scaled-simic-sculptor

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

She asks you to hold her hands and sit with her, calmer than you'd expect at the prospect of what you are about to do. You know her excitement over any glimpse you've given her into your personal projects, your passions, even the little things like places you enjoy eating or spending time unrelated to work. Yet, despite that, she now projects a sense of calm that is almost…entrancing. Captivating, even. You find that you cannot help but let your breathing slow to match the steady pace she sets, then feel your awareness flicker as it is pulled within.

You feel her now, hand clasped in yours, as you pull her past the outer perimeter of your mind. This is always the hardest part - letting someone in when most people learn go never let these walls falter. It is…draining, somehow, leaving you weaker as she finds her footing and holds you tight.

"Don't worry. That was the hardest part. Now, let me get a good look at you so we can find what you were looking for."

Parts of her unravel from twisted vines into many individual tendrils, each loosely wrapping around some part of your form. Arms, legs, torso, head…but all of these are gentle, like fingertips brushed over your skin. When they begin spreading roots into you, there is no pain or discomfort - this is a mental space, not physical, and your form is far less solid here. In some ways, it is like embroidery, new threads woven into existing cloth to change and make something new. She is taking your measure, examining you piece by delicate piece…temporarily joining herself to you. The roots descend into your head and spread-

We are in a chirugeon's ward after an injury. Half of our body is plant matter, but that is normal. We are used to that by now. It is the other side that is hurting right now - a gash from a shiv after a tavern brawl turned into an outright melee. Three dead, seven injured if we include ourself among them. Fortunately, there is no pain thanks to the work of our sister and the silver gleam of her healing magic. No matter the circumstances, she is always happy to see us.

We are seated at the edge of one of the great sinkholes, far above the saltwater that holds many familiar creatures. We made some of them, trained others, cured yet more of them of illness and injury. They are family, in a way. We protect them by keeping the other guilds from sprawling too far. If the foundry stretches any closer, then the runoff might poison the whole-

We are celebrating a birthday party for a dear and beloved friend. There aren't many others here besides her, but that doesn't matter. We have always been her favorite. So long as she has us, she is happy.

We are…in a circus tent? The memory is foreign to us, yet present all the same. Our hands are strange, unfamiliar. We aren't supposed to be here, seeing this. This is not us, but it is part of us. Part of us that we did not know existed. Try and we might to cling to it, we are pushed gently away until the visions slips from our grasp. We are falling, like a flat stone cast into the sea…

We open our eyes and see each other, intertwined. Our roots threaded throughout us, and…our roots in both parts of us? We pull apart slowly, careful not to break anything, and look in amazement as we become distinct once again. Now it is you and her, the same as before. Somehow, your arms have changed from ordinary into a mirror of hers, branching fibers of roots and vines that had grown into her just as much as she had grown into you. You saw part of her, you realize, just as she saw many parts of you. As you think back to the memories, your arms change back into how they were before - ordinary, humanoid, simple flesh and skin and bone.

"Well." She blinks and offers you a surprised smile, clearly just as aware of everything as you are. "It seems we found something unexpected within you after all, didn't we?"

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

*the Hatted Rat bites your hand and attempts to squirm away as more of what are definitely Hellhole and Gobhobbler Rats stream from the askbox*

Marianthe glares down at the little rat as it bites onto her glove, keeping a hold of it as she watches the rats flooding from the inbox. Recognizing them now as Rakdos rats, she quickly tries to grab the door of the box and close it.

"Oh Razia help me, I thought I was free of those things when I left Ravnica!" She manages to shut the door, grimacing at the rat still in her hand. "The Vermin on this plane are bad enough already, the last thing the ecosystem here needs is Ravnican Rats, you little fiend!"

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

I have been watching over the Riveteers while they have been repairing the tracks, in case more outlaws appear to bother them. Unfortunately one of them brought one of those.. reptilian horse creatures. While most creatures bring me a sense of joy, particularly normal horses, those... Beasts make me uncomfortable. It has already tried to bite me, and it was only through my grace and level head I did not smite it. They owner also asked me kindly not to.

I am avoiding the creature for now, but know the peace between us is tenuous.

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

I've been on Avishkar for the last few days for the Ghirapur Grand Prix, and used that as an excuse to visit a plane full of fascinating inventions as well. The vehicles on display were like nothing I had ever seen on Ravnica! Some of them terribly crude and sinister looking— sure—

But the home team had most elegant aesthetics, and the team of robots were so cute I couldn't help but hope they would win.

I even had the pleasure of viewing from one of the flying platforms on the first day, observing the race up until the contraption buckled beneath me and the whole viewing party fell from the sky.

I blacked out in the fall, but I woke up safely on the ground— a bit far from the city, but injured nowhere but my poor heart. Some sort of safety crew must have deposited me there for some reason, but I really do wish they would have been so considerate as to not make me trek back to the heart of the city after falling out of the sky.

