Solo The Gift of Water

Iolara comes ashore to hone her magical abilities

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Syka is a new settlement of primarily humans on the east coast of Falyndar opposite of Riverfall on The Suvan Sea. [Syka Codex]

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The Gift of Water

Postby Iolara Lyada on July 1st, 2018, 12:46 am


15th of Summer, 518; 9th Bell

As Syna’s light shone down onto the azure waves of the Suvan sea, the coral reef near Syka’s shores was as bustling as ever with life. Fish fed on imperceptible organisms in large, colorful schools while packs of ravenous sharks circled the outskirts, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Between the rocky outcrops of coral, anemones waved their colorful tentacles in the soft breeze of the ocean’s current while octopi prowled along the sea bed in search of unwary, lesser mollusks. All in all, the reef was ticking along like a well-oiled machine, a fact that the young Charoda witch Iolara was pleased to take note of as she swam among the various disparate denizens of her small domain. Several days had now passed since she had first introduced herself to Randal Zor, one of the leaders of Syka. Iolara had promised him she would be useful, and thus far the settlement seemed appreciative of her ability to dive deeper than most in order to retrieve precious mother-of-pearl mollusk shells.

However, the young Charoda strove to always remember that her first duty was to be of use to Caiyha in maintaining the balance of nature wherever her goddess led her. To that end, Iolara knew that the marked of Caiyha were called to develop and sharpen a wide range of skills. Even, and perhaps especially, those crafts involving the use of djed as magic. For Iolara, that particular skill had come to her in the form of Reimancy: the ability to exude her own djed as a magical substance, to then be transmuted into an element of her choosing, though for now the Charoda was limited to the element most intimately familiar to her lifestyle. While reimancy was certainly useable within the ocean waters, Iolara had found it difficult to control her res once she began transmuting it with so much ‘extra’ element present. So today, she resolved to do her practicing on the beach during the low tide.

Making her way out of the surf into the cool, almost muddy sand below the tideline, Iolara took a seat, crossing her legs one over the other. Garbed in her usual seaweed-woven wrap and skirt, she still left much of her aquamarine flesh exposed to the baking heat of the day. All the more reason to remain near the surf, the young Charoda thought. The occasional wave still reached far enough up the shore to tickle her webbed toes as she turned her unblinking gaze out towards the horizon, where the deep blue of Laviku’s domain met the field in which Syna and Leth played their eternal chase. She maintained a soft focus, breathing deep; first in through the narrow slits of her nostrils, then exhaling the breath across her rows of serrated teeth. Repeating this process until her tentacles lay slack and calm upon her shoulders, Iolara turned her focus inward, to the djed that both filled her and identified her as uniquely Iolara Lyada.

The first step was the most important, as in so many things. While a Reimancer had many ways of extruding their djed, Io’s desire was to remain as precise and focused as she could. Extending each arm, Iolara willed her djed to flow down towards her hands. Then she pushed, slowly forcing the djed out from her palms in the form of a blue-silver mist. Immediately she felt the desire to push out more, and more still; the ecstasy of reimancy was an ever-present danger. Focus, only use as much as needed, came the chiding voice of her human mentor, the woman who had initiated Iolara into the art roughly five years ago. As the res accumulated above Iolara’s palms, she mentally shaped it into a sphere, roughly the size of her own head. Satisfied with its size and form, Iolara let out a barely audible sigh as she cut off the flow of new res. The first step was accomplished.

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The Gift of Water

Postby Iolara Lyada on July 1st, 2018, 12:48 am


Now that her res had taken the desired shape, floating just above her palms like Leth in miniature, Iolara began to shift her focus. Working first on the inner layers, she willed her extruded res to transmute into her element of choice: water. As she concentrated, the res began to liquefy, turning from a pale silver-blue to the much deeper azure of the Suvan. First the center, then working outward with determined focus, until only a shell of res remained around the water ball, giving it a shimmering, translucent effect akin to looking into the nearby tropical waters from above.

Now to practice a little control, the young witch thought. Focusing on the res that remained, Iolara gestured her hands to aid her willpower, alternating swaying them left and right like the tentacles of the anemones that lounged in the breeze of the currents. As she moved her hands to mimic the will of her mind, the res-she’ll obeyed, bouncing first to the left, then to the right, and back again. Here, this close to her body, even Iolara’s meager skill with magic rendered her control absolute. But her goal today was to push the boundaries of that control, and so she introduced a new movement with her hands as she visualized the ball water moving away from her.

Her webbed hands now moving in slow, circular motions away from her body, along with the force of her mind, moved the ball of water surrounded by her res to move away from her in a sinuous left-right motion. As the magical ball floated away, Iolara could feel her control diminishing. The sinuous swaying to either side grew narrower and narrower, the forward movement slowing continually until the whole construction came to a halt about two arm-lengths away from where she sat. By now it was becoming a struggle to keep her focus; as underwater creatures, Charodae did not sweat, but Iolara was keenly aware of Syna’s heat bearing down on her.

