Completed Study and practice

Raeyn turns up to seminars only to find he won't be working alone today

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The Diamond of Kalea is located on Kalea's extreme west coast and called as such because its completely made of a crystalline substance called Skyglass. Home of the Alvina of the Stars, cultural mecca of knowledge seekers, and rife with Ethaefal, this remote city shimmers with its own unique light.

Study and practice

Postby Raeyn on June 8th, 2018, 2:19 pm

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8th of Summer 518AV

Within the walls of the Twilight Tower, between pillars and winding corridors, was Raeyn's personal happy place. The alchemical laboratories. And if there was anything he could ever wish for, it was to one day own his very own laboratory, complete with the equipment needed to study and experiment at his own leisure. But his goals remained far in the future beyond the horizons of years to come.

He had returned from the Touch of Fire that morning with an ingot of melted alloy that his master had put an order for a couple of days prior. Nothing fantastic or expensive. And judging by it's crumbly nature, the ingot was far from pure iron. But such was the nature of the apprentice. Whilst the master did all the hard work and reaped all the glory, the student's job was to run half way across the city and back in search of materials for the craft. He could only dream of the day he would have apprentices of his own. Of course, in Raeyn's dreams, those apprentices resembled golems rather than human beings, for his never changing need for solitude demanded it.

The red haired alchemist was a regular at the tower for even when there were no lectures or seminars scheduled, he always seemed to find business. Mostly though, he went there to see Orath, the alchemy professor for whom his respect and admiration was endless.

He was the first one to arrive at the lab, albeit tired and a little out of breath after the early morning expedition across town. Still, clad as he was in richly died navy and red robes, he kept his composure and greeted each man as they entered the massive laboratory room. First came Orath who seemed pleased enough by Raeyn's accomplished task.

Then a new face appeared in the doorway. Another man who introduced himself as Fenir. His handshake seemed a little shy and the lines in his forehead suggested either age or a habit of worrying too much. As far as Raeyn knew, he was of Lhavitian descent but to alchemy itself he was new even if he had reached competency in other magical forms. There were some family ties to the Twilight house there, but of what exact nature, Raeyn cared not.

A few moments passed. A few pleasantries were exchanged between the men before they readied themselves for the lesson ahead. Orath had much to teach them as always and certain knowledge could not be passed down by lectures alone. Alchemy was a practical magic. To truly understand and appreciate it's many facets and dangers, the students had to feel the flow of djed through their fingers.
Last edited by Raeyn on June 11th, 2018, 8:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Study and practice

Postby Raeyn on June 9th, 2018, 7:48 am

Truthfully it felt a little odd to be working with a new student. Whilst other magic classes boasted relatively impressive numbers, it had always seemed to Raeyn that alchemy was something of an underrated magic. Perhaps it was his own bias for he could imagine no other discipline as wholeheartedly inspiring as the principles and laws of transmutation. Or perhaps it was simply that, caring little for the presence of others, he merely failed to observe how many other students there were.

First on the agenda was the preparation of the alchemical ring. One by one the mages moved great iron rings, the doorways, into position. About the size of a large child, forged of cast iron with truly ancient coils of d-wire around them, the rings took all three of them to shift until everything was in position. An alchemical ring, not too large, yet not the smallest one Raeyn had ever worked on, was complete with two faunts and two filter slots on either side. Separating them Raeyn placed one of the Tower's Meridian Keystones on one side, Orath placed it's counterpart on the other.

Then Raeyn turned to the newcomer. "Do you know where the positive and where the negative side of the ring lies, Fenir?"

Fenir in turn shook his head. With a voice so very quiet that Raeyn had to lean in to hear him clearly, he replied "The ring needs to be tested, doesn't it?"

The Inarta alchemist nodded in affirmation but it was Orath who spoke this time. "That's right. One must always have some worthless materials to sacrifice at hand. Of course you may get lucky with your first reaction. More likely however the positive and negative sides of the alchemical ring are not at all where you thought them to be and the resulting transmutation produces some aberrant of nature no one wants or needs. Speaking of, Raeyn have you managed to acquire what I asked of you?"

