Closed The Doors Through Which We Pass (Clyde)

[Lenore]

Timestamp: 19th of Summer, 514

The first of a pair of wooden bird figurines sat in Lenore’s hands. Only identifiable as birds by the long beaks protruding from the spherical head resting on an oval body. Neither appeared to resemble a specific species but were alone some vague representation of the small fat singing variety. The skill and detail in the carving lacked which made for a poor decoration unless the estimator was a child.

The spindly adolescent male body, which Lenore had chosen since the… unfortunate failure, lurched over the work station to grab a deteriorating soapstone. The body’s head was covered by a foppish mop of dusky blonde hair from which ears yet too big for its body protruded. Scrapping at the grain with the soapstone the nuit slowly began to smooth the first bird carving.

Even given the impending judgment date the area around Lenore seemed intentionally vacant. That might be the presence of a door leaning against the desk shading the entire work station. If that oddity was not enough though, resting next to the animator was small box that had clearly been sealed by an inexpert carpenter. Several bent nails and equally stressed hinges held the crate shut. Even still every so often it shuddered. Lenore hadn’t yet been able to part with the container even though it had been nearly a season since acquiring it. The chance that it might escape while the nuit wasn’t looking were too high, or worse an overly curious soul might open it. Further troublesome is Lenore wasn’t sure what the automaton would do once realized. It might simply stalk him and attempt another homicide. The alternative was it might just go on a murder spree throughout the citadel hopefully only damaging replaceable bodies of unimportant mages. He couldn’t afford to replace killed slaves though and equally expensive would be the wrath of an important wizard if he wished to pass his judgment. And so the box stayed by his side.

Placing the first smooth figurine upon the nuit began in on the relatively matching mate. As the process of sanding the surfaces drew near an end the Lenore froze and turned towards the box warily. It hadn’t shifted in quite some time. The lack of activity was almost more ominous than the constant strain. Lenore cursed himself, he was allowing this failure to further disrupt his other projects, utterly unacceptable. This would need to be rectified and soon.

The carver took a deep breath. He blew the dust from the figurines and working area with fetid air. To himself he nodded at this progress and dragged a jar of lacquer and small brush into his immediate work area. He had never painted before but his intent was only to cover the entirety of the figures in a single color, no detail just as smoothly as possible.The chest rattled again, reassuring the researcher. He began to paint.

[Clyde Sullins]

19 Summer 514 It was not unusual for Clyde to wander about the Gug Andjak. Often when he had free time he spent some of it investigating the common labs. Sometimes he found nothing of interest. In fact that was the more common outcome of the two. The second being that he came across some magic or project of note that garnered his interest, and that might even teach him a thing or two. This was one of those days. So far Clyde had yet to even pause as he checked into another lab. He'd seen various low level magics. He'd seen a glypher trying to make a scroll that was horridly worded. He'd seen a Reimancer trying to juggle a pair of fireballs above his head, only to lose control of one and knock it into a wall. He'd seen another doing something he could not describe, which involved him standing in a corner hunched in a ball humming and chanting to himself. Actually, as Clyde thought to himself, in retrospect that last one might not have been magic at all. Instead it could have simply been a nuit who'd had the pressure get to him. Sahova was not a place for those who were unskilled, in was harsh and did not take kindly to failure. It tended to be kinder to nuit, who were the most common sentient inhabitant, but even for them it was still a cruel and harsh place. If most of the nuit had not been so engrossed in their various tasks, Clyde walking through might have rose an eyebrow or two. After all, he was a pulser, a living mage working on the isle. This had become a more common sight in recent years, but it was still rare enough to make living mages a small oddity. Passing on to the next lab, Clyde took in the sight in a few moments. Wood. A door for some odd reason laying to the side, some other shapely masses of wood carved into something, a box that was shaking as if something inside wished to get out, and a nuit working at something. Clyde almost passed on, but the odd shaking box garnered his interest if only slightly. So unlike the other labs he did not pass on, instead pausing for a moment for a second look. He was somewhat puzzled as to what this nuit was doing. The odd hodgepodge of wooden items seemed to not mix into a cohesive discipline. The door most of all seemed odd. As for the shaking chest, that seemed to require a small measure of explaining. He could likely use his Auristics and peer within, and see what was inside, but it seemed far simpler to just ask the nuit at hand. “Hey... Whats with the box? Why's it shaking? What's trying to get out?” Clyde took a few steps closer, and eyed the nuit, checking his fingers. He had no ring, which meant he was likely a unranked mage wishing to join the isle. He'd yet to gain a apprenticeship or a true place on the isle. “What are you making?”

