Flashback Fifty Of Course!

Pandaemus buys a book.

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Center of scholarly knowledge and shipwrighting, Zeltiva is a port city unlike any other in Mizahar. [Lore]

Fifty Of Course!

Postby Pandaemus on November 7th, 2013, 9:04 am

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Spring 47th, 508 A.V.
Marcel’s Magical Supplies, Zeltiva

The sun was shining down upon the adolescent Pandaemus as he made his way through Zeltiva. It was a rare day off from work with his master and mentor. He meant to enjoy every moment of it. He had fifty two mizas to spend the slave had accrued over the past year and he meant to spend it this fine day in Zeltiva! He had spent a chime or two walking the campus if the University. Thanadoros had never let him attend, saying that it ‘was a school for people who wanted to watch from the sidelines instead of play the game’ but Pan wished he could take a few classes. He had been forbidden of course, and was a bit too young. But boys did dream.

The edge of the campus was approaching and Pan could smell the fresh grass and potent perfume of a small floral display outside of one building. These people were raised in such a neat and orderly fashion in their magics. It was so different from the rough, dark tumble his master had made him take into the arts. He had learned through pain and trauma what it meant to be a mage, and he’d like to do something with his djed that didn’t scare him for once.

A sign caught his eye and he read, Marcel’s Magical Supplies. He had learnt to read common long ago, and was very proficient at it. He had even begun to learn Nader-canoch, the Ancient Tongue. The wise student would hide that fact though. Not showing all your cards was a good way to keep them. The store instantly caught Pandaemus’ interest and the boy decided he should take a look.

Upon entry to the store he found himself standing in a small room he was dazzled by the first thing he saw. What would dazzle a young man so quickly? Only the smile of a beautiful woman. She held her hand out with a professional “How may I help you?”

Pan had to work to keep himself from sounding stupid. He said the first thing that came to mind. “Books.” Realizing that might not be enough he hastily added. “Magical books, you know.” He smiled quickly and continued to inspect the place. Cases and shelves were crammed neatly into the room and in the center was a table with three comfortable looking chairs splayed around it. The cases held all sorts of fascinating items that he was certain he could not pay for.

“We are a magical supply store after all…” He said, smiling as if it was a joke. Then she turned and directed him to the many shelves lining the walls. “What subject were you looking for. And ah… what price range.” Her eyebrows went up as the tip of her tongue stuck out. She clearly did not think much of him!

“I’ve got about fifty mizas. Hope thats enough for something! And I was thinking, perhaps shielding?” He said hopefully. It seemed a common enough practice, and helpful. Very helpful with his current master around. A shield or two during his experiments would not be out of the question. The old corpse was insane after all.

“We’ve got a few great texts on basic principles of shielding over here.” She lead him to a book shelf in the corner. Bending at the waist she pulled out a small blue volume with black lettering on it’s cover. The pages were browning with age but it looked to be in good shape. The Shield Compendium, Vol.1. “This is where you should start.”

Pan smiled and took the book from her. He was eager to read it and start. Though he was mad, his old master had instilled a fascination with magic in the boy. It was and always had been his favorite passion. “Wonderful! How much is it?” He asked, smiling at her.

“Fifty mizas of course!” She smiled back.
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Fifty Of Course!

Postby Pandaemus on November 8th, 2013, 8:53 pm

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Of course. As Pan relinquished his grip on the gold he took from her the pages of knowledge. He inwardly hoped it was worth the money, but anything to teach him a new use for his djed was worth the money to him. He did not use it enough to really be worried. When he left the store he was at a loss for where to go next. He could not return to the hut he and Thanadoros inhabited, for the nuit had banished him for the day to read alone.

Pan was in no way disheartened by this. He yearned for the days away from the insane corpse. The constant threat of subtle torture and mind games wears thin a boy’s patience after so many years. And the sun was shining in beautiful Zeltiva! The city was a treasure cove of rich experience, and the socially scarred youth it’s newest explorer. Pan decided to sit somewhere quiet, preferably in the sun, and read a bit of the book before doing anything else.

