Closed Testing Trust (Celeste)

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna recoiled as Celeste licked her, falling unceremoniously on her rump and certainly not appreciating the layer of wetness coating her face. She wiped her face furiously and leveled an irritated glare at the child, which gave way to a slight smile. She supposed that it had been somewhat warranted considering her own prodding. Anyone else might have received a far bit of indignation followed by a curse that would leave them blind for a couple of days, however she was willing to play along.

"Thank you for that, now I'll need stick my head into a pool in the Palsa Hydrasa to clean myself up." She remarked, regarding the Morpher with a raised eyebrow.

"In a condensed and reduced sense that is what Glyphing is, supportive and supplementary. Thought its uses are quite manifold. A basic example would be my own Glyphing arrangements, when I place them on my body they speed up Res generation and allow for faster casting. I was simply wondering whether you had tried them in Morphing." She remarked.

Anna was rather curious in noting the girl had little experience with it, though it might be attributed to her youth. Another lesson to consider as part of a mutual exchange, provided her own madness didn't get her killed beforehand. That was always a possibility. Her intelligence was considerable but unfortunately her self preservation was rather lacking with the madness. Such was the way of things, oh well, what was life if you couldn't have a bit of fun every now and then?

Her good mood pretty much evaporated when Celeste mentioned Daren by name, her small smile turning into a frown at the drop of the hat. She stood quickly, her steps taken into a pacing figure as she pondered the implications of Celeste knowing about that. She knew, did that mean that dream was still connected or perhaps that this was all a ploy by that petching hypnotist? If it was the latter, oh the torments she had in store for not just Daren but the girl.

No, there was no evidence she was working with him, yet also no evidence to counter that paranoid delusion. She was curious about the name though, so perhaps that dream had been more than a dream. Possibly. Maybe. Who could really say? Though what else did the child know? She continued to pace, her lips curling up into a sneer.

"Daren Marlow, petching hypnotist thinks he is so clever! Ha, we'll see who is clever when I'm picking what'll be left of him from under my nails! Oh, he's going to die, die, die! I'm going to kill him, oh, yes I am going to kill him for everything he's done to me." Anna said, her eyes flashing with barely contained insanity and an uneasy giggle escaped her lips.

She turned those eyes on Celeste, the sneer replaced by an almost manic grin as she approached the Morpher. She knelt down before her and brought her face as close as possible to the girl, looking her in the animal eyes. Anna giggled again as she did so, amused by some dark fantasy passing through her mind that involved another creative way to draw out the hypnotist's suffering. This one involved slow impalement via use of the earth element.

"Oh, you have no idea how much hate I have for that name little kitty, how much anger broils within me at every syllable. I want to use Rhysol's blessing to rob his eyes from him, but not his mouth as I want to here the screams you see. But don't tell them that, they are always listening you see. Always watching." The woman whispered low, her expression serious for a moment before the grin returned and laughter followed it.

She fell back on her bum again and stared up at the sky, her laughter devolving into giggles. Maelstrom was right, she was completely mad but it felt sooo petching good to just laugh. It was so funny really, it all was, Sahova, Amaryllis, Daren's so to be demise. It was all one big joke and she was party to it, the greatest punchline of all really. Celeste probably didn't get it, few people did, but she saw the joke and it was all she could do to stop laughing.

"Its okay, Celeste, you don't get the joke. Its fine, don't feel bad about it, because you'll understand one day and then we'll share a laugh. Until then though, I imagine you want to know about Daren. Why he deserves to suffer unimaginable pain over and over again." Anna said, her head lolling lazily to regard the child.

"He can alter memories, he's altered mine a few times. Killed a few pulser women as well. Probably raped me for all I know, but oh well, these things do happen no hard feeling. I'll just have to make him beg extra hard, ha ha! I made a bear kelvic beg for her life once, did I ever tell you that? It was funny, made her kiss my feet and call me 'Mistress'. Maybe I'll do that to him." She said, giggling again at the thought of the hypnotist begging her to spare him.

