Closed New Lessons [Felicia]

[Annalisa Marin]

5th of Winter, 513 AV

The Common Labs were always a bustle of activity, Pulser and Nuit apprentices alike moving too and fro with various projects that needed doing. One such Pulser sat lazily in her chair at an empty workstation, her feet resting upon the desk in front of her and her hand out stretched as she casually manipulated a small fire bolt above her hand. The purple flames flickered in lovely ways, art in and of themselves in the Sorceress' honest opinion. The sheer ease of her manipulation certainly bellied the bronze ring wrapped around her ring finger, she hardly seemed to be putting any conscious thought to actually maintaining it.

Her expression was one contemplation, seeming oblivious to everything else in the Common Labs except for the flame as her grey eyes seemed to even look through that. She was in the midst of pondering a rather interesting quandary, one that involved the transmutation of a mere firebolt inside of someone's lungs. It was certainly possibly, but Anna thought there had to be a more effective way of doing it. Possibly skipping fire altogether and going straight to Lava or Lightning?

It warranted a test in her opinion, a trip to the Dungeons would need to be arranged to handle this quandary. Perhaps after her scheduled meeting with her newest an no doubt piss scared pupil. Felicia Gamora, the summoner girl she had met the other day and scared the piss out of with a small reimantic display. Those spells had been so very easy all things considered, if she had really been intending to put on a show she would have rent the very earth in twain. Probably then filling that new crack with lava or ejecting that from it... ohhh now there was a spell she simply needed to try.

Of course the lesson was on her mind for the most part, the almost subconscious maintenance of the flame over her right hand bringing her back to that task. The girl wanted to learn Glyphing, though Anna had obviously scared her. No doubt that would make it difficult to deal with the whole trust thing, however Anna viewed this as both a possible set back and an opportunity. Felicia was still not tested, she was not an apprentice yet and technically Anna could do whatever the petch she wanted to her, as long as she kept it to some other area. So Felicia still very much needed Anna, especially after Anna became a full Wizard. Plenty of time to shape her as needed, with a few good pushes in the right direction she could have this better than it had been before. As master and slave rather than a façade of friendship, though the façade was needed for now at least.

It was simply one of many masks and really she wore it out of amusement more than anything else, to toy with others. After all they did exist for her amusement, possessions one and all really at least for those weaker than she. Celeste came to mind when thinking of such possessions, she was strong, but Anna felt confident that she was the superior in terms of both Master and magic. Felicia was less valuable or prized than Celeste, but she was a gem all her own.

The Sorceress looked around lazily for the girl, she wasn't late yet though Anna was finding boredom was beginning to take hold of her. She really wanted to try out that lava tear idea now actually, pity the Citadel was not the place for it though. Such was her luck, a Citadel full of magic and her powers were limited by rules. Stupid petching Council, spoiling her fun like they did. She'd show the Nuit though, oh, would she ever show them.

The woman simply sat where she was, expression never changing despite her murderous and sadistic thoughts. She'd wait for a couple of bells longer and if the girl didn't show then the reimancer was going to go to the Testing Grounds to try out her new idea. She really needed a good practice session after that incident at the Forge. She was going to turn those petching Golems into scrap metal and then murder that stupid slave for causing her such trouble.

[Felicia Gamora]

