[Sunset Falls] The Harlot and a Crown

by **Matthew** on May 24th, 2014, 12:41 am

Matthew slowly nodded, satisfied with the answer. He uttered a soft word of thanks to Aoren for taking the time to explain, his mind already working on exactly how he was going to spin this. He was much like Aoren in the sense that his magic had very little formal training. He had honestly learned magic on a whim, something that he still regreted. His initial studies had been controlled and scientific, with plenty of research to back them up. He had made sure to choose things that were very safe to study, with minimal risks when it came to overgiving. He was extremely wary of overgiving, the idea of such a thing being all that he had needed to completely abandon the idea of further studying any more of the many personal magics that there were. His mind was his most precious thing and he would not risk loosing it forever. He cast the disturbing thoughts aside, calling upon the meditation techniques that he had just learned. First there was darkness. Then there was a painting slowly coming to life, a painting of Matthew and Aoren and the small patch of earth they shared. He focused and centered, slowly allowing the buzz of the djed within his veins to fill his ears.

The Harlot opened his eyes to truly see, and at the same time he explained. "Everything has an aura. Compare it a smell. Everything gives off a smell. Everything has a sensation when you touch it. Everything has an appearance. Everything has an aura. I consider it an addition to the normal five senses that are traditionally recognized." Remaining in something of a meditative state, Matthew stood completely still, unblinking eyes staring quite steadily at Aoren. "However, our minds process auras in a unique way. Most commonly, it is something you see." Aoren's aura was obvious to him, a deep blue that was streaked with small shimmering strands of a couple dozen other colors. His right hand was shining with an aura that wasn't completely his, nor was the side of his face. "For instance, when I look upon you now, there is a steady blue glow. So, I process the aura with sight. However, my other senses pick up upon things as well. If I was to focus, I might smell your emotion. I might hear a sense of danger from you. It is hard to understand until you experience it for yourself. From what I understand, different people interpret auras in completely different ways."

Though he was mentally focused upon Aoren's aura, he did not yet actually expend the djed required to start to synchronize with it. He had a personal sort of morality when it came to reading auras, interestingly enough. He felt most of the information within an aura was private, therefor limited himself. Aoren had given him something a silent permission but he still held back just a bit, probably due to instinct.

He stepped forward, moving closer to the man until they were no more than an inch or two apart. Their auras mingled now, even if Aoren couldn't see it. Matthew felt that touch was important to the process, even if Aoren was not aware that he was touching it. Then he motioned for Aoren to sit, the two of them facing each other still.

"Now, look for my aura. Pretend I am a fire and try to see the smoke. It exists, you are merely blind to it. Through pure strength of will, make the smoke appear to you." Matthew settled back, watching quietly. This would perhaps be a show of Aoren's skill in patience. This could very well take hours and it wasn't at all the first step. He could certainly break through the mental barrier and see, now that he was aware. If he didn't though, there were plenty more bridges to cross that would slowly help to open his awareness.

by **Aoren** on May 24th, 2014, 11:37 am

The way that Matthew explained Auristics registered with Aoren. He found the concept easy enough to grasp. As the male prostitute explained the various ways that an aura manifested itself Aoren found himself trying to imagine smelling one. It was a strange thing to imagine but nonetheless he tried. As Matthew stated he likely wouldn’t truly understand the ways Auristics opened his senses until it actually did. When the harlot went into describing how he saw Aoren’s aura the Drykas became increasingly fascinated with how it appeared. What things could Matthew see? Could he read his emotions? Could he tell what he was about to do? If he was able to see the Gnosis mark on his body was he also able to discern the other disciplines of magic that he practiced?

Aoren wondered briefly if staring into the recesses of an aura if it was akin to using the gift of Avalis. There had been several Chavi that Aoren had born witness to in his young life. They were a truly breathtaking and beautiful thing to behold. Contained within them were the stories of the world as experienced by each person in their own way. There had been times when he’d used his Divination to look at one event that had occurred from multiple perspectives. The same thing had happened but each person had experienced it completely differently than the one before them. After witnessing that he had learned how easy it was to view the world in a different light. It was perhaps why he was so much more open minded about a number of things when compared to the average Syliran.