The youth stepped onto the path that would lead him to a small public garden, it’s only silent inhabitants a few trees and flower clusters standing an eternal vigil. His hands were red with the touch of the Syna’s rays. It had been a while since he got the chance to enjoy the weather. He sat and opened his book.

Shielding is one of the most common, and most vital, practices for a djed user who wants to stay alive. Precautions-

Blah Blah Blah. Pandaemus skipped ahead until the book began talking about the proper way to create a shield.

The djed user should harness their djed and weave it into a cloth-like covering for the subject in question. Infuse the djed with the ‘task’ the user wishes it to perform. Such tasks are generally the stoppage of djed, one of the senses, or an actual physical barrier.

The book grasped his attention and took hold like a hook to a fish. The clouds lazily migrated across the sky and a few classes let out in the University in the time he spent pouring over the book. The fifty mizas he could have spent on sweets or clothing already long forgotten. He would become an arch wizard someday. With his passion in the arts of magic and his lack of social distraction, there really was no other option.

Well, it seemed straight forward enough for him to get started. The young boy glanced around himself, looking for something he could shield. Trees, grass, flowers, book. He was in a particularly good mood and decided on a small wildflower. Pan scrutinized the small purple bud. Upon bringing it up to his face, his nostrils were accosted with a potent fragrance.

The idea came to him that instant. He would make an attempt to weave a shield around the flower. Infusing the shield with the ability to stop odor from moving across it would be a sure way of telling if what he intended had worked. Youthful eagerness overtook the boy’s scholarly diligence and he set aside the book.

Pandaemus began to clear his mind. The maintenance of focus was always a prerequisite of his hunt for his own djed. He breathed slowly, trying to empty his mind and concentrate on the breath as it entered the tip of his nose. He followed it’s progress into his lungs and back out. But with the breath out, came the djed. The once dormant energy pulsed with anticipation in front of him. He ran his fingers through the invisible haze of other worldly substance. It sent goosebumps up his arm.

Pan began to shape the djed, a yarn-like strand at a time he pulled it from himself and poured the thought of odorlessness into it. He had no idea if it would work, but this was how he saw it happening. And half of magic was perception anyway. That was how Pandaemus saw it at least. The concept of djed was a hard one to grasp for your average person, and finding a way to fit your mind around it was different for everyone.
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Fifty Of Course!

Postby Pandaemus on November 9th, 2013, 6:12 am

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The pieces of djed Pan pulled from himself fluctuated in thickness and length with his wavering focus. It was hard work getting pieces to weave together while also pushing the silence imprint onto them. He felt a weakness in his bones as the djed poured more freely from him. He had always found that part particularly troublesome.

Was it always this easy to relinquish oneself of their life force? Was this a natural occurrence? Would he reap some punishment later for his transgressions in the arts of magic? Pan’s young mind was clouded by these uncertainties rather than the common obstacles of a teenage boy. Where others worried about females, or friends, Pan’s dark thoughts brought him spiraling towards the tearing of souls and the loss of sanity. Amusing how life turns out for different people.

As he made the weave of djed, time pressed on. Pan’s fingers moved with the djed and the sun moved across the sky. He had been at it thirty minutes before he finished his first shield. His emotions were at a barely tempered high. The thrill of new magics and the euphoria of success were upon him. And he sniffed the flower.

The pungent odor hit his nostrils just as it had before. Perhaps a but muted, and peculiarly weak in a chaotic pulsing way, but still there. So, his initial shield had failed ultimately. But he was working in the right direction, and he had just bough the book.

Pan stood from his place against the shaded tree and picked up his book. The shield around the flower evaporated into nothing. The djed whisked off to some other stimuli Pan could not even fathom. The road to success was long and rocky. Especially when the success you seek is in the old arts of magic. Thanadoros would not be pleased to hear he had dipped his spoon into the shielding pot, but Pandaemus had his own skin to look out for. Though a slave to the nuit, secretly here in Zeltiva, he still dreamed of becoming his own man someday.

