[Infinity Manor]A Born Day Marked[Madeira]

by **Moritz Craven** on March 12th, 2021, 1:59 am

Morning 1 Spring 521

Before he was fully awake Moritz found himself in the state of being both partly awake and partly asleep. He did not quite want to rise, imaged mixing in his mind as the last vestiges of his dream slipped away... He was chasing something, or running... His hooves beating against the ground as he bounded... Jumped... Moved... Why was he moving? What was he after? A stirring...

Slowly he opened his eyes, peeking about. His hound Naymon lay beside him, appearing as asleep as Moritz had been a moment ago. The dog was lying with its belly up, one leg slowly kicking. With a smile Moritz reached out and rubbed at his exposed belly, the other sliding along her side. Feeling her thick fur upon his skin.

Carefully getting out of bed Moritz padded bare foot out of his room, making his morning ablutions before returning. As he was putting on his bottoms, still shirtless and unshod, Naymon stirred and rolled onto her bottom. Suddenly the hound was up and off, off the bed in a leap and letting out a small bark of excitement. Pressing against Moritz the boy finished putting on his pants and grabbed his shirt in one hand as he rubbed Naymons back with the other.

"Outside? Do you need to go outside?"

Naymon barked again and ran around a bit as Moritz headed out the door, quickly following after. Quckly the two were down the stairs and on the ground floor, Moritz pulling on his shirt once they were down on flat ground and heating to the door. As soon as the door was opened Naymon was out, running across the yard and sniffing at various things.

Moritz stood and watched by the door, a hand resting on the house as the young kelvic's mind passed to other things.

Today was new years day, the first of spring... Which also meant it was his birthday. He was two years old. Though, Moritz admitted, most considered him outwardly to appear much older. And he did have to admit that compared to other students he aged and grew much faster.

At two he appeared close in age to some of the older students, ones that were thirteen or fourteen years old. He was likely as tall as his mother already, and not done growing, if not a hair taller than the adult woman.

Spring meant the end of winter, which reminded him of numerous events from the season prior. His vision or prophecy, whatever one called it. His finding the falling skyglass. His meeting of the witch and subsequent gifting which still marked his eyes. His later meeting with the co-rulers of Lhavit about his vision among other topics.

Moritz was left with a decision, one he needed to make. A plan. A commitment. An action. If something was to be done action needed to be taken to find Morwen. And that meant going south, to the heat of the jungle. Something Naymon was not well prepared for. She was not a jungle hound, but one meant for winter and mountains. Plus there would be travel... He did not think it would be wise to bring her along if he went...

As Moritz was thinking on such things Naymon returned, barking and rubbing up against Moritz. With a somewhat sad expression Moritz pulled the dog in close and hugged her, the hound happily licking his face. She, among other things, would be left behind if he went off on such an endeavor...

"Come on Naymon, lets go find some food."

After a few moments more Moritz released the dog and headed inside, going to the kitchen were if he was not interrupted before he arrived he would search for something for himself and Naymon to eat.

WC: 629

by **Madeira Dusk** on March 13th, 2021, 2:22 am

Madeira had worked straight through the midnight rest, and dawn was rising gold and fresh over the mountains when the Spiritist had finally stepped through the Infinity Manor's gate.

"I'm home", she announced, stretching her unburdened arm over her head. Her old aches and pains had started up again since her visit to Baiya and the spa the season before, and her shoulder joint snapped like bent wood in its socket. In her other arm was a leather scabbard. The oily sheen of the virgin leather had none of the battle scars and wear-and-tear you typically see on such an item, and without it the thing looked strangely unfinished. Like it was lacking something important.

Happy new year, the house hummed back to her, filling her mind with feelings of welcome as it shut the gate behind her. Around the back of the house she could hear Big Red and his hens loudly greeting the sunrise. Maro and Moritz were probably up as well. Emma was nowhere in sight, but she could feel the girl moving at the edges of her perception, so she wasn't far.

As she started up the overgrown cobble path to the door, swinging the scabbard absently by the belt, she ruminated on the year that passed, marked by the arrival of her new ally, Alice, her new bewildering identity as a Wildling, and her engagement to the Dusk heir. And lastly, the realization that she would never be able to leave this place.

She had known this for a while, but the impending wedding had solidified that fact. Lhavit was her home now. It was a good home, a lovely home, and if she could just turn off that part of her soul that still longed for Alvadas, she could almost be happy here.

Want me to run a bath?, the house suggested. Somewhere in the depths of their connection she could feel the rumbling of pumps as water gushed from the bathroom pipes.