As Matthew motioned for him to take a seat he felt a slight shiver go up his spine. While he might not have been able to see the auras around him nor experience them the way Matthew obviously could, he was still a wizard. All wizards possessed a sixth sense in regards to magic. That sense might not always be very straightforward or accurate but it was still there. Aoren sometimes wondered if that was how he sometimes able to infer the meaning of other mages Glyphs without being intrinsically familiar with them. He wasn’t always able to glean specifics such as the details of how other mages Glyphs worked but their fundamental purpose was more of a feeling than actual knowledge.

He took a deep breath meeting Matthew’s gaze as they both got situated. Folding his hands in his lap he adopted a meditative pose. There was no way that he was going to awaken this second sight without a clear head and significant focus. Silently, instead of emptying his mind he concentrated on a singular thought.

“An aura is the rising smoke of a flame. See the smoke that surrounds the flame.”

It was a simple chant but Aoren felt it would aid him nonetheless. Leoshan had once given him a brief lesson about the usefulness of focus aides. He had alluded to the fact that contrary to popular belief there was no such thing as a “spell” as far as the common man understood it. Practicing Personal magic was a series of techniques honed and expanded upon by the discipline of each person. That was why they were called “disciplines”. Each branch of Personal magic required concentrated will to bend and master. If one but took the time to exert that will they could adapt and learn to understand the magic as it related to them.

In a lot of ways Aoren could see how Auristics functioned very closely like Divination. While the divine gift of the Goddess imbued upon the individual the ability to traverse her holy realms the mortal magic allowed mages to view more immediate information relevant to the here and now. He took a deep breath willing the muscles in his lower back to relax. He let his shoulders loosen. With a steady exhale of breath he closed his eyes and thought.

Thinking was something that Aoren did quite often. His mind was often filled with an innumerable amount of thoughts that sometimes grew tedious to sift through. At the moment, his mind was quiet. With a single minded intensity he was focused on the abstract concept of perceiving an aura.

“See the smoke that surrounds the flame.”

He opened his eyes.

Nothing.

Nothing was different about the way that he perceived Matthew. The harlot was still in front of him appearing as normal as ever. Or at least as normal as he had first appeared to the Drykas. He didn’t let that cause agitation however. He knew all too well how slow of a process learning a new type of magic could be. He closed his eyes again.

“See the smoke that surrounds the flame.”

This time, Aoren tried a mildly different approach. This time Aoren reached for his Djed. He tapped into the essence of who he was pulling it through his body. Matthew had made mention of the fact that he most readily perceived an aura through sight. If he concentrated his Djed in his eyes if very well might push him into seeing an aura. It was a foreign area for Aoren to bring his Djed to. He typically avoided pooling an abundant amount of Djed into such vital areas as his eyes. His unfamiliarity with such a medium made the task slow. When he was comfortable with the amount that he had gathered he slowly opened his eyes uncertain of what he might find.

The strain was immediate. A distinct haze permeated the area directly around Matthew’s body. That haze had not been there before. Whether that was because Aoren was trying so hard to focus his vision or because he was awakening to the discipline of Auristics, he didn’t know. What he did know what that it was difficult to keep his eyes open and focused as the air shimmered slightly around the other man. It was like staring into the distance on a hot day seeing the heat rising off the ground. There was nothing definite and the more Aoren tried to focus on it the bigger the strain he felt he was putting on himself. Finally when he felt a dull ache beginning to form on the right side of his temple he squeezed his eyes shut dropping his head slightly.

Reaching up he rubbed at his eyes blinking them rapidly as he let the Djed fall away.

