Solo Giving Direction to Perfection

[Rayage]

Winter 30 512 AV

There was a noticeable calm in the lab which the nuit worked. It was not chaotic as it had been mere days ago. Since his arrival there had been work to do, much work, and since his arrival many things had happened. It was in this chaotic mess that the nuit found himself struggling to keep up, struggling to grasp onto exactly what was happening. Things seemed to be moving fast, and time was but a blur. There was this knot twisting inside the alchemist that he could not ignore any longer. It was a pitfall, a feeling of butterflies, but beyond that anxiety was the darkness of an extinguished light. It wasn’t common for Rayage to show any weakness, but the burden of his reality was slowly laying on him. The weight of his existence seemed to hold him down, paralyze his thoughts, and it was at this time that the nuit knew that something had to give.

This feeling was a natural force. It was the feeling of resistance of a flow, a plan of action, disturbed by a standing, unmoving being. This natural force was called Change, and its power was absolute, and there was nothing that one could do to stop it. Sure, people can halt its progress, but it can never be stopped, for in the power of change there is perfection, and with anything perfect it is absolute. Change will evolve, shift, and become something unexpected, above the mental and sometimes physical blocks which halt its progress. There is always something greater, and that is Changes greatest lesson. There is always something greater. Always…

In Sahova weakness of any kind could lead to a person’s ruin, and eventually kill them. The nuits played a high stakes game in which they were all pieces on the board. Even the Pulsers were players, albeit ones who hit the glass ceiling, but players nonetheless. They were bound by their flesh, whereas the nuit were bound only by their own existence, their own mind. Though sometimes the boundaries of flesh are preferable to those of the mind, for the mind can play cruel tricks. The mortals had not the centuries of experience which the nuit have, and so the same tricks of the mind do not really plague those who haven’t lived long enough to tax their persona.

”Why?” the question was barely breathed by the nuit as he sat at his desk, the chair however was not facing the writing surface, but outward overlooking his laboratory. ”Why do I feel this way?” he asked himself again, as if verbalizing would help him along the process to recovery, the process of change, to help him undergo a metamorphosis. ”After all these years…” he said, his eyes transfixed upon the alchemy circle which laid in the center of the room in all its glory. For it was the nuits center of power, but it was more than that it was his outlet for expression. If there was something bothering him he could always, always turn to his work, but not now. Not now. No, there was something stopping him. Himself?

He laughed at his own weakness as he further tried to understand himself. ”These emotions, I haven’t felt such in many, many years.” and the term ‘many years’ could be quite some time for the nuit. ”I feel paralyzed?” he tried to stab at the emotion, ”No, nervous, but why?” he again returned to the original question.

This was quite the puzzle. He had just got permission from Qiao himself to complete his lifes work. Why does he feel unable to do it? He pondered the question, mulling it over in his head. If anything he should be happy, he should be ecstatic, he should be beaming with inspiration and joy, but he wasn’t feeling any of this. If anything this felt wrong. If anything he felt empty, he felt unaccomplished, he felt unworthy, he felt like he had falling into something which he could not escape, he felt trapped like some animal, he felt like he was the experiment in this game of life, he felt regret… He felt fear, he felt weak, he felt feeble…

This swirling abyss of emotion was slowly eating the nuit from the inside out. All this time, he felt fear, not only for himself, but for own creations, for he was weak. Does weakness lead to fear? Connecting the dots with but a single question the nuit came to realize that he was far too powerless to protect himself, yet alone protect his babies, his children, his homunculus. He was weak and that was unacceptable. Any wizard with enough power in personal magic could kill him easily, shyke, anyone with who wield a blade could gut him and there was nothing he could do about it. Though was this the fear of death, or perhaps something else?

He tried to work through his emotions with this all too active form of self-reflection and meditation. He could no longer keep up the front that he was better, he felt that he could no longer bluff, no longer lie to himself or his opponent. He felt that he needed to become what he thought he always was: he needed to become powerful.

