2025-05-08 - A Story Of Three Devices

Once people have settled, Jackson Cavendish opens his presentation with a slide that displays the Visions of Wonder logo.

"Visions of Wonder is more than an entertainment company," Jackson begins. "It is one entity belonging to an organization that has existed since the late 1600s, early 1700s comprised of those who were interested in the study of magic, real magic, the possibility that it once existed in this world, and the potential for it to exist in this world again. My family, along with a number of others, have been researching strange places, occurrences, scientists, self-proclaimed wizards, charlatans, and cults for over three centuries."

He brings up another slide that depicts a number of strange looking devices, "Over time we've found some items that appeared to be magical in nature, but whatever magic they may have had was so weak, that it vanished over the course of study. We've purchased land in places that were said to be magical in nature, but more often than not turned out not to be. Sometimes, we resold this land for other purposes. Sometimes, we chose to build entertainment venues on them where it made sense."

"Among the people whose inventions and research we were following were Alistair Waverly and his partner Edward Landrydale. But Estella will speak a bit more about them in her presentation," Jackson says, moving along. "We lost track of them at some point and we assumed that something had happened to cause their research to simply stop." He gestures in the vague direction of where the Brass House resides. "We were wrong."

Continuing on, he displays a map of the Isles of Wonder. "The Isles of Wonder came up on our radar when they went up for sale. The history of all the shipwrecks around the Great Lakes and a few hints of some 'oddities' happening on the islands was enough to pique our interest. We hadn't actually expected to find anything here, but since some competing interests also seemed to have their eye on the land, we put in a bid and won. At first, we didn't find anything particularly magical here. But a few hints of some sort of power in the area and it's unusual climate lead to the decision to build the park here."

There's some images of the early construction of the park which some who were there might remember well enough. "At first, so little happened that we figured it was a fluke, but the park itself, we felt would be successful, so we continued ahead with the plans. It wasn't until the park opened and the magical energy continued to grow and people started exhibiting magic of their own that we realized that whatever was here was growing. It's influence was becoming stronger, and perhaps we'd found what we were searching for all this time."

"Since then, we have been working to study the magic of this place. It presents a situation that is unprecedented. We are all learning how to best move forward, to research, to put in place safety protocols, and adapt to the changing landscape all while also fending off those who might wish to obtain the magic for their own ends," Jackson continues to explain. "Visits like the one from the CDC that we experienced recently may occur from time to time as a result, but we encourage everyone not to worry. Visions of Wonder will continue to work to ensure the continued security of Spellbound and those who work here."

"Our plans for the Magical Studies Department and the park as a whole are to continue to study the magic, its limits, its potential, and if and how we can use it outside of the park in the future to potentially better society through its use. We're very grateful to have you here to learn and do this research with us in these unprecedented times," he concludes. "I'll now turn things over to Estella so she can explain how the magic came to the islands as far as we know it."

Estella Waverly, who had been standing to one side throughout the presentation, offers Jackson a smile and then one to the audience before she makes her way over to the podium and brings up a slide that holds images of Alistair Waverly, Edward Landrydale, and three magical devices. Some may recognize parts of them from the shared dreams they experienced, drawings of the runes that some had copied down, images from the lab in Sault Sainte Marie, and of course the construction going on in the Forbidden Forest.

"Hello," she says to everyone, a little quietly, until she adjusts the microphone and then starts again. "Hello, my name is Estella Waverly and I'm here to give a high-level overview of how magic got here, the three devices, and what's going on out in the woods." She smiles a little bit and the slide behind her changes to an image from a newspaper clipping from the 1800s in London.

"Alistair Waverly and Edward Landrydale were inventors in the 1800s. They spent a lot of their time designing small electrical devices, some of which were more useful than others. They had many patents. But part of their research was a little less conventional. They were interested in harnessing more than just electricity. They wanted to try to harness magical energy, which they fully believed they could."