“I saw…something. I don’t think I saw your aura completely. It was more like a slight haze around your body.”

by **Matthew** on May 28th, 2014, 12:10 pm

Matthew continued to hold onto his own meditative state, joining Aoren in a world where only the two of them existed. For a moment, he considered using his skills with Hynotism to aid the teaching process. Aoren would be open to a momentary flash or hallucination, and perhaps Matthew could show the man what it was that the Harlot saw when he looked upon an aura. As he absentmindedly studied the aura opposite to him though, he decided against it. It was easy to taste magic in Aoren's smoke, even though Matthew wasn't making much of an effort to meld himself with the aura in front of him. He felt that he could perhaps find more specific information on the magic lingering in Aoren's aura if he truly focused, leaving him wary that Aoren would be able to do the same. Even if he was a beginner, there were always prodigies in the world. Annalisa in Zeltiva, she had been brilliant when it came to glyphing. It was always possible that Aoren would be the same when it came to auristics, leaving Matthew cautious about what he did.

He refocused on Aoren, watching as the aura surrounding the man tightened and concentrated. It was a rather accurate visual representation of what Matthew assumed the man was doing. The look on his face was one of pure focus and it was easy to see the information that churned behind his intense but simultaneously vacant stare. He forced himself not to get too swept up in it, recalling the meditation techniques that Aoren had taught him. He made sure to keep everything out of his sphere of focus except for what was required, casting away his curiousity on the thought process that the man was using to try and learn this branch of personal magic.

The Harlot continued to watch and listen, studying the surface of the focused aura while keeping his eyes on the physical state of his student. Auristics was a safer branch of magic, but Matthew was wary of Overgiving nonetheless. Everything seemed to remain fine though, though Matthew did notice that Aoren was struggling a bit. He expected as much. It was all part of the process. He would be happy to wait for quite a few bells if the lesson so required. Hopefully they would be able to travel back to the fortress with the Knights, though.

His stare focused and sharpened as he noticed a brief look of enlightenment in Aoren's own focused stare. He could see that Aoren's intensity was increasing, that he was further straining his eyes to look directly upon whatever it was that he saw. He tilted his head as Aoren dropped his head, then slowly nodded at his words. "You appeared to try and focus on what you saw. Focusing on an aura tends to expend djed, and is a technique used to further understand what exists within the aura. If you feel up to it, try once more. However, when the haze is revealed to you, resist the urge to focus on it. Let your eyes naturally unfocus and it may become more clear. Merely seeing the aura is enough for now, trying to focus on it and understand it is for another time and another place. Do you understand?"

by **Aoren** on June 1st, 2014, 6:50 pm

Aoren rubbed his eyes. They felt dry. He could feel them watering slightly as the strain of trying to pierce through whatever veil clouded the world in front of him and the world beyond weighed down on him. He blinked rapidly shaking his head slightly as the dull ache evaporated after a moment or two. He listened to what Matthew said. The man was right. Aoren had focused too much on trying to discern purpose and meaning behind an aura he could not yet visualize. He needed to step back and see the aura itself first before he could delve into understanding them.

He nodded at Matthew not feeling the need to vocalize his thoughts. In many ways the discipline he was attempting to unlock was similar to the way he tapped into the powers of Divination. With that in mind Aoren repositioned himself so that he was adequately comfortable. He took a calming breath allowing the tension in his lower back and shoulders to build up before releasing it with the exhalation of his breath. He repeated the small breathing technique closing his eyes as he inhaled. Aoren didn’t force himself to keep any sort of measured breathing. Rather, he let his body simply drift into a stream of consciousness until he began to lose a grip on any singular thought. He allowed his mind to empty itself until there was nothing there.

There was simply the quiet. He could hear his breathing but he didn’t focus on it. He could hear the sounds of the forest in the background but he didn’t focus on that either. He was in a lucid state of mind bordering the edge of being awake and drifting off into a light sleep. He almost reached out to will the Gnosis on the back of his right hand into action to lead him into the past of the man before him that he might see how Matthew accomplished his initiation. He respected the man’s privacy however. Instead he reached once again for his Djed. With his eyes still closed he pooled it behind his eyes. Instead of focusing on trying to pierce whatever veil lay over the world that awaited him and one he thought might exist beyond it he would simply focus on seeing the details of what was in front of him.

