[University Classroom] Magic With Memry

[Aoren]

68th of Spring, 514 AV
8th Bell

It had taken the better portion of the early morning for Aoren to find the classroom where he was to attend the basic Djed course. He had awoke just a few hours before Syna crept over the horizon because he had absolutely no desire to be late on his first day. It had also given his time to take Isikai out for a walk. His companion might have been born in a cage but after the long journey from Syliras to Zeltiva with all of the free space to roam being cooped up in a room, no matter how large, was not agreeable to either of them. Aoren could say he had quite his fill of living in enclosed spaces during his life in Syliras.

As he walked the halls of the University, passing students here or there few paid him any attention. The young men and women roaming the halls of the campus seemed wrapped up in discussions of their own. He heard things from philosophical debates about the nature of humanity, the different variations of wood there were to be found in shipbuilding, to complex in depth conversations about the structure of human anatomy. Some of it was beyond Aoren’s ability to grasp but there were things he could understand the basics of.

“So this is life at the University?”

He quietly mused to himself as he walked. To the observer he appeared to be just like many of the other students. He was dressed simply carrying a satchel over his shoulder. The contents of the satchel were everything he assumed he’d need for life as a student. There were blank sheets of parchment, a few vials of ink, some quill pens and clasped in his hand at his side was a blank book he intended to fill with his notes. As he came to the classroom he’d made certain to find earlier that morning while out roaming around he paused at the door.

“Alright, Aoren. This is it. When you step into this classroom there is no going back.”

He took a deep breath. Grabbing the handle he opened the door expecting to see a room filled with students all of whom would stare at him as he walked in late. As he stepped inside what he found was quite the opposite. It was a small room. It looked to him like more of a private study than a classroom. The room held a very scholarly feel to it. There were bookshelves upon which rested manuscripts he assumed were to assist in the education of budding mages. There were several writing desks assembled with chairs around a knee high polished wood table. A china tea set rested at the center atop a lace tablecloth. The whole seating arrangement was focused on a chalkboard facing the wall opposite of where he stood. In an elegant, very artful script written across the surface of the chalkboard were the words…

“An Introduction to Magic
Professor Agatha Memry”

[Aoren]

Aoren looked around the room. There were not dozens of students. There was no chatter filling the study. There was just him and as he turned his attention to the far end of the room, a woman seated behind an ornate desk. She was older that much was obvious to anyone who looked at her. Her steel grey hair came down in curls that rested lightly on her shoulders. She wore emerald green robes that while simple with no patterns of designs, looked to be a mantle denoting her position. Her face was stern with wrinkles abound but her brown eyes were warm and intelligent. She did not smile as she met Aoren’s gaze but she dipped her head by way of greeting.

“Come in, Aoren. Please, have a seat.” She gestured to one of the writing desks situated around the table where rested the tea. He closed the door behind himself then did as he was bidden. The woman rose from her chair grabbing hold of a cane propped against the desk. She held in the hand not grasping the cane a scroll. Quietly she made her way over to the seating arrangement taking up a spot near the chalkboard. Gesturing to the words scrawled in elegant, artful script upon the surface she introduced herself.

“I am Professor Agatha Memry. I will be your teacher for the duration of your education here at the University.” She gave Aoren a smile then. He gave her a smile of his own not quite certain what to do with himself now that he was actually sitting in the classroom about to begin his lessons.

“Good morning, ma’am. I would introduce myself but you already know who I am.” She nodded holding up the scroll in her hand.

“Ms. Bethany forwarded this to my office the day you completed your session with her. I must agree that you are not the normal variety of student that usually passes through these halls.” The elder lady gave a polite nod of her head in his direction. Aoren wasn’t entirely certain how he was supposed to respond to her words. Thankfully it seemed he wouldn’t have to.

