StoneWolf18
Within the Depths of a Dream
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[/script][div class=stoneWrapper][div class=stoneHeader][/div][div class=stoneLinkBar][div class=stoneLink]Introduction[/div][div class=stoneLink]Premise[/div][/div][div class="stoneTextBox introduction")]The lecture was roughly one-hundred students in size, the group filling the room with a hushed murmur as people spoke. First day of the semester and very few within the room look to be anticipating the coming few months.
Soon enough a young man walked into the room, shutting the door behind him as he went before placing the few things he carried with him on a nearby desk and standing in the center on the floor. As he was noticed, the students began to quiet down, allowing him to speak.
“Yes, I can already see the excitement.” He chuckled, his gaze slowly scanning the room. “Best get right to it then. This is a World History course that you all will need to graduate. I do have a few more housekeeping things to address but first, how about something a little more entertaining.” The man would take a couple steps back, leaning on the desk behind him while crossing his sweater-concealed arms across his chest. “If you didn’t bother reading any of your paperwork, I’m Timothy Curtis and to start your afternoons off a little more interesting, I want questions. Anything you can think of that you would want to ask me, preferably history related.”
From somewhere in the room, a male student called out “What’s your favorite color?”
Without skipping a beat. Timothy responded “Blue, next question.”
This continued for a little while, most of what was asked being rather stupid and unhelpful. Are you married, do you like dogs or cats. But soon enough the questions slowed to a halt, Tim looking a bit disappointed.
“Really? Nothing else? No other burning questions anyone has to ask?”
A moment passed before a young woman sitting in the back spoke up. “Yeah. What happened to magic?”
Snickers were heard around the room, though the woman’s serious expression didn’t waver. This caused a small smile to touch at the corners of Timothy’s lips. “Ah, exactly what I was waiting for.”
He seated himself on the desk and rolled up the sleeves to his sweater while beginning to explain. “Before I get into this, you need to understand what magic itself is- or was, which is more than just throwing fireballs at things and watching them explode. It is an energy. A force of nature. We have heat, light, electricity, radiation, gravity and kinetic energy, but we also have vis, or magic. Now, centuries ago we were able to harnish such energy much like we do today with say… a battery. We can store electricity in a battery and use it in all sorts of ways.” Tim paused a moment to sip coffee from the thermos he held. “But unlike electricity, Vis has more than one use. Some even believe it has infinite uses, as when Vis is used in the form of weaving spells, all it is doing is changing the fabric of the world around them. Warping it to the desire of the one casting the spell. It is believed that magic is how humanity got its jumpstart. Mages in nomadic tribes were able to coax plants out of the ground and teach those unable to manipulate Vis to farm them.”
The same woman that had initiated this discussion had a curious look about her face. “What made people mages?”
Tim shrugged. “Who knows. There are a few popular theories. Some scientists believe there was a conduit in our blood, others who are a bit more spiritually inclined like to suggest that it had to do with the soul. Me? Based on some documents from early river valley civilizations, I’m more inclined to believe the former. With the authors claiming the trait ran in certain families.”
“Moving on… we believe magic disappeared roughly around the time the Black Death was rampaging Rome, which roughly began 500 B.C.E.”
This time, one of the men who had been snickering when this conversation began now looked a bit more intrigued. “Why do we believe it disappeared around then?”
With a nod, Tim took another sip from his thermos. “There’s a few pieces of evidence in terms of documents with authors saying they’ve never seen a disease that couldn’t have been cured. But to me, it’s obvious. While other plagues hit Rome, and Europe for that matter, the Black Death still has the highest kill-count compared to all off them. Now, if they were still able to manipulate Vis and magically heal patients who had been infected, why are so many people dying? Because they can’t manipulate it anymore.”
“Tons of people have come up with theories as to what happened. Science tries to prove that whatever conductor that existed in our blood before, we no longer have or not in the same potency as before to allow us to actually manipulate Vis the way we did before. But…” He would let a small chuckle escape as he set his thermos down. “That's the boring explanation.”
