Solo The Black Shop

[Yisanareysin]

14th of Summer, 516 AV

Rey sat on his bed, turning the fang in his hand over and over. It was a large wolf's fang, smooth, polished, and very slightly yellowed. For the fifth time since he'd gotten it, Rey breathed in deeply, reaching for his sense.

Nothing. The yellowing was from the tooth itself, the polish was a layer of some other, slightly unpleasant tasting substance, and there was not a trace of anything magical or otherwise unusual about it.

It was a marker, nothing more. A marker for a place he was long overdue a visit for. Standing, Rey tucked the the fang into his pack, and slung it over his shoulder. Heading out of the Cave, Rey made his way through the streets, watching for the closest underground entrance.

There, behind the Stallion's Rear. The first underground entrance he'd ever found. Which had apparently now turned from a staircase to a well. Peering in, Rey grinned, finding a ladder within. Hopping over the edge, Rey climbed down the ladder, emerging into what appeared to be an attic. Kicking down the trap door, Rey emerged into an abandoned house, and padded out into the underground streets. The bloody moon cast dark shadows along the walls as he strode out, wandering at random until he found...

There. A huddle of small figures in an alleyway. Pulling the tooth from his pack, he made his way towards the urchins. They broke apart as he approached, turning to look at him curiously. One grubby little girl, evidently the leader, stepped forward. "You want somethin?" She asked suspiciously. When he showed her the tooth, she grinned broadly at him, revealing several of her own missing. "Another one? Follow me."

The other children scattered when he made to follow her through the winding streets. As they walked, Rey saw no signs, no markers, no indication of any sort that they were doing anything but going in circles, but the girl seemed certain of their path. "I 'avn't seen you before. What'd'ya do to get that?"

Rey shrugged, before remembering that she wouldn't be able to see it from in front of him. "Helped a friend."

"Boring." She sighed, turning a corner. "I was hopin you'd killed someone for it or somethin. You gonna come here a lot?" Rey made a noncommital noise. "Chatty, aintcha?" She laughed. "Here we are." She stopped before a nondescript looking door set into a plain stone wall. "You need to come here again, come find me, yeah? Don't bother with the rest of those vagiks, they couldn't find their own asses with their heads crammed up it." Rey rolled his eyes, amused, and handed her a silver miza. What could it hurt, to cultivate friendships among the underground urchins? The girl flashed him a grin, and scampered away.

Turning, Rey eyed the door a little sceptically. It didn't look like anything special. But then again, what in Alvadas every really looked as it truely was? Reaching out, Rey opened the door, and stepped inside.

Rather disappointingly, it didn't look particularly special from the inside either. Deep shelves lined the walls of an empty, well lit room, filled with what seemed to be rather mundane objects. Curious, Rey drew close to what appeared to be a long dagger on one of the shelves. Having learned his lesson about touching seemingly incouous, but possibly magical items, Rey closed his eyes for a moment to steady his breathing, then sensed.

Opening his eyes, Rey's jaw dropped in surprise. Something shimmered just in front of the shelves, the items behind it seeming wavy and unreal. Glancing around, Rey saw the same thing on every shelf in the shop. The barrier shivered, looking more like a desert mirage, or the distorting effect of hot air rising from a flame than any physical object. Focusing on it, Rey hummed softly to himself, intrigued. A magical barrier, one that smelled like... a person? No, that wasn't right, it smelled like itself, like raw magic hanging in the air, but there was a hint, an undertone of a person's scent, a person's aura. Intrigued, Rey reached out to gently touch the barrier, and was only slightly surprised when it rebuffed him. When he pressed harder, the barrier pushed back, sturdy despite how fine it was.

"It's a shield." A voice spoke up from right behind Reysin. "As much for your protection as my own peace of mind."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

Rey started, and turned. The man before him was nondescript, a tad taller than Rey, with short brown hair and brown eyes. And if Rey wasn't mistaken... He focused on the man, sensing him. Yes, there it was. That scent imbedded in that barrier. 'Shield', he said. Another form of magic, he assumed. One this one was adept in. Interesting. He'd have to investigate further at a later time.

Releasing his sense, Rey grinned sheepishly at the man. "My protection?" He asked.

"Oh yes. Some of these objects are quite dangerous. That blade there?" He nodded at the dagger Rey had noticed earlier. "Maledicted. Many of those objects can be quite nasty, even to their own users. That one saps its user's health, and poisons everything it cuts."

