Off to Meet the Wizard (Mirage, please)

[Thomas Cosa]

Thomas nodded, following each and every word leaving Mashaen's mouth, as if the words were weighted with gold.

At the mention of Farke, Thomas' smiled faltered; but only for the briefest of ticks. In his mind, despite the obvious importance of the situation, he planned it more or less like a vacation. A paid, he assumed, escape from the undead. Free, at least for a season, from the deceit, the lies, the abuse.

Despite going to Ravok, supposed center of Evil in all of Mizahar, Thomas expected whatever Rhysol's claimed as betrayal and deceit wouldn't hold a candle to what occured underneath the Citadel of Sahova.

But his delusion died at the sound of Master Farke's name.

This would not be a vacation, and he would not be free. He would listened, and speak softly. But this would be more of an oportunity then he could ever hope for -- a chance, not only to impress his masters and Mashaen, but to hopefully secure something more for his future, here at the Citadel.

Something more than the status of 'Master Apprentice'.

"Of course," Thomas said, wondering where the conversation was going; would he be collecting information on Ravok during his stay? Sahova's greatest advantage in a post-valterrian world were it's ties to the previous one. Alone, Sahova stood a shining beacon of what was, and what could be. Alone, Sahova stood enlightened. The new world feared and respected Sahova for that knowledge -- much in the same way they revered Mura. Both held knowledge valuable, and both were surrounded in rumor.

"And I will protect that knowledge, and guard it as well as I can," Thomas added, licking his lips greedily as the spherical golem offered him the gem. "One more," he thought remembering the two free slots left on Stranger, and deciding how nicely this gem would look in the second to last available slots.

Thomas followed almost immediately after Mashaen left his desk, waiting only to deposit the gem in one of the two remaining slots.

"Follow," Thomas ordered the small golem, quickly following after the Master.

He couldn't help but glance at the masterpieces they passed by, incomplete and un animated for the most part; but still beautifully perfect to the pulser. This was his idol's lab, after all -- he doubted he would find much fault in anything.

And then they stopped. And Mashaen spoke, and Thomas looked at his prize.

"Yes. Yes, If you think it best, Master," he replied, too quickly and much too eagerly. He had managed to keep his calm, his façade broken at the prospect of getting a Mashaen creation for his own -- it hadn't even occurred to him that he wouldn't even begin at how to guess at how to transfer a soul, let alone Stranger's Life Principal.

[Mirage]

As the gem was deposited it would glow softly, and the little golem would begin following Thomas a few ticks after the command was given. Though as it followed, it would pause and 'look' around itself, as if taking in everything. The sights, the sounds, the experiences. Just like Thomas himself in fact.

Mashaen would smile at Thomas' eagerness, folding his hands behind his back, "Ah I see you like this gift. It is yours to do as you please with, though perhaps we should ask Stranger what he thinks." His attention shifted to the little golem that rolled up beside Thomas, "What say you Stranger? Would you care for this body as your new vessel?"

The little golem did not reply right away, but then it spoke in a squeaky voice as he always did, "The body is functional. It will allow for more efficient execution of programming. Approved." The way the little golem talked was altered, using complete sentences and he seemed to have achieved a higher level or intelligence as well. The Archwizard nodded his approval, looking back at Thomas.

"Well then, it seems Stranger agrees with your decision. The gem you just gave him brought his intelligence up to where it was intended to be. He is now able to think and problem solve as well as any of the most advanced Overseer, and in addition he has a very complete knowledge of Animation techniques dating back to the Alahea empire. This of course includes details on many of the golem designs found here in Sahova, and elsewhere in the world."

Stroking his beard, Mashaen eyed Thomas, "Tell me Thomas, as Master Apprentice of Lab 15 you have learned a lot of Animation. How would YOU suggest we go about transferring Stranger's soul from one vessel to the next?"

[Thomas Cosa]

"Ask Stranger?" he murmured, turning back to the follower golem with peaked interest. The golem itself had made great strides in intelligence, thanks to the three gems -- yet, Thomas was far from confident Stranger could give any opinion on the matter.

And then he did.

"The body is functional. It will allow for more efficient execution of programming. Approved."

"Overseer?" Thomas echoed dumbly, eyes flickering back from the golem to Mashaen. "And...designs outside of Sahova? Wasn't...weren't they all wiped out? With the Valterrian?" True enough, he had learned out of Sahova. But only the basics; his previous master had only been animating toys in comparison with what he had seen in Sahova.

