entranceway | Video (with some closed Action threads)

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Video (with some closed Action threads)

[ Video ]
[ When the video screen turns on, it's a rush of motion, one hand fumbling to right the device before Brennan's face appears in the screen. His expression is tense and drawn and is lit by an eerie green glow from where he's observed to be kneeling on Wonderland's beach. There's a hint of panic in his eyes, and he's still bloody and banged up from a recent battle. But that's not the cause of his frantic urgency.

Flickering green flares and flashes alarmingly as he grits his teeth in pain. ]

I don't... I can't hold it back. Stay away. You need to stay away from the beach. Dorian... Solas!

[ Those are the only words he can get out before there's a blinding flare of light as his Anchor discharges with the force of a small explosion, the video feed going black as his device gets destroyed in the process. The explosion itself might be heard by anyone who was outside at the time, accompanied by a flare of green light coming from the direction of the beach. Anyone who comes to investigate (after his departure) will find a widened crater in the sand where the force of the releasing magic left an impact. ]

[ Action Threads: Closed to Dorian and/or Solas ]
Give me your hand.

It had been Solas who had uttered the words, Brennan focusing on them through the excruciating pain as the temporary measures the mage had taken to give them enough time to talk wore off, the Anchor tearing through them with a ferocity that left him breathless. He'd reached for the elf in a flash of green light...

...and suddenly found himself on a distant beach, no companions in sight, and a flood of memories momentarily distracting him from the pain and disorientation of his return to Wonderland.

Only the Anchor wasn't so easily distracted, and he could feel the power growing, surging. He'd had it discharge on him often enough over the past hour to know that the force of this one would be immense, worse than the others. It took him to his knees as the pressure built, magic crackling around him with visible intensity. He had only a few seconds to send out an urgent message, unsure if he'd even managed to do it right before the Anchor explodes outwards in waves of staggering magic, lifting him into the air and throwing him backwards into the sand.

He aches everywhere, the breath knocked out of him as his arm throbs, the Anchor having spread to destroy tissue and nerves when it started tearing itself apart. He's still breathing, but he's dazed, too hurt to move, jaw clenched as his arm feels as if its on fire and the Anchor...

He can't feel it. Not through the pain of his ruined arm, or the protesting ache of his battered body after the damage he'd just taken. He doesn't know what that means, but doesn't have the strength to pick up his head and see for himself at the moment. And he's not sure he wants to see what's left...

[ Video ]
[ It's hours later when he finally reappears on the Network, tired and haggard but alive, his device newly replaced after the explosion had destroyed the last one. He manages a sheepish expression in apology to the Network at large. ]

Well, it hadn't been my intent to announce my return in quite such a noisy manner, but I wasn't given much of an option. To those concerned, the matter is....[ He pauses, struggling to find the right words. ] contained, for the time being. I'm sorry if I alarmed anyone by it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Dorian had gotten him back to their quarters, despite Brennan's voiced concerns about the continuing danger the Anchor might present if it started to discharge once more. But as the Mark had fallen silent after it's explosion out on the beach, Brennan reluctantly allowed himself to be helped inside and settled on the couch in their quarters as they came up with a solution. However temporary it might end up being.

Since he hadn't heard from Solas in response to his return, he and Dorian had instead reached out to some of the mages they'd encountered here in Wonderland, ones with access to other strange magics unknown in Thedas, in hopes for some advice or perhaps even a solution.

Even if Brennan was already laying here on the couch preparing himself for the inevitable debate that would no doubt happen first. What experience he did have with mages seemed to include a lot of arguing before anything actually got accomplished. Or perhaps he just had a lot of very opinionated mages around him. Who was he to say?

When Dorian reaches out to her, she doesn't hesitate. Brennan is quickly becoming a friend and if this anchor situation gets out of hand, it could cause more harm than good. Eventually she makes her way to their room, and will knock on the door before she opts to enter, just to be on the safe side.

"Dorian? Brennan?"

Dorian is quick to respond, as much as he hates to leave Brennan's side-- it's not so far to the door that he can't be spared, and he gives Brennan's shoulder a gentle squeeze before he gets to his feet to answer it, the worried lines around his eyes and mouth aging him significantly. Troubled has never been a good look for him.

"Freya," he exhales, relieved, stepping aside to quickly usher her in. "Please, please come in. Thank you-- for agreeing to help. Even I can't handle this one alone."