The day before was still fresh in Felicia's mind. The impressive display of reimancy by her new friend Anna was quite frightening, and shocked the red haired girl quite a bit. The idea of such powerful mages being on this island sent shivers up her spine. All she could do was open some portals, nothing really harmful. How would she ever defend herself on this island if another wizard decided it was time for Felicia to disappear. This would be something she might have to ask Anna about. But after yesterday, there wasn't an ounce of trust left in Fel's body for the other woman. The only reason the summoner was continuing to visit the sorceress was in hopes to keep a powerful ally, and mostly because Fel did not want to anger Anna. Learning from Anna would also help prepare Felicia for her Judgement. A day that constantly plagued the summoners mind, no matter what the situation. The day held the key to her whole future on Sahova. Nothing was more important than impressing the other wizards on that day. Becoming an apprentice was the only way she would truly learn more about summoning. Practice could only bring you so far, Felicia needed a teacher, one with knowledge of new coordinates. It was the whole reason the summoner had come to the isle of the dead. She had come much to far and thrown away so much. Abandoning her family, leaving her home, all of her friends. It wasn't much but it was all she had at the time. Felicia didn't throw all of that away just to be turned away by some wizards she didn't even know. Felicia left to become a powerful summoner, one who would one day be able to climb the Sahova ladder of rule. The first step was still passing her Judgment. This was exactly why Fel was keeping her ties to Anna, and why the summoner had come to improve her own glyphing by learning from a much more seasoned sorceress. Anna obviously knew the way of the island, and she seemed to want to help the summoner succeed, at least to some extent. When it came to glyphing though, Felicia would accept just about any help she could get with glyphing. Her glyphs were simple, nowhere near as neat as the glyphs Felicia had watched be written upon her own summoning circle the day before. As Anna had told her, Felicia was quickly realizing how important a supplementary magic was to introduce to her summoning. She might seem bland or less useful if the only magic she was able to preform well was summoning. Though a successful summon would be key, since summoners seemed rather desirable on the island, or at least rare, since Felicia was yet to find another full fledged summoner. Felicia finally rolled out of bed, getting up and grabbing her knife. From today on, that would be an item that Felicia would carry with her everywhere. It would be used for both summoning and self-defense, but the one she would be using it more for was something Fel was not quite sure of. Grabbing her knife and heading to the common labs, the summoner prepared herself for another encounter with the insane woman who would be a teacher of glyping to Felicia. Upon entering the common labs at the first floor, Felicia had a strange sense of deja vu. She looked around, trying to remember exactly why she felt this way. Only a tick later did Felicia realize that it was here that the unknown wizard pointed out that specific brick in the wall. Yet another thing she would have to ask Anna about. Perhaps this was something she should keep to herself for now, or even ask another ally, one potentially less insane. What she would find at that location was completely unknown. It could be a secret passage, a hidden treasure, or perhaps even a trap. Shaking the thoughts and memory away, Felicia had an appointment to keep, and she was almost never late. Almost. Entering the lab where she had been told to meet Anna, Felicia found her teacher in an instant, sitting down playing with some purple colored flames. She seemed deep in contemplation, and Fel wasn't completely sure if it would be okay to disturb her. She would only wait for another moment before approaching the sorceress. "Hello again," the summoner gave her greeting a bit cheerfully "Are you ready to teach me how to glyph? I've been thinking more about how it could help me pass Judgement. I need every edge I can get right?" Eager to learn, and even more excited to get the experience over with, Felicia prepared herself to absorb as much knowledge as she could from Anna. Despite her now obvious insanity, Anna obviously knew much about magic and it's properties. She would make a good teacher for Felicia.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna noticed Felicia approaching immediately and dispelled the outer layer of flame without a single gesture being given, the action effortless by any definition of the word. The res slithered back onto her flesh and seeped back inside, slowly returning some vestiges of the energy used to maintain it back into her. The Sorceress would stand and smile broadly, indicating for the Summoner to seat herself close by. When the summoner did Anna would chuckle at her words of greeting, casually putting her feet up on the work station. She would then regard the shorter woman with an amused expression.

"My my, so very eager to learn. I'm surprised to see you here at all, most would have turned tail and never looked back. Not you though, are you so tempted by the arcane secrets I can offer? I can see the hunger in you, which definitely is poor masking on your part so work on it." Anna quipped, beating around the subject of her inquiry purposely.

"I'm certain you think yourself brave, but what you are now doing could end you as surely as Syna rises at the dawn. You are indebting yourself to me, to one with a much more detailed script that you and one who has acted on this stage for longer than you. Were I a cruel minded individual I could make you a slave easily, as you have no defense, no standing, no nothing in the eyes of Sahova. I wonder how long you'd last as a subject to some mad wizard, or slaving away in the Forge?" Anna said easily, as though she were commenting on the weather.

The woman's grey eyes narrowed slightly, as though she were annoyed by the girl's actions. There was no anger, no flicker of madness, simply exasperation and extreme annoyance. She held the look for a long while, hoping her words an look sent the necessary chills up the woman's spine before returning her look of mild amusement back onto her face. She reclined back easily, gazing up at the ceiling.

"Fortunately for you, I have other plans for you and slavery is not one of them at all. I see in you potential, greatness hidden beneath the surface just waiting to peek out. You could rise above the weaklings milling about in these communal labs, become so much more than you know. However, a single blunder like the ones you have just made will see that snatched from you easily and totally. Learn well this lesson, nothing in Sahova is free. Nothing. Not even this lesson I teach you today, Felicia." Anna said, regarding her seriously.

She had indirectly issued threats, made her aware of just how very petching weak and vulnerable in the eyes of Sahova. She was just another Pulser in the eyes of the Nuit, a nothing and an insect beneath their contempt. Then it was necessary to give her hope, a vision of the future that could very well be hers if she learned quickly. Anna needed effective actors in her play, puppets with strong and durable strings. There was no place for weaklings in Rhysol's grand designs, only the strong ruled and had the right to exist.

"I will teach you what I know, the means to look beyond the Glyphs as you see them. To know how all magic, personal and world, are all just different dialects of the same language and how the codex of Glyphing can decipher them. However I want to see what you are willing to sacrifice to accomplish this. If I do this you will owe me a single favor at the time and design of my choosing, no matter how great, heinous, or disgusting it might be. Be careful before speaking your answer, word is law on Sahova and you'll be bound to such an oath." Anna said, her expression having lost all levity and was now deadly and completely serious.

The girl would hate her for this no doubt, she'd lose any ounce of trust she might have had remaining for her. In the end there was no real choice, without the lessons Anna could teach her Judgment was an unsure thing at the very best. Only Anna had the knowledge to ensure that she'd succeed where she might otherwise fail. Compared to that promise of success, what was one single favor? What was the weight of the possible compared to her needs in the here and now?

Anna didn't really lose much if she flat out refused, she was more than capable of learning Summoning on her own and dealing with beasts easily. Her power made her more formidable than Felicia could ever hope to become. However what Anna was offering was also more insidious than that, the desire to overcome the Sorceress and rise to the challenge offered. To one day become more than Anna. It was Rhysol will she did here, implanting the seeds of discord without uttering a single curse.