[Lenore]

“An authenticating door” the nuit murmured without looking away from his figurine, slathering the last stroke on the first figurine. Mentally he paused as he reached for the second bird. Revealing the project was no loss at all it was not the first magical door and it would not be the last. Lenore was no master to guard his secrets and perhaps even if he were such a great mage he wouldn’t be secretive then either. It was of little note to him whether another mage took his ideas because the animator firmly believed such interplay only strengthened the overall outcome of the project. No one mind could perfect a project, every sentient had blind spots. On the same note Lenore was fairly certain anything another animator did he could improve upon so theft was more a chance to show superiority.

Adjusting his spectacles up the bridge of his nose he glanced back at the newcomer. “As for the box, it constrains a hand with murderous intentions.” A more socially adjusted individual would probably mention the hand was wooden, Lenore hadn’t realized such an adjective might be considered vital. This oversight cast a rather grim shadow over the violently jittering case.

Turning back to the unpainted figurine the nuit began to rectify its lack. “It’s a delicate matter truly. Can’t burn the box because it might escape before being incinerated. Cannot bury the box because the hand might break free and dig out of the ground.” The nuit shrugged, “it’s a conundrum” one which made him decidedly uneasy though he attempted nonchalance.

It had crossed the nuit’s mind that after his judgment projects were complete the mage could animate a box with the express purpose of being a prison for the hand. While the experiment and resulting knowledge might prove useful when designing the willpower invested in automatons it was simply too dangerous for the studious mage. Turning to look between the chest and the stranger again, the absentminded nuit ran the paint brush right over the back of his hand. When he turned back and realized this his facial features fell flat and he focused entirely on the painting at hand.

As he placed the second figurine back on the desk to dry, he looked over the first. It was still tacky and couldn’t be lifted without damage but already Lenore could see the metallic lacquer was working as anticipated. The flames thrown by the wall torch already lent a sheen to the little bird. Still they would need to rest which meant Lenore could handle the situation at hand. Standing up the nuit finally turned to fully regard his visitor. “Do you require something from me?” Even as he asked, Lenore’s mind wandered towards the modifications the door he had obtained would require. The door itself looked suspiciously similar to the ones from the quarters, so as for where the animator found it the question might best be left unasked.

[Clyde Sullins]

When the nuit responded, he did so without even bothering to look. This managed to raise a small amount of ire within Clyde, though he kept it from showing on his face. But still, the impertinence of a mage not even an apprentice acting as such was aggravating. “An authenticating door.” His answer in the end seemed to raise more questions than it actually answered. Clyde had no idea what a authenticating door was, or what it did, it didn't even tell him what magic was being used upon it. His next words though made Clyde even more confused. “As for the box, it constrains a hand with murderous intentions.” Apparently he was saying that a disembodied hand was moving about in the box, and it was what was attempting to escape. At least this gave him a small insight into what magic in question was being used. After all, giving life, even false life, to an inanimate dead object, surely that was Animation. Clyde was certainly no master, but he knew the basics of Animation, and it seemed a likely candidate for this usage of magic. Which likely meant the door was also meant to be used as such, as a Animated construct. “It’s a delicate matter truly. Can’t burn the box because it might escape before being incinerated. Cannot bury the box because the hand might break free and dig out of the ground. It’s a conundrum.” His admittance of the fact that he had created something, and then was unable to get rid of it or destroy it reminded him of Areesa Tallshade who had created artifacts of Magecrafting and been unable to destroy them. Clearly he needed some assistance in getting rid of it... Which was an odd circumstance. “Do you require something from me?” “To be honest, that's less than clarifying. What exactly is a authenticating door, what does it do? How does it work? And why did you make a hand with murderous intentions? For what purpose would such a thing be made? What was it meant to do?” “As for this hand... Why don't you simply smash it, or destroy it more entirely in some other method? How difficult to be rid of it would it truly be? Petch just void it or something, it wouldn't be too difficult to be rid of it.” “As for what I needed, I was simply trying to ascertain what it was exactly you were doing.”

