Trading Trades Once Again [Clyde Sullins]

[Reaver]

[10 Summer, 511 AV] Taking a very worn-down boat, Reaver and his guest found himself once again on the short beach near the woods. This time, he had one of his... mostly blank books. The one he last used to draw magic circles with Ren, for the same lesson. Reaver tied down the boat, to the stick he guided the boat with. He then stuck the stick into the sand, and buried it. "That should do fine. Now, let's start with some simple practice, ink and paper. The actual test will be much larger. I'll start by showing you some magic circles drawn before, and you'll try and re-create them. Like your glyphs, they can very from circle to circle. Unlike your glyphs, not every design works. The more complicated the design, the harder it is to make it work, but the better it WILL work when it does. There is an art behind it, one tradition says you learn alone." Reaver will pull out his book, and show Clyde the pages he put back into the book. On them, would be four drawn circles, all identical in form, but two not drawn as well. He put one such page (the one with the better drawn circles) across from a blank one, and handed Clyde his quill. "Once you've drawn a couple, we'll move to the next step. I'll start preparing for that step now." As Clyde drew, Reaver spread his cloak out like a sheet. He threw a bunch of sand on it, then folded it into a bag. He dragged the bag onto the nearby forest, where there was grass and trees around. He unfolded the sheet there, and looked around for a while. He seamed to pick through various branches, even going so far as to pull one off a tree. He set that one, and one he got from the ground, next to his pile of sand. He would then make his way back to Clyde, to check his progress.

OOCHe may have given you enough time to draw three or four. XD

[Clyde Sullins]

Following along, Clyde ended up at the spot as directed by Reaver. It was much more spacious than there last spot, and a bit more private. Watching closely, Clyde watched to see what directions he was given. There Reaver took out a book with some circles. A bit simple for a lesson. These seemed similar, and yet different. Taking the quill, he would start copying the circles. He was not as good at drawing freehand, however he did his best to copy the circle that was shown. His first try was not so good, it was pretty wonky and lopsided. The next one he drew at least was recognizable as a circle... or maybe a oval.... Finally, the last one he drew was most definitely a circle! Well, the ends did not quite meet right.... but it was not to bad.... well the fourth! The forth was a circle, albeit not a perfect one. Having drawn his four circle like objects, Reaver seemed to be done, and was ready to continue on with the lesson... Maybe Clyde should practice drawing more? However it seemed Reaver had been doing.... something... though what Clyde had no clue. "Uhm... So what is that you are doing there? Is that for the lesson?"

[Reaver]

Reaver took the sheet, and looked it over. He frowned a bit. He takes his time with the glyphs, and not these? "Pens and chalk aren't the only things that can be worked into world magic, yes? For a real artist of world magic, the world is your pen and your paper. Your work here, it needs practice, but ink is a hard medium to make repairs with, yes?" Reaver will take the book with him, muttering under his breath a little, up the hill. He would only pause a moment, to gesture Clyde to follow. "From here, we'll work on something a bit more... adjustable. I want you to try drawing this circle, with a hole in the ground. Anything worth learning, is worth learning hands-on, yes? That seamed to be your method of teaching. Try this time, much larger, and accurately." Reaver set the book on the ground, open to the page with the circles. "Dig your circle into the ground, with enough room to sit inside. Once done, I'll use it to demonstrate the art for you. If I can use your circle, so can you." If Clyde decided to work as Reaver instructed, Reaver would be much more hands-on in training this time, by randomly filling in the holes that didn't match the diagram. "You can find your own path, after I show you mine."

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde watched as his work was criticized. It seemed that circles were just not his shape, when it came to drawing them outright. He could make a circle of glyphs, or other such things, but simply drawing one freehand on paper.... That he had trouble with. "Sorry.... I have always had trouble drawing circles. Not sure why.... I just cannot draw them outright... I usually work them into my work through other means." Following along behind Reaver, he watched and listened to his instructions. It was his turn to listen and follow instructions, though Reaver had not been so good about following his instructions.... Looking at Reavers example, he carefully dug out a circle in the ground around him. He made it large enough for him, giving several inches of space all around were he would sit, giving him a bit of wiggle room. He was careful to make this one symmetrical. He carved it out and made it nice and round, as close to what he saw in the example. For some odd reason his carved out circle was well done, and completely circular, whereas his drawn ones had not been.... Maybe he had more skills with doing the physical thing than in drawing it out?

