Flashback [Pitrius Citadel] Beginnings

[Gadir Armband Pitrius]

Spring 1, 295 Gadir was in his first real class. Well, actually it was several classes down the line, but to him this was the first real one, where they were actually taught things besides who taught what, where everything was, how to eat, physical exercise, etc. This was the class to start it all. Magical Benefits and Theory. The beginning of everything. Gadir sat on the bench, sliding behind a flat stone desk in front of him, and crossed his legs upon his seat, assuming the basic meditation form his father had drilled in him. The teacher entered the classroom, silencing everything immediately. Not that there had been that much noise to begin with. "I am Ragir. Welcome to the Pitrius Citadel, and to Magical Benefits and Theory class. We will begin, obviously, with the basics. While most, if not all of you are specifically from Pitrius clan, not all of your parents may have been the most stringent with your magic training. I will be." He continued on. "Everything we call 'magic', could be more easily defined as 'Djed manipulation'. In the words of the White Enchantress, Areesa Tallshade, "Djed is the backbone of reality. It is what makes me different from you, this rock from that rock. Djed is the self in the other, and the other in the self." It is the primal energy of all things. As in all the universe, there are laws concerning Djed. These rules cannot be broken, or altered, or changed. The ones we know perfectly, are these. Djed cannot be created or destroyed." To demonstrate this, he procured a round rock out of the ground by lifting one hand, his earth reimancy powers very, very evidently strong. Several of the students were in open awe of being taught by a man with powers that strong. "Consider this rock as a representation of Djed. To show that it cannot be destroyed, understand that Djed can be transformed. Anything that appears to destroy Djed is simply a transformation. Watch." The rock simply fell apart into fist sized rocks, and then those rocks fell apart into smaller pieces, and those then fell into dust, leaving a small dust pile on the floor. "Now. Some transformations are completely irreversible. I could take this dust, and form it into a rock, and form roughly into the same shape, but it will never be the exact same. Don't do something if your still going to need what you began with. And one last principle. Some Djed is more pure then others. Some Djed is simply more powerful, more pure, more primal. The Djed that explains the identity of a rock is much less pure then the Djed of a person, because of the complexity of a person and what an identity entails to them compared to the identity of a rock. That's why the more complex creations and manipulations you desire, the purer the Djed given must be. The Djed for people is used during any physical exertion. This is why our bodies must be physically perfect. Physical perfection will reduce Djed expended, and make our own Djed that much more pure in comparison to any other race, which is our blessing and quest by Izurdin. We regain Djed by the things we eat. Therefore, a proper diet is equally important to the proper physical regime. Both require absolute discipline. Now, Djed is not normally visible, unless specifically managed to be visible. The best way to manipulate Djed is to be able to see it. Being able to see, identify, and obtain information from Djed is a magic known as auristics, and will be the first personnel magic we will have you specialize and perfect in. Auristics is a type magic that we call personnel magic. This is magic that relies on your own Djed. Another type of magic is called worldly magic, which deals in manipulating the Djed around you, mainly through glyphs, which will be your first worldly magic to specialize in. Personnel magic and worldly magics are sometimes compatible, specifically through the use of glyphs. Glyphs are the writing which channel Djed into various acts. We will however start by introducing you to Auristics. As with all laws, there are consequences to the laws of magic. Using magic can cause negative effects, the most common one being called 'over giving'. This is caused when you release to much of your personnel Djed into a transformation, and become to absorbed to keep all of your identity, all of your physical presence. Effects of overgiving include fatigue, dilated pupils, incoherent speech, and temporary loss of physical senses. Serious overgiving may lead to permanent consequences. For Auristics, overgiving is caused by attempting to absorb to much information from a single aura, or attempting to focus on to many auras. For us to begin, I will have you focus on 3 auras of rock, but only do it one at a time. Begin at this one, end with this one. You will then attempt to identify the materials of each rock. Do not attempt to identify more information then that. Focus specifically on what each rock is made of, and nothing else, then move onto the next one." With that he merged the dust pile into a perfectly round sphere of rock, and then pulled two more perfectly round spheres of the same fist size out of the ground, and rested them next to the first. "Now. Begin a basic silent meditation, and focus specifically on this rock. When you believe you have the aura located, which will be approximately a glow around the rock about 1 in in depth. Observe the aura, with only the intent to find the material of the rock. Once you have, immediately seperate from that rock and focus on the second one. Do not attempt to focus on both at the same time, do not attempt to focus on extra information. And whatever you do, do not attempt to see my aura, which will be large, powerful, and will overwhelm you within seconds. Begin." Gadir closed his eyes, beginning his meditation by clearing his mind as he was