[Felicia Gamora]

Felicia had come into the conversation with such high expectations. This was supposed to be just a simple meeting with an insane wizard that would teach her how to improve her glyphs. Nothing was ever that easy, especially on Sahova. It was becoming more and more apparent with every passing day that things were never easy, especially not on Sahova. Felicia sit in a seat next to Anna when motioned to, waiting to hear whatever it was that the crazy sorceress had for the summoner today. "I'll work on concealing my wants and needs more effectively." Felicia promised to the girl sitting next to her. After the first few sentences, the conversation quickly went downhill for Fel. The reason for the conversation wasn't very hard to understand. Anna wanted the summoner to do something for her, while Anna had something that she knew Felicia needed, glyphing. With talks of slavery, fighting, being nothing, terrible images plastered themselves into Fel's mind. In Sahova, she really was nothing, she hadn't even finished her Judgement, let alone come up with any sort of idea as to what she'd be doing to not look like a complete fool when giving her little performance. There were just so many variables that came with summoning, it was almost impossible, if not completely, to guarantee a successful summoning session. The most impressive things to come from her portals were creatures, though with a mind of their own, it was incredibly likely that nothing came through at all. Such a thing would be devastating to the summoners career on Sahova. But, she had potential. Anna saw something in Felicia that had drawn interest, enough so that the summoner wasn't being killed or enslaved, at least not right away. Felicia took a quick look around the room, turning in her seat to see everyone in this communal lab. The idea of rising above, becoming more than these common folk who at the moment stood more powerful than she, was an idea that filled the young summoner with greed. Fel wanted oh so terribly to hold some sort of standing in Sahova, to be more powerful than another. She wanted respect, and she wanted to be admired. It seemed that Anna held the key to all of these things, and was simply dangling them just outside the reach of the red haired girl. Both of them knew what was going on here, Anna was pulling Felicia into something that might not be so easy to escape with the promise of achieving the previously unimaginable. Nothing on Sahvoa is free. The idea rang in the girls mind for a tick, imagining all the possible things that could be asked of her. Murder, deceit, things that could get her removed from the island, or maybe even worse. If she didn't take the deal though, there was no way to tell for sure if the summoner would succeed in her Judgement. Free or not, the offer was far too enticing to resist. Perhaps Anna wasn't all bad. Though she was a bit crazy, Anna was offering to help her in some roundabout way. Sure Felicia had to pay her back, but that's how most favors worked. Felicia would still hold out on trust Anna completely, but that could be worked on. At least the twisted sorceress was being honest now. A lot of this truth slipped by in the form of threats and ideas of how Felicia could swiftly end on Sahova, but they were still truths. The most important one came out alongside the rest of these also. Anna didn't actually want to kill Felicia, at least not now. Felicia was being given a chance, a hand was being held out to her. It was most easily the first, and could quite possibly be the last, if the deal were to be denied. A short career on Sahova, and then being kicked off the island, if not killed before them would ensue shortly after. Felicia actually needed this, more than just about anything else, and though the hand was gilded, the positives would outweigh the negatives. Probably. "I accept your offer Anna. I will owe you a favor in return for this lesson in glyphing." Returning her eyes to the sorceress, Fel took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and gave a slight nod. "No time like the present, right?" Preparing herself to absorb as much glyphing knowledge as possible, the redhead would not let a second thought of her decision to be brought to mind. Too much thinking always changed ones mind, and there was next to no way she could make it through Sahova without help, and this was the first step. Hopefully, the favor to be asked wouldn't get her thrown off of the island, as likely as it was. There were probably few things Anna didn't actually want to, or wouldn't mind doing, meaning the things left of for Felicia had the potential to be awesomely terrible.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna watched the emotions play out on Felicia's face with great interest, the small sliver of humanity questioning the ease at which she twisted the woman into serving her. Felicia had probably had friends and family once upon a time, she was another person and not a thing. Did she really have the right to continue as she was? To mold this woman into a servant not just for her but for the Defiler? The image of her battle in the Element's Sanctum and the loss of her partner flashed through her mind, as though the dead woman was questioning her morality.

The forthcoming argument was of course difficult to deny, Felicia had chosen this path. She had come to Sahova and if she didn't learn these lessons by the Sorceress' hand, which were rather gentle all things considered, she'd learn them more harshly. The tall woman was helping her in a way, a sick and petched up way, but it was help nonetheless. How many Nuit would simple take advantage of her? How many Pulsers would do what Daren had done to Anna herself?

A small smile worked its way across Anna's face at Felicia's eagerness, wondering if she understood what she had just agreed to. She probably did, but such was the way of things and though it was a hard lesson no doubt she'd take it in stride. If she managed to learn quickly then Anna had no doubt in her mind that the Summoner might succeed. Perhaps, if she proved a good enough student, the sorceress might consider helping her out in the department. After all... a Wizard needed an Apprentice or two.

"Well then, that out of the way let us get started, my darling summoner. Take up a fair bit of parchment and a writing utensil, we are going to work on something you are familiar with and start working with Glyphs as augments to your circles. First though, a bit of review of course to freshen the knowledge in your mind." Anna said, her voice settling into its instructional tone with ease.

