To Craft, To Enlighten, To Change (Wrenmae)

by **Rayage** on May 25th, 2012, 1:59 am

Spring 67 512 AV

The nuit had set the circle, wide and broad it spanned the empty expense of the little get away outside Sunberth. The circle had been constructed, the chargers placed, and now all that was missing was half the supplies he needed to do the actual experiment. The idea came to him one day and now he was finally going to do it. Yes, no longer will he be wearing this bulky cloak with isurian steel plates in it, well he might for the added protection, for he will create something worthwhile and something to please him and suit his needs. Of course, he bought materials to do five cloaks. Scratched on notes was the formulas needed to complete the transmutation. To make something ordinary and turn it extraordinary that was his power, that was the power of alchemy.

In the faint firelight bars glistened in the night. Days ago he had went to the forge and ordered eighty five bars of steel be made. He was on good terms with the shop owner there, as it was the same place who gave him the great robes. Curious as to what the nuit was doing with such a large order Ray had no choice but to tell him his ambitions, to make the steel have properties of the cloth. He went into little detail, and made it seem as mundane as possible as to avoid rising any major suspension. Really, the forge should just be glad to be getting his business so soon after the storm hit. Miza was scarce nowadays…

Now all the nuit waited for was the cloth scarves he had ordered. Wrenmae should be back with those anytime now. It only took him all day to haul the bars to this secluded location, and while the nuit was glad for his help, he was a little put off by how long this was taking. No doubt the human wanted to learn something out of this too. Crossing his arms he looked down at the circle before pricking his finger and activating it. He had to figure out the polarity of the circle before he used it. That would be most helpful.

This circle was a bigger one. Perhaps the biggest one he had used in a while. It spouted four founts and four filters each and reached quite the diameter. Slowly flowing his energy through the circle he felt it out mentally deciding based on the pull and the feel of the djed as it passed which side was which. Noting, he stood up and marked the fount side with a stone placed just outside the circle. Now everything was ready and all that was needed was the scarves. Where was that human?

Expenses :

by **Wrenmae** on May 26th, 2012, 10:21 am

He held the cloth underneath one arm, stepping smartly through the streets of Sunberth. Night had fallen across the city and filled its ends with looming claws and shapes. Each and every one held a face, a threat, even those who hid from the darkness around them had their hidden claws that glittered by the moonlight.

Rayage had asked to meet outside of Sunberth, and honestly Shroud would have liked to be there before the sun had set. Regrettably, dealing with the cloth merchant was nothing short of frustrating. One would think purchasing a few cotton scarves wouldn't be an issue, but apparently after the Djed storm, shipping had taken a considerable blow. The merchant was living off of what he had out in the store, nothing in the stores and no sign of a new shipment till the docks had been completely repaired.

Supply and demand logistics demanded he try to sell the scarves to Shroud for an exorbitant price, but it wasn't anything some hypnotism work hadn't solved. First he created the memory of him in the shop earlier with children, the Sunberth orphans he had been 'caring' for while they shopped the wares. He followed it up with a flash of sympathy, even longing for a legacy of his own, appealing to his sense of pity. The last was a manufactured memory of being across the street earlier in the day and spending precious mizas on another scalper.

It was easy to procure the scarves at their normal price then, but annoying to use his Hypnotism to do it. Most of the Sunberthians were better about their swindling, but the fabric merchant was a desperate man.

They all were, somewhere inside.

Stepping from the darkness, Shroud strode into the firelight by Rayage's circle and watched him quietly. Holding out the scarves, he laid them on the cloaks and walked to the edge of the circle, memorizing its design.

"Supplies are short these days," he offered, "Took me a little while longer to retrieve the materials."

He let Rayage work, waiting for the nuit to take a momentary break from his work before speaking again.

"Alchemy, the process of changing a substance...this circle is essential for the transmutation?"

by **Rayage** on May 26th, 2012, 7:52 pm

The nuit listened to the mans words and almost laughed. ”Supplies are short.” he muttered, ”The merchant said he would have them ready.” he continued his calculation, making note not to give his business to the merchant again. What a disappointment. He shook his head, but now everything was present to begin the first round of the investigation to creation exactly what he needed. Perfect.

