Tag Archives: magic

Flame in the Swamp

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As the time of training with the fighters comes to an abrupt end, Red switches focus inward. The task of the flaming dagger become his sole focus. The days become a time to sleep. Nights are spent mostly in the dark, with a single candle he will not light.

He starts with warming his fingers. Feeling how his heat can work to barely soften the wax. Gradually conjuring more heat, but only enough to slightly melt, and never enough to even hint at lighting the candle. Slowly reducing the heat, with the goal of leaving the candle visibly undisturbed.

Night after night he works with the candle, taking it apart more and more. Eventually reducing it into parts: as glob of wax, a bit of wick, some flecks of dirt. Then slowly shaping it back, as if it was never apart.

The material now fully yields to him and reforms. Only then does he begin to bestow light upon the candle. Drawn from, elsewhere than the candle, a few sparks dance around the wick. Without letting them grown to fire or go out, he works them into a dance. One more nights spent with just the sparks.

And then the groups seems restless to do other things with their days the be in camp. Red’s wants no part of exploring, of looking around.

Bandages

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After a particularly active afternoon of training with the fighters Ethelred submits himself to Gustav for some bandaging. While watching the ranger work a phrase from the scrolls pass through Red’s mind.

“Gustav, what do you think about when you are healing people? Does the skill you have flow out of you like water? Are you a river or an ocean of healing?”

Red, for the first time, seems genuinely interested in the healing arts.

Training in the Swamp

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When Red delivered the killing blow to the crocodile something in him stirred. He felt for a moment some kinship with the true fighters of the group. As if a small flame that had been growing within him caught a gust of wind.

Each morning he would rise, eschew his studies and join Rask and Ca’armine for morning training. The work was hard, and Red gained many bruises. Each day seeing small gains in how he held himself, how the weapons felt more like an extension of him.

After the fight training Red would then lead his own lesson in swimming. The cold water felt good, washing away the sweat, calming the wounds. Swimming made Red miss his home and the pools he helped build, and swam in, in Aigier. Aigier seems like such a distant memory now. Home but yet not as familiar as it once was.

As the days wore on Red finally was able to learn some new skills from the fighters. The path of a hero was visible about before him. But that changed…

An off hand comment from Alexis about Ezrin struck Red to the core. The memory of the last time he saw Ezrin laying on the ground, a lump. Could Red have picked up Ezrin and carried him out? Maybe. What would be different now if he had rescued the best magic teacher he has known.

When Red returned to his bed that night he takes up the scrolls, that all seem to echo with Ezrin’s voice in his ears. That night be does not sleep, does not rise to train. He turns his focus from the physical, to the material.

The Fallen Protectors of Raiden

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Ethelred waits for Gus to return from his morning ‘prayers’. As he approaches the trees Red stops him near on of the fallen trees outside of the Grove.

“Gustav, I have been thinking, studying.. pondering…”

Ethelred looks around walks a bit farther away from the Grove and indicates for Gustav to follow him. Red touches the fallen tree, ensures it is does not talk.. which as he does this seems crazy. But then talking trees, also crazy.

In a hushed tone.

“As I was saying I have been studying some ways to protect use in battle. While I have a path that is simple.. there is another path that would be more.. effective.”

Ethelred takes another few steps farther from the grove and indicated of Gus to follow. Even quieter he begins to talk again.

“But it would require a bit of a sacrifice.. and I would need your blessing to even start. This tree (indicates the a closest fallen tree) for example could be utilized to give a protective blessing of Raiden… could form a sort of armor… But it would require removing the bark from a fallen tree….”

Ethelred pause as waits to see what reaction Gustav has.

Good Blessings. Bad Blessings.

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At some point during their two weeks at the grove before heading to Barra’s pool the three treasure hunters are all having an evening meal together. After some logistics Alexis turns to his companions.

“I’ve been thinking about our battle with the Red Cloaks under the fort, and how much easier it might have been if you’d both accepted the ‘blessings’ of the symbol/archtype you both refer to as ‘Avv’. And the thing that has me confused is the ‘blessings’ you’re willing to accept and the ones you’re not. And I speak as someone who is happy to accept boons and blessings from almost any ‘god’. Obviously Nurgle would be hard for me because the slime, the spores, etc.” Alexis gives a shudder of revulsion. “And I wouldn’t trust a gift/boon from the Arril-Noroth since I expect it would contain a barb of some sort. But back to the subject at hand…”

“You both willingly accepted a ‘blessing’ from Bora Bloodfist, servant of She-Who-Is-Fierce, and from that ‘blessing’ we were taken on a journey together and now better understand the Path of the Peacemakers. Great. But that started because you both accepted magics from a priest of the goddess of the gnolls. That was acceptable, but ‘blessings’ from ‘Avv’ are not.”

“And you both willingly accepted the task to break Dauntless for a boon from She-Who-Is-Fierce. And I was, and still could be, excited to see what sort of boon that would be. But my point is that getting a boon from that goddess whom many consider evil and hostile to humanity, Raiden, etc was acceptable, but blessings from Avv are not.”

