Closed [Laz 25-Z]A Favor Given[Belugnir]

[Clyde Sullins]

40 Summer 517- Morning

Since the day before Clyde had been hard at work preparing for the first phase of his newest project. A 4' 5" length of gnarled wood in the shape more or less of a staff sat upon his lab table. That was his project, to make another Magic Staff. In some ways it would be akin to Cha, but in other ways so much less.

But still a commission was a commission, and not all of his projects were for personal advancement or lines of experimentation in new and interesting ways. Sometimes there was simply a need, and he was to fill it. Not for free of course, but a job was a job and doing such things helped to get him permission for some of his riskier and less straightforward plans.

The commissioner, through the synchograph office, sent Clyde the needed supplies for the project. Clyde in turn supplied his skills to turn those supplies into a finished product. Of course, Clyde reminded himself, it wasn't as lucrative a when he supplied his own materials and found a buyer, but then such sales were rather difficult to manage and find.

The day before Clyde had taken the various materials out of his study and into the lab, stacks of small cases filled with various objects and materials next to his lab table with one or two needed items upon the table itself. Along with that was a length of d-wire, a large container of an odd and rare mineral based powder, and several metal clamps and vices.

His other tools put up for the moment, Clyde inspected the wards around his pedestal that morning while he waited for his assistant to arrive. Clyde kept meticulous care of the complex warding, repairing any minor damage between projects, when there was any damage, and keeping an eye out for any problems that might arise.

Once he heard knocking Clyde would unlock the lab, heading out into the common area and fetching Belugnir without a word before bringing him back to the lab and locking it behind them.

Clyde knew there would inevitably be questions from the rough fellow, but hoped that he could quickly enough get through him ogling over his lab and through his questions to explain the task at hand.

During this Rye would sit quietly by the door to the lab, watching Belugnir once he entered the lab and tracking him with his special eyes, though once more not leaping or attacking.

WC: 414

[Belugnir]

Ein was about to give the cold stone a second round of knocking, when Clyde opened the door under his loosely gathered fist. This time around, the lad wore naught but his 'casual' attire, worn trousers, boots, the ragged shirt, and the short jacket overcoat, no trace of his armor nor his throwing daggers, however, there was a sharpened, foot long hunk of metal with a cloth-wrapped handle stuck into his belt, the dagger of a certain countryman of his.

He gave Clyde but a nod of greeting, having learned from yesterday that he's better off staying quiet unless there's something of actual import to discuss, well, when he's around an established mage anyway. With a wary glance to the sorcerer's hound, Ein was led into Clydes laboratory. It would hardly come as surprise that his eyes, and his mouth, albeit to a smaller extent, went gaping at the sight of the runic maze that surrounded the pedestal in the middle of the room. Hell, he had barely the vaguest idea of what glyphing could be used for, and his one experience of trying to use the scribblers' sorcery consisted of twenty overly stressful minutes and a single decent symbol... meanwhile this man... well, you couldn't really compare the two of them by any stretch. Bugger probably spent an hour to three a day keeping this shyke in tact. After his brief moment of gawking like a child when they first see a sword-swallower perform, Ein ran his gaze across the rest of the man's workshop, nodding to himself idly, not really having a clue how any part of Clyde's craft worked. Then he turned to the wizard.

''Right then. So what'll you need of me?'', he ran another glance across the laboratory before adding: ''Take it I'm not to touch a darn thing without ye instruction?''

[Clyde Sullins]

Upon entering Belugnir gaped openly at his wards, a sign if nothing else that the mage of sorts had at least a rough knowledge of Glyphing. Otherwise, Clyde assumed, he wouldn't have recognized it for more than drawings of a sort and wouldn't have understood the complexity. The complex warding contained every type of glyph besides a switch in a level of complexity and power beyond any but the best of Glyphers.

The true and complete intent of the wards would likely be lost in the man unless he spent a decent bit of time examining it, but even at a glance its power and complex nature was easily visible.

The wards were painted onto the stone of the floor with a thick and lasting inscribing paint, and wouldn't be easily marred or damaged by someone passing over them or stepping on them without dragging their feet or otherwise purposely trying to damage them.

