Solo A Grand Ol' Time

[Alric Wilmot]

42nd of Summer Alric sat on the steps of a building that he thought might be abandoned. The street took the appearance of an average street today, cobblestoned and slightly dirty. Still, looks were deceiving. The stones were actually incredibly soft and pliable, a bit springy if you walked on them. It was quit amusing to simply watch people go by as their steps went higher than they should. Alric was eager to begin, to put on a show for the people and play with their senses just as the street did. Cadmus had discounted him so easily. Well, Cadmus wasn't Ionu was he? No. No he wasn't. Ionu wanted to trick the senses, have a bit of fun, well Alric could do that too. He may only have one mark, but that was all he needed. As people walked by, Alric closed his eyes and imagined a sphere around him. He didn't normally use this technique in his hypnotism. Though in truth, Hypnosis was the expansion of your sphere of influence, Alric found that you did not truly have to imagine it as such in your head. When he used it normally, He thought of tendril, burrowing into the eyes and ears of those he influenced. But for what he planned today, a large bubble was perfect. He had never tried to hypnotize a large group of people before. But he had practiced on goat-men, rats, and Yukman. He was certain that he would be able to handle people who weren't trying to kill him. As the bubble in his mind expanded, He rolled the sleeve of his right arm up and tapped his gnosis with his index and pointer finger. All at once elaborate globs of purple and pink and yellow materialized overhead. From It, liquid pieces and parts fell from the sky like rain. When they landed on the house, they seemed to harden and twist and put themselves together into a jester's castle. Before the 'castle', was a long and narrow stage, with staircases on both sides. A long velvet curtain covered the stage. The stairs leading up to the door of the building became a part of the stage, making it appear that Alric sat upon it. The people about him turned, curious as to what he was doing. Alric quickly stood and looked over the crowd gathering. A pulse went out from him, sending emotions of curiosity and excitement to everyone Alric put his gaze upon. The difference was readily noticeable. Backs straightened, Eyes narrowed, and lips began to smile. Alric gave off his own smile. He cleared his throat, and spoke loudly. "Fellow Citizens! Please do relax and enjoy the show!" A simple command, eager to be obeyed, easily wormed its way into their minds. With a jab at the sky, a gout of flame exploded from his fingertip as he sent false sensory information to their ears and skin. A flash of momentary hallucination, making them truly feel the heat of the flame, and hear its roar. He pulled his hand away, and all at once the flame fell downward. The crowd was scarce, but with the seeming death of flames falling towards them a cry went out that caught the attention of others passerby. But with a twist of his arm, Alric altered the illusion. The flames melted to water, and splashed against the streets. Again, Alric used his hypnosis to send the sound of splashing. More people began to gather, curious as to what he could do. Alric extended his hands once again, and began to twist and turn them, raising and lowering them. At the same time, the water on the ground began to churn. It rose and fell with his hand movements, and followed his will. The onlookers seemed entranced, enjoying the show. He swiped his hand to his chest, and the water shout out in eleven geysers. Once more, Alric sent out a pulse, a momentary flash of the senses to the people about him. The sensation of water droplets on their skin. Alric scrunched his face, feeling a bit drained. The crowd was growing larger, and it took more out of him to hypnotize so many people. The geysers ceased, shortly after the flash, and in their place were six Charodae. Alric had only personally seen one up close, the others strangers at Alvadas's docks. As such each Charodae looked the same. They were thin, short, and female. Alric extended both hands again, and began moving his hands as though the Charodae were but marionettes. The Charodae began to dance among the people, and Alric earned his first round of applause. Alric made another illusion, this time of a Charodae male, or what he thought a male might look like. He began to tell a silent story of the male Charodae trying to earn the love of one, while spurning the love of another. He made the poor male rather clumsy, slipping on the illusionary water once or twice. This earned laughter from the crowd, but Alric found he couldn't keep the illusion going for long. He had never used his mark so extensively before, but now it began to throb. And