During a breakfast after a few days of resting in the tent Ethelred addresses Alexis and Ezrin.
“I have been thinking much about new possibilities for manipulating matter. Many times I have seen Alexis bring forth light using a copper coin. From the limited time I have closely observed this happen his mechanism is clearly outside of my abilities. I am interested in the role the copper plays in bringing the light forth.
Ezrin do you have the ability to make light without normal fuel? Clearly creating light with wax, oil or woods is trivial. But I have been looking over the various supplies I have gather and I sense there is a way to bring forth light, but I need some guidance to make it actually happen. Seeing another non God way, as Alexis does, would be very helpful.”
Alexis looks surprised or unbelieving when Ethelred mentions that bringing light from copper is beyond his ability. Then Alexis proceeds to walk a copper piece across his fingers while he waits to hear Ezrin’s reply to Ethelred.
Ezrin looks at Ethelred, trying to understand the Aegierian craftsman’s thoughts about magic.
“Copper?” Ezrin looks questioningly at Alexis, he arches his eyebrows and turns to Red thoughtfully.
“Yes, I know an illuminatory invocation. Yes, I am willing to demonstrate for you but I would prefer to wait. The… material used for… entanglement foci are used up in the invocation.
“In addition, while I am not a very good teacher, and certainly not recognized as even an Adjunct of the Faculty, I would prefer it we could take the time to discuss the three-fold nature of Illumination Weaves, the basics of arcane entanglements, the 7 Names of Light, and you should probably know the subtle adjustments to the invocations that are needed depending on… the circumstances of the moment.”
Ezrin looks again to Alexis, and then back to Ethelred.
“Finally, I am more than a little concerned that am not able to explain fully and with enough precision the permutations of the incantational formulae, and you would take your understanding of the knowledge and try to make it work with… copper.. and harm yourself or others. I have heard you are familiar with these sorts of… issues already?”
When Ezrin looks at Alexis regarding ‘copper’, Alexis gives him a smile and a wink.
“I am more than happy to work on procuring the materials you need to make some light. Materials are the easy part.
I have seen how meddling with powers can lead to.. unforeseen consequences. It would be like building a wall without the knowledge of how to mix mortar.
So, when can we start the lessons? The three fold nature of illuminations weaves sounds like the best place to start. I don’t see how knowing all the names of light can help much. One word should be enough….”
Red’s see the look of horror on Ezrin face.
“.. but knowing the name is also fine. There are many types of stone used to build a wall and not all are equally suited. Depends a lot on where the wall will stand and for what purpose.”
Ezrin sighs, and looks nervously at Alexis.
“We can start now. Do you have a candle?”
“Good. Now, bring flame to the wick. Place the candle on the ground in front of you and focus on the flame. Calm your breathing and your mind, keep you eyes focused on the candle flame and and let your thoughts wander and dance with the flame until the candle has burnt out.”
“Keep your eyes focused on the flame, and pay attention to your thoughts without controlling them, it may help you to focus a bit on your breathing as you do so.”
At first Ethelred is annoyed at Ezrin. The ‘wise’ mage is clearly giving him busy work. But since this is Red’s first lesson he chooses to embrace it.
He snubs out the flame. Take out a knife and cuts a round section from the bottom of the candle, put the candle down for a moment. He inspects full the material of the candle wax, the smells, the sounds, the shape, the feels. After several minutes he pops the candle end in his mouth.
Then he returns his focus to the rest of the candle. He lights is again this time paying very close attention to the wick and the moment the flame takes hold. Over and over he snubs out the flame, using his fingers, blowing, wildly shaking the candle. For a long while he studies the lighting of the candle.
Finally his lights the candle one more time and then sets it down on the ground. Red sits himself. Spits the butt of the candle out and rubs it while doing nothing else but watching the candle as its slowly burns down to nothing.
When the candle goes out Red get up and find his lamp. He repeats much of the same ritual with the lamp. The lamp oil tastes terrible.