“I hope you brought plenty of things to write with. We are going to get started right away.” Aoren nodded setting his satchel down on the floor next to his chair. He unfurled a sheet of parchment using two inkwells to serve as paperweight then grabbed a quill pen turning his attention to Professor Memry attentively. There was a soft smile on her lips as she nodded in approval.

“I do not know how extensive your education on the subject of magic truly is. So I will start from the beginning. You are listed as having knowledge in a number of disciplines of magic but the question remains: do you truly know what magic is?” Aoren took the stopper out of one of the inkwells dipping his pen in. Quietly he scrawled a header out at the top of the sheet of parchment.

“What is magic?”

[Aoren]

Professor Memry picked up a piece of chalk writing out a single word on the board. It was a word that Aoren recognized but he was beginning to question whether or not he knew its meaning.

“Djed.” She tapped the chalk on the word accentuating it. “What is Djed, Aoren?”

The question was one he had expected. It was one of the first questions that had been presented to him many years ago when he was first learning the discipline that introduced him to magic, reimancy.

“Djed is the very essence of things.” Professor Memry quirked her head leveling Aoren with a stare that made him suddenly feel very small despite his stature. She shook her head giving him a kind smile. All the same he still felt as if he’d just said something stupid.

“I am afraid that is not entirely correct.” He nodded to his quill signaling him to prepare to take notes. “Djed is not simply the essence of what something is. It is what that something is.”

Aoren blinked at her for a moment trying to wrap his head around that concept. He found it a little difficult to grasp. The confusion must have been evident on his face as the professor began writing key phrases on the chalkboard.

“Let’s take you for example.” She gestured to Aoren with the chalk before turning back to the board to scribble his name across the surface.

“Imagine Djed is a book with the title being you. Within that book is detailed absolutely everything that defines who you are, what you think, what you feel, what you have done, what you are doing, and what you believe in. The story of your bones, of your muscles, of your blood, spirit and birth right down to how you like to dress yourself in the morning is contained within this book.”

Aoren paused in his note taking to absorb all of that. When he had first been learning about magic it hadn’t quite been put to him in those words. His teacher back then had focused on keeping things as simple and fluid as possible but he could see this was going to be an entirely different take on the subject. He took a deep breath as he pondered the professor’s words.

“Pick up your satchel.” He blinked at the elder woman but did as he was told.

“Now put it down.” Aoren set the satchel back onto the floor gently. “You just exercised Djed.”

“I don’t follow, Professor.” She smiled nodding as if she expected that answer.

“Your Djed told you that you knew how to pick up that satchel. It also told you that you understood what I meant when I instructed you to pick it up. Furthermore, it told your muscles that they possessed the strength to do it then allowed your mind to tell your body how to perform that task.” Aoren had to sit back in his chair to process what the professor just said.

“I am afraid I am having a little bit of a difficult time taking all of that in, Professor. If Djed is just information, a book as you say, how is it that I am able to create fire and ice with my reimancy? Or alter my magic with Glyphs? Or even extrude just pure Djed and shape it into a Shield?” Professor Memry rest both of her hands atop her cane listening to Aoren speak. When he’d finished she nodded.

[Aoren]

“Those are excellent questions, Aoren. To answer them effectively I must explain what exactly “magic” is.” She turned back to the chalkboard writing down a few phrases in a clear section.

“Magic is the art and science of manipulating Djed. When the common man thinks of a wizard they think of a mystical figure who bends the laws of reality to achieve miraculous things. This is not true. A wizard is a scribe, a writer who can open the books all around him and rewrite a passage in that book so that it reads a little differently. For a time.” Aoren took down his notes following the professor’s train of thought as she wrote on the board.

“In truth, a wizard doesn’t bend reality at all. They simply edit the information that is presented to them but this change is seldom permanent. Take for example your reimancy, when you call upon your Djed and manifest your Res you are rewriting your Djed so that it protrudes from your body. With further revisions to the inherent core and purpose of that Djed you are then able to transmute it into one of the natural elements. As you grow more familiar with how to do this you are able to rewrite more of your Djed and thus manifest more of the elements in varying strengths and combinations.”

