You and I; Reimancers (Antar)

[Eryss Waldu]

[Nodding once as he watched Antar begin to transmute his res into stone, or more specifically the brick, Eryss was curious to see his progress. A Brick was not something that the Mage would have chosen to make but Antar seemed to follow his instruction and grasp the concepts well enough that Eryss decided not to question him about his creation. When he threw it onto the ground and a bit of the corners began flaking off Eryss was able to detect the incompleteness of the final product Antar had made. He believed that the brick had been made a bit soft. Not that it mattered as it was still dense enough to deliver a critical blow.] [Apparently Antar had succeeded well enough though as Eryss would have commented with a...”Well done.”...before Antar had drawn his blade and knelt down to draw a rectangle in the dirt. Intrigued, or so it would appear to the casual observer, Eryss watched as Antar continued working before he retrieved a stick from the brush pile and placed it into the ground, standing thereafter. Listening to the Rogue after he had finished Eryss wasn’t actually all that impressed with his request to form a stone block for him but deciding to indulge Antar at the time.] [Eyes had turned to train themselves on the rectangle that Antar had draw in the ground and Eryss studied it briefly. This wouldn’t be that hard. His eyes turned to the sphere he had crusted over with a calcified outer layer of stone and Eryss caused it to hover lower until it settled onto the ground beside him before turning his full attention to the task that he had agreed to do. Within moments he had begun to concentrate and his right hand extended before beginning to slowly emanate a gaseous res that he would use to create what Antar had desired.] [Emitting the gas in a thick form from his palm Eryss would let it begin to disperse before concentrating so that the gasses began to shape themselves into the desired dimensions of the stone block that Antar had asked to see him make. Eight feet in length, four in width and two and a quarter feet high to match the dimensions that Antar desired. In its raw form Eryss was competent and the manipulation of res and moulding its malleable form to his will, you might even say that he enjoyed it to some extent as every time he did so it fine tuned his expertise. As he transformed his res Eryss had outstretched his left arm as well though.] [Using his left hand the Mage produced a very small amount of thin gaseous res in comparison to the thick gaseous res he was shaping into the block that Antar had desired. Oxygen itself weighing less than the thick res he had created but roughly equal to the thin res he produced with his left hand. As he moulded the thicker res Eryss would concentrate briefly on the thinner res of his left hand so that he could will it to attract the air in the nearby area. Placing his left hand close to the thick gaseous res that he commanded to maintain its shape he would then begin a slow hardening procedure.] [Essentially was Eryss did was begin to slowly harden the thicker res into stone while removing any inconsistencies, or minute air pockets, by having the lighter air attracted and drawn towards the thinner res he had endowed with a residual pull on that element. As he transformed more of the block into stone the air around his left palm began to swirl and grow larger, drawing in the element from the environment as well as the block, but as the last corners of the block solidified he would release his control of the attractive res causing the air it had gathered to expel in a stiff breeze that blew out in all directions. It caused Eryss robes to blow back quite hard and if Antar wasn’t expecting it might have even ruffled him to an extent as it blew past.] [After finishing Eryss was briefly silent, collecting his thoughts as it took much of his concentration to produce both of the effects he did simultaneously. Breathing though he’d outstretch his right hand, fingers curled into a fist, and knock on the block several times before stating...”Yes. I think this will do. Very solid. It’s unlikely any air pockets remain in it either. Of course now that it’s entirely transmuted you can expect it to be difficult to move as well.”...there was a bit of venomous laughter when he had made that last statement. Looking back to the sphere he had crusted over with a stone shell Eryss would take command of it again then and cause it to hover back into his palm, he wasn’t sure if he would use it for a display yet or if he’d disperse the res, time would tell.]

[Antar]

The small sphere of earth in his palm with it's shell of slate, bobbed up and down as Noth looked at the stone, and looked back at Eryss. Taking his kukri, he emulated the actions of the mage and recieved the same sound no matter where he touched the stone slab. It was solid as a rock, but more solid then one might normally consider, and he was sure it would remain in its position for a time, mayhap even years if the slab settled properly into the ground.

'Gods above this was fantastic! Monumental even if Eryss did not consciously know what he had just created could change the lives of those living in the camp. Taking the sphere of res forwards, he pointed it towards the stone slab and began to concentrate. He'd seen Eryss abilities in creating spikes of earth that rocketed out from his creations at high speeds. Like flying needles and he tried to emulate his mentors success. Slowly from the inside the spike formed , jutting out quickly through the eggshell and towards the stone slab.