Once he was done with that the man predictably turned to Clyde and asked what they would be doing.

Clyde gave a good enough explanation to fit the needs of their arrangement, but didn't feel any need to go in depth on the practice of Magecrafting or to teach the man how to use the magic.

“Right, simple enough we are making a Magic Staff, sort of like Cha here. Though this one won't be as potent, but still of the same branch of items so to speak.”

“A Magic Staff is an extension of a mages body, one who learns how to use that particular staff, and they are among other things able to convey their personal magic through the staff like it was said part of their body.”

“For the work we are doing today, its the initial staff step. I place the item on the pedestal and add the needed protections, coat it in a special powder, and then wrap it in D-wire which in and of itself is a conduit for magic. We then both take an end of the staff and attempt to flow a personal magic into the wire and through the staff until the effect has suitably soaked into the staff so to speak. I'll know when, otherwise just keep going into I tell you to stop.”

Looking about the room, Clyde noted the relative position of items, focusing for a moment on the items on the lab table which would be used in today's work.

“As for touching things, you can touch as you like with a few exceptions, so long as you don't damage or break anything. However don't mar my words, not that they'll be damaged by a casual contact but don't damage them all the same.”

Taking on a serious and somewhat threatening tone implying death and dismemberment if his next words should be ignored and instructions broken, Clyde met Belugnir's gaze for a moment.

“And most importantly, once I place the item to be enchanted, the staff in this case, upon the pedestal, do not for any reason take that particular item off the pedestal. I don't care if your on fire, and need something to beat out the flames, don't for any reason move the item being enchanted once said enchantment has begun. For. Any. Reason.”

Meeting the mans eyes for a few more seconds, Clyde turned back to the pedestal before heading across to his lab table. There he would pick up the various items they needed which had been set out and move them to the pedestal within reach of their work.

Taking out and opening the bag of heavy mineral powder, Clyde spread some and then rubbed it into each end of the staff. Then he attached a vice like clamp to each end of the staff over the areas he'd just thoroughly coated in powder, setting the entire thing on the pedestal.

The spool of d-wire sat nearby, ready for use once the staff had been well coated. Then Clyde took another pinch of the powder, spreading it on the staff's surface and rubbing it in, turning the staff when needed to get at other spots.

“Here, you can help me with this bit, just spread the powder across the staff, rub it in well. And be ready when I tell you to cast your magic into the wire and through the staff. After we of course wrap it in wire, though not till we've gotten a good layer of this on the staff. That will mark the beginning of the enchantment.”

Turning to the man while his hands continued to move, Clyde simply stated

“Any other questions before we begin? We can talk while we work, it won't distract me. Though if you need silence once we begin casting I understand, some need to meditate and prepare for djed usage, to focus and keep working the magic. Particularly if the spell is difficult for their relative ability in that magic.”

WC: 822

[Belugnir]

Extention of their body, huh? Vague ideas swarmed Ein's mind, pondering on whether it'd be a foolish assumption to try fashioning a pole weapon out of an enchanted staff for the most part, though he wasn't quite certain what Clyde described a wizard's staff actually stood for. Then he heard out Clydes, to him, somewhat unclear instructions. He wants me to shove me Djed into that stick...? Ein merely kept up his attention as Clyde's instructions went on, and gave an uneasy nod when the deathly warning of not moving the staff from it's place once they start the enchantment came. Fiddling with a tool or two won't lose him any fingers as long as he doesn't go all-out-whoreson and purposefully try to smash something. Fair enough.

After Clyde went to fiddle with his materials, Ein simply stood there briefly, going back to admiring the forest of glyphs the man had sorted across his floor. He could hardly fathom the full purpose of the whole thing, hell, he could barely make a blind guess regarding the meaning of one... maybe two of the runes. Then Clyde beckoned him to come over. Trying his best not to step onto either of the runes on his way, for he knew not their true significance, nor if they'll blow his foot off if he accidentally steps on one, Einar walked up to the pedestal, took a handful of the powder and started rubbing the stuff onto the hunk of wood. The lad did, in fact, have multiple questions.