"As I'm sure you are aware, there are a few Glyphs which make up the basic building blocks of the majority of sigils. The Focus, the Barrier, the Paths, the Triggers, and the Switches. These are the glyphs most often seen in use in sigils, the fundamentals." Anna stated, taking up a sheet of parchment and a brush and quickly starting to draw.

First she drew the large stylized inverted triangle that made up her Focus Glyph, her strokes confident and almost instinctual. Next to the quickly completed Glyph she wrote its name in common lettering. Below it she drew a ring of smaller Glyphs, her brush teasing the parchment as it worked in the tiny shapes. This was her Barrier, which was followed by another identification in Common lettering. She continued until each and every basic Glyph was drawn upon the parchment and placed the document between them for Felicia to look over. She pointed to each Glyph as she started up her explanation.

"The Focus is a singular large Glyph that possesses the purpose of channeling or storing magic. For instance, if I were to draw one on the palm of my hand it would assist in channeling res and speed my casting up greatly. The Barrier can be one of two things, it can be designed to keep magical effects from a certain area or contain magical effects to that same area." She said, running through the checklist of these terms so that hopefully Felicia would not get lost.

"The Path is designed to transport effects from one area to the next, moving the magic along the designated line of Glyphs between two points. It is often used in conjunction with Switch Glyphs, which separate a sigil's effects into multiple parts. Then you have the Trigger, which is often used in a scroll sigil. It is a specification of parameters, such as speaking a word, which activate it and can for instance lower a Barrier on a Scroll to release magic stored in a Focus." She continued, this knowledge being really the bare basics at the moment.

"A Sigil is a runic layout, like a scroll, that possesses a certain function. Your first task for me will be to create a sigil with two Foci, two Barriers, two Switches, and a Path connecting them. Remember to utilize your own personal style and not to mimic my own, let the Glyphs flow from your own mind and hand freely. Once you have completed this task we will discuss Glyphing as an augment and how it connects magic together." Anna instructed.

It was a simple enough task really, though it might take Felicia a couple of tries to get right. Triggers were likely beyond her for the moment, so Anna focused on other Glyphs to get her more comfortable. Though, perhaps a little positive reinforcement might help her out. She had been a bit too clinical and this was quite a task for a beginner.

The tall woman gently placed a hand on the woman's arm and smiled as gently as she could. Teaching tended to bring out the best I her really, probably because she had genuinely enjoyed the actual task of it. The University had indeed been the place for her, only it was just too restricting for her tastes. Sahova, for all its faults, allowed her to practice magic free of constraint.

"Take your time, Felicia. Keep your Glyphs as neat as you can, don't be afraid of starting over from scratch. If you need advice or have questions, I'm here for a reason." She assured the Summoner, squeezing her arm slightly before sitting back to examine her work.

[Felicia Gamora]

Was it really that simple? All Felicia had done was agree to give one favor, and it seemed that Anna's demeanor had completely changed. It was a bit startling for the girl, and brought to mind questions of what schemes were brewing in the sorceress' head to change her attitude so much. Whatever it was, Anna sounded like a well versed teacher to Felicia. She had never had a real teacher, especially in something like magic. Just about everything she knew, Fel had taught herself through practice, and trading or stealing coordinates. There weren't many teachers outside Sahova, and those that were went on unbeknownst to the young summoner. The sorceress went straight into teaching the redhead, and in turn, the redhead grabbed some paper and a brush in preparation for whatever task was about to be assigned to her. Everything sounded simple enough. Mostly review, Felicia still went over everything in her head. Glyphs always seemed to have a special way of eluding her complete grasp. Focus for channeling and storing. Barriers keep things in or out. Paths transport magic. Switches separate magic effects. Triggers activate effects upon meeting created requirements. Not too difficult I suppose. Draw two foci, two barriers, two switches, and a path to connect them. That didn't sound too terrible. They were the three she had the most experience with, specifically barriers and foci. Summoning was he most easily augmented through those, or at least those were the two that had actually stuck in Felicia's mind. Her shapes always looked like random lines put together, barely resembling any kind of shape with very rigid corners that were barely connected. The simplest way, in Felicia's mind, was to go about them in a simple descending order. The barrier would be the outermost shape, the focus in the center, and a switch between the two. Then a path would be drawn between the two. The barrier was a heptagon, taking up a good portion of the left side of the page. Each line was drawn individually, and were quick sweeps across the page, leaving thick lines on each wall. After a short appraisal, Felicia found the first shape to be a bit messy, but acceptable. Moving on to the first switch, which was a nonagon, though no where neat enough to really tell without close inspection. With more quick, but lighter strokes, the first switch was constructed. The final part of the construction was the focus. Deciding on something simple, Felicia drew a small circle that was a bit off center with a long thick line through it. All three little circle type shapes completed, it was time to construct a second set. Deciding to go backwards this time, Felicia started with a tiny circle, drawing the same thick line through it. Continuing her construction in the same fashion, drawing another nine-sided and seven-sided circles as earlier. With the two series of shapes completed, it was time to fill in the bridge. Felicia began to draw two crossing zig-zag lines between the two edges of the barriers. The path ended up looking a bit like a chain of X's going across the center of the page. Looking at it, the page looked far from beautiful, but everything was there. Perhaps it wasn't the most wonderful looking set of glyphs, but everything was there. One more quick look, and then Felicia slid the paper over to Anna. "I've never really had a steady hand. It's a bit messy, but I'm pretty sure I got everything." Hopeful for approval, Felicia sat about awaiting Anna's appraisal of her work. In what was her few ticks of downtime, as she waited for the criticism of her work, Felicia's mind wandered about aimlessly. She wondered what Anna was like before Sahova, if there even was a pre-Sahova Anna. It would have been interesting to meet her. Felicia remembered hearing something about the University, but how could she be sure of anything Anna said. Fel began to draw pictures in her mind about a teacher at a university named Annalisa. Teaching her students glyphing, much like what was happening now. She imagined whole rooms filled with people coming to learn of a charismatic woman who knew about all kinds of magic. It was a silly little fantasy, something that was far from possible anytime soon. Maybe this university was the place Felicia should have gone to for help with her magic. Maybe they wouldn't have let her use summoning there. Either way, she was on Sahova now, and it sounded like this was where she could be for a while.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna looked at Felicia's work with great interest, scrutinizing it very carefully for what she might view as flaws. Her grey eyes were narrow and her fingers steepled before her, every detail and minute stroke of Felicia's brush party to her judgment. The individual Glyphs hardly mattered to her, the sigil was what was most important and the messiness was starting to bleed over into effecting the sigil. Anna had her doubts it could act functionally in most any respect but the tall woman reserved that for when she actually tested it out. Idly she considered whether to try for Voiding or Reimancy today, opting for Reimancy since the girl had already seen it.