The slides switch to show images of the Siphon, both in its current resting place at the bottom of the lake, and the drawings from dreams where it looked much smaller, to another where it sits under the pedestal in an octagonal portal room. "They invented the Siphon, a device that is used, we believe, to literally siphon magical energy from.. somewhere. We're not entirely sure where. That is the device that currently resides in a shipwreck at the bottom of Lake Michigan, where the ship that was carrying it sank on its way from Chicago to Sault Sainte Marie during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. At the time, Alistair Waverly was living there and giving talks about the possibility to traverse other worlds under the name Alexander Weaver."

She then shows a slide of the land in Sault Sainte Marie with the entrance into the underground lab beneath. "We believe that he was going under this alias after he dropped off the Visions of Wonder radar in order to avoid some of the other influences out there trying to capture magic for their own purposes. They were hoping to bring the Siphon to this lab in Sault Sainte Marie where they built two additional devices."

The image of the Looking Glass appears on the screen, a large complicated structure consisting of a large mirror-like lens and a round device coming down from the ceiling above it humming with blue magical power, focusing beams through the mirror. "The Looking Glass was designed to focus the energy of the magic through this specially designed lens. We believe that the Siphon provides the power and the direction, and the Looking Glass focuses the energy and creates the needed configuration to open The Revolving Door."

Her next slide depicts a large octagonal portal room in the Sault Sainte Marie lab and then another of the Portal Room in the Brass House present on Spellbound Island. The two are very different in appearance but have many of the same features. "The Revolving Door is the housing for the portals. It contains the calibration mechanisms with its runic controls, and these niches here where the portals will open to other worlds."

She then goes on to explain, "We believe that when the ship carrying the Siphon sank off of Spellbound Island, the device began to tunnel beneath the islands themselves, extending these magical conduits in an attempt to perhaps reach the other devices in Sault Sainte Marie. It's been siphoning magical energy and growing since the 1870s, and so has its magical influence on the islands above as it's spread outward. We've determined these magical conduits, the pipeworks that you can see through the window in the offices outside, span the entirety of the Isles of Wonder. And it's the Siphon that began to build the Revolving Door here in the Forbidden Forest with the help of our team."

"The... explosions.. of blue light that were witnessed both at New Years and more recently when a dive team attempted to extract the Siphon from the lake bed, appear to be some sort of magical overflow, a result of the siphon pulling in more magic than it can output into whatever it's building, and releasing it into the world in that huge dome of blue light. It's what's caused the magic around the island to shift and strengthen twice now," Estella continues to explain. "We are hoping that once we finish the construction of the portal room, and we learn about how to properly work with the Siphon, that we can perhaps find a way to control these releases of energy."

"But right now, we are in the process of completing the construction of the portal room in the Brass House and will be working to decipher how it works, what it is supposed to do, and where we go from here," Estella concludes.

"We know that there are a lot of questions," Jackson Cavendish says, "But we will try to answer as many as we can as best as we can. There are still many things that we don't know, but we look forward to finding those answers with all of you."

He then gestures to those gathered and says, "We'll now open the floor to questions, comments, and thoughts."

He then proceeds to gesture to those with hands raised in turn, one after the other, to speak.

When it comes time for the question phase of the event, Jules doesn't raise her hand immediately. Instead, she glances around her to see who else might be brave enough to raise their hand to start with the questions.

After a curious look around, then she turns back towards the front, and a hand shoots upwards, "When you say releasing it into the world....do you mean the whole world?"

Estella takes the first question when Jules asks and says, "Well, so far, only in an area directly around the Isles of Wonder. From the measurements that Mr. Accardi took after the last release of magical energy at new year's, we have a map of the area of effect out in the water where it stops. We should probably go test again to see if it's grown any further since then, but to our knowledge, that is the extent to how far magic has spread."

Robin listens silently. An eyebrow goes up as the history unfolds. When Estella goes up she's offered an encouraging smile and a wave. The fill in of the gaps is not something that everyone had. After a moment goes by and Jules asks her question his fingers raise like he's back in school; a sensible practice as he isn't really able to just interrupt.