[Rayage]

Power… In his attempts to grasp ahold of it he took more social methods, than purely taking it with brute force. His power was his intellect, but lately he felt that to be quite inadequate, especially compared to Miro’s vast amount of power. Was one sort of power better than another? It certainly seemed so, especially when he felt so vulnerable now. It had not really dawned on him as he always thought that his wit and intellect would make up for what he lacked in physical power, the ability to forcefully change the world. More often than not force was used to expedite change. More often than not that kind of physical power was ‘needed’ to excite the ‘right’ reaction and direct change where it needed to go.

It was seen all over the world, even Kings had armies. Was he the oldest fool on the face of the earth thinking he could change the world with words alone? No, there had to be more, but then… a thought occurred to him. Leadership, power, it was all balanced. Leaders who ruled with words and gestures were often seen as weak, and when faced with a physical challenge, such as an invading force, the leader and his ‘army’ crumbled to the more experienced warriors. Then on the other hand, those who lead with purely with brute force were seen as evil, dictators, they were painted in a black light with red hues outlining the blood of those they had conquered. They were barbarians. That was not the right path either.

There was a balance, a line between power, both mental and physical, that outlined what a leader should be. By and by most leaders knew of this balance, but most failed to achieve perfection of that balance. On a smaller scale, there is personal power. The aura and emotions a person’s presence could bring was quite demanding, and often is picked up as the ‘first impressions’. This was especially true for wizards who had a finer and more powerful aura about them thanks to their training in the arcane arts.

Rayage realized that he was ‘out of balance’ in this philosophy which was born out of his inner turmoil. He was far too aligned with holding the cards, playing mind games, and forcing submission though a battle of wit and wills. Of that he had mastered, but he was lacking in the department of physical power. He had the mind to direct change, but not the force to demand it. This he had to change, this he had to change, this he had to change. Change, was his mantra, and with it he would become as perfect as the force itself. Slowly he would allow change to influence and morph him into something greater, something greater than he could ever be alone, without this magnificent power at his back.

With change as his weapon, no one could stand up to him. As long as he could understand what he needed to do next, as long as he could grasp the next lesson there would be no one in this world who could stop him. He was an agent of change, a bringer of this unstoppable force, this innate power of nature, of innovation, of endless possibility leading to ultimate perfection of the mind, body, and soul, something even beyond the gods, beyond their concept and power. The one and perfect being… everything and everyone had a chance to develop into that. Why couldn’t more people see what they could become if they would only apply themselves?

[Rayage]

How could he allow himself to become this out of balance? These emotions that bound him only existed because he was weak. These emotions then, logically, can be destroyed by gaining power. Fear can be abolished to confidence…

Now power can be gained in many ways. One way, what most people do, is gather in groups. For more people can make up for what the other people in the group lack. It’s easier that way, and there are many examples of this happening even within nuit society. One such being Qiao, the leader, and the council of five, who made up in skills that Qiao did not have. They each had a form of power, and together they would become a force to be reckoned with. Then that force is given direction by Qiao, and everything is once again set into motion. Ray saw very well where he stood, rising star in Alchemy, about to take on the most ambitious project in Alchemy which has been performed since the Valterrian itself. This was the beginning of a new age, and there would be a shift in the power as Ray would hope to gain even more support and artificial power from Qiao’s group. This artificial power will sustain him until he could grasp real power for himself.

There was another way to gain power, devoting yourself to its pursuit and becoming as powerful as you possibly can. That is where Ray would go. He wanted more, needed more to succeed in his dreams. What he has already isn’t nearly enough. That is why he has to step forward himself and change it, and change himself… All change begins within, right? As within so it is reflected on the outside. Now it was time for the nuit to show them all just how powerful he is and will become. It was a long journey to the power which had obtained recently, and so he expected the path to personal physical power to be just as trying. Would he have it within himself to obtain the balance that is needed for effective leadership? Only time would tell.

