[Jasnah has his full attention. The explanation seems simple enough on the surface, but it leaves Logan with a great many questions. Along with the question of which question to ask first.
Coming to the library first was a dangerous idea... productive, but dangerous. They may well never leave.
[ Ah. The Spiritual Realm. She chews her lower lip — just briefly — while gathering her thoughts into a coherent order. ]
Somewhere I'm considerably less acquainted with, I'm afraid. However, I've had it described to me as a land of essences. Souls, and all the Connections they have to one another. It's less a place where one can go and more a map of all the ways we are bonded or related to one another. Our families, our homes, our planets.
[ ...Ah. That. What an astute question. Jasnah had planned to withhold this information for as long as humanly possible, but in her burst of excitement over these three qualities in common, she'd let the academic in her run away with the truth she was trying to hold so close to her chest.
Her mouth quirks into a brief, self-reproaching frown. ]
Not a device. But it does require a power source we call Stormlight. [ She wets her lips, cautious. ] And oaths.
[Logan sees the annoyance in her expression, but he doesn't understand it. She's been very forthcoming, almost excited, in the topic. Yet now she's suddenly hesitant?]
That doesn't sound familiar to me. 'Stormlight'. Oaths sound like promises, but that's a practice we have, not anything magical.
[Maybe phrasing his curiosity as an exchange will help ease her sudden uncertainty.]
[ If pressed, she would claim that Stormlight is more science than magic. But it's a thin boundary to quibble. In many respects, the two feel interchangeable.
Gently, with a two fingers, she closes the book. ]
Stormlight is a — well, a kind of light. [ A wan smile. ] Or maybe more like a gas that emits light. We capture it in gemstones during dangerous weather patterns known as highstorms. An infused gem of average cut can hold its stormlight for about a week. And that stormlight can be used to power mechanisms or — abilities, of late.
[ She'll talk around the implication but it's hard not to see exactly what she's saying. Whatever these abilities are, she has access to some. ]
[It makes sense that someone as powerful and well connected as a queen would have access to something as rare as magical gems. Or, gas captured in gems. Logan's not sure he understands how that works, but now is the time for broad overviews not getting caught up in the details.]
And this 'Stormlight' allows you to travel between realms? If not using devices then... abilities?
[ A slow, hesitant nod. This becomes the tricky part. Why should anyone believe her if she can't demonstrate such feats? But there's no stormlight here. She's as vulnerable as she was six years ago. More so, maybe, without her connections to keep her insulated. ]
Yes. It's a power source, primarily. In fact...
[ She digs into a pocket and produces a small glass sphere, with a red chip of gemstone in its heart. Someone not from Roshar mightn't know the difference, but this particular sphere is dun. Its light long since lost and faded, so it looks more like a pretty marble than anything else.
[Logan waits, head tilted as he watches her search for the small sphere. He picks it up when she offers it to him, and turns to hold it up to the light.]
I've never seen anything like it.
[Still he turns it in his hand, as if he might uncover something else from it.]
The Old Kingdom used augments, stones imbued with magical power which could be infused into weapons... But they don't look like this. Nor have I ever heard of them allowing people to travel between realms.
[He hands it back carefully, folding his arms and stroking his chin as he thinks.]
Could that allow you to travel back to your world if it held stormlight again?
[ It isn't so surprising. If Wit is to be believed (and on this topic, she's inclined to trust him) then it's common for other worlds to harness other types of Investiture in other, different ways. Stormlight is unique to Roshar; another world might channel its latent powers quite differently. And that's exactly what these augments sound like. ]
— Yes, I believe so. [ She hedges, pocketing the precious sphere. ] But I'm afraid it's all very hypothetical.
I'm not sure. It could be linked with the decline of Heroes, or those who have the talents necessary to use the powers of Will.
The queen is one of the few people who can use Will. She uses gauntlets to help her channel her power, but our father didn't. I'm not sure why there is such a change.