''So ye basically want me to pour me Djed into the staff? I mean, should I focus on the wire or on the staff itself?'', aye practical questions, ye prick, show this bugger you ain't as much of a dimwit as everyone thinks... The petch am I now? Some frail maiden tryna prove me worth? ''And by the way. You keep talkin' about this... personal magic business. What's that about?'' Does this shyke we're doing end up making the staff any more sturdy? Does a staff actually empower a sorcerer's magic when they use it? How much does all this buggery actually cost a man? Far too many questions he had to ask all at once... and probably half of them would make him look like an imbecile. Part of his mind drifted off into wondering if he could actually pull off such a thing as directing Djed out of his own body and into an object. ''And does this wire or this powdery stuff make directing Djed any easier?''

[Clyde Sullins]

As he spoke, and in turn as he listened to Belugnir, Clyde continued his work of spreading the powder. It was an expensive substance, and a good bit was needed for the step of the Magecrafting process they performed. That, along with the D-wire, was where the inherent cost from the first step of the enchantment was involved.

Once they'd finished the work Clyde would continue on, needing at least another full day to add the single step of durability enhancement before he cooled the item off and solidified the enchantment. For now though he focused on the task at hand.

“Well, magic, not djed. Think of the process this way. The d-wire is a conduit for personal magic. The powder acts as an intermediary, helping take the impression of the d-wire so to speak, or its magical equivalent. As we thus channel magic through the d-wire, and through the powder into the staff, we sort of... I suppose the closest equivalent is to copy the behavior... Anyways, so to speak this djed or magic carrying behavior of the d-wire is imbued into the staff via the powder, as the powder itself is. The staff thus remembers this behavior or ability, the capability, and it is permanently imbued into it.”

“Now mind you, that's a somewhat simplified explanation, and rather limited as in some regards its not totally factually true, but for our purposes its close enough to the truth to impress upon you the basics of what we are doing.”

Grabbing another pinch Clyde quietly spread it, kneading it in and rubbing until only a fine layer was left visibly on that particular area of the surface of the staff. Then he was on to another part of the staff, repeating the process until the entire staff was coated.

“So, instead of targeting a body part as usual with your flux, I want you to place your hands upon the staff, and try to channel your djed via your magic up and out of your body, out of your hands as if you had another set of arms so to speak, and through the d-wire into the staff. The wire it the arm, the staff is the hands and the end target.”

“As the magic flows through the d-wire and powder, and then into the staff, this impression will be imbued into it, carrying the powder along for the ride, until its permanently impressed upon it.”

Hearing Belugnir's next question, Clyde let out a sigh, spreading another pinch of powder as he did. At this point he'd heard that exact question more or less several dozen times, and was almost growing to expect it from any new mage he met or helped train. Instead of addressing the questions in the order they'd been asked Clyde turned to the last one, as it was one he didn't plan to answer just now, at least not for free.

“The wire isn't really important for now, how it works, just know that it does for this particular usage. If you'd like we can speak of it another time, though as I said nothing is free in Sahova. Perhaps for another favor, I could go into detail on it, how it works, is made, and such. But thats a topic for another time. Who knows, if this deal goes well, perhaps I'd even let you owe me said favor instead of collecting yours before doing my favor. Perhaps ask again when I do my return favor for this deal, if your still interested, eh?”

The powder now thoroughly rubbed into every inch of the staff, Clyde took out the roll of d-wire, beginning to wrap it painstakingly around the staff. This would take several chimes as they had to raise the staff one end at a time to properly wrap it, perhaps a bit quicker if Belugnir helped. Once they were done there would be an almost solid layer of wire wrapped around the staff, with small cracks in between each ring were a small patch of wood could be seen between.

“Personal magic is just that, personal, as in it uses the djed upon and from your own person. Your personal djed is expended in creating the magical effect, you are weakened and drained in exchange for the magical effect, yes? Whereas this magic here, Magecrafting, uses the djed inherent in the world, of other items and things, and none of my own, and is therefore a world magic. The source of the djed is the difference.”

“This particular enchantment in particular requires personal magic for the process, but Magecrafting doesn't usually inherently take said magics, nor does world magic.”

The next step done, Clyde held out Cha, setting the tip of her head against the d-wire wrapped about the new staff. As he'd said a Magic Staff, like Cha, was an extension of the user. By Cha upon the wire, it was the same as placing his own hands upon it.