Going over to where the cloth scarves were set, he took one out of the stack and looked it over in the firelight. The make wasn’t the best, but it was what gold could buy, and so shortly after the storm too… He judged them to be suitable for his experiments as he felt the coarse fabric under his decaying hands. Not the best, but it would work. ”Yes,” Rayage answered Wrenmae, ”Alchemy is the art of change, of transformation, and is like any world magic: bound by the circle. This is the alter of my craft.” he told him looking down at the alchemy circle.

Taking the cloth scarf in his hand he placed it in the center of the circle. ”Are you ready to make a dream come true?” he asked, turning to the other, ”Tonight,” he said, crossing his arms, ”Tonight the first step will be taken to making something truly spectacular.” Nothing was going to stop them from completing this now. No. Everything was going to change tonight, and tonight was the beginning of a new partnership. ”Soon, I will craft the steel cloth robe, and it is all thanks to you.” he said with a snake-like smile. ”I couldn’t have carted all of this” he gestured to the bars and the cloth barely illuminated in the glint of the fire, ”without your help.”

The whole time he was talking he was moving towards the bars of steel, picking one up, he shuffled over to the circle and placed it on the side of the fount, the positive side marked with the stone. Walking back to the pile of steel he picked another one up, ”These get heavy.” he said ”when your body is constantly decaying.” he continued to the edge of the circle, placing another bar into alchemy circles equation. ”Unfortunately, there is nothing I can quite do about this yet.” he said. Yet. That was the key word. One day this unfortunate condition will be lifted from him. He repeated this process two more times, filling up the positive side of his alchemy circle with steel bars.

Taking a couple steps back, he took a moment to examine the alchemy circle, ”This is but the first step.” he said, ”What is it that you hope to gain from accompanying me?” he asked continuing the process of Alchemy, taking out his dagger he showed it to the man, before stabbing the very tip of his finger. As the ichor started to seep out of the broken skin he walked over to the keystone and crouched, placing his hand on it…

by **Wrenmae** on June 4th, 2012, 9:54 pm

Shroud leaned outside the circle, against a tree and watched the nuit with an amused half smile. Since their partnership and Mok's mysterious disappearance, Shroud was finding that he liked the nuit's crafty fox-like demeanor. Always kept him on his toes, after all. The experiment could easily be him. "Merchant felt he could drive up his pre-set prices based on shortage," the killer commented with a shrug, "His only sin was in driving them too high. I expected a discrepency, it's the Sunberth way, but he asked too much and I responded appropriately." A grin. "He yet breathes, not that it's any concern to you."

He watched the preparation, noting the perfect shape of the circle, what was inside, the way the nuit worked. If he was to learn a similar art, it wouldn't do to let such small details escape him. Personally, Shroud had found no merit in the magic until Rayage had explained the steel-cloaks. If his hypothesis yielded success...perhaps this lucrative magic would yet interest the hypnotist. "World magic and always with circles," Shroud commented wryly, "Glyphing and Malediction...the ones I know at least."

As Rayage entered the circle again, Shroud bent to take a few ingots and placed them nearer to the circle, less effort for the old nuit in the end. In their time together, extensively over the last near thirty days, their relationship had become less of mutual benefit and more something of a wary companionship. Shroud filled in for the things Rayage struggled with. He was young, alive, ruthless...it helped that his goals and Rayage's aligned on the same cusp of advancement, no matter the cost.

Zeltiva was in their shared future...something the nuit wanted to accomplish over there. Personally, Shroud found the prospect pointless. What could one accomplish away from this city of anarchy that would mean anything? His shop would be left guarded but unmanned, a child with no animating life. Strange his employer had pushed so hard to get it done only to leave.

Strange indeed.