Alric knew it was time to get to the finale. The show had been short, he knew. Only about twenty minutes. But he didn't think he could handle much more. With exaggerated motions, Alric began to yawn, and drop his hands. Each time he did so, the Charodae would drop, like puppets whose strings were cut. The third time this happened, the male threw his hands up in exasperation, and began to walk towards Alric while he was still yawning. The Charoda jumped on the stage, and Alric made a show of running from him while he tried to get the illusion back under control. The male plied a board from the illusionary stage, and began to swing it at Alric. Alric tripped, and it seemed as though his life would be forfeit. But then, Alric opened his mouth, and began to turn inside out. Or at least, it appeared that way. The crowd shrieked in revulsion, but as Alric continued to turn in on himself, his shape began to form something else. He continued to twitch and convulse, and began pulling all the other illusions, other than the male Charoda into himself as if they were fabric. The Jester's palace behind him was first, then the water, then the female Charoda. The male gave a soundless scream at their assimilation. Alric grew larger, and fiercer, until at last he formed a large creature that he believed was a Nuzem. He had heard descriptions of it, had seen drawings, but had never seen one. As such it was exaggerated and a bit cartoonish. But it appeared fearsome all the same. In truth Alric was invisible, directing and maintaining his illusions to just two. As Alric extended a tentacle to the Charoda, he sent one more flash of sensory information to the crowd. A loud roar, that the Nuzem most likely didn't actually sound like. They flinched all the same, however. After all, they had never seen a Nuzem either. Alric had the Charoda flail about, and scream, though of course no sound was heard. His mark limiting the amount of senses he could fool. The Nuzem grabbed the Charoda and without delay, stuffed him in its mouth. The crowd gasped, not expecting the quick resolution. But even as some began to laugh, Alric had the Nuzem begin to swell, and swell, and swell. The Nuzem looked as if it was about to burst. And then, it did. This time, Alric focused harder on his connections. This flash was going to be difficult. But it had to work to finish the show right. The Nuzem burst then, but rather than gore, fireworks seemed to explode from it. Red spirals, blue streaks, and green streamers. Alric looked at each person in the crowd, though none of them could seem him any longer. He sent a pulse, another flash, of the sound of fireworks. Sparks of every color flew by their heads. The sparks then began to pause in mid air, and fly backward from whence they came. The sparks began to swirl, and form a vortex. Alric stood in the middle, and let his invisibility drop. The sparks then began to gather on his arm, and they formed a very interesting sight. Alric had a large crow resting on his shoulder, with feathers every color of the rainbow upon it. Alric gave a large bow, and dipped his head. "Thank you everyone for enjoying the show! May Ionu bless you all and be praised! I hope you all have a pleasant day." The crowd began to clap and cheer, showing their approval of the spectacle. Alric allowed himself the praise, but all too soon it died out and the crowd began to disperse. He had distracted them for a scant thirty minutes. A small amount of time, and an easily forgotten show. Still it wasn't about making a lasting impact. It was about fooling the senses, and celebrating wonder and the power of falseness. This had not been for their sake, not even his own. It had been about bringing glory to the Lord of Illusion. And as Alric let the raven on his shoulder fade, and his bubble shrink. He hoped that his throbbing head and wrist were worth it. He prayed that Ionu had seen him. And he hoped that he had enjoyed it most of all.

[Harrier]

Skills	Amount
Hypnotism	2
Storytelling	2

Lore

Hypnotizing the masses

Story: Charodae clutz seeking love

Assimilating Illusions

Hypnotism and Ionu: stretching your limits

Overgiving for the Lord of Illusion

Trying to impress a god

Paranoia: The Nuvem's Out to get me

Oh no!: Consequences of overgiving: bleeding eyes and ears (14 day recovery); Alric will believe for the next 60 days that the exploding Nuvem is out to get him.

Additional Comments: Nice coordination between his single gnosis ability and his proficiency in Hypnotism. However, the consequences remain, he pushed it too far. Be sure to note the consequences in your threads between this date and Fall 11, 513.

I also gave you storytelling because of his tale of the charodae and failed love attempts. Congrats on reaching Master in Hypnotism!

(c) abstract