Rey shuddered at that, and the man laughed. "You'd be Reysin, then. I must say, I was expecting you to come a lot sooner." Rey raised an eyebrow, but assumed that Wally had told this man that he had given Rey the tooth.

"Yess, I am Reyssin. You are..."

"The proprietor of this establishment." The man deflected smoothly. "Welcome to the Black Shop. Anything you could never find in Alvadas proper, we have here. What's your fancy, friend?"

Truthfully, Rey had not come looking to buy anything specific, but had merely wanted to finally see what the fang led to. He'd intended to do so earlier, but between the events of winter, and the danger of spring, he had only now found the time to do so. But now that he was here, why not?

"Everything here iss magic?"

"Everything in this room has to do with magic, yes. I have more mundane, though still restricted, stock in the next room." He gestured at the door Rey had come through, which now opened into another room almost identical to the one they were in. Rey blinked, but simply accepted it. After two years in Alvadas, this sort of thing had grown almost commonplace. "For instance, should you wish to made modifications to your bracer, I have everything you might need." Rey glanced down at his arm, where his bracer was hidden under his right sleeve. An aurist? Or simply very well informed? Rey hadn't sensed anything from the man, but the faint, but now noticable hum of magic from these 'shields' might well have disguised it from him.

"Still, if it's magic you're interested in, this is the only place in Alvadas to be." The man grinned broadly at him, eyes widening. "I'd be happy to show you what items we have in stock. Though who knows how long they'll remain in our shop?" He chuckled, a little ominously.

This human was kinda creepy, Rey decided.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

Still, creepy or not, the man proved to be very helpful. He followed at a distance as Rey wandered through the shop, commenting every so often on items Rey lingered on, and answering every question Rey had. "A waterbead." He said of what appeared to be a pebble. "Capable of conjuring up to three mugs of water a day. I got it from a Chaktawe, if I recall." Rey noted that he didn't say that be bought it.

"How you get thessse objectss?"

"Oh, I have my ways. Some are sold to me, others come in by ship." Smuggled in, no doubt. "A few I buy or commission locally. And of course, you're aquainted with Wally. He and others like him are quite useful in that regard." It was sort of amusing, that this one was avoiding saying anything particularly incriminating while surrounded by magical items. Of course, magic wasn't technically illegal in Alvadas, whereas stealing and smuggling were. Rey turned to study what appeared to be a heap of fur.

"A hood made from wolf pelt. While you wear it, any wolf will accept you as another of it's kind. Trouble is, your temperament will shift to match, over time. The last person who wore it was more animal than man, towards the end."

Lovely. Rey moved on quickly. It was fascinating, to see all these magical items, but with every description, he grew warier and warier. He stopped before a pile of books. Was it his imagination, or was the humming under his skin less intense here? Focusing his sense, Rey studied the pile, breathing in everything that it was.

Nothing. Just paper and leather and ink. Oh, there was that same barrier in front of the shelf, but behind that, nothing magical. He sensed deeper, to no avail. Releasing his sense, Rey turned to the shop owner, visibly puzzled.

"I said everything here has to do with magic, not that everything had magical properties." It was a little concerning that the man had picked up on exactly what Rey was puzzled about. "Here." Reaching into the shelf, the man pulled the top book from the pile, and opened it up.

Rey looked from the book to the shelf, then back to the book again. Reaching out, he carefully prodded at the barrier. Nope, still there. So the book and the man could pass through, but not Rey? Curious.

"This one, for instance, is an annotated copy of the Treval Codex. Not an uncommon book, in certain parts of the world, but hard to find in Alvadas, and rarer still to find one commented on by an accomplished mage. This one is a book of alchemical formulas. Encrypted, unfortunately." He continued on, describing a few other books before mentioning something that really caught Rey's attention.

"This is the private journal of an apprentice mage, starting from the beginning of her apprenticeship. Good breadth of disciplines, but not much depth to any of them."

Apprentice meant student, right? Which meant someone who was still just learning these magics. Considering that the other books all seemed to be esoteric tomes intended for those already familiar with magic, this tome seemed like his best chance to learn about other magics in a way that was actually understandable. Other magics, like perhaps whatever it was that Sayana had learned.

"For sale?"

The man chuckled under his breath. "But of course. Everything here is for sale. The question is, how much?"

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

Rey raised an eyebrow at the man, waiting for the answer.

"Eighty gold."

Rey raised both eyebrows at that. Eighty?