"Not yet", she answered aloud. "Where's Moritz?"

In the kitchen, retrieving food.

Madeira climbed the steps of the porch and palmed open one half of the double door. There was her son, right where Infinity said he would be, making himself a meal along with his dog. Gods, it felt like every time she turned around the boy was taller. He had yet to truly grow out of his adolescent lankiness, but puberty and training with the Shinya woman had begun to fill out his shoulders and arms.

"Happy birthday, Moritz", she announced, smiling. "Meet me on the porch, I need to talk to you."

With that she turned and left. Smoothing her skirt beneath her she sat on the porch steps, laying the scabbard beside her and turning her face to the rising sun. It had been a long time since she and Moritz had sat down and talked. They were both busy, and on two divergent paths that seemed to grow wider every season. She had a lot she had been intending to ask him, like why his irises had changed to the same, magical variety that she's seen on Zach, and why every time he came home she could see the subtle imprints of a ghostly touch on him.

by **Moritz Craven** on March 13th, 2021, 11:57 am

As Moritz began digging around in the kitchen Naymon waited patiently, sitting on the ground and looking up at Moritz while waiting for some food to come his way.

He found a sack with some carrots in it, considering eating one himself before pulling one out and offering it to Naymon. At seeing food offered Naymon rose, not quite jumping but excited and expectant.

"Sit Naymon, sit!"

After a moment the dog got the direction and sat, waiting expectantly until Moritz lowered the item into reach. The hound began gnawing on the vegetable as some would a bone, holding it in her mouth and wagging her tail as she looked up at Moritz.

As he was continuing to look around and found a sack full of apples the doors to the kitchen opened and his mother came in.

Not really talking or asking anything, wishing him a happy birthday and then ordering him to met her out front, the woman vanished almost as quickly she had arrived.

Still, she had recalled his birthday and wished him a good one. Admittedly, he reminded himself, an easier date to recall as it fell on a well known holiday of the new years day.

Grabbing an apple Moritz motioned for Naymon to follow. After he began moving the hound trailed after with carrot in teeth-still gnawing, though whether from his command or simply seeing him moving and following her master it was unclear. Moritz took a bite from the apple as he moved, chewing it carefully and swallowing before taking a second bite before he reached the front door. He did not quite inhale the apple, but he did eat at a considerable rate.

As he moved outside Moritz looked about, seeing the rising sun for a moment before turning to his mother. The woman, still young by human years but much older by Moritz count, was sitting on the steps of the porch and waiting. Inspecting the sun in turn.

As he looked down he noticed the scabbard beside her, wondering what it was for. A scabbard was a holder for a weapon, but he did not see the weapon in question. His mother also did not normally carry around such things, which left the young kelvic puzzled as to its purpose.

Sitting beside her on the porch, Naymon moving to rest on the ground in front of them while gnawing on her carrot, Moritz met his mothers eyes or tried to if he turned to meet his gaze.

"What did you want to talk about? And what is the.... Leather holder for?"

Moritz knew what the item was for, but at the moment he could not recall the correct word for scabbard. For some odd reason, to the kelvic's mind, a number of other words were popping into his head and contesting for space. When none seemed fitting he simply decided to give a descriptive term for the item rather than choose one. Instead he continued to mull over the word choice in his mind, while waiting to hear what his mother had to say.

Though it was too distant for Moritz to notice a ghost was slowly approaching the residence, still far enough away that it could not be seen visibly. Certainly not during the day with the sun coming up and shedding its light, not by eyes alone. But a more skilled Spiritist would perhaps, if paying attention to such things, notice its slow approach.

WC: 576

by **Madeira Dusk** on March 13th, 2021, 9:56 pm

As she waited for her son, Madeira removed her gloves and rolled back her sleeves, exposing her ruined extremities to as much sunlight as possible. She hadn't eaten yet, but just exposing herself to the daylight was sometimes all she needed. The thought that she might now be part plant had indeed crossed her mind more and more as of late. The thought was a distinctly uncomfortable one.

She looked around as Moritz settled in beside her, munching on an apple.

"You mean scabbard", she corrected, picking it up and depositing the thing on his lap. "I think by now you're old enough and careful enough not to chop off your fingers", she grinned crookedly. "It's a gift. Happy birthday."

Inside were two identical swords, almost supernaturally light despite their size, in the bizarre tiger-hook shape. The cold iron looked dark and cold even in the golden light of dawn. The things were unadorned, straightforward, and brutal in its practicality, but for an inscription on the side of each blade.