Signing, a text bubble appears overhead with translations like a comic book: 'Do we know how the dreams we all got pulled into relate to this yet?'

Enzo already knows what is going to be said, but as he and Trace has been involved in this entire thing from the beginning, he felt he should be here to observe this announcement for the rest of the park. He's no longer wearing his Hospitality uniform and hasn't been for a while now. Instead, he has on a simple white buttoned down shirt, fitted blue jeans, black boots and a pair of sunglasses tucked into the front of his shirt. When Trace's name is mentioned, well, his last name, the man's dark eyes flicker over in Accardi's direction, smiling quietly before returning back to the Q&A.

For the most part, he knows what is being said, but there may be questions and answers that could surprise him or things that he'd never really thought of or cared to think about.

Theo slips in, but there are no questions as he listens to the others' questions. He came because he was curious to know how this all ties together, and he is processing all the information shared beforehand as he settles in the back in case he has to slip out later, nodding as he listens to the first answer to the first question asked.

Trace gives a small nod when the measurements that he and Fin took are brought up, but doesn't comment much more than that. He sits next to Enzo and observes for now without anything to add or to ask. He just seems interested in hearing what everyone has to say and ask for now. When Enzo smiles over at him, he bumps his shoulder just lightly with a little smile in return.

Ravin settles more firmly into their seat towards the back while listening to the presentation and the first few questions. They're being quiet for the moment and just listening.

Reading the bubble over Robin's head, Jackson Cavendish says, "The shared dreams, from what information we've been able to gather, seem both powerful and magical in nature and while there's some speculation that the Siphon itself caused them as part of the release of its magic into the area, we're not entirely certain on that. They seem to have stopped once it was discovered, however, which lends some credence to the theory."

During the presentations of both Cavendish and Waverly, Jacob has been sitting quietly at the table sipping on a hot beverage as he takes notes of any important details that has come up during the initial presentations. As people begin to ask questions the note taking continues. Later he will make the notes available to anyone that wants them.

"Do we know if that is further than it was prior to the whole..." Jules lifts her hands, miming an explosion complete with sound-effects, "Or...were we not checking that kind of thing before hand so would like....not know?"

Parker Somerset is at the back of the room during the presentation, dressed in a crisp gray suit with shiny Oxfords and silver, polished cufflinks. He has a cup of coffee in one hand, steaming, and watches the presentation through lidded eyes. As questions begin to emerge, which is no surprise, and purses his lips and takes a loud sip of coffee before announcing himself. "It sounds like we'll need to update our safety guidelines. What's happening regarding that for our employees and visitors?" He straightens and runs a hand down the front of his pressed, white shirt.

Estella shakes her head and says, "No one had measured the entire perimeter beforehand. There were some records as to where it ended on the ferry rides back to the mainland but those were only two data points, one south, and one southeast. Not enough to really know the whole perimeter before then. But we do know that after the New Year's event, the points on the ferry were further out than they were before. So it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that there was some growth then."

Aaron slips in, he is running a bit late, but he is here. Spotting Ravin, he moves to sit near them, a smile given as he listens for the moment to see what's being asked. Once he has listened, he speaks up, "The little spirit balls and the little drove light things that are building the pipes underground and the structure in the forest if those are here because of the Siphon, does that mean it has a form of intelligence?" he looks around and seems a bit nervous now that the question is out and he places with a rip on the knee of his jeans.

"As mentioned during the presentation when we returned to the park," Jackson Cavendish says to Parker, "we are in the process of updating everything from our security protocols to various other safety guidelines in the park. As you can imagine, this is an ever-evolving situation and all of those guidelines will be continuously adapted as the situation changes. I'm sure that you'll be receiving a wealth of updated information in the coming weeks."

Being relatively new to the park, Iseul has found herself a seat that could qualify in anyone's estimation as 'out of the way,' and quietly observes the proceedings. There's so much to learn that's already known, and every chance that questions raised tonight could open even more avenues to explore. She seems content, at least for the moment, to allow others with more experience to do all the asking and answering.