"My participation was but a small, essential, part," Shroud commented with a short bow, circling the edges of the alchemy boundry, "Learning alchemy and working with a fellow like you has been its own payment for those services."

He paused in front of Rayage, staring at him across the flickering and leaping shadows of their defined territories.

"That body is soon for the grave, would you like help procuring another?" The nuit he had run into, the one that forced him to sell a child and a Konti, that creature had mentioned taking a new body. Would the old man even make the journey as he was? Salty sea air was murderous to a corpse, the summer worse and it was quick on the horizon. Already temperatures were rising, the air growing more humid.

"I hope to accomplish power, Rayage, the sort of power I can use to achieve any of my ambitions. For that I will follow you. You've survived hundreds of years, certainly there is merit in finding out how." He leaned back against another tree, breathing through his nose.

"But if we go to Zeltiva, there is something you will need to know about me...something essential."

by **Rayage** on July 18th, 2012, 8:29 am

The nuit was thankful for the mans intervention in the moving of the bars. Ray could do it alone, but it would take longer. The less effort he would have to put in the better it would be for everyone. Though, unlike humans and other races, the nuit did not get tired. Being weary was only a state of mind, not a state of body, but having a weary state of mind is just as dangerous, if not more so, than possessing a weary state of body. There were more consequences in the magical world for a lapse of judgment than there were for the lapse of body, if that makes any sense.

Rayage made note of the mans words, of how he talked, and he nodded at the mention of the magical disciplines, ”I am, sadly, only familiar with glyphing.” he said, ”I once wished to know all the magics, but then I realized.” he stopped observing the circle, ”One cannot be truly great at something if they aim to learn it all. Spread yourself too thin and you will never master anything.” he said, ”To master something, to truly know it, one must dedicate their life to their art. Alchemy is my art. I will master it.”

The Alchemist would nod at the mention of the new body. ”Yes,” he nodded, ”a new body would be welcome, but” he put a finger in the air, ”I have no time for that right now. Right now, I need to focus on the process at hand if we want those special cloaks.” he told him, frowning a bit as he carried on, grabbing a scarf from the pile of them, and putting it in the middle of the circle. ”This is the process of Alchemy.”

He turned to the circle, ”Now watch the glorious process of change.” he announced, taking a dagger from the folds of his cloak, pricking a finger on the left hand he advanced to the keystone, ”Behold.” he made a show of it, holding the wound over keystone and turning his hand over so the ichor dripped onto the surface. With that, foot firmly planted on the stone, he grinned feeling the almost instant connection to the djed of the objects within the circle. There will be no need for filters here. He wanted all of the steel to become one with the cloth. Together there it will be the perfect battle material. ”What is that you needed to tell me?” he asked half concentrating on the circle, and half concentrating on the conversation at hand.

When what needed to be said was said, then the nuit would fully concentrate on the task at hand. The djed he commanded marched with some effort around the circle. It was a slow process, even with his full concentration. It was just the circle was bigger. He had never before used such a big circle. It was, well, to say the least a different feeling.

He moved further inward, silencing his mind the best he could, he needed to concentrate solely on moving the energy. He needed to feel it move, and command it. He needed to feel the sway of the circles power, and accelerate the energy, use the energy to excite a positive change in the substance which is designated the target. That was, after all, the basics of Alchemy.

Time ticked by, and the nuit needed more and more concentration. The circle needed to move faster. The energy needed to flow unrestricted around the circle. Faster and faster the energy moved as the nuit willed it to be. Rayage, who had almost mastered his art, had such a higher command of the energy that a problem like this should be nothing, though it presented something. It was the first time that he used that big of a circle, and he found, as time went on, such a circle demanded more concentration and a careful watch over the powers that twirl around. One slip and the stream could disconnect from the circle as a whole and the pure energy of change could warp, or highly damage something else, an unintended target. That would be unfortunate.

The Alchemist quickly found his thoughts straying from watching the energy to what would happen if he messed up. Pushing them out of his head he found himself correcting the alchemical flow. Cursing he struggled a bit to get the energy back in line with the circle; he could not allow such folly to happen again. He was messing up, and he would not look like some fool alchemist in front of Shroud, that was for sure. Their relationship had been beneficial so far, he did not want to seem like a weak link.