[Lenore]

Lenore tilted his head for a moment letting the surprise pass, someone was actually interested in his work. Those few who bothered to speak to Lenore thus far in Sahova either hadn’t the ability to comprehend the work or simply didn’t care. “Of course it was, I was trying to be succinct. Let me explain. I am animating a door which by design will only open for its master or at its master’s command. A kind of security for those without more immediately effective magics. Such as the voiding you mentioned. The biggest flaw might be a riddle though. Language can cause terrible unintended consequences in animated constructs. It will take thorough thought experiments to make its directives ironclad.”

The nuit shifted looking all the awkward teenager his body implied, but in truth discussing one’s failures was uncomfortable for many. “The hand was intended to write. There was a serious flaw in the directives which I activated by mistake in the initial test. It caused the automaton to attack.” Lifting the box off of the desk the nuit tried not to look disappointed. “For me or another Nuit opening the box will not be fatal but highly problematic.” Lenore’s reactions simply weren’t fast enough to deal with the hand. “You might find you have better luck, on the other hand if it succeeds you would be in a much worse state. The nature of what we are constrains us all, much like the automaton.” The chest shuttered.

“As for magic I have not attempted it because I lack the expertise or ability to do so. My speciality does not lie with the less scientific magics. If, indeed, you can say I have a speciality at all given that I am not an accepted apprentice yet.” Looking over its shoulder to the door, “This is my judgment project.”

The nuit’s stranger personality shift, from seemingly arrogant to modest would be strange in a being more aware of social climates. Lenore was simply oblivious to social niceties when they did not pertain to his work. Looking over the newcomer, he noted the ring. “You are accepted then? What is your field of specialty Mage…?” He tried to intone the question but even still it sounded awkward. Lenore had answered each question posed, not the fullest extent but still to a degree that should suffice the merely curious, “If you truly wish to know more about the process of making a door to ascertain identity I will expand but I do not wish to waste your valuable time."or his own. Like his views on the theft of ideas, more mages versed in his craft could only mean greater progress for Sahova. The time spent explaining the process could only bring about benefit so long as Sahova had this human well under its thumb.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde looked at the nuit, and kept his peace. While the undead mage seemed bent on angering and annoying Clyde by his rudeness, Clyde would not let it show. While he had not been on Sahova long, not when compared to many of the nuit mages, having people who trusted you was always a good thing. The first step was of course to make them like you, to make them owe you, or to simply be of use to them. In turn you could then expect things of them. Or at least that was what Clyde figured. So if he were to make himself ingratiated with this nuit, it could serve his purposes later. Plus, or so Clyde reasoned, it would be much easier to do so know when the nuit was nothing, as compared to how it would be when the nuit had achieved some measure of success or recognition. “Of course it was, I was trying to be succinct. Let me explain. I am animating a door which by design will only open for its master or at its master’s command. A kind of security for those without more immediately effective magics. Such as the voiding you mentioned. The biggest flaw might be a riddle though. Language can cause terrible unintended consequences in animated constructs. It will take thorough thought experiments to make its directives ironclad.” The door idea did sound interesting, a interesting means of securing oneself... Though he was unsure how feasible it was truly, or how useful it would really be. It would be all to easy for a mage such as Clyde or many other users of personal magics to muscle their way through. Or if as he later indicated, possibly they could simply trick their way through. All in all it seemed to have quite a few issues inherent in it. “Ah, animation. I have a small bit of experience with Animation. Nothing great or grand, but I know the principles and have tried my hand at its practical applications before. Its a tricky little magic. Your idea sounds intriguing, certainly beyond my own meager skills in Animation.” Next the subject switched to that of the hand and the chest it was hidden away in. It was interesting to hear that when gone haywire Animation could have such odd outcomes. Much like other magics, it was a precise art form, and could have unintended consequences should one not respect it. “The hand was intended to write. There was a serious flaw in the directives which I activated by mistake in the initial test. It caused the automaton to attack. For me or another Nuit opening the box will not be fatal but highly problematic. You might find you have better luck, on the other hand if it succeeds you would be in a much worse state. The nature of what we are constrains us all, much like the automaton.” Clyde however was unsure how such a odd leap in programming could occur, going from writing to killing. Though it was interesting to hear of this oddity of nuit, something Clyde had noticed but not put together truly. Nuits did seem a bit slow and lagging at times. Perhaps there was more to that fact than Clyde knew. “As for magic I have not attempted it because I lack the expertise or ability to do so. My speciality does not lie with the less scientific magics. If, indeed, you can say I have a speciality at all given that I am not an accepted apprentice yet. This is my judgment project.” Clyde nodded at the nuit. It seemed many of the nuit specialized in world magics, and did not dabble in the various personal magics. Perhaps their bodies simply could not handle the strain of such things. Along with that they could simply jump bodies, so threat of injury was less of an issue. “You are accepted then? What is your field of specialty Mage…?” Finally Clyde responded, since it was an actual question posed at him. “Yes, I am an apprentice. My name is Clyde Sullins. My specialty is Magecrafting, though I dabble in many other magics. I find that various magics when used together are more potent and useful than a magic used alone. Though I suppose that is not always the case...” “If you truly wish to know more about the process of making a door to ascertain identity I will expand but I do not wish to waste your valuable time." Nodding again at the nuit, Clyde smiled back. “I would certainly love to hear more. For instance I am not quite sure how it would function. I mean how would the door hear the password being spoken? And how would people know to say the password? And would you be able to change the password over time, or would it always be stuck with the one original password? Surely it would be more useful if you had some way of switching between passwords or some such thing, for instance if someone were to overhear the password for entry, or if it became common knowledge.” Helping the nuit expand upon his idea and project seemed a good way of ingratiating himself to the nuit. If nothing else it would continue the conversation, and perhaps lead him to somewhere of interest.