“I’m sure many of you have heard these types of stories, so bare with me as I share another. One I’m particularly fond of.” Tim shifted on the table, crossing his legs. “So.” He sighed thoughtfully. “Let’s begin with saying that there were two different sides. A threat, and people trying to stop this threat. What is this threat you might ask? In this story, an evil. A destructive force that was set on taking the budding civilizations for themselves, crawling out from the very recesses of existence. The people trying to stop the thread were mages, if you didn't already figure that out. They fought and waged war against one another until they nearly lost. Not wanting to risk losing all they had to this evil, the mages decided to and put all of their strength into their casting to repel them and force them back to where they had come from. This act, while successful, drained the earth of her Vis and ever since then, she hasn’t generated enough since to allow us to control it the way we used to.”
By this point most of the lecture was engrossed in his story, eyes trained solely on him. A few were napping and one man rolled his eyes. “That’s pretty vague for a story.”
Tim only shrugged at this comment. “Vague, maybe. But that’s the fun in it.”
“Why are you telling children’s stories and talking about fantasies in a damn lecture.” The same student grumbled, leaning back in his chair with a bored expression.
“Children’s stories?” Tim asked. “These stories might be told to children, but I believe a large portion of our World’s history that we are aware of originated in these types of tales. Whether you believe them to be true or not, well that is up to you. But denying that magic ever existed is denying much of what was made possible by it. The reading of the stars, the translation of distant languages, the shaping of early societies which then grew into what we now live in today. We can say it was that humans were somehow able to create number systems and complex languages from nothing because we’re human, but I would like to bet that there’s more to it than that.”
A different female student now decided to speak up. “Do… you think we’ll ever be able to cast magic again?”
This question caused Tim’s features to darken somewhat. “While it isn’t out of the realm of possibility, I wouldn’t like to even imagine the consequences. Imagine if manipulating Vis was still possible during the world wars? When the atom bombs were being invented, or the twin towers were attacked? Or even now… the security risks of it being abused, which it would…” He’d give his head a brief shake. “We aren’t prepared for it. And I would just hate to imagine what the government’s response would be, trying to regulate magic. I might as well just say we just get tossed into the latest Marvel movie.”
Another student was about to speak but Tim cut them off. “No, I haven’t seen Infinity War yet so don’t you dare spoil anything.”
The rest of the lecture when as expected and soon the rest of the class, and the rest of the class had cleared out except from the young woman who had started the entire conversation. She was taking a considerable time to get out of the classroom that Tim couldn’t help but notice.
“You alright?” He asked as she passed by his desk. “I hope my explanation was what you were hoping for. I tend to get carried away on the topic of magic.”
Blinking a few times she would give a nod and a somewhat forced smile. “Yes, but I really should be…” She trailed off, appearing extremely unsteady on her feet.
“Hey- Woah!” Timothy nearly shouted as she fell, moving forward to catch her. “Hey, hey, are you alright?” He slowly lowered her to the ground.
“I’m… fine.” She groaned. “Just this damn headache.”
Timothy didn’t look all that convinced but nodded. “Okaay… what’s your name then?”
The woman mumbled while sitting up. “Erika, damn do you have any advil?”
“That’s one hell of a name.” Tim laughed while moving to the bag he set beside his desk. “I might have some, let’s see…” He began to dig through the side pockets as Erika held her head in her hands.
Eventually he did find a small travel bottle he kept with him, shaking a couple pills out and offering them to her. She quickly swallowed them dry before nodding in thanks.
“Now I know what people mean when they say migraines are bad.” Erika responded after a second, a dry bit of humor lacing her tone.
Timothy would take a seat beside her again after retrieving his thermos, giving a large grin. “Yep, they can be quite a pain.”
Erika rolled her eyes. “That was awf-fucking hell…” Pain contorted her face as she raised her hands to once again grip her skull.
“Should I call an ambulance?” Tim asked, concern replacing any type of previously felt humor.
“No... let me just sit for a second..." She sighed, moving herself into the chair that Tim had moved for her.
"Sure thing, though I don't want you to be late for any other class today." He responded.
The woman dismissed him with shake of her head. "My schedule's pretty light this year, nothing else for today thankfully."