After some time there would seem to be quite a show going on with the Alchemy circle, the energy hummed audibly and its power could be felt in the air. It could not only be heard and felt, but a circle of blinding light could be seen as well. The subtle djed was traveling at such speeds that it in itself was transformed and mixed. All the properties of the steel were under the nuits fine control, and with that he took a step off the keystone, forcing the energy to the center, and watched the final explosion of light. Shielding his eyes from the light, he smiled, ”Now, this is only the first step.” he said, smile turning to grin as he walked up to the now Steel scarf. Picking it up with some effort he put it in the bucket of water and let it sit.

”Now we only have to do this process three more times, using the product of this transmutation as the target.” he announced, as he started to ready for the second reaction, ”This time, if you care to, you can help me control the alchemical flow.”

by **Wrenmae** on September 5th, 2012, 3:13 am

Shroud watched Rayage begin the transformation, focusing on every little detail of the process. The keystone, the elements in the center, the way alchemy was explained. It wasn’t simply the process of change, it was the river of possibility. Nothing was truly lost in the exchange, just warped and shifted. If what Rayage was explaining to him was correct, Alchemy was the process of assigning certain qualities inherent in one object to another. Somehow, with Djed, one was able to distill the intangible qualities that sometimes marked various materials and create new materials of those. It required blood, that much was a certainty, and the circle was a central concept…as with most World Magic he was somewhat familiar with. The details were in the way the Djed was met and flowed, the way it interacted. As always, magic was the process of telling your Djed to take another shape, to do a new task. In theory, that was what all magic really was. The creation of a discipline was the training of this intangible substance within ones body to solidify in some new purpose.

Tasking his eyes to see the flow of the magic, Shroud was rebuffed by his inadequate skill in the arts of auristics. There were too many details. The pattern of Rayage’s own cloak, the crumbling pallor of the skin hanging loosely to his bones, the shining glimmer of his ichor. It was all too much, at least for the novice. Hissing, Shroud turned briefly and banished the Djed seeking solace in his eyes. He would need to practice. His trouble was in seeing too much, not too little. His senses were overwhelmed by the magic.

I recommend maybe working on one at a time.

Good of you to show up, Zan.

I was always here, really. Kind of bored.

Not one for the pursuit of knowledge, are you?

Not one for watching a dead guy draw a circle.

It is a relief, then, that I am the acting wizard here.

Whatever.

Are you alright?

Not in a good mood. Carry on, carry on.

Zan fell into a sullen silence, and shaking his head, Shroud averted his eyes from the glare of new light when the transformation had occurred. At the edge of the circle, he followed it till he was nearer to Rayage. “Impressive, so we continue to make changes to the items till their properties are one…and then we have a cloak that weighs the same as wool, but yields the defense of steel. What a strange and marvelous art.” He winked at the nuit, “Rather well suited to your meager body as well…perhaps your fragility is another alchemical process you can transmute?”

Shrugging, the mage leaned back against a tree trunk, watching both his partner and the material recently transmuted. “When I came to Sunberth, first, I was captured and tortured…held for a season beneath the earth with neither light nor reason.” The memories burned an agonizing trail through his thoughts, he shook, briefly. “In that darkness I overgave and was born again. There are four of me now, four distinct personalities. I am Shroud, your partner. I am the only one of use to you. To keep me in control, Wrenmae must believe he is in danger. Assure me you will never allow me to be that…coward, and you have my service.” Looking away from Rayage, he kicked at a stone. It nearly crossed the line but stopped just short. “It is not a fact I give easily. I trust you to want a useful companion. I assure you, I am the only useful one of the four.”

