Completed [Sacred Arch Hotsprings]Magical steam, anyone?

[Crypt]

Crypt merely smiled in the face of Clyde's less than... polite words. “Aye, call me a blind fool, call me a liar. I prefer to look on the bright side of things. The Knights have done nothing to offend me whatsoever directly, but I have witnessed them being racist to such an extent that being of a non-human race and appearing non-human is grounds for harassment. I am not a mage, not one by any stretch of the imagination. I learn little of the arts, and am too small to compare with one such as you.” Crypt continued to smile. It was getting rather... hard, but still he went on smiling. He had not survived multiple near-death situations to be set off so easily by a mere man's words. “Sir, I bow to your expertise then. As you have said, my magic is small and lowly. I know only how to interpret small parts of auras and enhance some parts of my body for a few minutes at most. I cannot show you any of them, for I fear I may have expended too much Djed earlier on while... conducting a survey.” Crypt yawned widely, covering his mouth with his left hand. It had been a long day, and the warm moist atmosphere of the Hotsprings was making him sleepy. “Call me what you wish, sir. 'Tis not mine to decide. Perhaps I would say halfway 'twixt a foolish dabbler and an amateur mage, and not be so harsh. I have had to endure over-giving quite a few times when practicing or using the Flux in combat. Nothing compared to you, I'm sure. Crypt spoke in a placating manner. “Some have called me Taleweaver. What I say is always true, but like the noble Vantha I have learnt a small part of their ways from, I make my life sound more... dramatic. That is the truth. For all I know, you may be a Master mage that could very well kill me without anyone else knowing, so what do I have to gain by not telling the truth?”

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde was at a bit of a loss for words... He really had not expected the response he had gotten. He had expected him to get angry... To yell back... Or to run off... Something... Certainly not for him to agree with him, and to be completely nice about it... What the petch? Perhaps the other man had heard of the argument technique called pillowing, in which you let the angry person yelling at you bluster themselves out, and angry when they said something true, until they lost steam. Clyde had never heard of it. But regardless of if the man had heard of it or even used it on purpose, he had used it quite well, perhaps even inadvertently. "Well..." Clyde just looked at him, sinking a bit lower into the water, letting himself soak in up to his chin, and blowing into the water for a bit to make it bubble up, while glaring at the man. "So what was your name? I am Clyde..." He simply glared at the man, who clearly had been indoctrinated by the knights, thoroughly believing their lie of there goodness and self righteousness... Which was such a lie. Even though he was aggravated, he still listened to what he said... The bit about enhancing his body seemed to fit in well with what he thought, that of him using flux... At least it fitted in with Gallo's description of the magic, in the short telling of it that he had given. Though he was interested in learning that he also knew of auristics, a skill he himself did, albeit not one of his best ones... Perhaps that was how he picked up on me being a mage? "Conducting a survey? Of magic? What exactly do you mean by that? And what were you doing off in the trees, with your book? You never did tell me how it went..." He recalled seeing the djed in the mans left arm, recalling that he had used magic while he had been gone... Perhaps he had used this flux, and enhanced his arm? That would explain why only the one arm had the majority of the djed worked up in it... At least from what he had observed and could puzzle out. "I understand adding to a tale, to make it more interesting... But there is a distinction between telling a story for fun, and giving facts and information. You need to tell the two apart. And when someone is asking for facts, tall colorful tales tend to just confuse what happened, as your tale did for me. Sometimes you need to just give the facts."

[Crypt]