He doubted very much there was anything worthwile outside the citadel. Sahova was the only remnat of Alahea -- had there been more, certainly someone would had told him about it?

"A transference? he repeated, pushing his hair back from his eyes, "I suppose it wouldn't be as simple as moving the life principle to the other body?" Thomas frowned, considering the situation. The LP would dissolve as soon as it left the original vessel, I'd imagine," he paused, "The astral body wouldn't even work on the newer body, either...no, it'd be too different."

The pulser sighed, walking closer to the newer body, "Would you...you wouldn't start over again? The soulcore would transfer easily enough, but the memories and directives wouldn't hold would they? Unless...unless they kept to the Djed stream during the animation process...and then," he paused, again, the links in his brain finally forming an idea.

"And then, you just build them on top of another? It would be like a simple animation -- I just wouldn't be adding anything? Just building off what's already there?"

[Mirage]

Mashael raised an eyebrow as he listened to Thomas speak, his hand stroking his beard as he did so, "Are you certain of your theory young man? Remember if you are wrong you could very well lose everything you have worked up until now to create." He let this sink in a moment before chuckling, looking down at Stranger, "Stranger why don't you tell him of the gems you carry. Perhaps then he will fully grasp his situation."

The little golem rolled around in front of Thomas, facing him as it spoke in its small voice, "The gems installed act as a conduit for not only intellectual advancement, but the storage of memories and experience as well. All records of past and present events are contained within, thus if transferred all recorded experiences in the past will be transferred as well to the new vessel."

Mashaen nodded, "Very well put. So you see Thomas, you do not need to concern yourself with transfer of memories or past experiences, and instead you may focus on copying and implanting a duplicate life protocol with modified directives and astral body. In this way you may have two separate golems both with preprepared directives at the ready and at your disposal, and with the gems you may freely pass the memories and experiences of Stranger between each vessel."

Stranger spun in a circle, "While one body rests the other can become activated, fully functional with complete memory of what was experienced while it was in hibernation."

The Archwizard laughed, looking at the golem fondly, "It is amazing isn't it, to see your work grow and prosper right before your eyes. This is why animation is so beautiful. It is a magic which does not end when the caster completes the spell. It can continue to live long after its creator is dead." He looked at Thomas, waving a hand to a rather conspicuous empty space that seemed set aside for his use. There was even chalk of various colors sitting on the ground, "Well then Thomas, with all you now know I would like you to prepare the circle for this animation. Feel free to seek Stranger's advice as you go."

[Thomas Cosa]

"Nothing like it in the world...," Thomas whispered, dumbfounded still by Stranger's sudden leap in intelligence. Thomas had created Stranger from seemingly nothing; and even with the gifted vessel and the original gem, Thomas had only managed to give the golem some awareness. Now, to see something truly his, something he had crafted from his own soul, it was like nothing the animator had ever experienced.

Stranger was growing, and learning -- and would, Thomas assumed, continue to do so long after he was gone; this was magic, at least to him. Maybe he would never be able to summon the elements from his own body, or run faster then anyone would believe, but the things he would make, they would last.

They would have to.

Still considered the exact extent of Stranger's newfound intelligence, Thomas quickly grabbed some chalk before heading over to the offered space.

"I'm just copying your original design into the new body, yeah?

Correct. Gem removal would be required before hand, as they add to my overall design. It would be difficult at best, to try a copy animation while they remain installed.

"So, you'll be the source then?" Thomas asked, beginning the circles.

I will serve as the source for the directives and the persona, however, I would recommend that you use a more organic source for the life principle.

"Why a more organic source?

My life principal is based off yours, an incomplete copy of your soul. Pulling away from my life principal might cause damage to this life vessel, and leave the new vessel with a faulty life principal," the golem gently rocked on its wheels, "Various issues could arise from this method, I predict. The directives may not transfer successfully, nor would the persona develop properly outside of the animation process. There could be numerous issues with the astral connection, but I believe you've understood the point?

"Completely," Thomas answered, slowly tracing a larger circle around himself. He could imagine the problems behind this -- although he would prefer to have a much more detailed answer. The soul was an enigma to the young animator, perhaps moreso than anything else he had encountered thus far in his young life. It's limits, the way it reacted with animation and other magics all completely foreign to him.

