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

[hatinacat]

[Lyney's smile is bright, but contemplative, as Nikolai speaks]

Fascinating. . .! The part about manipulating elements is very similar to how Visions work in my world.

[the rest. . . he wouldn't call it impossible, considering the wide variety of abilities in existence back in Teyvat. but that sort of magic isn't something he is personally familiar with]

[at the question, he rubs the back of his head, a bit sheepish]

Calling it "research" is, perhaps, a bit glamorous when it's merely a personal interest. I wouldn't call myself the academic type.

[but he is sure someone from the Fontaine Research Institute would be losing their mind (in a good way) right about now]

[korol_rezni_nikolai]

I would love to hear more about these Visions. What elements can they control? Summoners - that's the term for Grisha who manipulate elements - usually focus on fire, or air, or water, but there are some who can control darkness or light as well.

[ He delivers this information so casually, as if he has no particular interest in people with those particular abilities. Which, of course, couldn't be further from the truth. ]

You needn't be so humble! What you're doing doesn't have to be some official project for a university for it to be research. So long as you're open-minded and accurate in how you record what you find, that's just as good if you ask me.

[ Nikolai beams, confident, radiating approval. ]

Tell me: the people in your world who use magecraft, do they ever grow ill if they don't use their abilities?

[hatinacat]

[being open-minded, huh. . . that's a good way to put it, even if he's asking more for curiosity than anything else. this guy must be a true academic-type, through and through]

"Magecraft" doesn't exist on my world, so I can't answer that question. But people who have Visions don't grow ill if they don't use their abilities. I purposefully give my Vision away when I'm performing my magic shows, just so people know I'm not cheating.

[his pride as a magician calls for it!]

As for the elements, there are seven-- Pyro, Hydro, Dendro, Cryo, Anemo, Geo and Electro.

[korol_rezni_nikolai]

Let me get this straight - you can give away your Vision, perform a show, and then get it back again afterwards?

[ All of that sounds extremely strange, to Nikolai. Alina had lost her powers, yes, but those had been extreme extenuating circumstances, and she certainly had never gotten them back afterwards. ]

Fascinating. And so if someone were to control fire, does that mean their Vision never allows them to control electricity? Or is there some overlap?

[ He leans in closer to the camera, head tilting to the side. ]

I am curious as well what would lead someone with genuine magic powers to a career as a stage magician. You don't have to answer if that's too nosy, of course.

[hatinacat]

Electro is an element in and of itself. If someone is not Electro-aligned, they will not be able to control electricity. Period.

[so yes, no overlap at all! and the final question is a bit nosy, but not nosy enough that Lyney doesn't want to answer]

And it is no problem, I assure you! I was a stage magician long before I obtained my Vision. The magic of a Vision and the magic of a performance are two entirely different creatures.

[korol_rezni_nikolai]

Interesting. How do people typically discover their alignments?

[ Nikolai honestly only has a vague and second-hand sense of how Grisha settled on their specialties in his own world. He's heard slightly different versions from different people, and most of them could only tell him how it was done at the Little Palace. ]

So people with Visions are not born with that ability? How is it acquired?

[ Then, just to offset any offense he might have inadvertently caused: ]

Your trick with the rose was excellent, by the way.

[hatinacat]

When their Vision is bequeathed unto them, it is adorned with a symbol.

[he reaches behind himself and holds up a device. it's the red one on the right!]

This is the symbol and color for Pyro, for example. It means I'm fire-aligned. And nobody truly knows how or why Visions are given out, but we do know they're a symbol of the "favor of the gods."

[his Vision vanishes with a flick of his wrist]

Why, thank you! I'm delighted to hear you were entertained.