Oh, she would never spare him, she hated him far too much for that. No, he was going to die in the most painful way imaginable, Krysus herself would cringe by the time it was over. There would be blood, oh so much blood and fire. Maybe Celeste would like to watch, the joke might become evident to her then. The joke of Sahova, the pointlessness of everything and everyone here. All just working and working with no end in sight.

[Celeste Arumen]

At her remark, Celeste couldn’t help but banter back at her. ”I wouldn’t, if I were you. Rumor has it, they bathe corpses in there.” The tiger stared at her dryly. It took less effort to hold the shape of the beast, too, which lifted her spirits again. Half a season earlier, she couldn’t even morph into a tiger in the first place. She’d improved remarkably in such a short period of time.

”No, I hadn’t.” She replied absently, considering the possibilities before her. Were Annalisa to show her the rudiments of glyphing, she could work to become better at it and ultimately, use it in her research as a Wizard. It was too hopeful to think she’d learn it well enough beforehand. Magic was difficult, even world magic like glyphing. But still, she was a sponge, and young enough to retain things adults would still struggle mightily to remember.

Celeste observed her warily as she began to pace. Even as just a small tiger, she held the capability to defend herself and being in the Testing Grounds, she could summon Brom or Tierra for help if need be. There was just something about the woman’s agitation that set her hackles to rise. But no, she wouldn’t call for aid. If something were to happen to Amaryllis’ apprentice, she didn’t want it reflecting on anyone but her. So instead, she continued to lick at a paw, staring with large feline eyes at the incensed reimancer.

’She’s mad,’ she thought suddenly. No, this was not the woman she remembered, not even from their first encounter. Something had slipped in the woman’s mind. Horrified, she was vaguely reminded of her Mother. Madness and magic went picnicking together on the weekends, it seemed. The young girl shuddered to think that one day she might hold the same fate.

She’d tortured a Kelvic? That turned her stomach, ever so slightly. Daren didn’t sound like the most savory character, as per her description, but then again, that description included a lot of manic giggling. She felt as if there’d been an abrupt paradigm shift. Celeste was half-tempted to ask the woman if she was feeling alright.

”Why does he pick on you?” She asked somewhat warily, staring unblinkingly into Annalisa’s eyes. ”Only because you’re alive? Or is there another reason, do you think?”

Perhaps there was something to be gained. Provided the woman didn’t start building herself a house out of cactus.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna regarded Celeste at her question, some vague bit of lucidity returning to her eyes as she remembered just where she was and who was with her. She didn't want the girl to get involved in her problems, even maddened as she was the sorceress found the image of a dead Morpher turned her stomach ever so slightly. No, Daren couldn't have her she belonged to Anna as far as she was concerned. Still, perhaps it would be best to get another opinion on this whole thing.

The mad grin faded slightly into a frown as she moved a shaky hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. She couldn't keep losing it like this, if this continued she was going to end up doing something she'd really regret. It wasn't her fault that madness felt so very right, the price for her survival thus far had been high indeed. The woman took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself and get a reign over her mind.

It was so fragile, like pieces of broken glass glued back together to try and have some semblance of order. A single wrong touch was all it took to push her over the edge, that was something she could ill afford but it felt so good! It was terrible and addictive and quickly becoming a large problem that was difficult to channel or direct.

"I-I'm sorry you saw that. Suffice to say things have been a bit... hazardous to my mental health as of late." Anna said, taking several more deep breaths before attempting to answer the girl's question.

"Daren is a madman, his reasons are unknown to me and even deranged as I am I can't know. He knows what I am and who I really serve, so it could be that he just doesn't like Chaons. If I knew why I would have resolved this a while ago. All I know is I'm not the first and if I'm not careful I won't be the last." She responded.

Anna regarded Celeste seriously, that dangerous flicker in her eyes appearing as the insanity warred in her mind. The girl was hers, not Daren's. Daren broke his toys and wasted them Anna however made them serve a better purpose. She liked Celeste, a blessing and a curse really as the Sorceress was a very possessive monster.

"Celeste, I'm going to tell you a few things that are... sensitive in terms of information. I'd much rather you not repeat them in any company. ANY company." The tall woman stressed.

