Closed Living on the Island of the Undead. (Abel)

[Annalisa Marin]

10th of Winter, 513 AV

Circles within circles, meanings within meanings. Anna pondered over this little mental puzzle as she stood in her small room in the Sahovan Quarters, her left hand tapping at her thigh and her right holding a piece of chalk. Borrowing things from the Common Labs was in itself becoming rather common, nothing expensive and since her reasoning was research the Nuit would have no place to complain. Currently her mind was occupied in a most perplexing quandary, the concept of wards against magic. Her mind was consumed in endless theorems, each one more complex than the last.

The door to her little domain in Sahova was wide open, granting any that might happen by a glimpse at both uncanny genius and perhaps the littlest hint of insanity. The tall woman's long black hair fell unkempt around her face, grey eyes ringed with dark circles and slightly haunted by something. Her figure looked much better fed than the majority of pulsers on Sahova, a product of Chief Embalmer Amaryllis caring for her investment. Despite looking a little ragged she held a certain regal air about her, a form of confidence that bordered on arrogance.

The tall Sorceress' tongue peeked out from behind her pale lips, running across the chapped and cracked things lightly as she considered the problem. Wards were supposed to be repulsive forces, but it seemed highly unlikely that one could simply draw a few Barrier Glyphs and repulse a fireball. It was just impossible logically speaking, so how then did she go about this problem? What piece of the puzzle was she missing here? How did one Ward spells away and contain magical effects to certain areas?

Her grey eyes lit up, a spark of inspiration seizing them immediately and growing like a steady flame. Containment... something that was rather close to storage, like the function of a Focus Glyph... So perhaps the Wards could be placed so that they forced the magic away from a certain point and moved them down Path to a central Focus? Or perhaps even a wide array of smaller Focus Glyphs...

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. This felt right, it felt like this could actually work in theory which meant that it was time to put it into practice. Anna lightly streaked the outline of a large Focus upon her wall, hers taking the shape of a stylized inverted triangle. Her hand moved seemingly by instinct, muscle memory having been engrained within it long ago. Her long fingers tightened around the piece of chalk, her grip firm. The world around her was starting to slip away as the only two things in the world that were important were her, and the wall.

Her Glyphs were beautifully articulate, drawn obviously from the skilled hand of an expert of the craft of Glyphing. The chalk scratched a streaked at the wall, the Focus finished easily and with very little effort in the act. Next would come the Barrier around the large central Focus, one that was simple made up of a ring of smaller stylized geometric shapes. This particular Barrier was given the concepts of 'containing' and 'holding'.

The large barrier finished Anna moved on to the task of drawing small rings of Barriers in a wide circle around the central Barrier. The intervals in which they were placed were controlled, placed deliberately and purposefully. These smaller Barriers were given concepts such as 'Repulse' and 'Repel'. Nothing terribly fancy, however before Anna's eyes a tapestry of arcane beauty and design was coming to life in this otherwise barren stone wall.

From there she moved out from the circle and started placing smaller Foci around the circle at more randomized positions. Around each Focus a Barrier was drawn with containment being their primary objective. Some of these Foci were connected to some of the circle of Barriers via Pathway Glyphs. It resembled some form of tree made up of complex geometric shapes, all wrapped up together by a 'trunk' or the Centralized Focus.

Anna stepped back to appraise her work, gazing upon the very codex for the language of magic. Each passing day she felt she understood so much more about it, that its secrets were becoming more and more open to her eyes. Todays little project was just one of many, the inner secrets of the arcane becoming so much more than just ideas. They were becoming words, thoughts, and the way to translate them lay right in front of her.

The tall woman focused upon the Djed with herself, upon the pool of energy that made up her very being. She pulled upon it, tugging at her very sense of identity and preparing to force it outwards in a shape her body was very familiar with. She breathed out and as she did a purple cloud of translucent purple gas formed in the air before her, puffing from her body easily and with speed impossibly for a lesser reimancer. It was res, a piece of Anna and an extension of who she was and what she could become.

