Issue 1 Downtime

Samantha had gone on ahead, partly to make certain they wouldn't be disturbed, and partly because it was a rather nice day for flying. Thus it was that she'd settled on a spot that was a decent distance from the roads and, as Nailah had requested, sunlight streamed down into the clearing.

After presumably parking her car somewhere Nailah flew into the clearing. Maybe somewhat surprisingly to Sam her hair was back to it's former sandy blonde.

"Well now, aren't you a sight?" Samantha smiled. "Spur of the moment?"

"Why thank you." she preens a little. "Been contemplating it for a while and the time seemed right. Bit like the last step back into this life, you know?"

"It looks lovely on you. A good match, though I suppose they had the fur to go off of."

"They got it pretty close, yes. It's only symbolic but it does feel a little like putting all of that further behind me."

"Rather striking in the sun, too. I made sure, as you asked."

"It makes things a little easier in it's light."

"Aye, ritual significance I'm sure. Pleasant day, at least."

"That helps too." she chuckles.

"For me, at least. I'm not the sun-worshipper here," she smirked.

"Let's see if it'll let me do more than dull things then."

"My dear, you were never dull."

"I do try." she grins.

"Now then, anything I can do to help?"

"Be in tune with that part of you but don't try to fight me when you feel anything changing. It shouldn't get too bad but I am trying to shut out at least part of your psyche."

"Same as when we were on campus, then?"

"Same principle but I'm going to try to hide you away entirely instead of making you fade slightly."

"I trust you, love. Let's get down to it."

"Just sit back and relax then." she says and goes about preparing the clearing. Bowls of incense, geometric shapes drawn on the ground and prayers or incantations spoken in the cardinal directions. Over about half an hour the area seems to faintly grow in how 'alive' it feels, the clearing seeming to faintly hum with power. Finally she begins casting the actual spell and the feeling of magic flowing through them increases as she weaves it into a veil, drawing it away from the surrounding forest to create a bubble that's hidden away from the rest of the world. For a moment the tree-line around them even seems to flicker and waver for a moment as the veil settles.

Samantha once again shivered, her feathers ruffling, but as Nailah said she didn't try to fight against the sensation.

"And that should hide the Morrigan from all but the most tenacious eyes. But more importantly, it should silence any accidental prayers."

"Does feel a little... off, but I suppose that's to be expected."

"I can only imagine. But nothing worse?"

"Well there's this sudden craving for human flesh, but I'm certain that will pass."

"Glad to see you're taking this seriously." she chuckles.

"Humor, last refuge of the damned."

"You're the goddess. Hand out some blessings."

"Suppose it's to be expected, but I think I feel a bit... less divine, at the moment."

"Really... That's interesting. Maybe you have more unwitting followers than we thought." she teases, though there's a bit of seriousness in her voice.

"I suppose more accurately, it feels more like it did before. 'Normal' for me is an ever-shifting, relative term."

"I suppose you haven't quite been 'normal' for a long time, no. But now I'm curious... Can you break the veil?"

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"I think I know when to back down, yes. I'm just wondering how well it'd hold. Think of it as sparring." she smirks.

"Then let's see here..."

She spread the flock out to the boundaries to the veil, and gently at first began to push.

Gentle wasn't going to cut it apparently. There was some give but that only really pushed out the barrier some.

"Well now, hope you're ready for this."

She steadily increased the pressure.

It didn't really seem to strain Nailah but that was because at first she was just relying on the spell holding by itself and soon she had to actively hold it together, arms spread wide as she channeled more energy into the veil to renew it where the flock was causing it to tear. "Not gonna make it that easy." she smirks, though the strain was starting to show.

"Are we just aiming for pressure testing, or ought I look for weak spots?"

"Anything you can to break it. I reckon if I can keep you in this for even a bit I should be able to hold off other things. Granted the... ritual is cheating a little..." she adds a bit more strained.