Circles, souls, flames, tests. (Solo)

[Reaver]

[85 Fall, 511AV] As the season approaches Winter, things slowed down. It was hard to explain, everything wanted to move so slowly. People didn't work as hard, opportunities grew, and those that took them became less-likely to take them. Winter was a great season for Reaver, however. He could move a lot more, and his body would complain a lot less. So, it was a great time to study much harder. People were less likely to be injured and live long, so traveling out on his own wasn't a good idea. They wouldn't come to him at all, even. People that knew them would come, though. They'd be looking for a doctor, and Reaver would be there. Today, was not winter. All the same, it was close. Reaver had to prepare, not for winter, but for his future. Things were always dangerous, and now he had some new tools to help him fight that danger. The problem, was he couldn't use them well. He even found himself having trouble with some of the tools he did have. He would compare it to a baby learning to walk. It's not that he can't learn it, it just takes time. Time, something he had wasted far too much of during fall. He had to make up for lost ground. He first started with his drawing, having gotten himself some chalk and a proper table. He drew a circle on one side, using his chalk. He was very slow, and very careful. It wasn't even an animation circle yet, just his glyph. A focus, to help him work better. The experiment was a minor one, but it was about the practice. It struck him as odd, he'd been drawing them for so long, yet just now they held power. Perhaps, they always had power, and he was just now using it. With that finished, he continued to practice. A barrier followed, a set of straight lines, that would encircle his drawn circle. Once that was ready, he drew a much smaller circle to replace his final barrier, to draw the magic that way. It was time to move to the next circle. It was an identical process, barriers included. The difference here, was the circle breaking the barrier was on the opposite side, facing the other circle as intended. He then drew a barrier between the two circles, and connected the two circles. With that done, he moved on. He drew his animation circles, using his focus circles as the basis for them. He always started his animation circles with a circle, perhaps all animators were using some form of glyphing without realizing it. He drew his lines within his circles, the various shapes and additions. He was very careful not to make changes, now was not the time for that. Once done, he had more to do... so much to do. Inventory Adjustment-8.03 GM, +1 Table, both fine and large enough for someone to lay on, +3 chalk.

[Reaver]

He continued, nothing else to do. He took the rock he found, rather remarkable. Not the rock, no, it was because it was a rock. In a city floating on a lake, what are the odds of finding a rock? All the same, this rock had a flat side, which made it perfect. He set it on the table, flat side up, and held it in place. He drew once more, on the rock. It was a circle, a focus once more. The experiment was going to be a failure, but he wanted to give it every shot he could. Practice all he could, as well. It was important to him. Having carefully drawn yet another circle on the rock, he set it in the center of one of his circles. The circle was far too big for the rock, but it didn't matter. He already succeeded in part of his practice, though he had far more to do. He used the coffin as a stool, and sat right on the other circle. It was time to test something, something new. He took off his gauntlet, and cut his thumb. He wasted no time, and set it on the circle. The process had started. This wasn't about animating a rock, but a test to see if what he did in the circle could affect the rock. He was quick, he built the Soulcore, but not one to be proud of. The odds of it holding an emotional tie to him were strong, almost as strong as the likelihood of odd effects making their way in. That was the point, however. His focus would be on letting the circle do the work. Next was the persona, but he didn't even focus on that, he was to focus on his other training. The persona would, 'build itself' off his thoughts, or not. Would his subconscious mind transfer data? That was worth testing. Preparations for the test complete, now to train.

[Reaver]

He had more drawing to do, far more. He put his gauntlet on once again. Easier to wash, by far. He began to draw another focus, this time on his palm. It was slow, and careful. He traced it over once completed, he wanted to be sure. It took time, yes, but he had all the time he could ever need. It was slow, after all. He didn't simply stop, no. He drew another, within his first focus. A focus in a focus, would that boost the effect? He had to test it. Another test, but not enough. Once he had that done, he drew yet a third circle, within those two. A focus within a focus, within yet another focus. If it was worth doing once, why not another at twice the price? One he was satisfied with his finished collection of circles, he continued on. He had more tests to do, and began once again. This time, his circle would be along his finger. Drawing such a small circle was in itself very difficult, and he erased it and started over several times before he was satisfied. That said, he wasn't satisfied with just one. He had to do more, and set another further up along that same finger. He drew three, total. It was hard, but a necessary difficulty. Which was more effective? On one end, he was putting focus circles within his focus circles. The other end, putting them in a line, a line the Djed would travel before becoming Res. Yes, he hadn't forgotten about his other art. It was time to work on that, and test the comparison.