"Sseemss much for a book." He commented, eyeing the smallish tome. In response, the man flicked through the pages, revealing that the book had been filled almost all the way through in a neat, condensed hand.

"For a book on magic, in Alvadas? Eighty."

Rey considered for a moment. "Fifty gold?" He tried. The man laughed, and reached over to pat Rey on the cheek.

"That's adorable. Seventy five, for trying." Ouch. That stung a little. Still, Rey could see when he was beat. Nodding, Rey counted out seventy five gold, and passed it to the man. Then, with the book carefully tucked into his pack, he thanked the man, and headed towards the exit.

As he went, he couldn't help but notice that the dagger he'd noticed when he'd first entered had disappeared off the shelf. The shopkeeper followed his gaze, and smiled cheerfully. "It's been bought, as you can see. For quite a lot of people, the price one pays for magic and magical items are well worth the gain. Wouldn't you say?"

Rey was absolutely certain that no one had come into the shop while he'd been in there, but the shopkeeper's wide smile seemed to discourage any questions. Nodding awkwardly, Rey let himself be ushered out the door.

"Come back anytime you need something, my friend. Or if you ever have something... of note to sell. You know how to find me."

And with that, the door was shut, leaving Rey standing before a blank wall.

Well, that was weird.

Purchase :

Exquisite Book (Inflated price) - 75 GM

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

Back in his room in the Cave, Rey coiled into a comfortable heap, and began to read.

Uncle Master Thorne insists that I keep this journal, as a way for me to keep track of my thoughts and progress as I learn with him. Personally, I don't see the point of it, but I suppose if I'm to learn from him, I should trust his judgement. Or at the very least, attempt not to annoy him by disobeying quite so quickly.

It was slow going, with Rey's lack of practice reading Common, or reading at all really. Still, he pressed forwards, determined to learn as much as he could from this book. This petching expensive book.

I thought I'd be learning how to throw fire and read minds immediately, but so far Master Thorne has just been having me do chores, listen to him lecture and meditate. I know I wrote that I should trust his judgement, but I didn't realise it would be quite so boring. I came to him to learn magic, not sit still in an empty room for bells on end.

Rey could relate. He hadn't been particularly fond of the meditating part of his first experience with sense either.

Finally! Master Thorne has decided that I can sit still and be bored adequately well, apparently, and is going to teach me shielding tomorrow. It's not as exciting as Reimancy, but he says it's best if I learn shielding first to protect myself when I learn other magic. And after seeing what he can do with them, I can see why.

Maybe I'll be able to keep bugs and rats out of my room now. Wouldn't that be something.

Rey hummed thoughtfully, recalling the shopkeeper's first words to him. A shield... He skipped forwards through the journal.

Master Thorne says I'm ready to learn something new, now that my shields can block animals out. I hope he teaches me Reimancy next.

Shielding could block animals? Could it block people too, then? So that was what those barriers were, back in the shop. Now, that was interesting. He flipped forwards even more.

Some days are frustrating, yes. Master Thorne works me hard, day and night, and having to hide our magic from others, lest we be persecuted, can be terrifying. But most days, I feel blessed to have this life, learning something new every day. Eyris blessed, I suppose. She is the goddess of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and all that. Master Thorne prays to her each night. Perhaps I should start as well?

Wisdom, knowledge and understanding? He'd only heard of Eyris in passing, from his teachers, but never paid much attention before. It seemed as though that had been a mistake. He continued on.

I don't quite know how to feel about hypnotism. It's such a useful magic, and I think I've taken quite well to it. On the other hand... isn't this wrong? Manipulating people's feelings like this? Controlling their impulses? I don't know what to think. Master Thorne says that so long as I use this power responsibly and respectably.... I need to think about this.

Hypnotism....

The word sent a shiver down Rey's spine. He'd seen first hand what hypnotism could do to a man, how, badly done, it could destroy someone. That job, that glorious job... Hypnotism was dangerous. There was no doubt about that. But he'd seen the flip side of it as well, with Kuvarakh. He'd convinced the little courier to keep silent, when Rey had no doubt that the boy would normally have gone straight to the speakers. It was a powerful tool. In moderation, of course. And Kyla was always saying that he needed to work on persuading people...

Flipping back through the journal, he skimmed through the entries, then flipped it shut.

