Completed [IHL] Guiding the way to darkness

[Annalisa Marin]

70th of Fall, 514 AV

Professor. Apprentice. Wizard. Chaon. Instructor. All were titles Annalisa Marin had held in her life. Mastery over the forces of the arcane led along a twisting path, just as mastery over the soul and spirit caused much heartache. Currently she was Instructor Marin, twice touched by the holy hands of Rhysol and expert in the field of Voiding. It had surprised her to learn the magic was not commonly taught at the Institute, though that might be Sahova’s Alahean influences rubbing off on her. Most wizards she had known there knew at least the basics of the art; it was a useful skill for dealing with research disasters. Or causing them in some cases.

The tall woman stood at the front of a classroom, a few sets of eyes staring at her. Human they all were though beyond that Anna knew them not. How privileged they were to sit before a woman that had survived the trials of Sahova, a land of knowledge long past. She had dressed herself in her dark wizard robes, her slippers gliding silently over the floor as she paced before the seated students. Her mismatched eyes stared at each one in their turn; one of them even flinched when the weight of her gaze fell upon him. Weak.

“Look at me.” She commanded sharply to the young man, little more than a boy really.

He swallowed and turned his gaze to lock eyes with her, his tongue darting nervously across his lips. Anna frowned at him and at his obvious fear. Were she on Sahova the boy might very well have been banished from her sight, or had a finger missing on one hand. Sadly this was not Sahova and she could not simply maim her students without probable cause. The discipline for mages here was painfully lax it seemed but Anna would work with what she had to.

“So you all wish to understand Voiding. By the end of this season you may wish otherwise. It is not merely manipulating the physical world or looking into the spirit of another through using Djed. No, it is to peer into another dimension. The question is… will you look into the darkness and cower or find new meaning and strength through it?” Anna started her lecture, waving a hand errantly.

“How very dramatic of you Anna dear. You’ll frighten your poor students away at this rate and be left without a class.” Vex suddenly projected into her mind, safely wrapped around Anna’s ankle.

“Stay out of this, Vex. I know exactly what I am doing. I have taught many students before and these ones will either succeed or fail based on their merits and flaws. They should feel privileged to even be sitting before me.” Anna responded mentally, her brows knitting in irritation.

Vex fell silent at that, not a comfortable silence but one that was very much heavy and weighed upon her mind. Anna pushed that aside and instead focused upon her lesson plan. Theory and introduction was the theme today. She had to go off the assumption that her students knew nothing about cross dimensional theory and perhaps were not even Voiders. That would do for the first class, later she could worry about practical applications and Voiding as a proper magic. She was not quite at the university again but it felt that way. Whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen.

[Annalisa Marin]

“Before we explore how to actually use Voiding as a magic we must understand what it is. Using something you do not understand is both foolish and likely to get you killed. With the Void this goes doubly so.” Anna stated.

The tall woman held out her hand with her fingers curled upwards. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she grasped deep within herself to the wellspring from where her very identity flowed from. The Chaon plucked at the strings of her Djed, creating an internal harmony as she willed the energy to flow up to a point just above her hand. She willed the energy to empty this point of all matter and create a form of vacuum in reality. It did not happen instantly though the speed of the Portal’s formation was frightening, within five seconds it was sparked into existence. Anna fed the tiny Portal an increased influx of her Djed until it grew to the size of her fist, a small Portal but useful enough for the purposes of demonstration.

The inky black vortex swirled gently above her hand, its edges tinged purple due to Anna’s personal influences. “This is a Portal to the Void. The Void itself is a dimension separate from our own. To truly grasp what I have done I want you to imagine someone taking two ends of a piece of paper and bringing them together. To create a Portal is to bridge two different dimensions. There are two sides now, This Side and The Other Side.”

Anna walked down the short line of desks, willing the Portal to be dragged along with her hand. “Now then, first let us examine what I have said. Dimensions. I want you to think of our world. Now think of a place so far away from it that normally it would be impossible to travel there. That is another dimension, a reality far from our own. Now by observing this Portal here we can draw conclusions to what this other dimension is like. It is cold, dark, and soundless. No light exists there and if you were tossed into the Void your body would freeze very quickly.”

As she spoke Anna was constantly allowing a steady and small stream of her Djed to flow into the Portal she brought around the room. The eyes of her students followed it carefully and watched with amazed eyes. They seemed to grasp what the true meaning behind actually having summoned this Portal was, the power that was required to bridge two places infinitely far apart. Of course grasping the idea and understanding were two different things. Anna picked up a sheet of parchment and rolled it up before sticking it into the Portal. She held it in there for a good minute before bringing it out and holding it out for her nearest student to take. The side that had been put into the Void was brittle and cold.

“Magic capable of incredible things, there is no doubt about that. Reimancy can bend the world to one’s whims, Glyphing can bend magic itself if used correctly, but Voiding stands alone in being a bridge to another dimension. A bridge that is brought into existence and maintained by the user alone. By using Djed to empty out a space in the world a Portal is born but it must be fed to be kept stable.” Anna said, smirking at her own Portal with pride.

“Master this art and you master the magic that can cause unparalleled destruction upon the world. Make no mistake Voiding is a purely destructive art, there are no constructive uses for Voiding whatsoever. It exists to banish unwanted things from this world and it can indeed banish things other magics cannot. It is a final solution to a danger.” She stated, her tone very grave as she used the word danger to prepare for a segue into her next part of the lesson.