I stayed to watch the end of the race through a broadcast and investigate the local creations, but I can safely say I am not going to be in the sky for *quite* some time. Nothing winged nor levitated will get me to raise myself above the stability of the ground or the comfort of the ocean.

On the brighter side, I took a couple pictures of the city and have come to love some of their architecture. Their filigree patterns remind me of nets- of similar beauty to some Simic buildings. Consistent patterns within each, but more symmetrical rather than natural.

I might try to see if I can replicate the form of some of the beautiful creatures I saw there, if not on a much smaller scale. I don't think I understand the biology well enough, but they hardly seemed to be entirely logical, so maybe my magic will fill in the gaps.

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

Does that mean your copies are effectively draining you twice if they're used to cast spells? Is there a consistent percentage of how much it takes from you when used compared to how much it takes to create?

As for magical properties, we copied a dominarian lotus petal she had around and she tried pulling mana from it, in doing so it seems she indirectly started pulling the mana from me?

like i felt the energy being pulled and she described the sensation more as if she uses creatures for mana rather than plants.

Using some copied roots to brew a spell also had the same result

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

Oh dear, it looks like my bag is completely full of research materials- I've been working with amorphous metals and reshaping metal before I transmute it.

Oh, but the ring is just a keepsake. Not research fodder. I've kept that on a cord for as long as I can remember, I think it must be a family heirloom.

"What's in your OC's pockets / bag?" type of post, but it's a handful of magic the gathering spells.

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

Why is Atticus written as profoundly autistic?

BECAUSE ALL THE AZORIUS ARE PROFOUNDLY AUTISTIC! SO MANY OF THE AZORIUS’ TRAITS AND FLAWS FROM THE GUILDMASTERS GUIDE ARE JUST SYMPTOMS OF AUTISM

Sweetie you aren’t channeling white and blue mana, you are undiagnosed.

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

That's the point of a lot of what I'm doing right now, actually! Codifying what I can do into something that might make sense to somebody else, so they can replicate it. It's very nearly natural to me; at least, I understand it in a way that isn't easily explained by language. Translating it is pretty much the only first step there can be if I want it to be a practice the guild can adopt, rather than a skill unique to me.

As for that question..- Well, there might be something that fits what you're curious about. The base metal I transmute often has some effect on the end result. Not personality— I wonder if that's true of work that focuses on animation of metal itself— but my creations can be affected by the density of the metal as well as how much singular material the sample is made of. The more material I have to work with, the bigger something I can create— though I can supplement some with raw mana.

I could turn a chunk of ore into a living creature, but it would be frail and almost certainly short lived. On the other hand, a more pure sample takes more energy to transmute, but is almost always a better end result. If I turn a refined piece of iron into something like.. a crab, for example, it'll probably live just slightly shorter than a natural-born one. Bits of the material can be leftover after the transmutation, so the more of the right material I'm targeting to transmute the more pure the end result of the creature will be. If it's a material that is at least somewhat consistent with the end biology, even better.

Alloys are their own strange thing. If there's exact measurements of the different pure elements used to make the alloy, I've been able to make a fairly normal seeming specimen from the metal sample.

The material I know best these days is Steel, as anything my magic produces can be turned to steel by my Gaze, and then I can try again, so I specialise heavily in that despite it not being pure. Before I became a gorgon, I was most used to using aluminum.

I think I got carried away explaining things— that's just a rough explanation I typed off the top of my head, but I hope it's informative. Hm. This is the next thing I should codify, actually. Thank you for the inspiration!

I did try transmuting a bit of Phyrexian metal into something as simple as an insect, once, but it's not But it seemed to reject my magic entirely, so there's something I'm missing there.

The chance to try to figure out more exotic materials is absolutely tantalising! Mizzium is one I haven't yet managed to get a sample of, let alone anything from another plane. Maybe that's one more reason to traverse the omenpaths.

Introductions are in order

As such: Salutations, you may call me Gyre. I'm a Simic Combine guildmage working on independent research and assisting in certain experiments by providing them with the perfect test subject— me.

My biology is capable of accepting more mutations easier than most, and it makes it easier to undo most of them. In short, I'm capable of providing an example of what many mutations can and should do under the best of circumstances.

My own research focuses on both metal and biology. Don't panic! It's not phyrexian in nature, however they are an interesting precedent.

No, my skills lend themselves to transmuting life to metal, and metal to life. This isn't simple animation: This is converting metal to flesh properly, and imbuing it with soul.

Beyond my work and my research, I enjoy finding beautiful things in the city and taking pictures of them. The life of this city brings me great inspiration in making my own creations! Viewing art in all forms— except perhaps the bloody spectacles— is my #1 hobby.

With the advent of the Omenpaths, I wonder if perhaps I might find inspiring beauty on another plane.

