Solo Once Upon a Meditation (solo)

[Thomas Cosa]

10th of Fall, 512 AV
Late Evening

Thomas tugged and pulled at his inner Djed, forcing the life energy through his body, enhancing his senses. Each breath brought new insight to a hollow, empty room. Determinedly, the young mage struggled as he commanded his Djed unnaturally, bringing it to a rise, imagining it escape through his eyes.

Breathe.

Breathe. In.

Breathe. Out.

The surrounding darkness slowly gave way to light -- vibrant colors assalted the young man's vision, auristic sight forcing a new perspective on the dull, small room. Subtle, golden hues drifted off the small stack of hay that laid in the opposite corner, his bed in Sahova. Thomas felt the scratchy, thin hay strands one by one as he passed over the pile with his auristic magic. The pungent smell of sweat mixed with the earthen odor was strengthened, his skin feeling dampened, the coldness of the stone floor in stark contradiction against the dry, warmth of the collected hay.

Breathe.

Release.

The normally unnoticed rhythmic beating of his heart, the deepness of his own breath, his contracting and refilling of his lungs -- all became loud, and very noticeable to his auristic sense. Thump, thump, thump.

His skin exploded with vibrations, a deep rhythmic sensation vibrating at his very core with each passing breath. Thomas focused on his body, his auristic sense towards inward. Each thump brought a bright flash of red, dark and ruby, healthy. The smell of raw hide, and tanned leather blinked in pattern with his heart.

A low, buzzing sound began in his left ear.

In.

Out.

Confused, and interested, the young mage's auristic sense turned on his ear, his fingers burning with the feeling of skin, and a painful, electric sensation. A sickly yellow color assaulted his vision, the buzzing sound growing louder.

And then his magic flickered, and his vision blurred.

He panicked briefly, a few moments before his vision cleared, but the buzzing remained.

Thomas had already experience overgiving with Auristics, and knew that the buzzing would disappear in a couple minutes, returning his attention towards his meditation.

The Sahovan air weighed heavy on the animator's skin. The stench of decay burned at his nostrils and rolled on his tongue. The overall dryness of the air emphasized the young man's thirst, throat contracting against his tongue as he took a sip from his water bag .

Breathe. In.

Breathe. Out.

Breathe.

[Thomas Cosa]

15th of Fall, 512 AV
Midnight

"In...out...in...out," Thomas slowed his breathing, vocalizing only his brief motions as a mantra.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

He focused only on his breathing, talking slow, deep breaths. Gently, the young man closed his eyes, Djed bubbling excitedly . The young mage grimaced, pulling energy from his center, unnaturally forcing it to extend out through his senses. His hearing buzzed, his eyes burned -- but it was worth it.

He could hear the bitter snap of the cold, stone floor -- smell the heaviness of the dry air. Thomas could feel every part of the room he meditated in -- he could feel the space between the walls, every individual strand of hay. Thomas took in another deep breath, smiling. He could count them if he wanted to.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

The taste of Djed weighed at the back of his throat and Thomas frowned, confused. Opening his eyes he let out another deep breath -- only to find small reflective spots in his auristic vision.

"What...?" He whispered, unsure of what floated in front of him. Had he not been so calm, his reaction at finding his own magic blocked would surely be more animated, however, as he currently was, it was not. Instead, Thomas found himself feeling a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. Slowly, Thomas reached out with his auristic sense -- perhaps if Sight wouldn't work on whatever it was, something else would?

But, no. Nothing. Or rather an almost nothing -- there was definitly something there, but Auristics, or perhaps Thomas' own level with the personal magic, wasn't helping any. Focusing his magic had done nothing other then reveal whatever it was to be reflective to his magic. The small specks were almost like an auristic mirror, in every sense. Anytime Thomas tried to focus on them, it was as if he was scanning himself with whatever sense he tried to use.

It was perplexing.

Again, he reached out, his body shaking at a near break. His heart pulsed violently, his vision blurred.

And his magic was gone.

And so were the specks.

[Thomas Cosa]

17th of Fall, 512 AV The Great Library Late Morning "Shielding came out of need, brought from more aggressive magics like Reimancy. In simple terms, Shielding is the art of manipulating the bodies Djed (ref. 142) to create personal shields to protect from harm.," Thomas struggled through the book, still unused to reading such fluent Nader-Canoch, "The author will be assuming the reader a novice Shielder, as this book is detailed for the beginner. First, the author will be detailing the various processes for creating shields and the reader should begin to practice." Thomas quickly skimmed the next chapter, really only paying attention to the more detailed descriptions of the creation of shields. He made a mental note of the glass-blowing technique -- where the shielder pools the gaseous Djed in the back of the throat, blowing it at the target. The Djed should then, with minimal amout of focus on the shielder's part, mold around the target object, succesfully creating a shield. Slowly the Djed pooled at the back of the young animator's throat, Thomas fought the urge to swallow. Instead, he breathed the gaseous magic over his hands, watching as the golden mist shaped to his hand. It roughly touched the skin, flowing gently over the shape. The Djed shimmered and glowed, almost obscuring the book in a golden mist. The young wizard focused on the shield with his auristic sense, forcing the Djed throughout his eyes. As expected, the book remained mundane, something blocking the unnatural colors from surronding the object -- although Thomas did note the book had a certain shine too it, something it had lacked earlier. He frowned as he noticed the roughness of the newly formed shield. It was uneven in several spots, and had many small holes in the golden Djed. The shield lasted for a couple of chimes before evaporating. Thomas paused, checking the text, surprised by the overall duration of the novice shield. "It is important to remember that as a novice, as the author assumes the reader, the shield will not be well made or have a long duration. It is important not to let this discourage the reader.