The Summoner moved it over to Anna, who already had seen what she had needed to see when the woman was actually making it. Her hands were unused to the actual act of drawing the Glyphs in their individual forms, which translated into a compromised sigil. The whole could not be great if the parts lacked confidence and skill, it was like trying to build a house over a poor foundation. Something was going to give way at some point unfortunately.

The Sorceress took up her own brush and started on a Trigger connected to one of the Barriers, deciding to make it simple. Best to give an example of what a simple Trigger looked like for Felicia to observe. Anna's Trigger looked rather like a jumble of stylized geometric shapes in the pattern of a triangle. She would likely be incapable of anything truly complex for sometime to come, at least until Anna could get her to make a halfway decent sigil. Next to it in common lettering she wrote:

When the word 'Nader' is spoken, activate the Trigger and lower the Barrier to send the magic in the Focus along the Barrier.

This accomplished she raised her left index finger, reaching within herself that that pool of energy that made up her very being. She willed it to gather quickly underneath the flesh of her finger and push outwards. Translucent purple res gathered around her finger in a liquid form, generated at a frighteningly fast speed that seemed beyond the norm. For a master of the art such as here, res generation was almost second nature and required near no though or effort.

A sheath of purple liquid formed around her finger, which she idly willed to phase change to a gaseous form. The amount of Djed used here was beneath even negligible, barely even sending a thrill through her mind or even stirring the Urge within her breast. The tiny gaseous cloud was moved over the Focus attached the Trigger, being will downwards and transmuted to air at Anna's will. The small tuft of compressed air was absorbed into the Focus, vanishing with a slight ripple.

"Nader" Anna said simply, sitting back idly as she watched the results.

The Trigger lowered the Barrier and the Switch sent the magic moving down the Path, but as it reached the opposite Barrier it seemed to get caught up. A few ticks of build up resulted in the parchment disintegrating and the air flowing out gently. It was about what she had expected given the rough nature of it, though perhaps the strength of her magic had just been far too potent.

"Hmm... You have got the overall design down but your Glyphs lack confidence and are somewhat sloppy. What I mean to say is, most Glyphs possess a form of symmetry when used in a Sigil. They need to be balanced out otherwise it can compromise the entirety of the layout. You need to be very careful, take your time when drawing them and approach every single one with care and patience. When I was just starting it took me over three chimes just to draw a Focus." Anna instructed, leaning back.

"What you just witnessed was Glyphing interacting with Reimancy, as you noticed the Focus absorbed it, the Barrier held it in check, and the Paths transported it. The other Glyph you saw me draw was my Trigger, a thing that is a bit too advanced for you at the moment I feel. So lets try something completely different. Something a little more in your comfort zone. Glyphing as augments." Anna said, standing from her chair.

The tall woman unclasped her cloak, which was followed by her undoing her sandals and placing them aside. Briefly she considered stripping down to her underclothes, as amusing as the look on Felicia's face might have been she opted for simply rolling up her sleeves and trouser legs. From there she sat down again, regarding Felicia with a single raised eyebrow.

"I want you to place a series of Foci and Paths on my hands and arms, and both the bottoms of my feet and up my legs. These are common personal augments for a personal wizard, and more importantly good practice for you. Normally I'd simply ask for a Focus on each hand and foot, but I think you can do better. Impress me, and maybe we'll start on some theory followed by possibly applications in Summoning if we have time today." Anna said, her tone commanding and directing.

"I'd rather not have sloppy Glyphs on my body, so remember that care and patience are the mark of the successful Glypher. Never rush in, always plan out your layouts and their symmetry. Take your time, flesh can be a little more difficult than parchment." Anna urged.

Ah, this was all taking her back really to her time at the University and what a joy that had been. Technically she was in the same situation, only on a much more dangerous place and she was teaching for gain rather than as a job. She felt... good doing this, teaching. As much as she might have been loath to admit it, it was really what she loved to do as it let her pretend for a moment that she was good for something. That someone valued her as something more than a piece in a game, but as a guide or mentor.

