Completed State of Mind

[Dmitri Saratov]

Timestamp: 14th of Winter, 514 AV The night had been as uneventful as it had been sleepless for Dmitri, all because of Vaccan's petching hoity-toity speech after giving Dmi his poisoned gift. He had given a fearful speech about how Dmitri was not to open the gifted book before he was home and absolutely ready to embark upon a spiritual journey into the arcane arts, or whatever.. 'Pfuh, damned pretentious gnome...Shyke! I'm ready any time, any where!' Convincing himself the time had come to 'embark upon the blablaba' he rolled around his bed and pushed away the covers before sitting upright on the edge. For some reason, even after the temporary restless insomnia he endured during the night, he was sharp of mind and stamina. Guessing it was simply because of the excitement for what was to come, he finally stood up and got dressed, all the while glancing sneakily to the book on his desk. The damn book called out to him, urged him to open it and dive headfirst in its contents. Grunting, Dmitri threw his scarf around his neck and lowerface before taking a seat at the desk and staring at the book's cover, not even touching it, simply oggling it. The way Dmitri dragged out the moment of actually reading the damn thing, was obnoxiously obvious even to himself. Stretching and yawning his way to composure, before placing both hands in his lap and huffing as if he was about to literally take a leap of faith into the depths of the unknown, he finally touched the serenly beige book with the thin, red velvet bookmark hanging loosely over the border, eventually he opened the book that made him act so ridiculously tense. Granted, it was all because of Vaccan's threats and warnings that he was so uptight, but still...He couldn't help but feel that by opening this book, he was closing all exits behind him.

[Dmitri Saratov]

'The way to do, is to be.' That was the only line on the book's first page, apart from a small symbol beneath it. Still, Dmitri didn't flip the page to read on...Instead he stared at the line until his gaze started to stare and his eyes became glazed and tears formed and glided down his face. It took him a while to shake back to a conscious state, no clue what just happened, he broke away from the book as fast as his body and mind could take him. Wide eyed, clearly scared of the unnatural subconscious state he found himself in moments after he opened the book, he stood up from his desk and acted like a lost little lamb, not knowing what to do. 'What, the...What?...SHYKE! The hell is going on?! This is crazy, I need to stop, need to back off...' Wanting nothing more than to grow the book and throw it out the window, Dmitri gathered all the courage his feebled self could muster and approached his desk once more. Still open, the book lay there, as if it was taunting him..Mocking him. Dmitri's closed and ignorant mind could only come up with one plausible cause for the sudden mezmerized state he had found himself in, Vaccan had given him a poisoned gift, the book was corrupted and infused with evil magic! As he slammed the book shut as hard as possible, he breathed heavily and erratic, furious with that sneaky, petching, midget mage! He was going to kill him, one way or another, he was going to kill that weasle, with all his fancy wordplays and threats, petch'm, he's dea--- Blinded by his burning rage, Dmitri almost forgot that Vaccan had, in fact, warned him. In a round-about way, he did warn him. He told him, not to open the book until he was ready to not let it go, not until he had learned to use his essence and dive into the hypnotic depths of the arcane. Still fuming, but with slightly regained composure, he touched the book again, sliding his fingertips over the hardcover cover and letting them rest there. Unsure if he was being dumb, bold or just plain insane...He opened it again.

[Dmitri Saratov]

'The way to do, is to be.' And again he was stuck in a subconscious state of mind, completely oblivious to his self, his surroundings, everything. All that remained was nothing. As ridiculous as that may sound, it was how it was. It took Dmitri quite a while to get over the seemingly hypnotic trance he had willingly placed himself in by opening that book again. Once he managed to break himself free, or was released, he felt less shaken up about what just occured than the first time. Sweating and with a shaky hand still, he traced the phrase with his finger and read it out loud. Bold and daring really, considering simply reading it was enough to put that 'spell' on him. But he was more committed this time, ready to go headstrong straight on, and not back down regardless of what type of sensations or incantations would befall him. What did the book mean with that phrase though? Dmitri was clueless about whatever message it was trying to convey, but something told him to at least try and figure it out before turning the page. As if understanding the undelining motive behind this little game Vaccan was playing with Dmitri, was more important than anything else. At the same time he figured the answer or a clue could possibly be simply on the following page, but even so he was stuck on the 1st page. Unable to continue or figure out what it meant by that abstract sentence. 'The way to do, is to be.' What was Vaccan trying to do? What was Dmitri trying to do? What was the world trying to do? It could be interpreted in so many ways it wasn't funny, for petch's sake! First Dmitri thought about himself, what was he trying to do? Become a hypnotist, learn how to hypnotise...So he should be hypnotised in order to hypnotise? Nah, if that was true he would be able to do so, which seems too far fetched, even in this crank scenario...So, what was Vaccan trying to do? Teach Dmitri how to hypnotise, so he should ... Nah, couldn't be it either. The world? ... Pfuh, if it was going down that road, the possibilities would be endless. So what did this book of mindwarping shyke mean?! Dmitri almost let out a loud groan of agitated frustration. Petching book, midget, everyone! Shyke! .... Wait, book? What if ...Couldn't be, but it made more sense, in a twisted way, than any other theory Dmitri had come up with so far. What if the book was talking about itself? The way to teach hypnotism, is to be hypnotism, hypnotic? For some reason Dmitri felt a surging sensation within him that gave him a pat and a starshaped sticker for getting it right. 'Son of a dog...'