[Thomas Cosa]

20th of Fall MIdnight/Early Morning Thomas relaxed, and began counting backwards from ten, "10...9...8...," he mentally counted, focusing only on his innate Djed. "7...6...5," and slowly, the young mage felt the slight trickle of Djed collecting at the back of his throat. "4...3...2," and his Djed pooled at the back of his throat, slowly forming a thick mist. "1," he mouthed, breathing out a golden mist. Thomas admired the shifting, shimmering, golden mist -- but only for a chime. Now he would sculpt it. Thomas focused, mentally imagining what he wanted the shield to do, how he wanted it to shape. The Beginner's Guide to Shielding had said he wouldn't be able to form the shape mentally at this stage -- that was something more advanced, but had encourage the practice. Thomas reached out to touch the mist, surprised at how solid and gel-like it felt for it's appearance. Slowly, he pinched the edges, forcing the Shield into a more round like shape. His goal was a perfect sphere, but he was beginning to realize that might be too much for him at his level. Instead, he ended with a more of a blob -- still it was a goldne blob that he had made. All he needed know was more practice.

[Thomas Cosa]

22nd of Fall, 512 AV
late evening

The young man breathed loudly, keeping a slow rhythm as he uncapped a small vial of ink. Thomas dipped his finger in the chilled, black liquid, the swampy texture a small shock to the animator. Bringing the covered finger towards his throat, he paused, remembering the exact glyph for 'Djed'. Carefully, Thomas traced a straight horizontal line across his pallor skin, gasping slightly as he reacted to the smooth cold of the ink.

"And through this mark, this word glyphed," Thomas stumbled through a chant in the ancient tongue, focusing his self. "I will be empowered," he paused, dipping another finger in the ink. Just below the horizontal glyph, Thomas marked himself again. Slowly, he traced a waved line across his throat, following the line through with a small and detailed spiral, "As will my breath," he whispered, pulling his finger away from his throat.

Satisfied with his glyphs, the young mage gently tilted his head back, allowing his Djed to trinkle to the back of his throat, waiting for the magic to pool.

The first glyph, Nader-Canoch for Djed, allowed Thomas to focus his Djed to collect more and more quickly. Still, new to the personal magic, it took a few chimes before the young mage would form the shield. The second glyph, Nader-Canoch for Breath, would allow the shield-djed to pass more easily, hopefully creating a more maleable shield.

Pursing his lips, Thomas blew, a trail of golden mist showing through his breath. Slowly, the translucent Djed pushed against the wall, sticking against the cold stone.

He had created more Djed, but still the shield was more gaseous then solid.

Thomas frowned, unhappy with the result. Looks like he would still need more practice.

[Mirage]

Thomas Cosa

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Auristics	3
Meditation	3
Shielding	1

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Using a Focus to Enhance Personal Magic

It's Not What You Think...

Hey Thomas! A really interesting thread I have to say, and beautifully written. As you can see I did not award you much in the way of points because of a few errors which you can go back and fix for more points.

1) Auristics: I see that you refer to "auristic senses" on multiple occasions in this thread, and while in theory what you describe should be true I cannot award you points for what you have. Why you ask? Because there are no details! When someone of a novice level uses auristics it requires a conscious, and very large, effort to get even the slightest bit of use out of the magic. Auristics is an extension of the senses which means your PC might see colors, hear strange sounds or smell interesting smells, but of course he will not automatically know what all of these things mean. This is because each and every user has to discover the meaning of what they experience for themselves because every user sees and experiences different things.

You say many many times he uses his "auristic sense" or "auristic vision" but what exactly does that mean? Is he seeing colors? Hearing sounds? What is he EXPERIENCING when he uses auristics!? I also do not see any effort put into these magics, almost as if he jsut goes *flip* switch is on I am using auristics. I am afraid that is not how it goes. You must focus the djed to activate the senses, and the more djed you focus in a particular sensory pathway the more powerful that sense becomes. Thomas should also be showing extreme signs of exhaustion after even the simplest use of this magic. I expect to see blurred vision, difficulty focusing, ect ect. All of which would lead up to overgiving if he continued the use of his magic. In otherwords, I need more to work with to give you any points at all. Feel free to go back and edit and I would be happy to regrade. Also PM me with any questions

2) Shielding: Is it me or did he seem to catch on to this process a bit too fast? One minute his is coughing up shinny orbs and he suddenly gets an epiphany "Oh I must be shielding!" I am not seeing the thought process that leads to Thomas going "Aha this must be what that is." Once more if you would like more points in this I will require more details about the effort it takes to even create that mist. Thomas should be basically shaking, close to overgiving just creating a small shield just the size of an apple if it is only his first time consciously doing it. Show me the effort it takes to create these shields, the concentration required to mold them, and especially show me the effects it has on Thomas as a whole. Details details!


Now I know that I seem like I am fussing, but it is all out of love . You are a great writer, and the mistakes made can be easily mended. Go back, edit a bit and I will be more than happy to regrade and give you have earned. Keep trucking and PM me if you have any questions!