On impact his attack crumpled. Shattering to dust to be more exact, barely leaving a scuffed mark on the side of the large stone. Crouching down beside it again he looked at the edges, noting how they were smoothed from the airation process Eryss had achieved. "Do you know Eryss, the significance of what you've done here? Even if it seems like something so small and miniscule to you?"

As he checked with his eye to see if the stone surface was level, he smiled when he saw it was. In fact, the edges were sharper then he could have imagined. Drawing again with his knife he sketched out next to the block a similar shape of the same dimensions, and then another in the ground. , and then another before turning what would have been a fourth brick at a right angle. "Eryss, this may seems small and miniscule to you, but I ask you continue to humor me and try to create a stone slab, the exact proportions of the last one in each of these squares. Keeping the edges jigged together and rigid. Moreover, I'd ask if it was possible to use Earth reimancy to form a better means of escavating a pit within the earth."


Noth pressed his lips together slightly to moisten them as he spoke."You see Eryss... there was something marvelous you just created. A single building block of what could become a greater structure if you can learn to reproduce your results successively. We've all been living in tents for a long time, but this ability you've shown me of Earth use might help to change that. A means of building ourselves a fortified structure later. But only if you, and hopefully later I, can reproduce the same results consistently. After you test if you can form the others, see if you can shield this block from djed, and then try to see if a normal attack of yours can break it. I imagine if you used your full ability you could, but humor me please. Just a little longer is all I ask..."

His words trailed off as his mind traveled in many different pathways all at once. His brain buzzing to whir with ideas, seeing how such things may be used to assist in constructing something he knew would be needed for the future: a place of safety and security for them all. Sure there would be a lot of hard work, reimancy couldn't do it all. But still, even a single stone was a start to building the future. Marshalling up a bit more of his reserves of djed, Antar decided to build a small scale of bricks in comparison to Eryss' task, a visual guide for him to see if the man humored him a little longer to begin working on the second layer of bricks.

[Eryss Waldu]

[Antar was correct in assuming that Eryss didn’t consider what he had done to be extraordinaire. He had made a large stone block that would remain where it lay until either the elements or another source chipped it down to dust. Eryss could think of many uses for such an application of reimancy in the future though. Maybe he would create such a block to hurl at his foes, transmuting it at the last possible moment and crushing them, or perhaps he could make such stone into a projectile to crash through buildings and walls. His mind focused on the destructive rather than the constructive which is why he considered much of what he’d done to be a waste.] [However regardless of his own thoughts Antar seemed quite enthused by what he had seen and went on to explain why to the Mage. Eryss had never considered using reimancy to build. It’s true he could create many such blocks however even a number of simple applications such as this would begin to drain him slowly and make him prone to overgiving which is why he would be mindful not to consume to much of his ambient djed. At one point Eryss would be heard remarking...”It is possible. With the application of your skills the earth will sink or rise to your command but this is taxing and tiring compared to creating res itself and transforming it.”...he had only ever used the earth in such a way conceal bodies himself but Eryss surmised he could make a larger pit if he thought it was necessary.] [Unimpressed with the request that he fill these new blocks as well Eryss would frown beneath the hood he wore and though the expression likely remained hidden from Antar the statement...”Very well.”...was likely venomous enough to let the Rogue know that he considered this a frivolous use of his power. Obviously Eryss was not a builder but Antar had spoken of how this might be beneficial to the group and the Mage did love the idea that everyone would be indebted to him stemming from a self serving and malicious nature. He found the flask that he had brought with him and drank from it one time to help regenerate some of what he had been expending.] [Now that he would be focusing primarily on creating these blocks again Eryss allowed the res making the core of his sphere disperse. The Sphere fell to the ground, the thin calcified outer layer shattering into dozens of pieces. He’d move towards the next empty space that Antar had cut into the ground and began to channel his djed through himself again.] [Not unlike the last time Eryss would expel a thick gaseous res from his right hand while creating a thinner gaseous res in his left hand. The thicker res was used to form the basis for the first of the blocks that he would build and the thinner res was willed into attracting the air and oxygen from the area of those blocks so as they transmuted over they’d harden to unbelievable proportions and with no, or the very minimal, flaws that might be otherwise inherent. Eryss wouldn’t do this just one more time but a total of three more times in what would be a painstaking process that lasted several minutes at least and when he finished he’d have moved backwards. All the blocks he had made were identical to the first in dimension though their exteriors may have had slight differences to the keen and observant eye of an onlooker.] [Wetting his lips with his tongue it seemed as though Eryss might have been a bit famished, he could taste something beneath his tongue, but ignoring it he moved towards the original block he’d created and placed his hand over it. Channelling his latent djed through himself one more time he’d begin to weave together a thin layer of translucent force that slowly began to flow out from his palm to cover one of the stone blocks. It was a basic Shield tasked only to absorb the djed of attacks that weren’t powerful enough to overload it altogether. Eryss would weave it across the surface of the block reasonably quickly though he wasn’t attempting perfection in any sense of the word as he didn’t put his full power into the creation of the Shield and when he finished it would slowly fade from sight as he removed his hand and his creation settled undisturbed.] [When he finished and he saw how Antar tasked himself as well Eryss would tell him...”It is done. Now all that we need is to test it. As you requested.”...and then moving backwards Eryss would put some distance between himself and the block he had Shielded. Using the minimum of his djed in this case the Mage would shape a small amount of liquid res into his palm until it formed a rough ball shape and igniting the outside he would hurl it at the shielded block, transmuting the last of his djed before it impacted the Shield he had made and the block, his success to be measured on impact. As the Fireball struck the block the Shield would have flared to life absorbing the attack into itself while leaving the block relatively unscathed. Just as Eryss had intended.] [Wordlessly the Mage would retrieve his flask again and drink it down entirely. When he finished tipping it backwards this time the contents was depleted; Eryss himself also began feeling quite drained by now and he had no intention of expending more unless absolutely necessary.]

