Greater Easthaven Ballistic Magics

[Emily Reyes]

Emily didn't have the sight to see that Billy had miraculously shot through the same hole as his first shot, and simply echoed Seras' sentiment with a nod and a smile. Since he seemed to be settled in, she turned to the girl, and although she couldn't see her wry smile, it was in her voice as she asked, “Would you like to try? I'll help.”

[Serafina Duarte]

“Oh!” It took Serafina a second to realize Emily meant her. “I—that doesn’t—I mean, can I?” She said, flustered by the invitation. She was used to putting her trust in others, and her safety as well. One bad instruction often meant the difference between a nasty bump or clear sailing. Emily could have just as easily put her behind the wheel and talk her through parallel parking. Yet for how anxious the idea made her, Serafina was intrigued to try.

[Billy Broder]

Billy lowered his revolver and looked at the target again, a bit bummed under the assumption he had missed. He looked the weapon over in his hands as he flicked on the safety if clearly unpracticed movements. Once the safety was on he took a breath and felt a bit better. He opened the side and looked at the spent shells... shells? Casings? He'd need to google that later. He pressed his fingers against the unused rounds and tilted the gun to get out the spent casings. Which fell faster than he could catch them making him let off the unused bullets- two of which fell out too. "Oh- dang." he said annoyed.

He bent to pick everything up and reload his gun as he stepped away from the targets and looked at Serafina. "Give it a try boss, we'll be super careful and you never know. Could come in handy to know sometime." Billy said, still fiddling with his revolver.

[Emily Reyes]

It wasn't the most orthodox thing to do at a range, and Emily didn't expect Seras would ever use this knowledge--unless it made for suitable components, she supposed--but it was still worthwhile. For what, she wasn't sure, but in her experience, just a year into this whole magic business, she'd already been pulled into more fights than in her entire career. So she felt some responsibility for preparing the two younger wizards for... well, anything she could. She wasn't as skilled in magic but had this practical knowledge.

Emily nodded out of habit to both Seras' question and Billy's encouragement but went on, “I'll aim for you, but I think it would be helpful to know what's going on if you ever have to pick up a firearm. And maybe you'll get a component out of it.”

[Serafina Duarte]

Serafina Strike: Critical Failure

Still unsure whether this was a good idea, Emily and Billy’s encouragement convinced her it wouldn’t be that dangerous, especially with Emily pointing her in the right direction. Serafina would essentially just pull the trigger at Emily’s command. Still, nerves high, she trembled to hold the pistol. After a little maneuvering of her hands and squaring up on the target, Serafina was as ready as she would be.

She slid her index finger inside the trigger guard and rested it against the trigger’s plastic curve. She squeezed a little, feeling the trigger shift beneath the pressure. Concern creased on her brow. The pistol heavy in her hands, she awaited Emily’s order.

Serafina needn’t wait long, and to her credit, when permission came, she didn’t hesitate. Committed as she was, this was the first time she ever handled a firearm, let alone fired one. She pulled on the trigger and the recoil made the handgun buck in her hand. Her shot vanished somewhere in the berm.

[Billy Broder]

Billy watched with interest as Serafina held the gun... a lot of small things made more sense now that he realized she was blind. With Emily's instruction and a bit of gumption, the blind woman held up the gun and... fired!

Which was a lot more surprising now that Billy was waiting for it but not behind the trigger. He found himself wincing at the shot even with his ear protection on and nodded absently as he looked for where it might have hit.

"How did that feel boss?" Billy asked, not having the practice to judge if a shot was good or not himself.

He was also ideally pulling out some tools from his bag. Decidedly not tools for shooting, ritual tools.

[Serafina Duarte]

Heart pounding, her hands shook after the shot, the barrel jittering across the range. In response to Billy’s question, Serafina tittered if only as a release for her nerves. Nothing about this was funny to her.

“Thrilling, but very unpleasant. It hurt my hand. I have so much adrenaline right now, I’m shaking.” She laughed again, then angled herself towards where Emily’s instruction came from. “Emily, take the gun, please.”

[Billy Broder]

Billy pulled out a particularly thick piece of neon pink chalk. Along with some vials and objects that he carefully stacked for his need. Finally he pulled out a purple crown royal bag that carried the sound of smooth rocks clicking together. The young wizard glanced over at his companions as he made sure he had everything he needed.