With a nod the Inarta produced the ingot of metal from his back pack and handed it to the Eth who turned it over in his palms for a moment. His eyes examined the impure alloy, brows furrowed. In turn Raeyn watched his professor, awaiting further instructions.
Last edited by Raeyn on June 10th, 2018, 4:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Study and practice

Postby Raeyn on June 9th, 2018, 8:12 am

Much like the morning mists of Lhavit, the air within the laboratory itself was very still. There was a peacefulness about it that that lent itself so well to the study of magic. A stillness only the roaring flow of djed could break.

"Shall we begin then?" prompted Orath, nodding at Raeyn, eyes prompting for the Inarta to take over. It became clear that this wasn't just a demonstration. It was a sort of test. How well would the Inarta alchemist fair of his own without the guiding words of his professor he admired so very much.

With a curl of a smile Raeyn retrieved the ingot and walked over to place it perfectly in the centre of the ring. It was a reaction he had completed many times before. Almost instinctively did he know what materials to place in the rings for it was such an obvious standard reaction that most novices learned it on the first day of class. The only difference was that no novice would operate a ring quite this size. It was clear this wouldn't be the only transmutation performed in the laboratory this day but the nature of World Magics as oppose to any other kind, was that preparation could take hours, days even for without his laboratory and his materials the mage was useless.

Soon enough the Inarta alchemist began placing the transmutation materials in the doorways of the ring. The first was a ring to the left of the first keystone where Raeyn slit his own thumb and squeezed a good amount of blood into the doorway, ignoring the dull ache that followed. At this point he was very much used to small amounts of self harm. The ends always justified the means. The second doorway on the left side of the ring he left clear. There wasn't much sense in wasting too many materials for the first transmutation, especially bearing in mind the likelihood of creating something really worthless like transparent iron that never hardened instead of blood red iron that remained an ingot.

To the right side of the ring, Raeyn brought some water from the massive cooling vat located by the led laden walls. Such a simple reaction indeed, but every mage in that lab realised quite how dangerous even the smallest reactions could be. Unlike the users of Personal magic who often succumbed to the disease of overgiving, alchemists had a completely different metaphorical hill to climb that was just as steep and just as dangerous. For the forces of natural djed were hardly easy to control and could just as easily lead to the mages destruction as djed.

Raeyn knew this. It was hunger for knowledge and power that lead him to ignore all the warnings and take all the risks that most common folk would never dream of.
Last edited by Raeyn on June 10th, 2018, 4:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Study and practice

Postby Raeyn on June 9th, 2018, 8:33 am

"Fenir, you are aware of your basic faunts and filters I assume. The materials that give transmutation items their property. Your faunt should have desirable characteristics which you wish to transfer to the ingot in the centre whilst your filter will filter out undesirables." spoke Orath.

Fenir nodded along.

"Splendid. I see you'd been studying up on the theory. Shall we proceed then?"

The Twilight tower was quite abundant in the magical resources it had collected over the years. Any student or visitor had to admit that. Protective suits were included in that list of equipment and soon enough all three mages put them on. Orath never let his students practice magic without first taking all the necessary safety measures. And what a good thing it was, for Raeyn was most certainly the kind of man who would otherwise forget about safety wear.

As Raeyn knelt down by one of the keystones, Orath spoke. He told of the basic alchemical mechanisms. He explained how djed could be accelerated and passed though the doorways that were the d-wire entangled rings. He went into detail about djed splitting and fragmentation and how those fragments could be carried in the djed stream, all whilst the two students listened intently. Raeyn of course had heard it all before but for the purpose of the newcomer he didn't mind brushing up on old knowledge that had long since became coded into the muscles of his fingers.

Finally, the Eth gave Raeyn the nod to begin. Gladly did he begin indeed as his fingers settled on the keystone. Scraping his thumb against the glyphed rock he shed some blood from a fresh cut and closed his eyes, becoming so very aware of the world around him.
Last edited by Raeyn on June 10th, 2018, 4:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Study and practice

Postby Raeyn on June 9th, 2018, 8:52 am

Moments passed as Raeyn cleared his mind. Every thought was ignored and allowed to simply drift by as his focus settled on the meridian keystone and the keystone alone. Deep breaths escaped his lips and his chest inflated and deflated rhythmically. Each breath slowed down his heart rate. He felt his muscles loosen up and his mind become grounded in the task ahead.

