Changing Faces
64th Summer, 514AV, The Datura Web, fourteenth bell.
64th Summer, 514AV, The Datura Web, fourteenth bell.
Snaeha was unhappy.
"Empty your mind, he said." She grumbled.
"Separate your mind from your physical body, he said." Her eyes closed, for the thousandth time that day.
Then -- silence.
The young Symenestra woman remained in her position for a good five ticks; sitting on her bed, legs crossed and eyes closed, breathing peacefully. On the sixth teeth, her eyes opened and her throat released a beastlike growl.
"How the shyke am I meant to separate my body from my mind?!" She asked herself, outraged at her own lack of progress.
Snaeha was trying to Morph. She had not done so successfully yet, despite all her practise. All... one bell of it.
She was not a patient woman. Snaeha liked doing things - and doing them perfectly - on her first attempt. She was far from a pro at magic, with only a very basic skill in Hypnotism. But she had stumbled upon that form of magic without even meaning to, just by one day staring at her reflection...
So surely, if she could learn how to Hypnotise without really trying, learning to Morph her own appearance should be just as easy.
Apparently not.
Rutreg, the visiting Alvadian Wizard, had given Snaeha a demonstration of Morphing by changing his fifty-something arm into that of a tanned, muscular younger man. Even now, as she recalled how his skin had twisted and changed, Snaeha felt a little sick. It had been an unnerving thing to witness, but her desire to learn how to Morph her own appearance had simply flourished. What an ability to have!
Snaeha was all about her looks, and took great pride in her appearance. It was actually quite the surprise to those who knew her that Snaeha was interested in the type of magic that would alter how she looked. But from her own vain viewpoint, being able to change her appearance, even slightly, would reinforce Snaeha's strongest belief: looks are everything.
She closed her eyes again, full of determination to get this whole meditation thing down. Her mother meditated every so often, though Snaeha was always unsure why Narissa Datura felt her life was so hassled that meditation was needed.
Focus on your breathing That inner voice was most certainly her mother's, and Snaeha sighed heavily at the gentle reminder. She had spent her entire life breathing successful without needing to focus on it, so how was Snaeha meant to suddenly start paying attention to such instinctual actions?
"In.... Out...." She inhaled and exhaled on cue, making sure her breaths were long and deep. For five chimes in fact, Snaeha sat there, controlling her breathing and trying to concentrate on very little else.
.
"Empty your mind, he said." She grumbled.
"Separate your mind from your physical body, he said." Her eyes closed, for the thousandth time that day.
Then -- silence.
The young Symenestra woman remained in her position for a good five ticks; sitting on her bed, legs crossed and eyes closed, breathing peacefully. On the sixth teeth, her eyes opened and her throat released a beastlike growl.
"How the shyke am I meant to separate my body from my mind?!" She asked herself, outraged at her own lack of progress.
Snaeha was trying to Morph. She had not done so successfully yet, despite all her practise. All... one bell of it.
She was not a patient woman. Snaeha liked doing things - and doing them perfectly - on her first attempt. She was far from a pro at magic, with only a very basic skill in Hypnotism. But she had stumbled upon that form of magic without even meaning to, just by one day staring at her reflection...
So surely, if she could learn how to Hypnotise without really trying, learning to Morph her own appearance should be just as easy.
Apparently not.
Rutreg, the visiting Alvadian Wizard, had given Snaeha a demonstration of Morphing by changing his fifty-something arm into that of a tanned, muscular younger man. Even now, as she recalled how his skin had twisted and changed, Snaeha felt a little sick. It had been an unnerving thing to witness, but her desire to learn how to Morph her own appearance had simply flourished. What an ability to have!
Snaeha was all about her looks, and took great pride in her appearance. It was actually quite the surprise to those who knew her that Snaeha was interested in the type of magic that would alter how she looked. But from her own vain viewpoint, being able to change her appearance, even slightly, would reinforce Snaeha's strongest belief: looks are everything.
She closed her eyes again, full of determination to get this whole meditation thing down. Her mother meditated every so often, though Snaeha was always unsure why Narissa Datura felt her life was so hassled that meditation was needed.
Focus on your breathing That inner voice was most certainly her mother's, and Snaeha sighed heavily at the gentle reminder. She had spent her entire life breathing successful without needing to focus on it, so how was Snaeha meant to suddenly start paying attention to such instinctual actions?
"In.... Out...." She inhaled and exhaled on cue, making sure her breaths were long and deep. For five chimes in fact, Snaeha sat there, controlling her breathing and trying to concentrate on very little else.
.