“If that’s true, wouldn’t that mean I would have completely transmuted my own body by now?” Professor Memry smiled at Aoren shaking her head.

“Djed is resistant to change. It is not impossible to completely rewrite an object’s Djed but it is exceptionally difficult. Such permanent revisions fall into the realm of Magecraft. It is perhaps the reason why that discipline of magic is so dangerous and difficult to master.” Aoren considered what Professor Memry had said to him thus far. While he had to admit that some of it was a little beyond him at the moment there were parts that did make sense. It was then that something struck him.

“If magic is just the rewriting of Djed, wouldn’t that mean a wizard could just rewrite the Djed of whatever he wanted? I know that even though I practice magic I certainly can’t walk up to a man, tap him on the shoulder and turn him into a dog.”

“Actually, given the right tools, you could.” Aoren blinked at the professor.

“I beg your pardon?” She chuckled going on to explain.

“You hail from Syliras, correct?” He nodded.

“Do all of the knights wield swords?” Aoren shook his head. No they did not. He knew of knights that wielded all sorts of weapons though the sword was certainly the most predominant one. Professor Memry nodded tapping her cane on the floor.

“Just like different knights may wield different weapons, different wizards wield different types of magic. That is, the possesses a different perspective on how to manipulate Djed. These are called the Disciplines and they are divided into Personal and Worldly categories as I’m sure you know.” Aoren did know that there were Personal and World magicks. He was a practitioner of both.

[Aoren]

“I still don’t see how that would make turning a man into a dog possible.” She set her chalk down coming to sit at one of the writing desks across from Aoren.

“Draw a Glyph. I want you to construct only a Focus, a Barrier and a Trigger that is detailed to release magic when it is touched.” If Bethany had indeed forwarded her evaluation of him over to this professor Aoren didn’t have to wonder how she knew he had knowledge of Glyphing.

Reaching down he retrieved a fresh sheet of parchment then dipped his quill into the open inkwell. Carefully he set about tracing the outline of a Focus. With minute detail he worked on filling out the Focus before moving on to construct a Barrier around that Focus. Once the Barrier was finished he drew the Trigger connecting it to the Barrier so that when he pressed a finger to it the runes forming it would release the magic contained in the Focus. The whole process took Aoren the better part of thirty chimes. During that time Professor Memry had gotten up adding a few notes to the chalkboard and had even poured herself a cup of tea and was partaking of a sandwich. He showed her the Glyph when he had finished it. She eyed it over the rim of her tea cup as she sipped before nodding.

Setting down her cup she took the parchment bearing the completed Glyph and walked up to the chalkboard. She pinned the parchment to the wood frame of the board with a needle then picked up her chalk tapping a word she’d written on the board.

“Morphing. The Discipline of Change. More specifically it is the Personal Discipline that enables a wizard to change his appearance. With it the wizard can do something as simple as changing their eye color and with skill and mastery they could even take on the shape of some of the most fearsome beasts in the world.” She pointed to the Glyph.

“Glyphing. The Discipline of Purpose. Glyphing is a World Discipline that enables you alter the purpose of other magic, correct?” Aoren nodded. He could see where this was going. He had not known of the discipline of Morphing. It made him wonder what other forms of magic that he was unaware of.

“The Focus of a Glyph is capable of copying and storing magic that touches it. With the right series of runes a wizard learned in the art of Morphing could alter the appearance of another person. Not just himself.”

Aoren quickly wrote that down. He’d never imagined such a thing could be done with Glyphing. Then again, he was very limited in his knowledge of how to use it. There was still a great deal that he could learn and he was eager to learn as much as he could. While he was writing, Professor Memry continued speaking.

“There are seventeen known disciplines of magic. That number encompasses both Personal and World magic. Beginning with the Personal magicks they are as follows…” Slowly the professor began writing out words on the chalk board.