"Roza isikai. I'm told it means faith in death", she explained, tracing the ancient-tongue inscription on the right blade. "And Pond abase. Life in balance", she drew her finger up the other blade. "Both had been worked through with my soulmist. With that and the cold iron, these will last forever as spiritual and corporeal weapons. I hope you like them. The Izurian woman from Touch of Fire almost had a stroke listening to me trying to describe these", she laughed.

At the edges of her perception she felt a ghostly presence drift onto the property. Madeira squinted towards the gate, but couldn't see the spirit. It definitely wasn't one of hers, but that wasn't too unusual. Infinity itself seemed to attract the creatures. She turned back to her son.

"Do you remember Zach Grasswind?", she ruminated. "Right before he disappeared he came to me with a bit of a conundrum. He ran into some trouble in the woods. Some very serious trouble. But was saved by this little fox. When it was all over this fox gave him this strange ability that he didn't understand. Together we worked out that he had been given this magic we'd never heard of before, with the ability to see and follow anything the exuded djed." She looked deep into his Moritz's eyes, following the gold starbursts around his horizontal pupils curiously. "Funny thing is, on the onset of these powers, his eyes changed colours, just like yours. Why don't you tell me what happened, and how you managed to get those eyes too."

OOC :

by **Moritz Craven** on March 14th, 2021, 2:13 am

Moritz frowned slightly as he concentrated his mind, rummaging through words and meanings. At times he found he understood a concept, but could not quite find the right word to explain it to another. Likewise he sometimes knew a word, but could not quite work out how to say it. Like, he felt, hearing a song in ones head but not being able to get the sound out at the right... Pitch? Note? At that point his mind lost track of the analogy, seeing as he did not fully understand music well enough to make it clear even in his own head. But he knew what he meant, even if he could not quite explain it in proper words.

Taking another bite of the apple Moritz chewed as he listened and pondered. Scabbard. As his mother said the word several burst out of him in a rush, a blurt of common slipping forth.

"Weapon holder, scabbard, sheath, slot, container, placement... Receptacle."

Blinking Moritz finished chewing and took another bite while looking down at the scabbard his mother had set on him, not really eating or chewing overly fast but managing to devour the apple in short order all the same.

Finishing the bite in his mouth Moritz swallowed and carefully set the apple aside. Naymon shifted as he did, which required a "sit!" before he continued. Wiping his hand clean on his shirt so as to not get anything on the weapons Mortiz carefully picked up the item and examined it. Before he considered taking out the weapons within Moritz inspected the case, scabbard, itself. It had a wider opening than most he had seen, but as he looked within he saw the two blades were stacked in reverse inside. Also as it was a hook sword the end had a curve... But beyond that it was somewhat recessed and extended on the edges of the opening where the hilt covering blade would be held within, which also made sense.

As Mortiz looked at it he realized the scabbard blocked the blade inside from cutting something, and on this sword the hilt itself had a cutting edge. With a normal blade one simply pulled the weapon straight out. Here one had to push down a bit and pull over or inward with each blade, and then free of the lip one could pull outward the blade outward.

After spending a good chime or two in rapt attention Moritz realized his mother was still there and likely expected a response.

"Thank you."

Rapt attention was, for Moritz anyways, as close as it generally was possible to see excitement as a response. He was not often one for bubbling over or being overly expressive, not even outwardly smiling much, at least not in a manner humans tended to understand. And when he frowned it tended to be in concentration as he thought, not in disfavor.

The blades looked odd to Moritz, but he was not master of metals, and so until his mother explained it was made of cold iron he had not known why it was odd.

"What does cold iron do? Or why is it different than steel?"

Something he had not grown out of in time was certainly his questioning nature. If someone said one thing he wanted three more clarified shortly. And if a statement was made, proof and confirmation of that statement was generally requested right away.

As his mother spoke he carefully pulled out each blade, pushing down and pressing outward, and then pulling up to slide them both out at once in each of his hands. He did not pull them all the way out, simply far enough that he could see near the ends and see the notes inscription.

Roza Isikai. Faith in Death. Another tongue, Ancient Tongue, one Moritz did not know, apparently was inscribed on the blades. On the other blade a different inscription, noted by his mother as Pond Abase meaning Life in Balance. Though, Moritz noted, from how his mother said it she did not seem all that sure of the wording and could not apparently read it herself. Or at least did not know the tongue to translate it.

At the mention of the blades being infused with her soulmist Moritz looked closely, but did not see anything to indicate a difference. Perhaps if he looked later he would see something in his Iraso vision? Not something to do right then, as he needed to concentrate and right then he was having a conversation. He knew enough to know it would be rude to suddenly start doing something else mid conversation.

