[prp] book bindings (america / kaleb / leila)

[cibarium]

"It's easier to do this sort of stuff since the new sigil," Leila answered for Kaleb. "My wife had her powers taken a few months ago, but she can still do it..." Thinking about Eve's determination since then made her smile a little. "And you already have a good sense for how magic looks and feels to you, so manifesting your own shouldn't be too difficult."

She thought for a second. "It looks like we're kind of set on the ritual we talked about with Renard, huh? In that case it'd be a matter of filling in the blanks... but maybe we should plan for the possibility we can't be present too." Leila hadn't made a great first impression on Silk at all, and could imagine that they might be turned down even if their method was sound, for any number of legitimate reasons.

"If we're there I can use telepathy to coordinate us. I already know some meditations and stuff that could prepare us for that role, and more I can read up on."

lizbot

grey dragon

 

[lizbot]

"Not everyone, no. And you'll find that people's magic has a signature of sorts. It'll feel different, person to person. Your own as well."

Eyebrows going up, the girl nodded, "Yeah, a method for coordinating should help, a lot. I'm not sure how simple or how complicated we're gonna be able to get with the process of binding. Some knots have meaning attached to them, but from what I can tell those sorts are often hella loopsy."

cibarium

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

The realization hit hard, Kaleb wanted very much to learn this technique for unshaped magical energy, even if he had to go to the other Ashdown to do it. If he didn't learn it during their charter-binding process, he would have to ask America to show him afterwards.

"If it's something we aren't going to be able to do ourselves, will we have time to show someone else the process? And... the coordinating... what if one person's task was to oversee the others and guide them, like the conductor of an orchestra or something? They would be more in tune with the whole, instead of focused on their specific step, and would be able to uh... close the magical loop once it's ready." Kaleb looked a little worried, but that always seemed to be the case when he spoke more than one sentence at a time.

lizbot

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

"Being a conductor for just two other people seems a little much," Leila admitted. "At the same time, it's true we haven't figured out how much the roles of the three binding casters should differ. Nearly identical roles would be simplest, including for coordination... all I'd have to do is facilitate us moving in tandem, which is pretty easy. That doesn't mean best, though."

lizbot

grey dragon

 

[lizbot]

America wiggled the fingers of her outstretched hands, encouraging the others to take one if they so chose. "Guiding out the power into a thread, binding it round the frame, overseeing the whole of it. We should each know how to do all three, but figure out our strengths in this as well."

cibarium

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded slightly. He had doubts too, about the roles themselves as well as his own ability to fill one.

"We are going to have to test some methods regardless, maybe we should evaluate the roles as well. To see if it works better if we do the same thing in tandem, or each focus on just one aspect of the magic." He wasn't sure what America's waggly fingers meant, and settled for glancing between the two ladies instead of accepting the gesture. He was far too awkward to initiate any sort of contact without more specific prompting.

lizbot

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

Though she would've welcomed it in the past, Leila also hesitated at America's apparent invite to hold hands, ultimately rejecting it with an apologetic look. I might leave a weird imprint on your brain if I touch you without gloves on, she explained silently. She could always get a pair out of her and Eve's room, but kind of hated wearing them around the house.

"Yeah, that'd be for the best," she answered Kaleb. "There'll be unexpected obstacles with anything we come up with, even if it's magic. The other day Eve disintegrated an entire houseplant."

lizbot

grey dragon

 

[lizbot]

With a sigh, America dropped her hands, "I can try verbally walking you two through it, then? I think...? I've only coached people through it with direct contact, it's how I was shown as well." She wasn't going to press the issue though.

"So things we need are: frame materials. We can each bring a bin of what we're interested in working with. Possible knot, sewing, binding methods. If you've got some ones with good meaning/symbols behind them, it can help us figure out where to go and what to avoid. Power, our own of course. But maybe some like, imagination training? I guess? Going through the motions in our heads and feeling out our focus and intent. A place & time to meet up on the Other Side. Part of these are things that can be done today, though, right?"

America just liked having checklists.

cibarium

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Disintegrated? Oh dear...

Only with America's explanation did Kaleb realize that the wiggly-fingers actually served a very important purpose, other than simply being a social gesture he failed to understand. "It might be easier to try the contact and teaching on the other side!" he squeaked quickly, cheeks turning pink.

"I have no schedule now that exams are done, I can work on this at any time," he continued, trying to regain a bit of his composure.

lizbot

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

"I'm less busy with spring semester over, too," Leila added. She was also an obvious fan of checklists: she'd flipped a page of her notepad and written down America's items as they were spoken. Which she proceeded to add to some app on her phone. It was admittedly a little more thorough than she usually was, and for the sake of keeping her mind occupied as well as focused.

"I'll schedule something with you if I can't figure out what you've shown me on my own," she continued. "But I can look up knots and practice some. That way I can just give you both my knowledge directly once I've figured out how to tie them."

lizbot

grey dragon

 

[lizbot]

"I've got work the next couple days," and a wedding to plan, "but I should be free come Sunday? Give us all some time to sort out and practice what we can."

cibarium

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"For the frame, natural materials might be best, right? I spend a lot of time outside anyway, it wouldn't be hard for me to collect a variety of things." If he brought back something for every hour he spent outdoors reading, they would be swimming in materials in no time.

Kaleb paused. "I'll also try that magic thing, drawing out the unshaped power, if I end up on the other side before Sunday." If he was lucky, he might be able to figure it out just based on what he had felt today.

lizbot

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

Leila gave Kaleb a nod. "If it matters to you that means it might be an important distinction," she said, in reference to the frame material. "Starting with your intuition's a good first step even if it doesn't pan out."

Then she sat up up more fully to regard both her guests. "You two can stick around a while... just not till dinner. If you want to borrow one of the books just let me know first so I can tell Eve."

With that, they were ready to do some work.

lizbot

grey dragon