“Now, to begin the magic. Place your hands upon the wire, and as I said channel your magic through it and into the staff.”

WC: 854

[Belugnir]

Ein gave a small frown as Clyde gave him a dumbed down explanation of what they were doing, he kept feeling underestimated by this fellow, and regardless of whether one had the right of underestimating you or not, and whether it made the job they had to do easier, it didn't make the experience any more appealing. So we're literally teaching a soddin' stick how to use magic like we do. He did notice an ounce of... disappointment? When Clyde went on to tell him about the differences in personal and world magics, and gave a dull agreeing nod when Clyde mentioned possibility of further cooperation if this errand went well.

Once the staff was fully powdered, and the man turned to begin warping it with the wire, Ein opted to simply hold up a single end of the staff and leave Clyde to work the wire around it, rotating the thing ever so often and ever so slightly to help the pattern Clyde was making with the wire as best as he could. He did this simply 'cause he couldn't possibly know if there was supposed to be an odd irregularity in the pattern on a specific spot or something of the sort. Finally Clyde decided to be a little show-off and place his staff upon one end of the new stick they were enchanting, and instructed Ein to follow suit.

''Aye, you'll just have to give me a minute.'', Ein leaned his hands upon the edges of the pedestal, closed his eyes so that the sight of the sorcerer, his glyphings and the staff he held wouldn't distract him, and began grasping at the helm of his mind to slowly begin reeling modest amounts of Djed into his arms, and further guiding it to flow with greater concentration toward his hands. The whole thing'd take a minute, and while that one well-behaved ounce of Einar's being felt it was rude to keep the man waiting, he, in truth, didn't give a damn, hell, they wanted this shyke to work right, so might as well wait a chime to make sure Ein doesn't manage to petch this thing up. ''Ready.'', he stated, placing his hands around his end of the staff. Whenever Clyde instructed, Ein'd begin trying to envision the wire as an extension of his body and project his Djed into the thing, and then through it, and onto the staff. Wire's the arm. Staff's the hand. Can't be that hard. He went along with Clydes simplified explanations and advice. Dumbed down or not, they were practical.

This was a way of using Flux that he never committed to doing before, and he sure as hell hoped the process wouldn't last long, as he was, in spite of the slight, unexpected ease at which he was passing his magic onto the staff, somewhat uncertain of whether or not he'll be able to keep the shyke up for very long. Peculiar, though, Ein could feel his Djed leaving him, slowly passing into the wire and then further, slowly creeping into the staff, yet he couldn't see it. He hadn't the time to idly awe at the oddity, however, for his concentration on the staff itself was still somewhat stiff and brittle, and for all his grunting and frowning, he did want to do this shyke right. Had the process taken more than several chimes, Ein's brow would slowly be graced by several droplets of sweat. For while the lad found this to be considerably easier to pull off than coordinated combat exercise with Flux added in, he was actually pouring portions of his own Djed out of his body, something he wasn't used to, and while it was a very modest amount, it was still enough to give him a minor bother. Eagerly would he await Clyde's implying that the process was done.

[Clyde Sullins]

While Clyde's explanation was simplified, it was the most Belugnir could be expected to understand without at least a basic understanding of the lore and processes of Magecrafting. Even then the making of Magic Staff's was not a topic to be broached by initiates, and required a decent level of skill to be able to truly understand it and how it was done.

Clearly, Clyde reasoned, there was more to the process than what he'd said. After all if all that was done was a copying of a capability, then why did the staff gain other additional capabilities? Clyde had some theories of how it worked and what was done, with the wire acting more as a catalyst to enable the change than as the actual thing being copied, but such ideas were deeply rooted in complex Magecrafting theories and thus beyond Belugnir.

Clyde pondered this theory for a moment as Belugnir prepared himself to cast his djed forth. It seemed a valid enough theory on how the true process worked. Perhaps though, Clyde reminded himself, not totally correct, or perhaps if correct only part of the truth.

While Clyde had given Belugnir quite a bit of knowledge, and explained many topics of magic the fluxer hadn't known previously, he didn't intend to teach him Magecrafting or make him one, nor to give away more than was needed. Most of the concepts he'd gone over were simple, and common enough knowledge among the right circles.

