[Sanctuary] Bulwark

by **Aoren** on March 26th, 2015, 9:48 pm

15th of Spring, 515 AV

He had his work cut out for him. Aoren stood just outside the main entrance of the complex observing the outline of the walls. The Sanctuary was not a small place. It housed a great many animals and a good amount of people to tend to those animals. There was also the flow of customers that paid a visit either to receive healing for themselves, their pets, or perhaps to purchase some of the animals from within.

With that in mind, Aoren had to be considerate of how he approached the task at hand. He decided a few days ago that he would approach the matter from the outside and work his way inside. The easiest thing to do would be to protect the walls from djed and work his way from there. He would have to take the work in pieces spreading it out over the length of the whole season to prevent himself from tiring. Nevertheless, Aoren felt it was doable. Combined with the Shields he was tinkering with to protect Alements, he did not want to spread himself too thin.

The Seer drew in a deep breath bringing his hands up to place them on the walls of the main entrance. If he was going to begin anywhere it would be at the Sanctuary’s points of entry. As he exhaled he stirred his djed into action pushing it out from his hands keeping a tight mental hold of the djed as it flowed out of him. Normally he preferred to manually weave the Shield he crafted together by hand. Such would not be possible when working with a Shield of this particular magnitude. He willed his djed to continued flowing outward until half of the doors to the Sanctuary were covered in a thick coating. Aoren ceased pushing his djed outward. He could feel the strain of the exertion already.

“Yes. Definitely spread this work out throughout the season.”

This project was going to consume a great deal of time but that was time he was willing to take if it meant protecting his home. The Shielder touched the tips of his fingers to the center of his rudimentary Shield grasping hold of the djed that was in place. He nudged what was there mentally. He did not take from himself to add to it, he merely willed what was present to begin spreading itself over the whole of the main entrance.

by **Aoren** on March 26th, 2015, 9:49 pm

He was standing in place with his hand pressed to the center of the Shield watching carefully as the djed crept up the surface of the walls. He ceased when the edge of the Shield reached the top and had covered a reasonable width that he was willing to accept that day. As he was approaching the task, Aoren would need to divide which face of the walls he Shielded with each passing day. He would begin with the outer faces of the walls first. They would at least serve as deterrents until such time as he could come behind and weave the inner Shields.

Dropping his hand from the Shield, Aoren took a step back. He tugged on the strands of his djed once more this time directing it to flow over his eyes. As the mage responsible for the Shield’s creation he could of course see them easily enough. Using his Auristics lent him greater depth to observing them however. Slowly the weave of the barrier that he had erected became visible in a different light. Aoren began to see veins of power drifting through the fabric of the Shield. The beauty of it made him smile. He had heard tales of wizards who used their powers to fashion such dark things. The grotesque World Discipline of Malediction came to mind. Though, perhaps he shouldn’t be so quick to judge.

With the assistance of his Auristics, Aoren spotted sections of the Shield that were not quite as even as others. He pressed his hands to the curtain nudging the sections of the Shield to shift with some mental focus. Those areas that retained too much djed he willed to spread to other areas where the Shield was thinner. He paid just as much attention to the top and bottom of the Shield as he did the body of it. An effective bulwark was one that provided adequate protection throughout not just where an assault would be most likely to occur.

Stepping back, Aoren’s eyes passed over the barrier once more as he examined it. Probing the construct of the Shield for potential uneven areas he scanned it thoroughly. A smile touched his face when it through his magical sight he found the curtain of power to be more or less even throughout. He blinked away the powers of Auristics then considered what it was that would be most effective presently. The Sanctuary was a business first and foremost. He would not be able to directly prevent access to the complex.

by **Aoren** on March 26th, 2015, 9:50 pm

At the moment his primary concern was elemental in nature. The facility was largely open aired and thus subject to all manner of damage from the weather. The Sanctuary’s walls were strong for sure but they were not impervious. The principle concern at the moment was simply to enable the Shield to sustain itself without the constant need for attention from him. He knew that he would no doubt have to perform adequate maintenance over time. The longer the Shield could last without him though, the easier maintaining them would be.

Pressing his hands to the Shield, Aoren found the empty weave of the djed. It held a vacant note that radiated a readiness to be given a specific task. For the moment that task would be simple.

Absorb djed. Weave it together thus becoming stronger.

Aoren did not specify what type of djed the Shield should absorb and thus it would feed from all manner that was directed at it. Accompanied with the fact that adding djed to its weave as opposed to simply deflecting it, would enable the Shield to stand on its own for much longer. With the first half of the main entrance of the Sanctuary given its beginning Shield, Aoren stepped over to the second half. As before he took a steady breath.

With his exhalation he pressed his hands to the wall pushing his djed outward. The flow of it was not as easy as when he began the process. His djed, while compliant to his mental commands, moved slower and clung to the stone of the wall in uneven patterns. When he finished extruding the djed he needed to work with a Shield the proper size, Aoren breathed a sigh. The Seer ran his hands through his hair closing his eyes letting his thoughts drift quietly for a few moments. Upon opening them he immediately set to work. Drawing upon his Auristics, his eyes were opened the weave of the Shield. Unlike with the first Shield this one had many errors in its initial setting.

