Late Realizations


Rune's been overlooking something. Someone. SomeGao.

Date: 2016-11-24
Pose Count: 22
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-24 22:29:41 61428
Despite major gaps in Rune's knowledge, she thinks on things a lot. Her room's window offers a view of Gaofele's outdoor pergola project, and while tilting her head down to gaze upon it... a sudden "Ah!" comes out of her mouth.

It's not fright or alarm, but the vocalization of something suddenly 'clicking' in her mind. Seized by a sudden burst of inspiration, she jogs downstairs before slowing down to a normal walk before going out the door. Her destination on this fairly normal day after school is that pergola... though she's more interested in looking around to see if its creator is nearby.
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-24 22:41:05 61430
With colder weather coming, it's time for a protective layer of mulch on young plants. The ones Gao chose for the pergola can technically withstand colder temperatures, but they'll do better in their first year or so with some extra care in the rough seasons.

So that's what the forester is doing: making sure the base of the plants have an insulating layer, and sizing them up for other protective options as well. He glances up at the sound of the door, and smiles when he sees who's approaching. "Heya, Rune!" he calls out. "Something on your mind?"
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-24 22:44:37 61432
Rune is careful to mind the prep-work, staying a few feet away so she won't interfere. "No, not something..." Her demeanor is fairly serious, but not grim; whatever she's about to say isn't about dire matters. "Some/one/ is on my mind. I've been overlooking a lot about what you do, and it was only when we went out to deal with those weird shadows that I finally realized it."
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-24 22:58:30 61434
Gao's smile brightens a bit at this. He puts one last scoop of mulch onto one of the corner plants; there's still a few left to go, but this one is done, so it's as good a pause point as any. "Well, it's not like I'm very flashy at what I do, exploding pinecones notwithstanding," he remarks with a hint of a shrug, but still a smile on his face. "Besides, there's usually enough going on during a fight that it's easy to miss things happening to the side."
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-24 23:10:17 61436
"Sure, but I missed this for mon--" A headshake. "No, ever since you took the Oath. I've appreciated you, I've appreciated the end result of what you do, but I didn't really get the 'how' of it, why /that/ mattered."

Rune makes a very short laugh, more of a 'heh' than anything; reflection rather than true humor. "I can't do anything like that. I'm not even sure mom could." Not that the late queen particularly needed to; she had enough raw magical power to rip through the few demons she actually fought in her lifetime.

Rune's gaze then snaps up to Gao's face, staring at him dead on. "So I never learned why that was important, until all of a sudden we got cut off by those weird 'shadow walls.' I get it now, though. That's why you're on my mind, and..."

Rune's voice trails off briefly as she paces toward some of the outdoor chairs set up in the pergola's area. Once seated, she nods over to Gao again. "...And I wanted to figure some things out. Things we can do to really make use of what you're good at."
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-24 23:27:41 61439
"Everyone has their own strengths," Gao points out. "I'm used to plants and archery, so that's what my Oath magic focuses on, and it builds on the traits of plants."

He sits down in one of the other chairs. "Figuring out more ways to strengthen our magic through teamwork? Sounds good," he nods. "Got any ideas to start with?"
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-24 23:31:25 61441
"Ideas? Not quite yet. I've seen a lot of what you can do, but I don't know /everything/ about it." Rune makes an odd admission there. "That link between us got you started, but it doesn't tell me everything you do or how you think about it. So," Rune leans aside a little to relax once Gao is seated, pausing to gather her thoughts.

"I think I'd like to hear what you know you can do, or might be able to, along those lines. What you can create or change. Ideas will probably grow from there. Yes, I've seen a lot of it... but hearing it, while we're really thinking this through, should help."
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-24 23:55:29 61446
Gaofele Doiru leans back for a moment as he mentally reviews what he can do. "My archery is primarily arrow manipulation," he notes as he leans forward again. "Changing the arrow into a swarm of lighter arrows, or a linked cluster of vines, or a floating hive-trap, or a heavy pinecone that explodes if lit on fire. Creating stuff tends to be more the focus of my staff: either a wide wall of plants, or a focused tree of greater strength."

He gives another slight shrug. "Beyond that, I can give myself a jump-boost by creating bursts of plants underfoot, and I can greatly reduce my falling speed by summoning oversized maple seeds to float around me. The maple seeds can help slow others down, but they basically have a combined total capacity, and destroying them -- either by overloading them or actually attacking them -- quickly negates their effects."

There's a slight pause as he considers things. "Sometimes I can come up with additional things -- the pinecone attack is newer than most of the rest of the archery attacks, for instance -- but they generally fit into those existing categories."
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-25 00:00:55 61448
As Rune listens, she occasionally leans forward and /starts/ to say something... but opts not to interrupt in the end, even if something Gaofele mentioned halfway through really seemed to grab her attention. She's eager to get started though, and once he finishes, she speaks up: "There. I think you've pointed out the big one. Walls, vines, trees... that's something we can probably use if we think it through, right? One thing they did to us was separate us... I could /hear/ you, but couldn't get to you. Is there any way we can kind of duplicate that?" She doesn't expect that Gao could change the entire surroundings. "Or use it so that they have to head toward someone instead of staying away?"
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-25 00:15:00 61451
"Possibly," Gao muses. "The summoned plants are good for temporary use, but unless I focus on maintaining them, they're moderately easy to overcome. The single tree is sturdier, but it's only a single tree: useful for a quick platform or blocking a bottleneck, but not as useful for herding in an open field."

