So Sayeth the Queen

[Savis Maren]

68th of Winter, 518

And so it begins, Savis Maren considered as she stepped out from the 'drawbridge' door of her miniature castle. The undead carried herself with a regal air, her heeled boots clicking until stone gave way to firm earth. The grass caught against her linens, the whiskers carried along until she passed them by fully. The Nuit approached the rear door, but before she could make contact with the handle, it flew open of its own accord. A soft chuckle escaped the undead's lips, and she carried herself into the home.

The undead's pace was with purpose, her step as quick as her sluggish body could carry her. She moved to the ghost nail embedded door, and this door, she needed to open by hand. Savis Maren was curious to see the way the Manor worked, choosing how and when to open doors as she made her climb down the staircase and into the basement sanctum she'd make her own personal contribution. Though she'd made this addition far earlier in the season, with her involvement in a steady work-life at Tain's Studio, her indulgences into Animation were limited. She simply delved into other matters, she'd defended over and over to herself, assuring herself that the slow progress on the animated skeleton was due to wanting to make it just right and not due to pure neglect of her native magical discipline.

Things have changed. You've changed. Obligations and a split focus are only natural, she reasoned, but the thoughts whirred in her brain regardless as she descended to the solid earth of the basement and began the task at hand. The Nuit knew the sun would rise soon, but she had more than enough time before her scheduled delivery and the arrival of her very important guest to complete the task ahead of her. Savis Maren allowed a shiver of anticipation to course through her, and she allowed the power of her soul to rise, elation joining that shiver and emboldening it across the whole of her form. She swept djed in a thin layer on each arm.

She lifted with the power of the soul, pulling free her astral limbs, which remained limp on either side of her. Then, she lashed forth. The satchel with her personal equipment was on the wall, and she undid the clasp that held the satchel shut. From it she produced both her paints and her notebook, bound but untitled. She placed the notebook on a nearby stool, then dragged the stool across the room using both astral arms to carry it to its destination.

"Perfect," she said aloud, a casual flick of her astral hand enough to open it up before she reached again. Next, she retrieved her sleek black brush and her paints, pulling everything she required from the satchel before doing its clasp over again. The task ahead of her was clear, and Savis Maren looked to the floor, next. She pulled her astral limbs back into her corporeal form, performing a re-attachment as she carefully considered the matter at hand.

[Savis Maren]

"I've been preparing for this... For weeks and weeks. Tain and Madeira be damned, I've been trying to work on that damn skeleton. But, it's not time yet. I need the right Sources, and fortunately, Tain volunteered his time for this endeavor, making it effortless to begin." Anticipation met nerves as the Nuit looked to the Animation Circle at her feet. She pulled again at the depths of her soul, djed sweeping her astral limbs from the physical. She lashed out with both hands, carrying the paint on one as she held her treasured brush in the other. "So, first," she began before the recollection surfaced, from the beginning of the season, when Savis Maren at last had her full measure of Madeira and the fear present within her.

This manor is self-aware. It can learn magic, and though I can perform magic while I'm here, thinking out loud is not something I can do freely. I'll create a diversion, voice superficial thoughts and pass the time while I form my plans fully. Then, I'll document my ideas into the notebook and go over them later, she plotted. The excitement was manifesting within the Nuit. No longer did she need to limit her ambitions, fearing that the implementation might suffer. Savis Maren was an Animator, and this day, she'd make it clear to herself just how true the statement was.

First, the focus. Larger than any other I've created, I'll imbue a compounded Glyph to be the foci. Compounding Djed with the embodiment of what the focus is attracting, I'll use Pond as the suffix for the Source.

Djed-Pondat, the glyph splashed as paint onto the cold stone, directly in the center of the eternal Animation Circle she'd gifted to the basement. Savis Maren then began the formation of a barrier. While the circles themselves were several feet across, Savis Maren intended for Tain to take a seat. She began her chain, looping Daeq over and over in a circle that cut a full foot from the diameter of the Animation Circles. Perhaps she was being too cruel to the sculptor, not providing him ample space, but she needed to minimize the perimeter.