Pushing off the tree he stepped up to the edge of the circle, hesitated, then stepped in. “Teach me this art, Rayage. It is something I think I would have great interest in pursuing.”

by **Rayage** on September 11th, 2012, 6:15 pm

The nuit listened to his partner as he talked about the powers of alchemy, ”Not quite.” he corrected, ”The resulting material at the end of this experiment will be a bit heavier than wool.” he told him, ”If only for the fact that the metal we are using weighs more than the wool itself.” he told him looking down at the material he set into the water. When he deemed it long enough he took it out and set it back into the circle again, it being the target as usual.

Never stopping the work he was doing the nuit was still listening, ”So you were born again from the darkness that housed you?” he asked, finding something humorous about that, ”And you are the only useful one.” he took a minute to digest his words, thinking on them a little more. His mind has already shattered to overgiving. How unfortunate. Luckily, he still seemed competent even after revealing that to the nuit. Perhaps he could still be of some use. ”I cannot promise that you will be in control always. I will not be a babysitter.” he told him turning to face him, ”However,” he started, ”I will be sure that you are yourself when you are around me, one way or another.” he hoped that was compromise enough. He had enough to worry about than watching over an overgiven wizard.

He once again busied himself in loading the circle with more steel bars. Four was the magic number, one for each fount slot. Simple, easy, though it took the nuit a minute being the slow undead creature he was. To balance this, he didn’t need to rest, waste his time with eating or sleeping. So despite his slower pace he could get a lot more done in one day than most wizards these days could. Seeing the man step to the circle the nuit nodded, very well, he will help with this transmutation if only to get a feel for alchemy.

”Now that the circle is properly loaded.” he said silently accepting that he would teach Wrenmae the art of Alchemy, ”You must shed your blood upon the keystone.” he pointed to the stone at the man’s feet, ”It is the price us Alchemists pay for control over the circle. A common price in world magic, mind you.” he said. It was nothing, no nothing compared to what they had to gain for this to work, ”Once the blood has been placed upon the stone keep your hand there.” he said, ”It is through physical contact with the circle that one gains mastery over the objected enveloped within. Once contact is broken control is futile.“ he said, futile for his amount of skill. It could easily go out of control… ”When I tell you, take your hand off the circle and back up. If you can follow a simple direction then I will allow you to participate.” he said.

The nuit placed his hand on the keystone and waited for Wrenmae to pay the price and ready himself, ”Alchemy takes concentration.” he said looking over the circle at his partner, ”If you lose concentration on the djed flux untold happening could happen. The Djed could jump right off the circle and fly, colliding with something and utterly destroying it. We wouldn’t want that something to be you. Though, for this transmutation, I will be here. You are to clear your mind and feel how it’s done as I do the manipulating of the circle.” Giving the man a feel as to what it’s like to control the energy, just a small taste, will help him get a feel for alchemy more of his level.

”Concentrate on the feeling and let it take you.” he said, and with that he began to will the djed into motion. The subtle dance of energy around the circle has begun, and it was to be led by Rayage. The energy creeped around the circle, flowing around and through it, going from fount to fount to fount to fount to un-impeding and empty filter. Soon it would pass through the other half, reaching Wrenmae, and then lap around. It started out slow as did all Rayages transmutations. He was not one to force flow into a steady speed, no, he had a pace of his own, an immortals pace. One that knew he had all the time in the world. The energy trickled at his will slow and steady, but it was also gaining speed. Yes, it quite evident that the wizard had supreme control over the energies flowing within. ”Become the circle.” he talked, ”Let it be an extension of your very soul.” he said, ”If you do this, put your entire being in every transmutation, your heart, your mind, your spirit, there is no way the results will be lame.” he said, leaving out all the trial and error he had done to prefect the formulas which he had come up with.

Falling inward once more he sped up the circle, willing the djed to dance faster and faster to the tune of his thoughts. His mind was supreme here and it was here that he could control things the best. With the energy lifting from the objects in the Founts, Wrenmae would be able to see, if he bothered to look, the transformation of the steel which was used. It too was slowly losing its identity. It was becoming less and less like steel and more and more like something undefined, without purpose, without identity. Those defining traits were being absorbed by the circle as more djed was forced around the space, more and more energy was being ripped from the objects and added to the transmutation. That was alchemy, which is power.