Gritting her teeth, Io willed the ball to return to her, hands and arms now circling around one another. The ball of res twitched once, twice with halting steps back towards its creator. Then, as sudden as a shark striking its prey, Iolara’s hold on the res was lost. The silver-blue mist around the transmuted water collapsed, spilling the element contained into the sea with an audible splash! Iolara frowned, her tentacles making jerky, twitching movements of consternation along her shoulders. Almost had it, she thought to herself in an admonishing tone, I have to keep my focus strong!

Shaking her head, Iolara tried to regain her soft focus on the horizon, willing her breath to slow down into the tried and true rhythm from before. Inhale, through her narrow nostrils. Hold, to a count of five. Exhale, across her rows of serrated teeth. Iolara repeated this pattern several times in an attempt to find her calm center from which she could start again. But her thoughts kept returning to that wobble, the momentary loss of focus that had broken her spell. Her mind refused to be still, and so her breathing exercises were for naught. Io’s next exhalation came as a frustrated mix between groaning and sighing. Clearly it’s time for a break the young Charoda thought as she gathered herself up from the sandy beach, striding into the tidal surf to cool her body and mind before she tried again.

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The Gift of Water

Postby Iolara Lyada on July 1st, 2018, 12:51 am


Iolara took her time refreshing herself within the tropical Suvan waters of Syka. Aquatic by nature, the sea witch had always found immersing herself into her natural environment to be soothing, and this day was no exception. While Syna shone bright overhead, the water currents among the Syka reef whirled and swirled around the rocky coral outcrops. For the time being, Iolara allowed herself to be carried along on this undercurrents, devoting energy to movement only to prevent being dashed against this coral or that one. The eternal flow of water provided an apt metaphor for her thoughts, or rather, their ideal state when channeling her djed into words of magic. Smooth and flowing, that was the trick, Iolara realized as the currents carried her lithe form along.

While she had been living with the gift of reimancy for nearly six years, Iolara relished the chance to practice her skills. During her travels, the young Charoda had been a dynamo of motion, never remaining in one place for very long. Always itching to wander further beyond the next horizon. But here in Syka, in the rainbow of life beneath the sea, she felt peace. Tranquility. Passing through the sea grass meadow on her way back to the coral shelf that served as her temporary home, Iolara snatched a quick snack to quiet her rumbling stomach. As she knelt in the sand, she adopted a posture of prayerful submissions arms raised with palms facing upward while she bowed her head, tentacles streaming behind her in the faint current sweeping in from the reef.

Thanks be to Caiyha, Lady of the Wilds, Iolara began, a small humming tune beginning in her throat as she prayed mentally. I thank you, Lady Caiyha, for all your gifts and guidance. I pray that you will not remove these blessings of community from me, but ask that you shape me to your will. Guide me, Great Mistress, that I might be a faithful steward of your creation! Iolara remained there, kneeling beneath the coral shelf, for several chimes more before making her way back towards the shore. She felt refreshed, mentally, spiritually, and physically as she emerged once more from the surf. Any sign of her earlier seated practice had been scoured away by the relentless motion of the waves.

That impermanence in the face of Nature’s forces brought a reverent smile to Io’s features as she resumed her cross-legged posture. The tide was coming back in, and wave remnants regularly reached her position, lapping at her legs as they washed over her. Iolara trained her pale eyes intoa soft focus on the horizon, mentally tuning out all sounds but the constant, gentle roar of the waves. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. Repeat. As her breath lengthened, the young Charoda felt a sense of peace wash over her, not unlike the physical waves plucking at her skirt.

As that calm spread down to her toes and out to her fingertips, Iolara’s tentacles lay dormant and content once more along her shoulders. She allowed her breathing to return to normal once more as her mental focus turned inward. Once more she focused on the djed within her, willing it to ride on her breath rather than concentrate in her palms. As Iolara breathed, each exhalation brought with it more wispy strands of silver-blue res. Always there was the temptation of expending more than was strictly necessary. Iolara was no trained mage, and she was ashamed to admit that she had fallen somewhat out of practice since her days on that first island of outcasts six years ago. Still, she was determined to keep her focus, refusing to be distracted by either the pleasure of working magic, or the pain of reminiscence. After a few chimes’ worth of breathing, she once more had a useable sphere of res floating before her very eyes. Nothing like a little exercise to whip myself back into shape, she allowed the happy thought to come and then go, like a cloud crossing the sky, as she began to concentrate once more on transmutation.

