Solo The Second Wind

[Kamilla]

52nd of Summer, 519AV

Scuttling.《Kamilla could hear it all around her. Dozens of tiny little nails scratching at her furniture or along the stone floors. They were in the walls too, scratching and sniffing away, looking for their next meal. Always scuttling and nibbling and squeaking, regardless of the time of day. She'd always thought that animals were either nocturnal or… not, but it seemed the merciless vermin refused to give her a moment's relief in her own home. She could hear them everywhere and even when she'd grown too exhausted and fell asleep, they would surround her in her dreams. They were unrelenting in their persistence and she couldn't possibly have taken much more of them."

The rodents had suddenly appeared just over a week earlier and Kamilla had yet to find their entrance point in order to close it up. But surprisingly and unsurprisingly, Yennefer was no help. Kamilla had witnessed a rodent dart across her home in clear view of the lazy yowlwing who didn't even flinch in reaction. This being the same feline that had made a mad dart for something she saw running off into the deadly jungle… twice. Sometimes she felt as if Yen and Roo would function better if they swapped bodies. The lethargic yowlwing could spend all day soaking up sun as a plant while Roo could expend it's copious amounts of energy on something other than talking her ear off.

It wasn't all bad though. Thankfully a vermin trap had been one of the magical items herself and Jehu had salvaged from their ordeal in the Sunken Ruins. A simple wooden vermin trap that did such a good job at luring rodents that it was without a doubt magical. She'd checked. While the thought of multiple rodent deaths taking place in her home was not ideal, it was made worse by the lazy Yennefer's daily routine of yanking one of the corpses from the trap and presenting it to Kamilla as a gift, as if she'd hunted the rodents herself. The cat's behaviour often baffled her.

While by now, after a few days, the trap had undeniably reduced the amount of rats scurrying around her home, Kamilla was beginning to feel as if it's talent for pest control was becoming a curse. For now, it seemed as if the rodents were simply coming because of the trap, as if they were called to it. Handfuls of rodents making a pilgrimage that ended in their deaths, as if it were one of the few religious structured in the many cities she'd lived in.

She'd never understood them. People that flocked to the temples of the gods, day in and out, without a single gnosis mark to show for it. She, on the other hand, was raised to rely on nothing but her own strength, no matter what form it took. A harsh but caring voice echoed through her mind, almost unfamiliar because of its rarity but instantly recognizable all the same. Her gran, the mage.

"Praying to the gods is fine, but don't rely on the power of something you can't control."

The words had seemed like nonsense when she'd first heard it as a kid, but the more she'd grown, the more grateful she was to have developed strength that was completely hers.

The memory was pleasant, passing by to greet before fading into the fog that lived just beyond the border of her thoughts. However, no amount of welcomed nostalgia could sweeten the bitter taste of the latest development in her vermin fiasco… the rodent corpses were attracting snakes!

619

[Kamilla]

Kamilla stood cross armed and squirming slightly at the sight of the scaled limbless corpse laying motionless on the stone floor of her storage room. It seemed the snake, having found its prey, had entered one of the traps holes with the intention of being able to reach the head of one of the trapped dead rodents, and gotten itself killed in the trap too. She was not happy. Having a rodent infestation was one thing, but snakes were an absolute no from her.

"What is the point of having a petching cat if it can't even scare away rodents. And a talking plant is no help as well. You two are more trouble than your worth!"

Kamilla knew that the problem was that the trap lured and killed them, but it didn't deter the rodents from coming. Her words were yelled over her shoulder from her position firmly in the doorway of the storage room. She heard an indignant 'hmph' from Roo but nothing more.

Why had she even adopted the useless creatures? They were becoming more of a burden than anything else. She needed something new, something useful, obedient and a solution to her rodent infestation. The wheels in her head were slowly turning as she very slowly and uneasily prodded the tail of the snake with the tip of her boot.

The reptile didn't move or respond in any way, so she tried again, this time with more gusto than anyone should ever use when handling a snake, dead OR alive. It was beginning to seem like Syka, for her, would just be recurring snake problems of varying sizes. Dhani, mechanical anacondas and now regular snakes. She'd swear she was cursed, if she wasn't skeptical of the very concept. She certainly hadn't been using or wearing anything that could have been a maledicted item.