[Lenore]

“I understand in theory magics when used together can act as synergies, but the actual process I am unversed in. It would be an apt area of research to consider branching into.” the nuit agreed before turning back to the work table. “I know very little of magecrafting, only what the name implies and in truth that is about as much as the name animation implies. If you don’t mind Mage Sullins,what is it that magecrafters, craft?”

Moving the small, nearly dry figurines and the other supplies into the corner of the table, Lenore began making a large clear surface. “As for how it works, those Birds shall be paramount.” He pointed at the figurines. “You are correct in assuming a door cannot perceive on its own, but in animation organs are mostly symbolic. On a classical constructed being such as animal or human, ears and eyes are situation on the head. Why this is, I cannot say of course. I don’t possess any great knowledge of biology.” A failing Lenore hoped to rectify after he was accepted as an apprentice, and he would be accepted. If it meant he tried every season until they ceded him a place. Lenore had an interminable amount of time ahead of him and only one field of research he intended to focus upon. “These birds are as of yet incomplete, they will require some finer work to provide sensory organs.”

Lenore pulled down the door so it lay flat against the table. He situated a short thing plank on the face of the door and traced the rectangular shape with chalk. Replacing the plank the nuit took a small hand drill and began cranking it to drill multiple holes within the rectangle. “The birds will face outward from each side of the door, with the necessary organs to see, hear and speak. That would be the main housing of the automaton, think of the rest of the door as an enormous limb.” After several holes concentrated around the edges the nuti moved on to the smallest handsaw he could find in the common labs. Surely a more experienced carpenter could create a hole within the door but Lenore didn’t know how and so he started the tedious process of cutting out the rectangle from the drilled holes.

“Changing passwords is an interesting concept. Yes it is possible, in fact a good premise. There is a problem with it although and that is the authentication process. It requires one of two things to be true. Either the eventual master of the automaton must be present at its creation so that an ironclad ability to identify its master is instilled or a greater intelligence must be born into it than I have the ability to create. If neither of these two conditions are met then anyone could potentially change the password and that may be worse yet than everyone knowing it.” Lenore poked out a chunk from the door as one piece came away, and he continued. “In this first iteration of the automaton its much less of an issue because I will of course be present to imprint on its consciousness. I do not make automatons merely for myself though and so I am always looking for a way to make them accessible.” He pushed out the rest of the rectangular chunk. The space was rough and would require a session with the soapstone but not right away.