Touching his hands to Shield, Aoren watched as the veins of power that flowed throughout sprung to life. He furrowed his brow concentrating on willing the Shield to spread itself evenly along the surface of the wall. He paid close attention to the manner in which the fabric of the barrier was stitched together in those areas where it was thinnest. Where needed he redirected the current of the Shield until lumped, uneven deposits of djed flowed smoothly into the rest of the construct. When at last the whole of the Shield was as close to completely even as it was going to get he broke contact with it. Stepping back with eyes that still beheld a world through magic, he pondered on his next step.

by **Aoren** on March 26th, 2015, 9:54 pm

He probed the weave for potential weaknesses that he could discern. At this point he was more concerned with the structural integrity of the Shield than he was the specifics of how it was tasked. When he was satisfied, Aoren released the hold he maintained on his Auristics. He touched the tips of his fingers to the protective curtain focusing on the intent that he wanted to give it. As with the initial Shield he wanted to be able to maintain the whole of them as efficiently as possible.

Absorb djed.

Aoren closed his eyes as he focused on that single directive. He envisioned himself flinging a ball of fire at the Shield only for it absorb the magical flames. He thought on how the Shield could bring that magic into its fold drawing strength from it. He opened his eyes then looked between his current Shield and the one that he had initially constructed. There stood a slight gap between the two that would be problematic if not fixed from the start. The Drykas sighed. He would have to bring the two Shields together. Walking to the position where rest the gap he readied himself.

Grabbing the edge of the initial Shield, Aoren watched as it shimmer at his touch. Reaching across he took hold of the second Shield. With a grunt he pulled the two edges together that they might touch. At first the two Shields didn’t seem to want to interact with one another. Aoren frowned but after a moment the two weaves began to intertwine. He released his hold on the edges as they wove together. He watched carefully as both Shields shuddered until finally the two planes flowed together as one. A pulse rippled outward from the top of the Shield where the two came together as one.

Drawing upon his magic once more, Aoren inspected the whole of the Shield with his Auristic vision. There were parts that had been made uneven as a result of the joining. Touching his hands to the Shield he poured just a little more of his djed into the weave but he felt he was approaching his limit. With the added djed he willed it to move throughout the Shield making even those places that had been disturbed.

by **Aoren** on March 26th, 2015, 9:58 pm

The mage took a few moments to inspect his work then. He made sure that at the very least the whole of intended surface was covered over the front. There were a few portions of the Shield that were thinner than he would have liked. Carefully he exuded djed from his hands pressing it to the Shield adding to its weave. A sheen of sweat was covering the Drykas man's body at this point. He breathed as even as he could though he felt as if he'd just run several laps around the complex. With hands that were beginning to shake he willed the added djed to fill in the nearest of the thin spaces. The others he would have to tend to on another day.

When Aoren was statisfied he banished his Auristics with a tired sigh. He had performed quite a great deal of magic that day. There were several more days ahead of him where he would be pushing himself to use more. Before he could be completely satisfied at the sound integrity of the Shields he would have to approach someone about testing them. He couldn’t.

He was fairly certain that if he hurled a bolt of lightning at the Shield it would shatter. Aoren was not an unskilled Shielder but his powers in that area paled in comparison to his mastery over Reimancy. There would be other ways to test the strength of them however. Clasping his hands behind his back the Drykas sorcerer made his way into the interior of the Sanctuary.

He made his way to his private quarters. Normally his evenings were spent sharing a bedroom with Caelum but he was not without his own living space. It was nowhere near as spacious or luxurious as the Ethaefal’s suite but it was comfortable. Once within his room he stepped out of his boots, retrieved a sheet of parchment and some writing utensils then sat down on the bed in the room. He sat with his back resting against the wall and crossed his legs at the ankles. Quietly he began jotting down a few notes.

“Sanctuary One

Work on Shielding the Sanctuary has begun. The project is much more comprehensive than I would have initially thought, which lends to the fact that I am inexperienced with such grand undertakings. Still, I am determined to see it through. The initial Shield is rudimentary at best with only the bare minimum in terms of tasking. I avoided excessive manipulations as to streamline the weave of the Shield itself. As it stands the only function the Shield presently performs is to negate the magics of wizards lesser to myself. I don’t imagine there are many who will be deterred given that I have only just managed to build more sturdy Shields, but it is a start.

Reminder: When more familiarity with the depths of Shielding is gained, return to initial constructs and investigate the possibility of revisions.

Tomorrow, I shall take a rest from the casting of magic and lay the foundations for more wards in the form of Glyphs. Another discipline that I am woefully lacking familiarity in, may these steps take me in the direction I need to bring safety to those I hold dear. The memory of Fall still lingers in my mind. I don’t like the possibility that those I care about could be harmed in that manner.”

Aoren continued jotting down notes on the manner in which he constructed the Shield. He made a mental note to purchase more parchment as well as more ink. He would need them.

by **Rosela** on April 5th, 2015, 2:13 am

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Solo [Sanctuary] Bulwark