The Sorceress willed the res towards the complex sigil before her and willed it to transmute slowly and gently. The air of the room breezed gently as the res was transmuted to air and directed towards the Glyphs. The sigil did its work, absorbing and forcing the air inwards towards the central Focus or outwards towards the smaller branches of this arcane tree. It was enough so that a triumphant smile worked its way across Anna's face, her success pleasing.

The dark haired woman glanced down at the piece of chalk, which was pretty worn down by this point. She would need more, perhaps inks as well and brushes. Yes, she would need to refine and experiment with this further though probably outside of the Citadel so she could bring more hostile elements into play. What were the upper limits to the Wards? Could they be condensed? Simplified even? She needed to test, to test until she had the answers she sought.

Anna slipped on her sandals and placed her tattered cloak around her neck, her steps carrying her out of her room and into the hall with little attention to what was actually beyond. Her mind was so preoccupied with complex Glyphing formulas and new designs that she didn't register another person being nearby until she collided with them. The woman stumbled back slightly, her mind being brought to the present and the fog of progress lifting from her eyes which zeroed in on another pulser.

"Gah! My apologies, are you quite alright?" Anna inquired, her tone smooth like honey as her mind shifted from research to investigation.

There were not many Pulsers on Sahova, and being that Rhysol's path to dominance would likely originate from the living it paid to know each one. Her research would need to be put off until a later date sadly enough, though it couldn't be helped. The needs of the Defiler came before the needs of the Citadel and research.

[Abel Rayne]

Majority of the words were still incomprehensible. That is if they truly could be considered words, there really weren't letters. More or less, they appeared as symbols. Despite all the symbol-letters, the decrepit tome was comprised half of what seemed to function as etchings, designs, and perchance blueprint like layouts of who knows what. Abel surely didn't. He could understand a very negligible portion of the book. Lately he found himself submerging himself into it much more than he had in the past. He thought that it was simply due to the fact that he had yet to meet anyone and didn't exactly wish to go hunting for a friend. On the other hand, he knew it would be healthy to get out of his solitary room and speak to someone.

Upon Abel convincing himself at the minimum to walk around the citadel for an hour or so, he must finish a session of meditation before hand. Ducietus had instructed him to do so within a few days of arriving to Sahova. So he had been there for more than a few days, maybe a handful of days. Who was he hurting? His mentor informed him that it wouldn't only bring him closer to himself, it would bring him towards his inner being. Which he explained his inner being is comprised mainly of his Djed and all in all, the meditation would give him a better understanding on how the Djed of his body functions. Typically Abel sincerely took Ducietus's words to heart. A bit skeptical with meditation but he would attempt it before departing.

Just as advised, he set up three items at random in front of him. The items being a comb on the left, a brush on the right, and one of his boots in the center. Between all of them, approximately a four foot gap of nothing. He sat on his featherbed to put him on higher ground, elevated above the three pieces. There was nothing else in his view, except the wall behind his things which had a decent length away from everything. Abel unclasped his cloak and pitched it out of sight. With his knees bent and one leg under the other, his legs looked like a pretzel. Abel glanced down to his arms without shifting his head. They felt awkward and too loose just hanging; he crossed them athwart his abdomen.

Abel gently shut his hollow eyes, the lids of his eyes merely rested on top one another without using the muscles in his eye sockets. Loosen your body his subconscious instructed as his body was introduced to a more limp state. Though, he wanted that voice in the back of his mind to subside. The body shall be briefed without voice. The elbows in his arms gave in as he allowed them to fall lightly and rest on his thighs. He let time pass for a few moments as he felt his mind seeming to focus more so on breathing than anything.