He took his time. At first he willed the djed of the ring into a very slow, shallow current until he became comfortable with it. The whole time the professor explained to Fenir what it was that the Inarta alchemist was doing. But at this point Raeyn was no longer listening to the words. His mind ran on the adrenaline of the reaction, slowly beginning to quicken the djed current that was now liberally running though the ring.

He felt the ethereal magic, the backbone, run though each of the doorways where it accelerated even more. Pieces of djed from his blood and water would break away and join the flow. With each passing moment the current became faster and faster, controlled by the alchemist, confined to the ring albeit at a great acceleration and though gritted teeth for controlling the magic of the world was not an easy feat, not even for a competent, headstrong alchemist.

Even though this transmutation was certainly not a very complex one, Raeyn did his best not to treat it as such. He focused on the flow of the djed just as hard as he would if it was the last transmutation he'd ever practice. Besides, the simplicity of the materials was not what posed the challenge for the size of the doorways and the ring, albeit well within his skill set, still took some work to accelerate the djed through.
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Study and practice

Postby Raeyn on June 9th, 2018, 9:09 am

The djed current became faster and faster as time passed. Flares that could be compared to lightning, sparked from the ring in all directions as Raeyn did his best to contain them. Just a little more effort and it it would all be over. A thin glisten of sweat appeared on his forehead, beneath the mask of the protective suit he could rest assured that neither of the mages that observed his transmutation could see it.

In his practice Raeyn enjoyed keeping a certain air of mystery. He kept his composure and maintained a feeling of perfectionism as if it all came so easy to him when in reality it was anything but. He never admitted struggles to anyone but Orath. As far as Fenir was concerned though, and perhaps much to his undoing, Raeyn did his best to make alchemy look like a walk in the park instead of the truly formidable and dangerous practice that it was.

The moment the djed reached it's final, desired velocity, Raeyn's hand recoiled, releasing it all into the centre of the ring. Everything that proceeded next happened really quite fast indeed. Oreth rushed to his side and with a pair of metal tongues he grabbed the ingot, plunging it into the closest vat of water where a loud whistle of dissipating temperature could be heard. Disoriented momentarily, for he had been ripped out of his meditative state quite brutally, Raeyn looked to his professor and blinked for a few moments. A question in his eyes that needed no verbalising for both men thought of it simultaneously.

The windows misted up as white fog rose from the vat. The singe of evaporating water whistled away to nothing and soon enough the boil calmed. Once again, using the tongues, Orath lifted the ingot from the vat, now cool and brilliantly red. A wide smile appeared on his face. "Left is positive, right is negative. Good job Raeyn."
Last edited by Raeyn on June 10th, 2018, 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Study and practice

Postby Raeyn on June 10th, 2018, 2:52 pm

"Alright gentlemen. This is where the real work begins. I've taken on a simple order so shall we start clearing and re-loading the ring?" asked Orath as the men got to work once more. They cleared the dust and residue of old materials, wiped every horizontal doorway down carefully and made sure not a speck was left where it shouldn't be. The vat was also refilled. As they worked Orath noticed that Raeyn was doing pretty much everything with one hand, keeping the other beneath his cloak so that one of the sleeves of the protective suit he wore on top just dangled unceremoniously. A closer peek showed a sling wrapped around his neck.

"What have you done to yourself Raeyn?" he asked as they worked.

"Whatever do you mean." shrugged the Inarta alchemist, feigning ignorance but of course he knew exactly what the question referred to. His shoulders shrugged, keeping his eyes on the task at hand: one hand. For the other was very much out of commission.

"No sense trying to hide it."

"I fell off a tree"

Orath burst out in laughter at the notion. Of course he had never accompanied the Inarta on a hunt and somehow he struggled to imagine Raeyn frolicking though the woods. "Come on. What actually happened?"

"I fell of a tree.... why are you laughing. That is what happened."

"Sure, sure. I believe you." replied Orath giggling, not believing the story for a second. It was mighty amusing however to watch Raeyn do everything one handed.