Mercilessly Anna hacked that line of thought to pieces, focusing on Felicia and the task she had just granted her.

OOCFeel free to have assume Anna allows and cooperates with Felicia so she can Glyph the parts however she needs to. Its all up to you in that regard.

[Felicia Gamora]

As Anna took the paper, it looked like the judgement of her work was already complete. Felicia observed as her teacher wrote another glyph, writing out what it's translation must have been right beside it. The command looked simple enough, but the glyph was much more elegant than her own. Fel had no idea how one would go about making a trigger, what made them work? Glyphs were definitely not her strong suit in magic. That was exactly why she ended up here, to learn the ways of glyphing, strengthening another area of magic to compliment her first. Learning was exciting, and this was the closest thing to a mentor that Felicia had ever known. Practice makes perfect, but a teacher was one hell of a shove forward, and the summoner was enjoying every second of it so far. Res had always managed to creep the red haired girl out. Something about it just never felt right, and that was one of the big things that drove Felicia away from reimancy. Watching closely as the res turned into a gas and was absorbed by the focus, Felicia quickly became excited to see her glyphs in work. Anna said one of the words written next to the trigger, and the poorly drawn glyphs when straight to work. Then the paper was completely destroyed. Prepared for the worst, Fel was surprised as the sorceress didn't seemed to be upset by the failure at all. Anna began to give some pointers on the glyphs, but something she had said clicked in the young summoners mind. Symmetry It was something the young girl was far too familiar with. While making animation circles, and summoning circles, Felicia spent as much time as necessary to make her circles perfectly symmetrical. Lines that crossed the circle from coordinate to coordinate were completely and perfectly straight. If anything were amiss with the circle, Felicia would correct it until the circle was perfect, or she would draw an entirely new one. If it was symmetry that gave confidence and power to glyphs, they would be something that could be grasped and conquered by the summoner. A new task was being given however. Anna stood, rolling up her sleeves, pants, kicking off her sandals, and removing the cloak she was wearing. Felicia was given a new test of skill, drawing on a person. A focus and a path on each arm and leg couldn't be too hard. With the new mentality about glyphs, Felicia was sure these ones would turn out much better than the last attempt. The encouragement was well received by the student, making her feel like Anna really had confidence in her. Everything seemed to fall into place with everything happening right now, if nothing else, Anna was a great teacher. Deciding to start with the feet and work her way up, Felicia took up a seat on the floor, and lifted Anna's right foot into her lap, and began to work. Very slowly, and very delicately Felicia began to make the focus on the center of the foot. Again, drawing the circle, but this time going about such a task much slower, envisioning a miniature summoning circle. Fel redrew the circle again and again until she was satisfied that the tiny symbol was completely perfect. Moving onward, the line through the center would cause some trouble, but nothing that Felicia wasn't prepared to overcome. The first line to be drawn through the circle was too thin for the student to approve, but it was drawn. The glyph had to be treated like a circle, and like any other circle, an irreparable mistake made means that the whole thing must be erased. Smudging the circle off, and wiping away the residue as much as she could, the girl began on redrawing the circle. After completing the original circle, Felicia gave special attention to the line she was about to draw through it. She put a good amount of pressure on the brush, leaving a long, thick, and deliberate line directly through the center. The line covered roughly half of entire circle, leaving a quarter of it open on either side of the line. Finally happy with her circle, she was ready to move onto the path. The path would take a bit longer than the circle. Each design was staying relatively the same as the first tries, though the quality of each was obvious in improvement. While the first glyphs were sloppy and quickly drawn, these were deliberate, and much more beautiful than the last glyphs she had attempted. The pat would be constructed in two parts, the first line, and then the second. While the idea was simple, the lines were intended to cross each other, exactly like the first glyph. The biggest problem with this was keeping the lines straight. Felicia had an idea of where the line needed to start, and where she wanted it to end, but keeping the path perfectly straight while crossing proved to be quite difficult. Felicia spent chime after chime working the path down the foot, around the heel, and up the leg. Erasing and retrying every time the path began to veer in a direction Felicia hadn't intended. The lines were drawn thick, to create what Felicia imagined to be a strong road for magic to flow through. Looking over the whole leg, from the focus on the foot, to the path that ascended Anna's right leg to the point where her trousers blocked any further painting, Felicia decided that was about as good as she could get, and repeated the process on the left leg. The left leg went relatively the same as the right, producing slightly less hiccups than the first as Fel began to fall into a groove of painting the glyphs. The hands came much easier to Felicia than painting on the feet did. Returning to her chair, the red haired girl took the right hand of her teacher. Beginning to paint the circle again, she covered the entire palm of the hand in a circle. Drawing the same line through the center, it was made much thicker to compensate for the increase in the size of the focus circle. The most troubling part of the hand was that Felicia naturally wanted to trace the outline of the palm, drawing a lopsided circle two or three times before finally getting herself to pull away from the edges of the hand to complete a circle that wasn't lopsided. Some smudges were left on Anna's hand from all the paint Felicia had gone through, and Fel tried to clean up as much of it as she could, trying to create a clean glyph. She licked her finger, and furiously rubbed at parts of Anna's hand that had unwanted paint inside of the glyph. Though she didn't ask, Felicia didn't really think about the possibility of offending Anna with this. At this point Felicia wasn't thinking of anyone, completely focused on making these glyphs perfect, she paid no mind to Anna. Moving on to the path, Felicia easily constructed this one in half the time of her other two paths. Working up the arm was far easier than up the leg. Creating yet again the same zig zag lines that intertwined themselves to construct a path, not a tick was wasted in her work. Every moment the summoner had something to do, whether it be correcting an old line, or creating a new one. Everything she did had purpose, and nothing was over-looked. Chimes of meticulous work had gone into painting Anna with all of these glyphs. Nearly a bell had passed by the time Felicia had finished both arms and legs. Giving a quick sweep to double check all of her work, the summoner sat back into her chair, quite pleased with everything she had done. Excited to see what her teacher would say, Felicia sat forward in her seat and asked "So what do you think?" Leaning forward on the edge of her chair, the girl awaited her teachers advice.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna cooperated with Felicia as she worked her way across the designated body parts, attempting to move as little as possible so the girl would not have to fear for a mistake based on Anna’s movements. The tall Sorceress smirked a little as the wet brush tickled at her flesh, stifling any laughter that might rise unbidden from her chest. Instead she watched intently as the Summoner drew her Glyphs, grey eyes peering down with interest at the work. One thing was for certain; she had certainly taken the pacing advice to heart, which was a good thing as rushing served one poorly.