Her words though once more caught in his head. He knew she was a master of dealing with ghosts, so her soulmist having more permanent effects did not surprise him. But the weapons being as unmarring, that seemed... A bit more odd to Moritz. It wasn't Skyglass, just metal. Was cold iron really that fantastic a material? Or, perhaps, was his mother... Exaggerating. Or lying. Though lying about a gift seemed odd to Moritz. So perhaps simply an exaggeration if not true, or a lack of understanding.

"Was there some... Magic in the weapons making? I'm not familiar with Cold Iron. Did the smith tell you that about it, it being... Forever strong. Impregnable? No... Mmm... Indestructible? I could always just ask Kyra if your unsure, I believe she'd know."

Moritz once more turned and met hi mothers gaze, counting off in his head and deciding at semi-random that for a conversation he had perhaps looked away to long. A rough guesstimate but perhaps accurate enough. He tried to think back on who this Zach was, but did not in truth recall. He assumed someone about when he was younger, but he had not seem whoever they were in a long time that he knew of and so did not recall them.

"Uh... Zach...Grasswind. They don't sound familiar. When did I see them last? I don't really recall who that is. I have met a fair number of people though. Not sure I got all of their names."

Apparently the man had disappeared, which explained why Moritz had not seen him of late. Somewhat curious, but not so much so that he was alarmed. People did sometimes wander off to do their own thing, he supposed. Not everyone stayed in one city or even house forever.

Listening to his mothers tale Moritz thought back to the boar he had saved, its eyes shining in tandem with the witch's he later met. If the witch could pass on her gift, and had done so to many animals... Could then an animal pass on the gift to a person? Moritz did not think he would like to try. Though even more so the story seemed odd to him. A fox saving a person? He was left curious as to how that had been accomplished, what specifically had it done? In what specific way had he been in danger and been saved? At her admittedly rather basic description of the magic Moritz knew that another had been so gifted upon as he had been. He did not think there were that many giftings, magic according to his mother, that did similar things. Let one see... And follow things that exuded djed. Once more Moritz frowned in concentration as he sorted through words, at a few points struggling and having to reword and re pronounce.

"I think it more... Lets you see djed, more so than lets you see things that exude djed or follow them. It, from how it was explained to me, lets you see djed itself. And the inherent trails that djed leaves behind, which is also djed of a somewhat lesser variety. I suppose though that's a bit... Arguing on the particular wording. I suppose the outcome is the same or similar."

Thinking back to the prior season Moritz pondered the Ethaefal he had met, and their similar interest and questioning about his eyes.

"It seems everyone is interested in my eyes and wants to know what happened. Even... Ah what are their names... Those two Safe... Est... No... Eth... Eth-aef-al. They wanted to know about them and how I got them as well. Whatever their names were. The ruler... No... Co-ruler people, for Lhavit. Right, because there were two of them. Those ones, whatever there names were. Tal and... Ays or something? Or one of them did, I think the other one just wanted to stay on the topic they had in mind when asking to see me."

Shaking off the side track his mind had taken, Moritz focused once more back onto the topic at hand.

"But right, your question... So let me see... Oh, yes, the eyes. Right, they give me Iraso vision, so I can Pathfind. Pathfinding? I'm not quite sure which was the verb or noun or what. Or maybe they were both. It was a gift from a Witch I met out on the mountain, during a hunting lesson. After I saved her boar friend."

WC: 1,513

by **Madeira Dusk** on March 20th, 2021, 12:45 am

"You're welcome", Madeira smiled, chin in her hand as she watched her son pour over the weapons.

"Cold iron is indeed magical", Madeira's voice dropped, matching Moritz's overly analytical tone. "It is found only in a special type of falling star, one that burns cold. But it must be harvested fast, because this is the only metal in the world that is lighter than air. It can take dozens, if not hundreds of stars, to make a metal dense enough to not float away with the slightest gust of wind. But you can still access that magic, even now. Just clasp the hilt as tight as you can, close your eyes, and... jump!"

She threw her hands up in the air, startling the dog. When her hands returned to her side she was laughing, her serious expression crumbling into something surprisingly silly for the upstanding socialite. She didn't seem to expect her humorless son to join in, and just mastered her composure and answered his question, the ghost of a smile still on her lips.

"I'm joking, Moritz. No, it's not indestructible, just extremely durable. Take good care of it and it will outlast you, me, and probably your children too. I have zero interest in bladed weapons, though. You'll have to ask Kyra if you want the details. She'll be the one who knows how to clean and care for it too, I expect."