His livid eyes opened meekly as they had closed. Focus; he heard himself inside his head. Again - Focus. His vision adjusted to the dim lighting as his pupils fixated on the boot. For ten minutes his eyes locked onto the boot and used all the power invested in himself to see nothing else. It was near impossible to block out the other two items. Not only did he have to focus his eyes, he must focus his thoughts. Think of nothing. He thought to himself multiple times how do I think of nothing? That wasn't meditation, that was philosophy. A whole other thought for a different day. The thoughts expired and faded back to nothing.

Now for the difficult portion of this meal of meditation. His eyes had found objective only to the boot. Now they must find object of the other two items. Not at separate times but at the same. He attempted to diminish the tunnel vision but his sight only had the single target, his vision to anything else was essentially blurred. I must not think but I must change focus he tried telling himself without words but the voice in his mind spoke. Eventually his peripheral vision had caught glimpse of the comb and brush. He wanted his line of perception to be all three items. He found his eyes trying to move between the items. He never realized how difficult and energy consuming something so simple could be. For well over twenty minutes his optics would peer at all three at once. Not long after, wondering eyes would swivel unwillingly and distinguish a single item, causing his balance to be knocked off.

"Done" he spit out in an irate tone. Although, he did feel more so relaxed than beforehand. Nothing extremely exceptional but he noticed a slight contrast. He slid off the bed, pushing the items against the wall with the edge of his bare foot. Leaning over, taking a hold of his clothing, and wrapping his cloak around his cadaverous flesh he took his leave after guising his feet with a pair of boots.

He'd seen belongings in other's rooms but had yet to see any neighbors. To his own revelation, he stopped the pattering of his footsteps before the artist in the room ahead would hear him nearing. He looked to the ground to make sure there wasn't anything ahead that would give off his presence. As he slid in closer to her dwelling and stopped once he overheard her speaking to the new found creation. Feeling as he was now doing more than observing - eavesdropping and invading her seclusion. He wanted to move back but he was near positive she would hear. Instead he watched.

Finding himself as engrossed in her project as she was herself, his mind now elsewhere. He had watched her from the end fraction of the drawing but saw the full extent of her reimancy. Once finished, he studied the picture. He had so many questions. The circles. The triangle. This breed of worldly magic was all new to him. He didn't even comprehend the essence of the design. She certainly is not summoning anything.. atleast it doesn't appear so he speculated. Although, the reimancy hadn't come as a great surprise. Back in Nyka he had gotten a taste of fire reimancy second hand. Abel jerked his head around, hearing a moan from the building's structure. Even more startled by the sound of the woman's movement he had been surveying, he made an effort to flee but was too late. The two met head on. "No, no. I'm splendid. Just fine" he said. An instant after they collided he was near positive he had felt something recoil from his boot. His knee brushed the ground as he bent down to pick up the culprit between his thumb and index. At the same time of picking up a piece of chalk he thought to himself I damn well hope that you're a better mage than spy. "And I believe this belongs to you" he said and held out the nub of chalk and would drop it in her hand once she placed it in front of him.

Abel couldn't help himself, he was overrun by curiosity. His arm protruded towards the drawing on her wall "may I?" he asked, taking a step of questioning approval towards the art.


OOCI meant to have this done much earlier. I typed my first post up and hit backspace a few too many times. It deleted the whole post and I had to restart it all. I was furious. If you notice anything that doesn't make sense for Sahova/Mizahar, let me know.

[Annalisa Marin]

OOCNot to worry, you are doing fine Abel. Your writing is lovely.

Anna smiled gratefully at the man's words, accepting the little nub of chalk with a nod. He was certainly not familiar to her and a quick glance to his hands showed no ring adorning his fingers. So he was unranked, possessing no master or duties yet. The question was, was he merely a visitor or a prospective Apprentice? Either possessed their own uses, but an Apprentice was far more useful for the long term. Ever the politician that she was, always looking for the next potential ally or underling. It was the way of Sahova after all, to know what another person could do for them.