Somehow Crypt had slightly appeased Clyde, which puzzled Crypt for a bit. Who knew acknowledging his mistakes and being polite could help smoothen matters? Still, Crypt felt more at ease. He could feel the relatively massive amount of Djed laying dormant beneath the man with but the slightest focus on Clyde's aura, and that meant that he could not afford to anger the man. “M'name's Crypt, Clyde, if I may call you so? You sound angered that I would think so well of the Knights. Please, do listen to my explanation. I have been in Syliras for over 30 days now and I have had little trouble with the Knights so far, although the issue of racism in their organisation has indirectly... troubled me. I had to step in for a friend of mine and persuade a patrol to stop harassing him. It was only by some fast talking and the fact that I, a human, was vouching for him, that I managed to diffuse the situation. I understand that you have a different view of them, but I have not much to complain about them so far. I have only heard rumors of their... wrongdoings, and I do not have the time to investigate too deeply.” Crypt turned back a few pages, apparently checking the definition of a term unfamiliar to him. “Well, sir, I've recently found out by accident that all objects have auras. Maybe not as bright or obvious as humans, but even living things like plants or non-living things like rocks have auras, though it takes more effort to obtain and interpret observations from their aura. I... have recently started to take a few notes of everything I have found out about their auras, and the intellectual stimulation provided allows me to stave off boredom. I would show you them, but... Crypt shrugged his shoulders. “They're in my room. I've written down a small bit about a tree over there in this parchment here, but not too much, since I've already expended quite a lot of my Djed when I was practicing in the Bronze Woods earlier.” Crypt smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. “Back there, I was reading the book when I found this.” Crypt showed to Clyde the glyph he had been bemused by. “The book said it was a focus glyph, which a teacher would, if he knew the art of glyphing, apply it on his student's body to facilitate the gathering of Djed to a specific body part. Unfortunately, even though I drew an exact replica of the glyph, it didn't work for me. I presume you see the different levels of Djed residue in my arms? I was enhancing my left arm with the Flux while attempting to test out this glyph, while I used my right arm as a conduit to sense the Djed in the other arm. Auristics, as you should no doubt, requires much less Djed to function than the Flux, hence the difference in Djed density.” Crypt paused for a moment, waiting for Clyde's reply. “I apologise for doing so. Living with the Vantha for over a season has caused some of their personalities to rub off on me, and... Well, sometimes I just can't resist telling a story. But I assure you, I will try my best to speak with clarity.”

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde felt the gentle brush of djed once more, feeling it caress his aura, and knew the man was looking at him. Truly looking. Though the touch was brief, so he would not make a dispute of it, or backlash. Though he did wonder why he was bothering... Perhaps trying to ascertain that he was a mage? From a cursory look Clyde would not really look that different from another. After all, every ones bodies and auras were full of djed. And this did not change that much in a mage separate from a mundane person... Except that mages usually learned rather quickly, even low level ones, to hold separate a pool of djed which they could expand on magic... But beyond that his djed was the same as any other mages. At least at a basic glance. It would take a much closer inspection to see the subtleties, something even beyond him. He only knew how to look for djed remnants, which were signs of magic usage in a body and on an aura, because he had spent a good bit of time and focus on figuring out how. And really, if it had not been that chance happening of using auristics while making that magic staff, he doubted he would have figured it out... If he had not physically seen that djed entering and being pushed deeper into its djed pathways... He had been lucky in that regard, to chance across it. And even for him, it was indistinct. He usually could not tell how heavy the djed usage was, as it could be diluted by time if usage was long ago, or overpowered by a more recent usage like in this instance... He could not tell apart if the mage had used one great bit of magic, or a whole bunch of smaller spells... It all looked the same... Really even what he had figured out was an imprecise form of auristics, which took much more djed and time to refine to the point of giving enough info. If he could even manage it at his current skill. "I would not say angered by the fact... More saddened at your blind faith in them. They are surely there when they want to be, and when it makes them look good. When it is in their own best interest, and inside their walls. But be careful when you really need them, and when it is to much trouble for them... That is when they will not show... My face is a prime example of that... These scars... I was only 12 when I got them. And they never did show. It was not their concern, what one mage did to another for no reason but maliciousness, outside of their walls." Clyde let out a sigh, and made sure to look away from Crypt. "I am not saying they are bad... But don't stop questioning what they are, and who they really serve... To what ends they do what they do. Perhaps protecting people is a by product of their self interest. But don't be fooled that they are saints." For Clyde knew who they really served. Themselves. Themselves and their own interests, which just so happened to extend to the edges of their walls, and to whatever they considered within their domain, and to whomever fit within their perfect little vision of what a good little worker should be, as they toiled away endlessly for the knights generation after generation. "They may seem nice now... But don't forget, that by learning magic, you would be exiting from their domain, and of what they consider good and allowable. Other places are not all like that, in regard to magic." Clyde listened as he talked of trees, and auras, and how even the smallest non-living thing had one. All things he had heard long ago, when he was reading a different book on auras, when he had taught himself auristics long ago in Zeltiva, in the university. But as he went on, Clyde could not help a grin coming over the mans face. He considered a moment pretending like he knew nothing of it... But perhaps... Perhaps he could make the man see the truth of things, and come to the light... Perhaps he could get him within his good graces... It would not hurt him to tell the little burgeoning mage of a bit of glyphing, explain something he was trying so hard to understand, which Clyde knew better than the back of his hand. And where were the Knights as Crypt struggled along, trying to figure such a complex topic out? No were to be seen. And certainly if they had been here, they would not have helped, but have hindered or even been angered by his magic usage. And it would not hurt to have the man owe Clyde a favor... "You don't make your glyph exactly the same. That is a sample one, an example. Do you know nothing of glyphing?" He smiled once more, giving the man a look. "I suppose I could explain it to you... But you would owe me... Anyways, it is not important the shape of the glyph. That truly is irrelevant. The importance in the glyph is in the meaning to you. The meaning you place upon it. The focus could as easily be a circle or an x, or a word even. It depends on you." As Clyde said x and circle, he absentmindedly drew each in the dirt at the side of the hotspring, using his finger. With all of the water dripped and sloshed out, the dirt was a bit wet, making for a bit of a muddy substance, easy to draw in. "So what do you think a focus should look like? And then draw that."