"Zach was a family friend. You haven't seen in in perhaps... a year? You were pretty small at the time. As far as small can be applied to you, at least."

It turned out Moritz had had a much better education than Zach ever did with his new powers. It sounded like he didn't get it from an animal, but from a witch. Madeira had never met a witch before. She wasn't even aware there was one on the mountain. It appeared the woman went into admirable detail into what the magic was, what it did, and what it was called. Her mind hit a snag as Moritz went on a tangent about Aysel and Talora wanting to speak to him, but she let him rattle to a stop. One revelation at a time, please. Madeira pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

Pathfinding... Madeira put the thought away for later. Their family seemed to have a knack for stumbling into lost magics.

"That's... quite the impressive power", Madeira nodded, slightly dazed by all the new information. That kind of tracking power would be incredible, not just for tracking animals and people, but lost objects and magic items as well. "I'm just glad you're safe. Will you see the witch again? She sounds like a valuable teacher."

"The rulers of Lhavit are Ethaefal, called Aysel and Talora. It's important that you don't forget the names of the people you're talking to, it's very rude. Especially with people that important. Now", channeling a patience to rival Dira, Madeira breathed one deep, even breath, "I have something else to ask you. Why would the rulers of Lhavit want to talk to you so specifically? That seems like a very important event to gloss over."

The first and only time she had ever met the pair it was because she was a witness to one of the city's beloved heiresses holding an impromptu dissection of a celestial Eth. Somehow she didn't think a murder was what brought Moritz to their attention.

by **Moritz Craven** on March 20th, 2021, 2:02 am

Moritz listened as his mother spoke on cold iron, but found himself growing more suspicious the more she spoke. Picking up the weapons in his hands he felt their weight, not finding them weightless by any mean. Let alone enough so to... Make him float? Her story, to Moritz, seemed odd, even to someone with glass horns that were made of magic star stuff. But that was, by its nature as he knew, magic. Magic in its making. This though... This did not quite seem that way.

A falling star, as he and most in Lhavit knew, was where Skyglass came from. Or at least, as he now knew quite well, it was the source of the material that was used to make Skyglass. He had his own example sitting in his room, tucked into his pack, which showed what natural skyglass was. Or so it seemed from what he had observed, the material falling from the sky and being already formed as Skyglass, and what the two Ethaefal had told him. Combined they seemed true enough.

Puzzling with both eyes at his mother Moritz pondered her words, jerking his head as Naymon started at her sudden outburst. When she continued speaking, more so laughing, Moritz found himself even more confused. A... Joke? A made up story.

Moritz found this somewhat disconcerting and confusing as he had been trying to learn something and his mother had instead decided to make up a story full of lies for some odd sense of her own amusement.

"A.... Joke? Right... Whats the difference between that and just lying?"

This was said, as with most of what Moritz said, rather matter of factly and seriously. The boy truly did wonder on the answer to that, as the difference eluded him. From what his mother had said it seemed a lie, a made up thing, but she said it was instead a joke. Laughter though in his mind was a thing of joy, and he did not really understand the link between lying about something and enjoyment. But perhaps his mother did, if she was partaking of such things. Or so he reasoned.

He was somewhat hazy on who the Zach person was, but it was apparently someone known to the family and someone he used to know. Not of late though it seemed...

At her queries on Pathfinding and the witch Moritz shrugged noncommittally.

"I suppose. Though I guess as with most things... Its how you use it. And how skilled you are at using it. Her name is Aja. I suppose I might see her again, she's staying near Lhavit for now. She tends to venture close to the city on occasion, so I can usually find her trail if I try. I haven't seen her in a bit though. She told me to keep most of what she said a secret, so I just told the Ethaefal that the eye change was due to a gift from a witch. They seemed to understand when i told them I couldn't tell them more due to a promise. But I don't think you count as just anyone, being my mother and all, so I think Aja's request to keep secret about it is still intact. Just don't go telling other people, okay? She seemed quite adamant on being secret... Ey? Secrety? Secretive? Keeping it secret."

Pausing for a moment Moritz considered things, before meeting his mothers gaze again.

"Maybe I should memorize you, in case I need to find you later? Each person has there own... I call it a pattern. A djed pattern. Like a painting or something. No two are the same. I think Aja may have called it someones unique... Djed.... Signature. Or something like that. But anyways, once I learn one, I will know it if I see it later. It takes some study though, some time focusing on that one pattern. I've learned a few I can recognize on sight now. I still need to practice. The trails aren't always very clear, but I think I'm slowly getting better at seeing them."