[Aoren]

“Auristics. The Discipline of Insight. Through Auristics a wizard can read the aura of objects whether they are living people, animals or plant life or they can read the aura of an inanimate thing such as a chair or candle.” She glanced at Aoren to make certain that he was paying attention. Not only was Aoren paying attention he was leaning forward ever so slightly fascination written on his face.

“Familiary. The Discipline of Bonding. It is with Familiary that a wizard establishes a permanent magical link between himself and a creature from the world of Fyrden.” Aoren blinked at the professor. He quirked his head shifting in his seat.

“World of Fyrden?” Professor Memry paused in her writing to look at Aoren before nodding.

“Yes. There are a few worlds beyond the one we live in, Aoren. Some of them are inhabited by creatures some of them are not. Fyrden is one of those worlds and is implicitly linked to the magic of Familiary.” The Drykas man scratched his head as he struggled to take that in. He had of course seen the stars in the skies at night like all who lived in Mizahar. To look at those stars and think of them as worlds with people and places like the one he lived in however, was a little overwhelming. He folded his arms over his chest furrowing his brow.

“If this magic, Familiary, allows you to bond with a creature why would it be with something from another world?” The concept was still a little difficult for him to wrap his head around.

“Familiary is a magic directly related to the creatures of Fyrden. It is not possible to accomplish with beings other than the ones found on that world due to very specific circumstances. Why that is, is unclear as of yet but those known attempts at replicating the magic with other beings have failed. This points us back to the principle of Djed being resistant to change.”

Though he still didn’t quite grasp the whole premise of the magic Aoren accepted that it was what it was. There was no sense in lingering on the subject. Familiary sounded strange and alien to him. He doubted he would foster any real interest in the magic down the road. Picking up his pen he dipped it into the inkwell resuming his note taking on a fresh sheet of parchment.

“Flux. The Discipline of Enhancement. Flux is one of the more dangerous personal magicks. Though at greater depths of mastery it can make a fighter truly astounding to behold the stress it causes on the body is severe. With it a wizard can concentrate his strength, speed and toughness but many wonder if the price of this acceleration of properties is steeper than is worth.”

Professor Memry spoke with a slight frown as she described Flux. It was obvious to Aoren that she didn’t approve of that particular brand of magic. Nevertheless he appreciated her taking the time to inform him of it. Aoren had been in the classroom no more than a few hours and already he was beginning to realize just how much about magic he didn’t understand.

[Aoren]

“Hypnotism. The Discipline of Persuasion. This discipline of magic is swathed in controversy. Hypnotism, as its name implies, grants wizards the ability to manipulate those influenced by their power through magic. It is a skill of subtlety and secrets. Because of this, there are many in the scholarly community who believe it is a discipline employed only by self-serving deviants.”

There were a number of times in his life that Aoren had encountered Hypnotists. It was a discipline he was somewhat familiar with. Though he did not know the depths of what it was capable of he knew that its practitioners were sometimes questionable in their motives. He couldn’t say that the magic itself was good or bad. He was aware of its reputation however. The professor brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face squaring Aoren with a studious look.

“You already practice Reimancy and Shielding so I shall abstain from explaining those disciplines.” She set her chalk down then took a seat at one of the desks across from Aoren. He assumed it was to ease the ache of standing so much.

“If you haven’t begun to draw the pieces of this puzzle together already, Aoren I shall highlight a few things for you.” Professor Memry folded her hands atop the surface of the desk adopting a contemplative expression.

“Like the arsenal of a warrior, wizards are equipped with a number of different disciplines. Each of them is categorized as magic but each branch of it accomplishes a different thing. Going back to your question of being able to simply manipulate Djed willy-nilly, wizards, while being able to rewrite the Djed around them can only do so in very limited ways.” Aoren could see where she was going with this train of thought. He did not interrupt her but listened attentively.