[Dmitri Saratov]

At long last, Dmitri was able to let out a sigh of gleeful relief as he couldn't help but smile proudly of his intellectual victory over...a book? Vaccan? Who the hell did he outsmart?! Grunting at his fleeting misplaced sense of superiority, he waited a few moments to catch his breath for whatever the book had in petto for him on the next page. Cracking his neck, he finally turned the page and was already prepared to be sent away to lala-land from that, but nothing happened. Surprised, Dmitri read the small paragraph. "Good, you managed to get this far by using your wit. Now, the glyphs I placed in this book are limited. Only one remains, on the next page, one which will open the world of magic to you. Truthfully, it's dangerous, it'll place you in a hypnotic trance and devoid your mind of all thoughts, expectations, feelings, everything. Until you're able to feel Djed coarse through you, at which point you'll be able to use it at a basic level, it'll be the start of your life as a hypnotist. Do NOT turn this page until and if you find yourself ready." Dmitri understood, most of it anyway. Except for the word glyph, everything was clear. If he turned this page, there'd be no turning back. Do or die, literally. He assumed glyph meant some sort of spell placed on the pages. Maybe a sign, could've been that small symbol on the first page. It was of little importance what it looked like really, all he knew was that it would trigger, without a doubt, upon flipping the page. He'd die, lose his mind or be lost in darkness forever..Or conquer the rite of passage and become a wizard. The thought of being a 'wizard' was so exciting to Dmitri, al though he's so far from that in reality that the goal was a tiny sparkle in the otherwise vast starry sky...Still, he knew he'd go on with it!

[Dmitri Saratov]

And so it began, Dmitri flipped the page slowly enough to try and get a glimpse of what was underneath the thin paper, before it would have an effect, almost straining his eyes by doing so. Whether or not he was succesful in that foolish attempt would be forever shrouded in mystery, as he won't ever be able to recall that moment...Before he was even able to process it, or anything for that matter, the glyph had already activated. Leaving Dmitri frozen solid in his chair, which just might have become his last resting place as he was unable to do anything but stare endlessly into a glossy screen covering his vacant eyes. His mind blank, spaced out, null and void, all he was able to was simply stare without reason, without cause, without awareness. He simply stared. Dmitri would later be unable to recollect how many chimes, bells or whatever had passed since the incantation had kicked in, all he would be able to remember was nothing,until that one point...His very being was lost before that time however, actions or thoughts did not exist nor had they ever existed. He was nothing, he was everything...After who knows how long, Dmitri awoke in the metaphorical sense. Still under the effect of the triggered glyph, he felt something. It started out small, faint, as if it had been in a deep slumber and its consciousness was just beginning to come back to it. Almost like Dmitri himself had been dreaming all this time and only just now did he begin to realize that, within the dream itself. Trying, urging, himself to wake up now. He was no longer feeling it, he had become it. The sensation within him, was him. Soon after that epiphany came to him, it dragged him along like he was caught in an avalanche and was unable to do anything but get dragged along until it would stop on its own accord. From that moment on, Dmitri had awoken his dormant essence, he could feel it so clearly now. It was right there and then that the effect of the glyph's stashed spell wore off and he was liberated from that enlightened state. But the results remained, unfading and crystalclear, he had awoken his Djed!

[Khara]

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Dmitri Saratov :

Lore:

• Ignoring Vaccan's warning
• "The way to do, is to be."
• Newly awakened to magic

Comments: Just a quick note: Your first post made mention of a scarf but I don't see it in your ledger or equipment list on your CS. Please make sure to account for any items your PC may own.
Overall an interesting thread, sorry I couldn't give more as most of it seemed to happen under the effects of the glyphs so Dmitri wasn't actively studying philosophy or meditating.

Please don't hesitate to PM me if you have any questions/comments regarding your grade. I'll be more than happy to take a second look if you think I've missed something!
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Also, please don't forget to edit your post as 'graded' in the request thread.