"Of course," she says with a small smile as she makes her way inside, placing her bag of spell ingredients down to the side, before looking over at Brennan and the overactive anchor. "What can you tell me about the magic involved?"

Brennan's gaze flicks to Dorian for a moment before returning to Freya as he takes a deep breath and tries to figure out where to start.

"It's old. Elvhen. Our world is divided in two by the Veil - it separates the world of magic and spirits from the physical, keeping them divided and safe from one another. An ancient magister tried to rip a hole in it to pass through into the Fade and I happened to interrupt his ritual and ended up with the Anchor instead. It's able to open and close holes in the Veil. At it's creation, the ritual spun wildly out of control and ripped a hole in the sky that allowed the Fade to spill into our world - the Breach, we call it. I was the only one with the capability to close it."

"For a time, one of my companions was able to keep it from growing out of control, from killing me, and sealing the Breach off helped it stay dormant, but the more I used it to heal the Veil, the more it grew in power." He hadn't realized it at the time, but looking back, it was quite obvious now. Not that he'd had any choice in the matter. It was either close rifts or be overrun by demons.

"Wonderland sent me home. Over a year's gone by for me and in that time the Anchor's started growing wildly out of control once more. And there was nothing my companion could do to stave off the inevitable this time, short of removing the Anchor entirely. Unfortunately, Wonderland interrupted us before he could."

Which has him glancing down to his ruined and mangled hand, skin blackened and veins glowing with the green of the Anchor's magic. "It discharged again when I returned, and I can't feel it now." Can't feel anything, actually. "I don't know if Wonderland's stopping it or if it's just biding its time."

"Wonderland is incredibly powerful, and it likes to hold on to it's toys. If this anchor is as powerful as you say then it's likely that it's trying to contain it's magic so that it doesn't go off and tear a hole in Wonderland itself."

Which is both a blessing and not. It could very easily mean their way out of Wonderland, memories and all, but were it to happen accidentally, it's hard to say what the collateral damage would be in the process.

"I can try and help however I can, though I'm not sure I could to much more than try to contain it and ease your pain. My magic comes with too much of a cost for more than that, and I'm not sure what the price would be."

Normally, Regina Mills makes an entrance when she walks into a room, a fact that has remained true long after she shed the moniker of 'queen.' Now, however, she enters quietly, nodding at Freya and Dorian as Brennan explains and listens as he talks, and then to Freya. Well, this is an awkward situation and considering there's magic from at least three different worlds in play, is likely only going to get worse.

"Cut it off."

Brennan blinks at Regina a moment, because he'd really hoped that would at least be Plan H or something, not their first option. There's resignation lingering in his gaze, because he'd been prepared for it all the same, he'd just.... hoped.

His shoulders slump slightly as he glances between them. "There's no other choice, then? I'd hoped with the magics of other worlds... Never mind. I knew it was coming. I'll make do." he tries to be resolved about it, because it's not their fault. He'd known all along the Mark would kill him eventually, had suspected it ever since he'd woken up in a cell in Haven to agonizing pain. if this was the price to survive it... well. It was better than the alternative, right?

Freya's eyes widen, because that seems like a bit of an extreme option, but it does seem like the best one for Brennan's continued well-being. "Do you know if it will discharge again once it's separated from you?"

Brennan seems fairly resigned about losing the arm, so maybe once they're separated the magic will dissipate safely.

"The hand is a lost cause, so unless you want to walk around with a liability like that..." She trails off, as blunt as ever. As nice as it would be to heal the hand, there's a quicker -- and easier way. But Freya's question is an important one, so she holds her tongue.

"I'm afraid not."

It's an answer Dorian wishes they did have, although they were running out of time to discuss before some sort of action had to be taken.

"Before the hand was removed in my own time, the Anchor itself was reclaimed by its 'rightful' owner," he goes on, a frown pulling at his lips, eyebrows drawn downwards as he feels his stomach begin to roil. Said owner should have been here, should have been doing something to put a stop to this. "We would do well to try and contain it immediately, if we can. Assume the worst. Left unchecked, the results could most certainly be catastrophic."

"No, I agree." She moves to reach for her supplies, moving to reach for one of her notebooks. "I can make a protection circle to contain the power of the anchor as we separate it from Brennan. Once we separate his arm we should be able to pull him out, but keep the magic where it is. After that's done, we can try and find a safe way to ... absorb it into something else? Perhaps fuse it to something non-living?"