[Antar]

As Eryss made his own set of blocks, Antar began his model. Concentrating the djed of his reserves, conjuring the Res to weep from his palms, forming new bricks upon the soil in the same pattern as Eryss made with the stone. Brick by brick his structure formed, a mirror towards the larger one.

And when it was finished Noth stepped back, watching closely as Eryss lay the shields of his own making, his eyes gaing a small fraction of knowledge in the moments the shield shimmered with energy before blinking out of sight. He smiled and wondered if he would ever become as good with shields, but he knew that only time would tell.

Mimicking the man's actions Noth created his own shield around one of his bricks, the sensations were the same, the feeling of difficulty seemed almost insurmountable but, this time when it was over he tried to task it for sound as it shimmered briefly into being. Tagging it with the small kernel of djed he wished to 'imprint' itself upon its whole makeup backfired though, as in a few seconds the shielded construct flickered to life and faded out completely.He was getting tired, even as he practiced his own design. At the very least he might gain a small semblance of satisfaction as things began to come into play. Eryss making ready for his attack. He stepped back to watch the experience and waited until it was over.

Nodding politely to the man, "Thank you Eryss, while I'm sure you might not think this grand, but you have just created one thing of immediate use to you: A wall the size and thickness of the ones guarding the daggerhand's armory. If we could layer more stones on top of it we might begin to figure out ways to sap it, or create our own entrance to it. I feel better about the focusing on such problems, not only with regards to construction but with destruction, its best to have a model. The only thing is now, my mind begins to draw a blank on how we would breach such a formiddable fortification. Even with reimancy. I imagine it would be like sappers on a wall, digger underneath, but that takes a long time. Perhaps you would consider a means to achieve such ends? Any corner of a wall's structure is at both times, its strongest and weakest point of defense. Strong in the actual ability to withstand damage, but weak in that very few defenders can be tasked to covering it effectively."

Thinking to himself he summoned a smaller sphere of Res above his palm and began to extend it into the earth at the base of his own model. Keeping in view of Eryss as he willed it to suffuse itself thoroughly into the soil. It was difficult work for him, and he tried his best to control the process as he willed it under and then back out upon the other side as the liquid Res began to spin. Slowly at first but then faster as small ribbon-like strands of stone began to form along the outer edges of its length. Twisting about in a twirling funnel that began to eject the various bits of soil up through to the other side of his small brick construction.

The sand funnel was an artificial fume, barely the breadth of his palm. and for a moment the bricks above it sagged down over the small hole, but stopped in the midst of their fall. Their own weight against each other holding them upright and Noth cursed at his lack of success. He wondered what he was thinking was wrong, and he mused aloud, somehow sure Eryss would hear him. "Normally, a wall might have a good few feet dug into the soil to help build the foundation. The key is to try to break such things, but I don't know how."