"From what I understand," Estella Waverly says to Aaron, "The blue lights are a somewhat spirit-adjacent magical sentience and the Siphon itself seems to possess something of a consciousness of sorts, or at least a set of parameters under which it has been building the structures in the forest. There has been some communication with both the magical manifestations and the 'programming' as it were, of the Siphon. Our technopaths have had the most luck with the Siphon while some of our spirit communicators and magical linguists have been able to speak with the spirit-like manifestations."

Free food and answers are two things that will reliably beckon to Carl, so here he is, eating the former and listening to the latter. He's dressed in his off-duty clothes, dark jeans and a black shirt patterned with little white ghosts and gray tombstones. Advertising, maybe. A lot of what's said he's heard already, or put together over the past few months. Some of it he hasn't - the stuff about Visions of Wonder and the Cavendish family, judging from the furrowed brow and the pursed lips when he listens to that part.

"The CDC is one thing," he says when he finally speaks up, "but a little fish told me there were a bunch of guys with spearguns out in the water not too long ago, before the last blue flash and the earthquake and everything else going to hell. Anything you can tell us about that?"

Ravin wraps an arm around Aaron's shoulders and gives him a quick cheek kiss, then adds their own question. "Are we presuming that the unusual creatures are coming from one of these other worlds? Do we have any idea where they're from or how they're getting here? And do we think they're all from the same place or are they from different places? And I'll totally understand if the answer is 'we don't know, but we'll be looking into it.'"

There was free food wasn't there? Well, Enzo is snacking on something while he listens to the answers to some of these interesting questions. A curious gaze goes over some of these faces. Many of them are familiar to him, as he was PR for the park for a good part of a year, so he's been up in everyone's business (or, at least, their department and place of work). It's what they ask however, that piques his interest most.

At Carl's inquiry of the bunch of guys with spearguns, he casually looks in the man's direction before his gaze shifts back to Cavendish.

"Visions of Wonder and our organization are not the only ones who are interested in the potential for magic and what its introduction to the world might mean and might be used for," Jackson says to Carl. "A dive team employed by one of those individuals attempted to remove the Siphon from the lakebed. The attempt to tamper with the Siphon caused both the earthquake and the release of magical energy. However, we are in the process of burying the Siphon within a concrete structure and securing it where it resides to prevent further attempts to tamper with it. Dealing with both the reports to the CDC and those other individuals is primarily up to Visions of Wonder to address. Investigations are ongoing."

Estella smiles at Ravin and says, "We don't know, but that's why we've started up our team of cryptozoologists to begin studying these creatures. Since we haven't currently actually opened the door into any other worlds since the Revolving Door is incomplete, it seems potentially unlikely that they are coming here from somewhere else. Our current theory is that they are manifesting from the magic itself, much like the physical changes some have experienced, and the abilities that some have developed. But without further study, we can't really say that for certain. It's possible they are coming from somewhere else, but if they are, we don't know how."

Theo gives Enzo a curious look. It's not that he knew the man personally, but did he know that Enzo was part of the hospitality team, and now he's not? An upnod to Trace, having heard what happened to him, and he looks relieved that the man seems to be doing just fine. Other familiar faces get nods as he starts to eat off his plate. He sometimes tends to be a silent observer and listener, with no questions. The questions will come soon enough. He is sure of it.

Trace catches the look in his direction from Theo and offers him a bit of a smile and an up-nod. He does look remarkably healthy all things considered, but then such is the miracle of magical healing. For his part, Trace just has a cup of coffee in front of him, which he takes a sip of every so often as he listens. He's fairly casually dressed as well, but then his job doesn't involve a uniform, so that's pretty par for the course -- jeans, dark red Henley, pair of black combat boots.

