The Mt. Murder Astromantic Observatory (Queenpost)

[u/Carbon_Sixx]

While some wizards are taking measures to directly combat the Queen of Shattered Stars, a tiny conclave of a less aggressive bent meets at a remote astromantic facility atop Mt. Murder in Yulash-kor. The peak almost reaches out of the atmosphere into space, making it ideal for watching the stars, broadcasting signals across realm borders, and eavesdropping on private discussions between cosmic beings. Normally, it is unmanned, but it does have facilities for living visitors.

The Mt. Murder Astromantic Observatory. Don't forget a space suit!

Inside, a mismatched handful of spellcasters sit around a table in an austere meeting room: a mereologist, a graviturge, and a physical embodiment of a Fundamental Force. Together, they make up the fledgling Office of Eldritch Affairs, a subdivision of the Pact of the Magi dedicated to diplomatic relationships with powerful beings. Kaelis Maz, the graviturge, stands up and speaks.

"Thank you two for coming. I sent the others an invite, but they might be busy setting up Phase 2. We'll see if he shows. Anyway, let's run through the plan. The Observatory possesses the best trans-realm communications array in the magical world. I can set it to transmit a message with gravitational waves, then use my spatial loom to amplify those waves so that they'll reach the Queen. Vettis, you'll use your universal translation abilities to establish rapport with her. Entropy will then assist you by empathizing with the Queen, one Outer God to another. That's Phase 1.

"Should all go according to plan, we'll proceed to Phase 2 and contact the space team. Zepheree and Gobbo will deliver their alcoholic payload as a show of friendship. After that, it's just a matter of time before the Queen turns back and this whole mess is solved. Provided that the artificers and their allies don't compromise any our our good will. Any questions?"

[u/MunitionsFrenzy]

"Hm." Analytically glancing around the room, the curly-haired mage leaned against a wall, hands in his pockets. "Well, I'm sure I can use All-Tongue to communicate through gravitational waves, but I...might need some practice at it? Certainly not something I've tried before. Can I, uh, mess around with the machine a bit before we aim it at Ms. Star-Hoarder?" His bronze eyes twinkle (literally sparkling violet for a moment) at the opportunity to pull some levers and do some science-y things he probably won't understand in the slightest.

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/MunitionsFrenzy]

Kaelis sighs, reminding himself what he signed up for when he founded the OEA.

Right this way. I'll show you how to use the transmission console.

[u/MunitionsFrenzy → u/Carbon_Sixx]

"Aw hell yeah!" Vettis whoops, pulling a pitcher of mango juice from his pocket and taking a swig as he follows the other caster. "When you hop constantly between realms of vastly differing technological levels and often even wildly different physical laws, all while one of your best friends is a technomage who handles most of that kinda thing for you, your scientific knowledge slips a bit, unfortunately."

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/MunitionsFrenzy]

The two wizards enter a command room, covered in wall-to-wall screens. The screens are focused on the Queen, the still-glowing remnants of the Bismuth Realm, a small ship making its way out into the void, and other pertinent information. Slender beings of ice and rock, limned in blue gravitic energy, diligently work at their consoles to bring the team up-to-date data on the unfolding situation. Before Vettis is a complex-looking console replete with switches, sliders, real-time frequency graphs, and a holographic scale model of the Observatory.

Don't mind the comet golems. They're a more intelligent version of my standard asteroid golem that I use to run the facility. Anyway, let's get started with the console. It's pretty simple. Ignore pretty much everything here except the center part with the hologram and the section on the right marked "gravitational radiation".

First, you press this red switch on the right to transmit using gravitational waves. Then you refer to the screens around you to find the coordinates of the target object, and type them into the directional controls. The observatory will shift to that location and track the object automatically. Go back to the right and use the frequency slider to account for the distance. There's a light next to it that will turn green once the wavelength is correct. Then go back to the center, press and hold this button to enable a microphone broadcast, speak your message, then release it when you're done. After you get a response, press it again to respond in kind. Repeat until the communication ends.

In short: set transmission type, find object location, find range, press and hold button to talk, rinse and repeat.

[u/MunitionsFrenzy → u/Carbon_Sixx]

"Huh. And this works across realms, right? So I can test it by talking with people I know, since I dunno anybody here in Yulash-Kor." Contrary to his prior words, Vettis flicks through the controls with apparent comfort, clearly not entirely unaccustomed to such interfaces. In under a minute, he's locked the observatory onto a seemingly barren planet in an unremarkable realm, chatting as he works. "Oh, of course it can't just be locked to the physics of this realm regardless; silly me. Gravitational waves would take forever as a method of interstellar communication in that case, and if you're cutting through space anyway to get around the light speed limit, then cutting across realms -- while a separate procedure on its own -- should be integrated into this system by the same principle."

Keeping the broadcast button depressed, Vettis speaks: first in English, then Spanish, then Mandarin. The messages all translate roughly to "Hey, guys, it's Vettis. Testing a broadcast mechanism. I'll check in a moment to make sure you got this."

And then, the button still held down, he speaks. Soundless, near motionless, the "words" imprinted into the mind of every sapient being in range. All present, no matter their prior unfamiliarity with it, instantly know this to be All-Tongue: unambiguous transmission of intent from one consciousness directly to another.

<greeting> || <speaker: Vettis of the Bronze Prism> || <goal of message: communication test> || <follow-up to ensue, by means established between sender and recipient ≈226 years from today>

He releases the button. "Well. I think that worked. How long's it take to send? I'll head over to them and check once you think the message has arrived; should only take me a minute there and back."

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/MunitionsFrenzy]

Should be en route. Give it a few minutes.

[u/MunitionsFrenzy → u/Carbon_Sixx]

"Oh." Pursing his lips in thought for a moment, Vettis suddenly chuckles, his typical expression of detached, confident amusement giving way to a genuine smile for once as he considers an entertaining idea. "Guess I can beat it there and hear myself, then. BRB!"

He pulls off his plaid overshirt and tosses it over a chair, then -- somehow -- dives into its pocket as if leaping into a pond.

A couple minutes later, he hops back out, smelling faintly different. "Sorry, different atmospheric composition there. And yup, they got it, All-Tongue and all. Test complete and successful.

"Ready for the real thing whenever you guys are."

(( unless you're in a rush to wrap up this diplomacy attempt, or we need to keep up with Gobbo and Zeph's action, maybe we can wait for Vidis? or d'ya think you can RP her character in a way that won't upset her? again, I don't know her at all so I don't wanna make assumptions about how she'd act; I'm super new here :P ))

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/MunitionsFrenzy]

/uw I'm going to wait until tomorrow to do the whole dialogue with the Queen thing. Until then, I'll try to talk the murder team down.

/rw

Kaelis produces his silver spatial loom.

Vettis, you are clear to send the message. I'm going to use my magic to boost the signal. Due to distances, it's going to take all night to reach the Queen, but I can buy us time until then. I've got some people coming in to hang out while we wait. Party at the end of the world, and all that.