“Much like an artist cannot paint a portrait without reference material, a wizard cannot manipulate Djed without referencing the method of how to manipulate it. That is what the Disciplines are. They are templates that teach wizards how to rewrite and shape Djed to achieve seemingly impossible things. Without the structure and insight they provide magic would be nigh unattainable because we simply wouldn’t have a clear idea of how to work with Djed.”

He thought on that for a few moments brushing the tip of the feather quill against his chin. What she was saying made sense. It was much like teaching a child to run. They first had to learn how to walk. That begged the question of whether or not Djed could be rewritten and shaped in other ways beyond what the known disciplines allowed.

“I can see a question forming on your face, Aoren. Speak.” The elder woman had made herself another cup of tea.

“I was just thinking that if the Disciplines are what provide us the method of how to manipulate Djed, couldn’t someone come up with a Discipline on their own?” Agatha nodded as she took her seat once more.

[Aoren]

“It is possible but such undertakings are incredibly dangerous. More wizards perish in the attempt than are successful. History also suggests that there have been more Disciplines of Magic than are known today. These are referred to as the Lost Disciplines. We don’t exactly know how many there may or may not be or what they were once capable of doing but more often than not the Lost Disciplines were lost for a reason.” The idea of facing a wizard with such a power frightened Aoren to say the least. On a deeper level though…it intrigued him. Whether or not that was evident on his face the professor did not comment. She proceeded with the lesson.

“The Discipline that I am going to inform you of next is probably one of the less common ones. In most magical communities it is highly frowned upon with its practitioners almost universally being of the darker variety.” She set her teacup down after taking a sip.

“Leeching. The Discipline of Absorption. This discipline awakens in its practitioners the ability to “leech” or siphon off the essence and Djed of other objects whether living or inanimate. This Djed comes at a steep price however, it is toxic to the user. The more Leeching one utilizes the more poisoned one becomes until you are but broken husk.” Aoren shivered. The path of a Leecher sounded dark and sinister. He couldn’t see himself taking an interest in such a thing. To drain the life and essence of another being just to give himself more power was an abhorrent thought.

“Projection. The Astral Discipline. Every living thing in this world is in possession of an astral body which is the outer most layer of the soul. Through Projection a wizard gains the ability to detach their astral body and manipulate objects in the physical realm. The astral body exists in a careful balance with the physical and when stressed, Projection runs the risk of unbalancing the relation between the two.”

Aoren finished scrawling his notes across the sheet of parchment as Professor Memry stood up from the desk. She walked up to the chalkboard writing out the remaining disciplines of magic that she had explained. It was then that Aoren noticed something about how she had written them on the board. Each discipline was written so that they formed a portion of a circle as he stared at the formation of words he wondered about its significance.

As if reading Aoren’s mind, Professor Memry wrote the word “magic” at the center of the formation before circling it. She then drew lines branching out from that circle to touch the name of each discipline.

“Magic, is the rewriting of Djed. Each discipline gives us the tools to rewrite it in a specific way. When the lines between those disciplines is blurred using other disciplines such as the World Magic of Glyphing we can see how the disciplines build upon each other.” Grabbing a new sheet of parchment he watched as she began writing other words on the board. Some of those words he recognized.

[Aoren]

“Glyphing, Alchemy, Animation, Magecraft, Malediction, Spiritism and Summoning. The known disciplines of World Magic. Each one enables a wizard to implement a series of changes inherent in objects using methods and processes that do not draw upon your personal Djed. Rather, they utilize the forces of the objects themselves. That is the distinction between Personal and World magicks.” As she rattled off the names of each type of magic she drew lines reaching back to the center of the circle.

“With every form of magic that we uncover and study the underlying relation to them all is revealed. This is why magic is both an art and a science. For while Personal Magic is indeed largely that, highly subjective to the views and capabilities of the individual, World Magic can only be practiced through careful study and detailed research. With the blending of both, wizards find that all magic follows the same basic principles.”

