london ♔ shadowkind convention

[rationalizes]

WHO || Jeanne Gar, Kat Samcelot, Mark Sandazhard, Francesca, Alainn O'Rourke, Alaric Saltzman, The Doctor, Brantley River, Maxwell Briggard, Kate Beckett, Helen Magnus, Stiles Stilinski, Adam Weiss, Sylar, Will Graham, Abigail Hobbs, Lila Zacharov, Lydia Martin, Draken Crombe, Lis'sa Trinall, Belle Desrosiers, Aurelius Greyfire
WHAT || London hosts an academic convention regarding the phenomena of the Veil and Shadowkind
WHERE || London, England
WHEN || June 7th, 2014, evening.
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

It's been over a hundred years since mankind first came to a global realization that magic and monsters were real and walked among us. Yet in all that time, much about the process of how or why remains a mystery, and a subject of great speculation among scholars the world over.

This is why London hosts an annual convention to discuss these complicated matters, both from a scientific and social perspective. There's something for everyone with even a passing interest in understanding the Veil, magic, or the various races that share this world. Sir Jeanne Gar, a young member of the Dragon's Hoard, has been asked to present some of her research at said convention, and has invited many of the Knights to come fill the seats, and explore the other lectures.

The hall is large and brimming with scholars both young and ancient, as well as those of a variety of unusual Shadowkind species.  It makes for great people watching from the food court, at least.

Comments

Theories & Extrapolations on the Existence of A Shadow Gate

[rationalizes]

[ the hall where sir gar is presenting is filling up about halfway to maximum, with faces both familiar and unfamiliar. take a seat, get comfy, and... maybe notice that gar is pacing around outside looking at her cue cards and looking nervous as shit. ]

[attollores]

[alainn walks over to gar when she notices her nervous pacing and fact-checking that seems to be driving the woman slightly batty]

Gar, darlin' I'm sure ye've got it in the bag, now put the notes away before ye drive yerself nuts. [there is nothing but gentleness in her tone, touched with a bit of humor as she crosses her arms, leaning against a near wall.]

[rationalizes]

[ she nearly drops said cards at the sound of her voice, looking up with a start ] A-Alainn! I didn't see you there.

[daredtobelieve]

[Helen was far too focused on getting a front row seat to even see that Gar was all flustered out in the hall. But she's front and center and ready to support her friend!!]

[rationalizes]

[ gar finally makes it to the podium, where she tries to square her cards on the stand and... ends up spilling them all over. they fly in all directions onto the floor and she turns bright red as she mumbles into the mic: ] Sorry, I-- [ and then bends to start frantically picking them up though now they're all out of order... ]

Psionics & Eldritch Energies

[behindcloseddoors]

[ this room is also about halfway full, elder scholars mixing with strange looking bald men and women covered with tattoos, with glowing eyes. in the very back row, one guy sits alone with his feet up on the seats. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ lila has her feet draped over the armrest into the next seat because lol no gtf away from her peasants, but on her other side is sylar so that's nice. she's got food in her purse which is on the armrest between them, which she's munching on casually. ] Do all psions look weird like albino girl?

[ you're such a shit head, lila. ]

[watchmaker]

[he looks at her like bitch r u real while reaching into her purse for a snack. he's pretty much just going to be mainlining snacks right now to try to appease the part of him that wants to kill like half of these people. it's like he's a drug addict locked inside cocaine mountain after being told YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE FUCKING COCAINE. he's jittery.] Why don't you say that a little louder? I don't think all the psions heard you.

Shadow Incursions Across the Centuries

[behindcloseddoors]

[ dr. astrid kolgrim is already prepared to present, a tall, stunning african-american woman with strong features. she has long glossy hair, worn up in a bun, and a no-nonsense aspect as she greets the gathered and launches into things. ]

Much of what we know about the history of Shadowkind incursions has come piece-meal through an examination of mythologies and histories, given that until the turn of the twentieth century, the nature of the Veil itself was completely unknown to most scientists or historians. It's difficult, therefore, for us to pinpoint when various incursions began and ended, but there are certainly clues in the rise of fall of belief systems and stories.