"Daren is a favored... pet for a lack of a better word to Lector Qiao, which is the reason Amaryllis had been unable to remove him from play for so long. With such backing I can't hope to defeat him... yet, plans are in motion to deal with undermining his political support. Its a longshot of a plan, but if it works then he won't be an issue for much longer. If you don't see me for a while then its quite likely I'll have died due to this plan." She said, being purposely vague.

She liked Celeste but there were certain details, such as gaining Qiao's favor and the actual place she needed to travel to that were unimportant. Anna was not going to try to convince the child, nor would she even permit her, to go into the Heartlands. Not out of misguided generosity but rather because she didn't want to deal with losing the only person on this island whose well being she cared halfway about.

[Celeste Arumen]

Annalisa pulled herself together just as quickly as she’d come apart. The speed of it was astonishing. Celeste had met a lot of crazies working the streets of Alvadas, but they had never changed so abruptly. They were either crazy or they weren’t; there wasn’t much gradient in between. The woman’s grin shifted to a frown, clarity slowly returning from whence it came.

”I’ll say,” the mageling replied, unable to stop herself. ’Damn my smart mouth,’ she seethed in silence. ’If she flies off the handle again, I’m petched.’ Well, maybe not petched per say, but definitely somewhere in the vicinity of moderately screwed. Which on the whole, wasn’t as bad. At least she had a clear shot at biting the woman’s head off – not that she took pleasure in the thought. Anna was not a bad person. Celeste wanted to be her friend.

She nodded, listening to explanation that followed. So he got away with it by being in bed with Lector Qiao. But of course. She’d learned all too well just how connected the Chief Embalmer was in the previous season. If Amaryllis couldn’t fix her problem, then it made sense he had connections at the top. But the real question was, why? Why on earth would he favor a mindless killer?

”I don’t want you to die,” she began earnestly. ”But I’m confused. What could he have possibly done to earn Qiao’s favor? I can’t imagine the man to be fond of humans, at least from what I’ve heard. This hypnotist must’ve done something truly unimaginable, which tells me that killing him is going to be a real problem.”

She couldn’t imagine what Annalisa would have to do to garner the same level of attention. Whatever it was, it would be extremely dangerous, that much was certain. ”If you change your mind, let me know. If you’re in a pinch, I’ll come help you.” What was she even agreeing to? Gods only knew. Ionu would be proud; throughout the conversation, she’d broken every last rule the Embalmer had set.

”So this glyphing,” she turned the conversation back around. ”If you don’t find it offensive to paint on my naked flesh, perhaps we could try it. I might even learn something for a change.” She smiled sheepishly, in a rather feline way.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna's eyes flashed slightly, her rather arrogant mind taking the girls harmless remark a little more personally than she should have. What did she know of the trials the sorceress had faced? The horrors inflicted upon her time and again as her sanity was slowly eaten away at? Did she understand exactly how much restraint it took for Anna to not be reduced to a completely homicidal lunatic at any moment? She'd slipped up so easily and it could happen again just as easily. It was a true curse, but it was a curse that felt petching good.

A struggle was evident in her mind as common sense warred with rather dark thoughts involving the girl learning what it was like to have her mouth burned away. Common sense won out barely, though the maddeningly tempting desires were right there in the back of her mind. She didn't want to kill Celeste even maddened, but torture was not killing and there was a part of her that wanted to hear what her screams sounded like. Probably so very musical...

No. Not Celeste. Not now, she was... useful, yes that was it. The girl was useful and a potential tool to Rhysol, her own fondness for her was a recognition of potential. Nothing more. That's what she needed to believe. It's what she needed to believe, for the girl's own sake. The mental war over for now she thought about her questions. This, at least, she could answer.

"Its... nice of you to rather I be counted among the living still, trust me when I say I am in no hurry to be deemed a failure in the eyes of Lord Rhysol." Anna offered, a slight ghostly smile found its way to her face.

One of the benefits of Celeste knowing about her secret was not having to utterly hide her faith, though she was certain filter out certain things. The girl was obviously uneasy about the Deceiver, though it was to be expected. She had not stood in his presence, basked in his acceptance, and though the mark had been painful the erotic pleasure felt afterward had felt so very right.