[Crypt]

Clyde had sensed his touch. Crypt could see him move a little when he focused on his aura. Unfortunately, subtlety was not quite part of his Auristics yet. Still, it wasn't invasive, so it was a small mistake to make, in any situation. “Thank you for your sage advice, Clyde. I'll be sure to always keep it in mind. All that glitters may not be gold, as my grandfather put it.” The ends of Crypt's mouth curved upwards slightly. As Clyde continued with his explanation of glyphing, Crypt could not help but gaze in fascination at what he was doing. The man would be an excellent teacher someday, if he deigned to do so. Perhaps at the University of Zeltiva? Crypt had long heard of its name, but was put off after learning that most of what would be learnt would be theoretical. Still, he might take a course there sometime. Who knew what could happen in the future? The Drykas pondered Clyde's words, trying to decide what focus meant to him. And the Answer came to him in a moment of clarity. Crypt dipped his left hand's index finger into the waters and drew a simplified version of the tattoo on his left cheek: A serpent consuming himself. “So as the serpent's focus in solely on itself, so shall be mine on all tasks.” Crypt muttered. Crypt did not ignore the fact that to learn more, he had to owe a favour to Clyde. Already he had a serious debt to a Nuit, and he did not wish to be restrained by another in the same way. “Thank you for helping me. I will be willing to owe you a favour, but I have a few conditions. One, you may not order me to engage in anything that could possibly cause serious physical and/or mental harm to me. No permanent injuries of any sort. Moderate injuries are fine. Two, I will not engage in any action against my family, friends and relatives. Other than that, I will try my best to fulfill three of your requests. If you accept my offer, then I have these questions for you to answer for now: What glyphing is, how do I use magic in conjunction with glyphs, what other glyphs exist that I can draw and how can I link these glyphs to perform other functions. Is that reasonable enough for you?” Crypt held a quill in one hand, laying a piece of parchment on his thigh, ready to take more notes if required.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde was a bit annoyed once more, as Crypt seemed to have ignored a portion of what he said... The portion he was the most keen on him hearing, and really taking in... On the true nature of Syliras and its knights... How rude... He seemed far to distracted by something else, which turned out to be glyphing. But being distracted was no excuse to be rude and ignore bits of what people said. Though he supposed he did at least hear it, even if he did not reply... Or at least, his reply seemed a bit odd, using a odd saying instead of actually talking about it. But he would let it slide, in hopes that he could help him to see the light, and bring him into the fold of the truth. Funnily enough, Clyde was a great teacher. For some odd reason, he had spent a decent bit of time teaching others, showing them things he had learned, helping them progress. He had been quite skilled in his youth, and had passed his learning and wisdom on to several older mages, who even with there age were not on the level of Clyde... Which he supposed was a bit odd, that they were so much weaker than he... Perhaps it was becuase they had waited to start till they were older, and more mature... While he... He had been initiated into magic at a alarmingly young age... But he had survived, and was stronger in his magic for it. But in the end, it meant he was quite the accomplished teacher. Perhaps one day he would have many adoring pupils, hanging on each of his words, and he spun tales of wisdom, djed, and the trials of a mage. But not yet. He already had one apprentice he had taken on. That was enough for know. Occasional lessons for side deals like this were enough, along with his student he already had... Which was ironic, as in many ways he was a student of magic himself, at least in the magical arts he was not as skilled at. He looked at the odd symbol Crypt made, a curvy glyph that curved upon itself. He had seen something like it before, but could not recall exactly were... But he supposed it had some deeper meaning to him. But he smiled as Crypt went off on a tangent, making a deal and facing Clyde with it. He was taking things far to seriously. And in his uyrgence to make a deal, he had made one clearly in Clyde's favor... As really all he was asking for was a basic intro into glyphing, which was something he had done before, for much less. "Three requests? That seems fair enough... I will make sure to call upon you, when I have need of one... Just don't forget about it, as I won't. I recall those who owe me favors, as those I owe do." He smiled once more, taking a moment to pause and look at Crypt, smiling at the oddity of it, of were he was, and what he was doing. He certainly had never given a magic lesson, while in the nude, and sitting in a hotspring. "Now, first of all, you need to know what glyphing is. What it can do. Its limits, and its abilities." "First though, I want to know, what do you know of glyphing? What do you think it is capable of, and not? What tales of it have you heard?"