Everyone has the potential for greatness, the nuit thought as he stood up. Moving the chair, pushing it back into its proper place the alchemists eyes fell on the short manuscript he was given last season. If everyone has the potential, then why do so few only achieve greatness? Is it Fate? No. It is because the few that do have something to motivate them, to dedicate themselves to, to devote their entire lives to. The ones that gain greatness do so only out of obsession and almost out of insanity. The notes within the manuscript contained the basics of an art called Projection. It had been almost a season since he was initiated into the magic, and yet he hadn’t cracked the cover of the notes so faithfully provided to him. He had been too busy for anything else but his alchemical work.

Now, however, he had time, or at least he made time for it. Picking up the notes in one hand, he looked at them, all nicely bound together with care. These will help him in his learning of the magic. He just needed to get the basics down. A lot of personal magic was trial and error and knowing when to stop. There was a subtle balance to the world, one that the wizard hovered near to every time he would rip a part of himself off and expend it for magical purposes. It occurred to him that only a small part of the soul was for casting, or better yet, could be used for casting, but it was trained like a muscle. The more you cast the more djed you have to use, the better you get at the magic, the more dramatically the wizard can effect reality. Still the source of all power is from within.

[Rayage]

He was going to stop feeling sorry for himself. He needed to become physically stronger, physically more capable, and magically more dangerous. In the art of Alchemy he hardly had an equal, but had he been too focused on Alchemy to realize that outside of the lab he was sitting duck? No longer. This state of being was really unacceptable for a professional wizard of any skill level. From beginner to master, one should know how to use magic to defend themselves. If Miro could do it, then he could too. The boy was just that, a boy, and yet his physical powers outweighed most everyone he had encountered so far. He could be some kind of monster if he overgave into madness… The thought unsettled Ray. Another reason to lean magical self-defense. If Miro ever overgave into madness then he would be sure to be there to end him. That much power cannot be trusted in the hands of the insane.

Crossing his lab he came to one of the tables which outlined the parameter. Setting the manuscript down on the table he looked over it, hunched over it as his hands delicately turned the first page over. Eyes hungrily read the knowledge trapped in the words which were contained in the document. Projection focused on the relationship between the soul and body. The Astral body puppeteers the physical body and is the only part of the soul which interacts with physical reality. There is a process two basic rituals in Projection: Detachment, and Reattachment of the astral body. Within those rituals there are two basic ways to perform either. Glyphs can aid the wizards Detaching and Reattaching. All the basics of projection were laid out to him in plain, or as plain as Nadar-Canoch can get, language.

Though he had the notes Rayage frowned on reading them, the manuscript had the same ‘I am better than you’ attitude as the nuit who initiated him into Projection. The words were almost mocking and the lessons contained seemed more to boast about the author’s peerless knowledge and experience than to really try to help him lean the magical discipline. It was infuriating. Part of him wanted to go to the library and get a book about Projection, but he was already reading this document, and the nuit didn’t have to write the notes for him. In the end it was less time wasting to just bear with the author’s arrogance and get out of it what he could.

After the basic overview of Projection there was followed a series of “Projection Exercises” specially designed to help the newbie grasp a certain part of Projection, but allow creativity nonetheless. The first exercise was practice detaching and reattaching the astral limb using both methods of reattachment and detachment so the initiate could get an idea of what each version felt like. It described the initiate practicing this many times, and trying to get comfortable with the process of detaching and reattaching.

Reading on, as he found the first lesson to be simple enough he wondered what the second lesson covered. To his surprise he found that the second lesson was just as basic. Now that the initiate has experienced detachment and reattachment and is comfortable with the process it was time to experiment with the detached astral limb. Basic movements, moving the arm forward, backward, side to side, in circles, playing with keeping it intangible and even moving a small pebble were tasks included in the second exercise. Again, it seemed simple enough. So then, two exercises he has to do to get the very basics of projection down? Didn’t seem that hard, but confidence, especially over-confidence, killed many a wizard before. He needed to remember that.

