Log:Defensive Magical Studies

2020/12/19 Radical|Connor Grimm Randal 1

Finals are over and winter break has begun. Grimm would be more burned out if she hadn't cheated by going to another slower dimension to catch up on some of her studies. She just hopes it was enough to pass. Usually on winter break, college students would go home to visit their families. Well...Grimm is kind of doing that. She's curled up in one of the comfy chairs of Randal's study, a stack of mystical books and a cup of emptied tea on the table near her, and one old tome opened up in her lap. She's dressed for a cozy night of studying. A long sleeve off-the-shoulder dark grey sweater, black leggings, and woolen grey socks, because she's not going to put her shoes on Randal's furniture. She brought a batch of store-bought tea biscuits--to spare them her cooking practice--and a few wrapped presents to deliver for the holidays. Silver wrapping paper with black ribbons.

Connor shows up after a bit, having arrived after having to deal with some late grading for his classes. He walks into the house, and heads back toward the study.

Grimm's head perks up and she smiles warmly as she sees Connor. "Oh! Hey! I brought some biscuits in the kitchen. Danish ones with sugar on top. The big sugar crystal kind."

Connor smiles. "Thanks. I like those a lot. How is it going?" Randal looks up as well from his reading and he waves.

"Just been spending time getting into some meaty magical texts with Randal," Gabrielle says, the pair having been reading in silence together in the study. Grimm seems pretty laid back, considering the tensions from before. Spending time with Jack did wonders. So did getting finals out of the way. "I figured we'd better figure out some magical defenses as soon as possible. Get ourselves ready for other stuff, too."

Connor nods and smiles. "So...what have you found out so far?"

Grimm certainly enjoys partying, drinking, and being bad. There's also a bookish side to her that enjoys delving into tomes and occult subject matter. She used to be quite studious before Jonathon Price's actions changed her.

She opens her mouth and takes a breath as if to answer...then sighs it out. "Uhhh. Not much. My powers are more...natural and intuitive. The book I'm reading is more a...a philosophy book on how to try and shape that. There's no quick spell, incantation, or wards mentioned in this book."

Randal nods, "You work with what you have access to. That's the right way to go about it."

Grimm smiles at that. "There is another potential option...but...that could be an involved ritual that could be used to fortify mystic powers. But that...I dunno. Is that cheating? Given the danger of Krul...maybe it doesn't matter."

Connor chuckles. "I don't know if it's cheating. It's probably better than my idea, which was to create an illusion of the planet already destroyed."

Grimm blinks in surprise. "You can -do- that? At that scale? And fool his sensors?" Gabrielle says as she sits up, tucking her feet under her. "Maybe it'd be easier to create an illusion of you being dead. Y'know, the whole...'secret died with you' scheme and then he's out of luck?"

Connor laughs. "No. I can't do that yet.

Randal shakes his head, "I think learning to do something that big might take too long. And might screw up a LOT of things."

Connor nods. "True. An illusion of me being dead might work. It would help to know how they found me, though."

"'Yet'. So you think there's a chance?" Gabrielle grins. "I know I can make some very large scale illusions. Once I had to make an illusion of a backup star fleet coming to rescue our small ship on a Starguard mission to scare off attackers. That took a lot out of me...and that was no where near the size of a planet."

Grimm adds with a sigh, "Starguard has no clue last I checked. They had to have some intense long range scanners."

Connor nods. "Or...they did something like I can. See into the future. Something working on another dimension."

Grimm frowns and taps her chin. "So...I checked in other dimensions, like I said at the irish pub." Where she bought Jack a bottle of irish whiskey for the holidays. "He's not known to travel in other dimensions. Either he hasn't got the tech yet...or wasn't interested. But his magical henchperson might be able to. It could've been a spell. So...maybe we need to account on concealing from magic? I could try something along those lines. I think..."

Connor shakes his head, "I was thinking of time as a 4th dimension. He may not travel in them, but htat doesn't mean he can't see across them." He smiles. "I can see through time, but not travel along it."

Connor nods. "So...which one works with magic?"

Grimm answers, "Of his henchman? This tiny red-skinned alien named Dark Side. Three foot something that wields dark magic."

Connor nods. "Maybe...it might be possible to block scrying? That's a simpler solution, though not trivial."

"Maybe..." Gabrielle nods. "It depends on what sort of spell they're using to scry. I don't know of anyone powerful enough to scry from that far away. Maybe it really was a future viewing spell? Maybe Harley knows some good anti-scrying magic."

Randal thinks about it. "You should scan for some kind of energy signature on you too, Connor. Just in case."

Connor nods. "I'll do what I can, but I have limited equipment for that kind of thing."

Grimm's brow perks up. "That would be possible. Maybe Starguard's equipment can check for a special weird signature on you? If it's safe to bring the gem there temporarily, they could compare if it's like...tainted you. But we were all around it. And Porter touched it, too, so I'm surprised they didn't key in on him with his luck." She taps her chin. "I think the Commander can see energy patterns. Magda, too, but she didn't mention anything I think. And Sentinel. If they can sense the energy patterns, maybe I can connect all our minds together so we can perceive it together. That way, we may know how to magically reproduce it? Or maybe they can purge it."

Connor nods. "Certainly worth a try. But...I think...the fact that they didn't find Porter means that they're using another method to find me, rather than an energy signature.

Grimm nods and thinks some more. "They hardly knew you, didn't have long enough to get a sample on any of us, right?"

Connor nods. "I think that's true, yeah. I mean...we spent maybe 10 minutes in their presence originally?"

Randal thinks about it. "You didn't get injured when you fought them, did you?"

Connor shakes his head slowly, "I...don't remember, but I don't think so?"

Grimm nods slowly. "Yeah, if that. And most of it was fighting. Their mage person I'm pretty sure wasn't there since they were so small." She looks to Randal. "I was so hyped on adrenaline, I don't quite know..."