Her lips curved into a genuine smile as she took in the work, noting marked improvement over the Sigil that had just been drawn. So Sigils were still outside of her ability, but using Glyphs to augment existing magic seemed to fall well within her comfort zone all things considered. It was a typical first step for beginners; they needed to understand how the Glyphs could interact with each other and other magic on a basic level. So Summoning would need to be the next step for her, demonstrating how to strengthen her circles via Glyphs and why the Glyphs did as they did. Luckily two circles were known to her at this point in time, a bare basic one Pan had used and Felicia’s.

The Sorceress fell into this role all too easily, the role of instructor. It was probably one of the few times anyone might catch a glimpse of the woman Anna had been before, the human part of her that so rarely could afford to be shown on Sahova. Here, to be human was to be weak, and weakness was not something Annalisa Marin wished to be associated with her. So she mercilessly beat down any warm feelings and tried to simply focus on what would come next.

When the Summoner finished her task Anna didn’t bother looking at the Glyphs, rather instead she reached inside of herself once more to find that pool of energy. It was source of identity that made up her Djed; who she was and what she could become if she was strong enough. Magic was made possible by manipulating this vital part of the world and warping it, twisting it into something unrecognizable from its natural form. Res was, essentially, an extension of herself, as much a part of her as her arms and legs but it had been changed by the sheer force of her will.

Anna willed this energy to gather beneath the flesh of her hands and feet and push outwards. Before her res generation had been fast, but with the aid of Felicia’s Glyphs she didn’t need to direct the energy the whole way, the Glyphs handling that for her. In the span of a couple of ticks, purple translucent liquid formed on the palms of her hands and the bottoms of her feet. The amount she actually drew was, again negligible but a tiny thrill of pleasure sparked in her mind nonetheless. As the res formed the Glyphs adorning her body vanished as though never drawn.

She moved the res outwards and upwards from these four points, willing the res to gather in the air before her. It formed and shaped into a cylinder like shape, which was where Anna decided to give her student something of a reward in the spur of the moment. The design was simple really, after frightening her with destruction perhaps the Summoner might be interested in seeing creation. Besides the amount of Djed this would take would be negligible at best. She smirked at Felicia with that spark in her grey eyes; that flare of creativity that just refused to die no matter what challenges the Nuit threw at her.

She moved the res to the desk, hollowing out the top of the cylinder and taking the excess res out from it to hover in the air nearby for the second phase of this. Anna squinted slightly as she shaped the res, actually needing to use a bit of thinking to get this just right as she scaled it down and made certain the boarders were defined. It wasn’t a hard shape really; she just needed to pull from memory what it looked like and the take care of the rest through transmutation.

Once the res took the desired shape Anna willed the liquid to begin to harden and transmute into the shape she had placed it into. Another thrill went through her mind, small as before but serving to take the edge off of any anxiety she had at this point. There were no gestures, no incantations, and no sign that this was difficult from an outsider’s perspective looking in. The slight smile on Anna’s face indicated that she was enjoying this, that it was something leisurely.

Once the transmutation was complete Felicia would find a cylindrical purple cup made of stone sitting right next to her on the table. Anna smirked as she broke off three smaller parts of excess res and formed them into small diamond like shapes, moving them into the cup as she combined the forces of air and water with a slight twitch of her finger. Moments later the inside of the cup possessed three diamond shaped pieces of ice, glittering purple as well.

Anna took the rest of the excess liquid res and placed it inside the cup, which filled it nearly to the brim. Idly she willed the purple liquid to transmute again, when it was finished colorless liquid water filled the stone cup with ice floating within. The best part about controlling all of the elements was that she never needed to worry about drinking contaminated water again, which was a blessing on Sahova. The water element certainly had its uses, even if it was just for having a little fun now and again and showing off to someone she was teaching.