Going from one topic to another, his mother suddenly asked a completely different question from the one they had been talking about. Which seemed a bit odd to him, as he felt they had not finished the first topic, but she was already asking about another. Quite odd to the kelvic's mind. Now she wanted to know not about his eye change but about what the two Ethaefal wanted to talk to him about.

"What? Oh, that. I thought the school told you? Or the house. I told all of this to the house already. I mean some of it happened here inside it."

Pausing for a moment Moritz spent some time mulling over things and pulling out facts, after some time thinking speaking a bit more clearly and concisely. At least as clearly and concisely as Moritz ever spoke when trying to explain numerous things at once.

"So lets see... The rulers of Lhavit, right. They wanted to speak to me about a rumor they heard and wanted to confirm. About the... What did she call it... A... Prophetic vision, that I had. Right. No hold on, the order, that's backwards. Let me see."

Once more Moritz paused, working out the order of events. As he did though he noticed some motion, the wavering of color and light in the distance and that subtle cue of "ghost" Moritz was slowly coming to understand.

Concentrating he realized who it was, becoming distracted by the motion. Slowly moving into their yard was the ghost Julan. He appeared younger than Moritz did in his human form, besides the being dead part. He was a small dark haired youth, seeming normal enough in apparel and appearance besides being translucent.The ghost though was doing something odd, as he was clearly making exertions. He seemed to be in turn pulling and pushing an object on the ground he was holding in his hands, something too small for Moritz to see from his current distance. While it likely would not be heavy to a human the small object was clearly troubling the ghost. But he did not ask for help, apparently determined to make it the remaining short distance to the porch and the duo sitting there.

Holding up a hand to wave Moritz wondered what the boy was doing.

"Hello Julan. What uh, what are you doing there?"

Pausing for a moment Julan stood up and stretched with exaggeration, as if his back was paining him from the heavy weight. Quite a trick seeing as he had no bones or other physical substance. When he spoke it was as if he was out of breath, odd since he did not need to breath, leaving Moritz to assume this was simply an affectation the spirit felt like taking on.

"Just a minute Moritz... I've got your birthday present here... I traded for it with this guy, he said he'd.... Uh... Give it to me, if I.... Quote, left him the petch alone... Or something like that... But I had to carry it here myself, which has taken awhile... I've got it though!"

WC: 1,199

by **Madeira Dusk** on March 21st, 2021, 9:50 pm

"A.... Joke? Right... What's the difference between that and just lying?"

Madeira just shook her head, an exasperated yet not surprised smile on her face. "I guess that depends. Do you consider fictional stories to be lies?"

Madeira nodded along as Moritz went more in depth about his teacher, Aja. A witch that moved around in the unforgiving wilds of Kalea. "I'll keep the secret", she promised easily. Her promises didn't mean much to many people, she had made and broken hundreds with all manner of ghosts and politicians, but family was different. Her son had asked her not to speak of his Pathfinding, so she wouldn't.

"Go ahead and study me. That might become helpful if I ever get lost or need help, as long as you don't stalk me just for practice or amusement." She tipped her head back to look at the sky. "Zach said my 'pattern' was blue. A dark, navy blue. I wonder if you'll see the same thing, or if everyone with your magic sees these auras differently. Have you ever looked at your own pattern?"

Apparently the Infinity Manor knew about the visit from the Eth, and the reason they had shown up. The house was usually excited to tell her every little event within its borders, down to the details of the carefully cultivated spider colony it was nurturing under the stove, but this it seemed had completely slipped its mind.

Care to explain yourself?, she asked tersely.

I was busy, came the petulant reply, followed by the mental equivalent of a shrug.

My son was questioned about prophetic visions from the rulers of this city, and you were busy.

Yes, it piped back, relieved she understood.

We will have a talk about your priorities later.

The ghost she had sensed before was getting closer, and now it seemed Moritz could see it. He squinted into the daylight before raising a hand in familiar greeting.

"No", Madeira snapped back to herself after her silent conversation. "Moritz, don't get distrac-"

Too late. A ghost she had never seen before, a boy called Julan, had come to a stop, having been dragging something small across the yard. He spoke with the affected speech of an excellent actor or a delusional ghost.

"Julan? Are you a friend of my son?" Madeira fixed a practiced smile to her face, hiding her annoyance behind a polite mask. "That's sweet of you to bring a gift. Why don't you go inside and help yourself to the soulmist in the pantry and take a nice quiet moment to get your strength back?", her teeth clicked before turning back to her son, her expression serene, even as a vein stood in visible relief on her forehead.