Gleaning enough power from the nuit to one day break free from his cold grip was always dancing through Pandaemus’ thoughts. The ever elusive power his studies whispered about to him. Someday he would walk down the street and people would fear him. But not today. Today was a day of subtle initiation. Today was a day of happiness and Pan intended to live in the moment. He began walking through the city with the blue book in hand.

People were out and about more now. Some had finished their day’s work and were on the hunt for a tavern or food seller. The sun was just entering it’s most vibrant stage of the day. Pan always loved Syna’s hellos and goodbyes. They seemed like the most glorious thing in the world to his young eyes. Like each and every person who was witness to the sunset was connected to the goddess somehow.

He followed the streets down to the harbor, the largest in Mizahar he was told. Perhaps the famous Cerulean Pier had something in store for his wandering curiosity? Pan pulled his cloak about him in response to the chill sea air. Students from the University flocked here after classes. Apparently this was the social nexus of the youthful vibrance of Sahova. And Pan had stumbled into it.
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Last edited by Pandaemus on November 9th, 2013, 7:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Fifty Of Course!

Postby Pandaemus on November 9th, 2013, 7:46 pm

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He was all smiles as he wove his way through a light crowd of youthful scholars. All seemed happy and hearty in the ever more vibrant light of the setting sun. Pan had never been around people his own age like this before. Always it was seeing one or two from afar. Never was he fully immersed in the hormonal overdrive of a teenage hangout. It was thrilling, exciting and terrorizing all at once.

Torches were being lit and Leth could be seen on the far side of Matthew’s Bay. Pan was seeing women for the first time in a new light. The smells, the curves, the intoxicating aroma. But they were always with others. He watched with wonder, impressed as boys would fearlessly approach groups of girls and somehow make them laugh. What manner of magic was this? Surely something he had never experienced.

A dried meat vendor was crowded with students from the University and Pan decided he would join the throng. He tentatively stepped up behind the group and waited nervously. At first they seemed not to notice him. He pretended not to look at them. They were all dressed in Zeltiva’s finest fashion, where he wore the ragged tunic and leggings he had been wearing for three months. The boys in the group were all talking loudly amongst themselves, about nothing interesting as far as Pan could tell. And the girls were all whispering as if they possessed the most enthralling secrets, which Pandaemus doubted.

Pan did not remain unnoticed forever though. It was, if he thought about it, probably longer than he would go without noticing someone behind him. But eventually one of the girls glanced back and she and Pandaemus made an awkward second or two of eye contact. She spun back to talk to her friends and Pan pretended, once again, not to have noticed. He had no idea why he was doing this. He had no desire for dried meats, and had made no move to talk to the group. But he was here, standing silently behind them in line.

Now that he had made eye contact, he could not keep himself from looking back at her. And it happened again. Again, awkwardly, he did not say anything. But he could not pretend he had not noticed. She had smiled and he had looked away. Why didn’t you smile back, you idiot?

“Hi.” A feminine voice said.

He looked up to see her looking over her shoulder at him. She carried a book in her hand and a quill tucked into her tunic pocket. A student. Two of her friends looked back at him as well, a mild interest playing about their faces. “Hi.” He responded, sounding far more calm than his racing heart made him feel.

“What’s your name?”

“Pan, Pandaemus.”

“That’s an interesting name, sounds kind of foreign.”

“It is. What’s yours?” He said, not wanting to dwell on his odd name. Foreign and old, just like the man who gave it to him.

“Ella.”

“So, you’re a student?” He was trying to find something to talk about. His chest was knotting up and he felt like the three girls could tell just by looking at him. But they did not turn away.

“We all are, obviously. Do you think regular people walk around laden with books?” One of the other girls said, smiling and waving a few thick tomes.

“Oh, yea…”

Another awkward moment of silence and the original girl asked, “So are you a student, Pandaemus?”