Finishing the larger circle, Thomas then moved about a foot away before drawing the second circle -- since he would be later copying Stranger's directives and persona, Thomas assumed that two identical circles would work better then two circles of different sizes. It was guess, and not one based on any viable proof; still, better safe then sorry.

"Will you be adding the glyphs, as well, Thomas Cosa?"

"For the animation? Of course," Thomas replied, smiling, beginning to draw out a Daeq rune alongside the line connecting the two circles. Carefully, with as much precision as he could muster, Thomas drew two lines completely equal and parallel to each other, finishing the rune with a bent line (reminiscent of the triangle) connected the two. This, he knew, would establish a boundary that would help keep the Djed stream linear, and minimize any loss on energy during the entire process. "I always do, though," he added, slowly copying another Daeq rune in front of the other, "Why?"

"A simple correction on your previous style, Thomas Cosa. I observed on previous animations that you fail to combine the use of the Yaq glyph with the Daeq glyph."

"That isn't an error, Stranger. I only add the Yaq glyphs to the circles, to curve the Djed from flowing outside, adding a Daeq glyph would disrupt the natural smoothness of the circle's shape. It would probably slow the entire process down, I would think, Stranger," Thomas frowned at the golem, frankly upset by his contradiction. He had once thought that as well, but had long since decided adding the Daeq to Yak was superfluous.

"Incorrect, Thomas Cosa. A simple Yaq glyph will only curve, or bend the Djed in the animation circle continuously. I observe you have added Daeq glyphs to the line connecting the source to the vessel; this is to ensure minimal Djed loss during the animation process, correct?

"Obviously, but you even said that the Yaq curves the Djed; that alone should keep everything inside the animation circle," he countered, nervously glancing at Mashaen. Please, please be wrong," he wished, turning back towards the golem.

"Incorrect. Yaq alone, at best, would curve some of the Djed. The rest is contained, weakly, by the original circle. By adding the Yaq alone, the animation process losses much of the momentum it would have gained from the additional Daeq runes placed along the connection line," Stranger paused, driving alongside the animation runes, "However, by placing Yaq Daeq glyphs along the circle, you create the round border you desired originally. "

"Petch."

Thomas nodded, a multitude of clever swears following the original in his head. His own ability with Glyphing was far from passable -- if he hadn't just embarrassed himself in front of Mashaen, he would have been happy, grateful even, that Stranger had corrected him.

Not daring to look the master in the eye, Thomas worked as quickly as he could, doing his best to make his glyphs as perfect as he could manage. The Daeq runes were half finished anyway, and Thomas only took a couple chimes to finish the other side of the line. Moving to the other circle, Thomas began to work on the YaqDaeq rune -- there would be three for each circle.

Slowly, Thomas traced out the Daeq rune. The two parallel lines capped with a triangle would mark each circle at three intervals. Then, Thomas would make a half circle facing inward -- curving the Djed's pathway, keeping the momentum of the animation up to speed.

Finishing the source circle, Thomas moved over to the vessel's circle to repeat the process again. Again, he marked the Daeq glyph in three distinct parts of the circle, delicately adding Yaq facing inwards, hopefully curving the Djed's pathway.

Finally, Thomas placed himself in the source circle, and with a quick flick of his knife, blood spilt.

And the sacrifice was made.

[Thomas Cosa]

The rolling wave of Djed was upon him almost instantly; the hot, electric wind pulsated around him, the never slowing current speeding against the glyph made border.
He expected it to pull, to push, to fight -- but Stranger's suggestion had worked perfectly, despite Thomas' hopes. There was no longer any cyclone of magic, no pulsating twister of raw energy.

He sighed, allowing himself the briefest smile; at least now, he knew, it would be fast.

Focusing inwardly, Thomas breathed. Finding his soul, his essence had been done a multiple of time by now, each turn passing faster and faster -- now, it hardly took him longer then a chime to find that spark of divine given life that made him everything that he was. Warmth bloomed from his center, signaling the Djed's reaction to his open soul, and with a quick flick of his finger, he changed the flow of pulsating energy.

The river of magic flooded through him, pulling greedily at his form, tugging wantedly at his soul. Eyes clenched, Thomas breathed, focusing on the tiny flame of life that was needed to spark the rest of the process. The pounding force of the raw Djed broke through, momentarily speeding faster then ever before as the small spark replicated itself and broke free from it's original.

