A short walk

[Clyde Sullins]

3 Winter 511 Clyde was heading on his way out of the city. He needed a bit of peace and quiet. Maybe he would practice a bit of magic, maybe just rest in nature... or try and meditate, and strengthen his mind... Whatever he did, it would be best to get away for awhile. He was still in city city, in its nice temperate climate. Though once he got outside, it would get colder. It was still early enough in winter it would not be at its coldest, but still nippy, so he was glad he had his robes to help keep out the chill. He was not really paying that much attention to his surroundings. Of course he was watching when he neared other people. Making sure they did not pull something on him. Try and rob or stab him. That would not be good. But he felt more or less safe, and just made his way to the outskirts of town.

[Flynn Maidrus]

Flynn peered at the book, one of the things that piqued her daily curiosity, in her hands held up by her Soulmist. She had found it by the gray cobblestones next to a trinket stall, ignored and left alone. It had stayed there for a couple days. The vendor, a portly man, said it wasn’t his, so she promptly claimed it rather eagerly, eyes alight and hands twitching. Flynn looked at the book with a small frown, disappointed that the chicken-scratches that filled the rather sparse pages of the journal were quite hard to make out. She had been wandering around, as usual, looking for trouble. Having no use for it, she was on her way to return it to its usual spot before someone else caught her curiosity. Flynn spotted Clyde taking a route that would later lead him out the edge of the city. Was he leaving? She knew he didn’t live in the city if he was boarding at Tarin’s. She wondered if it was rather rude to start bothering him, but she resolved there was nothing rude with saying hello! Flynn materialized and floated over to him, doing pirouettes and cartwheels, ending with a back-flip. Spinning around on her heel, she opened her arms and bowed as if expecting applause. She was feeling a bit less lack-luster today. “What’s up, Clyde?”

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde had simply been walking along, minding his own business, the gentle thump of his staff hitting the ground every few steps could be heard. It was just as his staff was about to hit the ground in fact, as he was caught off guard by someone he had not noticed. He was surprised as Flynn popped out of nowhere, being overly dramatic, and greeted him, saying “What’s up, Clyde?” He had not been considering the fact that a ghost might pop up, and had been more focused on the people, and where he was going. He was so caught off guard, that he jumped a bit, and his staff slipped, making him nearly fall flat on his face. Luckily he got a hand up, and stopped himself, though it hit the ground rather hard, getting scratched up, and he tumbled, and landed on his chest, arms a splay, and his staff rattling away as he lost his grip. "Petch!" Clyde said, his hand smarting pretty good. He looked up at Flynn, getting a good look at her, though she seemed the same as the last time he saw her. Ghosts did not change to much over time. "Can you not pop up on me like that? Maybe be a bit more discrete? You nearly scared the petch out of me!" Clyde got up, looking over at Flynn, this time a small grin coming over his face, as his temper was going down as the pain in his hand dulled. He looked around, trying to see were his staff had gone, when he fell, but he was not entirely sure... It could not have gotten to far... Hopefully it had not fallen into the lake... "But it is nice to see you again Flynn... What have you been up to since we last met? And did you have any particular reason for approaching me? Or just to say hello. I was going out of the city for a bit, just to get away. Would you perhaps like to come with me?"

[Flynn Maidrus]