"So, Em. Have you ever done shooting competitions or anything?" he asked.

Was that messed up to ask? Just assuming she was a great shot just because she was the only one he knew that could shoot? Oh well, question was out in the air now.

[Emily Reyes]

At her word, Em carefully took the firearm from Seras' hand and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “Hey, you did great,” she said, chuckling a little at her description of the whole event. It was interesting to see her insight into it. “Here, sit down.”

There was a long built-in wooden bench that Emily would lead Seras over to if she said yes. Glancing over at Billy's question, she noticed him pulling out what looked like his ritual kit. She glanced over at the gravely road that led down to their range, but they were so far out they were unlikely to get any visitors.

“Yeah, in the past. I'm a good shot, but I usually choke up at competitions.” She huffed a self-conscious laugh. “Why?”

[Serafina Duarte]

Led aside by Emily, Serafina felt out the bench and sunk to meet it. She folded her hands in her lap to stifle the tremor. Firing the gun was exhilarating and she still rode that jittery adrenaline high. The thought of making a hobby out of something like this made her chuckle at the sheer absurdity of it. Perched on her bench, she had little idea what Billy planned next.

[Billy Broder]

Billy Cinder 8d6, Exceptional Success (6 passes)

Billy sat himself at a small concrete slab table. It was bolted into the ground with steel so it couldn't be tipped or moved. Considering it wasn't topped with wood, Billy assumed it was more for taking apart a gun and being sure you wouldn't lose a spring or bullet as you fiddled with it. That was just a guess though, maybe the place just wanted a cheap concrete block for a small table. Billy took a bit of string from his pocket and tied it around his chalk before holding the piece down and using it to draw a solid circle in the center of the table. It was a lot smaller than he usually worked with.

Since meeting Emily and Serafina, Billy realized that at some point he assumed circles had to be really big. Now looking back, he realized his dad probably had him do that for safety. To do a big circle you needed the right location, you had to be extra careful about shape since it was so easy to mess up, and it left you a lot of room for all the runes you might need for a very exact ritual. All things a young wizard might need to learn with care- to say nothing of keeping him from doing magic in a classroom during a boring history lesson. He smiled to himself as the thought his dad was rather clever for that and wondered if he'd been taught the same way by Billy's grandfather or some wizened teacher.

Once the circle was done, Billy made a couple lines radiating out of it so he could keep certain positions in mind when he placed his runes. He unloaded his revolver and placed the ammo sitting up along the edge of the table before setting it in the circle. Then he touched the edge of the circle and a whisper of power closed it. Like a small change in the air directly next to the chalk ring.

Ritual prep 1/3

[Emily Reyes]

Clicking the safety on her gun, Emily set it down on the counter before leading Seras over to the bench. Then she settled down next to the younger witch, close enough that she knew she was there without invading her space. From there, she looked on as Billy started laying out his ritual supplies.

Seeing they were moving on from shooting, she reached over to click on the safety light and pull her headgear down around her neck. Billy had asked her about shooting competitions, but didn't seem too interested in her answer, so she just turned her attention to Seras.

“You can take these off now,” she said to Seras, tapping on her ear protection. “Billy's setting up a ritual.”

[Serafina Duarte]

“Oh.” Serafina said as she removed the earmuffs and eye protection. She felt along the bench and set them aside, making sure both were a breadth from the ledge. Now without the earmuffs clamped to her head, sound blissfully returned. She hadn’t enjoyed muting the world, but the alternative was hearing loss, and she couldn’t abide that.

Senses freed, she heard Billy’s rummaging at last. “What are you planning, Billy?”

[Billy Broder]

Billy Cinder, 8d6: Exceptional Success (5 Passes)

Billy slowly pulled the stones from his bag and plaid them out so he could see them. each stone was smooth, flat, and rounded at the edges. Although the exact shape varied they all shared one thing, symbols had been carved on each side. The symbol varied on one side and the other so he could make more combinations with his work. He lined them all up and glanced at what he needed before referring to his notes. He didn't have Rowling on hand today to feed them to him and he wanted to get this right.