Looked like it was time for Rey to go shopping.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

The Bizarre was, somehow, even more crowded than usual. The flood of pilgrims from Ionu knew where had slowed in the last few days, but not stopped, and everyone seemed to be gathering where the money was. It was sort of hilariously easy to spot who was new to the city. Watching the crowd around him, Rey could pick out huddles of newcomers, drawing together as if for protection. How adorable.

Picking a random direction, Rey slowly made his way through the packed crowds, trusting Ionu would lead him where he needed to go, or not, as she willed. Thankfully, she seemed to be in a good mood today, and Rey soon found himself before a collection of stalls.

The Bizarre was never quiet, but this part of the Bizarre was louder than most, with honks and barks and hisses filling the air. The smell of animals, of nature, and, naturally, of shyke filled his nostrils. Picking a stall at random, Rey drew close, considering his choices.

When he'd first learned his sense, he had practiced with objects and furniture before moving on to humans. Rey saw no reason hypnotism should be any different. Of course, since he doubted he'd be able to hypnotise a chair (could he? did hypnotism only work on things that could think? or could it control everything? he'd have to give those passages another read through), an animal of some sort seemed like a good compromise. An animal might be easier to hypnotise than a person, and a lot less likely to complain if he got it wrong.

Besides, Rey hadn't had the chance to eat anything live in a while.

There were larger animals, dogs and cats and goats and suchalike, but somehow, Rey was fairly certain the wolves would notice if he walked in with one of those and it never came out. Even if they knew he was a Dhani, he doubted they'd take too well to his eating a dog.

Technically, Rey supposed his best bet would be an animal like a mouse or a rabbit, but honestly, if he was going to eat this animal, he wanted it to be at least a human sized meal. Which, really, just left the birds. And the reptiles too, but that felt a little to close to cannibalism for Rey's comfort.

"Companion, messenger, or food?" Came a gruff voice from behind him.

His attention had apparently not gone unnoticed. The stall owner gestured at the pile of cages. "What'd'ya need?"

"Food. Largesst that can be carried eassily." The woman harumphed at him. Plucking a cage from the top of the pile, she shoved it into his arms.

"A partridge. Two silver." Rey raised an eyebrow at her, then raised the cage up to look at the bird within. Truthfully, Rey had no idea what he was looking for, but he pretended to inspect it, turning the bird this way and that, poking at the wings.

"Five copper." He countered. When the woman snorted, he shrugged, and gently passed the bird back to her.

"Thank you." He smiled, turning to walk away.

One.

Two.

Three.

Uh... Any moment now...

"One silver."

Aah. There it was.

Rey turned back to her, feigning thoughtfulness.

"One ssilver." He agreed, after a few ticks.

Time to see if hypnotism was as hard to learn as his sense, as auristics had been.

Purchase :

Partridge - 1 SM

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

The answer was apparently yes.

Rey glowered at the book at his side, then at the partridge, then at the mirror he was curled up in front of. He'd been here for almost a bell now, staring blankly into the mirror, to no avail. Sighing, he reached for the book again, hoping a second...well, fourth read-through would help.

I'm starting to think this is all just an elaborate prank. He says stare in the mirror, so I stare. And stare. And stare. He says to stare until it stops meaning anything, but that doesn't make any sense. How can looking stop meaning anything? He wants me to meditate, and he wants me to stare. How am I supposed to do both?

Now Master Thorne says to distance myself from my emotions as I stare. Not sure I can distance myself from frustration at this point. If I have to spend another day in front of this petching mirror I'm gonna pitch it out the window.

Rey understood the feeling perfectly. He was a scale away from throwing the squawking partridge through his own mirror, and would have had he not known he would then have to answer for it to a pair of very irritated, overworked wolves.

Taking in a deep breath to calm himself, Rey set the book aside. This was fine. Everything was fine. He just needed to relax, and then try again. Yeah, that sounded good. Relax.

Coiling into a more comfortable position, Rey closed his eyes, and focused on his breathing. In, and out, and in, and what if this hypnotism thing went badly he'd seen what had happened that had been.. No. Focus, focus. In, and out. And in, and out. In, out. In, out.

There. There. He was fine. He was relaxed. He was in a good place. He was fine. Opening his eyes, he looked into the mirror, studying his own reflection. Steadying his breathing, he stared. And stared. And stared. He met his own gaze in the mirror, let himself sink into an almost trance like state.

It was almost perfect this time, his coils swaying slightly from side to side, his unblinking gaze meeting itself, and the whole world melted away. The noises of the inn faded, the smell of smoke and food and everything else disappeared, his vision narrowed to within the bounds of the mirror, the clucking of the partridge...

