Elemental Protection (Solo)

[Eridanus]

Day 44, Summer of 512 AV
Early Morning
Wysar's Shrine, The Temple of All Gods

It had been a day since the brutal spar with the honorable unranked knight, Ser Imass. Though he had sought divine medical aid from his Rak'keli Faithful companion, some of the sores still remain and he had grumbled. Still, the adrenaline of the moment had left with him with a good experience and he was glad to know someone of that caliber.

It had been two days since the creation of his complex base shield, and he felt that he had rested enough to attempt the second layer. Having visited the temple to formally pay his respects to his patron god of discipline and integrity, he knelt by the shrine, offering himself, his actions and his deeds for inspection should the deity wished to. Closing his eyes as he prepared his mind, he reflected upon his conduct since the blue-skinned god had granted him the holy gift of Evantia, rating himself accordingly and resolving to do better when he could.

Not leaving the place, he then decided to attempt his second feat in front of Wysar's Shrine, as a form of dedication to the God to showcase his discipline of mental clarity, and as a form of showing his preparation and for the god to bless him thus.

Turning his attention inwards, he began to familiar process of drawing out djed, extracting the astral resource with his mind as he shaped them around the invisible shield that was already present, enveloping his body. Imagining the idea of two metal plates being sealed by high temperatures, he applied this analogy to the two shields. Feeding djed to activate this process, some of the life essence was consumed in a release of energy, sealing the two djed constructs together and accomplishing the first step to the known technique of Shield Stacking.

[Eridanus]

If the first layer of shielding was meant to defend himself from physical threats, the second layer would be against that of nature - namely magical in nature. In other words, that of elemental origin.

Drawing from his knowledge of reimancy, he understood the categorization of magical elements into four types - Fire, Air, Earth and Water. That meant that there was one more instruction space left, and he decided to work on it first.

He had to protect himself from djed in general. Other forms of magic used pure djed as a means or medium to transmit their effects. A perfect example would be the untrasmuted res. Therefore he had to take that into account first.

Using the first space available, he weaved the central theme of djed and of life. Integrating the weave with the Glyph of Definition, he increased the meaning of it to encompass djed and all forms of it, such as djed that was converted to res, or even djed that could be used to spark the creation of a void portal. However, he understood that djed existed in everything, and in this case he specified it to block djed in its pure form, as well as all its derivatives.

[Eridanus]

The pattern of the shield was arranged in a sort of a quilt-like shape. The entire shield was divided into four regions, with a central region that encroached upon these four regions. The idea of djed tasking was written into this central region, and Eridanus began to focus on one of the four regions.

Weaving the idea of passion, of flames, of heat and wild energy, he created the central theme of the elemental representation of fire in the top left region, aided by the usual definition glyphs to extend the limited capabilities of the discipline. Going to the next region, he placed the idea of stoic earth, of sturdiness and of faithful loyalty. All the ideas and concepts that represented the elemental idea of earth were implemented into the top right corner.

Moving to the bottom left corner, he added the concept of fluidity, adaptability and the idea of change that never stopped. That was the conceptual persona of the element of water, and it was where he protected himself from any of the substance passing across the shield. Finally, the remaining corner he created the formless meaning of air, the invisible resource that filled the world, that granted life to everything and everyone.

However, in this particular region he took great care in adding additional glyphs to specify and control the flow of air. The glyphs worked as a sort of control measure, allowing normal, safe and breathable air to flow in and out at a controlled rate as to maintain his mortal requirements for the substance. What it mainly stopped was potentially harmful air, or when the substance was moving fast enough to cause harm, such as cutting wind or similar techniques.

[Eridanus]

Before finalizing the instruction sets, he tied all the tasks together to a central section of the shield, and used the djed threads within to form a central, controlling glyph. This was the Glyph of Partiality, allowing such substances out but not in. Of course, this general glyph would be subservient to specific glyphs within each instructional region, such as the important ones in that of air. He even included a glyph that would allow him to easily, and without fuss, disable that part of the shield (that governed the tasking of air). He added trigger glyphs that would require him to use mental thought, or if it sensed his body suffering from lack of air that would disable that only section of the shield.

Satisfied with this creation, he finalized the layer, pushing the entire djed layer onto the primary base shield, fusing the two using the technique of Shield Stacking. However, just as he was opening his eyes, he saw a flash of steel in a corner, and narrowly jerked away, the steel nicking against the nape of his neck.

Normally it would have drawn blood, but the shield that protected him shimmered briefly and the sword bounced away harmlessly, and he found himself looking up at a fully armored knight holding that sword. Behind him stood several more knights, though one of them was wearing armored robes instead of the usual platemail.