We'll begin with defining what we mean by an 'incursion' in the first place. The Veil operates in 'waves', meaning that it opens and closes. When it is 'open', an incursion is in progress, at which point one-way movement can occur from other dimensions into our own. During these periods, magic functions in our world, including psionics, incantations, and magical artifacts. When the Veil 'closes' however, these cease to operate, and all movement is halted.

[theminotaur]

[ abigail is here with will. and lemon in a little harness that says he's a service dog because he basically is pm acting as a therapy dog for abigail. you can buy those vests online. so abigail did. anyway, will is on one side of her and lemon is on the other, getting his head scratched by abigail as she fidgets nervously. she's paying attention, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to her. ]

[mydesigns]

[will would be like Disapproving Dad over the fake service dog shit (yes even though he lied to lydia about it. ~being a parent means being a hypocrite~) but he doesn't care right now. being at a convention full of people is anxiety-making. maybe he needs lemon the service dog, too. but no he'll just pay attention to the lecture. trying his very best to pay attention to the lecture. why did he even agree to this????]

Cultural Clashes & Possible Solutions to Them

[behindcloseddoors]

[ reeta crundall is a middle-aged human woman with jet black hair, rather reserved in mannerism and soft spoken. the hall is about three-quarters full, and pamphlets for the displaced are handed out as they enter.

the displaced is effectively an umbrella organization that provides aid, assistance, and information to people and intelligent creatures from beyond the veil, and they are responsible for most of the shelters created in the western world, thanks to support from donations and fundraisers. they are an international organization who help teach those from other worlds about the customs of this world, and who provide them shelter, etc, while they help them find jobs and homes. ]

[beatemup]

[Max reads the pamphlet as he takes a seat in the front row. He watches the Reeta's movement for a moment, observing her, before releasing a sigh and saying something to the person sitting near him and maybe almost all the people around, since he doesn't hold back his voice at all.] She's gonna ask for money, isn't she?

[pickyourbattles]

[ the nervous little half-elf next to him has a pad of paper out on his knee that he's jiggling up and down ] Why would you think that?

Culture Shock: Adjustment to the Migration on Both Sides

[behindcloseddoors]

[ maybe all the pm sessions are just better attended, because dr. allison's is also about 3/4th full. dr. rose allison, phd, is an eccentric looking woman with a wide smile. a pop culture check of 20+ recognizes the name from when she was once a parapsychologist with a weekly syndicated talk show. a pop culture check or arcane lore check of 15+ recognizes her from her more recent work - as a popular figure literate in the ways of magic and creatures from beyond reality, famous for the book she wrote on the subject.

the book is available for sale by the door: Dr. Allison's Guide to the Mystic Arts. there are also pamphlets there about the institute for continuous education, an adult education organization that teaches basic facts about magic, monsters, and shadowkind. the pamphlet advertises classes such as "Magic 101: What YOU Need to Know about Spellcasting" "Elves are from Koril, Dwarves are from Trynn: Improving Interspecies Communication" and "Urban Nature Trails: where to see magical beasts and how to avoid being eaten by them."

dr. allison encourages people to come in and sit down, moving along the front row to greet guests with a handshake and a few questions about where they came from. ]

[killmypatience]

[Kate apparently watches a lot of television(pop culture 20 total) and does a lot of reading (arcane lore 20 total) on her downtime, as she's familiar with Dr. Allison's work. Or maybe she just did a lot of research after Gar recommended it. Either way, she is here and she is interested. As she makes her way into the lecture hall she picks up each of the pamphlets, more to get a feel for things than actually considering taking the classes. As soon as she finds a seat somewhere in the middle, she leans back casually and starts flipping through them.

She's still processing a lot of Gar's lecture earlier in the day, she reads the pamphlets as a pallet cleanser of sorts to get ready for this one.]