When he gestured to the sigil in her room Anna noted with some annoyance that, in her more absent minded state she had not closed the door and had allowed anyone that passed by to see her work. That was certainly annoying, not horrible, but if the man had been watching her then he already had two pieces of information on her. That she was both a reimancer and a Glypher, not exactly valuable pieces of information but it was something he had. An advantage on his part now, if he had seen her work.

Anna pondered his query, idly weighing the pros and cons of letting him take a closer look at the sigil. She was not fond of sharing her magic with others so easily, however if he had seen her working it wasn't like he'd learn anything about it. Odds were good anyway that he wouldn't have any idea of what the petch the sigil was, few Glyphers on Sahova were at her level of ability. He might not even know what Glyphs were, though if that were the case the man was not much of a wizard in her mind. If he was even a wizard of course.

"Ah, certainly. Its a little rough but feel to take a look at it. Do be careful not to touch them though, it might release the magic I placed within them." Anna invited.

She would give him space to step into her small room, allowing herself to lean upon the doorway with an amused smirk on her lips. It always felt good to have people recognize her advanced abilities regarding Glyphing, like a sort of vindication. She didn't need it exactly but it always felt nice to have people look on at her with awe, amazed at her power. She was a truly powerful Sorceress after all.

She gazed upon her guest's form, making note of anything outstanding about him. No scars adorned the palms of his hands, meaning that it could be that she could cross him being a reimancer off of her list. Of course, it could be if he was that his initiation scars were elsewhere. It was not strictly required for the scars to be on the palms after all. She had initiated Tsaba with cuts on her wrists.

"Not my greatest work, more a test than anything else." Anna stated, gesturing to the sigil with a shrug.

"I haven't seen you around the island before, and you seem to lack a ring of rank. A new arrival to our fair Citadel?" Anna inquired, her tone conversational and light.

He certainly looked new, unmarred by starvation or sleep deprivation like so many pulsers possessed. Anna possessed the latter but the former was taken care of due to her mistress keeping her well fed with two meals a day. An amount that many pulser apprentices would certainly be envious of but Anna simply knew it was just Amaryllis looking after her investment. Nothing more and nothing less.

[Abel Rayne]

When listening to someone speak no matter what they spoke of, Abel always put effort into truly listening. Whether it be a truth, lie, or something in between - he absorbed the words. Lots of time having to mind himself to do so. He wanted to distinguish the orator, pick them apart. He'd make mental notes of certain actions or habits. As the woman spoke, he listened. Really listened.

He had never naturally been a people person. Though with his newfound respect for hypnosis he would try putting thought in the manor he spoke. For example - if speaking to a macho knight or guard he needed or wanted something from, he'd play into the victim's pride by putting on a show of docility. Why not do so when majority of beings are 90% emotional, 10% rational? You're crying? I think I may feel a tear coming on, also.

Abel consistently locked eyes when communicating. His thoughts were that they are wirings directly from the brain, even though the eyes tell secrets the mind doesn't want to reveal. Why has she looked at my hand three times, now he wondered without word. His head shifted back and fourth, nodding twofold in response to her acceptance. He had yet to say anything else as he slipped into her room, his body partially twisting sideways as he slid in. A lanky, haggard arm held his cloak behind him as he moved past her and his eyes habitually targeted to hers. As the grin played on her face, he shot her a fabricated smile in return.

Now he had utterly confused himself in his own mind games. How shall I approach this? Acquaintance or experiment? I have no friends. That may be a better thing than worse. His fingers found themselves interlocking with each other behind his back in a neutral manner as he observed the drawing and his thoughts idly continued. I have my question. Now I need some background before I can form a hypothesis. How about we test the waters before we jump to conclusions.

When she the woman spoke again, his head snapped to her as if he had been in another world. Looking down, he spread his fingers apart too look for an absent ring "At daylight tomorrow, I can claim I have survived my first week on Sahova" he said as he looked up to her and his fingers went back together. It was difficult to tell by the way he spoke whether his conveyance was more so on the serious or sarcastic side. His sense of humor was dry as a bone.