One more prod with the toe of her boot… this time she completely shifted the reptilian corpse to the point where it's head slipped loose of the trap causing the Konti mage to recoil in fear and disgust. It did not move.

Now satisfied with the state of the serpentine visitor to her storage room, she plucked the magical vermin trap carefully from beside the snakes corpse and relocated it to her patio for the time being, another annoyed grumble about her good for nothing pets that couldn't scare off a rodent. "You know, a snake might be my least favourite creature, but I'm sure it could do a better job with these rodents dead than the two of you can alive."

She'd decided on a solution. She would use the snake's corpse to create an obedient and useful pet. A snake that hunted the rodents without end, until the rodent problem had decreased or vanished altogether. She turned on her heel to retrieve something before returning to the doorway of the room and refusing to venture any closer to the corpse. She would use the creatures body and animate it, she hoped it's body would suffice for a shell. As for the body, it was a shame she didn't have two.

Knowing Yennefer would make for a very ineffective source, Kamilla managed to trap a fairly sized spider in a glass pitcher and place it in the source location of the animation circle that had taken her only a chime to draw, the destination circle surrounding the unmoved snake corpse and the source in the main cavern of the cave, connected via a single line that connected both the circles and the rooms.

600

[Kamilla]

Sitting comfortably between the between the two linked circles, destination and source, Kamilla quickly glanced over the animation circles, running through a short but simple mental animation checklist that her gran had drilled into her. The new Konti recalled the stern tone that had remained ever present I'm her gran's voice and yet somehow managed to be even more stern when they were talking, or most often, whispering about magic. Their discretion was understandable of course, living in Sunberth, magic was a taboo of the highest order… something Kamilla learned the hardest way possible.

"Remember Kamilla. When it comes to 'embroidery'..." A codeword the duo had taken to using instead of the dreaded 'm' word, "There is NO room for mistakes. All it takes is one tiny slip and things can be catastrophic. I'm serious, Kamilla. You better be paying attention. An old colleague of mine lost an entire arm because he didn't remember to a golem something as simple as spacial awareness. Be meticulous with your 'embroidery' no matter what kind it is."

The old woman's voice came more easily to her than her mother's had only a day or two ago, but Kamilla could already feel the familiar sensation rising in her belly, this time stronger than it had been when thoughts of her mother had insisted on walking themselves through the forefront of her mind. The reason was simple… of all the people the young mage had known throughout her life, no one was more responsible for the woman she was now than her grandmother…

"Circe Gordon…" she began out loud, simultaneously pricking her finger and allowing a drop of her life's liquid to ignite and awaken the animation circle. She knew that Roo had heard her and was about to ask for further explanation.

"Two days ago I told you about my mother, Minerva, the woman responsible for my birth and skill as a seamstress… Now I'll tell you all about my grandmother, Circe, my mother's mother and the person responsible for the strong woman I am today." Kamilla certainly didn't think of herself as a weak woman, despite having required saving a few times since her arrival in Syka and less time elsewhere. Her grandmother had given her the gift of magic and along with it, the strength and self-confidence the mage was so proud of.

Energy whipped around the activated animation circles, like a vortex of wind that existed elsewhere. Around her, nothing moved, nor was there any sign that the circle was anything but a collection of strategically drawn chalk on a stone floor. But anyone or anything with died would be able to perceive the gust of energy that came off of the circle. It brushed up against her own inner well of power, her blood allowing her to form a mental link between the circle and herself.

Entering the mental workspace where she could see the circles and their contents laid out before her in her mind's eye, Kamilla found herself spruced at how easy that single task had become. Slowly and carefully, she coaxed a spark of life out of the trapped spider's form and planted it within the corpse of the snake. The core emotion she'd decided to focus on was… hunger simply because it seemed the most logical solution to her problem.

