[Alvadas Quest, Part I] Reflecting the Illusion of Water

by **Hadrian** on December 27th, 2010, 11:57 pm

Hadrian decided to take Asperenus' last suggestion to heart even as the Symenestra appeared and the rest of those bound for Alvadas with him. He knelt beside Curn's body. Perhaps the Konti would be better equipped to heal whatever damage his attack had caused, but he could prepare the way and make her job easier for her. Eyes slit against the illusory sunlight, he put his hand over Curn's still-warm lips, converting djed into res and pushing it out of the pores of his hand to linger there. This time, he had a different purpose; not to create, but to attract.

"I was able to keep the illusions out by training my mind into a trance, but that makes other mental functions more difficult..." He was distracted by his work, but they were in a brainstorming session, even if the bloody-faced woman was ceding whatever power she might have into the hands of the scholars.

"Does real water quench illusory thirst?" he asked, mostly rhetorically. It occurred to him that if he were an illusionist, he might persuade a victim's mind that it was thirsty even as he fed the body real water, in essence allowing the victim to drown themselves. But he didn't exactly have enemies, other than whomever was trying to break his brain -- whether that was Curn, this Symenestra, Asperenus, or some other, as yet unknown foe. And perhaps Drainira and certain Nuit who held grudges back on Sahova. And Zan back in Zeltiva, perhaps. Ha'na, too? Well, this was clearly a line of inquiry for another time.

"If anyone has a cup," he said by way of warning before the water he had earlier created came spurting out of Curn's mouth to collect in a globe of water about his res-slicked hand. Because he was a bit of a perfectionist, he filtered out anything that wasn't strictly water out of his little globe, whatever things the water might have carried out of Curn's body. "I have water," he finished.

"But mental armor of the meditative sort is all that has proven effective so far. I'm not an illusionist," he added, wishing silently that Eyris would bless his eyes with the ability to see through all this, to know what was what. He glanced around to see if anyone would take him up on the offer of a slightly morbid, though now filtered, drink.

To Aselia he said, "His lungs are clear if you want to get him breathing again. Master Asperenus claims he is not quite dead yet."

by **Derric** on December 29th, 2010, 4:22 am

OOCSorry, I've been a little tied up the last few days. I'm going to try and post as much as possible from now! Oh, and I think I might've typed this post 3 different ways before it came out this way.

Derric hardly blinked as he walked through the door. He'd all ready gone past being surprised. He had all ready gave up hope that some place on this petched-up ship would turn out to make sense. Sure, he'd been expecting a room, not some seemingly infinite expanse of land, but when it came to this ship, the two were really the same. He looked out at the desert that suddenly unfolded before him. For the first time since boarding the ship, the illusion, despite being the most extravagant yet, failed to captivate the performer. Rather, his eyes almost seemed to show disinterest, his face was, in a way, impassive. At last, after a few moments of saying nothing, he grinned. As the other's began to speak, Derric just sat in place, smiling and altogether uninterested

Of course, his obvious disinterest could have seemed insane to the other people standing nearby, but Derric couldn't care less. What they thought didn't matter. Nothing did, really. They could die right there, right then. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the stress and utter confusion of the last, god, who knows how long, of having his perceptions tricked. Quite possibly, Derric had just lost his mind. Suddenly, he looked towards Senessa. The insane grin on her face, the mad glint in her eyes. How she just sat there not caring. Was this how she'd become so crazy? Was she an example of what they'd all be turned into over time?

All the logic in Derric's mind struggled to regain control. No, they wouldn't. They couldn't end up like that. He blinked, his entire face changing as if the real, non-insane, Derric had simply returned and re-assumed control. He continued staring at the Symenestra as he spoke, his voice kept so low that the woman might not have even heard, "This is what it's like, isn't it." Suddenly, Derric began to sympathize for her, as though he'd reached a new level of understanding. "All of this," he said, motioning to the illusory scene around them, "is what caused you to be the way you are. That's right, isn't it? You seem not to care because, to you, it doesn't matter any more. There is no reality in that twisted head that your mind calls home. Tell me then, is it worth it?" Only a little while ago, Derric had felt the need to gain mastery over illusions. He'd thought nothing of the consequences, only of the advantages that the skills would bring him. But, where those benefits really worth going insane? Could anything be worth becoming something like the Symenestra seated before him?