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The Gift of Water

Postby Iolara Lyada on July 1st, 2018, 12:52 am


Wearing a soft smile, lips parted just enough to display her multiple rows of teeth, Iolara took a moment just to appreciate the beauty of Reimancy. Her thoughts and willpower, fused with her very essence in order to assume tangible, elemental force. Truly it was a wondrous thing to behold, the faint, near-translucent sphere of res floating before her. Her thoughts focused again on change, though this time she intended to change the shape rather than composition. Reaching her hands up with the ginger care one my reserve for an infant, Iolara began to work with her mind and body, molding and shaping the ball of res into a thick disc, as wide across as her two splayed hands, and perhaps half as thick. Moving her hands in smooth, circular motions in a mimicry of the ocean currents, Iolara visualized the disc spinning in place. And, much to her delight, spin the disc of res did!

That momentary flash of delight pierced the young witch’s focus like a sharp stitching needle, and almost at once the disc of res began to collapse, unraveling into wisps of silver-blue that floated away in the ocean breeze. With a sigh, Iolara felt her delight turn to disappointment. She had let her focus slip once again. Silly girl,came the sneering self-admonition. Her tentacles dropping down her back, Iolara tried to push back the sudden feeling of exhaustion, as if she’d been working with coral for a full day without rest. Despite her refreshing prayer and quick snack, she knew she was already approaching her limits. But I will not be deterred! The self-pity quickly changed course to determination as Iolara put the feeling to tiredness to the back of her mind.

When young Charodae slipped and fell from the seahorse, did they give up and cry, ‘woe is me!’ the sea witch thought as she resumed her soft focus on the thin blue line of firmament upon the horizon, that illusory divide between sea below and sky above. No! We got up and tried again, and again. Failure will not get the best of me this day! Once more, Iolara worked to calm herself with long, deep breaths. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. Holding her palms upward, elbows resting atop her knees, the young Charoda willed her djed to exude from her hands, slowly spinning the silver-blue substance into a disc much like the first. Once the disc had formed, Iolara willed it to spin, and this time allowed the delight in her success to simply pass through her mind like any other cloud across the sky. The disc held its spinning course this time, as Iolara willed it over the rising surf.

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The Gift of Water

Postby Iolara Lyada on July 1st, 2018, 12:54 am


Gazing at the floating disc of rotating res, it was difficult for Iolara to suppress her satisfaction. Though it seemed only a bell, perhaps two, had passed since she began her morning, already the young girl felt quite productive. But I have one more trick I want to try, she thought with a grin. Focusing on the element of water, Iolara transformed the center portion of the disc into the azure substance of which she was was natural denizen. Once that was done, Iolara allowed all but the bottom surface of the disc to transmute, leaving a swirling mass of water suspended by her res. As she concentrated on that res, Iolara imagined a pull between the disc surface and that of the sea, perhaps a foot or so below the disc. The water directly below the disc began to bulge upward, slow but steady, twisting to match the swirling motion of her extruded res.

However, despite her continued will, fatigue began to gnaw once more st the edges of her concentration. Even as the small water funnel began to form, her disc of res disintegrated once more, spilling the water atop it into the sea while the infantile funnel collapsed and merged into the endless sea. Iolara felt taxed and exhausted, to the point that her brain felt truly sore, though the rest of her body was reporting just fine. She had pushed herself to her limit, and just beyond. Breathing heavier than normal, the sea witch gathered herself up off the sandy ground, which was quickly being swallowed by the ever-ravenous rising tide.

It will be good to stop and get some rest, Iolara thought as she descended once more into the coastal waters.

But why stop? came a second thought, a whispering thought in a voice not her own. Surely you can do more. You can do anything!

Wh-who is there? the young girl thought in response. Have I truly lost my mind already?

No, no, came the whispers again, this time accompanied by a sudden rush of euphoria. But why should you have limits? One more try, what could be the harm?

Iolara hesitated, nearly overwhelmed with the desire to do just that: pour more of her djed out of her body and work wonders with it. And yet…. No. She could not. Iolara’s mentor had warned her of the consequences of pushing herself too far too fast. Iolara shook her head, hoping to clear her thoughts of the deceitful whispers as she sunk below the waves. Lady Caiyha, protect me! came a final prayer as she floated, exhausted, back to her coral shelf to come to rest upon the sandy bottom. As suddenly as they had come, the whispering in her mind ceased, and troubled her no more. For now.

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The Gift of Water

Postby Okara on July 10th, 2018, 2:42 am

Grades and Awards


Iolara Lyada

Experience
Observation 5
Meditation 4
Reimancy 5

Lores
Reimancy: Only Use as Much Res as You Need
Reimancy: Creating a Ball of Liquid Water
Reimancy: Manipulating the Movement of a Res Creation
Meditation: Quieting the Mind
Reimancy: Manipulating a Ball of Res into a Disc
Experiencing Mild Overgiving and Sweet Whispers

Misc Rewards or Injuries
( - ) Effects of overgiving: sweet whispers for several hours

Notes
I enjoyed your thread! It was fun to see Iolara experiment with her djed. If there were any other specific lores related to reimancy that you were hoping for, please send me a PM. Please let me know if you have any other questions or issues.



Please edit your post in your grade request to reflect that it has been graded. PM me with any questions.
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