"Its not so much what he has done, but rather who he is. Daren arrived to Sahova a mere slave, a test subject pretty much guaranteed to die. However, according to Amaryllis he is one of the most powerful Hypnotists to grace the halls of Sahova since before the fall of Alahea. He convinced his master to free him and then throw himself off the tallest point of the Citadel. He was granted an apprenticeship for this, his next master being driven to insanity which was then followed up by being granted a Wizard rank by Qiao himself." Anna stated, the situation certainly grim when spelled out that way.

The sorceress gave Celeste a look at her next words, shaking her head slightly in disbelief. If only she knew what she was promising, if only she knew just where it was she was going and what horrors she faced. Insanity was the best of the options laid out before them, madness' sweet chorus being a mercy by comparison.

"Were you anyone else I'd likely take you up on that offer, but since I don't want you to die either I'll pretend you didn't offer that." The woman responded simply, her tone indicating that this subject of inquiry was closed and would not be given further consideration.

Anna actually gave a genuine smile at the return to Glyphing, that glint in her eyes reminiscent of her days as a Professor returning. The offer was very, very tempting to test out a few Glyphing layouts on Celeste just to see the effects on Morphing. Anna had no idea how it functioned but that hardly mattered, all magic followed the same principles. Morphing or Reimancy they were at their core the same manipulation and transmutation of Djed, their functions were just what were different.

"Oh my dear girl, you dangle fresh meat over the cage of a beast with your offer. You've no idea how much I would relish in the opportunity to test a few Glyphing sequences across your body. All magic is interconnected you see rather like different dialects of the same language, and Glyphing is the codex of that language. Its just the interpretations I'd need to get down to properly understand it... just a few experiments..." Anna said, her words lit with an obvious passion though the back drop of madness was still here. What was that saying about madness and genius? What about a mad genius?

The Sorceress stood and started pacing, her hand unconsciously going through the sequences of Glyphs swimming through her mind as though she were drawing them upon the air. Yes... was possible... but what if? No, no, no, that might confuse the Djed flow across her body, do irreparable damage. Possibly used if wanting to sabotage a Morpher by mutations... but she didn't want to harm Celeste so that sequence was useless.

Her train of thought was broken at a certain realization, a key component of Glyphing. Without it she was very much unable to conduct her art, rather like a swordsman without his weapon. She turned her eyes upon Celeste, the ponderings inside of them still somewhere.

"Oh, right. We need materials to actually Glyph with. Now your body could easily be the parchment if you will, the canvas upon which art will be born but I need something to actually write with. Technically I could just use my hands but that leaves us without ink, or a suitable substitute like inscribing paint or blood. Hmm..." The sorceress said, contemplating the issue.

It was rather the quandary, now that she thought of it. An inconvenience standing in the path of progress and art, unacceptable really. It was a slight against her abilities to be found to underprepared. They could make a trip back to the Citadel of course, though there had to be a more immediate solution.

[Celeste Arumen]

It was evident that Annalisa took her relationship to the God of Lies very seriously. Whatever it’d taken, she managed to calm down. Celeste barely restrained a sigh of relief. Being around her had become abruptly nerve-wracking. Luckily, the shape of the tiger wasn’t too emotionally expressive. She wouldn’t be giving much away.

So it wasn’t as bad as she’d initially thought. It was worse. That was always heartening. If Daren was held in such high esteem, then it stood to reason dispatching him would be all but impossible, given his legendary talents and predisposition to murder and all... Now Celeste sighed – well, as much as she could, given the circumstances. Calling him a problem had been a grand understatement.

It was sweet, how she didn’t want her to die. It was the nicest thing one person could say to another on the island of Sahova. Most people didn’t care whether another lived or died, unless they considered them valuable. But along the same vein, it was entirely possible it had simply been a ploy on Annalisa’s part to be “moved” by the display of her illusionism, having suddenly realized that she was indeed valuable. That made more sense than the woman developing any sort of emotion toward her. After all, she was Amaryllis’ apprentice – who was quite obviously, no reimancer – and further, she was quite mad. That indicated not only was she a politician, but a crazy politician.

