Solo The Power of Stroked Symbols [Wright Memorial Library]

[Matthew]

Matthew was the first one there that morning, and for whatever reason, that seemed to please the elderly Lisaelis. Her sharp gaze had softened just a tad, and when he had asked for some place private to study, she had quickly shown him to a remote corner. He kept seeing her out of the corner of his eye, peeking it on him, as if expecting him to be up to something. Each time she found him buried among a stack of books, with his mug of coffee perched on a completely different table. His thirst for knowledge and respect for the ancient tomes served him well, and he was eventually left alone.

Coffee. Addicting. It tastes burnt. Why do I keep drinking it? Because it makes my thoughts sing.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and ran his fingertip down over the stack of books he had gathered.

*Runes of Wonder
*Practical Glyphing
*Theory and Science of Sigils
*A Quick Overview of Djed
*Switches lead to Paths, if you Focus

The rest were a random assortment of books pertaining to magic and Djed in general, but he had arranged those on the side. They were there for reference, in case he needed to learn something he didn't understand. His studies in Auristics and Hypnotism had given him a basis in how Djed moved and worked, and in a safe manner. He had no wish to learn more of the personal magics. He was now here for the World magics. While most people suggested that Glyphing was a bad thing to start with, he somewhat disagreed. Then again, he wasn't starting with it. He already had a core of magic knowledge.

He flipped open the first book, a general overview of Runes and Glyphs. A nearby stack of paper and a quill would allow him to practice some of the strokes, which was what he planned to start with. Flipping to the introduction chapter of the tome, he stared upon a small smattering of clearly drawn Runes.

They were clearly stated to not actually have anything to do with the titles underneath them. Instead, they were a system that the author of the book had devised for himself. They were the words that spoke out to him when he drew the shapes, and they were the words of Wizards would think of when they saw them. Matthew paused for a minute, puzzled by this. It was odd that the magical mind could translate two completely different symbols into one single thing. Were the symbols encoded into the psyche of the mortal mind somehow? Had their power been hidden somewhere deep within, long long ago? Chewing his lower lip, Matthew fetched a piece of paper, also snatching the borrowed quill. Returning his eyes to the book, he read a little more.

...Glyphs by two different mages can look completely different, but mean the same thing. It is a personal preference, really. We say it is a science, but we draw with our instincts. When we are finished, then the instincts of others can tell the same thing. Glyphs can be a form of Ancient Tongue, though that is saved for another book. For now, merely soak in the shapes, and try to understand their power...

Draw them? Matthew's handwriting was terrible. Frowning a bit, he rose from his books, turning to grab another gulp of his coffee. The buzz was rather quick to hit his brain, and he hurriedly returned to the table. The first step was to understand the shapes and their power, hm? Chewing his lower lip, he tapped excess ink off of the quill and got to work. He started in a corner of the page, and slowly copied each and every example glyph on the tome page. It took quite a few bells, with Matthew being painstakingly precise and patient with his drawing. His quill swirled and flowed, etched out what he was shown in the book. A circle here, a squiggle here, a little sort of letter here. He eventually started to find it therapeutic almost, and quickly drifted off into a near meditative-like state.

Breathe in and breath out, and let your Djed flow. Feel the pulse of the blood in your veins. Glance back and forth from the tome to paper, and let your mind copy over what is needed. Let it speak to your hand through your eyes, and let the quill flow.

Bells passed, and suddenly, Matthew was done. He had a page full of Glyphs in front of him, not a single one of which he knew anything about. Glancing back and forth between the book and the things he had drawn, he furrowed his brow. He couldn't understand the power, nor could he see the relationship between word and symbol. Nipping his lower lip and deepening his stare, he flipped the page of the book and read on.

...If the Glyph still holds power, it will still be seen. If the Glyph has no power, it will break. The drawings will smudge and erase, the paper will tear. The fact that your written Glyphs still exist mean that they still hold power. Some of your power, flowing from your fingertips to the written symbols. Djed exist in all things, even the little lines of ink before you...

An idea. Feeling some level of excitement welling up inside of him, Matthew turned to the paper he had drawn on. Drawing out a deep breath, he slowly sucked Djed to his eyes. He could faintly feel the energy humming through him, like an additional blood flow, filling up his veins until it reached his eyes. When it did, the room suddenly lit up, every object glowing with a faint aura of some kind. Almost shivering in anticipation, the young scholar shifted his eyes to the very first Glyph he had drawn. It glowed with a faint white aura, and he focused in on it, trying to will his mind to meld with the soft color.