Feeling the soulcore adjusting in the new vessel, Thomas breathed again, freely; now all he needed to do was copy Stranger's persona and directives.

"Alright," Thomas smiled, pushing himself up from the circle, "Your turn, Stranger."

[Thomas Cosa]

"My gems need to be removed before the magic can continue, as you will only be copying my identity at my basest form."

"OK," Thomas nodded, pushing himself off the stone floor.

"Please remember that nothing is to be pulled away from my life principal, and that you should treat this as nothing more than a regular animation, Thomas Cosa. If my life principal is separated from this vessel, then Stranger, as you know me, is lost. I will dead, for explanative purposes."

"Treat this normally, don't pull anything out," he nodded, again, kneeling next to the follower golem.

"Correct. This is a copying, not a transference. Simple."

"Alright, I understand. Ready?" Thomas smiled, touching the green gem, fingers grasping at the cool stone.

"Affirmative." Stranger clicked, pushing the gem against Thomas' opened hand.

"Here we go," He whispered, pulling each gem away from it's slot. Collecting them, Thomas placed the shining stones on the table closest to the new vessel. As soon as the animation was complete, he wanted to make sure he could immediately put them back in their place.

Thomas picked Stranger up on the way back to the circles, carefully placing the follower golem in the source circle. He smiled softly at the quiet animation, wondering how he would like his new body. He frowned, remembering he hadn't installed the notion of like and dislike in the original body -- was that something that could be learned?

Picking up the once bloodied knife, Thomas winced slicing as he traced over his newest wound; a blush of fresh blood spilled out of the cut, bloodying the knife newly. With a casual flick, Thomas splattered blood across the middle of the animation circles.

His stomach tightened immediately, the overwhelming rush of control intoxicating. The animator relished this side of animation -- being inside the circles left his skin tingling unpleasantly afterwards; being outside however, left him with nothing but the feeling of pure and utter control.

With a smile, Thomas pushed the whirling Djed through Stranger, pulling the whiff of the collected memory he had first installed (he was careful, of course, to do this much more slowly then he would a normal animation, which is why he didn't reapply the glyphs. It would take him longer, but it would secure Stranger's identity somewhat). His voice, his face, everything that built up the first directive of loyalty to Thomas and Thomas alone. Another pulse of Djed sent the echoes of the second directive, and it's tied memories through the constant stream of energy -- finally settling inside the slowly filling vessel Mashaen had gifted him. Memories of the dangers of Sahova filled the centipede like form; angry wizards, large, clumsy golems. Magic.

Thomas noted that he would have to teach him about the dangers of the world outside; the island might mean certain death to most of the living, but the outside world was hardly willing to accommodate a small golem.

Finally, Thomas felt the copy of the kill phrases, two words he had made up on order.

He placed those deep within the golem, knowing that these might be very important in Ravok. If someone outed him as a practitioner of world magic, and wanted to use Stranger as proof -- putting the golem in temporary shut-down might be a very useful thing to do.

Sighing, Thomas relinquished his control -- stretching as he stood. It had seemed easy enough, and not having to install memories or directives from scratch had been much faster than a regular animation; still, it couldn't have been less then a bell. Maybe two?

Either way, his body was sore.

"Master Mashaen? I'm done with the copying; I think the astral body is all that's left," his voice trailed off at the end -- he hadn't created the golem, so surely, the Master would be doing that for him?

[Mirage]

Mashaen nodded slowly, eyes looking over Thomas' work, "Yes... Yes that will do quite nicely. I see that the rumors of your talents were not simply over embellishments." He chuckled, taking up the chalk and moving to the circle. With a few quick strokes Mashaen had modified Thomas' work, adding an additional circle and connecting it to the two Thomas had drown so that they together formed a triangle. His glyphs were strange, almost like squiggly arrows leading to both the Source and the Vessel circle. He motioned to Thomas, "Now then, step back within the Source circle."