[Reaver]

Reaver looked to the rock, would it be a good student? He laughed at himself, even if it was, the thought would never be understood by the common public. That misunderstanding was fear, which he needed to protect himself from. The test, he had to focus on it, that was the reason he bought this table... that and random waves not destroying his work half-way through. The palm came first, he put his arm out in front of him, and thought of his Djed. It still held a tingling sensation, but that simply meant he knew he had that power. He focused on the flow, or lack of within his body. His blood, his ichor, was a focus for it. As that focus did not move, the Djed had a habit of doing the same. It was time to move that lazy force, and move it down his arm. He gathered it, centralized it, and moved it. He didn't need all his Djed, just a bit. He sent that bit down his arm, and right out his hand, transferring it to Res. The strange cloud of Res made it's way out of his arm, right out the center of the circles on his palm. He waved it about, made it liquid, and drew it right back into his hand. It was harder, yes, but only because the circles were gone. He didn't need to look, that was something he just accepted. He used the change in difficulty as a comparison, and he'd make the same comparison again soon enough.

[Reaver]

Again, he focused inward. His Djed, he knew what it was, what he could do with it. If the rock had any chance to show him anything, it was through Djed. He focused on the rock, and what he just did. He pictured it again, and everything about it. He then, focused on his Djed once again, and sent that to the rock. It had to know that, as well. It was silly, he knew, for one had to have Res in your body to in order to make more of it. A rock can't learn this, no. But, maybe it was for the act of trying to teach it. He stopped there, no need to work more on it. It was silly enough to go that far, the idea was to see if the rock could do anything without his focus. He considered if he should have bought a scarf or something, at least that could move. Well, it was about practice, that and tests. If he could make a rock do anything, he would have quite an accomplishment on his hands. He moved back to his test. It was time to pull out Res again. He focused, and drew the res together. He moved that collection, again a small piece, down his arm once more. He let it sit within his hand a while, it could be stored like a poison waiting to strike. Such a dangerous art, but there were many in this world. He sent it out once again, forming Res out his finger this time. Again a gas, he swirled it around. With some focus, it found itself liquid, and absorbed once again, into his finger. It was harder again, the circles gone. He had new data to work with, and his tools will this improve.

[Reaver]

He had noticed a difference, though he needed a control. He needed two, in fact. He wiped the remains of the chalk markings off of his gauntlet. Time to finish his Res test. He drew out the Res from his palm again, noting the difficulty once again. A gas, turned liquid, turned back to Djed. It was a circle in itself. A final attempt, out the finger once again. Gas, liquid, Djed, and his test was done. He wrote down his results and observations. It was only a formality, however. Once written down, he dropped it to the top of his coffin. It was time for the last stage of his practice. He had a lot more drawing to do. Glyphs took lots of time, and he had many to draw this time. He started at his palm once again, slowly and carefully. Once done, his wrist. He had so many to do, and they took so long. He added many circles to the list. They were added to his forearm, right below and above the elbow, a bit higher again, and a final one right below the shoulder. Half-done. He had a similar list, all along the opposite side. Once he had the final circle along the back of his hand, he had prepared for his next task. It wasn't a test, he knew already, it was practice.

[Reaver]

No need for delay, he began to draw out his arm from his astral body. He drew it out all on the same side, so as only to 'spend' half of the many focus he drew down his arm. He had time to do it properly. He did it slowly, carefully. He found himself smiling again, as he found it much easier where he had the focus glyphs drawn. He wondered if barriers would hinder or altogether stop his ability to do so. Without complication, he now had one arm laying limp, leaving his other set of circles exposed. He spun his astral arm around, and tried to get a good look at where it was. He couldn't see it, but if he knew where it was maybe he could see something? No use, he moved on. He could feel it, he knew where it was, and that was enough. He lowered his astral arm onto the page laying below on the chest. Was he to lift it? No, he had something else in mind. He focused on his Djed once again, the very force he felt his astral body through. He sent it down his arm, not the limp one laying about, but his astral one. It was, much harder. In fact, he hadn't anticipated just how much harder it was, he had plenty of trouble. He set the hand against the page, stretching it out to cover as much as possible. He focused, turning the Djed gathered there to Res. Again, harder. He focused, it took much more effort then he thought. He moved the Res to finish covering the page. It was a thin liquid, but that was all he needed. An astral arm wouldn't burn, so there was no need to 'throw' the fire. He simply ignited it, letting the fire burn a little to insure the page was done. It was a good thing he didn't try this in combat first.

[Reaver]

One more step, returning the arm. He was fatigued, all that Res manipulation still had a cost, even ignoring the flaming page. He tried to look at it, only to find he couldn't lean far enough. His animation test was still ongoing, after all. He took time once more, putting his arm back was even harder, especially drained. His mind even wanted to continue testing, but was that his slight overbearing, or genuine desire to learn? Even the open circle had an impact, though small. He sighed, rather heavily. He continued to work on the arm. Rushing it would just lead to more issues, to he continued at his slow and steady pace. He got to the hand with little trouble, perhaps he should have put a set of focus marks on all his fingers, or several. All the same, the palm was simple enough. It took time, but it was still simple. He spent the longest on the fingers, however. A lesson for next time, they would be far easier with more circles, and those didn't cost him Djed. Each finger felt like it took twice the effort of the last, though he knew that wasn't true. He kept at it, no need to rush. If he was overgiving, he'd find some reason to remove the fingers instead. Once back in place, he had one thing to wrap up. Thankfully, it wasn't very likely to push him over the edge.