Part of it was that he was dedicated to his craft, and although he would never admit it the other part was that he had two women watching him work and no guy wants to screw up in front of a pretty audience. "Why do you choke?" Billy asked once the stones were arranged. He was still in his focused voice and he never looked up, but he was making an effort to listen while he could still afford to split his focus.

While Em helped Sera, Billy carefully picked the runes up and laid them around the circle. Each click wasn't too loud but sitting next to the circle Billy could feel a kind of... shift. Maybe it was his imagination, the circle didn't have any real power flowing through it just yet. The small clack of each rune was satisfying for him in its own way. Runework was probably his favorite part of casting spells.

"I'm going to ward the gun. The spellwork will syphon off kinetic energy from every shot and store it harmlessly, it'll make the bullet's less lethal overall- which suits me just fine. Plus, if I can enchant those spent shells I picked up I can probably use that separated energy to fire off a ritually infused bullet." Billy explained clinically as he laid down the last of his rune stones.

With the last click the circle displayed a double rune configuration. Smaller circle with fewer runes but the ones used marked in two rows around the circle. He and Rowling had worked for almost two weeks on this pattern.

Ritual Prep 2/3

[Emily Reyes]

“I'm a chronic overthinker,” Emily answered with a wry grin. She shrugged. “Give me time to think too much, and I'll choke.”

She was much better in moments when she just let her instinct take over, but she was paradoxically too cautious to let that happen very often.

Quieting as Billy went over his explanation, Emily remembered that he'd gone over this with her in their texts and was looking forward to the results. She didn't think he'd had near enough experience with the gun, but she thought by now that Billy would do things his way and decided not to waste her breath on belaboring the point.

[Serafina Duarte]

“There must be a lot of energy captured there.” She said, not knowing the physics behind it. Yet the idea of a ritually infused bullet sat uncomfortably with her. Billy sought to make a less lethal weapon to charge a more lethal shot? Maybe something was lost in translation or she didn't grasp a fundamental part of Billy’s idea.

“I wonder…” Serafina started, mulling over his explanation and perhaps a better use for that separated energy, as Billy called it. “If you could create a vessel to hold the energy safely, it would be a potent battery for a ritual. Probably very efficient too. Easier to carry than a car battery.”

If the theory held, maybe they could harvest other energies into a compact and easily transported power cell for their magic.

[Billy Broder]

Billy Cinder, 8d6: Exceptional Success (6 passes)

"I tend to overthink too." Billy said without looking up.

When Serafina mentioned her theory about storing the energy Billy nodded to himself. "Some of the energy is fed back to itself to maintain the framework of the spell, but the rest. It could work. But this version isn't made to hold that much power for very long- its meant to bleed off quickly. I figured that would be safer than walking around with a bunch of kinetic force charged up- but if a proper vessel were around? Sure. Could work." As he spoke a part of his mind started to build it. Something round... with steel bearings inside to spin to keep the energy in effect for a long time until drawn off... he hoped he remembered the idea later but if not Rowling could probably help him get back to it fast enough.

He started placing his components. A bullet, spent, was one of the most obvious ones used. It was the casing from his first test shot and he sniffed it catching the scent of gunpowder from it. Then he laid down a bit of loose gunpowder, which he dipped a finger in and tasted. Once done he pushed it into two small divided clumps- thematics mattered here. Third was a small square of kevlar he'd bought online. The material had come from a used vest but this particular section was still good if too small to be useful. He ran his fingers over the texture, a symbol of protection from guns. Fourth was a bit harder, another spent casing from a larger caliber gun. It had been fired with a silencer (the online seller had assured) and Billy dropped it once to hear the crisp sound of metal on a solid surface before moving it into position. Last was the component for sight... Billy didn't have anything for that and instead moved his left hand over the space where the component was meant to go. Blind the Watcher. he thought to himself.

"If you ladies could give me just a second then we can get back to practice." he said sounding a thousand miles away as his focus almost entirely rested on his ritual.

Ritual Prep 3/3

[Emily Reyes]

Emily could tell that Billy was in the zone now, just going on one of his mini-lectures, and she tensed. Most of it went in one ear and out the other if she was being honest, her mind drifting back to ritual in the woods and Rowling's conception.