taught by his father. Ignoring the breathing of the other students, he breathed in, letting it fill his body. Then breathed out, focusing on slow, even exhale. He then opened his eyes, and looked at the first rock. Nothing. He began to tunnel vision specifically on the rock, ignoring the room around him. Letting his eyes glaze over, he caught a flash of yellow, followed by several gasps of students around the room, breaking his concentration. He began again at the beginning, breathing in. Exhale. Open eyes and focus on target. Tunnel vision. And... There it was! A yellow swirling aura around the rock, a smooth, wonderful thing. The rock was made of graphite, had been recently touched by magic, and ... oh my, in the very center was something strange. It was super hardened there, weighing more in the center then the entire outside layer did. Super dense, it was a solid inch diameter sphere inside of the bigger sphere and Gadir jerked back and spluttered as cold water was splashed in his face from a fountain. He was breathing quickly and shortly, his eyes felt strained, and was suddenly tired. Absurdly tired. He glanced around the room, and found all of the other students splashed at the same time. "And did one of you listen to me? No. You went to far. You overgave. Now, move to the room across the hall, and eat. In 10 ticks, we will try again." Gadir wasn't the best off, but he wasn't the worst off either. He, along with several other students slowly and jerkily moved down the steps to the floor of the classroom, feeling terribly disorientated, and made his way to the room across the hall to find basic fruits and vegetables available. Some of the students simply attacked the food, eating whatever they could find. Gadir grabbed some carrots and celery, then sat in a chair, determined not to simply give in to the tiredness. As he ate, he promptly began to feel better. Finishing what he'd grabbed, he felt close to normal. He stood and moved to one of the pools of water, cupping the water to his face and drinking heavily. Feeling completely better, he went back into the original classroom, finding himself the first there. He approached the teacher. "Ragir?" He asked timidly. "Yes?" The reply came with a raised eyebrow. "That first rock was a trap wasn't it? Designed to draw us in? With the magical charge still running through it, and the super hardened center?" He asked more confidently. "You noticed the center? Interesting. Most are simply overwhelmed by the magical charge. No wonder you were overgiven. But yes, it was. Every one of you must learn to control your attention, including when to pull out. Now go and sit, when the rest of the class returns, we will begin again." Gadir nodded triumphantly, and sat in his chair, determined not to fail again. But, of course, he did fail again. Gadir, and only Gadir and one other he later learned, overgave when examining the third rock, another one made to intentionally drag you in, provided you had the skill to notice one thing in particular. The second rock had simply been a silver orb, and was made from the walls of the silver tower, allowing the students a look at some of the old magic running through it, and a respite from their overgiving ordeal. The third rock appeared just as simple. It was a granite mixture of minerals, made of the same dirt you could find anywhere in the kingdom. What Gadir and the other student learned however, and which ended up enticing them to try and extract more from the rock, was that there was writing in the center of the rock. A short message, written impossibly small on the center of the rock, that refused to be identified without severe concentration. Gadir wasn't about to let it escape him though, and didn't let go until he could read it... My real name is Tragir. Then he let go, the aura fading completely from his field of view, followed by the rest of the room around it. Gadir passed out. Gadir came to in a warm bed near a roaring fireplace, a cotton blanket pulled over him on top of a basic cot. There was a cot opposite him with another student. On the mantle of the fireplace was a bowl of soup, which brought about serious hunger pangs. He grabbed the bowl and drank it down heartily. It eased his stomach quite a bit, and woke him up the rest of the way. He was in a darkened room, the only light coming from the embers of an old fire. The walls distinctly identified as being part of the Pitrius citadel. So, he should be reasonably close to where he collapsed. He stood up and quietly left through the solid wood door, easing it open carefully. Closing it behind him, he was in a brightly lit hallway, one room down from the classroom he had started at. And there was his teacher in the hallway. "Ragir! What happened?" "Ah. One of our two ambitious students awakes. And as for what happened, I was hoping you could tell me." Regir had a smile playing at the side of his mouth. "Uh. I was staring at the third stone. And ... and there was something strange. Writing! There was writing in it. It said... It said... My real name is Tragir?" Ragir looked at Gadir appraisingly. "Only the most skilled beginning aurists would be able to read that. And only the most skilled would be able to recover so well from overgiving that much. My real name is Tragir, as I explained to the students after you collapsed. It was a test to see if anyone had the natural talent for it. And you do. I'd like to teach you on a more personal basis with a few other of my more promising students, to accelerate your teaching. I think you could become one of the best. Don't answer now, just go back home for awhile, sleep it off, and think about it. See you for tomorrow's class." "Uh, sure. See you tomorrow." Gadir just shook his head in confusion and started walking home in a faint daze, trying to think through what he'd just been told.