He looks at his bow-drawing arm as if sizing it up. "If I had a way of bracing, one of my vine attacks might help drag others closer, but given how it's also useful for bringing me to other locations..." he ponders. "And my Nettle Barrage is better at discouraging enemies away from a single point than in guiding them towards a location. Granted, with enough peppering, I could probably force someone in the right direction, but it'd be harder to steer them."
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-25 00:24:07 61452
The concept of a 'bottleneck' seems to confuse Rune; she's not used to the idea due to how small-scale fighting historically tended to be back home. The look on her face is one of someone /trying/ to grasp a fairly advanced idea, but not quite getting there. "Well... I don't think 'steering' them is quite the right word for it. We're talking about going up against people and monsters," she makes the distinction; demons are 'not people' to her, "who are pretty fast and pretty smart. Some of them fly, some just appear where they want to be, some outrun us. Chances are they'll figure it out if we try something /that/ elaborate, right? What I'm thinking about, is... like, things good for a few seconds. Things where you know what you want, where if we see it we'll know what to do from there, ones that it won't matter all that much how a demon responds. Quick things, not huge plans they'll work around. So, you're probably right. 'Steering' might not be the way to do this."
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-25 00:41:06 61453
Gaofele Doiru contemplates this. "So, swift combinations, where if I do something, it's obvious what should be done to capitalize on it?" he checks. "And things to force enemies to move closer so that they can't escape?"
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-25 00:49:23 61454
"That's it, yeah. Or... even things where you're doing your thing, but it's obviously good on its own. Like..." Rune stands up, suddenly pacing around to open space several feet away. "Just how sturdy is a single tree, exactly? How far away from yourself can you make them?"
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-25 01:03:58 61455
"Pretty sturdy, especially if I continue to pour magic into it," Gao remarks. "It's pretty broad; not as huge as some of the ancient trees back home, but definitely sizable. And as for distance..."

He stands up, gauging the distance to Rune, then pantomiming planting the end of a staff into the ground once he's at the right distance. "About this far," the forester finally says, about 15 meters away. "Not quite as strong as point blank, but still strong enough at that range. Past that, it's not as reliably strong, but could possibly still give someone a boost."
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-25 01:15:18 61456
Rune's head tilts down to follow Gao's footsteps, watching where he wound up. "Huh... that's simultaneously pretty far, and kind of limited with how fast people move, but... I think I've got a few things for it. Seems to me that," Her voice trails again as she paces over to rejoin him.

"That you've got a shield that can pop up in front of people. Or something for us to tackle demons in to. Or a way to lift things, if it grows from the ground up?" She's speculating, but seems intrigued. "...Haven't you already done some of those things, now that I think on it?"
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-25 01:53:54 61457
Gaofele Doiru nods. "It's part of why I know the limitations of them," he agrees. "If I have enough time to react, I can use Forest Wall to protect against an attack, but strong attacks can still burn through it, especially if I don't keep channeling magic into it. Using it to limit where someone can go is doable, but at best it would just slow someone down if they did try to force their way through it... which could still be useful, come to think of it."
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-25 01:58:25 61458
"Well, you'd know better than I. Still... it's okay if we don't have any answers now, it's just that from now on I'm going to start looking for that." Rune's expression turns very focused, eyes narrow. Not angry, just intent. "I'll keep an eye out for things you're doing, see if I can use them, see what you're doing that is already working for you. What you do isn't exactly the same as what happened in those shadows, but..."

"...It's funny," Rune decides after a moment's quiet. "It's funny that I can 'see something' like that now because someone did it to us, using darkness. So if you have any ideas, whether it's right now or later on, let me know? I want to make something of this, because you've got something really clever going on."

Her demeanor softens after that observation. "Sound good?"
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-25 02:09:09 61459
"It takes a second mirror to see the back of your head," Gao responds philosophically with a nod, quoting an old Waldian saying. "I'll keep my eyes open for any other ways I can set things up, and I'll try to look for ways to build off of what you do as well."
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-25 02:21:49 61460
"...Where /did/ that come from, anyway?" Rune reflects on that. "I've heard some farmers used to ... or maybe they still do this, wear things on the back of their head? Something about scaring off wildlife?" It's a guess; Runealy has never done a bit of farming in her life. The closest she got is a few hours of gardening in order for her to fully appreciate the work everyone puts in to keep the castle looking good and running well.
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-25 02:29:40 61461
Gaofele Doiru shrugs. "It's an old enough saying that I don't know where it comes from," he admits. "One story I heard involves birds nesting in hair and the person thinking there was a ghost behind them, while another version involves an errant scrap of red fabric and a bull. As for the farmers... well, some of them say that having a mask on the back of your head discourages risk-taking birds, because they think you're always looking in their direction."
Runealy Waldia 2016-11-25 02:33:36 61462
"Huh..." Interesting, if not outright mystery-solving for Rune. "Well, we'll figure that out later when we go home, I guess. For now... I'm just glad we're on to something with the things you do, and now we're going to use it a lot better!" She finally offers a smile, backing off from the 'tree example' area and heading back to the pergola. "Did you need a hand with anything out here, in the meantime?"
Gaofele Doiru 2016-11-25 02:41:11 61463
Gaofele Doiru grins back. "Well, since you're offering... could you get me the tape measure and the notebook that are in near the gardening book? I've read a way for the plants to have extra protection during the cold months while still getting what light they can, so I'm going to take measurements so I can figure out how much materials it'll require."