“If you would like to see a demonstration of automaton sensory organs and how their position is mostly irrelevant then there is a completed sample near by Mage Sullins.” Lenore looked to the box as it jerked again and fell off the table. the mage retrieved it, it was not the first time the parcel had fallen off its perch. One of the previous near escape had been one such attempt though Lenore doubted the automaton had any spacial awareness so it was all luck. “You spoke of dabbling in other magics, can you restrain a thing with your various magics? If so I will end the dry explanation and simply demonstrate. Making these organs on my current project would take bells of work and this certainly more efficient to show you a previously animated construct.” Lenore offered Clyde the box. The nuit was due for another body anyways if this went wrong.

"Oh and I am known as Lenore." the animator said as an afterthought, having forgotten entirely to introduce himself.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde nodded in response to the nuits words, not stating much of anything he hadn't heard or thought before. Smiling back at the nuit, Clyde paused for a moment, thinking over his answer. How Magecrafting worked was certainly not a secret. If he didn't hear it from him, he could likely learn it easily enough from a book or from the library. Of course Magecrafting being what it was, it was not to easy to put in words what exactly it did. “What do Magecrafter's craft? Well I suppose similar to Animation, Magecrafter enchant objects. However when you Magecraft something, you change its innate properties. You make it more. You... Let it break the rules of what describes that object normally. I suppose that's the best I can explain it. Its not really easy to explain.” For a moment Clyde clutched Cha a bit tighter, the blue staff that was held in his right hand. It was in actuality a work of Magecrafting, a true Magic Staff. Of course by simply looking at it, it would seem no different than any other stick, besides its blue coloring. But then its blue coloring had nothing to do with its magical nature. Next Clyde listened as the nuit went more in depth about his work of Animation. As he went on, Clyde continued to note what he said. It was interesting, mentioning much about how authentication worked in regards to golems. Next he offered to show Clyde a completed version of the mentioned sensory function, referring to the hand in the chest. Or perhaps it was about the fact that golems did not need it. Clyde was not quite sure which he was saying. Clyde however did not take the offered box, from the nuit, who he now learned was named Lenore. “I am afraid restraining something is not really something my skills could be used for. At least, not in such a fashion as you mean. I would not mind seeing it, but my magics tend to be a bit more... Permanent. There is little half way in magics. So likely if I were to use one, it would end with it being gone or destroyed. Not incapacitated or restrained.” “What exactly is this device, this hand? What is it of, or how was it made? I'm not sure how such a hand would maneuver, since it can't see or hear. How would it even know we are here to come after us?”

[Lenore]

“Can magecrafter items become sentient?” Lenore interposed one last question before returning to the topic at hand.

The animator crooked an eyebrow almost too intentionally, “Of course it can see and hear. I just said that in animations eyes and ears need not be on the head. This is the case with this animation. You cannot allow conventional understandings of the body to cage the capacity for the extraordinary.” In a vaguely rhythmic pattern the nuit tapped his fingers on the box. Lenore looked over the blue staff as well it seemed irregular at least in color but he had no reason at all to imagine anything otherwise.

The researcher fell quiet for a moment in thought.. Nodding to himself, he returned the box to the table. “One moment.” The animator disappeared down the hall. He had seen the gloves earlier in the day when he had found the drill. Two labs over her found the thick leather gloves and quickly returned to the lab, at least as quickly as a nuit ever moved. He tugged on the gloves, “Now it is clear a demonstration is indeed necessary otherwise you would not have assumed it had no sensory organs. Now this particular animation was designed to be a scribe. It had only a minimum of language training and would write when addressed and then dictated to. It is made from wood with ball and socket joints reinforced with copper wire run within the wood. Unfortunately the carpentry was better than the animation and that is not saying much given it is now homicidal. The wood means it is flammable but I cannot take the chance it won’t expire immediately and become, however briefly, a flaming homicidal hand.”

Once again taking up the box and this time a flat carving knife.”On the back of the hand there is a ocular organ in the same of one glass bauble. The wrist extends only half a hand-span from the hand, but at the end of the wrist I carved a hollow and covered it with a leather membrane to simulate an ear.” Wedging the blade underneath one of the nails Lenore prepared to pull it out,”If you will commit to destroying it once you have taken a good look at it, I will take it out.”

