InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "liar liar!"

The Doctor (fromgallifrey) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2009-01-19 19:14:00

Entry tags:

complete, day 29, kibeth, the doctor

I'll shack up in the library, thank you
Who: The Doctor and OTA
When: During the Snowball fight
Where: In the library
Rating: None
Status: Complete

There was a certain, special affinity that the Doctor had for libraries. Well, perhaps it was for the books. Perhaps it was just the smell of the libraries he'd been in that made them seem like such wonderful, special places to him. As vast and enormous as the Planet's library was, it lacked the smell - it seemed the planet hadn't mastered the scent of aged paper or or leather binding. It's not that the Doctor faulted the planet for this, it was more that he just missed what was there as opposed to getting all wrapped up in what was.

There was a snowball fight going on right outside the windows that separated him from the chill and the snow. He could see people hurling clumps and the frosty white stuff left and right and the trainer clad man knew that he made the right choice by hanging out in the stacks. Slow steps carried the Doctor down the aisle as his fingers ran lightly across the binding, not caring for the titles in so much as the feel of the books beneath his fingers.

Grasping blindly the Doctor took a book from the shelf and meandered to a large, leather chair. Taking a seat and throwing his feet up on the ottoman the Doctor settled in to explore the title. Opening the book he was all ready to sink his teeth into the prose when movement at the entry caught his attention.

"Hello?"

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fromgallifrey
2009-01-23 03:40 pm UTC (link)

"That's odd," he said to her mention of the place having no name. Usually places had proper names. Like, though there were downtown and uptown portions of Manhattan, you were still in Manhattan.

He shuffled over to the book she was browsing, "What's that?" The Timelord's inquiry came from right over her shoulder as he tried to catch a peek. "Seems this place is extraordinarily good at producing books - though, I wonder how hard it'll be to find a work of original fiction..."

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ex_disreputa173
2009-01-24 08:50 am UTC (link)

Kibeth held the book open to let the Doctor see. The pages she was looking at seemed to be nothing more than a list of strange looking marks, each with an accompanying description of its use and effects.

"These are Charter marks" she said, running a finger down the page. "This whole book is a dictionary of marks. But why would it be here? This place has no Charter." To demonstrate her point she spoke one of the first marks on the page, the basic mark for light. But even as she spoke it, the mark sounded hollow, and there was no effect. "Why would the planet have a book like this?"

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fromgallifrey
2009-01-24 08:52 pm UTC (link)

It was an interesting little book she had there. He wasn't quite certain what Charter marks were; but what was more intriguing is that the words should have had power.

"Well, the book's here because the Planet thinks you want it to be, I think," he sounded confident as always.

"As to why they have no power, I'd imagine it's for the same reason that my ship seems rooted as well. The planet doesn't want our things to have power," He sounded bit sad even as he said it.

"Do you have many of these books where you're from?"

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ex_disreputa173
2009-01-26 06:57 am UTC (link)

Kibeth glanced at the Doctor, one eyebrow raised in question. He seemed awfully certain of himself, which she found grating and amusing in equal measure. It made some sort of sense that the book would be here because she expected it. This place worked hard to provide what she expected. And she had been thinking how like the Clayr's library this one was. Maybe it made sense it would provide books that library had had.

His comment about power didn't make sense though. She shook her head. "No, the marks have no power because there is no Charter here for them to draw on. If the planet didn't want us to have power, then..." She spat a few words of free magic that blistered the back of her throat and left a metallic tang in the air. A small pile of fine sand appeared in her palm. She looked at it thoughtfully for a moment before letting the sand trickle onto the floor.

"Where I am from the only safe magic for humans to use is Charter magic - calling on the marks from the Great Charter that defines their world. Books like these list the basic marks. They're teaching books." She looked up at him sharply. "Does your world not have a Charter?"

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fromgallifrey
2009-01-26 07:35 pm UTC (link)

It was always amazing to the Doctor to watch people as they thought. It was always different for everyone. For some people you could see a fire just behind their eyes. Other people there were little twitches of movement in their fingers or toes. Some people even hummed a bit. Kilbeth was a little more interesting, it was like she was churning there like the sea - a whole bunch of little activities just below the surface.

"No, no Charters, not in any of the galaxies I've been to," He said this regrettably, of course.

"Where do the Charters come from? Did people invent them? Are they Arcane?"

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ex_disreputa173
2009-01-27 06:32 am UTC (link)

Kibeth jerked sharply. "No Charter? But Free Magic is..." she stopped herself. "The Charter is... was a great work, an endless stream of marks that defined and measured the Old Kingdom. With no beginning and no end it provided a way for humans to do magic without the corrosive influences of Free Magic" It felt odd having to explain the Charter. Everyone in the Old Kingdom knew what it was of course, even those few who chose to reject it. As for it's origin... She gave the Doctor an impish smile.

"The Charter was created near the beginning of time by seven great beings known as the Bright Shiners." She looked at the book thoughtfully and then closed it. She tucked the volume under her arm, her mind working a million miles a minute. "Perhaps that's what this place needs - a Charter."

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fromgallifrey
2009-01-28 05:40 pm UTC (link)

"Does it?" He asked in response to Kilbeth's response.