[Rayage]

The nuit looked at his hand, moving it around in front of his face. He smiled at it. Glyphs could help with the separation of the astral body from the physical one. In theory it was not a complicated process, one just had to be initiated, and then use djed to peel the astral body, which is directly overlaid in the physical, from the physical body. This being the first time he was doing it, he was sure that it would not be easy, and so he could use all the help he could get in separating the astral body from the physical.

Going over to his desk, he took out the inkwell and quill. Dipping the quill in the ink he held out his left arm. Drawing a triangle on his palm, he put a circle in the palm, and within that circle he drew an inverted triangle. On the back of the hand she drew a square, and cut it in half with a diagonal line going from the right topmost corner to the lower left. From the center of the square he drew a swirl, which the wavy line extended beyond the square, breaching the bottom line segment of the square, and going to the nuits wrist before swirling up again. Around the swirl the nuit drew another triangle. Down the length of his arm, to his elbow, the nuit drew a variety of symbols ranging from more swirls and triangles to squares and six pointed stars. They formed two lines connecting the first set of glyphs to the one he was going to draw on his elbow. On his elbow the nuit drew a “T-like” shape, and on the ends of each of the segments he drew a “V”. These focuses should help Rayage with the detaching and attaching process.

Now all he had to do was detach for the first time by himself. Staring at the glyphed arm, it was obvious which one he was going to use to project. Turning his attention in on his arm he took a moment to feel the djed flowing through it. It felt tingly, powerful, forceful, and it was with this power which he would practice the magic known as Projection. He had read so far that he needed to use djed to separate the astral body from the physical. Rayage would do the safer Projection first, starting from the innermost section of the astral body he focused on his djed and concentrated on the mental picture he was summoning in his head. In his mind he pictured his astral body slowly coming off of his astral, the superimposing of the astral body and the physical coming more and more out of sync as he focused on his elbow.

Utilizing his djed he slowly began to feel the astral body disconnect. The more he concentrated the more he began to feel his djed being used for this magic. The peeling of the astral body was a slow process as he tried to wiggle it loose with the power of djed and the will of his mind. It was a slow process, even with the glyphs helping out the magic. Though it was his first time doing it alone, so the nuit was taking it slow purposely, he just needed the practice of disconnecting and reconnecting from his physical body. He did not need to rush right now, and there was no reason to rush this. It was a learning experience.

With more concentration and djed the wizard continued to separate his astral body from the physical one. The gradual lifting of the astral arm out of the glyphed arm itself took some getting used to and the nuit struggled with it trying not to lose concentration, and messing up the entire spell. More and more the arm lifted out of the physical arm, and soon the physical arm, up to the elbow, fell limp and entire appendage from there on down was projected.

Now, that in itself was a weird sensation. The nuit could not see his arm, but rather only felt that it was there. It was much like a phantom, invisible to the naked eye, but somehow he could still sense that it was there. The experience was unusual, and left him all the more fascinated about the magic. Not only would things manipulated by this magic look to originate without apparent cause, but the projector himself could only have a vague feeling of where his arm was.

Noting that Rayage smirked, and focused on reattaching the just detached astral limb so he could try the other way: ripping the astral limb from the body instead of slowly cohering it from the body. The reattachment was the opposite of procedure to detach the astral body. This involved using the extremities first, and overlaying the hand with the limp physical hand, and then using djed to reform the bond between the astral and physical bodies. Slowly he lowered his astral hand back over the physical one, and used djed to repair the bond. It was a curious process, as he reattached the astral body he could feel that his arm was no longer ‘limp’ and ‘numb’. More and more the astral and physical body fell into place, back into sync as the wizard willed it. However, just because one wills something to happen does not mean that the process was easy at all. Just like the detachment Rayage was taking his time reattaching as well. He was trying to be careful, and made sure that the astral body was as lined up to the physical one as he could make it before he would utilize djed to repair the bond between the two.

More and more feeling started to come back to him, the numb feeling lifting from him and control of his body coming back as he re-laid the astral over the physical. Once the process was complete the nuit lifted his arm and looked at it. What an amazing side effect. It seems that without the astral body in the arm, the arm cannot be used, and more importantly no sensation can be felt. This Projection was an interesting magic indeed.