Celeste would have to tread very, very carefully.

The girl unfurled her knotted muscles, having laid in one place for too long. And as much as she hated to admit it, she couldn’t hold the brand new shape for too much longer. It was beginning to wear at her will. With a bit of force, she molded her djed back from whence it came, using Illia as a mirror to maintain a clearer mental image. The familiar seemed overjoyed at being noticed and thus, the cat began to roll about in the dirt. It was just morphing backwards, requiring the same effort for the transformation aspect, yet needing none of the same resolve to maintain it.

After a half-chime, she was back to her usual self. Only naked, of course. In the interest of modesty, she pulled the robe back over her head. ”Sorry about that,” she offered. ”Morphers have to be naked. You should see my Master.” She winked, thinking of the voluptuous, hard-muscled Riyanna. ”She is the most beautiful woman in all Sahova. Excepting you, of course.”

Flattery was good. Even if it was blatant. ”Why don’t we take a stroll to the Mudpools, then? Mud is as good a substitute as any, and it’s a short walk.”

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna watched as the girl transformed back to her original form, again both enamored and slightly disgusted by the grotesque display of transformation. It didn't take long but the act looked rather unpleasant, then again most people would probably think bleeding out your very self was unpleasant so there was that. Perhaps it felt good, cathartic even for all she knew. After all it only took her half a chime to stand naked as she was before the transformation.

It was an interesting branch of personal magic, though Anna wondered if she herself had any real use for it. Reimancy could provide her with ample self defense, actually it made her almost a literal force of nature. She had spells designed for close combat neutralization, so Morphing didn't possess much value there. Perhaps for disguise and subterfuge when it was needed, always useful skills to have for a Chaon. Definitely bore some thought and since she was giving Celeste her expertise here it stood to reason she should be able to persuade her to assist in the learning process.

Celeste's nakedness was noted in a different mindset this time, her flesh no different than parchment for her to write upon. Complex Glyphing sequences flashed over her mind, imagining their placement upon her body and the effect it might bring. One wrong misstep could very well damage the girl, possibly for good. Luckily Anna was a cut above the average Glypher, not quite unmatched but she was certainly on her way. Celeste had nothing to fear being in her very capable hands, Anna would see her body transformed into a work of art.

She felt her lip curl upwards at her compliment, though Anna had to wonder about this Master of her now. If she was living the perhaps the Chaon should... meet with this 'most beautiful woman in all Sahova'. Rhysol knew she really had an itch to scratch, then again it was fully possible she was averse to women. Wouldn't hurt to keep her in mind. Considering events as they were Anna was of a mind to enjoy herself while she could, after all tomorrow she could very well be dead.

"You flatter me, Celeste, though beautiful might be pushing it. I prefer statuesque. On an unrelated note you should introduce me to this Master of yours, 'tis been a while since I laid eyes on living beauty worth the title. Your sickeningly endearing cuteness doesn't count." The sorceress stated, drawing herself up proudly to her full six foot height.

The Mudpools eh? Mud was... not exactly her first choice for Glyphing, however it was good enough she supposed and since it was the closest source she supposed it would have to do. Ink or paint was her preference, but the natural world often provided when necessary. Anna had once drawn a scroll sigil in wet sand, it had functioned just as well as one made from parchment. Mud would have to substitute for now.

Again her thoughts were upon how best to go about this... perhaps Focus Glyphs on her joints? Maybe Paths along them to make everything flow smoother? A web work of Glyphs would need to cover the girls body, that much was certain. Luckily Anna was quick and comfortable in drawing Glyphs, scroll sigils only took a few chimes to craft by this point. Idly Anna wondered if it were possible to utilize Glyphs to actually restrict the flow of Celeste's Djed, to in essence lock her in this current form. In theory it should be possible, with the right use of Barriers to restrict certain key points. Maybe...

"Lead on Celeste, I need to think over the correct sequences. Wouldn't want to mess up and cause magical backlash after all." Anna said aloud, her tone distracted as her thoughts received the majority of her attention.