Past.

The word sprang to mind, and the shiver finally fled through his body as he double-checked his work with the tome page. It was the same word. He was onto something. He flipped through some more pages, scanning for a particular something. His mind did snatch a mention of Magecrafting out of the page, eyes pausing to read that as well. Glyphing could create items that seemed to imitate Magecrafting, but not at the same level of power. Glyphing was augmenting. He didn't quite understand, but it was a concept he could come back to later.

[Matthew]

...I have seen two types of Wizards. There are those who learn Glyphing in order to make cheap magical items, which can earn a quick Miza. The possibilities for this discipline are much more vast than this however, and anyone who wishes to find an easy method to make power items would be look elsewhere. Malediction is for the impatient. Magecraft is for those who wish to make wonderous artifacts. Glyphing is something much different...

Matthew blinked. He was familar with Malediction (only in definition), but he had never heard of Magecrafting. Pushing the book to the side but making sure it kept its place, he turned to the sorted stack of other random tomes he had picked out. There was one in here that was commonly used in some Magecrafting Basics class here, or so he thought. The University didn't really focus much on it, or at least not that he had seen. He finally found the tiny little booklet of a tome, a small red script titling it as a Magecrafting Basics overview. He flipped through it, glancing up and down the pages to try and get a brief understand of what it was. The expensive creation of magical items, from what he could tell. Reagents and components could be combined to create amazing things, though at a great cost of coin, and perhaps a great cost to the creator himself. It was advised against as a discipline, and noted that at the time of print, the University didn't have the resources or space needed to support a potentially dangerous Magecrafting lab. Apparently the overview itself had been written by a professor who had gone to Sahova to study. Making a mental note of this, Matthew set down the book and returned to his Glyphing studies. He would have to look into Magecrafting a little more later, just out of pure curiosity. One of the pages of the little manual had mentioned a few other tomes that could be researched if the person was interested in trying to take their studies as far as possible without a lab.

He wouldn't have the luxury of a lab, not here. He returned his eyes to the book of Glyphs, studying the words carefully. He wasn't a quick reader, but made up for a lack of speed with a surplus of comprehension. He could scan sentences and understand their meanings.

...While the runes contain Djed, the Djed holds no power of its own. Instead, Glyphs can be used to modify magic. With specific runes and plenty of preparation, a variety of things can be done to allow inventive modifications to spells, or to modify items or even people with the power of those spells. Sahova's many research labs have plenty of Glyphs in place to help protect their researchers...

Matthew paused, furrowing his brow. Sahova seemed to be coming up a lot in both the books and his brain. He glanced over to his pile of material, scouting out the one book on Sahova he had found. He reached out and snatched it, setting it to the side, leaving it for last.

...Runes can accomplish many things, and a list of those things follows...

The student once again grabbed a piece of paper and his quill, and carefully went to work copying down the listed uses. His handwriting was slow and precise, taking him almost another bell to fully copy down the definitions and personal notes.

*Store different types of magic
*Restrict magic into a determined space
*Channel magic into a determined space
*Split magical effects
*Stabilize wild magics
*Combine magical effects
*Release magic upon an activation of a Trigger.

There were several keywords listed as well. Matthew took another bell to copy those down. Focus, Barrier, Trigger, Path, and Switch. All in all, the process wasn't too incredibly hard to understand. It was a bit farfetched to believe that symbols could do such a thing, but he didn't bother trying to wrap his head around it. The symbols had power, and certain effects could be obtained from using the symbols in a specific way. Matthew stared quietly as his notes, some sort of excitement sparking in the back of his mind. He didn't know how to actually make his own runes, nor did he think he would create anything productive if he did try. But he did have a good understanding of the basic theory behind the Glyphing, so couldn't he perhaps draft some potential uses for Glyphs? There were the obvious ones, like storing fire in your hands or creating barriers to contain dangerous magical experiments. But, what about a more complex use? Matthew flipped through the book, looking for an entry that would help with his idea.

A sigil. He paused on the page, and quickly read through the definition. A collection of glyphs that performs a specific task.

Coffee. I'll need more coffee.