"Now, sweetheart, why do you mean when you say [I]prophetic vision[I]? Please elaborate."

by **Moritz Craven** on March 21st, 2021, 11:39 pm

Moritz pondered his mothers question seriously, unsure on his response. He understood fiction, a false tale told for enjoyment... But did not quite see this "joke" his mother termed as the same thing.

"I suppose it depends on the delivery, maybe? If I'm reading a piece of fiction, I know its not true. I accept it. And can possibly enjoy it for what it is. Whereas this was kind of dropped in, and then told afterwards it was a piece of fiction. So I guess a fictional story isn't a lie, if its initially approached as not being true. You approached what you said with the intention of making me believe it was true, only to then afterwards reveal it was false. That seems logical enough. Or maybe I just don't like surprises..."

Moritz puzzled over this for a bit before progressing onward with his thoughts. Quite a few things were being discussed back and forth between the two of them, and it was tricky to keep a train of thought on all of them.

At her acceptance of his secret Moritz nodded, not speaking more on the subject. He did not think she would go around spreading the information, though he did not inherently find her to be completely truthful. He had seen her lie before, and had even been the recipient of those lies before. Sometimes when she thought he would not understand, or thought the lie was better for him, but they were lies all the same. Secrets though, he felt if nothing else his mother was good at keeping secrets.

At her permission to study her Moritz began to concentrate on using his Iraso sight, but knew too much was going on for that. Perhaps, he thought to himself, when their talking calmed down. But still, it was good to have her accept his usage in that way.

"No, I've done that with others before, but only when they said it was okay for me to practice on them. And there are plenty of other ways to practice my ability other than following you around."

At the mention of Zach and his usage of Pathfinding Moritz frowned, considering what he had told his mother.

"Colors? I don't think it really works that way. Or maybe it will, but only when I'm better. So far I don't really see in colors, its all just... Light. Honestly, it's hard to explain to someone who can't see as I do now. Its like learning to see a new color or... Or someone being blind, and someone who can see trying to explain to them a certain color. It doesn't really explain well if you can't see it as well. Or maybe he was just using colors to try and explain things to you. So far I've just seen... Uh... Imagine a light, one that is brighter or dimmer. And then picture... Something that is light or dense, airy or solid. Those two degrees of change, brightness and lightness. Now put those together into one thing, that is about as close as I can explain it to you. Its kind of like seeing how bright and dense something is, but not."

At the word Aura Moritz was confused, as he vaguely understood the word but was unsure what it meant in this context.

"Wait, an aura? Whats an aura? Isn't that like... A thing around something? That's not how this works. I don't see things around people, I see the people themselves. Kind of like a... Layer on top of them, along with the more normal things. Its hard to explain... But I don't see anything... Around them. I just see them, but differently. Its there, within you, is you, is everyone and everything, the thing I see. Your eyes, you just don't have the capacity to see it with your eyes the way they are. Kind of like if there was a certain color you couldn't see, that you were blind to. Except everything in the world was painted secretly in that color, the color you can't see. The color djed."

Julan having arrived, announced himself in a manner very... Julan. Mortiz mother Madeira seemed to take this chance to make nice to the ghost, while also trying to get it to go away for now. The former Moritz realized, the latter he missed.

The young ghost seemed to perk up at the offer, similar to a small child smelling the scent of cookies and someone offering them some. Waving to Moritz the spirit shot off into the house, clearly excited for the treat and forgetting his labors and tiredness from a moment before.

"Sure miss Moritz mom, thanks!"

Having gotten up to greet the ghost Moritz looked about and watched as the ghost vanished inside Infinity Manor, taking a few steps over to pick up the small object the ghost had dropped. Taking a closer look he realized it was a small metal bracelet, a charm bracelet, a series of tiny dark metal links forming into a circle. Along with the bracelet itself there was a single charm on one of the links, which took the form of a circle or possibly the letter O. Holding the bracelet in one hand Moritz walked back over and sat with his mother, inspecting the odd bracelet.

"I guess he remembered it was my birthday, and decided to get me a gift. Thats Julan, I met him at school. He likes to play games and things, and so has been hanging around since we met and played some games. We played Iraso hide and seek, which is where he hides in a way a normal person couldn't find him, and then I use my Iraso vision to follow his trail and track him down. I mentioned I needed to practice, and how, and so he sort of made it into a game. He doesn't really do much of anything, but he likes to play games and things."

As soon as the questions about Julan began they ended, turning back to another topic. Now that he had explained how he had met the Ethaefal his mother wanted details, further details about his vision and why he met them.