[Crypt]

Noting that Clyde seemed a little... pertubed by his nonchalent attitude, Crypt sought to reassure him. “Rest assured sir, I will look on the Syliran Knights with a critical eye and attempt to find out more about what they truly are with what time I can spare. I will still treat them as protectors of the Peace, but if I have sufficient proof of anything they do that I detest, or I witness the incident myself, I shall take it into account and alter my opinion of them accordingly. However... Someone of them truly believe that they are helping people. A minority in the Knights, perhaps, but these Knights are more tolerant of mistakes, more willing to sheath their sword and simply talk. They have displayed integrity and a willingness to learn. In many ways they are much wiser than the rest of the bigots, for they understand that they have to adapt to survive. If we were to hang all Knights by the neck one day, Clyde, the majority would be instantly killed, but I believe the few that I spoke of should be given some consideration.” Crypt continued staring at the mark he had made on the muddy ground, apparently fascinated by it. He then lifted his head and turned to Clyde. “Thank you for agreeing to teach me. I am taking this seriously, as you may have already noticed, as learning a new art is nothing minor. It opens up a Greater world of possibilities and, as far as I'm concerned, gives me more to understand and use. I have heard scraps and seen glimpses of glyphing, nothing much, but the closest I have ever come to glyphing was in Alvadas. A man was looking rather bored at one of the performances I attended, and so he pulled out a scroll, and proceeded to hold it in front of him, directing its face towards the performancers. I caught a glimpse of quite a few strange symbols written on the paper before a jet of water flew at the poor performers and collided quite painfully with them. I asked him about it later, but he just waved off my questions and walked away.” “I believe glyphing can help amplify the effects of other disciplines, as with the Flux, and perhaps even contain Djed, though I do not know why. Glyphing can be used for myriad purposes, but it may not be as useful by itself than if other arts are used with it.” Crypt finished his last sentence and looked to Clyde to continue the lesson.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde simply listened as Crpyt went on about how he would think of and regard the knights in the future... It was hard to say whether or not he meant what he said, but Clyde would just have to assume he did. With all of his long winded-ness, and speeches, it was a bit distracting to try and puzzle out the actual facts and info, which were speckled within it. Luckily Clyde was getting good at listening and observing, and picking out important details, or he would have lost track of what Crypt was talking about ages ago. Then it was on to a tale of some random man in Alvadas, who had used a glyphed scroll to spray people with water. A rather silly application of the magic. Certainly not a use he would use it for. But then he was on to the meat of his question, learning what Crypt thought of glyphing, and what could be done with it. He was interested to hear of it... Every person he had seen to know of glyphing had some odd idea of what it did... And invariably were wrong. "In some ways you are right in what you know... In others, not so much. But the important thing for you to recall, is what glyphing truly does. Glyphing by itself does nothing. Its use is in how it interacts with other magic and djed. Glyphing does not per say enhance other magic, but it does tend to make it easier to use them, or safer. Glyphing is simply a way to manipulate djed. Now, the other magics done, reimancy, flux, auristics, all use djed to make the end result. Glyphing can be used to make this smoother, and to make sure it keeps within the restraints you put on it." Clyde took a moment to pause, and let all of the info sink in. Then he brought his hand to the mud by the side of the water, and trailed a long line across it. "Think of glyphing as a road. This line here is the road. It is direct, it is flat and smooth, and easy to go across. And it makes sure you do not get lost, or go out of bounds. Think of your magic as the horse. Now, we do not deny that a horse on a road goes faster than a horse in the wilds and arrives faster, do we? We do not deny that a horse on a road is less likely to get lost, and go off path, and to take a less than direct route. It is less likely to stumble and mess up. All of these things are true, of a horse on a road. But the road is not doing anything by itself. It is only how it interacts with the horse that matters." Smiling, now that his metaphor had come to its end, he swept his hand across the line, marking it out. "Your magic, a specific example of the use of djed, is that horse, traveling the line that was that road. Now, like that road, a glyph does many things, however it all depends on the kind of glyph, and the way it is structured. Like a road, glyphing can speed up magic, by making a more direct route for it, or a lane for it to travel down. Or, it can draw magic to it, by creating a focus, or a specific spot for the magic to be drawn to. allowing magic to be gathered to the spot much easier and cleanly. It makes sure the magic only takes the route you want, and that bits of it don't get lost or wander off on the way in your body." Clyde smiled up at Crypt, having gone off on what he had thought was his own best way to explain glyphing to him, ignoring the specific questions he had asked and wanted answered, which was such a simplistic way of it. No, he would take his route to explain it, and probably end up explaining it better than if he had followed Crypts route. "So, that is what glyphing is, and what it does. A pretty wide explanation of it, and its facets. But before we carry on, do you understand? Do you now understand what glyphing is, and what it does? And what it is not?"