They sat in an awkward silence for a few moments before Erika spoke up again. "So... how long have you been studying magic?"
Tim shrugged "A while. Visology was my dual major."
'Wow, I didn't expect that." She was clearly a bit surprised. "Why did you chose to study it?"
The smile he had worn before was making its return, adoring his lips ever so slightly as he began to speak. "I, uh, was kind of a nerd growing up. Loved comics, video games, playing dungeons and dragons. I always thought that it sounded so amazing to be able to manipulate the world around you with just a little concentration, and since we were once able to do so I figured it would be an awesome field to go into." His smile wavered somewhat. "Though... it is a dying one. We haven't had any concrete evidence of Vis existing for years so many are tossing it into the realm of pseudoscience now."
Tim paused for a moment, noticing a distracted look upon Erika's face, almost as if she were looking through him. "Erika? You there?" He'd wave a hand in front of her face as she blinked a few times, refocusing.
"Yeah..." Erika trailed off as her eyes darted around the room, confusion and concern beginning to develop.
"Are you okay? Do you see something?" Tim would also glance about the room but not notice anything out of the ordinary.
"I... assume you aren't seeing this..." She'd eventually murmur.
"No... here, its alright. Just explain what you're seeing..." The professor would try to instruct her, slowly reaching for his laptop and beginning to search through its hard drive.
With a nod Erika would comply. "Alright. I see... colors? Like misty lights in trails all around the room, going through walls in lines.... God damn I sound insane."
Tim's heart skipped a beat as he read the file on his screen. "Yes, good." Looking up from the screen he would give her an encouraging smile. "You don't sound that insane. Are you seeing anything else?"
"No. Just those lights."
"Alright..." Tim would type a few things before looking up once more. "Where is the nearest trail you're seeing?"
Erika would gesture to a spot in the room a few feet away. "Right around there."
"What color is it?" Tim would ask, fingers hovering over his keyboard, excitement growing in his voice.
"Yellow... Mr. Curtis? What's going on?" Erika's voice was filled with much more concern.
Quickly Tim stood and made his way to his door, glancing in the hall before shutting it and walking back over with a stupid grin on his face. "This is going to sound crazy, but I had a theory that since we don't have a 6th sense, the ability to sense Vis was tacked onto another one of the five we have."
Erika's eyes widened. "I'm seeing Vis? But you said there hasn't been proof of it for centuries!"
"Well... until now." He would situate himself in front of his laptop as he had been before. "Now, if you want proof that this isn't some hallucinogenic mental break you're having, I need to see if you're able to interact with lights you're seeing... Please?"
With a reluctant grimace, she would stand and walk over to the point in the room she had pointed out not too long ago and would slowly stick her hand out. "Woah... It feels... powerful."
"That's what I hoped to hear." After noting a few things down, Tim would walk over to stand beside her, a child-like excitement brimming throughout him. "Magic is back, Erika! Its back and you can control it."[/div][div class="stoneTextBox premise hidden"]Something in Urban Fantasy settings has always bothered me. Normally, magic isn't believed in by the majority of the populous and those that know of its existence are fighting to keep it concealed. Yeah that's great an all, but...
What if magic had existed at one point but wasn't able to be utilized anymore?
And so I was up writing at 12 AM because I couldn't sleep with this on my mind. Truth be told, this is a whole new area to explore.
How would it have effected early civilizations (were some way advanced for their time?)
The development of religions? (Did Moses part the Red Sea himself casting a spell? Did Jesus just transmute the water into wine?)
How would the scientific community be within this field of study? (Those torn between it being a legit science and a pseudoscience, and even within those communities if it was purely scientific in nature or if it was proof of a divine presence?)
How would modern believes and culture be shaped? (Would Wicca be more popular? Would people be making posts on Tumblr claiming to be mages?)
And more.
And then this evolved into, so... if we have been without magic for centuries, what happens when it begins to return?