As Thomas followed his instructions Mashaen would place himself in the newly drawn circle, kneeling down slowly, looking rather stiff in his old bones, as he withdrew a dagger from the folds of his robes. Smiling softly at Thomas he would prick a single finger, allowing a drop of ichor to fall and to light up the whole of the animation. Mashaen's djed flew down the lines, slamming into and then circling both Thomas and Stranger's new body. Thomas could feel his djed at work, crafting the astral body with deft, well practice fingers even as he felt his own djed drawn into the flowing path leading down toward the golem. Mashean's eyes closed, and as he worked his hands would at times flick and wave as if he were orchestrating some grand performance. While he was in the circle Thomas could see the astral body taking shape, forming itself in only a matter of a few chimes. As this happened he would notice his own djed, his very life essence, was being laced into the design, somehow intricately worked into the design itself for some unknown purpose. Then, as quickly as it began, it was over and the flow of djed halted. The entire process took no more than 10 chimes.

The Archwizard stood slowly, growing about his joints as he straightened his back. Pulling at his beard he nodded to the newly animated golem, "Now add the gems, and awaken your friend."

When the last gem was in place, and Thomas uttered his code word to awaken, Stranger would begin to move. The golem would lift its head experimentally, unwinding its body slowly as it got the feel of its new form. The sounds of its metal feet upon the floor made a soft clicking sound, and when it spoke it came in a soft, clicking hiss, "Animation was successful Thomas Cosa. Ready to receive new directives."

If Thomas extended his hand Stranger would curl around his arm, winding up to his shoulder to loop around his neck. Otherwise he would simply wait on the floor until otherwise picked up. Mashaen chuckled, crossing his arms, "As a gift I added a few new features to Stranger. You may now alter his directives at any time, and he has new defensive capabilities. Go ahead, ask him what he can do."

[Thomas Cosa]

For the first time in a long while, Thomas beamed with pride. He smiled, his emotions embarrassingly obvious. Too obvious for Sahova, but for this moment, Thomas didn't care; he refused to care. For the first time since arriving to the isle, he felt proud, and happy, and more importantly, he felt justified. Finally, someone had openly recognized his talent, finally, someone decided to give him a compliment; to tell him that he was doing something right.

And even better, other people were talking about him. Getting the compliment from Mashaen, current master of animation in the post Valterrian world, would had been enough -- more then enough. But hearing that there were rumors about his talent?

Dira strike him down where he stood, Thomas was sure he would never be happier.

"Yes, Master Mashaen," he nodded, calming himself as best he could stepping into the source circle. Squiggly arrows and glyphs unknown to Thomas decorated the master edited circles, a third circle perfectly added to the original two; he assumed that Mashaen would be using him a source for one thing or another, but to his surprise, it looked like both animators would be serving as the source.

With a soft smile, Mashaen's ichor dripped onto the circles -- and immediately the Djed trapped inside reacted. The pulsating magic tore around Thomas, slamming into his starved body, almost pushing outside the circles had it not almost immediately passed through him. It whirled around him, Mashaen directing the magic with gentle flicks of his fingers, the twist of his hand. Thomas could feel his Djed draining from his own body, he could feel the swirling energy around the golem -- he could even see the astral body forming.

It had been a soft glow at first, but the swirling energy burned brightly now, molding itself to the golem's shape. Thomas notice his own life energy laced into the design, faintly glowing, shining softly as it fell into the bright light that was the astral body.

And then, almost as quick as it had begin, it was over.

He had hardly needed Mashaen to tell him to add the gems, but he waited until the master allowed him to leave.

Finishing adding the gems, Thomas nodded at Mashaen's words, turning to the golem.

"Thank you, Master Mashaen," he nodded towards the nuit, "So, Stranger. Tell me what you can do."

[Mirage]

Thomas Cosa

 

Skills Improved

• Animation - +2
• Rhetoric - +1
• Logic - +3

 

Lores Gained

• Stranger: Can Transfer Bodies
• Animation: Body Transferals Require all gems to be removed
• Stranger: Centipede Body Hidden Mechanisms

 

Rewards

+1 Centipede Golem Body for Stranger
+1 Red Gem: When equipped into one of the four smaller slots this gem gives Stranger a level of intelligence akin to that of an Overseer. He is capable of complex thought and problem solving, though he is limited to his current knowledge and experiences. Emotions and illogical/abstract thought is beyond his capabilities. With this gem in place Stranger can alter his directives without need of returning to the animation circle.

 

Character Notes

This was a good thread, and I am sad it didn't get farther than this. Maybe one day if Sahova opens once more the ST over the domain can pick up where this one left off ^.^