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Action Id: 4833 Crisis: Participants: Denica and Ian
Status: Resolved Submitted: Dec. 6, 2023, 7:27 p.m. Public: True GM: Apostate


Action by Denica

Denica's vision for her magic is to paint the world the way she wants it. A better world. Since crossing the threshold, she doesn't know what she is capable of and is going to test it. Denica believes her magic is tied to her art.

Denica wants to know if painting something can affect the real world and other magic. She also wants to know, how it does effect it. Is it direct and a painted flower appears or is it unpredictable? She's starting small, but picking the vines at Harrow Hall because she knows they are strong magic and there's a lot happening there all at once.

So. Denica brings a trusted friend and goes to the Art Barge (in Arx) to paint in her studio.

Denica paints Harrow Hall, from what she can learn about the place. Denica also paints the thorns. She relies on her sight to paint what she thinks this place looks like right now.

But then Denica paints something different. Something that wasn't there before and it changes the painting.

A flower.

Denica paints a single flower on the vine.

Denica focuses in on this. Every detail. The use of colour. Denica focuses on that flower. She focuses on light and beauty and freedom.

The flower is purple and red. It is strong and resilient, yet delicate and harmless.

Paint drips from the flower down the thorny vine, pooling onto the ground in the painting. A colourful swirl that freely splatters in all directions.

In the pool of colour, there's a faint reflection of Harrow Hall, as it should be.


Action by Ian

Ian doesn't feel particularly qualified to be anything like a teacher or a guide, so let's call him a muse, even if that's hard to do with a straight face. He turns up to watch over Denica while she paints. For the most part, he's going to keep out of the way, but is able to provide details about what the vines look like, having done extreme gardening on a couple of their iterations. Not that he's any kind of authority, but he watches with mage sight from time to time, looking for signs of trouble, and especially looking for signs of the 'mentor' who has troubled Denica so much.


Result

Denica feels it working. It would be a difficult sensation to describe to anyone else, but she knows as well as she knows her own name that the flower she is painting is now upon the hedge. Her magic can undoubtedly influence it, and the experiment is a success.

But then her and Ian have the unmistakable sensation of being watched.

On the painting shows in the distance the Horned God. Denica didn't paint him. Every time they blink or look away, the figure on the painting gets closer. And closer. Looking like he is running towards them. As Denica moves to paint over it, suddenly a hand is tearing through the painting and grabbing her wrist. Ian hacks as it, and he is thrown back against a wall with bone cracking force at a flick of the wrist. Denica uses the distraction to tear the painting and the hand is still trying to reach through, the Horned God trying to enter into the room, and it's only after she flings it into the fire that he retreats and the hand vanishes.