'Investigations are ongoing'. Carl's lip quirks briefly upward in a smile that seems less than pleasant, but he makes it go away. "Visions of Wonder. Yeah. About that..." He's more hesitant to ask this one, clearly. It's not smart to antagonize the boss when you're the low man on the totem pole, and it doesn't get much lower than emptying the dumpsters. Still, he can't help asking. "If you guys have been studying this stuff for three hundred years and some change, why have we been the ones digging up so much of it? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but even Waverly here wasn't on the payroll when I met her. One of the guys who brought back the Looking Glass runs a dog carnival. Shouldn't you already have people for this? Specialists, like?"

Aaron smiles at Ravin he nods his head, "It was interesting when we went to speak with them." he looks to Ravin, "I wonder if thats why the the serpent thinks she is the only one cause it manifested her." he leans into Ravin looking to Cavndish and Waverly.

"We do," Cavendish says to Carl. "All over the world. Yet there are a small number of us and a lot of world to cover. Until Miss Waverly joined us, Alistair Waverly had all but vanished off of the radar and we'd been unable to track him. It is very much due to her contributions that we know more now. Though I would argue that Mr. Kimball is quite a bit more than just the dog circus guy." His smile is a little amused, "Half of this department consists of our specialists who are working side by side by those who have volunteered. If you would rather leave the discoveries to the specialists, you are more than welcome to do so, Mr. Moon. But this is an endeavor larger than we've taken on in the past, and we'd prefer to allow opportunities to all who are interested in pursuing them."

Parker nods at Cavendish, but it's a wearied, unconvinced response quickly covered by another sip of coffee. He'll need to press his team to work on this. Magic has been incredibly useful for him, but it's dangerous, too. For the time being, he watches the crowd, notes the questions being asked and the answers given to them. Setting his cup down at his feet, he flips open a tablet resting on his lap to take some notes.

"Not complaining," Carl is quick to amend, holding his hands up palms out, "just curious. I've, uh, done some extracurricular discovering already." The big man knows his name? Gulp. Well, worry about that later, and change the subject. He shifts his attention to Waverly, on the back of her talking about the magical critters of the park. "What about ghosts? A lot of them don't seem to be from around here. Like they come in with the guests, from all over. Doesn't seem like they come from the machine."

"Ghosts are actually one of the few supernatural phenomena that have always existed in the world," Jackson says in answer to Carl. "The spirits of the dead have been here for as long as people have. And some come from the islands, though not a lot. These islands had very low populations before we purchased them. But they do come from the wrecks in the lakes. There are a lot of those. And they do come in attached to items and people. They are, however, not unique to the islands and exist all over the world. It's just easier for people here to interact with them because some of the magics that they've developed allow them to see and speak with them even when others can't."

The idea of magic being newish or something to this world was fascinating and all that to Enzo, but the talk of ghosts having always been there, well, that's enough to make a lot of people feel uneasy. He leans in close to murmur to Trace, "I think I'd rather remained focus on the magic. The last thing I'd want to be concerned about is ghosts." Like ghosts from that dive team among others.

"I'm way more worried about living people than ghosts," Trace murmurs back to Enzo, both brows going up just a little bit. Living people are the ones that shot him. Ghosts have never bothered him any. He does reach over though and gives Enzo's arm a light squeeze.

Ghosts. Now that is a subject that he can get behind. "Interesting." His comment is mostly to himself. Processing that ghosts are old. Magic here at the park is new. This is all fascinating to him. He takes a bite of one of the treats on his plate. He smiles at Carl enjoying the questions that have been asked by him.

"I'd rather not be concerned about global warming," Carl snorts, "but tell that to the glaciers. They're here, making problems and leaving their ectoplasm all over. Anyway, magic that exists outside the paradigm seems like something worth knowing about, to me." He shrugs, and then something seems to occur to him. "Actually, there's some pretty important dead guys in this whole story. Alistair and Landrydale. Has anyone tried conjuring them up? There's people who can do that."

Robin looks to Trace and points to him while tapping his nose. That's a big nope on the living there. Looking to Carl and then the others, eyebrows lifting. This being an excellent point. He makes a gesture as if using a Ouija board, curious. The letters appear in a little speech bubble overhead again 'Heard of a few people that can. Haven't heard anything about them trying.'