“No. I just live in Zeltiva.” He said simply. There was no real need to elaborate on his ugly situation. I just live here with my owner, who is a corpse disguised at a living person.

“Certainly sounds like a wizard name! You a secret wizard, Pandaemus?” It was one of the boys. Maybe sensing some form of competition, or else just being himself. He had turned to see what all the girls were doing and found the scraggly teen behind them. “Gonna show us some magic?” His words were laced with cruelty and confidence. Pan immediately felt a painful anxiousness stir within him. He had done nothing to warrant such a vicious mockery.

He quickly tried to recover, not wanting trouble. Even a pretty girl wasn’t worth a beating. “No, no I’m no wizard. I just live here.” The boy and his friends were snickering in a childish way. Pan was irked to see that the girls were smiling as well. Hadn’t they been having a nice conversation? In an attempt to salvage his reputation with these newfound peers, he added. “But I can show you some if you’d like.”

“What?”

“Who taught you magic?”

“I… I-My master. I’m an apprentice to a man who is somewhat of a wizard.” Pan explained. They clearly did not believe him. He supposed in their mind magic was a thing for those in the University to study. They laughed at him, or in his mind he saw them laughing. What did they know of it though? His mood became bitter and poisoned with anger. Idiot soft skins with their theoretical study. He had been thrown into the practical side of this dark profession most likely before these pimples could read or write! “What, they don’t teach you how to use it up there in the University? Well I bet you can read about it like experts though huh?” His words carried more spite than he wanted. His haughty arrogance reminded him unnervingly of Thanadoros. And worst of all, he had made the girl frown.
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Fifty Of Course!

Postby Pandaemus on November 10th, 2013, 12:48 am

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Their instant disbelief and hostility made Pan come into contact with an array of strong emotions he had not had to contend with before. A crash of embarrassment, and self-doubt shattered any of the good mood he had been experiencing all day. Now spite ruled his actions. The fear of strangers and strange situations was overcome by the indignation spawned by their ill placed doubt. They thought a lowly commoner could not contend with their social elitism? They thought he was a liar. Well he would show them.

Face warped by the dark emotions surging through him, Pandaemus had no problem focusing his cold fury on the djed within him. His hands out in front of him, he began to sweat. He closed his eyes to clear his mind. The blackness was tempered with cold determined anger. The effect was an increase in focus rather than a weaker concentration. The djed came easy and Pan pushed it outside of himself.

The boy who had issued the challenge was clearly some sort of ring leader. In his hand he held the bag of dried meats. Pan smiled at the idea that popped into his head. He projected the emptiness of his mind into the djed he held back like a man trying to press back the wind. Pandaemus strained to focus his mind on the minuscule point at on the fabric of the bag. He directed the flow of djed there and the force widened the tiny point into a palm sized portal. The blackness of the void was within and dried meats and fabric were being pulled into it. But the young wizard had not had much practice with the magic and could not keep it open for long. The boy’s concentration faltered and his voiding blinked out of existence.

But the bag was still torn, and the meats still fell. The people around him were not happy to say the least. He had sent the girls retreating back and the boys looked as though they were brewing for a fight.

“What gives!”

“You shyking bookpecker!”

Pandaemus had no idea what the term meant. He thought it rather immature, but he had been the one to spill their food across the pier’s planks. Syna had hidden herself behind the watery horizon and Leth was mounting the sky above them. Pan glanced around and his eyes found the girl who had initiated the conversation. Her eyes bore none of the gentleness of before. Now there was only fear and anger. He had ruined his day off.

Pandaemus stared at the boys in front of him, not saying anything. His heart beat a fast rhythm against his ribs and he could feel his eyes burning. They looked as though they were thinking about jumping him. But they didn’t. And that was the first time Pandaemus experienced the power that fear of the unknown possessed. If they fear you, they avoid you.

But it hurt him too. He hadn’t wanted to scare the girl. He had wanted to talk to her. Why did boys have to be so possessive? Could they not let a perfectly free girl talk to whomever she pleased.