For the time being, Derric pushed the thoughts aside. The threat of going insane, and the dream of becoming an illusionist, were worries for another time. For right then, however, all that mattered was getting out alive. Because, that did matter. Not dying was a priority, even though it might not have been one for the Symenestra. Completely ignoring the actions of Pain, and the revival attempt on Curn, Derric thought back to anything that might help them get out. The immediate, blatantly obvious solution was to imagine it all away. The performer quickly plopped to the ground, closing his eyes in the process. The key, he said to himself, is to believe. If he could convince himself that none of this was real, why wouldn't it go away? It was just like breathing underwater; the illusion could only affect him if he let it. Right?

In an almost meditative state, Derric began picturing a simple ship cabin in his mind. He tried to focus on every detail, making it look as real as a thought possibly could. He pictured a bookshelf in one corner, completely filled with supplies and other tools. On the other side, he envisioned a cot where a sailor might sleep. Moving away from the visual details, Derric focused on the other senses. Trying to replace the soft, burning hot sand with the cool, hard surface of wood. He thought of the smell of the sea. Of the aroma of salt water from below deck. It was all of these things that Derric tried to bring together in his head. And, once they were there, he tried to believe that he was there with them. As he did this, he added more details to the imaginary scene. He could almost hear the clatter of dishes and the noise of chatter as the crew dined somewhere else. In the black canvas that was the back of his eyelids, Derric painted out the scene. Focusing on every detail until he had completely zoned out. He did it until, at last, he actually believed that he was sitting in the cabin. Finally, almost having completely forgotten the desert, the performer opened his eyes, not at all certain of what he'd find. But, then again, it wasn't like either situation could be any more surprising than what they'd all ready been through.

by **Aselia Timandre** on January 5th, 2011, 6:13 pm

Aselia expected to enter a room with walls and a ceiling, and for a moment her expectation was fulfilled. But then, the image was replaced by vast masses of dark yellow, sand hitting her face with a sudden unexpected force. While Holuri took off from her shoulder, digging the claws into her skin just a little too hard, Aselia bent forward, coughing to get the sand out of her throat. She would have to be more careful next time she opened a door ... When she had calmed down, she straightened, blinked tears out of her eyes and pulled strands of white hair out of her vision. The amazing – amazingly real too – sight of an endless desert greeted her. Sand was filling her perception, sand and wind and blue sky with only the horizon as the end of the illusion.

Next she realized that she wasn’t alone which she regarded as a good sign. Hadrian and one of the scholars were standing a few paces away from her, with the other scholar lying motionlessly at the ground. Had one of them woven the desert illusion? It certainly was elaborate, so she supposed it must be the head scholar, but then, she didn’t know if scholars were even capable of such things.

Just as she took a step forward, a pack of people appeared out of nowhere, landing at her feet. Speechless, Aselia glanced down to the two humans. One of them was Pain, the other one she remembered from the introduction round. His name started with D... and he was a street magician; that much she remembered. Leaning forward, she offered Pain an encouraging smile. “How are you? You don’t look too ... relaxed”, was everything she could muster. The girl looked like she had just had another fight with someone much stronger than her. That was just the kind of thing Pain seemed to do regularly.

When Asperenus spoke up, addressing the entire group, Aselia approached him and Hadrian. But before anything else could happen, another voice cut his speech off and another person appeared. Well, in the middle of a desert, there was no other way of entering the illusion, Aselia supposed. She eyed the Symenestra with interest. Never had she really seen one of her kind before.