[ An unsatisfying answer. She tries not to blame him for it — sometimes, these things simply end up lost. It's one of the most frustrating elements of her vocation. All the night-long research sessions in the world can't make up for missing sources.
So she relents with a nod. ]
That can happen. Great figures of myth and history, fading away with no adequate explanation as to why.
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no subject
Coming to the library first was a dangerous idea... productive, but dangerous. They may well never leave.
Logan's gaze shifts back from Jasnah's hands.]
And the Spiritual realm?
no subject
Somewhere I'm considerably less acquainted with, I'm afraid. However, I've had it described to me as a land of essences. Souls, and all the Connections they have to one another. It's less a place where one can go and more a map of all the ways we are bonded or related to one another. Our families, our homes, our planets.
no subject
You said you travelled between realms. How? Does it require a device? Or is it unique to certain people?
no subject
Her mouth quirks into a brief, self-reproaching frown. ]
Not a device. But it does require a power source we call Stormlight. [ She wets her lips, cautious. ] And oaths.
no subject
That doesn't sound familiar to me. 'Stormlight'. Oaths sound like promises, but that's a practice we have, not anything magical.
[Maybe phrasing his curiosity as an exchange will help ease her sudden uncertainty.]
no subject
Gently, with a two fingers, she closes the book. ]
Stormlight is a — well, a kind of light. [ A wan smile. ] Or maybe more like a gas that emits light. We capture it in gemstones during dangerous weather patterns known as highstorms. An infused gem of average cut can hold its stormlight for about a week. And that stormlight can be used to power mechanisms or — abilities, of late.
[ She'll talk around the implication but it's hard not to see exactly what she's saying. Whatever these abilities are, she has access to some. ]
no subject
And this 'Stormlight' allows you to travel between realms? If not using devices then... abilities?
no subject
Yes. It's a power source, primarily. In fact...
[ She digs into a pocket and produces a small glass sphere, with a red chip of gemstone in its heart. Someone not from Roshar mightn't know the difference, but this particular sphere is dun. Its light long since lost and faded, so it looks more like a pretty marble than anything else.
She holds it out to Logan. ]
Empty. But if it had stormlight, it would glow.
no subject
I've never seen anything like it.
[Still he turns it in his hand, as if he might uncover something else from it.]
The Old Kingdom used augments, stones imbued with magical power which could be infused into weapons... But they don't look like this. Nor have I ever heard of them allowing people to travel between realms.
[He hands it back carefully, folding his arms and stroking his chin as he thinks.]
Could that allow you to travel back to your world if it held stormlight again?
no subject
— Yes, I believe so. [ She hedges, pocketing the precious sphere. ] But I'm afraid it's all very hypothetical.
no subject
Perhaps, but it's a start. If we can find the right kind of power for that stone, perhaps we can find you a way back.
[And it would be more familiar to Jasnah than working with anything from the Old Kingdom.]
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[ She eases the word into the conversation with all the grace of a chull. Or an ox, maybe, in the local parlance. ]
Stormlight is simply one form of Investiture. If there's a similar power here — we might try and coax it into the gem.
[ Her expression does crease with a frown, however. ]
no subject
Investiture. [He repeats the word, but it remains unfamiliar.]
Magic isn't as common as it once was, but I know a few places we can begin looking.
no subject
I'll come back for these.
[ In the meantime? ]
...Are any of these places included in the grounds tour?
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Magic used to be common in Albion. It's much rarer these days. We would have to travel to get to them.
no subject
What changed?
no subject
I'm not sure. It could be linked with the decline of Heroes, or those who have the talents necessary to use the powers of Will.
The queen is one of the few people who can use Will. She uses gauntlets to help her channel her power, but our father didn't. I'm not sure why there is such a change.
no subject
So she relents with a nod. ]
That can happen. Great figures of myth and history, fading away with no adequate explanation as to why.
no subject
[He tilts his head thoughtfully.]
Perhaps now there will be enough peace for that to change.