Reaching out, she absently put her hand on Seras' elbow, just in case she needed to hustle the blind girl away. She wasn't at the point where she'd take off running, but who knew anymore? She knew Billy's magic as unpredictable. “Sure, let's see how it goes.”

[Serafina Duarte]

Billy didn’t seem eager for her battery idea and she didn’t blame him. Hasty and wanting to contribute, she should have thought it through more. There were better and more consistent sources of energy to harness than a gunshot. She fell silent about the time Billy was ready to finish his ritual, though she had no clue how far along he was. Emily touched her elbow, which put Serafina in a mood to move when prompted.

[Billy Broder]

Billy Cinder, 8d6: Exceptional Success (7 Passes)

Stepping back from his circle, the wizard took his bag and pulled a small golf cart battery from the insides. It was a lot smaller than he normally used for any of his spell work, and the price was about the same unfortunately, but it was a hell of a lot more transportable. To be honest Billy had expected a lot more walking and was pleased by the little cart ride over. If he had known he might have dragged along a bigger battery. He doubted this one would hold for more than a single ritual, two at best.

He bit his cheek hard and felt the coppery taste of blood on his tongue. After touching his finger to the red in his mouth he pulled it away and readied himself with a glance at his friends.

Billy watched the ladies step back and gave them a soft smile before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the envelop... the component he'd gathered up earlier that day. It was powerful and represented so much of what he wanted to do here. He held it between his thumb and pinky, keeping his hand tense and the envelope hovering over his small circle. Then he took a deep slow breath and began to draw in his will. This last component wasn't tied to any of the senses... it existed as a focus to help guide everything else.

Billy let out his breath while pressing the drop of blood to the circle and began to speak. The words were the same language he always spoke in when he did magic. The words his father taught him and yet at the same time leapt to the front of his mind when he reached for power. He recalled summers with his father reading old tomes and talking spellcraft. He remembered the smell of camp fires, marshmellows, and kicked up dirt to clear space for circles. He briefly remembered how his stomach turned when he cut into a rabbit for a lesson and then the beautiful flowers that bloomed in the wake of the spell that likely still bloomed to this day. Everything magic was, good and ill, was at the edge of his mind.

When he touched it the words came to him, all of them... all at once. He picked what ones he needed to say what he wanted to say. "ሁክቻሁረቻጎረረቿዕ የዪዐጠጎነቿ, ጎክፕቿክፕ ጠልዕቿ ዪቿልረ, ፕዘጎነ ፕልነጕ ጌቿ ዕዐክቿ ሁክዕቿዪ ጠሃ ዐሠክ ነጎኗዘፕ. የዐሠቿዪ ርዘልጎክቿዕ, ፕሁዪክቿዕ, ዘልዪክቿነነቿዕ. ቻዐዪርቿ ርዐክፕልጎክቿዕ, ዪቿዕጎዪቿርፕቿዕ, ዪቿቻዐዪኗቿዕ. የሁዪየዐነቿ ጌቿ ጠጎክቿ- ክዐ ዐፕዘቿዪ. ጌቿ ጌዐሁክዕ ጌሃ ፕዘጎነ ሠጎረረ ዐቻ ጠጎክቿ." It was longer this time than his chants often were. He had to be specific... because he was doing what he could to restrain the magic with his intent instead of involving the Watcher in any capacity.

The magic of change that the Watcher represented for Billy was too unpredictable at times and this spell was about limits. Change knew no true limit... it was constant and forever. Even death was no real end. Just another change. So he kept that Force of Change at bay in his mind, though it was there next to the words he spoke... waiting... observing in its fashion. Instead he focused on his own will as he leashed it around the circle, the totems, and the revolver.

The envelope in his hands seemed to swell slightly before its edges turned black and yellow. The paper seemed to burn as if to flame, but no fire or heat was there. Instead it turned to ashes even as Billy's other components broke or scattered. The sense of power surged then dimmed... leaving a revolver in a circle... and a wizard letting out a long slow exhausted breath.

Partitioning Ritual Cast
Superb Component Consumed

[Emily Reyes]

Emily returned the smile as Billy pulled out the envelope, but it was faint, her expression tense with anticipation. “He's about to start the spell,” she said softly to Seras to keep her in the loop.