That and and everything else I've mentioned (and am going to mention) is what this roleplay is trying to explore. It is going to be focused on a bunch of young adults attending Fairview College in New York City (yes its fake for convince on my part) who are just beginning to explore magehood. They are going to be brought together by Tim/Mr. Curtis in a rather inconspicuous club for "vis enthusiasts" and end up having to deal with themselves, their magic, the school board, the government, other mages abusing their newfound abilities, and other big bads™.[/div][/div]
Soon enough a young man walked into the room, shutting the door behind him as he went before placing the few things he carried with him on a nearby desk and standing in the center on the floor. As he was noticed, the students began to quiet down, allowing him to speak.
“Yes, I can already see the excitement.” He chuckled, his gaze slowly scanning the room. “Best get right to it then. This is a World History course that you all will need to graduate. I do have a few more housekeeping things to address but first, how about something a little more entertaining.” The man would take a couple steps back, leaning on the desk behind him while crossing his sweater-concealed arms across his chest. “If you didn’t bother reading any of your paperwork, I’m Timothy Curtis and to start your afternoons off a little more interesting, I want questions. Anything you can think of that you would want to ask me, preferably history related.”
From somewhere in the room, a male student called out “What’s your favorite color?”
Without skipping a beat. Timothy responded “Blue, next question.”
This continued for a little while, most of what was asked being rather stupid and unhelpful. Are you married, do you like dogs or cats. But soon enough the questions slowed to a halt, Tim looking a bit disappointed.
“Really? Nothing else? No other burning questions anyone has to ask?”
A moment passed before a young woman sitting in the back spoke up. “Yeah. What happened to magic?”
Snickers were heard around the room, though the woman’s serious expression didn’t waver. This caused a small smile to touch at the corners of Timothy’s lips. “Ah, exactly what I was waiting for.”
He seated himself on the desk and rolled up the sleeves to his sweater while beginning to explain. “Before I get into this, you need to understand what magic itself is- or was, which is more than just throwing fireballs at things and watching them explode. It is an energy. A force of nature. We have heat, light, electricity, radiation, gravity and kinetic energy, but we also have vis, or magic. Now, centuries ago we were able to harnish such energy much like we do today with say… a battery. We can store electricity in a battery and use it in all sorts of ways.” Tim paused a moment to sip coffee from the thermos he held. “But unlike electricity, Vis has more than one use. Some even believe it has infinite uses, as when Vis is used in the form of weaving spells, all it is doing is changing the fabric of the world around them. Warping it to the desire of the one casting the spell. It is believed that magic is how humanity got its jumpstart. Mages in nomadic tribes were able to coax plants out of the ground and teach those unable to manipulate Vis to farm them.”
The same woman that had initiated this discussion had a curious look about her face. “What made people mages?”
Tim shrugged. “Who knows. There are a few popular theories. Some scientists believe there was a conduit in our blood, others who are a bit more spiritually inclined like to suggest that it had to do with the soul. Me? Based on some documents from early river valley civilizations, I’m more inclined to believe the former. With the authors claiming the trait ran in certain families.”
“Moving on… we believe magic disappeared roughly around the time the Black Death was rampaging Rome, which roughly began 500 B.C.E.”
This time, one of the men who had been snickering when this conversation began now looked a bit more intrigued. “Why do we believe it disappeared around then?”
With a nod, Tim took another sip from his thermos. “There’s a few pieces of evidence in terms of documents with authors saying they’ve never seen a disease that couldn’t have been cured. But to me, it’s obvious. While other plagues hit Rome, and Europe for that matter, the Black Death still has the highest kill-count compared to all off them. Now, if they were still able to manipulate Vis and magically heal patients who had been infected, why are so many people dying? Because they can’t manipulate it anymore.”
“Tons of people have come up with theories as to what happened. Science tries to prove that whatever conductor that existed in our blood before, we no longer have or not in the same potency as before to allow us to actually manipulate Vis the way we did before. But…” He would let a small chuckle escape as he set his thermos down. “That's the boring explanation.”