When Aoren had finished taking down his notes he set the quill pen down rotating his wrist back and forth. There certainly was a lot more writing involved than he had expected but he didn’t mind. Already he was feeling as though he was learning a great deal and the more Professor Memry spoke, the more he realized there was so much more to learn. She picked up a cloth wiping the board clean once he’d finished.

“Djed obeys three basic laws. These laws are insurmountable. They cannot be changed nor circumvented. Many have tried and all have failed. The first of these laws is that Djed is neither created nor destroyed. It is merely transformed and repurposed. The second of these laws is that some forms of Djed are more powerful than others.” He blinked at her with a slightly confused look on his face.

“What do you mean?”

“The Djed of a rock details the story of how and why that rock is a rock. The rock does not possess the capability to circumvent its own nature because it has no self-awareness. You on the other hand could, through reimancy alter the Djed of that rock because your Djed is much more powerful than the rock’s Djed. Am I making sense?” He nodded. Aoren certainly didn’t compare himself to rocks and stones but he’d know a few people who he could quietly say had the intelligence of one. The thought made him chuckle.

“The third and final law is that some transformations are irreversible.” Once again Aoren found himself confused.

“Wouldn’t that go against the idea that wizards can rewrite and repurpose all Djed if just given the proper tools?” Professor Memry smiled at him as if he had just asked a question she had heard a thousand times and a thousand times again.

“Let’s take your reimancy for example. Using your Djed you are able to produce Res are you not?” Aoren nodded in agreement. That was indeed something he was able to do.

[Aoren]

“When you have transmuted your Res into one of the natural elements are you then able to revert your Res back to its former state?” The answer was obvious but it helped to illustrate the point that she was trying to make.

“Fair point, ma’am.” She nodded. Whether Agatha Memry realized it or not she had also brought to light an example of Djed being converted from one form to another. The point of bringing up his reimancy made more sense to him than perhaps she realized but Aoren had a lingering suspicion that she knew exactly what she was doing.

“The height of understanding how to manipulate Djed is in understanding the laws that govern it. The more you come to grasp how to work with those laws the broader your understanding of how magic functions as a whole. While this will not suddenly grant you universal understanding of all magic it will assist you in grasping the fundamental mechanics of the myriad of disciplines there are.”

Aoren sat back in his chair looking over the handful of sheets of parchment upon which he’d scrawled his notes. There was a considerable amount of information to take in. He had a feeling that he would be reviewing and studying just these notes for several days. That wasn’t an idea that daunted him but it did put into perspective just how far he was from truly grasping the depths of magic itself.

“I think that is enough for today don’t you, Aoren?” He ran a hand through his hair nodding in agreement. Aoren wasn’t certain he could handle any further information and retain it effectively. Rising from his seat he put a stopper in his inkwell. He made a mental note to keep a close eye on how much ink he had remaining. He had a feeling it was going to be vital in his education. When he had finished gathering his utensils tucking them safely into his satchel he extended a hand to the professor.

“Thank you, Professor.” She took his hand shaking it happily.

“No, thank you. I will let you mull over that information for the evening but expect to be doing a bit of research by the end of your next lesson.” Aoren nodded with a smile. Giving the professor a nod he turned leaving the classroom. Judging from the amount of light he gauged it to be the early afternoon. Adjusting the strap of his satchel he decided it would be a good idea to grab Isikai as he went out for lunch. He had a great deal of thinking to do.

NoteHowdy! Just a note about the number of Disciplines mentioned earlier, I know there are more disciplines than that listed but I drew that number based upon the Disciplines that would be commonly known in the magical scholar community. Professor Memry would have no knowledge of the Lost Disciplines other than those vaguely hinted at in rare textbooks she might have come across in the Library. Also, Webbing is not something widely known about outside the Drykas clans.