"I wonder, what would I have been without my grandmother… my magic…"

If there was one thing Kamilla knew for certain, it was that she wouldn't have been where she was now… In a comfortable home of her own creation, with two frustratingly useless pets that she was deeply attached to, on a tropical settlement where things were seldom normal.

630

[Kamilla]

"Okay… what was she like?"

Kamilla sighed from her spot on the floor, realising that she was about to delve into another set of painful memories from her past. She was already regretting the laDck of a soft cushion to make the animation process more comfortable for her in the long run.

"She was incredible, Roo. Powerful, confident and smart… she never compromised on what she wanted…" Of course it was all true, at least in her eyes. The thought of her mysterious mage grandmother who'd spent Kamilla's entire childhood watching over her, caused the knot in her stomach to tighten, spurred on by the realisation of how lucky she'd been to be related to someone so impressive.

"It sounds like you're just describing yourself…"

Kamilla froze, a look of complete bafflement on her face. Had Roo just complimented her? The thought of being likened to her grandmother in any way made thr sensation in her gut grow. "Thank you, Roo. That might have been the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"I was just saying, don't start leaking again…"

The Konti let out an amused laugh, wiping at her eyes just in case a stealthy tear was there waiting to pounce. "It's called 'crying' Roo, and I'll feed you to bugs if you ever tell anyone I did it." While her words may have sounded harsh, her tone was the complete opposite, filled with warmth and playfulness. "But yes, my gran was amazing and I hope to be as amazing as her one day."

She regretted never managing to squeeze the story of her grandmother's magical past out of the stubborn hag. Despite spending her entire childhood with the woman, Kamilla had only ever managed to coax out stories of her gran's actual and even those tales were very vague. She'd always wondered why her gran was so secretive about her past, but it was far too late to find out now.

After about a bell of being seated beside the animation circles and their contents, Kamilla having successfully the persona and implanted with knowledge and instincts from the spider, her backside could take no more.

Severing her link with the animation circle, Kamilla opened her lavender eyes, in search of the nearest soft seat and plonked herself down with a slice of pie ready to be devoured.

After a few chimes and a short rest, the pie had been reduced to crumbs and Kamilla found herself back at the animation circle, to continue the process. This time she would add the knowledge and directives, it would be difficult to teach a snake how to move using the knowledge of a spider, from eight legs to none, but she was confident in her ability to manipulate the information to work for her. Another lesson her grandmother had taught her.

"If you don't like the way something is going, use your own power to change it… and if you can't, that just means you don't have enough power yet."

Of course, such things were far easier said than done, but that wasn't the lesson, the lesson was that no matter the obstacle, it could always be overcome eventually. Something Kamilla would have liked to think she'd proven many times throughout her life, after all without the power passed on to her by her gran, she would probably have died three times over since arriving in Syka alone.

If her mother was her first wind, her gran was the second to push her along, even after her death, both of which she was very grateful for. Even without a full family, Kamilla had been given everything she needed by her two winds.

With the knowledge transmitted, including how to perceive the world through its eyes, Kamilla made quick work of creating the astral body and linking it to the physical one. Finally, came the directives, which she'd decided on before even starting the process. Hunt and eat any rodents that it moved. Stay far away from anything larger than a rodent. Obey the hand signals she'd taught it during the knowledge phase and most importantly, the kill switch, being yet another very large signal.

With that final step, the golem was complete and all that was left was to awaken it, which Kamilla did, effectively breathing life into her creation and getting to her feet to observe it's success.

"There… that should do your job for you, Yen…"

760

[Madeira Dusk]

Grades Awarded!

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Kamilla

Skills

• Socialization: 3xp
• Planning: 2xp
• Logic: 1xp
• Rhetoric: 1xp
• Animation: 3xp
• Teaching; 2xp

Lores

• The annoyance of a rodent infestation
• Grandmotherly wisdom: don't rely on the power of something you can't control
• Observation: poking dead things like a crazy person
• Circe Gordon: a big influence in Kamilla's life
• Animation: plans for an obedient pet

Awards & Retribution


Notes
Careful! Now that you're competent in Animation you're starting the edge the line where you need more detail in your writing to quality for XP!