More and more the nuit concentrated, if he was looked upon one would be able to see his face twisted and contorted with a rather odd look. A smile was present, happiness but also intense concentration. Faster yet the djed flowed and wavered around the circle, the dance increasing in its pace and speed. It seemed that it was coming to its conclusion, its climax, its abrupt end. No more will the steel be steel, but something different, something weird, odd, and undefined. This was the magic of change, the magic of manipulation, the power to control and alter the very essence of things…. This was Alchemy and its power is absolute.

Faster and faster and faster and faster yet, the energy hummed in the air as the djed flux became visible once more. The once invisible dance had become so all can see, that was just how fast the energy was moving. More and more it was willed, and faster and faster it responded. This was it, this was the end. ”Shroud, now.” The alchemist yelled, the circle wavering for just a bit as the nuits concentration was broken. That was it, take his hand off the circle. ”Get back.” he said waiting for the man to follow his instruction before he ended the reaction, taking his own hand off the keystone and wiling the flux of power to the center.

Again, another flash and it was over. After the small light show, ”Now, take the item and put it in the water.” he pointed to the water source, ”this is one of the most important steps. Go. Don’t hesitate.” he said expecting the man to hurry over to the Target, pick it up and place it in the water. Ray wanted the man to feel the pulse of power of a newly transmuted item in his own hands.

by **Wrenmae** on September 19th, 2012, 4:35 am

“I’m not asking you to be my babysitter,” Shroud growled, shooting a glare at the nuit, “Just make sure I’m me when you see me. Threatening my life should do it, not something I think you’re unfamiliar with.” Pressing beside the nuit, Shroud let the subject drop and pricked his finger on the blade of his long dagger. The blood paused there, welling into a crimson bead before he pressed it against the keystone, channeling his Djed through it. Similar to Malediction, blood worked as the agent of transformation. Was it that this liquid, above other liquids, carried the vital processes to channel Djed…much as water would channel lightning? No…certainly not, the nuit provided a strange white substance, the Ichor that fills their kind as a substitute. Could tears have been used, or even saliva? Thinking about it, the idea seemed ludicrous. Of those, ichor and blood were the vital substances in both their bodies. Churning and flowing, they were as individual to the being as their own faces.

Once his finger was pressed to the keystone, he let the energy take him. He pushed himself through his own body, feeding his concentration down through the pressed finger into the keystone. The energy sparked, began to undulate, crawled along the outside of the circle…slow at first, but then gaining speed. Djed was being draw out of him, pushing into faster and faster revolutions of the circle. The shock of the feeling was nearly enough to stagger the murderer, but he held firm until Rayage gave the signal. He only hesitated a half moment, wrenching his finger from the connection as the revolutions hummed around him and Djed filled the air with a faints smell of something burning. A white flash, the object in the center of the circle glowed and faded.

Without a word, the hypnotist picked up the object and dropped it into the water with a soft splash, looking for it among the dark currents before turning back to Rayage.

“I can see why you like this, alchemist…what other things have you made? What things do you dream of making?”

by **Rayage** on September 28th, 2012, 2:57 am

The best way to teach was by example. By doing it showed understanding of the process and willingness to learn and comprehend the subject matter. To the nuit there was no better way. Sure he could lecture on about the history of alchemy and how its performance has declined since the valterrian, but he did not think this man would be interested in history lessons. Most men are not. Most men are only interested in results, the end product. He could preach about his art and ideals, but he wouldn’t. No, now wasn’t the time and they were not in the University of Zeltiva.

The nuit looked at what they had created in the water. It was starting to take shape nicely. The perfect medium is what they were after. Two more times they were to do the same process, and then they would start a new formula. The symbols were filling his head as he mentally wrote out the different steps that they had done already. Yes, two more times should do it, then they should work on the cloth-metal… Or giving cloth the properties of metal. Of course, then they would combine both end results to create the charger to add to the actual cloak. Ten steps for one cloak. What a lot of work, but it would be worth it! Of that he was sure.