Turning towards the fire he pondered he took a seat on a log opposite Eryss and took a long swig from his own drinking flask. "Were we not to use a door , or find a means to enter such a structure differently. We would be facing that same resistance to the stone. I also don't know if any of the Daggerhands have shielders. But I imagine Robern might keep a few. I do know that whatever was done would be quite dangerous if we were close by. I would prefer to do something with a timed delay if possible, but I do not know how other then the basic idea of melting the stone to lava. But that might not be an option if an enemy shields their stronghold. If it wasn't an option then with whatever I'd do; I'd hope to be the furthest distance away from the event as possible. What do you think Eryss? "

Gazing into the fire, he took a few glances back between the stone blocks and Eryss. Just simply assessing the problem over and over in his mind. Trying to find some answers with what knowledge he had as he took another sip of water. Taking a look towards the trees with the targets setup behind the shields he pondered how to hit them. "There's no need to experiment now on the problem of the armory wall, we both seem to be getting tired; though I think I might have just enough in me for a little target practice with earth reimancy. Wise words would serve much better then actual demonstration on my form and technique. You did seem to go through all the trouble of setting them up and I think it would be a dreadful shame to waste them."

[Eryss Waldu]

[When Antar mentioned that Eryss had created something with the veritable consistency of the Daggerhand’s Armoury he would become noticeably more interest, he wouldn’t hang on every word that Antar told him but he was obviously paying attention to what the Rogue had to say, and so his demeanour changed as well. Shaking his head though as he listened to Antar it became known that Eryss was largely done with talking, he could appreciate an analytical and organized mind but Eryss didn’t tend to over think things, he’d listen as his associate spoke about sappers and the weak points of walls and he considered what he wanted but that was all. Once Eryss had opened his mouth as though he were going to say something but then he decided to close it once again and observe as Antar attempted to sink a section of the blocks he’d created.] [Observing the attempt Eryss, who had remained quiet for much of this the last few moments, would finally have said...”Enough. If we cannot sink a wall we will merely have to blast through it and topple another way. Perhaps the concussion force of a large fireball or something else. Perhaps an explosion. We could converse about this all night.”...he was not tactician though the Mage did understand the concept of tactics, his merely geared towards different things. Wondering though Eryss would look at Antar and ask him...”Do you know what it looks like inside the Daggerhand’s Armoury? Are you so sure the walls are that thick or that they don’t extend downwards further or less?”...the question was both figurative and not and Eryss would continue after a brief pause...”When the time comes I will sink the wall or knock it down if that is the way things are to be.”...it was said with such confidence as to think Eryss might have known what to do already when at most he had only glimpsed the outside of the building they were both talking about.] [Tightening one of his hands until it became a fist he looked back towards the fire and continued in a more reserved voice...”You’ve seen how I drew air from stone before hardening it. I will attract the air and create a tornado if I must to ravage the outside of the building. Or use the earth to come crashing down underneath a section of the wall.”...that sounded much like what Antar had just done but with his index finger extending Eryss would wag it several times and then say...”A wall is actually only as strong as the ground it’s made on; I will unbalance it.”...though he offered no such example of what he meant by that statement. Antar would need to wait and see if he was curious.] [Now that their meeting was coming to an end Eryss would say one more thing to Antar as he spoke of using the blocks for target practice, his words maybe not the kindest. “You seek to do more always. Well do less.”...perhaps not the common approach though Eryss would continue on assuming he had Antar’s attention...”Many men have succumbed to their own deaths because they desired to push their powers just a little further believing they had a little left. If you must do more do it when it counts.”...that was about all he had to say, it seemed so frivolous to Eryss to expend yourself needlessly on the blocks as Antar thought to do. Looking down at his feet then it seemed as though Eryss may have been searching for something after standing straight.] [Without pausing Eryss would have bent down to retrieve what he’d been looking for. When he straightened once again he was holding the bell that Antar had offered to him when they first arrived, it must have fallen out of the Mage’s hand at some point, and he offered it back to the Rogue before offering more pleasant words. “You are developing well. You skills with reimancy increase and your mind is sharp. Your plans to deal with the Daggerhand are commendable. We will test them soon and mine as well.”...on that note Eryss would motion towards Antar and then begin to move away from the fire and back in the direction of the camp. They could return together if the Rogue wanted though Eryss had no preference. All Eryss desired was to eat and sleep for the rest of the night though. He was patient and when the time was right he would strike.]

[Antar]

For a moment, just a moment, Antar paused and tried to check himself carefully. He wanted to do more, but Eryss was right.