[Reaver]

Reaver nodded approvingly at his student, who did much better. "I suspect forcing you to work with a slower medium helped. I may practice glyphing in such a way, and to test the effects of how it undoes itself in greater detail. It could hide my research much better. Now, do another, larger, next to this one. While you do that, I'll practice mixing in your art." Reaver will drag the larger of the two branches he had, the one he didn't pull from the tree, and set it a bit of a ways away from the circle. He gestured to it, and then went to the circle Clyde had made. In the center of the circle, he put his focus, which was ironically a circle. He began to dig lines into the ground around the circle, slowly, and evenly. The lines, placed around the circle, were a match to the ones Reaver had drawn within the circle. He stopped one line short, the line that would face the circle Clyde had probably just finished digging in the time it took Reaver to craft his 'glyphs' into the work. "Any comments thus far? I'd rather answer questions as they come up."

[Clyde Sullins]

Having finished the first circle, Clyde went as directed to the next one, to carve it out also. He carefully went into the ground around him, making it even larger than the first. This one took much longer, being bigger and harder to do. As he worked, he did indeed have some questions. "So, what exactly are these circles for? I have a vague understanding of animation, but not to much of how it is done. So what will these circles accomplish? And what is the next step after making the circles." Clyde continued to carve out his circle, making it as clean as he could. If he did this on his own, he probably would not carve out or draw a circle, but would instead make a circle of glyphs. That would probably be easier for him. Though he wondered if that would work.

[Reaver]

As Clyde went to the second circle, he asked a very important question. Reaver decided a colorful answer might work. "These circles are the table and chair from which you work, and their complexities are the quality. The better circles allow you to work on better projects. The canvas will be what you animate, and the tools your Djed and mind." As Reaver finished his rudimentary set of glyphs, his incomplete barrier, he looked to find the other had finished the circle. "Good, now that the circles look complete, let's fill the trenches we've dug with sand." Reaver gestured to the pile of sand on his cape. "Can glyphs be made on folded paper? Even if you could, It would be rather inefficient. We'll fill the folds with a different medium, like adding glitter to the folds. Messy, but in this medium it is much more efficient. Circles can work over a variety of mediums, I like to take advantage of it." He looked again to the glyphs. "And on the topic of mediums, what can't I make glyphs with?"

[Clyde Sullins]

Having finished this second circle, he listened to the rough answer given by his teacher. he was not really sure if that was the best analogy, or one at all.... But he worked on, going over to the sand, and packing it into the hole of the circle as directed. Listening, he responded to Reavers new question. "Well you can make glyphs with almost anything, it just depends on what you are doing. For example while in some situations you could draw out your glyphs by drawing them in the dirt, or using chalk, others might call for more permanent things such as writing in ink. Really anything can be used." "Some people even go so far as to carve the glyphs into the object they are imbibing with magic. However this can be more dangerous to the structure of the item. This is because glyphs only work for that one time, and once the magics is released from it, the glyphs fall apart, or crumble." "So if you glyphed a sword with fire reimancy glyphs, it might work for a bit, but once the magic was done, the sword might break apart, or at least be severely damaged. Such glyphs would only be used in more permanent things, not in things by which magic are stored."

[Reaver]

"Animation circles work the same way. The effort we are making now is very much the same, though there is a major difference. It doesn't simply 'vanish' because it is used. Keep in mind, those who fear magic will not enjoy coming across one of these. You don't appear to ask many questions, what is it you're waiting for?" Reaver finished packing the sand, and the circles were ready... almost. Reaver dug a line connecting the two circles, and filled it with sand. "So, should I keep the lecture and demonstration separate, or try and do both together?"

[Clyde Sullins]

"What all types of things can you animate? I have heard of clothes being animated, but what else? And what do we plan to do today, for this demonstration? Something simple I guess, since it will be my first time using animation." He watched as Reaver finished up his work, and connected the circles. It seemed the first part was done, what was next? "So what is next, what do I need to do to start the process? And I guess do both at once, you can lecture while we are working on the demonstration. Since most of it take a while anyways."