"As for the vision... Let me see. So it happened while I was here in the house. That's how it knew about it, because it was here when I had it. And then I told it about the vision a few times to help me remember it."

Pausing again Mortiz dug through his memory, trying to explain things properly. After another short break he began speaking, in his more regular and practiced rate and tone, which was tricky seeing as how much he had to say to explain even the basics of things.

"So I guess the order of things... I was having a dream, I don't really remember about what. But then as I was waking up, I did not completely wake up, but I knew I wasn't asleep anymore. It was clear it wasn't a dream, but something real I was seeing. Or that someone was showing me. Afterwards when I got up I said what I saw, which was how the house learned of my vision. It was kind of a lot, and I couldn't go back to sleep, so I went for a walk. That was when I saw the shooting star crash down, which turned out to by a piece of Skyglass. Not a meteor, but an actual piece of Skyglass. Ta... Whatever... The Ethaefal. He seemed rather concerned about that, and they seemed to know what it was when I showed them. Anyways, I went and tracked down the falling star, found the piece of Skyglass, and then went to school. At school I asked a few questions, trying to understand the vision, which led to me explaining to the class my vision. I guess some of them decided to tell people, because someone told someone and eventually the two Ethaefal learned about it. And so later on they came to the school and called me out of class, and spoke to me in someones office about the vision and things, and my eyes, and the falling star I found, and such. Which was when Ay-thing called it a Prophetic Vision. Although I think that was more because I disagreed when she called it something else that wasn't right and she then settled on calling it that."

Having fully explained the source of the term prophetic vision and how it had come up, without actually explaining what that vision was about- something Madeira had not asked technically and which Moritz mind skated over- he let out a sigh and stared off for a few moments.

Absentmindedly Moritz looked down at the bracelet, inspecting it and slipping it onto one wrist. Once he did though he decided to see if it would look better on the other wrist, and went to move it, only to realize it would not move.

"Hmmm... The bracelet thing seems to be stuck on my wrist. It won't come off."

WC: 1,516

by **Madeira Dusk** on April 4th, 2021, 9:09 pm

Madeira nodded along as Moritz explained how pathfinding worked. He certainly had a clearer understanding than Zach ever did. The man had come to her at the very end of his rope, having been given the power by an animal with not a person in sight to explain it to him. She wasn't going to pretend most of what her son was saying was beyond her understanding, having never experienced what he had, but she was beginning to understand the mechanics, at least.

"I told you what an aura is, remember? Auras are coronas of energy that djed give off. You can learn to see them through the practice of auristics. It's interesting to know djed can give off completely different kinds of traces. I had no idea. The kind you see is rather similar to how you can learn to see the imprint of soulmist on an object a ghost has handled. Though in that case its impossible to identify which ghost." She considered aloud, trying to make sense of the magic through her own limited experiences and her son's round-about way of explaining things.

She wasn't surprised Moritz had attracted a haunting, and so didn't need it clarified. That was just what happened in their house. Still, she was glad that Moritz had finally found a friend his age, even if the boy was dead. "Julan seems like a sweet boy. Take good care of him."

Then her son launched into a long story, barely pausing for breath. It was rather shocking how the boy could be such a chatterbox and you'd still come away from a conversation feeling like you knew even less than you did going into it. Madeira pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Aysel and Talora", she reiterated absently as her mind turned in circles behind her closed eyes. The Spiritist took a chime to master herself before asking the obvious question, and in the space between, Moritz managed to get himself in trouble.

"Hmmm... The bracelet thing seems to be stuck on my wrist. It won't come off."

"What?"

This information seemed to alarm his mother much more than Moritz himself. Seizing him by the wrist, Madeira pulled his arm across her lap to inspect the glittering bracelet. It was a charm bracelet, like her own. She hooked a finger beneath it and tried to drag it off of her son, but true to his word it wouldn't budge.

"Kara!" she hissed under her breath. She didn't know what the word meant, only that it was a foul word Jomi enjoyed. But now seemed to be the time to use it.

Flexing what she could of her left hand, the djed stone in her palm fed into her sight. Reining in her basic understanding of auristics, she stared down at the object. Her eyes slid in and out of focus as she tried to find that delicate balance of sight and djed where an aura became visible. Slowly, a flicker of movement, like smoke, materialized around the object.

"Well, it's not cursed", she finally concluded. "It's metal all the way through. But it's a magic item for sure. How do you feel? Is it hurting you at all?"

Gods, why was it so hard for the universe to be straight with her. She just needed answers.