"I don't think so," Estella says, when Carl asks if anyone has tried to summon up Alistair or Edward. "It's not an ability that I have, nor do I know anyone who does." Or if she does, they haven't told her as much. "I suppose that's something we could try if anyone knows of someone who can do that?" She asks this mainly to Carl since he seems to.

Iseul continues to observe quietly, her focus switching between speakers as they raise or answer questions. There's an occasional thoughtful bite to her lower lip, and though she isn't taking notes, per se, it's clear that she's absorbing everything and filing it away. The brainmeats are working overtime. Honestly, it's one of the rare times during which the young Korean woman isn't all light demeanor and carefree smiles.

"There's someone else in Custodial who can do it, at least a little," Carl offers, nodding to Waverly. "We've got kind of a lot of ghost-botherers, don't ask me why. I'll put you in touch, see if she can help." He scratches at his brow, another idea boiling up out of that one. "Seems like maybe we should keep of track of who can do what. A magic rolodex, to make this kind of thing a little easier?"

"We're keeping things like that voluntary," Jackson says to Carl. "Since some people prefer to keep their abilities private, and we're not going to require employees to divulge that information unless its something that they feel comfortable doing. If people wish to share or wish to volunteer their abilities toward a project, we will certainly welcome it, however."

Aaron hmms, "Kind of like when I was helping you with the spirit balls Carl and me helping with the magical critters about." he smiles. "I offered to help with it, me and my tean are dealing with the magic critters taking notes on them and seeing if we can communicate with them." he thinks, "So in away you can keep track in who can do what depending on what team and assiment they ae on?" he looks to Cavendish.

All this talk of ghosts prompts Parker to pull up a crossword he was working on easier. P-O-L-T-E-R-G-E-I-S-T. Yes, that fits. Satisfying. "Maybe we should have people register their abilities." That would certainly make his life easier, to be able to keep an eye on those with magic that might harm someone or destroy expensive equipment. His eyes dart around, not expecting support for this, but curious nonetheless.

Jackson considers Aaron and Parker and then says, "We can offer a voluntary database within our secure library here in the Magical Studies department if people wish to share their abilities and whether or not they'd like to be tapped to assist with projects. We will not be requiring registration."

Aaron nods his head and is happy that they will not require registration cause he about flipped when the CDC came in and was looking for info. "Alright." he nods his head again looking to Ravin then falling quiet.

"... This one's kind of a longshot, I guess, but I guess somebody has to ask," Carl says, looking around at those assembled. "This thing, the Revolving Door and all the rest of it. It's supposed to take people to... other places, other worlds? Have we got any clue at all what kind of places? Any theories? Educated guesses? Whimsical imaginings? I'll take what I can get."

Ravin nods. "No forced registration, but making a voluntary database in the secure library sounds reasonable." They give Aaron a little smile and a squeeze of his shoulder.

"There are some theories that Waverly and Landrydale posited in their journals. You are welcome to visit the library and read through them at your leisure," Jackson invites Carl and the rest of those gathered. "We've made all the information that we have available in the library in digitized form for those who wish more detailed information." Then more specifically, he says to Carl, "We won't truly know until we look."

"Thank you for that," Theo pipes up. I know where I am going after this." Yes, Theo is going straight to the journals for more information. He does apprerciate how open the park admin have been in all of this. There has been a lot of weird things going on here after all.

Iseul straightens a little in her seat as it's announced that all kinds of knowledge is right there for the taking, in the library. Heck, she's already scooting toward the forward edge of her chair, as though itching to start burying herself in it. She may win the prize for the quietest member of the discussion this evening, but she certainly doesn't lack in interest or passion.

As the time draws to a close, Jackson says, "Thank you all for coming out. This meeting has been recorded for those who couldn't make it. As always, I have posted office hours here in the department if anyone needs to come and see me or has questions after the fact. And Miss Waverly is available in the library regularly for the same."