He’s too easily startled, Flynn thought with a bemused expression on her face, eyebrows raised. She looked at Clyde’s form hugging the ground and thought it was rather a spectacular display of carelessness. What if he was mugged? She failed to factor in the fact that she had appeared out of nowhere. Flynn could not deny the little bit of mirth that she felt from spooking him and people in general. “Petch! Can you not pop up on me like that? Maybe be a bit more discrete? You nearly scared the petch out of me!” She admittedly felt a bit wounded at that— she hadn’t gotten used to the adverse reactions she got when spooking people. She only meant well. Flynn saw that Clyde was searching for his staff and floated up in the air a few more feet to get a better aerial view. After spotting it, she picked it up with her Soulmist, dropping the journal in the process. Cursing herself for the rookie mistake, she dismissed it as a lost cause. Flynn floated the staff over to Clyde, eying the small smile on his face. Huh. “It’s nice to see you as well, Clyde! I haven’t been up to much, just,” she waved her arms about here, not wanting to say she’d been moping about, one of the worst things about being a ghost, “nosing around, I guess. Small ghostly adventures. It’s awfully convenient being incorporeal. Yes, just saying hello. And I’d love to join you on an adventure outside the city!” Her grin perked up a bit at that.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde gave her a quick nod, and said "thanks", as she gave him back his staff. He almost thought in his head handed him the staff, but technically that was not true, since she had no hands, and could not grasp things... But he was once more getting off topic, and getting a bit distracted, which had been happening ever more as of late... His thoughts were just to chaotic at times, to hard to keep in line. He had not really meant so much of an adventure, more really of a short trip, just to get out of the hustle of the city... He doubted much of anything would happen, he was not planning to go far enough out of the city for that to be a big risk. Just enough so he was out of prying eyes, and able to truly be alone, without feeling like he was being watched... Though come to think of it, he did possibly have a ghost stalking him, or just "running into him by chance." Maybe she had been the one watching him? It was hard to tell. Though he did not recall any sudden chills and such as often meant ghosts nearby. Though that only really worked indoors... "Sure, you can come along, it might be nice having you come along and give me some company. Just heading out this way, follow me." Clyde quickly led her out of the city, walking at his normal fast pace, letting her float along behind, or however she liked to move. Once he felt he was far enough away form the city so he would not be seen, and had a decent amount of tree cover nearby, he chose a small spot, which was barren of any grass. It would make for a nice fire pit. "All right, I am going to start a fire, you can help collect some wood if you want. Just gather it over here, and I will get it going." Of course he really was not that good at lighting fires by hand, and once he had a decent bit of wood piled up, he would leak a small gaseous globule of res out of his hands, trying to make it look like he was shifting something in his hands or the fire. He formed a ball about twice the size of a marble, and let it soak into the wood, before muttering "Vaknut", the verb for fire in the ancient tongue. Upon saying it, the wood would burst into a good flame, crackling and burning. Maybe he had used a bit to much res, hopefully Flynn would not be suspicious...

[Flynn Maidrus]

Flynn nodded at Clyde’s assent and started trailing not far behind. It was hard to track where Clyde was going sometimes, though he was walking at a decent pace. Her eyes simply got side-tracked by the littlest things. She could easily picture scenes and events, so she had quite the habit of staring to commit things to memory. Finally they stopped at what seemed to be a nicely shaded place. At Clyde’s words she wordlessly started to pick up medium sized branches with her Soulmist. Flynn could only pick up one or two at a time, or else she would end up dropping them like before, like with the staff and the journal. Because of that, she didn’t add much to the pile, though she was lackluster in her efforts anyway. At the small burst of fire from Clyde’s hands, she raised an eyebrow. Flint and matches only produced a tiny flame, she knew from personal experience. Oh yeah, Clyde’s a magic user, isn’t he? She briefly wondered what would happen if she projected her Soulmist against the fire, as if to pick it up. It wouldn’t burn her, would it? Flynn wondered if she could perhaps juggle globes of fire, before abstaining, deciding on caution. Soulmist was a pain to regenerate. Maybe she would stop by Cookies and Scream at Black Rock next season, she heard that they served pints of Soulmist there. It was an interesting concept. She had to wonder why they decided to stop here and light a small campfire. Flynn was under the impression Clyde was going to practice his magic or to exit the city to get some peace of mind. But if it was the latter, he wouldn't have accepted her proposal to tag along. Were they waiting for something? She hovered over to Clyde. “What is that you’re suppose to do here?”

OOCTesting and end of the year projects are happening in this week and the next, so I might be with late my posts.

[Clyde Sullins]

Flynn seemed quite helpful, bringing reasonably sized branches over to the stack he was making. It took a bit, but after awhile, he finally got enough to make his fire to keep him warm... Since Flynn did not really have much need for warmth, being incorporeal, he supposed the flame was just for him... Though it was always a good idea to stay warm... “What is that you’re suppose to do here?” Well that was an odd question... "Well, we are far enough away from the city, that we will not be interrupted likely... I can't really do much in the city... It is not a good idea to advertise my... Skills..." Clyde smiled at her, not really sure what she expected of him. "I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing here? What exactly do you expect to see? " He could do quite a few things... But he was not completely certain of what he aught to do... Something she would be able to actually discern... "I have been working on some new rock tricks..."