Clyde didn't say a word while Belugnir prepared, giving him the time to meditate and prepare his djed, only moving to action once he said he was ready.

Nodding, Clyde simply said “Alright, go” before beginning, focusing his aura sight through and out of Cha. Three tendrils split outward, latching on in different ways and places. One gripped Belugnir, sensing him while he cast his djed. It was useful, Clyde found, to get a notion of someones magic and how they were when they cast djed. Another gripped the staff outside, sensing it and its djed as it changed in the reactions and processes, as he always did to keep a measure on Magecrafting.

The last tendril went from the tip of Cha and directly into the wire and through it into the staff, being absorbed in and sinking into the depth of its makeup and djed to not return. The magic buzzing along reacted with the powder, carrying it along into the staffs makeup as the process occurred. The djed dead ended however in the insulated clamps, and so no actual spell was released or took place from that tendril.

Soon enough he felt the hum of djed on the air, smelled its presence as it echoed from Belugnir and himself and emptied into the staff. The staff itself hummed even stronger, echoing the sounds created by the two mages spells. The spells died and were captured into the clamps, silencing the magic, but the process itself continued as waves of djed swept through bringing along the powder to vanish and be absorbed in its wake.

Soon enough though the man before Clyde became visibly strained from the action, by which point only a little more than half of the powder had vanished and been absorbed into the staff.

“Stop, we'll take a break for now, and come back to it in a few chimes.”

Pulling Cha free of the staff, Clyde nodded, eying the man and checking his reactions. He pulled back the tendril that had been going directly into the staff, though kept the other two upon Belugnir and the staff respectively.

“Do you know how to meditate Bell? I can teach you, if you'd like? It is good for preparing to cast magic, and calming and pulling yourself into a good place once you are done.”

Assuming he didn't respond in the negative, and either said nothing or agreed to the lesson, Clyde would continue on with a short bit of instruction on the subject.

“Meditation is about focusing on oneself, and cutting out the outside world and its influences upon you. One way to do that is to focus on something specific to the exclusion of all else in your mind, something you can see, or an image in your mind.”

“You can try other things later, but for now try this. Breath in slowly, and let it out. Focus in your mind on the image of a lit candle. A lit candle floating in nothing, empty blackness that the flame of the candle cannot pierce. Nothing beyond the edges of the candle and its flame exists, and if the flame were to die nothing would exist. As you exhale slowly imagine the flames fluttering in the air from your lungs. Then breath in slowly and hold it for a moment, the flame growing for a moment as the air comes in, only to flutter and shrink back to its normal size when you exhale again. Repeat this over and over, until nothing else but the flame and the candle exists. Breath in, hold, let out. In. Out.”

If Belugnir kept to his instruction, Clyde would continue, occasionally repeating some of his last phrases such as "in, out" as he himself breathed in sync with the fluxer. He would continue this for 5 chimes or so, before coming to a stop.

“Now, how do you feel? Calm? Centered? Ready to continue? Try this before you use magic if you can, and you'll find yourself better able to do so.”

“Once your ready we can continue, we'll need to keep going until all of the powder is visible gone from the staff. Perhaps this time try a slower or smaller trickle of djed? The volume isn't important, just the djed itself and its direction.”

Once Belugnir indicated he was ready to begin Clyde would match him, once more placing Cha upon the staff and extending out a third aura tendril into the new staff.

WC: 993

[Belugnir]

Ein wasn't rightly tired from the errand, but he welcomed the break none the less, though what he'd have welcomed more would've been more than a 'few chimes'. Then, removing his hands from the staff, Ein found himself intrigued. This bugger kept going on about how nothing is for free on Sahova, yet he offered to teach him a bit on meditation... without really making any mention that Einar would have to repay for that. Stopping his gob from unleashing a cynical flood of horseshyke language, he merely nodded at the man's offer with a ''Eh, do tell.'', trying to put in a bit of enthusiasm. He wasn't uninterested, just, as it'd be with any man, he was skeptical to learning something new in regards to a thing he was already somewhat familiar with. He kept quiet, however, about the fact that he often spent his time meditating before using Flux, partially because he assumed that to be an universal thing to do, partially because he wasn't all too good at it... though the bit about it being universal was shaken a bit just by the fact that Clyde asked him if he knows how to meditate after witnessing him do... well, just that... What use is thinking about this lot of bother anyway...