Pointing up to her drawing again, he inquired "there is no circle around it. It won't work without a circle" implying that he thought it was some sort of summoning circle. He wanted to find out more about it but he got the vibe when she let him in that he was lucky to be this close to it. It couldn't hurt to get a tad of information of what sort of wizardry she performed. Even if she would tell him it was a glyph, he would still have no concept of what it is.

[Annalisa Marin]

A week? The first week had been a nightmare for Anna she remembered, as she had spent it looking over her shoulder for Daren. The thought of the petching hypnotist was enough to boil the blood in her veins and breed a near homicidal rage beneath the skin. She was going to kill him for the suffering he had placed upon her, after all he was a mere hypnotist worm compared to a mighty Reimancer. The dark haired sorceress continued smiling, chuckling a little to herself audibly at the answer. She had to wonder how he would be acting if he knew, if he had witnessed a fraction of the horrors upon Sahova. Probably less calm, Anna knew that much.

"The first week? Well, I hope you brought food. If not, I hope you like going hungry and hunting for food in the Testing Grounds. Most unfortunately lack such foresight." Anna remarked with a shrug.

The Nuit hardly cared about the needs of the living so often they went forgotten, living Apprentices normally only received a meal every other day after all. Visitors received absolutely nothing, Anna recalled the absolutely torturous experience her first week had been. No clean water, no food, and she had been suffering from a fever. What a start to her Sahovan experience. Though, it had certainly been an education and allowed her to sympathize with her fellow pulsers.

Anna quirked an eyebrow at this man's critique of her work. What did he think she was trying to do that required a circle? Did he understand nothing about Glyphing? The only discipline she knew that strictly required circles was Summoning, Felicia's favorite discipline and her little pet project with Pandaemus. Perhaps he had gotten the two confused? Or perhaps he truly believed her sigil would not function without a circle, he could just be a lesser Glypher.

"You are speaking as a summoner might, Glyphing does not strictly require a circle. Had I desired a Barrier around the overall sigil you might have a valid observation, however it is clear that I do not given the design. Though, depending on where the Barrier would be placed its possible this sigil might benefit from it. Or it could compromise the integrity of the whole design. If you possessed basic knowledge of Glyphs you would know this." Anna explained, dealing in complex terminology and theory that would no doubt sail right over his head.

She didn't imply he was ignorant regarding Glyphing, simply stating it was something he should know if he was worth anything. In Anna's mind a Wizard without basic grounding in Glyphing was a laughable Wizard, nothing special and ignorant to the finer things regarding the arcane. Then again she was probably biased due to having taught the art professionally.

"I certainly hope you don't find it rude, but I'm heading to the Gug Andjak and would rather you were not in my room while I was not around. So, if you please would step out. You are free to accompany me if you wish." Anna said, gesturing to the hallway after a chime.

After Daren having savaged her room last season she was rather paranoid about leaving her room open to anyone who might enter it while she was gone. She liked her privacy for the most part, though that was perfectly understandable for a wizard. She certainly wasn't going to leave her room with a stranger she just met standing in there.

If he would step out the Anna would close the door behind her, idly willing liquid res to seep between her toes and slither out along the ground. It slid under the door and poured into the pores of the stone ground. She kicked her heel into the ground, signaling a transmutation to take place. A stump of earth would sprout up behind her door, a stop that would prevent anyone from entering short of forcing the door down or using reimancy to remove the stop. With that she would gesture down the hall, starting down the way herself.

"So, you have the Judgment looming on the horizon eh? Quite a nerve wracking experience, trust me I know. The Judges always seem to turn aside more pulsers than Nuits, petching corpses. Any plans for the 40th, sir, if you don't mind me prying?" She inquired, her tone conversational.