[Reaver]

An astral body, and his time limit wasn't expanding. What was that he said at the start of this training? All the time in the world? He had underestimated his course of action once again. Funny, isn't it? He pushed the thought aside, he had important things to work on. What would he make the rock do? What could he make the rock do? He had only one answer, nothing. He readied it to do just that. He made the astral body, but not like he normally would. Rather then let it simply match the form, leaving it small hard and unmoving, he decided to stretch what he could do for it. The whole experiment was about trying to make something out of doing it 'wrong,' why not try every step? He made it, mailable, like clay. Why not? It was more entertaining when throwing it could break the animation. Maybe if he could do that, he'd be able to try it again later. As for the shape, he sit it up right, and the added to it. Sure, it was a rock, all there and whole, but with arms that had no physical attachment to it. If he wasn't so tired, he might try teaching it how to move it's astral body, but he was far past that step. He finished it, giving it eight arms around it's form. An octopus rock, he even gave it a couple eyes and a mouth. Now he had something close to a spider rock, what did those have for eyes? Not that it mattered. He finished sealing it off. He got off the table onto the coffin, the page quite burnt. There was now some black marks on his coffin, but it was durable, and would last. He looked to his rock once again, he rather enjoyed the astral form. It was too bad he couldn't see it, or he might find it humorous to leave around. He had made an attachment to the rock, time to do something with it. One more test, perhaps. He walked outside, and dropped it into the lake. If that attachment was more then physical, he'd find it next time he was down there. One more test, but not today. Today, he had some sleeping to do... Right after he cleaned off all the chalk.

[Verilian]

Reaver +3 Drawing +2 Animation +3 Reimancy +3 Glyphing +2 Projection You Question My Logic? : Drawing: After some discussion with other storytellers, we determined that you only get glyphing XP for actually using the glyphs in some way, but the act of drawing them still goes to drawing. A post by post breakdown of how and why each point of Xp was awarded can be seen below: (As always, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to PM me.) +1 Drawing for drawing circles in post 1 +1 Animation for the soulcore building and stuff in post 2 +1 Drawing for drawing circles within circles in post 3 +1 Reimancy in post 4 +1 Glyphing for using the glyphs to ease the flow of res in post 4 +1 Reimancy in post 5 +1 Glyphing in post 5 same reasoning +1 Reimancy for practicing without glyphs in post 6 +1 Drawing for drawing glyphs in post 6 +1 Projection in post 7 +1 Glyphing for using glyphs to help reattach arm in post 7 +1 Reimancy in post 7 +1 Projection reattaching in post 8 +1 Animation for creating the astral body in post 9 Mild Overgiving: Due to the Djed already expended earlier in the thread and the complexity of combining Reimancy and Projection, Reaver has suffered overgiving. His arm will randomly twitch at times, usually when trying to perform complex tasks, and sometimes release spurts of res which may or may not randomly ignite. The res expulsion should fade by around the 20th of Winter, 511 AV, and the twitching will last until the 30th. This has been added to your Storyteller secrets thread. Lores: Circle Drawing Proficiency: CompetentAll the circle drawing Reaver has done has finally added up. He can draw circles of any size with basic competency., Glyphing Technique: Ease of Casting[/oocReaver has learned to use glyphs to ease the flow of res from his body, as well as easing the detatchment of his astral body, Projection Technique: Projected ReimancyReaver has learned to project Reimancy through his astral body., Projection Technique: Detaching an Arm, Projection Technique: Reattaching an Arm, Animation Technique: Building a Custom Astral BodyReaver has learned to create an astral body that does not fit it's physical body., Spider Rock - Mark 1 Notes: You may have noticed that the "logic" portion of this grade was a lot more detailed than usual. This is a result of a discussion the Storytellers have been having in an attempt to make us better at grading, and also to emphasize the importance of Lore in Miz. If you notice I didn't load you up with a ton of silly lore, but mostly gave you relevant ones. All of my thread grades probably won't have as much detail in their explanations (unless you guys like it) but its just something I am trying out for now and you are the first. Anyway, now to the critique. First, you know I love you and am a big fan. Great job as always! Just try to remember that at such low skill levels it is very dangerous to combine disciplines as you did in this thread. You are free to do it, but the risks are great. Also I was kind of confused as to what you were trying to do with the rock so if I missed anything let me know. And creating the tentacles and stuff is probably also a more advanced technique, although I do believe it is possible. All in all, an interesting little thread and I hope to see Reaver become a powerful mage one day. With your creative mind I am sure you will come up with all sorts of cool things to do. PS: I included descriptions of some of the lores but you need not include them if you don't want to.