After the lessons in light have ended the very next morning Ethelred brings up his next interest in magic.
“I have seen how there are ways to sense the world around you through sense beyond the ones given at birth. For example Ezrin you have been able to sense that items contain magic. Alexis you have been able to detect the location of objects.
My naive sense would be these two detections are connected. I have some ideas on how I could sense where at type of material is located. But I have little idea how to tell if some item contains within it something more that just the basic materials.”
Alexis puts down his notebook and paces in front of Ethelred.
“They are connected, although some in the Collegium say that magics should be judged on more than one dimension of connection.” Alexis gives a look that suggests he doesn’t subscribe to these ideas.
“There are other magics that I have that intersect with these detection magics, but they are not for you.”
Alexis turns from Ethelred to go back to his notebook. “Can you use a divining rod? That is a key to understanding these magics.”
Ethelred perks up at the words divining and rod. He goes over to his back pack and gets out a small shallow bowl made from wood with a tight spiral and a series of very straight twigs with a little split in the front. He also get out a small bag with little bits of metals and other materials. He finally gets out a water skin.
He walks back over to Alexis. Place the bowl on the ground, add water and displays a few of the materials and show how the could be slotted into the twigs. He then places one on in the water and lets it float.
“This is what I came up with. It seems that I should be able to use a small bit of the material I am looking for, placed in this bowl and coaxed just right.. should point to where more of the material is located.”
Alexis looks pleased.
“Oh. Very nice. How general or specific can you get? Can you place some hair in there and find more hair from the same person? Can you coax it to find someone else with the same color? Could we put a rotting bit of the giant in there and have it take us to the rest of his body? Not that we really need to since we know where it is.”
“What could we find if we put a tainted 2nd age gold coin in there? More tainted coins? Obviously more gold? What about more worked gold? What about more gold worked by the same person?”
Alexis seems very matter-of-fact through all his questions. He’s clearly excited for what Ethelred can do and curious what ramifications Ethelred has considered.
“I had only thought of finding metals at the moment. It was something Ezrin said in passing that lead me down this path. Seemed less complicated to keep my focus simple and limited at first.
Locating other item I would guess could be possible…. it would just take more study and understanding”
Ezrin looks at Alexis with horror and concern. He takes a deep breath and is face shows that the intense concentration of a person trying to reconcile several conflicting ideas and values at once.
Ezrin watches and listens. Nodding along with Alexis smiling a bit at ‘not for you,’ arching an eyebrow at Alexis apparent outright rejection of multivariant arcanomatrix analyses. He looks on with the amusement of the parent of toddler as Red begins to unpack his ‘materials,’ his amusement quickly turns to terror and he jumps up.
“Wait! You have no runes of protection on your vessel!”
The mage jumps up, says a quick incantation, and tips the bowl over, spilling the water on the ground.
He looks sheepishly at Ethelred.
“Divination magic is both simpler and more complex than this… working.”
“However you are very much into something, I have seen very powerful scrutiny cast with a similar bowl. Nevertheless, the complexity here, wood, water, and the material you seek… it adds unnecessary variables to an ritual that opens up channels to the very essence of what you hope to locate or detect.”
“Tradition starts with Perception of Dweamors, locating specific types of materials, metals for example often comes next, but some focus on more esoteric phenomena.”
Ezrin realizes he is losing Ethelred’s attention. He sighs,
“Ethelred, I can teach you how to use magic to locate gold, and in theory other metals you have a sample of, how to detect magical auras, and how to locate water. But please, let us start with the basic vocabulary and syntax of Divinations.
“And let me help you with a few runes of protection for your bowl, it could make an excellent focus for your divinatory efforts.”
“Divination… ” Ethelred writes down a quick note. He pick up his bowl and the stick that feel on the ground. Dusts them off, ensures nothing was damaged.
“It would very much be interested in learning how some drawing on my bowl could help.. protect.. focus?
I ensured that the bowl and stick were from the same tree. This seemed like it would limit the variables, as you put it. A bowl must be made of something. Is there a material less complex than simple wood? I could make a bowl of clay, stone, bone….
And yes learning some of the words you use would be helpful. Much of what you say is a bit hard to follow at the moment.”
Ezrin inspects it closely, “There is nothing wrong with the bowl, it is quite well made.”
“Arcane sigils, much like their corresponding incantations, fulfill many roles, and in some cases serve and conduits for energy, in other combinations they can help to block energies, or even help to focus connections where you with them, and avoid unintended weave function collapse. In this particularly case, the warrens related to water, wood and tress can both be helpful and dangerous, and the right runes and sigils can help ensure that your intended focus on divination is maintained.”
“Divination can open a small connection to the warren of the divined, gold for example, if you are trying to locate that particular precious metal. It also relies on other Warrens, for some it is Godly warrens, there are those that argue that Divination magic is intrinsically tied to Godly magic, but not all see Warrens in the same way, some talk of the Warren of Gold, others talk of… Daisen or.. Tran-Viloo’s Warrens when discussing which Warrens are at play in divining the location of gold…
“I digress, the bowl may help you… see through the eyes of trees so to speak, but, it may also connect you to Elven warrens rather than safe tree warrens. The water may help you see through the eyes of lakes and streams and cisterns and other bodies of water, but it might drown you from the inside. You may also connect to a Dwarven warren when seeking metal, or perhaps the.. Saagi Warren if you were to use an uncleansed sample of the gold from the Crystal Caverns. Runes, incantations, all help to keep the mind and your own internal magics focus and clear.”
“Divination is at the heart of learning magic. Even the invocations used to read and detect magic are divinatory in nature. We can build on these.”
“But, please, let’s keep it simple and orthodox for now, you don’t need the bowl to accomplish what you are trying to do. The samples of metal and a few careful incantations are all that are required. Adding the bowl adds variables that are unnecessary and potentially dangerous. I can teach you the incantations for detecting metals, lets keep it to that for now though.”
Ethelred enjoys all the stories of the different warrens. The trees and the waters. The Elves and the Dwarfs. All of this magic is more complicated than it first seemed. Could just be how Ezrin understands it. Alexis never seemed this… concerned. Telosh NEVER seemed this concerned. Concern is starting to creep into Ethelred.
“Thank you Ezrin for the explanation. Clearly there is much I have to learn.
I would much be interested in seeing just how you detect metals. I learn best by doing. I see thought that there is much risk in attempts with out control.
If I can study your spell, watch you perform.. I promise to not attempt my own version without your involvement and consent.
Ezrin looks at Ethelred for a moment thoughtfully.
“Recall our discussion of schematics? Divination is different from Evocation, let us start with the care sigils and invocations of Divination, Augury and Scrying. It would be ideal if you start by coping the schematic for Dowsing in your Grimoire, it is a simple Augratic Location of Water. It shares much with the loco-augury of a given metals, they both rely on material and gestures. It should be quick to learn and practice, and will make learning how to detect metals much easier.”
Ethelred thinks this spell will take little alteration at all. Might need something to help focus on.. water itself, a stick, a bone, dried water flower, a reed.. something. Something like the firefly or the glow moss?
Ezrin nods and begins to explain the basics of Divination. About a hour later, when they move on the “schematic” itself, the material component of the spell turns out to be a stick shaped just so.