14th September
20:16 GMT -2
I lay my right hand on the resonance receiver that serves as the Atlantean equivalent of a doorbell for a moment, then drift back in the water slightly. One magic guy disappeared from the material universe, another so far out of his depth that the fish have lights on their noses -though perhaps I shouldn't think that around here- and the other -shock horror- having a life outside of work.
I don't know how he lives with himself.
The water barrier marking the entrance to Sephtian's home becomes translucent as an Atlantean woman I don't recognise answers my ringing. It's not the same building as Sephtian lived in when I first met him; it's an upgrade in both size and location. Poseidonis real estate isn't any cheaper than the dry land equivalent. The woman in question is octofolk… No, that doesn't sound right. Octopodiform? A somewhat better proportioned Topo. The tentacles around the lower front part of her face are in constant motion, and hide the hard beak I know to be under there. Her skin is a sort of mottled sandy brown with darker spots and her eyes are black circles mounted on a smooth face.
"Orange Lantern, I didn't know that Sephtian had invited you."
"Oh… He didn't. I just.. wanted to ask him about something… Work-related. I can come back, it's not a problem."
"An Orange Lantern project? Of course you can come in!" She takes hold of my right arm and tugs me through the doorway. "Most of us are thaumaturgists of one stripe or another. I know I've been positively green-" Her skin momentarily changes colour to match her words. "-with envy over the things he's been able to do with you."
"I've only recently returned to Earth." A few of Sephtian's other guests look around as my escort continues pulling me through Sephtian's home. "I take it that his work is going well?"
"So many projects were being held back by a lack of materials. Some of us have been nearly laying siege to the Conservatory's circuit-printing equipment."
"If you're interested in working for a surface company with access to that sort of-."
"Hah hahah!" She glances at me, her lip tentacles forming a circular shape. An indication of polite amusement. "You certainly don't waste time."
"No, but it's a serious offer. KordTech is quite serious about securing marketplace dominance, and it doesn't really have any competition at the moment. But it also doesn't have its own pro-."
"Paul!" Sephtian darts around another couple of Mantafolk and comes to a halt just in front of me. "Welcome back to Earth!"
"Thank you. I apologise for intruding."
"Oh, no, no. This.. whole gathering has been discussing the sea change in modern thaumaturgy your.. input has created. Your presence here is.. entirely appropriate." He stares me in the eyes for a moment, then smiles. "Should I.. assume that you have something new for me to work on?"
"Yes, but don't want to take you away from your-."
Sephtian lets out three loud clicks, and the conversations around us die. Guests begin filing in from other rooms. "Friends and colleagues! Orange Lantern has a problem for us!"
"And you're sharing now?!"
A quiet laugh passes around the room and Sephtian's head jerks towards the speaker. She has visible gills and a slightly metallic sheen to her skin, unusual in Atlanteans. "Sabina, I would certainly be delighted to share some of my headaches with you. Especially with you."
"Hmpf."
"So what is it? A new arcane device you need me to build? Something to.. analyse?"
"That will.. probably be involved." I turn my head left and right, taking in my audience. "Is anyone here a member of a monotheistic religion?"
I wait a moment, but no one responds in the affirmative. About what I expected; there are Atlantean monotheists but the idea hasn't ever really caught on. And as part of Ahri-ahn's legacy to Atlantian society high-end magic users are likely to have a more dismissive attitude to elementals in general.
"Item one is an ancient Human magic user with a soul made out of Hell magic. Item two is a pair of wings cut from a high-end Angel. I need to know how to fuse the magics of-" Sephtian starts laughing and twitching, his right hand wiggling backwards and forwards and sending him in a circle. I think he's been drinking. "-the wings with the demonoid without destroying her. This is made more complex by the fact that she's empowering herself using a pocket Hell containing thousands of tormented souls. Ideally I'd like a way to release them somewhere as part of the process."
My escort's tentacles are hanging straight down now. "Is that all?"
"Um… I was wondering… If it would be possible to include scry-ward tattoos like mine? Since you're essentially going to have to recreate her soul from nothing without killing her, I thought you-" The whole room is staring at me. "-could..?"
An Eel-man standing toward the back of the cluster in the library puts his right hand to his mouth. "Do you have a thaumatic break down of the demonoid's power?"
I shake my right hand, causing three Praexis Demons to fall out of my ring. "No, but they do, and the woman herself is available for consultations." Ah… "But that will have to be on the surface; her abilities don't lend themselves to the aquatic life and she's loath to leave a heavily warded environment."
The Praexis Demons give up on trying to waddle through the water. Instead, two of them pick up the third and throw him at the cluster around the library entrance. That provokes a sharp bit of backing up as it lands, tilts back its head and opens its cavernous mouth. A floating wisp of purple/red flame emerges from the back of its throat, and after a moment's delay the guests' hands rise, tattoos glow and invocations get muttered.
Sephtian recovers himself somewhat, and clicks again. "Working parties! Pure thaumaturgists! We need a way to replace one energy with another without losing the fundamental structure. Spiritualists! We need theoretical models for the transmigrations of souls under a variety of conditions! Biomancers! How do we interface a set of wings with a Human body in such a way that they can function? Arcanists! Techniques for making any of this happen. How can we affect such magics?" He turns back to me as the guests begin to group up. "Do you.. have.. an example-?" I take three angel feather rounds out of subspace and hold them out to him. "Excellent. And artificers! We'll need mana taps and containment channels and… All manner of devices to handle the energies. Unless any of you have them already, in which case:-" He gestures imperiously towards his front door. "-get out for not sharing!"
There's some distracted laughter, but the guests are mostly focusing on their new problem.
"Anyone left?" A couple of slightly nervous hands. Sephtian looks perplexed. "And what do you do?"
A Dolphin-man with a pocket of air bound to his blowhole hesitates slightly. "Elementalism?"
Sephtian blinks at him. "Who invited you?"
"Ah. You did? You said you liked my study piece on-."
"Oh, that. Do you.. know anything about Angels?"
"A little. There isn't much published, but I-."
"Fine. Thought models. How is Orange Lantern's latest project going to need to behave in order to use their new magics?"
The Dolphin-man looks around as the huddles turn their back on him. "Just… Think about it on my own?"
"I'm sure you're used to it. Elementalism." Sephtian turns to the Pureblood owner of the other hand. "And you?"
"I… No, I'm Ankhu's date. I work in the diplomatic corps."
"In that case, you can help Orange Lantern work out the political ramifications of his actions, and the best way to deal with a simultaneous invasion of Earth by the armies of Hell and the Silver City when they find out what he's doing this time. And what all of the surface monotheists are going to make of it."
"Ah… I… Really.. work more in inter-city diplomacy than-."
"Just do your best. Ikeni!" Sephtian swims towards the pure thaumaturgy group while the two leftovers look at me slightly helplessly. "What about negative space dream form…"
"Alright chaps, looks like you're with me."
"Nothing wrong with elementalism."