[Flynn Maidrus]

Rock tricks? Well, they couldn’t be as boring as Clyde made it sound. It sounded like he was about to show her some magic tricks, actually! Flynn smiled at him, and shrugged. “Just going along with whatever you’re doing, or practicing my ghostly tricks, I guess,” she wiggled her fingers at Clyde as if to scare him. “I.. don’t know exactly what to expect? An accidental forest-fire, maybe? Fire is pretty hard to control, I imagine. I was just thinking if you were exiting Ravok, it must be something cool or magic-related.” Flynn scuffled her feet against the forest floor self-consciously, foot disappearing through the dirt. She would be embarrassed if she was totally wrong. She was, in general, a really good guesser after all. Having luck in all the little things seemed to be her talent. “Am I right?” Flynn gestured with her hands a booming movement, as if picturing fire Res exploding. She then wiggled her index and middle finger symbolizing a person running for cover, under the upright pillar of her other arm that was suppose to be a tree. ...She hoped she wasn't embarrassing herself.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde smiled once more... Cool or magic related... Well you could certainly say that... His magic was certainly interesting... Though not something he usually showed to "common" mortals, non-magical ones... Though with her being a ghost, he did not think she exactly fit the bill... "I suppose I could do something to fit the bill of that... And yes, fire is hard to control, by its very nature... It is the only element that naturally consumes, and grows. The rest are static, and stay as they are... But as you can see by this fire, it grows, but also constantly needs fuel." So, maybe he could show her a bit of magic... Though he did not want to show the full scope of his skill, how strong he really was... He could at least play it like he was not as strong as he was... So Clyde prepared, as he might have long ago when he was not as strong. He took out his ink and quill... Loaded the quill... And marked the palm of one hand, and then the other. And made a focus for each palm, a new design for him. It was a circle, with wavy lines encircling it... Some emanating from it... It seemed to fit, considering he was here in Ravok... Then he put his things away, and walked over to a rock on the ground, smiling over at Flynn real quick... Then he spread out his hands about a foot apart, palms facing, curling his fingers in a bit... It was easy enough, exuding a bit of gaseous res out of the palms of his hands... Focusing it in the center, into a ball... He smiled once more at Flynn, keeping his eyes on her, as he spoke, "alt", a word in the ancient tongue meaning up. As he did, he worked his res, using the word as a focus for his magic, a short incantation, to make the res attract earth to it... Which the closest things was the rock on the ground, along with some particles of dust. The rock hopped right up off the ground, to float with the chunk of res between his hands. He focused on it for a bit, letting the rock just float there... Then he coated the surface of the rock in more res, enveloping the rock inside of the cloud of res, letting res soak into the rock... And saying "vaknut", the word for fire, made the layer of res directly on the surface of the rock burst into flame, the rock seeming to glow with it. He kept both going, using the res to keep the rock floating, and burning. "So, how was that? A nice enough rock trick for you?" He smiled, imagining what Flynn had seen. Maybe that rock suddenly jumping up to between his hands was not to odd, considering she could do similar to that... But when it burst into flames, burning, that would be intriguing.

[Flynn Maidrus]

Flynn watched raptly as Clyde took out his quill and ink bottle. Was he going to spill the ink in a sigil path on the ground to summon fire? But he had a quill. Maybe he was going to write out some acrostic mnemonics to help him remember his chant? When he started drawing on his palms, Flynn became a bit confused. Wasn't that going to set the fire directly onto his palms? Flynn smiled back at Clyde, though distracted and more focused on what was happening to the rock. She could see his Djed! Was this what they called res? It seemed similar enough to Soulmist.. whoa! Soulmist did not burst into flames. She stared, fascinated, at the chunks of rock on the ground. "Did you convert your res into flame? How did that work? Does it summon fire from somewhere else?" She committed the words alt and vaknut to memory, though she couldn't ever use Reimancy herself. But maybe it would be useful one day. "So, how was that? A nice enough rock trick for you?" "Yeah! That was pretty cool." Her hand twitched by her side as if to clap. She physically couldn't. Flynn instead pantomimed clapping but felt it was silly to make sound effects, so she didn't.