video; un: rosseland

[hatinacat]

Greetings and salutations, my esteemed captive audience!

[TODAY. . . your video feed is taken up by the face of a young man with a teardrop painted on his cheek and a top hat adorning the crown of his head. he presses a hand against his chest and gives the camera a polite and tiny bow, though it's clear from the angle that he's holding said camera with his other one]

Ahaha! Was that joke a bit too gauche? My apologies, I couldn't quite help myself.

[he does not actually look apologetic at all. look at him he made a funny]

All humor aside, I'm a relatively new resident of this. . . [a beat] Lovely city. ["lovely"] I haven't been here long, but already I'm learning much about worlds other than my own. Which brings me to the purpose of this communication.

[it's brief, but the astute may see Lyney flick his wrist subtly and suddenly, until a small red rose blossoms to life between his fingers. he twists the flower idly in his hand as he speaks]

I have a particular interest in magic, you see. Stage magic, to be more precise. After all, I am a great magician, and being brought to this strange land won't change this fact!

[another flick of his wrist, and he closes his flingers around the rose, which seems to just. . . vanish into thin air. where did it go??]

But I am now aware that magic can vary from world to world. In addition to stage magic, my world has Visions, and I've further learned about the existence of something called "magecraft."

If you're feeling a little bored, won't you share with me the nature of magic in your world? It's for research! I promise.

[HE'S JUST A CURIOUS MAGICIAN, THAT'S ALL]

Comments

Text @Alhaitham

[justscribing]

You mentioned Visions. You're from Teyvat?

[Just completely breezing by the rest of the message.]

[hatinacat]

[fortunately, he's already been told that several people from Teyvat are here! as such, he isn't surprised to get that reply]

[. . .]

[give him a moment as he figures out how to send a text message on this phone-- OH OKAY THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT, OKAY, HE CAN REPLY NOW]

As sure as the sun shines in the sky! And I have been informed I'm not the only one, either.

[justscribing]

You would be the seventh I know of. [Because he hasn't properly met Hu Tao yet.] And so far, every one of us has been a Vision holder.

[hatinacat]

My, now that's rather curious.

[considering the Vision-holder population is much, much smaller than the general one, the odds of that happening are pretty damn small]

Do you think there is a reason for that?

[justscribing]

That depends if the pattern still holds with you. Do you have a Vision?

[hatinacat]

[ah. right. he wears his on his back, so it wouldn't be immediately obvious]

I do. Though I feel compelled to say that I never use it during my magic tricks.

[those are all performed by his own power!]

[justscribing]

We have evidence that everyone brought here is selected intentionally, so they're certainly selecting Vision holders on purpose. Perhaps we simply stand out more when it comes to selecting from millions of people.

[hatinacat]

[hm. . .]

Perhaps they find something intriguing about the "favor of the gods?"

[he isn't sure he likes that, though!]

[justscribing]

That's one possibility.

Have you attempted to use your Vision since arriving?

[hatinacat]

I have.

[even after he was told that it wouldn't work. he had to see it for himself, after all]

I presume yours isn't working, either?

[justscribing]

It didn't when I arrived. [So that doesn't seem to have changed.] And that hasn't changed for most Vision users so far.

[hatinacat]

Only "most?"

[his interest has been piqued by that phrasing]

[justscribing]

Yes, you might find your Vision begin to function again after a few months. [Okay, "a few" is underestimating it a little.] But there's no certainty on what allows someone's abilities to become less restricted.

[hatinacat]

[. . . ah! hope!! Lyney can't help but brighten up a bit when he reads that. so. . . he won't be helpless forever. . .]

The uncertainty is a bit frustrating, but I'll take a small dash of hope over absolutely none at all.