"What-I?" Eridanus began in confusion.

[Eridanus]

As the vantha continued to scan the squad of men in front of him, he realized that the one holding the blade had some sort of crest on his armor which consisted of a drawing of two swords, while the rest of them had only one upon their crest. Assuming that the number of swords was somehow a ranking system within the knights, he addressed what he thought was the leader, "Are there any issues, good ser?"

The heavily built man pointed an armored finger at the two swords on his crest, replying in a deep, resonant voice, "Sergeant Knight Talus Marrow, 3rd Wing, Purple Company, 2nd Regiment, Silver Quadron. By order of Stewart Knight Jaulthon Atemu we have proceeded on a patrol."

That explained the ranking. Two swords pointed to a Sergeant Knight, which was probably above that of ordinary knights, which was probably represented by a single sword. However, that did not explain their attempt to cut his throat while he was silently meditating in a public area designed for worship.

"Apologies for the surprise, fair citizen," The man in the armored robes chimed in. "I am Syliran Mage-Knight Roy Keller, it was I who suggested our patrol leader to do what he did."

Stepping forward, the wizard continued, "I cannot help but notice you creating that marvelous creation of yours. From my studies, I learned that shield stacking is a particularly advanced art that bypasses the limitation of shields. I am a better Aurist than a Shielder, and I profess to only being able to place at most two tasks in my shield."

"Do you remember the djed storm of 512?" Talus remarked. "Our noble order have lost many good shielders, many of whom sacrificed their lives to ensure the survival of the rest. Our Grandmaster has charged us with recruiting any known shielders if possible to permanently or temporarily fill up the currently empty ranks of shielders."

Gazing hard at the vantha, he continued, "On the recommendation of Ser Roy Keller, are you amenable to this idea?"

[Eridanus]

Upon hearing the explanations and introductions, Eridanus breathed a sigh of relief. Evidently, the knights were still as noble and honorable as he had known, and they had not suddenly regressed at the mere whisper of magic. That was good.

"I am Eridanus, good sers. Thank you for your explanations, and I am glad indeed that I have not broken any laws. I do not mind helping out this fair city, but know that I am on a quest charged by Grandmaster Loren Dyres and will actually be leaving soon."

"That... is more excellent," The squad leader exclaimed. "We are also part of the expedition, and having more manpower to set up wards around our campsites would lessen the burden on our mageknights. Let us leave then, if you are willing, Eridanus."

"As you wish," The vantha dipped his head courteously, and after bidding a whispered goodbye to Wysar, he departed with the knights.

They headed on in silence, the patrol forming a perimeter around him automatically. Despite surrounded by heavily armored and armed knights, he felt safe instead of threatened, for their reputation preceded them and he trusted their character.

[Eridanus]

Finally, they reached the Recruitment Office, where administrative issues were settled. Talus Marrow gestured for the vantha to wait while he went in to talk with the higher authorities, while the rest of the squad was dismissed other than the mageknight Roy Keller.

After a few moments of idle conversation with the mageknight who accompanied the scholar as he waited, Eridanus was ushered into a smaller room where he answered standard questions, with the mageknight vouching for him and giving necessary details regarding his Auristics inspection. It was tiresome, for bureaucracy always was, but his employment was finalized, and he exhaled in relief.

The office demanded a sort of trial test, and so together they headed to the Antinous Training Grounds, where normal people could not usually enter. He had been charged, as a sort of trial test and for his first job, to use shielding to blunt the various practice weapons. Wooden swords may be harmless, but still hurt upon impact. Shields would absorb more of the impact and render the weapons even safer, offering greater safety in spars when the other opponent had not mastered their own strength.

It was a trifle issue, and he created the shields quickly, tasking them to blunt the practice weapons he was provided with. He even added additional glyphs to the shields to further absorb the impact of blows, and to use the energy to halt the swing of the weapon so as to not cause the weapons to bounce off when striking, preventing self-injury from careless use.

The office satisfied, he was thereby dismissed and reminded that his services would be required again next when they departed for the expedition.

[Chevalier]

Eridanus

LORE

• Arcane Tasking: Djed
• Elemental Tasking: Earth
• Two Swords = Sergeant (Syliran Knights)
• NPC: Sergeant Knight Talus Marrow
• NPC: Syliran Mageknight Roy Keller
• [Location] Recruitment Office
• [Location] Antinous Training Grounds

EXPERIENCE

Skill	XP Earned
Meditation	1
Shielding	2
Glyping	2
Negotiation	1

Storyteller Notes

Secret :

Alright, you can consider yourself employed as a Shielder at the rate of 12gm base, modified by your skill. I’ll PM you with further details.