Turning to the man, Ray laughed, ”Shroud,” he said, ”This alchemy is what I consider to be mundane.” he told him, ”Usually I research more interesting subjects. You see, I want to warp and recreate life itself.” he told him his goal, ”My dream is to create what others before me have called a homunculus. A new race, given life and purpose by the means of Alchemy. Perhaps,” he said, ”I can even grant myself life again.” he mused. He had yet to fully understand the forces that he played with, and he doubt that he ever would. ”I must admit, I have not dabbled much in inanimate objects.” he said, but the alchemist was still comfortable with his skill, ”but I can tell you it’s much easier than working with live subjects.” he said.

”You, load the circle again.” he instructed, ”You have seen me do it twice, it’s your turn. Let’s see if you were really paying attention.” he told him in a challenging tone changing the subject, ”When that is done get ready for round three.” he smiled, stepping back into position by the circle waiting for it to be loaded. Once that task is done the nuit again touched the stone, and felt the high of the djed, of the control he had over the energies within. What will come of this change? How far will he have to go and how far is he willing to go? The nuit says he could go the entire way, but does he really have in him? Only time will tell.

Again he concentrated on the circle, activating it, awakening and drawing out the properties that he wanted for this task. Nothing else would do. Complete awareness of the circle. He needed to be complete, and he did not feel complete without alchemy. It was his love now, it was his life, it is his power, and with it he will lead a revolution of change. For good or for bad, he care not, for those concepts are far too human, and he is above them all.

ooc :

by **Wrenmae** on November 14th, 2012, 1:46 am

Watching the flash of light, Shroud averted his eyes. Standing outside the circle again, he nodded to Rayage when he stepped out as well. The request was for him to load the circle himself, to begin the alteration. Crossing his arms, the murderer took a moment to consider what the nuit was asking him. With his meager skill in Alchemy from what he'd learned this evening, making a change on the scale the nuit wanted would likely be difficult, perhaps even impossible.

But Shroud was not one to show weakness, especially so close to Sunberth. That place was a leech that fed on the weakness of all mankind, anyone who dared to walk the streets. With care, the hypnotist removed the product from the water and laid it in the place Rayage had put it each time before.

He followed with the steel bars, setting them in the places so familiar to him now by this step. Glancing back at his companion, the young man drew his dagger and cut his thumb in a single motion. Blood stained the dark earth beneath them, intermingling with shadows and dirt.

Stepping up to the keystone, Wrenmae knelt and held his thumb before it a moment. He concentrated, pulling Djed into his eyes and awakening his auristics. It might help him if he were to study the motion of Djed when it began. Circles, always circles, spin the power round and round.

His vision began to sharpen, clouds of Djed opening his eyes to things he otherwise might not have seen. The circle was clear to him in the darkness, as was the inert focus stone. The product, just a ways behind him, still shone with an alchemical radiance dancing off the completed item.

Sucking in his breath, Wrenmae pressed his thumb to the keystone. At first there was nothing, just the cold kiss of stone on his flesh, but as Wrenmae pressed his thumb, he simultaneously pushed his Djed through the blood and into the keystone, passing it toward his left to follow the motion of the circle. At first, the motion was slow, sluggish, a pondering gait as it made its first circuit. Shroud followed it with his auristics, marking the sparking Djed as it wavered and swam. He focused, pulling it around in an almost painful wheel, spinning it through the keystone again and adding more Djed as it shuffled into the circle once more. It was moving faster now, thrumming along the lines drawn by Rayage as it moved. Inside the circle, the objects were beginning to glow faintly, responding to the alchemical draw. Around the circuit of Djed came again, and Wrenmae once more pushed his Djed into the mix. It was beginning to grow harder for him to control the revolutions, the path grew erratic, dancing just in and out of the line.

"Rayage!" He called out, thumb pressed firmly to the keystone, "A little assistance would not go amiss!"