The first bit of what Clyde said about the general meaning of meditation would be understandable to any who ever pondered on the term, though as the man talked away about his own method, Ein found himself breathing deeply as the fellow instructed. A candle, eh? And there it was, a weakly flame, 'pon a crooked waxen shape, around them swirling innumerable darkened and blurred images of ill memory and idle fantasy of plenty coins, good food and finely curved questionable women. It was difficult to imagine actual nothingness, focused on something so simple. Even when he'd meditate for Flux usage before, he'd focus on what he imagined the inside of his body looked like and try to conjure the vague idea of his 'backbone', his soul, whatever will you, coursing through it. It got him through the deal mostly, mind, not very effectively. The idea of imagining naught but a lit candle sounded simpler in theory. He breathed out again. The image became clearer. And again. And again. Soon the blurry chaos around the spark had considerably faded, unimportant, darkened and mended together into an odd dark shade. The candle was merely bent about now, and the flame flickered clearer, yet without shedding light about itself. And as his breathing shifted, the flickering whisp's size followed suit. Soon he felt an odd, vague warmth about his chest each time he breathed in. He forgot the point at which he closed his eyes.

He heard Clyde ask him for his state of mind. And as he stood beside the pedestal, Ein stretched his fingers into an easy flourish. He felt an odd tingling sensation go down his arms and into the palms of his hands. A comfortable feeling of strength washed over. It wasn't much of a far cry from his usual sloppy usage of the Flux, but it was a fair step upward.

''Headstrong.'', he spoke with a childish honesty, and a visible spark of enthusiasm, befit of a novice aware of their own progress, however small. ''Aye, let's get back to it.'', he did not let himself be carried away, however, and he did pay mind to what Clyde mentioned afterward. So the powder on the staff would also serve as a display of when the enchantment was done, well, it's disappearance, rather. He was also pleased to hear that the amount of Djed channeled wasn't important over the actual presence of it and the direction in which it flowed. As they got back to wrok, with a slight invigoration and the relief of being able to channel his Djed an ounce better, Einar took away from the already sparse stream of Djed that he was committing to the staff, making quite certain that the amount he was giving over was minimal. It felt like taking a light jog in naught but loose trousers after sprinting a long while in full armor. He had no doubt that he'll manage to keep this up 'till the errand was over, seeing as an already fine amount of powder was missing from the previous session alone. He was more than certain, however, that he'll want himself a good meal and an unreasonably long sleep once he finished helping Clyde with this shyke.

Petch me, seems it's all about the candle.

[Clyde Sullins]

In many ways Clyde seemed to contradict himself. Of course, to his own mind and reasoning none of it was contradictory, and in general his seeming contradiction to others was a lack of information required for understanding on their part.

In this case Clyde considered some things of more worth than others, and didn't really see his skills in mediation and imparting some of those onto another as worth trading for. That, tied to the fact that he felt helping him with the task of meditating might aid in their current endeavor, it made sense to Clyde to instruct him. The thought of asking for something in return for it didn't occur to him, particularly focused as he was on their Magecrafting and other things.

If it had been magic, or something of direct use he would have, but not for something not directly useful, even if he was rather skilled at it.

While Belugnir didn't take his proposal with a great amount of enthusiasm, he did accept, and so Clyde once more rotated his focusing personality into teaching mode.

As he instructed he took his own advice, calming and evening himself out. He also kept his aura focus on Belugnir, reading his aura and slowly digging in deeper within it.

However unlike Belugnir, Clyde's mental prowess was more refined, as was his growing mental domain. As he inhaled a particularly deep breath, the flames of the candle expanded, growing and showing the environs he had created which had never existed in any place besides his mind. A place he'd thought on the last time he'd deeply meditated, back on a boat with Sayana. A chair, a fire sitting in stone, a ceiling....