[daredtobelieve]

[The dice truly know Helen's life because she only got a 13 on the tv show check but a nat 20 on her more recent work, which is what has brought her here in the first place. Once more, she finds herself a seat up front because she's just that person. She's here to learn and interact with the speakers as best she can. As Dr. Allison comes by, Helen sits forward and shakes her hand warmly.]

Dr. Helen Magnus with the Karthur Institute. A pleasure to meet you. I've been following your work for some time.

The Eldritch Tide: The Ebb & Flow & Effect Thereof of Eldritch Strength

[behindcloseddoors]

[ yet another room that is about three-quarters full, and a lecture hosted by a brunette human woman, wow such diverse, how did this happen. I DIDN'T PLAN IT THIS WAY. lady power.

dr. diana hoffman is a very attractive woman in her early thirties in a brown power suit, with carefully curled hair, representing the hoffman institute - an independent think-tank organization that mostly concerns itself with alternate energy sources. ]

Good afternoon, and thank you for coming. My name is Dr. Diana Hoffman. Some of you may know of my father, Tomas Hoffman, founder of the Institute that bears my family name.

Before we begin, I'd like to pose a question to you. What do you think we mean when we speak of 'eldritch strength' as it relates to the tide of magic?

[ex_psionic439]

[Oh, right. Adam is attending this one too but I didn't realize it had gone up yet. After a mostly disappointing lecture on psionics, he's not all that enthused about what Dr. Hoffman has in store for her presentation. If anything, the idea that something is going to happen that will eventually pull the plug on his abilities is just another bummer.]

Wouldn't that sort of be like the moon's gravitational pull? [To borrow from the imagery used in the title of her lecture.] I mean like, the higher the tide, the more plentiful--or the easier it is to tap into that energy and vice versa? [Which was a little confusing, considering psionics provided their own energy but whatever. Hopefully she gets his point. :/]

[druidisms]

[ he has more coffee. no one is surprised. but he's not late this time, which would probably matter more if he wasn't later for the one for his actual coworker. whoops. (sorry, gar.) he's not going to play q&a with the bb hoffman though, but he does look around to notice who does.

aww, adam. such a good little student. ]

The Curse of Lethe: Reconstructing a Homeland

[behindcloseddoors]

[ i've rolled that every single pm session so far was like exactly 3/4th full, i don't know what the odds of that are on a d100 but dammn.

anyways, donovan 'donny' sinclair looks pretty far from the usual lecturer fare here: in a black t-shirt with heavy gold chains hung around his neck, the short hispanic man sports tattooed sleeves and rubs his hands together as he watches people file in. he's thin and wiry and moves with a catlike grace. ]

Uh, hey. Hello. I'm Donny. Here to talk today about what is commonly known as the "Gift of Lethe" - the loss of memory that accompanies travel through the Veil.

[bittersweeter]

[ :D lila grins as she drops into a seat. ]

Why do it feel like I'm back in the city? [ mini mister t is why! he's adorable. lila wants to keep him in her pocket! maybe tone down the chains a little... ]

[watchmaker]

[sylar takes his seat with her, snorting a little.] Because that guy looks like he just stepped out of the Bronx?

Extraplanar Threats to Human Welfare

[extremist]

[ draken crombe's lecture is actually the most packed hall at the convention. (u n s u r e) it's also being attended by the most knights, many of them interested because of the connection between crombe's church - the church of the lord's humanity - and the cult that the knights have been up against for the last two years.

crombe is a serious, grave looking man, who appears to have the same bizarre tailor as chad becksworth. while the many attendees are still packing in, crombe takes a phone call out in the hallway. ]

[theminotaur]

[ there's so many people in there, abigail kind of wants to vomit. so she goes out into the hall to have a minor panic attack nbd. sitting on a bench, head in her hands. she probably can't hear much at all even though she does occasionally look up because... that's the speaker. (listen 17) when he goes in, she'll go back in. ]