"What does it do? I mean, does it allow people access to magic? Or just allow a certain few? What kind of things does a Charter allow people to do?" The whole idea of 'magic' to the Doctor was fascinating. It was sort of like a technology that he had no control over - and it was utterly consuming.

"Corrosive effects? What sort of things?" Of course, the Doctor's mind went to humanity's ability to turn to greed and power lust. Such was the way of Earth - it was possible that where Kilbeth was from had issues of a similar sort.

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ex_disreputa173
2009-01-28 08:02 pm UTC (link)

Kibeth pushed the fallen sand around with her foot, spreading the grains out on the library floor. "The Charter defines everything in existence. Those who have been blessed by the Charter and know the proper marks can speak or engrave them to call their effects into being. For instance, if you wanted to create fire, you would speak the marks for flame and heat and warmth."

She glanced around for a moment, and was only half surprised to notice a chair where one hadn't been a moment before. She pulled it over and sat down. She still wasn't completely used to human form, and her knees kept locking if she stood too long.

"Free Magic can be used to control the Dead" she said matter-of-factly. "And the powers of Necromancy are enticing to those who want power quickly and with little care to the consequences."

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fromgallifrey
2009-01-30 09:55 pm UTC (link)

"You mean this Charter doesn't bless everyone, then? How are people chosen?" He pulled up a chair of his own and settled in with rather vibrant interest. This universe of Kilbeth's was fascinating, he couldn't help but wonder if it had a Gallifrey and timelords of it's own. If her universe had it's own version of him and what he might be up to.

"Well, at least there's one thing our universes have in common it's people who don't know how to rightfully use a good thing," he was thinking of the power hungry and the gluttonous, of course.

"I have to say I find this Charter business fascinating, I'm usually more of a technophile, myself - gadgets, circuits, science; so, this magic you speak of really seems, well, new!" He was as excited sounding as he genuinely felt.

"Is there... Is there any science behind these charters at all? Matter energy conversions, perhaps?" He always wanted to put things into context his Time Lord mind could manage, "I guess what I'm getting out is how does it specifically function?"

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ex_disreputa173
2009-02-01 03:58 pm UTC (link)

"Babies are baptized with a Charter Mark soon after birth. The mark lets the Charter recognize them. And if one who has a mark turns to Free Magic or Necromancy, the Mark gets corrupted, and a corrupted Charter mark can be detected by any Charter mage. Idealy, everyone in the Old Kingdom receives a Charter Mark at birth, though only a few actually study to become mages." she said, setting the book on her lap. She opened it, seemingly at random, and idly traced her fingers down the page, tracing marks with something akin to affection.

She glanced up as he mentioned gadgets and science and smiled. It wasn't quite as enthusiastic a smile as she'd had before. Instead it was a bit more wistful. "You would have liked Sameth then. He was always interested more in making things."

At his question of how it worked she laughed very slightly, a twinkle of mischief in her eye. "No one really knows how it works" she said "I suppose it's kinda like here. If you know how to ask for what you want - in this case, know what marks to use - you can create it."

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fromgallifrey
2009-02-02 10:48 pm UTC (link)

He nodded as she spoke about the use of the Charter and the ways it was used. It was sort of interesting to hear, even if he couldn't rightfully claim to understand how it worked at the moment.

"You seem to really have wanted that book to be here," he said quietly. He imagined for her it was probably like having a piece of home here, sort of like the TARDIS for him.

"Hey, it's fun to make things, leaves me feeling productive at the end of it all," he said with a smile.

"I suppose..." he replied to her notion of using the Charters and how they might work. Not one to wholly believe in magic, he settled more deeply upon some sort of technical source - and he was greatly liking the idea of a symbiotic relationship between a planet and it's occupants where their mode of communication was with these marks which triggered an energy matter conversion at the wielders request. See, that makes more sense than magic words, doesn't it?

"Too bad you can't create us a way home with those," he breathed, feeling a bit of his crankiness at being stuck here crawling up the back of his neck all the sudden.

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ex_disreputa173
2009-02-04 01:40 pm UTC (link)

Kibeth gave him a smile and a shrug. He didn't quite get it, but that was all right. No one really did, which was kind of how it was supposed to be. She looked down at the book again and closed it.

"I suppose I did." Not in the way he'd intended, but the book did comfort her. It had given her an idea, a plan. She'd been drifting since arriving, unsure of what to do, and she hated inaction. Now though... Writing a whole new Charter would take ages working alone, but she had the time.

Lost in thought, she almost didn't catch the Doctor's last comment. She looked up, startled and cocked her head to the side slightly confused. She hadn't thought about wanting to go home. Then again, she didn't really have a home to go to. She couldn't return to the Old Kingdom, not when Liriel knew she was dead. Ancelstierr was boring, and this place just seemed so much more fun.

"Hadn't thought about that" she said with another bright smile. "Not really concerned myself. You sound like you've got somewhere to be though"

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fromgallifrey
2009-02-16 02:51 pm UTC (link)

"I've always got somewhere to be, it seems," he said with a small sigh and a shrug. Sure, he sometimes didn't quite want to be where he was; but, the world had ways of giving him reasons to linger about in one place.

"It surprises me how many people seem alright with being here - with staying in a place that snatched them from where they were," he cut himself off, he shouldn't be preaching at her like she were a student or a child. In fact, when he caught sight of her eyes it seemed they were almost a bit too old for her face - a sight that sort of interested him.

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