“It’s quite safe to drink, though the taste might be a little odd to you as the water is free from contaminants. Figured you could use a drink, gods only know they certainly lack for them in the Citadel.” Anna said nonchalantly, leaning back in her chair once more with and easy smirk.

“Anyway, your Glyphs preformed their functions admirably. You started off a bit sloppy but gained confidence as you went along, I like that and it shows that what I’m saying isn’t just entering one ear and exiting the other. My suggestion is to take the time to practice each individual Glyph at length, become more comfortable with the individual parts before attempting complex Sigils.” The Sorceress said with a nod to the Summoner.

Suddenly Anna clapped her hands together, taking a deep breath as she prepared to go over a few theoretical concepts of Glyphing that would hopefully not fly over Felicia’s head. Theory reinforced the practical applications of magic, only by knowing how something actually worked could one hope to master the discipline. Glyphing was quite the scholarly discipline all things considered, so it included a large amount of theory.

“Right, so let us cover a little magic theory shall we? It is all fine and well to know what something can do, but to properly understand it we must know the why as well, correct?” The Sorceress asked rhetorically.

“The study of Glyphing is defined as the study of symbols that affect other magic. Go over that again, affect other magic. You see, Glyphs possess no inherent power of their own until they interact with magic or Djed of some sort. Without outside forces to act upon them, Glyphs are merely pretty symbols on a sheet of parchment. It is this reason that most wizards only attempt to learn it after they possess a good grounding in other magic.” Anna said.

“Based on that knowledge what conclusions can you immediately draw regarding Glyphing, my dear Summoner?” Anna inquired, folding her arms over her chest and regarding Felicia with a single raised eyebrow.

Anna had discovered that a good way to get her students more involved was to turn questions upon them, testing their own knowledge with subtle little quizzes here and there. It helped reinforce the information in their brains, it also made them think for themselves rather than Anna just listening to herself talk endlessly for bells.

[Felicia Gamora]

Felicia cringed slightly at the sight of res being controlled. There was no real reason why, no incredibly horrifying background story, Felicia just didn't like Res. Watching it flow around Anna, and then being manipulated into shapes, being pulled apart, reassembled, changed. It all just seemed wrong. Some res was put back into what looked like a cup, and suddenly the whole thing was filled with water, with a bit of ice. When Anna offered the cup to Felicia, she hesitated for a moment, thinking of how the res that had just made that cup and water were only moments ago part of her teacher. While the thought was a bit odd, the red haired girl found herself unable to resist the temptation of clean, cold, fresh water, even if it was made of res. After a moments restraint, Fel did a sort of lunge forward into the cup, grasping at it as if it were to disappear at any moment. Drinking the water as quickly as she could, hardly pacing herself at all, water poured down the sides of the summoners face while she tried to absorb as much as possible. If her mouth were any larger, the girl probably would have drowned herself. Instead, streams of water dripped onto the floor as she was reminded how long it had been since fresh food, water, or fresh anything had been made available to her. Sahova was definitely not friendly to those who required food and water. All the more reason to gain some sort of power, if for nothing other than food. Felicia was slowly realizing how much she was in need of simple things that were taken for granted before now. Fresh clothing, food, water, all things that were readily available outside of Sahova in most other cities. But here, on this forsaken island of the dead, coin didn't seem to matter as much as prestige, and it got you no closer to a comfortable lifestyle. Again the young mages mind was brought to thoughts of home, back in Kenash with a family who cared, and friends who might have. Even if she had few friends, townspeople were much friendlier than these undead wizards. Images of festivals came back to mind, where food was plentiful and she was allowed to eat to her hearts content. All of that seemed like a distant dream now, something far off that never happened, and was never again achievable. Felicia began to wonder if she would ever be able to see her parents again, if they would forgive her for running off. If she could forgive herself for abandoning her parents and siblings, or if she could ever allow herself to go back at all. Who knew what wretched things she would do on this island. She had already promised herself away for a single task of any kind at any time and place. That meant a myriad of things could happen. Things that could end her, and things that she might wish had ended her. "You are an impressive teacher. You make it easy for me to understand what I'm doing wrong. At least I think so, but I haven't had much to compare your teachings to." All of these thoughts snapped away when Anna began speaking again. After some short explanations on the concept of glyphing including how and what they do, Felicia was asked to answer a question. It sounded like a simple question, but it was also a very complicated one. There were a million right answers, but there were equally as many wrong ones. Anna's tone spoke to Felicia yet again, causing the young summoner to take notice how the once crazy sorceress was being calm, patient, and engaged with her lesson. This was the person Felicia had though she saw at their first meeting. Staying around Anna might not be so bad, so long as Fel could keep Anna busy teaching.This would be an idea to be entertained on another day however. "Well, I suppose it means that glyphs can work with just about anything that can be used with magic. I painted glyphs on you, and the glyphs helped with the calling of res. But paper can't use magic, and the glyphs helped it along anyway. It sounds likes glyphs can really be used for anything magical at all. Pretty important stuff if it can help with all magic right?" Anna had seemed pretty intent on showing Felicia how powerful glyphing could be, and it seemed that she wasn't too wrong in doing so. The summoner pondered over the idea for a few ticks, while she awaited further instruction from her teacher.