2228/A Touch of Frost

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A Touch of Frost
Date of Scene: 25 June 2020
Location: Abandoned Warehouse
Synopsis: An abandoned warehouse becomes an ice palace when two magically-inclined people meet.
Cast of Characters: Nessa Donovan, Loki




Nessa Donovan has posed:
It's another day at the warehouse that has become a familiar haunt of Nessa's. On the plus side, no one had bothered to see what she was doing or report any sort of break-in, but she certainly kept a close eye on things. As it stands, she's setting up something she's getting the hang of doing--an ice skating rink. She stands to the side, her ungloved hands held out as the cold is sent to the ground, slowly building up layers of ice to start to make something a little thicker to properly skate on. She's even thought of making a small rim around the edge just for flare, but the whole process is a tiny bit taxing if she layers it on extra thick that any sort of edging is really out of the question.

Loki has posed:
And then... something arrives.

Nessa has the ability to sense magic, and it will feel like a volcano of magic just erupted from all around. The walls pulse with it, the ceiling churning with a growing tornado. Icy wind tears around the interior of the abandoned building, while leaving the center in an eye of the magical storm.

Then, the walls vault upwards, slick ice inlaid with detailed filigree of sculpture: wall sconces held by elaborately decorated cherubim, lifting their hands in praise of the creation.

It is a //palace//, pillowy snow forming velvet surfaces on a chaise lounge, couches. A massive spiraling staircase erupts from the side, leading into an upper area with a balcony of ice overlooking the large lower area.

Above, the warehouse ceiling melts away, leading into a huge snowflake-like stained-glass ceiling, that vaults into the air between glistening, impossible glittering chandeliers.

Overall, it is a /ridiculous/ display of ice magic, complicated to an extreme. The ice is extremely detailed, but that the building has entirely unfolded into this rose of an ice palace is another piece entirely.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
It's not at all expected, and Nessa braces herself the second she senses the overwhelming amount of magic swirling around her. Her creation of the rink instantly stops, her hands moving in some kind of defensive position for half a second until she realizes it's not an attack. It's a decoration. It's certainly pretty, and /certainly/ much more than she's currently capable of doing. There's a look on her face--she's seriously impressed as she leans in closer to look at the detail work on the banister of the stairs.

But, as impressed as she is and as much as she's enjoying it, this sort of thing always has a creator. She takes a careful look around before glancing towards the balcony, making her way towards the stairs. "I swear, whoever you are, if you start singing some dumb song I'm going to find a sledgehammer and tear this place down. Elaborate prank though."

Loki has posed:
The response of a laugh is natural enough and comfortable. It's a male, probably mid-thirties, up on the balcony now, resting forearm, at ease, against it. He's dressed in a mix of robe and modern attire, black edged in royal blue, much like one would expect of a modern-day wizard, really: it suits expectations.

For someone that can sense magic, he's a feast of it; it's around him and on him, with an intensity that might make it difficult to tell if he IS magic, like the palace, or a high ranked sorceror.

"Song?" he questions, thoughtfully, as if not getting her reference. "I don't do requests," he chuckles. He isn't recognizable as anyone famous: a tall sort with short-ponytailed pure white hair and middle-blue eyes. Despite the white, he appears more like thirty. But that's magic, of course; it could be a far older wizard.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Oh good, you don't know that movie then. I get so much shit from people because of it." Nessa does honestly seem the slightest bit calmer simply by asserting this wasn't some Frozen-themed joke. However, the fact that there was some giant beacon of magic standing nearby kept her from being /entirely/ at ease. She does, however, begin to climb the stairs. "I have to say, this is good work. Certainly puts my ice rink to shame. I can't even dream of having the kind of power to put all this together."

She's simply being honest. She /is/ impressed. Slightly intimidated, but more excited to be meeting someone who could harness this kind of power. "I could manage these stairs, but not a whole palace. I take it you were trying to show off? Mission accomplished."

Loki has posed:
"You're young," observes the mage with a shrug, as if that were the obvious reason that he's put her ice rink to shame. He's calm, friendly; there's nothing at all stopping her from climbing the stairs to get more in proximity to him; he just waits there at the top, one hand restinf on the latticed balcony rail. Closer inspection suggests some sort of mixed Chinese ancestry with something more european, which makes his eyes more funky, magical.

"Less show off, more capture your attention." He shrugs a little bit, with apparent humility. "I try to keep an eye out for new magic users; in case they are lost or confused about what they have."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
There's something about the way he mentions her being young that makes Nessa laugh a bit. "I'm going to guess you're a bit older than you look. No offensive meant, of course. You've got the demeanor of someone with experience. And obviously the skill." She approaches, though she gives him a bit of distance. Not enough to be unfriendly, but enough to be polite. "Well, consider my attention captured. I'll certainly listen to whatever you have to say."

Her attention goes back to the craftsmanship of the ice palace. "Well, I will say I'm not exactly lost or confused about what I have. I'm aware of it, aware of what it can do. I just haven't entirely managed to sort everything out. There are setbacks, but I'm certain I can work through them." She looks back over at him. "If you're concerned if I am capable of controlling what I can do, I haven't accidently given someone frostbite in years." It's equal parts serious and joking.