As he pressed the blood to the ritual, there was that acidic soapy language, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It wasn't ugly, per se, but it wasn't pleasant to listen to. Of course, Emily was biased toward her own ritual words, but that was to be expected.

She watched silently as the ritual burned cold, destroying the components as the spell centered on the revolver. It was challenging to pick out the crescendo of the spell, so the witch was a bit tense throughout the whole thing but relaxed completely when the magic faded, and Billy breathed out.

“He's done,” she murmured again, moving to stand with her hand still on the blind girl's elbow. She was glad it was to approach the ritual table rather than run so they could look at Billy's work.

[Serafina Duarte]

How Serafina loved Emily for keeping her in the loop. She formed a small sound, humming in the affirmative, and waited. The air tingled and Serafina felt goosebumps once Billy started his incantation. Serafina turned her ear towards him and strained to place the language. It almost sounded like someone other than Billy spoke the words. Intrigued, she made a note to ask Billy about the language when they next had time.

Emily murmured to the completion of Billy’s ritual, and Serafina responded with another affirmative chirp. Emily touched her elbow, encouraging her forward, and Serafina was easy to maneuver. “Did it work?” No catastrophic failure, but that didn’t always mean the spell worked as intended.

[Billy Broder]

Billy felt the power settle and fade. His eyes seemed far away for a moment as he took in what he could feel of the energies while they burned out. Once it was over he gently ran his fingers over the edge of the gun... it felt... nicer now. That was probably just bias on his part because now his ritual was a part of it.

He heard his friends step up nearby and Serafina asked if it was done. "Yes. I think so. I'll need to test it." he said seriously.

He picked up the revolver and carefully opened its side to start loading in bullets. Once it was done he had a childish urge to flick it closed with a spin or something but resisted it.

He closed it with careful patience and glanced over to Em and Serafina. "Mind if I shoot again?" he asked, more to give them warning so they could put ear protection back on.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily approved of the careful way he reloaded the revolver, and nodded as he noted he needed to test it.

“Maybe on the far end of the gallery?” she suggested with a faint smirk. “We'll watch from here.”

[Serafina Duarte]

Serafina fumbled to replace her hearing protection and didn’t advance any closer, trusting Emily to keep them at a safe distance. Magic was finicky at the best of times and firearms were deadly at the worst of times. Combining the two still felt like a dangerous melding, but Serafina chose to believe Billy knew what he was doing.

[Billy Broder]

Billy Strike 4d6: Exceptional Success (6/5)

Billy nodded at Emily's suggestion, it was reasonable and he moved toward the end of the range. He glanced at the girl's and once he saw they had their protection on he gave them a thumbs up and settled his own over his ears.

Then he took the stance, let out a long slow breath, and held up the gun.

A second later he fired two shots back to back. The sound was... strange. Like it was in a tunnel far off and you could just make out a muffled coughing echo. Once the shots were fired Billy saw a faint shimmer in the air around the gun. The stolen kinetic energy bleeding off. It lasted a few seconds and seemed harmless even when he moved his hand through it.

Once he was done he gave another thumbs up to the girls and sat the gun down before removing his ear protection. He glanced at the target and saw two hits dead center and was pleased with his luck.

He walked back toward his friends. “So, you want to go again boss?” Billy said, clearly in a good mood.

[Emily Reyes]

She was tense and didn't try to hide that, her hand gripping Seras' elbow with quiet trepidation. Still, with Billy at the far end of the range, she hoped that they were out of danger if something went wrong. At the very least, it gave them enough distance to figure something out if, say, something monstrous ripped its way into their dimension.

Emily was concerned about Billy, but he was playing test subject of his own accord and, in her mind, accepted the accompanying risks. She couldn't even imagine herself feeling guilty in any potential aftermath. Magic was dangerous that way.

Fortunately, none of that came to pass. Instead, the gun fired, the bullets flying with the same apparent velocity as a pellet from an airsoft gun so she could track it through the air. It was a strange dichotomy, but that was the clearest sign that his spell had worked.

She clapped politely, smiling to see that nothing had gone wrong. In fact, everything had gone right, and that was the best outcome they could hope for.