The boards creaked and thumped under his feet as he ran from the scene. The Cerulean Pier had turned into an arm of social stigma for him. Never again would the slave return there during his stay in Zeltiva. They clearly did not want him there, and he was more than happy to never return. Pan found his eyes watering in fury as he walked away.

The streets of Zeltiva were a blur as he vaguely headed in the direction of Thanadoros’ home. His perception of the world was hazy and dark, with only his hurt and anger in vivid relief. His gait was forced and quick, and he moved for no one. The anger inside keeping hot and tempered.

He found himself on a dark street quickly becoming overwhelmed with the rocky hormonal emotions teens go through. His fire was burning out, now more a puddle of self-piteous muck. The adolescent swung furiously down a back alley and found himself in a dark, narrow dead end with only the city’s waste as company. A more fitting place for him he would not find.

Pan leaned against a grime covered wall and wiped his eyes with a fury he knew was misplaced. They had been cruel, and he had been just as cruel in return. The prospect of friends was shattered on the Cerulean Pier that day. Normal youths, if not before, would now avoid him. He had made sure of that with his anger and his unchecked magic. Why had he done it? They could have thought he meant to void them! He could have killed them! His idiotic use of his magic, when looked back on, sent a cold fear across the angry face of his heart. He could have murdered someone. Sure, Thanadoros had him do some grotesque things, but never murder! The ancient kook always saved that special treat for himself.

The boy needed a release desperately. He needed a way out of this moment. He wished he could reverse time to when he was shielding that flower. He had failed, but that had been better than the success on the Cerulean Pier. He concentrated on his djed, almost without deciding to. The imminent stir of power within him was what he wanted to manipulate. He pulled the djed into threads, not much bothering with consistency. He infused the strands with a hasty, emotion driven though of sight. He did not wish to see the world around him any longer. Pan Wove these various pieces of djed threads into the cloth of a shield again. He felt The energy sap from himself. He should not have attempted to use his djed three times in so many hours.

The boy knew he was over exerting himself but he was unconcerned. As he wove the cloth around his head, he noticed a visible blurring of his surroundings. Tears fell from his eyes as hi continued to thread the djed out from within him and into the ever thicker cloth of his shield. Blindness. Blindness. He did not want to see the world any longer. He wanted to be alone in his darkness. For darkness was where he had always been.

He finished the shield, and it held for he first time. He could see light and a blurred image of the alley, though as if through stained and distorted glass. He leant against the wall and his knees gave out. Sinking slowly to the cold, mucky ground, Pan began to cry. His body shook with convulsions of violent woe. Pan lowered his head to his knees and sobbed for a very long time. The tears did not stop until his shield began to fade and his body ran dry of emotion. There was only so long a boy could be tortured with his own emotions before sliding into the eerie numbness of depletion.

He stood. The night was cold now and his cheeks stung with the fresh chill of tears against skin. He began to walk, slowly and deliberately. But a rush came over him and he found himself hunched over. A spike of pain. Pan’s head felt like it was being split open. Stone touched his knees with an impact. He had fallen. He could not see for the pain in his head. Clutching at his skull, Pan lay there in the deserted street. Moans of pain and anguish would be heard by any near, but there was no one. He was alone again.

Eventually the headache subsided to a dull piling throb behind his eyes. The boy clenched eyes shut periodically on his way back to the home of his undead master. Perhaps the man was still enthralled in his reading. Perhaps he would not notice the boy’s late return. But Thanadoros always noticed when Pan did something wrong. And always it was punished.

Ledger-50GM for the book :)
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Fifty Of Course!

Postby Taylani on November 23rd, 2013, 8:32 pm

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XP Award!


Pandaemus:

XP Award:
  • +3shielding
  • +1 reading
  • +2 Socialization
  • +2 observation
  • +1 running

Lore:
  • Learning through pain and trauma
  • Shielding” One of the most common uses of Djeds.

Notes: These are comments.
Comments :
Feel free to pm me any concerns with your grade. Don’t forget to delete/edit your grade request.

TAYLANI
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