“I’m sure many of you have heard these types of stories, so bare with me as I share another. One I’m particularly fond of.” Tim shifted on the table, crossing his legs. “So.” He sighed thoughtfully. “Let’s begin with saying that there were two different sides. A threat, and people trying to stop this threat. What is this threat you might ask? In this story, an evil. A destructive force that was set on taking the budding civilizations for themselves, crawling out from the very recesses of existence. The people trying to stop the thread were mages, if you didn't already figure that out. They fought and waged war against one another until they nearly lost. Not wanting to risk losing all they had to this evil, the mages decided to and put all of their strength into their casting to repel them and force them back to where they had come from. This act, while successful, drained the earth of her Vis and ever since then, she hasn’t generated enough since to allow us to control it the way we used to.”
By this point most of the lecture was engrossed in his story, eyes trained solely on him. A few were napping and one man rolled his eyes. “That’s pretty vague for a story.”
Tim only shrugged at this comment. “Vague, maybe. But that’s the fun in it.”
“Why are you telling children’s stories and talking about fantasies in a damn lecture.” The same student grumbled, leaning back in his chair with a bored expression.
“Children’s stories?” Tim asked. “These stories might be told to children, but I believe a large portion of our World’s history that we are aware of originated in these types of tales. Whether you believe them to be true or not, well that is up to you. But denying that magic ever existed is denying much of what was made possible by it. The reading of the stars, the translation of distant languages, the shaping of early societies which then grew into what we now live in today. We can say it was that humans were somehow able to create number systems and complex languages from nothing because we’re human, but I would like to bet that there’s more to it than that.”
A different female student now decided to speak up. “Do… you think we’ll ever be able to cast magic again?”
This question caused Tim’s features to darken somewhat. “While it isn’t out of the realm of possibility, I wouldn’t like to even imagine the consequences. Imagine if manipulating Vis was still possible during the world wars? When the atom bombs were being invented, or the twin towers were attacked? Or even now… the security risks of it being abused, which it would…” He’d give his head a brief shake. “We aren’t prepared for it. And I would just hate to imagine what the government’s response would be, trying to regulate magic. I might as well just say we just get tossed into the latest Marvel movie.”
Another student was about to speak but Tim cut them off. “No, I haven’t seen Infinity War yet so don’t you dare spoil anything.”
The rest of the lecture when as expected and soon the rest of the class, and the rest of the class had cleared out except from the young woman who had started the entire conversation. She was taking a considerable time to get out of the classroom that Tim couldn’t help but notice.
“You alright?” He asked as she passed by his desk. “I hope my explanation was what you were hoping for. I tend to get carried away on the topic of magic.”
Blinking a few times she would give a nod and a somewhat forced smile. “Yes, but I really should be…” She trailed off, appearing extremely unsteady on her feet.
“Hey- Woah!” Timothy nearly shouted as she fell, moving forward to catch her. “Hey, hey, are you alright?” He slowly lowered her to the ground.
“I’m… fine.” She groaned. “Just this damn headache.”
Timothy didn’t look all that convinced but nodded. “Okaay… what’s your name then?”
The woman mumbled while sitting up. “Erika, damn do you have any advil?”
“That’s one hell of a name.” Tim laughed while moving to the bag he set beside his desk. “I might have some, let’s see…” He began to dig through the side pockets as Erika held her head in her hands.
Eventually he did find a small travel bottle he kept with him, shaking a couple pills out and offering them to her. She quickly swallowed them dry before nodding in thanks.
“Now I know what people mean when they say migraines are bad.” Erika responded after a second, a dry bit of humor lacing her tone.
Timothy would take a seat beside her again after retrieving his thermos, giving a large grin. “Yep, they can be quite a pain.”
Erika rolled her eyes. “That was awf-fucking hell…” Pain contorted her face as she raised her hands to once again grip her skull.
“Should I call an ambulance?” Tim asked, concern replacing any type of previously felt humor.
“No... let me just sit for a second..." She sighed, moving herself into the chair that Tim had moved for her.
"Sure thing, though I don't want you to be late for any other class today." He responded.
The woman dismissed him with shake of her head. "My schedule's pretty light this year, nothing else for today thankfully."
They sat in an awkward silence for a few moments before Erika spoke up again. "So... how long have you been studying magic?"
Tim shrugged "A while. Visology was my dual major."
'Wow, I didn't expect that." She was clearly a bit surprised. "Why did you chose to study it?"