“Red, you can I carried the Eyes of Maglubiyet accepting the risks and rewards therein. But somehow a blessing from a matriarch of humanity is not.”

“Gus, you wear bracers of the VahnYir, who pledged themselves to the Arru-Noroth. And you accept the magics I learned from those bracers to further help you in your aim. Magics that also come from the VahnYir. This is all acceptable to you, but blessings of Avv are not.”

“Please help me understand how you are both willing to accept the magics of forces so antithetical to humanity and Raiden, and so hostile to accepting help from the human magics of ‘Avv’, who defended humanity at one of the points when humanity needed it most.”

Alexis looks between Gustav and Ethelred.

Another Troll About To Be Born?

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As the group is about to leave their two week spot after getting Dauntless, Alexis muses to his companions “I can only imagine Leer’s troll powder supply is getting pretty damn depleted. Even though we haven’t seen eye-to-eye with Leer, and he poisoned us, nobody deserves whatever fate is about to befall him.

“I’ve made a little progress with scrying magics, but if I’d studied more at the Collegium I might be able to know Leer’s fate now.”

Test Plan: Wooden Rings

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After Alexis has examined the wooden rings and found out

  • They are abjuration-hued
  • Clear connection between them
  • They seem identical
    • but in two different places
    • AND they seem more like one thing than two things
    • OR like their connection is so strong they seem like one thing
  • They appear like pieces of a working, but not the full working
    • They seem like they are a blank canvas which other magics have yet to be put on

He addresses his companions “I would like to test the nature of these rings. The one time we experimented with them, my nausea was amplified because of what Red was feeling? Or I got his feeling of nausea?”

“Over the next while I’d like us to run some tests, and I want us to come up with a plan for these tests. Red and I will be ‘conducting’ the tests. Ezrin, you’ll be studying the effects from the outside, and possibly working on trying to save us if things go very badly. Gus, you will do your best to protect us. I leave it to you to decide how best to do that.”

“Some of my thoughts on the rings:

“I would like to figure out what makes these rings ‘abjuration’ in nature. What sort of protection was the intent?”

“The ‘blank canvas’ nature of the rings made me think that perhaps we could put magics within the rings and they could be released at a later time. And this might be the case, but perhaps only protections can be ‘painted on the blank canvas’?”

“I didn’t notice any particular warren flavor while studying the rings, which is interesting of itself. Especially interesting given the material of the rings.”

Alexis looks at the group “everyone understand the plan? Any questions, or other feedback?”

So Flexible, So Elusive

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During the two weeks in the fort after Earyka has the Sword Chaotic, on several occasions in the dark (early morning, late at night) Alexis has gone outside the tent to conduct some soft chanting.

During one of these sessions Ethelred has come out of the tent and watched Alexis’ chanting. There’s clearly some sort of magic, but not any kind he can get a grasp of.

When Alexis finishes Ethelred asks him what he was trying to do.

Alexis responds “Ezrins lessons have gotten me thinking about my magical studies more. Some in the Collegium talk about magics that are more flexible, although always less powerful. The spell sometimes-called ‘Prestidigitation’ is a good example of this sort of flexibility, but there are precious few spells like this within the framework of the Collegium. Some say it’s the nature of the Collegium that the magic is so strict. Some say it is the nature of ‘true-magic’ itself to be rigid. Others say that after the betrayal of the 2nd age, Shasharak had something to do with limiting the nature of Collegium magic.” Alexis gives a nonchalant shrug.

“I’ve decided to spend some time seeing if I can tap into this more flexible magic. The darkness helps a little, but the old fort helps more. There are secrets kept in those walls” Alexis gestures towards the mostly dark Copper Hills Fort, with the torches visible at the gates and on the parapets. “Those centuries of secrets are my focus as I try to open myself to a little bit of raw energy that can be shaped to find the secrets and bring them to our aid. The aid of humanity.”

Alexis continues to look towards the fort in the darkness. His eyes a little squinted as if he’s trying to peer through the walls.

Post-Lectures Thoughts

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At some point after Ezrin has given Ethelred lecture 13, Alexis asks Ethelred about the lessons when the two of them are alone.

“Listening to Ezrin’s lessons takes me back to my time learning the arts. And sleeping through lectures. I don’t think I’ve ever slept so well, as when I was hearing those lectures.” Alexis smiles remembering the time fondly.

“But I wanted to see how you’re faring with your teacher. You’ve gotten a lot of lectures, and I hope he’s given you concrete tasks; I know you do well with those. Perhaps he has given you a gem and asked you to probe it for flaws? Or perhaps he’s given you a few materials and had to rank them by hardness? Had to list a primary purpose for each material? In a ‘spell-component’ sort of way. Perhaps he’s brought you a stick from a nearby tree and asked you to discern which tree he got it from? I never did very well with that exercise, but I think you would be better suited to it.”

Alexis stops talking to allow his friend a chance to talk about his journey into magical learning.