A new detail was a well crafted wooden table next to his chair, upon which the candle rested. As the flames drew back the room clarified in his mind, and he noticed a window across the room with wooden shutters closing it off. Clyde considered rising and crossing the room to open the shutters, but as he did the candle flame retracted further, and as it did the room dissolved into nothing in the void of his mind.

Opening his eyes Clyde found himself in the room once more, not even having noticed as the chimes passed and as he'd continued on with his rhythmic chanting in the form of directions.

Within his aura sight Clyde noted the hum of Belugnir, and the quited sound in the background that was dulled to a gentle hum almost unheard. He'd never before inspected someone's aura when they were meditating, and so he'd not realized what the hum had meant till it quieted. Focused and calmed, the hum of the man had dimmed almost out of existence, perhaps signifying his feelings or lack thereof in that moment.

As Belugnir's moment broke the hum increased once more, falling into the normal background emenation he was used to hearing upon an aura, but still more noticeable by comparison as it had been lessened but moments ago.

The moment and lesson gone, Clyde and Belugnir returned to the task at hand, returning to the staff and their enchantment.

This time as Belugnir reached out and the hum of djed upon him began to echo, different from the hum of his feelings and emotion, he took it at a slower but steadier and more sustainable pace. It wasn't perhaps totally true that the volume of djed didn't matter, but he had a feeling that the man could much more easily sustain a smaller trickle of djed over a longer bit of time, than the same amount of djed in a shorter span of time.

Clyde twinned the fluxer's magic, pouring his own Aura sight into the new staff as he made contact with Cha on its flesh, feeling the djed drop away and vanish as it did. He kept on flowing it in, letting his Auristics tease and read at Belugnir and the staff, while his third strand fed into its making.

The next session of djed usage did talk longer, but with the much lessened djed usage per instant it would likely be much easier on the mage. Once all of the powder was gone from the surface of the staff Clyde cleared his throat, nodding to the man.

“Alright, thats good. All of the powder is gone, we've finished this step of the procedure. You can head out for today.”

Waiting till Belgunir pulled back his hand, Clyde removed Cha from the staff, using his own more precisely used djed to stabilize the mans djed emission so long as it lasted.

Once done Clyde would lead the fluxer back over the wards, cutting off his aura sight as he did knowing that it would be useless to try to continue to use it while he passed over his own particular brand of warding. He'd unlock the door, holding it open for Beulgnir to reenter his waiting room.

“You can see yourself back out. Return in a few days time when I've been able to complete my work, and we'll continue the rest of our dealing. In the meantime, you did well enough at the needed task. Perhaps we do have a future in further dealings beyond this ones completion.”

Done speaking for the day, Clyde would respond to any additional questions by referring him to the next time they met, ending it once the man had exited the lab and reentered the front common room by locking the lab door behind him and turning back to his work.

WC: 926

[Belugnir]

It had been quite the while since Ein had worked up a proper appetite, odd how it never happened while chasing about that sodding desert with monsters 'round every other sodding rock, for a day to two on end, but here he was, having spent a couple or so bells staring down and humping a stick and he was next to spent and hungry as all blue hell. When Clyde announced that they were finished, Einar was due to an overwhelming relief. The sort of relief that came from hearing a demanding wench moan in pleasure after he'd be done ploughin' her for bells on end, and after realizing that she didn't even try to nab his purse, the one with coin, somewhere along the way.

With a slight daze apparent in his step, Ein followed Clyde out of his laboratory and back into the waiting room, being presented with the door, a rough time at which he was to come back to see Clyde's end of the bargain fulfilled, and a faint... compliment of sorts, only adding to his little spark of pride from before.

''Aye. I'll see you in a couple days then.'' Probably gonna spend the whole of that time sleeping like a dead man..., having made his way back into the hallway and closed the entry door to the sorcerer's domain behind him, Ein stooped and reached for his forehead. The moment he comes back to his room, he's going to devour half a week's worth of rations... and if his past experience of faint overgiving was anything to draw from, he was also looking upon at least one feverish dream of a broken man being stoned by a crazed mob who shouted death and disease. Then he also managed to remind himself that the room he'll sleep in is a glorified broom closet, and that the food he was going to eat is probably a day or two stale, that he'll probably wake up coughing dust out of his throat... Sometimes I wonder why the petch I do keep on living.