Return of the Mage

[ixis]

The stone tower has remained in its distant reaches of the Nexus, a constant looming landmark at the border of the Wilds. But its owner and inhabitant has been silent and missing for so long now, hasn't he? The only reassurance that he's not dead is the family that has made their home on the outskirts of the tower, tending to the chao and rebuilding their own life after fleeing Azeroth's Westfall. Only they have been graced with rare glimpses of the Mobian mage, who otherwise has locked himself inside, working obsessively on...something.

So the sudden pillar of smoke that rises from the landmark might be cause for notice, if not alarm. It swirls and grows, soon gathering itself into a singular column of dense smog and streaking towards the central plaza. And there in the middle does it descend, pulling its billowing shape into something more solid. The gruesome form it ends up taking is none other than the long-absent Ixis Naugus, jeweled staff in hand, cape pulled around his shoulders with his claw.

He casts a surveying look around, taking in the usual views and the present people. After doing so, his face splits into a toothy grin and he poses his question:

"Well? What have I missed?"

Comments

[ixis]

"If I remember correctly, you're a little pissant, but you didn't hear me bringing that up, did you? Anyhow, you angered a man of great power and didn't take proper measures to contain or destroy him? This is why mercy is such a wasted effort. Am I to step in for this as well? I can easily make a prison with little hope of escape. Or has the man already been crushed like a grape? Please impress me for once, Jim."

[smartass_captain]

Yes, actually. He does hear it bring brought up. But aside from another raised eyebrow at the cantankerous old mage, Jim keeps the retort to himself. It's really easier than the alternatives if he's being honest.

"Your simile is an...apt description of Khan's fate, yes." Harrowheart and Blaze were to thank for that much more so than Jim but it does not change the outcome in any way. There is nothing Jim would not do to protect his crew and his friends here. He would have killed Khan himself and felt no remorse after everything the man has done.

"Everything seems to be in order now, within the Nexus. The field is holding steady, and the deceased have been given a respectful burial." One thing Jim and Naugus share a frustration of is the instability of the Nexus' Anti-Violence field. He'd almost rather not have one at all than to have one that can be broken by unknown means. It puts the locals into a false sense of security and means there is no agreed upon organized evacuation protocol in place when things do go wrong.

[ixis]

"Good. I appreciate foes being crushed and the status quo being restored. Although I cannot stress how vexing this whole ordeal is to come back and find. We've always been assured the Anti-Violence Field is absolute, but you and I both have seen its failure TWICE now. Unacceptable, as far as I'm concerned. And now that I've returned, I intend to shift ALL my energy into figuring out WHY this happens and bolstering it with my own power if I must. It cannot fall if someone as grand as I am actively maintaining it and lending my strength, can it?"

He thumps his tail once for emphasis.

[smartass_captain]

"Vexing doesn't even come close. There wouldn't have been nearly so many casualties here if there were an emergency plan in place for these sorts of things. When people assume they are safe, they don't tend to be prepared when things do go wrong, no matter how rare such occurrences are."

Hell may have just frozen over, but Jim is right there with Naugus on this. There's far too much they just don't know about the Nexus and how it works.

"I'm all for finding the source of its power and reinforcing it, to be honest. Though if its power source is ethereal as opposed to scientific you will be a far better candidate for studying it that I will be."

[ixis]

"All the same, you're likely onto something with this mention of a contingency. I may be inclined towards arcane corrections, but you're a leader of another stripe. A military mind with a knack for getting others to follow you. Perhaps you can put that charisma to use and start devising back-up plans? Ways for civilians to protect themselves or reinforced places to hide. An armoury perhaps. Simply putting in place drills that one falls back on when disaster strikes."

Whoa, the two of them are actually agreeing AND working together, as well as admitting the other is better at a given task than they are. These sort of things have a way of bringing people together.

[smartass_captain]

"I know a lot of the power players in the Nexus. If we can get a committee together to create an implement safe zones it'll go a huge way to helping mitigate the loss of lives should this happen again. Bunkers. Emergency foodstuffs. Signage with emergency evacuation directions."

Blaze and the Imperials would be an excellent place to start in terms of emergency supplies and weaponry, though Jim is thinking Officer Suou and Isidor Durant would be better at helping come up with emergency drills. Point is, it's about time for Jim to start doing what he does best. Getting the best minds together to solve a common problem.

"Speaking of unique talents, would you be able to create a bunker of sorts to protect either said armory or people? Or point me in the direction of someone who specializes in that sort of warding? I can design something that will withstand bombs or radiation, but magic is a bit out of my depth."

[ixis]

"Even flagging doorways to worlds that can easily harbour refugees in time of crisis, assuming it's a temporary holding. And the world it leads to is safe, as well as the immediate place you emerge big enough to hold several people. No good to try and usher people to a portal that only opens into someone's matchbox of a flat."

At the question of magical warding, Naugus nods enough that his ears wag. "Of course! Anything you can devise, I can fortify. Placing wards and the like; magical alarms that can alert me if someone attempts to enter it without proper allowances. Said wards can easily be set up to be lowered if you, say, tap the right series of stones or similiar innocuous actions. Ones known only to those who have business in opening a weapon's storehouse in the first place."

[smartass_captain]

"Then it's settled. I'll get to work on rounding up who we'll need to get these safe zones and bunkers constructed. When it's finished, you can handle warding the areas. Next time there's trouble in the Nexus....at least we'll be better prepared."

Truthfully, that's all one can ever really hope to accomplish when trying to defend people. Jim tends to forget that in his goal to save everyone but the closer he gets to it the better off everyone is, in the long run.

And if it gets these two Nexus frequenters to work together on something well, stranger things have happened before. It is the Nexus. Anything is possible.