27th of Fall, 513 AV
"The mosaic," the old man repeated. "What do you think of it?" He'd become quite frustrated by his 'student', who seemed to think of his magical practice as a science. Hypnotism wasn't like other magics. The focus of energy was only the beginning of it, and all the rest was art. It was a practice much like seduction, persuasion and conversation itself; it started with the 'look', then the game became a display of art. Words became art, thoughts became art -- this was what hypnosis was. You were supposed to fool them through aesthetics, and appeal to their base human fascinations. He'd told him a million times, and the Ravokii said he knew, but he just... didn't. "I think the mosaic is stained glass in the form of some god. What else is there to say?" He'd already gone through the impractical description of it, calling it beautiful and a work of art. For some reason, this old geezer just didn't think it was good enough. What was good enough?
"No, Caesarion. Ugh..." His answer was even colder from what he wanted. "The mosaic represents a base human fascination. From childhood, people find an enjoyment in shapes, and often try to put them together to make larger and more fanciful works of art. The mosaic is an aspect of our imagination, and in order to master hypnotism, you must learn all the aspects. You have to know what sort of imagery and words soothe humans, and how to use them to your advantage. And yet even that is only a small fraction of what you need to learn." Caesarion still needed to master control of his djed, and channeling it into his voice, and a billion other things. He was more competent than most of the people who contacted him, but the man wasn't very patient, especially since he offered his services for free. This guy just didn't seem... mentally quick enough to keep up with the pace he expected.
"Okay, Caesarion. We're going to see how you work. I can't really tell if you're talented or not just from your answers to my philosophical questions." The elderly hypnotist began his trek back home, and the Ravokii followed him through the streets. It was late, so there weren't many eyes or ears around. They could speak freely, for the most part. "What do you know about this skill?" he asked. "I don't want to go rambling on to you about things you already know, so please just give me a decent summary." With that, he left the answers to Caesarion. He was quiet for a few moments, feeling uncomfortable and edgy about being wrong in his answers, or not claiming to know enough. "W-well," he started nervously, "It's about finding out how people's minds work. Finding who they truly are beneath their 'armor', and exploiting their human strengths and weaknesses to be used against them. Everyone has something to be used against them. Once you find that, you can let the process begin. The stares, the words, the flashes, and eventually the trance. There's not much more to say, right?" He cracked an awkward smile, and the old man nodded.
"You've got the basics, at least. How far into the trance can you go, Caesarion? Have you unlocked the ability to cause flashes and the like?" He didn't look back as he spoke, eager to get home so that he could sit down. "Hm... which one was it?" He asked himself. His door was only half a block away, and there were some live subjects there, you could say. "Yes, I've learned how to cause flashes. But that's as far as I've gone." He didn't hear anything else after that, just looked in front of him to see the nodding, bobbing head of the old man. When they made it to his door, he opened the lock and stepped in. The room was very dark, but he could see a pair of glowing eyes deeper in. "What is that?" He asked. The question was answered by itself, though, as he could hear an estranged 'hissing' coming from that same direction. A cat, and an angry one. It immediately scrambled to get away, receding deeper into the house. "That's one of my subjects," he grinned. "Come on in."
As horrifying as the situation appeared, Caesarion did what he was told. He really wasn't in the position to say no, as this man had offered him his services without expectations of money, or generally any return. This could've been a trick, but he knew about hypnotism fairly well. If he kept his guard up, and specifically meant to keep this man out of his head, he wouldn't be able to overpower him. "That cat is my oldest one. It's already learned not to trust me, so I keep it around to test the reactions of creatures who are already weary of you. It's one think to manipulate a willing target, and another to manipulate one who wants to fight it. Unfortunately, animals are too stupid to be used as a standard, so--" He looked into Caesarion's eyes, "That's why you're here." And at that point, he stopped. The young man was just about ready to run for the hills, but his mentor began to laugh and wave him off. "I'm kidding. I'm way too old to consider messing people up for my own gain. The world should fear young and ambitious people like you, not senile fools like me." The man walked over to his dining table, and picked up a lantern. He lit it up, and the weak glow scattered around the room.
"This is a new kitten, Lala," he picked the little orange creature up, and stroked her paws. "She's never been hypnotized yet. Feel free to be inquisitive with her, though. She's just a stray."