When the lamp goes out he gathers a small fire and repeats much the same ritual. He gets a splinter from the wood.
When all that is done he wakes Ezrin. “I am ready for the next lesson on light.”
Ezrin glances up and Ethelred every now and then while he works among his own pile of papers, books, pouches and scrolls. Eventually, around the time Ethelred’s lamp is fading, Ezrin goes to sleep.
Ezrin grunts a little, as he wakes up. He sits up, and blinks at Ethelred a couple times, and then nods.
“Excellent. And what did you learn about the nature of light?”
Ethelred takes a deep breath, calms himself again. These lessons in magic are very different than building physical things… maybe it is just Ezrin…
“What I learned. Fire consumes. The material consumed can’t be just anything. Also many materials can be consumed. The material needs to be excited. The material needs a solid nudge to light. Once lit the right material can sustain the light. The fire will, if give the opportunity, consume most, if not all, the material. I can see how fire needs to be carefully be contained. Fire must be chaotic in nature.
But that is fire. The light itself is different. It emerges from the chaos and illuminates. I can sense a way to generate the light without the flame. For example the light that Alexis makes seems to emit no heat. The coin stays touchable, cool even? Flame for this effect it not the goal. That would be a different spell.
What I need help with is how to fully separate light from fire. How to loose the chaos and only bring forth the light itself.”
At first Ezrin looks concerned, perhaps a bit disappointed, and also unsurprised. Then his face lights up when Ethelred starts to actually talk about “light.”
“You are on the right path, the nature of light in and of itself is the key element to the invocation. Light, flame and heat are indeed connected but not the same phenomena. But we must exercise great care with this line of thinking, for if we start with light from a flame, it is very difficult to separate the two, and the thermodynamic and consumptive elements of fire are likely to find… other outlets.”
Luckily, as you have suggested, light does not come from flame alone. Did your time with the candle help you contemplate illuminations beyond those emitted from flame, or Alexis coin? Or any insights into the true nature of light?”
In the background, Alexis has continued to walk the copper coin along his fingers, but has returned to his notes and writings; holding a book, or papers, in his right hand while walking the copper with his left.
“True nature of light.. no. I do not know what that means.
What I learned from the flame was light is in itself lonely, fleeting. To bring it forth without the flame, the heat feels a bit… hollow. Like a sound without a ear to hear it.
The path I can see is for a material, say of a copper coin, to resonate like a tuning fork ringing with light. Instead of consuming the coin fully the light will only pull small bits of the coin away. This should keep the heat, the flame at rest and allow only the light to come forth.
I sense there are some parts I am missing, some words, some gestures… some intention missing. Both those, at the moment, are left in the dark to me.”
Ezrin sighs a little, and looks thoughtful.
“What about light from the sun? The moon or starts at night? Light from a candle flame is fleeting and weak, light from a bonfire is still fleeting, but strong and bright, and both come with heat. Light from the moon or starts has no heat. Even on a cold the day the light of the sun is warming. But Alexis light is not hot. Nor is mine. The light from a firefly is not hot. Light from glow moss is not hot. The light from the white crystals in the Demon Caves was not hot. Fire is not light. There are cold, dark fires, I have seen them in the alchemy laboratories.”
“This is important, Fire and Light are connected, some of the Names of Light are close to or even contain portions, or versions, of the Names of Fire, and if a mage is careless they can pull connect to Warrens of Flame and Heat when they intend to.”
“You are brialliant Ethelred, you almost have almost intuitively picked up several key Principals of Arcana, and applied them in unique ways. I have a limited number of fireflies, and I have no idea how to find glow moss. I can, and will, teach you the 7 Names of Light, I can complete our discussion of the Threefold Nature of Illumination Weaves, and I can show you the sigils and incantations.
