It's hard to capture on video, but an extremely faint breeze is wrapped around it, rustling the nearby papers ever so slightly. ]
In the end, it's mostly about the elemental properties of whatever you've got, really.
[ With that, he shuts the video feed off. If he sounded somewhat winded while presenting all of that, it's because he is. Guess who spent most of his day trying to figure out his limits and ended up expending a lot more magical energy in the process, for far less than he'd expected, than he's used to? This guy. ]
Got all that? Don't be shy about asking. Like it or not, we're all in this sticky situation together, so I don't see much point in me keeping these capabilities to myself. My workshop's in the church, the rightmost small study in the corner among the other rooms.
[ Yes, he claimed a corner room. ]
Just don't overwork me, okay? There's only so much I can do right now in terms of both magical energy as well as complexity. If I die of exhaustion, YOU'RE the ones who'll have to go down to the underworld to pluck my soul and bring it back to the world of the living ☆ Or something.
[ ooc: TL;DR, item synthesis unlocked. Sidequests unlocked. Characters do NOT need to thread things out or even have CR with Merlin to utilize this; it can be handwaved. Merlin will generally be perfectly fine simply taking provided materials and synthesizing whatever basic items your character might need (as long as it isn't eyebrow-raising), no questions, no muss, no fuss, regardless of whoever comes knocking.
For stuff from demons, the materials also don't have to be demon parts wholesale; getting bits and bobs from negotiation (e.g. asking a demon for some of their hair in exchange for something) work just as well as procuring said bits forcefully. ]
action (church);
[ True to his word, Merlin has monopolized a small study room in the corner of the church, the rightmost room among the other abandoned rooms in the church that BB cleaned up the other day.
Honestly, there isn't much in there at the moment. There's only the mage himself, his staff propped up in the back corner alongside a small cushioned armchair (especially monopolizing this), a set of drawers, a table in the back where a stuffed lion plushie, and his bag and its assorted miscellany sits on, a table near the entrance, and two regular chairs to accompany the latter. The bookshelves containing the local scripture have been untouched, for the most part. In normal circumstances, the current setup would be considered a poor excuse for a mage's workshop (and to the Holy Church, heretical at that), but these are certainly not normal circumstances.
The door's open. ]
text;
no subject
For weapons, it depends on the weapon. I can't seem to make anything as complex as, say, a firearm at the moment, but a sword? Perfectly doable.
[ Even if it's more tiring than making basic consumables. ]
no subject
[so, you know, it's not JUST firing a weird gun at his forehead all the time]
what would you need for something like that?
no subject
Metal, mostly. As much metal as you think you'd need for an axe of your liking. The shape of it won't matter; it'll all be broken down—think of it as being magically molten down—and then restructured in the end.
[ Understanding the original materials' structure, breaking those down into the most basic, most fundamental building blocks the world will allow, and then rearranging those building blocks in a different way. ]
no subject
i'll drop by later
[Shinjiro isn't entirely sure how much metal was in his old axe -- it never really mattered in the past, after all, not when it worked for the purposes of bashing Shadows well enough -- but he figures he might as well be conservative about it and scrounge more metal than he needs just in case he's low-balled the estimate.
When he comes by Merlin's makeshift workshop later, he's brought a broken shovel from the greenhouse, an entire kitchen drawer full of silverware, and a burned-out lamp.]
Hey. Thanks for doing this.
[It isn't lost on him that if M was even a slightly sleazier person he could easily start charging for his services, in unspecified future favors and debts if nothing else. Honestly, even being here with this request that he'll get fulfilled for free a little like taking advantage of the man. He wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, of course, but still.]
no subject
No thanks needed, but I'll take it all the same!
[ He says, with a smug smile on his face. Fortunately for everyone involved, his attention quickly moves on to examine the materials that the young man has brought over, turning over the metallic objects laid out on the table as he speaks. ]
I'm a helper! And even if I wasn't, raising the collective survival chance by lending a hand is the best way to improve any kind of survival chance, if you ask me.
[ As much as he'd like to sit on the sidelines and watch people do their thing, he can't, not in this state. And as powerful as he might be (normally), even he can't resolve a situation like this all by himself, the void on the eastern side of town ever-present in his thoughts, however quietly.
Besides, if everyone else dies, he is literally out of food to maintain his ego and personality.]no subject
Mm, that's what I think too. None of us're gonna make it through this alive on our own.
[Unlike certain people who are gonna be edgy about it!!!]
...So how does this work? You just wave a wand and poof, or what?
[He did call it magic, after all. The cliche is definitely what he's picturing here.]
no subject
Something like that. You've done your part, so now, simply stand back and let me do mine.
[ He gives himself a satisfied nod, finding the materials that Shinjiro brought to be adequate. Then, after a tug of his hood over his face to make sure it's nice and snug where it should be, Merlin takes a step to reposition himself—steady himself. He taps the church flooring with his staff with one hand, and holds out his other, his gaze fixed firmly on the table and its metallic objects.
A moment later, the mage chants an incantation to himself, slowing down compared to his usual speed due to a smidge of tiredness (and frankly, trying not to mess up something like this, which is figuratively easier said than done in his current state).
His fingertips begin to glow a faint pink before a small outer ring of a pink magical circle appears on the table (but without the intricate floral inner portion), only about big enough to cover the materials, and the objects begin to glow in a similar color, faint pink magical particles rising as the light starts to engulf the metals entirely. His hair and robes sway lightly as power rises from what seems to be under his feet, using his own body as the conduit to understand and transform what's needed.
The glow of the objects grows stronger as the silverware, shovel, and lamp are all traced, the mage processing the data that makes them up, and the glow starts to overtake the objects entirely as they start melding together within the light, breaking down into their most fundamental building blocks, stirring, swaying, shifting, molten down not unlike highly heated metal.
And it is with those same building blocks that make up the world that the mage uses his magical energy to stack them back together again, a new form, a new structure, a new purpose. More heft, more weight, more sturdiness, whatever's necessary to forge a weapon to cleave what may stand in this young man's way.
When all's said and done, Merlin lowers his hand, the pink glow of light fading away to reveal...a relatively simple double-sided metal axe. The blades glint of stainless steel, courtesy of the silverware, and the handle is about as thick and long as the original shovel's, with some modifications for length as necessary. All in all, if it's an axe that Shinjiro wanted, it's an axe that he gets. ]