Morphing operated under the same basic principles as other magic, Djed was changed to gain a certain result. So perhaps Celeste's Djed changed her actual identity, differing from Reimancy in that it was changing Djed and literally forcing a piece of her being out from her body. Would then the Glyphs need to reflect that change? Possibly. Maybe.

"Celeste, my dear, would you mind explaining to me the abstract mechanics of the transmutation of your Djed via this Morphing? Specifically how the flow of personal energy is moved through the body as you change?" Anna inquired, her language definitely reflecting the former Professor rather than the Sahovan apprentice.

[Celeste Arumen]

It seemed she’d piqued her interest at the mention of Riyanna. It was about time she’d introduced the two of them, anyway. ”Watch this,” she said whilst turning, lifting two fingers to her lips. Celeste sounded a call that was light, airy - a call of summons, not of distress. If the Warden were around, she’d hear it, which was likely. Riyanna lingered in the area when her initiates were on patrol, mostly out of maternal concern.

After a chime, a call sounded back at them. She was on her way. The girl turned to smile at Annalisa. ”Thank you,” she replied at the mention of her being cute. Celeste unleashed the full power of her smile, glowing for half a tick in the dreamy morning light. Being charming, that was the key. She couldn’t be sarcastic or she’d send the woman into fits.

The dark shape emerged not too long after, a cloud of dust billowing in her wake. Riyanna was in the shape of a snowy white wolf, one of the child’s absolute favorites. Very slowly, she loped into range of the two of them, morphing seamlessly back into her natural state. If Celeste were to be considered fluid, than Riyanna was effortless; it took her less than half a chime to stand in her full, glorious flesh: pert breasts and hips, hard muscled from top to bottom, this time sporting a long mane of silvery hair to match her tawny yellow eyes. Tears stained her cheeks eternally, as if she’d once wept mercury.

”Hi!” She said brightly, scooping Celeste up in a hug. The girl cooed and allowed herself to be lifted from the ground and spun around, before Riyanna set her down again. ”Who is your friend?” She gave the girl a wry look. ”I see. So you like the other kind, eh? Dark, beautiful tall and mysterious?” She tickled the mageling, who squirmed and danced out of the circle of her arms. The pair of them could easily pass for mother and child.

”Stop that! I’m only thirteen.” She said with a pout. ”Fourteen in the Spring,” Riyanna reminded her. ”We don’t get many opportunities here on the island, cutie. Just remember that!” The Warden turned to Annalisa, smiling with her pearly white teeth. ”I’m Riyanna Sterder. Nice to meet you. Be sure to keep an eye on young Celeste here. She can be quite the handful!”

She turned. ”It’s your day off, you know.” Riyanna grinned knowingly. ”I’m surprised you’re not at the Dalafurgu, digging in the dirt. Elsene will be wondering where you are.” Celeste simply laughed. ”Elsene can go stick her shovel in the mud.” The two of them giggled together, as if enjoying a private joke. ”Well, don’t have too much fun. Stay out of trouble. Bye now!” She bowed, lending a very interesting view to those less accustomed to nudity before she morphed back again, barreled back over the hills.

The apprentice turned proudly to Annalisa. It was obvious both Master and Apprentice loved one another very much. ”What did you think? Let’s walk and talk. I can tell you all you need to know about morphing on the way.”

As they went, she tried to illuminate all she could.

”So, during the morphing process, rather than expelling djed, you’re actually altering it. Energy is directed inward rather than outward. When attempting a morph, I first separate my mental djed from my physical. Mental djed dictates just who I am inside. It is essential never to tamper with it. Doing so would have disastrous consequences. The disruption of mental djed is likely the primary cause of madness in Wizards,” she continued, glossing over this part as best she could. Best to not upset her.

”Anyway, once I have the two elements visually separated, I actually mold my djed to reflect the physical change on the outside. It is essential to have a fundamental knowledge of cause and effect in this respect. If say, I take the tiniest threads of my fingernails, which are straight as an arrow and begin to mold them differently, I affect the color. But those threads are simply an offshoot of larger threads, which actually dictate the fundamental structure of the nails. However, those larger djed strands don’t encompass the minutae of the color or the texture. That is the fun of it. Morphing can quickly become very complex.