[Rayage]

Now it was time to try to project his arm the other way, the faster but risker way. Looking down at his arm he noticed that the glyphs already were starting to wear. He could not preform the beginner’s exercises and have the glyphs still be there to help the reattachment process when he was done. So he made a decision then and there that once his limb was projected he would try it out and see what it could do.

Exciting the djed within himself this time he started at his fingers and began the peel the astral body off of his physical. The djed being tasked to push the astral portion of his soul out, and the notes were right. This way was much easier, and faster, but at the same time he felt the stinging sensation of nerves being disconnected as the body was ripped far faster than the first method. Besides the uncomfortable feeling that came with the ripping, this method seemed almost preferred and took way less time to perform. However there was risks outlined in the notes about Projection, and so Ray made note that he would use this form in combat.

Still the strange feeling of knowing where your arm is, but being unable to see it, this state alarmed and bothered him. Though it was something he would have to get used to in order to be a successful projectionist. Looking at his desk, he fumbled around it, moving papers he cleared a space with his right hand. Bringing out a miza he dropped it onto the cleared space on the desk. Waiting for it to stop moving, the nuit thought about how he was going to use projection.

The first task he would complete is to pick up that Miza! It has been decided, and so it shall be. Moving his astral arm, he waved it a couple times in the air trying to get a sense of where his arm really was. Fumbling around with it, he placed his hand on the table, and went to grasp at the coin. However the coin did not move and his hand seemed to have no effect over the coin at hand. He concentrated more on what he wanted to happen, and swiped at the coin again with his astral hand. The coin moved a little bit, but he hadn’t picked it up. Using this hand was awkward and felt unnatural. He felt like he was learning to use his hand all over again. The hand had no tactile sensation, and he could only feel its presence slightly and feel the force it exerts.

Perhaps if he could see the astral limb he would be able to control it better? It was worth a try. Tugging at more reserves of his djed he started to synchronize with the world around him, and slowly his own aura started to come into focus as he put his astral limb in front of his eyes. Through his vision he began to better connect with himself, with his aura. Concentrating and focusing harder he expended more and more djed it took several chimes of effort before he actually began to see, in his mind’s eye, his astral appendage. It glowed with a certain power to it, white, it looked like a faint outline of light in his minds eye. He could see it, and with seeing it he felt more confident in picking up the coin.

Keeping his concentration, burning through more djed, he moved his astral hand with more ease, or perhaps it was not with ease but with confidence. He felt more confidence in where his hand was, and with that he could more accurately maneuver his astral body around. Moving his hand to the coin he again focused on picking it up. The coin wobbled as the wizard focused on picking it up with his astral hand. He lifted his hand up more and the coin wobbled more and more, and then it lifted from the table. The coin was shaky, as his hand was. Excited at his success the coin dropped from his grasp and fell back onto the table. He lost concentration and therefor the spell failed.

Breaking his auric vision, the nuit felt that practice for today was over. He obviously needed a lot of practice with this discipline. Reorienting his astral body, he slowly overlaid it back onto the physical one. As it was put back into place the nuit used his djed to cement the bond…

[Mirage]

Rayage

XP:
Auristics: 1
Glyphing: 3
Projection: 3

Lores:
Auristics: Seeing an Astral Limb
Lore of Self: Out of Balance
Glyphing: Aiding Projection
Projection: Basic Exercises
Projection: Detaching a Limb
Projection: Reattaching a Limb
Projection: 2 Methods of Detachment and Reattachment

Additional:
Lol your full of magic lately! Joking joking . Once more you get more points for showing the effort, and the ill effects, that come from casting spells at your current level. Add more of Rayage fighting to make simple things work, getting frustrated and becoming enlighten, and you will get more points . Also if you want a bonus point maybe do a thread where Rayage has trouble putting his astral limb BACK lol. PM me with concerns