Once everything was cleared up, the men began to load the ring once more. In the centre a container of liquid sand was placed that, as Orath explained, would be used to make glass. To the left of the keystones, in the first slot they loaded a pure iron ingot to harness the strength of the metal. In the second slot, a small amount of ultramarine blue watercolour paint was added. Refined pigments, suspended in water solution as it was so much easier to activate it that way. Fenir stirred up the paint to ensure it was still smooth and the distribution of pigments was even.

Once the faunt slots were loaded, came the time to load the filter slots. In the first doorways some thick deer bone was placed. As the meting point of bone was incredibly high, higher even than that of iron, it would be used to filter out the high melting point property from the final product. It would certainly make the job of folks at the glassworks much much easier.
Last edited by Raeyn on June 10th, 2018, 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Study and practice

Postby Raeyn on June 10th, 2018, 3:30 pm

The ring was complete and once more it came time to activate it. It was up to Raeyn to do so, as he placed his palm against the keystone and fell into a state of deep concentration. It took time, it was not easy but with each breath he would feel himself relax and plunge deeper into a state of meditation. Only when his mind was complete rid of all distractions did he begin to accelerate the flow of djed though the ring.

By his side Fenir was instructed to help. It wasn't the man's first time operating an alchemist ring but he was far from being as used to it as Raeyn. Together the men, alchemist and apprentice, focused on the djed flow, contained it within the ring and accelerated it to activate the doorways. Around them the flares of stray djed sparked.

"Are you ready?" asked Raeyn quietly, feeling the djed reach it's maximum velocity. They likely couldn't control it for much longer at this rate. It was time to end the transmutation.

"I think so." replied Fenir, a little more certainty in his voice than usual.

"... three, two, one..." the Inarta alchemist counted down before pulling his hand back abruptly in unison with Fenir. All the flowing djed they had directed towards the centre and it slammed into the liquid sand, transmuting it in an instant.

Like a well oiled machine, the alchemists worked together, knowing exactly what to do at what time. It was Orath's turn. He quenched the transmuted material inside the ring, just as he did before, once again sending gusts of steam into the air as temperature equalised.

Beyond the skyglass windows, the sun started setting. Raeyn hadn't even noticed how much time passed whilst the men were working. He'd return home that day leaving the transmuted item in the safety of the laboratory for his tutor to take good care of. He felt accomplished however. Few things other than alchemy left him with such a sense of exhilaration.
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Raeyn
...and the Wind Chicken
 
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Study and practice

Postby Luminescence on June 11th, 2018, 4:27 pm

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✧・゚: *✧・゚:* *:・゚✧*:・゚✧
YOUR GRADES HAVE BEEN GIFTED
ENJOY!
✧・゚: *✧・゚:* *:・゚✧*:・゚✧

Raeyn

Skills
✦Observation +4
✦Socialization +2
✦Alchemy +5
✦Teaching +1
✦Meditation +2
✦Endurance +1
✦Cleaning +1


Lores
✦Raeyn: Dreams of owning his own alchemy lab
✦Location: Twilight Tower
✦Orath: Alchemy professor at the Twilight Tower
✦Alchemy: A practical magic
✦Alchemy: Loading an alchemical ring
✦Alchemy: Positive and negative sides to a ring
✦Alchemy: Test the ring with worthless material first
✦Alchemy: Preparation takes a long time
✦Raeyn: Believes the end justifies the means
✦Alchemy: Even small reactions can be dangerous
✦Raeyn: Hungry for knowledge and power
✦Alchemy: Faunts transfer desirable properties
✦Alchemy: Filters remove undesirable properties
✦Lore of the basic principles of alchemy
✦Alchemy: Charging an alchemical ring
✦Raeyn: Doesn't admit his struggles
✦Raeyn: Finds alchemy exhilarating


Other
✦We discussed this in chat ;)


Notes
This was a fun read! I've had yet to see anyone use alchemy in thread, so it was neat to see it played out.


As always, please don't forget to edit or delete your grading request in the queue! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grades, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM; I'll do what I can to fix whatever the issue may be!


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