They were covered the ground quickly. The Mudpools wouldn’t be too much farther. ”It’s so very different, you’d probably have to do different glyphs to augment different things. From what little I know of glyphing, that is.” She smiled deprecatingly. ”Does that help you any?”

Hehe.I have self-mod permission for Riyanna so I thought I'd have some fun.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna raised an eyebrow at Celeste's little call, not exactly sure of the significance of the act itself when it was committed. Another call sounded from the distance, likely a reply. The purpose quickly became apparent as something was quickly approaching her eyes widening at the shape of a great snowy white wolf. The Sorceress didn't resist the urge to focus energy beneath her hands, the vital part of her very identity being placed there and ready to be expended. Paranoia was always a healthy thing to keep in her mind, always healthy when looking at something like that.

Before her very eyes a seamless transformation occured, in less than half a chime a well built- stunning actually- woman stood in the place of the beast. This was Riyanna? The Warden of the Prairie? If so then Anna was unfamiliar with proper address, especially when every inch of tantalizing flesh was standing before her. Amaryllis hadn't exactly prepared her with how the Wardens conducted things, the Citadel was far different than the Testing Grounds.

Anna noted with amusement the informality of their relationship, Master and Apprentice looking more like mother and child. Her relationship with Amaryllis was very clearly Servant and Master and that suited her just fine, it made things much easier when the time came that the Sorceress would surpass her. Of course, returning some semblance of coherency to her fractured mind was the first step. If she wasn't careful she might very well fly off the handle at the wrong moment, then she would very surely be petched.

Idly Anna imagined exactly what sort of deprived pleasured she wouldn't mind indulging in with this Warden. They were manifold indeed, having been deprived such desires for so long. Sahova had once disadvantage, the petching Nuit were no use to her more base needs and most of the living either wanted nothing to do with her or wanted her dead. Such a pity.

"I am Annalisa Marin. It is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of an esteemed Warden." The tall woman replied to the greeting, her tone and word choice formal and deliberate.

At the University she remembered having to be exceedingly polite to those with more prestige than her. Sahova, in a brutally unforgiving sort of way, was not dissimilar from the College of Djed. Only instead of worrying over political ramification one had to worry for the ever watchful eye of the Head of the Department. That was the reason for the cordiality then, to not arouse suspicion.

The Warden was off just like that, leaving Anna staring in her wake her eyes calculating with that mad gleam behind them. Such power... it would be hers one day as well, yes, there was much she could do with this Morphing. Rhysol's goals would be better served by such potent magic, all she needed was to know the basics. As she rapidly approached the highest tier of Reimancy Anna knew that she'd need to expand her horizons ever outwards. Voiding and Shielding were solid bases, but one could never have too much power.

Anna turned her gaze upon her young companion, dispelling the dark thoughts from her mind and giving order to the madness. For now she needed to keep some semblance of control, Daren was going to suffer for this. Petch it, once she reached the heights of Maelstrom so would the Master of Reimancy. She would crush him for having humiliated her in battle, not yet but soon enough.

"What do I think? I think, my dear girl, your Master is a ravishing sight to behold! I'm certain a volume or two in the Wright Memorial Library could be penned as a testament to such beauty. I'd pen it myself, though I fear my own words would be insufficient." Anna said, the façade of the charming Chaon finally slipping on.

It wasn't a permanent fix, but it would do for now at the very least until she found a means to channel the insanity. Better to have a mask than to risk showing the inner ugliness within, though she had to wonder when it was going to slip out again. Probably at an unfortunate moment when something important was on the line.

As they walked Anna absorbed Celeste's words, already working through the exacts of what this would all mean for a Glypher. So in order to Morph one needed to protect their sense of personal identity, while at the same time changing the codex of what they were. It sounded rather complex to be perfectly honest, though it was in actuality not dissimilar to res transmutation.