“But, these will not pull light from a copper piece. Copper reflects light, it does not allow for the connections to the Diafatizo, the Anteskotadi, and Elafrotita…”
“The True-Light-of-Flame-Sun-Moon-Stars… the Anti-Darkness, the… Illuminations-Brilliance-Understanding-Revealing, or the… True-Light-of-Flame-Sun-Moon-Stars… and the invocations that allow the evocation of Light on the object of your choosing. Fireflies and glow moss are used because they already bring just the tiniest bit of connection to The Three, and the invocations and bring it together. Alexis’ copper is… rather different, and not truly Arcane in nature, and I don’t exactly understand it, it still connects to the The Three, but…
Ezrin looks to Alexis, and mouths ‘Avv-Warren?’
Ethelred listens intently. Trying to follow all the words. Frustration wells up in him as Ezrin is clearly stalling a bit. But Red breathes deeply. Thinks of what he does not want, chaos.. lack of control. He will not follow the path of Telosh into madness. He refocuses on the intent and let’s the words wash over him. Erzin is in a tough place. Ezrin is not a teacher, that is clear. Ezrin wants to let out all he knows. And yet he holds back, talks in circles a bit.
Ethelred smiles and addresses Ezrin.
“You know much Ezrin, maybe even too much. I need to take this slow. We see this endeavor differently. We see the shape of magic differntly. I believe this can make us both better at this art of power.
Out here I have learned to shelve my normal building tendencies. In Aigier I wouldn’t think of starting a project without a good set of plans, supplies all sorted out correctly and only the proper and best tools.
On my travels I have learned to do with what is, over what should be. I can see how with magic that is the wisest path. But I also see that there are many ways to achieve the same goal.
Can we start simple. You say there are 7 names for light, 3 folds of illuminations. Let’s us start with a few and see what can be learned of them.
I will tell you what interests me the most at the moment. Knowing what name of light you conjure with your fireflies, and of it’s nature. Knowing what name of light Alexis coaxes from the copper coin, and of it’s nature. And finally what is the name of light that comes from the moon, and of course it’s nature.
Names are good, but the meaning is really what I am after most.”
Ezrin relaxes as Ethelred mentions taking it slow. He listens to Ethelred and is clearly a bit tired and trying to keep up. Shortly after Ethelred mentions plans, supplies and materials sorted and laid out properly for a project, he perks up, he listens more closely as Ethelred finishes.
“Plans? Like a schematic for your project? Do you know much about how locks are made? In a spellbook we have a written spell? Just like you need to know what materials will go together how, the sigils, the incantations, the gestures, the materials involved, and the goals all need to be considered. The incantations, sigils, and gestures as, methods for connecting the different materials together. With a common understanding of measurements, abbreviations, terminology, I can give you the plan for Light, and you can write it in your own Book of Magical Plans.”
“Sorry, I think that came out wrong. Yes, let’s get to work on the schematics.”
Ezrin gestures to Ethelred to join him and bring his book. Ezrin lectures Ethelred on the names of light, the threefold nature of the Warrens of Illuminatiion, the Evocation of Energetic Warrens, and the basic Runes, Sigils and Invocations involved in the Arcane Calling of Light.
After three long hours, Ezrin takes a deep drink of water, and turns to Ethelred.
“Are you read to copy the schematic into your own Grimoire?”
Ethelred grabs his leather ‘book’ and sits down with Ezrin.
“Sadly my new book has yet to arrive. I have made a simple one for my notes and drawings. But the leather will have to do for now.”
Red begins to copy the spell into his book. He knows that this copy will need to be altered slightly to really work for him. But he can’t quite let Ezrin know this.. yet. He will have to sketch out the actual spell later. The show Ezrin and then finally copy it into his real book, when that time comes. Magic is much more paperwork than Red would have guessed.
Ezrin looks a bit relieved when he realizes Ethelred does not yet have a proper Grimoire.
“Very well, I will help you copy the invocation schema over when your true grimoire arrives. Let us begin with what you have. Let’s begin.”