He shakes his head at Regina's comment, his own lips tugging down into a frown. "No. You're right, of course. Take it. The Anchor's destroyed too much of it to be saved."

And the pain he could feel was enough for him to want this to be done, even if his hand itself - and the Mark that branded it - couldn't even be felt any longer. He knew that was a bad sign.

He'd just adjust to having one hand. He could do that, right? Somehow. It seemed he didn't have much choice in the matter, either way. He tried to ignore the sickening clench in his stomach at the very idea, listening instead to Dorian and Freya debate on what to do about the Anchor.

"If you think you can manage that, I would appreciate it. I'm worried about it building in it's power again, that this lull might only be temporary." He still wasn't sure how Wonderland's magic could interfere with it at all, or render it dormant again.

Dorian exhales slowly, his own expression grave as he carefully considers Freya's suggestion. The idea regarding execution is sound-- as much as it can be, with all the risks that are already inherent simply because of the brand of magic they're dealing with. He nods in agreement as Brennan concedes, reaching out to close a hand over the warrior's shoulder and give it a firm, reassuring squeeze.

It means little, he knows, but it's all the comfort he can offer at the moment. The only measures available to them are drastic ones.

"Whatever the course, you'll not stay this way." Injured, less than whole. "I promise you."

Regina nods, glad the others have decided to tackle dealing with the strange magic in his hand. Her magic is great but sometimes finesse is... not her strong point. "Since... the Anchor? Is being dealt with, I have some good news."

She's just going to shrug like it's no big deal, because for her, it isn't.

"If you don't mind getting used to a brand new hand, which would be far easier than adjusting to life with one. ... And I don't recommend a hook, for the record, I can do something about that."

Brennan blinks at that, glancing up at the woman. "A brand new one?" he echoes, sounding bewildered and half-afraid to hope. "You can do that?"

"I didn't realize that level of flesh-mending was possible," Dorian confesses, his mouth a careful line, unwilling to reveal himself as either hopeful or wary just yet. "There's magic meant specifically for healing, of course, but regenerating lost limbs or extremities has always been too complicated for even the most skilled healers, in my experience."

"You'd be surprised," she smirks at Dorian, before shaking her head. "Regenerating a new hand would take too long, and the last thing we want is for Brennan to get an infection or bleed to death after we remove the damaged hand. What I can do is attach a new one, as if nothing ever happened, provided the closets are willing to help."

She pauses, because she realises they might want some proof.

"If you have any doubts, my sister cut off her own hand and immediately reattached it with this spell and she's fine."

"She cut off her own hand?" Brennan stops and stares for a moment. Because that sounds crazy, right? Who does that?

"Will it work just like a normal hand? My hand, I mean?"

Freya's eyebrows rise just slightly as she watches this exchange, but then again, if someone was keeping her from her magic and she had the ability to heal it, she can't say she wouldn't have done the same thing. She's unfortunately pragmatic that way.

But she'll refrain from commenting until Regina answers Brennan's questions.

"It's a long story, and unfortunately, not the craziest thing she's done," which is also a long story and if they really want to know it, they can ask Zelena herself. She nods, just once. "As I said, it'll be like nothing ever happened. One of the perks of magic."

Though, who knows what the price for this will be.

Brennan takes a moment to glance at Dorian, exchanging silent looks with his lover before looking back to Regina and Freya. Taking a deep breath, he nods, accepting.

"Alright. We'll try that. What do you need me to do?"

Freya nods in agreement, before starting to sort her various spell ingredients into place. She can conjure barrier spells on her own, but to hold this kind of energy she wants to make sure it will be strong enough to hold.

"I'll start preparing the spell."

"Right now, you need to decide who you want to cut that hand off when they're finished dealing with the Anchor," Regina answers with a shrug as she steps aside. "Once it's off, it'll only take a few moments to attach the new hand."

"I'll assist," Dorian chimes in through grit teeth, casting an uneasy glance at Freya before forcing himself to steady, willing himself to remain calm, collected. Panic would not help him now, worry would not do any of them any good.

He pauses, just for a moment, his eyes falling on Brennan.

"It's your choice, amatus, but I will do it, if you're willing."

It wasn't at all ideal, but they didn't have time to seek out someone who might be able to do it without flinching as he knew he would-- if only because of whose hand he would be taking.

Video (with some closed Action threads)

[Closed] Mage Powwow.

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tl;dr's at you >.>

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