[Crypt]

Crypt remained silent for the entirety of Clyde's explanation about glyphing, his attention focused totally on Clyde. The mage was an excellent teacher, and spoke in a way not unlike Crypt, filled with metaphors and what-have-you, which made glyphing extraordinarily clear. Crypt nodded as Clyde paused for breath. It was a little tiring, having to write down the gist of what Clyde taught as fast as he could for fear of missing any vital information, but eventually Clyde finished. Glyphing is nothing without my Djed. It augments other disciplines, it modifies them and makes it safer to use. Amazing... With more and more knowledge of Glyphing, I can accelerate my own learning process, with less fear of over-giving. “So... Glyphing acts as a guide for my Djed? It... helps to direct the Flow of Djed in my body such that little or no wastage is incurred as a result of my own inexperience, and hence as a result improves the efficiency of whatever magics I use? Glyphing is truly fascinating... I understand your explanation, so please, do go on.” Crypt spoke eagerly to Clyde, impatient to find out more about Glyphing and how he could use them.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde smiled at Crypt, a rare occurrence. But he had almost forgotten what it was like to have an avid listener, taking in your lesson and truly thankful for the knowledge they were being given... Perhaps that sense of enjoyment was why he had spent so much time when he was younger teaching other mages and giving lessons... Something he had been doing less and less as he got older, and especially after that ill fated day back when he was young, which he was forever reminded by his scar pocked face... But Clyde was glad to see that Crpyt was listening, and truly intelligently thinking of what he said... Perhaps in another half of a century, he might be as good a mage as Clyde? Give or take a year or two. Although Clyde took a moment to think himself... Were would he be in half a century? Alive? Would he have accomplished any of his goals? How many new skills would he know, and how many ones he knew now would he have mastered? Only time would tell. "Yes and no... While glyphing will often make your magic move from one place to another faster, and help it to focus and be pulled or readied, therefore limiting the need for meditation at times, and preparation, it does not in fact make you use less djed, or to waste less. Only experience in your magic skill, will refine your djed usage, and allow less waste and less djed to be spent." Clyde smiled, resting his hand in the dirt once more, and drawing a wide circle, and adding a dot in the middle with his thumb. "However, you will spend less time readjusting your djed, and directing it to the right place. In horse terms, you spend less time corralling your horses, and keeping them in line and going the right way. And you don't have to worry about one horse wandering off and having to go after it and bring it back. But it still takes the same number of horses to pull the same weight. Only a stronger horse could lower the number of horses needed, which in this case the horse being stronger meaning you more skilled in the magic." Clyde took another moment, and looked down at what he had drawn in the dirt and mud, pausing to take a breath. "Now, the next thing you need to know to understand glyphing, is the difference between a singular glyph, and a sigil. Have you heard of a sigil before?" Clyde gave Crypt a few moments to answer, waiting patiently, before going on. "Now, a glyph is a singular symbol or rune that has been made or drawn. For example, this circle, and the dot in the middle. It could be considered one glyph if one thing, or possibly two glyphs, if the dot is one, with the circle being a second. However, the smallest unit of measurement, in glyphing, is broken down into a singular glyph. One single symbol, as you place meaning upon it as a single thing. However, obviously in glyphing you draw much more than just one glyph. The next step up is what is called a sigil. Now a sigil is a collection of glyphs. They are a collection of glyphs, unified into a cohesive entity." Clyde paused here, wiping out his earlier drawing once more, and checking to see if Crypt was paying attention. "So, to recap, a glyph is a single drawn symbol, while a sigil is a collection of glyphs, for a single purpose. When you collect glyphs into a sigil, they do something different than they do as a single glyph, performing a specific task. Any questions on what I just covered?"