Aoren took in a deeper breath. As he exhaled he opened his eyes keeping his gaze immediately on Matthew. There was no haze around Matthew this time. What he saw when he opened his eyes was something entirely different. Focused on Matthew’s eyes was a brilliant light that shimmered like stained glass. The moment Aoren set his eyes upon it he was drawn to it. He felt himself entranced by the colors of the light shining forth from the man’s irises. Aoren could not quite describe what he was seeing but the simple fact of the matter was that he knew he was seeing the vestiges of something. He managed to pull his gaze away from Matthew’s eyes and saw swirling around the man a series of colors that if he concentrated, Aoren knew would reveal…something to him.

What that something was? Aoren didn’t know but he could sense, almost hear, whispers of things waiting to be explored within the canvas of colors around the harlot. Such an exploration would have to wait however. The strain of what he was seeing, what he was experiencing was quickly taking its toll on Aoren. He felt a dull ache growing behind his eyes. They felt dry. No doubt if he looked at his reflection in water or in a mirror there would be a slight redness to them. He closed his eyes released the hold on his Djed that had allowed him to glimpse the world of auras. As he felt the glaze of gathering Djed around his eyes fall away tears fell from the corners of his eyes. He brought up both hands rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his palms.

A headache was forming in Aoren’s right temple. He knew that if he tried again he could hurt himself or worse. Instead he would simply inform his teacher of the success of his venture.

“I saw it. Your aura. At least I think it was your aura. It started with your eyes. I saw a shimmering light focused there. It was very…” Aoren shrugged his shoulders as he searched for the right word. He blinked his eyes a few times trying to get the dryness and ache to fade away.

“It was very hypnotic. Then I saw the light and colors around your body. If I had concentrated a little more I felt like I would be able to see something. It was just a feeling that I had.” With a final rub to his eyes he took a deep breath blinking them rapidly a few times. Smiling at Matthew he gave the man a firm nod.

“I think I understand now when you described an aura before. At least a little.”

by **Matthew** on June 3rd, 2014, 9:34 pm

Matthew nodded as Aoren got to work, assuming the same pose that the mage did. While Aoren tried to unlock the secrets of Auristics, Matthew practiced what he had just learned and what he already knew.

He continued to refine the meditative state that he was in, constantly keeping outside interference from disturbing the little bubble of focus that he had formed. Once he had managed to reach a serene place of mind, it wasn't actually all that hard to remain within it. All that it required was a bit of focus. He imagined that this would be harder if there was severe interference from the outside, but the currently peaceful surroundings made it easy to remain in the state of mind that he was. Furrowing his brow a bit, he decided to see if he could add a bit of action into the private realm of meditation that he had created.

The Harlot allowed djed to seep to his eyes, inhaling the substance and burning it within himself. He slowly began to meld with Aoren's aura as it glowed brighter and brighter within his mind, his meditative state seemingly making it just a tad bit easier to meld with the aura in front of him. It was easier to block out his surroundings, easier to block out all the other auras that made up the world and focus on the one that mattered at the moment. He chose to ignore personal and private details as they popped out, not wishing to smell or taste anything within Aoren's aura besides exactly what it was that he was looking for. He was looking for the sound of auristics within Aoren's own aura. If Aoren started to stumble upon it but didn't seem to know it, Matthew would know what direction to point him in, know when Aoren had gotten close. He let his mind dance through the colors and smells that Aoren's aura offered to him, weaving through it patiently and discarding anything that was not related to exactly what it was he was searching for. Aoren had entrusted him with knowledge that he used magic. Matthew would show a mutual respect and not pry.