When expelling res one was placing that part of their self outwards, separating it from their core identity. Then in order to transmute it one focused on another concept, such as fire or air, enforcing an alteration on the res and forever changing it into something else. The key difference here was that the change for Morphing needed to be reversible. Still with this similarity in mind she had a base to work off from, the key thing was actually arranging the Glyphs correctly.

"Hmm... you are both correct and not with your assessment of the arrangement. Theoretically I could Glyph your body the same way I do for my own for res generation. Your Djed is still being changed and warped much like it would during generation of res. The key difference is you are altering your physical form and identity. It would likely still effect your body though not as dramatically as we might want." Anna postulated.

Being a former professor did have its advantages, theoretical applications and concepts had long been drilled into her head as to what Djed was and was not. How the world changed as a result of the use of magic, and how Glyphing could effect change upon the change. A number of uneducated wizards she'd met casted on an instinctual level, their acts of power done without real knowledge.

"Personal magic shares much of the same things with other branches. For instance, when I open a Portal to the Void I am actually going through a similar process as what you are describing. I am accepting the concept of infinite emptiness and detaching the concept from my mind and onto a specific point. The key difference is I'm not changing my physical identity, but rather creating a bridge between this dimension and another one all together. I'm literally morphing space and time to make two points that are infinitely far apart together." Anna continued, raising a finger in the air before her as they walked.

"This interconnectivity being true I do believe I have a formulated method that could allow faster and more easy transformation, using the ones I use as a base a building off of what I witnessed earlier and your explanation of the finer points of Morphing." Anna said with a nod, the sequences already flashing through her mind.

Morphing would require slight alterations in the regular design, but nothing extremely drastic. At least that was the theory, it was a sound theory- it was her theory after all- but still needed to be tested. Luckily they were quickly nearing their destination, Anna couldn't believe that she was actually excited about playing in the mud.

[Celeste Arumen]

Celeste nodded along at the theory of it. All magic dealt with the manipulation of djed, in form or another. It stood to reason then that with a supplementary discipline like glyphing, the process would only need slight adjustment. Her only concern was whether or not the glyphs would make it through the transformation process. As she shifted her body, would they shift with her? Or would they need special ink, like Riyanna’s morphing paint?

The explanation of Voiding certainly piqued her interest. She’d seen a bit of it in use during in her time around Ronas, but she’d never thought to ask about the theory behind it. ”So, it stands to reason that Voiding might be a great way to hide something or better, to move things from one point to the next unseen?” It sounded like a very useful thing to know. But more than likely, it’d take work to get good at, much like everything else. As much as she hated to admit it, the only thing she didn’t have in abundance was time.

They were there before long. She’d taken the time, assessing what stood to be most valuable from the various offers Annalisa’d given her. She had tantalized the girl with a lesson on the finer points of Nader-canoch in their last meeting, though whether or not it was still on the table remained to be seen. Knowing the ancient tongue could do her some good in the Citadel. Perhaps after some experimentation, they could talk business.

Celeste pulled her robe off and folded it, before placing it on the ground, feet away from the Mudpools. She stretched languidly, an idea slowly occurring to her. Perhaps by using her meager talent in auristics, she could detect when Annalisa was beginning to unravel. If she gauged the peaks and valleys of her mood as per her aura, it might be invaluable. She’d had at least learned a decent enough technique from Grams on how to dive in and out of focus with an aura, skimming for information without going too deep.

With a subtle push, the brilliant corona of Anna’s energy sprang forth, overwhelming her and causing her head to swim. It took a bit of blinking to keep it in the peripheral, maintaining sight without looking directly into the bright array of color. ”I’m ready when you are,” she said, gesturing toward the gurgling mud behind them. Meanwhile, her eyes darted toward her for a split second, allowing the brief intake of the most obvious of her emotions before she turned away, resisting the gravity of her essence.

It was interesting, how singular each impression was. She got the vague sense of excitement, of focus. It made her flash to time spent learning with Grams or experimenting with Kit. The pursuit of new knowledge was undoubtedly important to the apprentice, which was good to know. But whether or not she was on the cusp of breakdown, that she couldn’t say. The chaotic dance of her aura was too much to bear at her current level.