[Clyde Sullins]

The nuit Lenore seemed ever inquisitive, asking question after question of him. “Can magecrafter items become sentient?” Clyde paused for a moment, thinking the question over. “Magecrafting can gift an item with intelligence, but not in the same way as animation. And while at its greatest levels it would be comparable to a sentient being in terms of intelligence, I would not call it truly sentient.” His next words were slightly annoying, though Clyde kept his visible signs of annoyance down to a slight flaring of his nostrils, as he looked at the nuit. Clearly he was treating Clyde as if he was an idiot, thinking himself superior due to knowing more than him in one area. For a moment Clyde pondered knocking him upside the head with his staff, but fought the impulse. He had not meant that by not having a head it could not sense, he had meant he was unsure were such a sensory organ would be placed. But of course the nuit had interpreted his words in a fashion that made him seem the most uneducated. “Of course it can see and hear. I just said that in animations eyes and ears need not be on the head. This is the case with this animation. You cannot allow conventional understandings of the body to cage the capacity for the extraordinary.” If he did not need something from the nuit, did not perhaps see some use for him, he would end his meeting right there. As it was, Clyde predicted the nuit would end a slow death if he continued his impertinence around the mages of Sahova. Particularly when he himself had no place or rank. With that the nuit ran off, with a “One moment.” as the only explanation. When he returned he was now wearing leather gloves. “Now it is clear a demonstration is indeed necessary otherwise you would not have assumed it had no sensory organs. Now this particular animation was designed to be a scribe. It had only a minimum of language training and would write when addressed and then dictated to. It is made from wood with ball and socket joints reinforced with copper wire run within the wood. Unfortunately the carpentry was better than the animation and that is not saying much given it is now homicidal. The wood means it is flammable but I cannot take the chance it won’t expire immediately and become, however briefly, a flaming homicidal hand.” ”On the back of the hand there is a ocular organ in the same of one glass bauble. The wrist extends only half a hand-span from the hand, but at the end of the wrist I carved a hollow and covered it with a leather membrane to simulate an ear.” ”If you will commit to destroying it once you have taken a good look at it, I will take it out.” Clyde saw as the nuit prepared to open the box, preparing to yank out a nail and release it. “Blast you, what is your petching hurry? I swear, can you not give me a moment to collect myself or answer something before your about to go onward with the task? I would think you of all people being a world mage would understand the concept of giving a mage time to prepare himself and his magics. Now give me a chime or two, and I will prepare something simple but sufficient for our needed task.” Letting out a aggravated huff of air, Clyde turned and walked off into the lab, returning in a moment with a piece of parchment paired with some ink and a quill. Finding a bare space to do his work, Clyde quickly scrawled out a scroll in a manner of moments. Quick as a flash the Glyphs were made, showing his expertise in the magic. The focus was large, several inches wider than his own hand span, with his fingers being longer than the average persons. It took the shape of a sun, a vague representation of the symbol of the black sun, a circle with a weaving line around it surfing in and out. Around that he quickly drew a barrier, a pair of curving lines forming a helix which bent and curved all the way around the focus. Finally he added a extra note to the barrier, a circle centered on each of the close points on the helix where the lines were narrowest, which came up and out in both directions and bisected each of the opposing open parts of helix. He then finished off his task with a trigger, a small triangle with the point in contact with the focus, and the flat side facing away. He then wrote out in common the trigger sequence- "Upon the creator of this scroll speaking the words 'Bubbles Open' in the presence of this scroll, lower the barrier and release the magic held within." Done with the scroll, Clyde began to focus on emptiness, holding his staff so that the top was directly above the focus on the scroll. As he focused on clearing his mind, he hummed out a few words of verse. “Bubbles pop and bubbles fill. When I look upon you reduce to nill. Nothing is something when made by means arcane. Create a portal that shall be this golems bane.” Finished with his rhyme, a small spot of nothingness bloomed just below the surface of his staff, roughly in between the surface of the staff and the open focus. Since it was a magic staff Clyde was able to cast his voiding portals directly from its surface, similarly to if it had been his open outstretched hands. With the opening done he began to feed it djed, slowly expanding it little by little. “Alright, now in a moment I will be done, and the portal should be stored in the scroll. Then when we need to be rid of the hand I will activate the scroll and release it, and you will cast in the hand. And then it will be gone. Now have you calmed down a bit, and become in less of a rush? I need a few more moments though to finish the portal and to store it properly.”