His meditative state sharpened his focus, allowing Matthew to see exactly when it was that Aoren stumbled upon enlightenment. He briefly considered trying to strengthen his aura, to perhaps make it brighter and easier to see. Was that within his realm of skill or even at all possible? He mulled over the idea, making sure to keep a focus on Aoren's development. He was looking upon Matthew now, though not truly looking as deep as was possible. That was good. He wasn't reckless with his skills. Aoren let the hold upon his djed slip away and Matthew did as well, releasing his auristic vision and watching as the man across from him explained what he had seen.

Listening closely, he slowly nodded. He was curious why his aura was hypnotic. Was it his appeal as a harlot, or the fact that he was able to use Hypnotism? He hadn't used the art in awhile, so he assumed that it no longer lingered on his aura. Perhaps it was his physical appeal. An aura of seduction, perhaps?

Breaking his state of meditated focus, he slowly rose up and offered a hand to Aoren. "Good. I would advise finding a few mundane objects to practice on. Rocks, flowers, simple weapons and so on. Just get used to seeing the aura. Once you find yourself able to do that without any mental strain, then I would attempt to start to really see the aura. You've done well."

by **Aoren** on June 4th, 2014, 4:37 am

Aoren inclined his head to Matthew. He gave the harlot a calm smile. Auristics would come to him slowly given time and practice. Like the magics he already knew of it would simply take a bit of getting used to. Thankfully he possessed the patience to pursue them without being needlessly reckless. Taking a deep breath he rolled his shoulders and massaged the base of his neck with a hand.

“Thank you. I am appreciative of what you have taught me today.” Rising from the ground he would offer the male prostitute a hand to help him to his feet. Once they were both situated the Drykas man cast his odd companion a glance. There was something about Matthew he couldn’t quite place but Aoren had a lingering feeling that there was just an aspect of the man that nudged him a certain way. He couldn’t quite place his finger on it but he found that the more he pondered about it the more evident that slightly unsettling feeling became. Aoren felt the whisper of his Gnosis, the blessing of Avalis, ghost across his consciousness.

“You’re different, Matthew. I cannot exactly say how, but you are. There’s something about you that is just…” Aoren searched for the right word. He couldn’t find one. Nothing came to his mind so he simply shrugged. It was more of a feeling that caressed his senses and drew him to take a closer look at the harlot. Aoren did not peer through the veil of the world around them to divine Matthew’s Chavi. All the same he knew that if he ever received the man’s permission, or perhaps was simply visited by a vision through the prompting of his mark, it would be an interesting thing to behold.

“We should perhaps return to the Falls? I’m sure the Knights are likely making their way back to the main road. We wouldn’t want to be left behind, would we?” Aoren wondered briefly if after the journey to the Falls he would ever see the reserved man again. It was possible. He had a lingering feeling that their paths would cross again. Whether or not that was him making conscious a desire to see the man again or simply the whims of Fate tugging at his instincts, he couldn’t say.

What Aoren could be certain of however was that he had learned something that day. He had received the tools to see the world with eyes ever more open than they were before. That was something he would be eternally grateful for. The question simply remained…

…what would he see?

NoteThank you so much for this amazing thread, Matthew! I had a blast!

by **Radiant** on June 7th, 2014, 3:33 pm

Matthew :

Aoren :

Notes :

My radiance is not bright enough?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, beam me a PM and we can work it out.

Skill	XP Earned
Socialization	+4 XP
Rhetoric	+2 XP
Auristics	+4 XP
Shielding	+2 XP
Storytelling	+2 XP
Philosophy	+3 XP
Meditation	+1 XP
Teaching	+3 XP

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+3 XP
Socialization	+5 XP
Rhetoric	+2 XP
Storytelling	+2 XP
Philosophy	+3 XP
Teaching	+2 XP
Shielding	+1 XP
Meditation	+3 XP
Auristics	+2 XP

Completed [Sunset Falls] The Harlot and a Crown