It was exactly at these times he should do less. It was one of the signs of being on the precipice between being safe and overgiving and he had almost ignored it. Just ast the mage had said he would last time. Cursing his utter foolishness, Noth centered himself a little. Breathing deeply a few times as he began concentrate solely on the tenets of what was going on with his body. His blood was pumping in his ears, but there was also a sense of exhaustion that was beginning to set in. All of it mixed with a slight tangy sensation beginning to grow at the back of his mouth.

He drank more water to quench it and stood. Noth's seeming exuberance for the arcane dying with a bit of forced effort as his eyes narrowed in concentration. It was time to stop magicking up the place and begin to focus his efforts and energies into other skills. Even if it was to the point of exhausting himself physically to ensure his mind did not go into any further troubles. Speaking a bit slowly, "The stone block dimensions for the armory are easy to find out, though not their depth. Old Legs sometimes asks the Carver brothers to assist him in repairs around the city. Robern, sometimes asks Old Legs to do so. All I did was find a matching plan with the dimensions in a lesson I was learning there for brickmaking compared to stone blocks. Not too much else. As for now: I think I'll take a moment to use those targets. "

Taking a few steps towards the nearest target, Noth drew his kukri, arched it back and threw it spinning end over end. He watched it hit with a satisfying thunk, imbedding itself into the wood.

Drawing his bow, he knocked a quick arrow and centered his focus, going through the motions of the knock, the pre-draw, the draw and the release of the string to send the arrow towards the second target. He managed a straight shot from this distance, even with his fatigue and shaking fists. It hit the target, but wasn't close to center. But still good enough to do some damage.

Sighting on third he did the same; just to prove he was in control. He knew it was sometimes a boon to train himself when exhaustion set it. Muscle memory improved with such rigorous methods of persecuting oneself for not pushing onwards. But this was another matter. He was struggling to keep his wits, to reinforce his iron clad will upon a beleagured body and mind.

Marching over he reclaimed his knife, tugging it from the target before turning back towards the camp. Eryss had already left, so he began to jog a short ways in his armor, catching up to the man's heels after about half a mile to fall in stride. It had been a long night, and all he wanted to do was curl into his bedroll, give some birdseed to Ellise, and rest.

So that is what he did...

~Fin

Eryss' Skills Request :

Reimancy, Shielding. Probably some teaching and observation. anything else warranted.
Lores:
Reimancy: Air Vacuums(basic)
Reimancy: Air, the third element(basic)
Reimancy: Stone blocks(advanced)
Reimancy: Instructing another on Reimancy(basic)
Shielding: Instructing another on shielding(basic)
Shielding: working towards perfection
Other Reimancy skills/techs.

Antar's Skills Request :

Primary: Reimancy, Shielding.
Larceny
Stealth
Observation.
Construction(minor)
Weapon(Longbow)
Weapon(Kukri)
Any others you see.
Lores:
Reimancy: Earth Snake.
Reimancy: Earth Ball.
Reimancy: Earth, the second element(basic).
Reimancy: Stone bricks (basic)
Shielding: One layered shields: Either block djed, sound, or visible light(basic)
Shielding: One layered shields: Formation practice(basic).
Shielding: One layered shields: Djed can be blocked on one side, the other or both sides(basic)
Other Reimancy skills/techs.

[Cachet]

Eryss : Eryss SKILLS Reimancy:4 Shielding:3 Teaching:4 Observation:3 Socialization:3 LORE Reimancy: Air Vacuums(basic) Reimancy: Air, the third element(basic) Reimancy: Stone blocks(advanced) Reimancy: Instructing another on Reimancy(basic) Shielding: Instructing another on shielding(basic) Shielding: working towards perfection Antar : Antar SKILLS Larceny:1 Stealth:3 Observation:3 Construction:3 Weapon(Longbow):1 Weapon(Kukri):2 Throwing(kukri):2 Meditation:2 Reminancy:3 Shielding:3 LORE Larceny: pickpocketing- The Put In(basic). Larceny: pickpocketing- The Take Out(basic). Reimancy: Earth Snake. Reimancy: Earth Ball. Reimancy: Earth, the second element(basic). Reimancy: Stone bricks (basic) Shielding: One layered shields: Either block djed, sound, or visible light(basic) Shielding: One layered shields: Formation practice(basic). Shielding: One layered shields: Djed can be blocked on one side, the other or both sides(basic) Anything seem out of place? Any questions please feel free to contact me ASAP.