Narrowing the surface the ambient djed is focused into will make the effort all the richer for its actualization, she reflected. Savis Maren looped Daeq forty times before shifting, her paintbrush going to the right. Astral limbs were far more convenient for the purpose of applying paint to surfaces, and she carefully continued the barrier chain before it made contact with the circle of the focus. Savis Maren continued anew from the initial chain, three inches from the place she'd first turned her brush. She repeated the process, forming six unique Daeq barriers.

Together, these barriers form a compounded Path, restricting the flow of djed to certain parts of the focus with the intention of managing every bit of the flow of power as it enters... And as it exits with key knowledge. The adjustments to the Source are completed. Now, to move on to the Destination.

[Savis Maren]

While the Destination was several feet away, the Nuit did not draw closer. The idea of doing so was ludicrous to the undead as she raised her astral hands and pushed one forward. The brush darted towards the Destination, while the other astral hand moved to the other side of the room. Savis filled a pewter cup with water, haphazardly operating the pump with the cup in the sink underneath. Then, she lifted it, her split focus making her spill more and more water along the floor. By the time it reached the circle, it was more than half empty, but there was enough to serve her ends. Savis retracted her limb, bringing it back towards her main body until it passed the tube of paint. She poured paint into a small dish, then took it to the Destination. Once the Nuit was done with her spare hand, she brought it back to her main body, performing a re-attachment and focusing the entirety of her attention on the task at hand.

Where Djed-Pondat was the combination of glyphs that worked for the Source, the Destination needs another piece. The focus here does not need djed in it. We're not summoning ambient djed to the circle, but calling purposed knowledge carried by djed to the Destination. Djuun-Pondat, she decreed before dipping her paintbrush into the paint beside it. The Nuit lifted her astral hand, then began the task at hand. She created the glyph, forming a narrow circle around it in the same measurements as the Source.

Djunn-Pondat, she thought again, as the paint began to dry and she shifted her focus to the barrier chain. Savis Maren carried her astral wrist through the [i[Daeq[/i] chain, looping the same six barriers that surrounded the focus. The technique was merely an expansion of her previous attempts, and she abandoned the convential formation of a path with what she suspected would work significantly better to the same purpose.

As one's understanding evolves, the craft is forever changing. I'll remember this shape, the glyphs used to form it... And if they work and exceed my expectations, I'll even use them after this. I prefer to vary my styles to the situation, but if the encompassing glyphs work best, than it's preferable to not 'fix what isn't broken', she reasoned. World magic, she found, was an eternal debate. How could one make something better than before? How could small changes benefit the whole? Savis Maren never found this with personal magic, where subtle differences in technique formed by instinctive betterment seemed to dominate all of the disciplines.

Instinct versus proven research. Separate, they are potent. Together? The wise will always use both...

Savis Maren completed the last of her Daeq chain and found that when she raised her astral hand to place the brush into the cup of water, that her grip loosened. The Nuit had been at it for the better part of twenty chimes, and her fatigue got the best of her. She willed her astral limb back to the main body, and the fatigue set into being in full. A chuckle escaped the nuit's lips as she found her capacities well to her liking. The undead allowed the pride to fuel her delve into meditation. She fell to the ground slowly, crossing her legs after her rump connected with the earth. She placed each of her hands on a knee and began to let her ideas, her plans, and her thoughts slip by the wayside. She abandoned reasonable understanding, reflection, and even the notion of self, steeping into the void of nothingness as she fully entrenched herself into unfocused focus.

Thirty bells of this passed, and the Nuit rose from her seat. She felt lighter for the indulgence and took her notebook before she climbed up the stairs in eager anticipation. As she waited for the courier and the sculptor to arrive, Savis Maren began to document her experiences with the glyphs she'd created. With her charcoal pencil, she wrote,

Together, six barriers assembled into a circle form a compounded Path, restricting the flow of djed to certain parts of the focus with the intention of managing every bit of the flow of power as it enters and as it exits with key knowledge. The foci in use for this combination of barriers should be irrelevant.

The uses of foci. Compound words can be used to specify the purpose of a focus, and in doing so they'll serve as a better filter with which to perform the craft to come.

With that, the Nuit heard a knock, and she opened the door to receive her delivery.