The smile he had worn before was making its return, adoring his lips ever so slightly as he began to speak. "I, uh, was kind of a nerd growing up. Loved comics, video games, playing dungeons and dragons. I always thought that it sounded so amazing to be able to manipulate the world around you with just a little concentration, and since we were once able to do so I figured it would be an awesome field to go into." His smile wavered somewhat. "Though... it is a dying one. We haven't had any concrete evidence of Vis existing for years so many are tossing it into the realm of pseudoscience now."
Tim paused for a moment, noticing a distracted look upon Erika's face, almost as if she were looking through him. "Erika? You there?" He'd wave a hand in front of her face as she blinked a few times, refocusing.
"Yeah..." Erika trailed off as her eyes darted around the room, confusion and concern beginning to develop.
"Are you okay? Do you see something?" Tim would also glance about the room but not notice anything out of the ordinary.
"I... assume you aren't seeing this..." She'd eventually murmur.
"No... here, its alright. Just explain what you're seeing..." The professor would try to instruct her, slowly reaching for his laptop and beginning to search through its hard drive.
With a nod Erika would comply. "Alright. I see... colors? Like misty lights in trails all around the room, going through walls in lines.... God damn I sound insane."
Tim's heart skipped a beat as he read the file on his screen. "Yes, good." Looking up from the screen he would give her an encouraging smile. "You don't sound that insane. Are you seeing anything else?"
"No. Just those lights."
"Alright..." Tim would type a few things before looking up once more. "Where is the nearest trail you're seeing?"
Erika would gesture to a spot in the room a few feet away. "Right around there."
"What color is it?" Tim would ask, fingers hovering over his keyboard, excitement growing in his voice.
"Yellow... Mr. Curtis? What's going on?" Erika's voice was filled with much more concern.
Quickly Tim stood and made his way to his door, glancing in the hall before shutting it and walking back over with a stupid grin on his face. "This is going to sound crazy, but I had a theory that since we don't have a 6th sense, the ability to sense Vis was tacked onto another one of the five we have."
Erika's eyes widened. "I'm seeing Vis? But you said there hasn't been proof of it for centuries!"
"Well... until now." He would situate himself in front of his laptop as he had been before. "Now, if you want proof that this isn't some hallucinogenic mental break you're having, I need to see if you're able to interact with lights you're seeing... Please?"
With a reluctant grimace, she would stand and walk over to the point in the room she had pointed out not too long ago and would slowly stick her hand out. "Woah... It feels... powerful."
"That's what I hoped to hear." After noting a few things down, Tim would walk over to stand beside her, a child-like excitement brimming throughout him. "Magic is back, Erika! Its back and you can control it."[/div][div class="stoneTextBox premise hidden"]Something in Urban Fantasy settings has always bothered me. Normally, magic isn't believed in by the majority of the populous and those that know of its existence are fighting to keep it concealed. Yeah that's great an all, but...
What if magic had existed at one point but wasn't able to be utilized anymore?
And so I was up writing at 12 AM because I couldn't sleep with this on my mind. Truth be told, this is a whole new area to explore.
How would it have effected early civilizations (were some way advanced for their time?)
The development of religions? (Did Moses part the Red Sea himself casting a spell? Did Jesus just transmute the water into wine?)
How would the scientific community be within this field of study? (Those torn between it being a legit science and a pseudoscience, and even within those communities if it was purely scientific in nature or if it was proof of a divine presence?)
How would modern believes and culture be shaped? (Would Wicca be more popular? Would people be making posts on Tumblr claiming to be mages?)
And more.
And then this evolved into, so... if we have been without magic for centuries, what happens when it begins to return?
That and and everything else I've mentioned (and am going to mention) is what this roleplay is trying to explore. It is going to be focused on a bunch of young adults attending Fairview College in New York City (yes its fake for convince on my part) who are just beginning to explore magehood. They are going to be brought together by Tim/Mr. Curtis in a rather inconspicuous club for "vis enthusiasts" and end up having to deal with themselves, their magic, the school board, the government, other mages abusing their newfound abilities, and other big bads™.[/div][/div]