My hairsnakes also say greetings to all, in their own way.

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

A forced marriage...-

Well I absolutely hate the sound of that. Forced Marriage sounds like a very unpleasant way to die.

This strange divination has given me the perfect (putting aside how bizzare it sounds) excuse for turning suitors away, at least. Or turning them to steel.

First thing you see after you zoom in is how you die

How you dying 👀

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

Please do!

One of the professors over at witherbloom just stopped by my room to ask if using copied plants as ingredients in spells affects the outcomes, and then asked me to join her and one of her final year students in studying this.

I didn't evene remember to ask her name ;-;

But yea will probably head over to their campus soon to see if anyone knows her there.

also reminds me i have to head over there to look for @gruulanarch, hope she at least managed to get out of the mud and onto solid ground by now

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

I'm pretty close to the Seventh Zonot. It's where I do all of my tests and where I submit my research on metallic transmutation. You could probably find files locally if you're around here too.

I know how my research sounds right now, but that invasion is actually what made me join the Combine in the first place— my knowledge in transmuting flesh and steel would surely contribute to curing what happened to so many people when Phyrexia invaded.

Introductions are in order

As such: Salutations, you may call me Gyre. I'm a Simic Combine guildmage working on independent research and assisting in certain experiments by providing them with the perfect test subject— me.

My biology is capable of accepting more mutations easier than most, and it makes it easier to undo most of them. In short, I'm capable of providing an example of what many mutations can and should do under the best of circumstances.

My own research focuses on both metal and biology. Don't panic! It's not phyrexian in nature, however they are an interesting precedent.

No, my skills lend themselves to transmuting life to metal, and metal to life. This isn't simple animation: This is converting metal to flesh properly, and imbuing it with soul.

Beyond my work and my research, I enjoy finding beautiful things in the city and taking pictures of them. The life of this city brings me great inspiration in making my own creations! Viewing art in all forms— except perhaps the bloody spectacles— is my #1 hobby.

With the advent of the Omenpaths, I wonder if perhaps I might find inspiring beauty on another plane.

My hairsnakes also say greetings to all, in their own way.

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

Speaking of bloody spectacles, it appears one is threatening to begin here.

Wait. Is there actually fake blood at the bloody spectacles?

I take bigger issue with the mess than the nature of the blood itself, but that's still.. interesting to take into consideration.

Introductions are in order

As such: Salutations, you may call me Gyre. I'm a Simic Combine guildmage working on independent research and assisting in certain experiments by providing them with the perfect test subject— me.

My biology is capable of accepting more mutations easier than most, and it makes it easier to undo most of them. In short, I'm capable of providing an example of what many mutations can and should do under the best of circumstances.

My own research focuses on both metal and biology. Don't panic! It's not phyrexian in nature, however they are an interesting precedent.

No, my skills lend themselves to transmuting life to metal, and metal to life. This isn't simple animation: This is converting metal to flesh properly, and imbuing it with soul.

Beyond my work and my research, I enjoy finding beautiful things in the city and taking pictures of them. The life of this city brings me great inspiration in making my own creations! Viewing art in all forms— except perhaps the bloody spectacles— is my #1 hobby.

With the advent of the Omenpaths, I wonder if perhaps I might find inspiring beauty on another plane.

My hairsnakes also say greetings to all, in their own way.

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

I would be most interested to know what effect copied ingredients have on spells and whatever else they're used in.

One of the professors over at witherbloom just stopped by my room to ask if using copied plants as ingredients in spells affects the outcomes, and then asked me to join her and one of her final year students in studying this.

I didn't evene remember to ask her name ;-;

But yea will probably head over to their campus soon to see if anyone knows her there.

also reminds me i have to head over there to look for @gruulanarch, hope she at least managed to get out of the mud and onto solid ground by now

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

Of course you have blue mana. And pronouns.

[scaled-simic-sculptor]

Introductions are in order

As such: Salutations, you may call me Gyre. I'm a Simic Combine guildmage working on independent research and assisting in certain experiments by providing them with the perfect test subject— me.

My biology is capable of accepting more mutations easier than most, and it makes it easier to undo most of them. In short, I'm capable of providing an example of what many mutations can and should do under the best of circumstances.

My own research focuses on both metal and biology. Don't panic! It's not phyrexian in nature, however they are an interesting precedent.

No, my skills lend themselves to transmuting life to metal, and metal to life. This isn't simple animation: This is converting metal to flesh properly, and imbuing it with soul.

Beyond my work and my research, I enjoy finding beautiful things in the city and taking pictures of them. The life of this city brings me great inspiration in making my own creations! Viewing art in all forms— except perhaps the bloody spectacles— is my #1 hobby.

With the advent of the Omenpaths, I wonder if perhaps I might find inspiring beauty on another plane.

My hairsnakes also say greetings to all, in their own way.