[Annalisa Marin]

“Danger. Let us examine that. All magic is very dangerous. It could easily lead to the loss of life, limb, or sanity. A true master of magic knows that their power in not measured in how spectacularly they can use their powers, but how efficiently and carefully it can be employed. Even then there is extreme danger in using Voiding, hence why many consider it an absolute last resort.” Anna continued, raising her finger instructionally as she returned to the front of the classroom with the Portal in hand.

The tall woman held out her other hand to the man with the sheet of parchment, who hesitated slightly before standing and placing the ruined parchment in her waiting fingers. Anna then slowly inserted the parchment into the Portal with a blank expression on her face, half of the item now existing in this dimension and the other half in the Void. This next bit was needed for shock factor, every student of magic needed logical fear of magic placed in them. Not enough fear to never use their power but enough so that they did not make a stupid mistake.

Anna willed the core of her small Portal to fill with a little bit of matter, her brows knitting in concentration as she focused in trying to dispel the Portal. Instantly the inky black vortex vanished from existence, taking with it half of the parchment and leaving the air rippling slightly from its presence in the world. A couple of gasps sounded out and one of the students looked rather pale in the face as she stared at the parchment. The cut had been so clean as to almost be impossible, almost as if that half of the parchment had never actually existed at all.

“Yes. It is very possible to Void one’s own limbs or even whole body if the Portal is large enough. On The Other Side you may last at most a couple of minutes before expiring. Maybe a little more or a little less. Needless to say Self Voiding, that is death by one’s own Portal, is not how you want to be remembered dying. This exists on top of existing consequences for overgiving which might very well destroy you mentally or physically. It is not so dangerous or draining as Reimancy but it is still very much a threat to those who are not careful.” Anna continued.

“Instructor Marin. I have a question if I may.” The pale faced woman inquired, her voice a bit shaky.

“Finally, here I was worried I’d be filling the space without any questions. Speak up, girl, what is it?” Anna replied, her tone a bit sharper than she had intended.

The woman flinched. “Is- is there any way for someone in the Void to escape to back to This Side?”

Anna actually fell silent as she considered this. Despite all her experience and research she actually had no real definite answer to that question, none that she was comfortable with. She had never heard of anyone banished to the Void escaping but that did not necessarily make the task impossible… at least that was theoretically speaking. One would likely have to be a Voider, though that also seemed suspect. Since they were already surrounded by empty space would they even be able to open a Portal? This might well be something for her to test however she could not outright admit to not knowing, it would show weakness.

“I have never heard of anyone escaping the Void once banished to it.” She answered slowly.

“But is it possible?” The girl pressed.

Anna sighed, inquisitive one this girl. “Theoretically? I would say it might be possible. Stranger things have happened but most often I would say that ending up in the Void is a death sentence for most living creatures.”

The girl seemed placated by this response if not entirely satisfied; Anna herself had no answers to give that were definite. Not until she explored this inquiry a bit more carefully on her own time. The question was how she could do that. A Glyphing sequence perhaps? It would be possible in theory to create something like that, perhaps using her Anchor as a focal point for a reverse Voiding? If it was possible then Anna might have a trick up her sleeve that no other wizard could beat, especially if they were a Voider. In any event it was time to move onto the final bit of the lesson.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna stepped behind her desk and sat herself down, steepling her fingers out before her. Her gaze searched out each one of the students very carefully, as though assessing their overall worth. She could already see in her mind each one’s deepest fears, desires, and insecurities due to her gift from holy Rhysol –hallowed be His name and praised be His chaos- however those did not interest her. No, what interested her was the fact they were still here even after hearing what dangerous might lie in store for them. Either they were confident, stupid, or a combination of both. Anna supposed in the end that only time would tell her that. Time… and their first trial under her instruction.

“Now then. I am going to share with you the secret of how to start learning Voiding. How to gain a fraction of the powers I possess. You will succeed at this or you will never show your weak faces in this classroom ever again. Do you understand?” Anna said, her tone sharp and cracking like a whip.

Slowly the trio nodded. “Good. You aren’t spineless at least; you will need that courage or stubbornness for this next part. Each one of you will mediate over the course of the days and think upon a singular phrase or equation. This will fill your thoughts as you fast and empty your body of all impurities. Once you feel you have reached the point where you may summon a Portal you will grasp at the energy within yourself, your Djed, and focus on emptying out a space in the air near your hand. It will take time but once you do it a Portal will be formed.”

Anna herself recalled the long days of meditation required to learn the art of Voiding, how very far she had come from those miserable days. It proved something that she had once been told, everyone started from the bottom and worked their way up. It was from there that one began to forge their own destiny, or devoted that destiny to a singular god. In her case all of her power belonged to Rhysol, He was the only reason she had ever escaped Sahova and been led to this paradise upon the water.

“Return to me once you have gained the ability to summon even the smallest of Portals. Once you can then the true instruction will begin and you will learn how to harness the power of the Void.” Anna said, dismissing the students with an imperious wave.

[Nemesis]

Annalisa Marin

Skills	*	*
Intimidation	*	+1
Observation	*	+1
Rhetoric	*	+2
Teaching	*	+3
Voiding	*	+2

Lores

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Consequences, Injuries, Expenses, and More!

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• Lovely thread, Anna I'm glad that you've come to Ravok, and that the IHL is benefitting from your gifts.
• Also liking the use of the Chaon - would love to see more of that.