The clucking of the partridge... was still audible. It was a raspy noise, like something scraping over wood, and it was incredibly distracting.

Stop that. He grumbled internally, trying to block it out, without success. I'm trying to do something here so just shush.

He focused on clearing his mind, but every time he thought he'd got it, that infernal clucking would break his concentration.

Cluck cluck cluck

Cut it out.

Cluck cluck skritch skritch

Shut up.

Sqwaaaaak sqwaaak sqwaaaak

SHUT UP.

Rey went back to his staring. It wasn't until it started clucking again, a few ticks later, that he realized it had stopped at all.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Yisanareysin]

It had... stopped clucking. Had he done it?

Stop clucking.

Nothing. Did he have to think it louder?

STOP.

No, that wasn't it. What was different about that last time? He'd been frustrated? That didn't seem right. What was it.... There'd been a force to it, a weight behind the words.

Stop clucking.

The partridge stopped, and tilted its head to the side for a few moments before starting again.

Yes, there it was. He could feel it now, that shifting of power, of intent, similar to, yet so very different from when he used his sense.

Cluck.

It clucked.

Lower your head.

It did so, briefly.

He'd done it. He'd done it! Oh, this was going to be so much fun. Already Rey's mind was racing, thinking up ways to use this magic, considering all the possibilities.

He'd have to do some more experimentation, though, see what the limitations of this new tool were. And see where his own limits lay.

Already he could feel the onset of fatigue, almost exactly like he'd been overusing his sense. This was a new muscle, it seemed, and he would have to be careful. He'd already seen one example of what could go wrong with hypnotism.

Just one more command, then he would stop to recover. Flicking open the cage, Rey tipped the partridge out onto the floor.

Come here.

The bird took a step towards him, then began to flap it's wings, hopping up onto the bed to get away from him. Hmm. Seemed even hypnosis couldn't compel a bird to approach a snake.

Ah, well. Dinner time. He thought cheerfully, and sprung forwards.

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

[Sayana]

Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request. If there's anything I may have missed, please PM me and I'll be happy to look into it.

 

Reysin

Skills

• Auristics: 3
• Observation: 3
• Land Navigation: 1
• Investigation: 1
• Negotiation: 2
• Reading: 2
• Meditation: 1
• Hypnotism: 2

Lores

• Auristics: Aura of shielding
• Shielding: Contains some of the aura of the mage
• Locaion: The Black Shop
• Maledicted items can be quite potent
• The Black Shop: Only place in Alvadas for magical items
• The Black Shop: Contains books on magic
• Eyris: Goddess of wisdom, knowledge and understanding
• Shielding: A magic that blocks unwanted things
• Hypnotism: May be easier on animals than people
• Negotiation: Walking away to encourage a counter-offer
• Hypnotism: Basic Suggestion

Miscellaneous

• 1 sm for bribe to girl
• 75gm for journal by apprentice mage
• 1 sm for partridge

Overgiving
Reysin will experience unexpected and random urges to start "clucking" over the next 5 days. While he may be able to suppress the urge, he'll have to be consciously thinking about it, lest a stray "cluck" escapes his lips.
Comments
Note on Shielding, generally shields must be attached to something physical and therefore would not hang in the air like a force field. Typical examples of shields include creating them on doors or windows. Perhaps putting the shield on a glass panel (or glass door) in front of the items would have been more appropriate.

For Hypnotism, try to include how Reysin is tapping into his djed while doing hypnotism. If hypnotism was only about thinking hard, then anyone could do it. This is especially important at novice levels. At higher levels, it can be better assumed that the mage understands how to apply the magic. Even if Reysin doesn't know about 'djed', there is still 'something' that he is manipulating to gain the effects. Also, for novice users especially, eye contact or verbal communication is very important when hypnotizing the subject. And suggestions tend to be subconscious messages so they may not take effect immediately. Animals are certainly easier targets for hypnotism, but he was still doing quite a few successive commands on that partridge.

Comments: Great thread. I loved the descriptions and atmosphere of the Black Shop. I also thought it was very appropriate to inflate the price of the book since it was regarding magic (in a city where magic is kept hush hush). The content itself in the book was also very believable and appropriate for the sort of book purchased (journal format rather than instructive). My feedback on hypnotism isn't meant to be critical but just to point out some aspects of hypnotism that may have been overlooked.


Your Grader,

Sayana

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