Solo A New Project

[Malach Varin]

2nd of Spring, 514.

Malach held the block of wood in his hands, studying it intensely. He was trying to visualize the shape and detail of his latest project before he started, in an effort to make the work more fluid. At his side lay several rough drawings of what he intended the project to be from different angles; the front, the sides, and even an image of how it might look from above. In these drawings, one might be able to recognize the object that Malach was currently trying to reproduce in miniature. It was the where any visitor to Lhavit had to first pass through. It was where the residents of the city often gathered and walked about. What Malach intended to do was to carve Mount Zintia into this block of wood.

He had spent the past few days studying it from the different peaks that made up the city of Lhavit. At first doing nothing but merely gazing upon the peak and all the architecture that adorned it, trying to capture the details in his mind. He then followed by taking sketches of Zintia, going so far as to travel some distance past the Amarathine Gate, in order to get an idea of how it looked for those entering the city. He did all this in an attempt to capture the Zintia as best he could. He had even been tempted to use what minor skill he had auristics, but he resisted knowing that he skill was to low to learn anything meaningful from such a large object.

That however did not hold true on the block of wood in his hand.

Having already a good idea of what he wanted to do, the next step was actually doing it. Ever the meticulous person, Malach was now attempting to see what the best way to start. The materials one worked with were often times more important than the actual design, for even the best design lay at the mercy of whatever surface it sat upon.

Taking a deep breath, Malach closed his eyes and emptied his mind.

“For the novice aurist, it is important to rid themselves of any distraction, lest they lose focus and fail to see the what they seek. They should focus on what ever object they wish to study, allowing them to see the hidden characteristics that plain sight alone can not reveal…”

With his eyes closed, Malach rememberd the passage in the book where he had first learned of this ability. He pictured the block of wood in his mind, removing all else. Slowly, an imaged formed, fueled not only from visual memory, but also from the feel of the wood in his hands and the smell that what was distinctive to this medium. He controlled his breathing, making sure to keep it steady and rhythmic. He allowed himself to relax, letting the image of the wood block be the only thing that occupied his mind. After several ticks, when nothing else but this filled his mind, he opened his eyes. What he saw was a distortion of what normal vision should be. The only thing in focus was the block itself. His hands holding it, the room in which he called home around him, even the sound of his father snoring were so far off that they barley registered by Malach, as if they did not exist.

It was a peculiar feeling for him. Normally his senses; while a part of how he perceived the world around him, were separate from each other. While in this state however, they all seemed to merge into one. What he saw would translate to his sense of touch. What he felt would inform what he saw, and so forth. He would love to keep himself in this almost trance like state simply to experience what else it could offer, however his skill would not allow him to, and within a few ticks his focused faded and the world around him returned to normal. Using this skill usually left Malach tired, and short of breath, and this time it was no different. Nonetheless, he smiled. What he wanted to learn of this block of wood had presented itself in the few ticks he had. The nature of the wood; the direction of the grain, any knots or weak points in the wood that would present difficulties while carving, and the general strength of the block itself, were all facts he was able to glean.

While tired from the exertion of using auristics, he smiled to himself, and picked up one on of his tools, and began his work.

[Malach Varin]

Using a pencil, Malach sketched onto the block a general outline. He focused primarily on the shape rather than the details, which he saved till he was further along the process. By drawing the outline on to the block off wood, Malach gave himself a guide in which to work with so that he does not remove too much of the wood. Each side held a different view of the Zintia, and some of the more prominent architecture was included, and he even sketched in a view of the top, as he felt it might look.

Once he judged the lines to be a decent enough guide, Malach put down the pencil and grabbed a small, one handed saw. Normally he wouldn’t use a saw on a piece of wood this size, however the shape he intended required that he create certain angles, and the saw was the best way to do that. Malach placed the wood block on to the table in front of him. While he held the block in place with one hand, he carefully began to saw off the top corners, angling the saw away from his hand as to not cut himself. The block began to take on a pyramid like shape; the top which he left flat, where the peak of his miniature mountain was to be, sloped outwardly approximately half way down before it dropped off into a cliff made of wood. He took care not to cut too close to the guide, leaving about half an inch that he would manually sand down.

When he was done, he put the saw down and picked up the sander; a thick piece of parchment with small grains of stone and rock embedded onto one of its surfaces. He began to sand down the edges, taking away their aggressiveness. Thus, using the guides that he originally drew on, Malach proceeded to give form to the former block of wood, stopping only to re-sketch a side that he had just sanded away, moving from one side to the next. It slowly began to take on more than just an ambiguous shape, and one could begin to see the subject that Malach had chosen.

The process took Malach the better part of 2 bells. He sanded away the wood gently, taking great pains not to remove too much wood at on spot, and to move the sander in the direction of the grain. The entire process relaxed Malach, the work removing all else from his mind. It was one of the reasons he liked his craft so much; it offered him a respite from the goings of the city and the difficulties that him and his father often faced. While he worked, it was if nothing else existed.
It was just him and the wood.

The moment finally came when Malach put down the sander; he could not reasonably remove any more wood without risking the design. He put down the sanding paper and sighed, his weariness taking its toll. Auristics followed by two hours of dedicating sanding had left Malach tired and sore. His hands hurt from the pressure exerted, and his eyes strained from the use of magic and staring at the wood. He put the wood down and sat back, relaxing into the chair. What was formally a block of wood now looked like a miniature mountain, deformed by the bulges and recesses of where he intended to carve in the different buildings and streets that adorned the peak. He smiled wearily, happy with his progress.