Loki has posed:
"Years, hmmmm; long time," teases the mage, an amusement at her 'years' in his eyes. Translating to him as hardly any time, is the joke, but he's keeping it mostly to himself. Politely. "Have you enchanted gloves to prevent that?" he asks, his eyes skimming over her, but then registering on her hands. "Perhaps not. An array of enchantments of items are available, to aid with control." He's being informational without being judgemental about it.

"I am the Sorceror Jianyu Vega. You can look me up in texts if you like, later, to be sure you have not been accosted by a demon," he says, with a wink. He shifts his weight to lean on his elbow on the bannister, one hand crossing over the other to rest together, fingers laced. There is no scent of sense on him of the demonic, just a lot of raw magic; it's blurry enough to make it unclear if he has magic items on him. Probable.

Vega waits for her to introduce herself, with an expectant quality.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"No, they're nothing fancy. Just gloves. I only really have the difficulty if someone tries to touch my skin. Not always a problem, but... /enough/ of one." Nessa looks back over at him. "My family's got a lot of experience with this sort of thing, I suppose if I needed some kind of enchanted gloves they might be able to help." She hasn't seemed to have thought too much about an object aiding in the control, more working herself to overcome it.

"Vanessa Donovan. But it's Nessa. Just Nessa." She introduces herself once he's done it, with no title or attempt to make herself sound more impressive. There's a casual air to it all. "I've seen demons, you don't really feel like one, but you're certainly getting looked up after this. It would be kind of silly not to."

Loki has posed:
"Someone that touches your skin without consent rather deserves that result, I think," comments Vega evenly, with an unclasp of his hands and deeper shrug. Cause and result: a broader view of it, maybe.

"Your family? All Donovan?" Vega asks. He too can look into that name, if he feels like it, later. It'll depend on mood. Though on the surface he seems calm and interested, in a thoughtful way.

"No, I'm no demon, though I've dealt with my share; a particular skillset is involved to fight - or entrap - a demon," Vega comments. "Though there have been plenty of them around lately to practice on. Some deep rips in the tapestry of the flow of magic." While he speaks, the tapestries behind him on the upper balcony's wall ripple and unfurl into landscapes of moving black-ice shapes, beyond the veils of thin, pane-glass on the 'surface' of the tapestries. Demons move in the back, chasing some snowy wildlife out towards the pane's surface.

With a surge, suddenly a tiny white snow-rabbit, no bigger than a palm, bursts from the surface of the tapestry and skitters at Nessa to cower behind her heels.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"You have a very fair point, Sorceror Vega." Nessa isn't sure if that's the best way to address him, but she gives it a shot. "There are certainly some who deserved it." It hasn't been entirely bad. The times that have been bad, though, she's felt extremely guilty over. When he mentions her family, she nods. "Donovan. Mostly from Ireland, we've got deep roots there. Lots of magic."

Her attention is drawn towards the tapestries, eyeing the scene within them. She almost jumps in surprise at the rabbit, glancing down at her feet with a tiny smile. "I've got to learn to do /that/." It's certainly a trick she hasn't gotten up to.

Loki has posed:
Sorceror Vega doesn't correct her, so the title must be fine with him. There's an incline of head that reads of approval, as well. "Ireland Donovans. Of course." He doesn't detail outside of that, though his eyes read of recognition. "I am familiar with many magical families going back for quite some time." It implies decades or centuries. Hard to read.

"To contain demons in panes of ice prison? It may be best to start with an animated snow rabbit," suggests the mage. He considers, eyes skimming his palace, and then he manifests something in his hand with a few quick gestures of fingers. He's actively casting where she can see, partially using the ice already at hand as a resouce to reshape, instead of generating it raw.

He created a slip of icy paper, brittle, with a beautiful-hand of calligraphy script on it. It's ice; it'll melt if she doens't take care with the gossamer page: to keep it cool and safe. It has an incantation on it. What for? It's unclear.

"Learn that if you like," he says, simply, and brushes his hand down the bannister, starting to look around the palace. The rabbit by her foot still huddles there.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Certainly, the ice page is taken with care, and Nessa looks it over. Her hands, at least, are cold--it won't risk melting in them. Her gaze goes down th the rabbit, and she moves to scoop it up gently and let it rest in the crook of her arm as she looks back to Vega. "You certainly know an awful lot about all of this. It'd take me ages to learn through books and research, most likely." She's not going to /suggest/ anything directly, but he's said enough that she's curious. The extra help would be invaluable, especially if it meant some good measure of control over the chill of her skin.

Loki has posed:
"In nearly all skills, it is best to learn from a master," agrees Vega without much inflection other than amusement. "See what you make of that; it's time I moved on," he suggests, with a playful edge to his tone.

Magic warps around him, a swirling mist and cyclone of magic much as she saw before whipping around his body before the suddenly dematerializes .. and is gone.

The rabbit perks ears forward, peeking as if to check where the mage went to.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa barely has time to react before he's suddenly gone. The way the magic warps and he disappears? It's certainly something that impresses her. If she could do that kind of thing... she's not sure what it would mean for her, honestly, but it's exciting. With him gone, she looks down at the rabbit carefully, unsure of what will happen to it. She moves down the stairs, just in case the ice palace were going to dematerialize the same way it had abruptly materialized before. "Learn from a master, huh."