When the woman looked at her, Aselia blinked. Oh, she wanted her to help? Without hesitation, Aselia hurried to the man’s side, ignoring the burning sensation of sand under her bare knees. She didn’t know who or what had knocked him out, but as a Konti raised in the traditional beliefs of her people, she never thought twice when it came to helping someone else. The first thing she could detect was scratch marks all over the man’s throat. A brief examination of his fingers confirmed that he had done that to himself. As if something had been strangling him from the inside ... Nevertheless, she continued the inspection. Apart from a slightly heightened temperature she couldn’t really detect anything, so she simply changed the position of his body a bit, putting both arms on one side, spreading his legs a bit and rolling his torso over. Lying on the side, it would be easier to breathe and not swallow too much sand, she supposed. Then she pulled off a strap of fabric from his robes, dampened it with her own saliva, wrapped it loosely around his neck and made a tight knot. This way the scratches wouldn’t be infected. Of course, she would have liked to disinfect the wounds with fresh water instead, but how to get real water in a desert illusion?

That was when Hadrian’s words reached her mind. Regarding him with a thoughtful glance, she tapped at the fabric around Curn’s throat. “A little water into this would be nice. Also, then he might regain consciousness fairly quickly, if that is what you desire.” Then she looked at Pain, the other injured member of the group. “Is there anything that needs fixing? Any bruises?” With the bandages around Pain’s hands and wrists, it was kind of hard to detect something. If Pain confirmed her assumption, Aselia would use more fabric from the man’s wide robes and Hadrian’s water to bandage any open wounds. That was about everything she could do.

When any medical issues had been dealt with, Aselia mentally went through the Symenestra’s words and pieced together the previous happenings for herself. It seemed that Hadrian and Asperenus had had a conflict with Curn. Apparently the deputy had also created the illusions on board the ship in the first place. Everything hinted at him being the scapegoat. But who was the pale woman? Because at least Pain and her companion didn’t seem surprised by the Symenestra, she assumed they had met her before. So Curn’s illusion had somehow developed an own will? It obviously existed without him controlling it anymore.

Although the sand was burning in her eyes, already accumulating in the webs between her fingers, she was eager to solve the riddle. How could one make an illusion dissolve from the inside? Looking up and blinking against the sun, she saw Holuri circling a few feet above their heads. Certainly the peregrine was searching for prey ... or a way out of that strange environment. Aselia had an idea. “There must be a weak point.” There always was a weak point! However, with the sun slowing her thoughts, she simply stared at Holuri. “How big is this room in reality?” she eventually said, more to herself than to anyone else.

Maybe she was thinking into the wrong direction, but at least trying was better than giving up too soon, wasn’t it?

by **Cadence** on January 8th, 2011, 12:13 am

Asperenus looked mildly offended at Pain’s words and looked ready to respond, before he thought better of it as the young woman’s voice rose to a yell. He bent down to check on Curn, whose throat had started to bob up and down convulsively.

Meanwhile, the Symenestra illusionist looked up from the sand to focus her gaze on Derric. “Are you scared so easily, boy? Ready to turn away because you feel the spiders creeping in your head?” she leered, her Symenestra fangs flashing in a wide grin. The woman leaned closer to Derric and continued to speak in an urgent, slightly hoarse whisper, “What you term reality was not a price I paid for illusion. Ionu does not take that kind of payment. Illusion was my salvation from reality. Some walk toward insanity on Ionu’s path, others away from it. To dream and to create and to weave reality that no one had ever thought possible… Perhaps you will understand one day, boy.” She jerked away from him as abruptly as she had leaned in.

Asperenus turned his head sharply toward Aselia. “The room isn’t very big, 200 square feet at most. And yes, all illusions have weak points. They are gaps in the illusionary fabric, so to speak. Sometimes they come in the form of a familiar smell or sound, or simply a weak visual barrier…”

He trailed off as his eyes widened, gaze locked on the familiar piece of furniture that had materialized atop the sand. Just as Derric opened his eyes, an old, tattered armchair came into being. It had been the original occupant of the room that they were all supposed to be in, and it looked as homely and commonplace in the desert as it had in the cabin. However, as soon as the chair appeared, Derric felt a noticeable drain on his energy. A mild headache had begun pounding in his temples, and he felt fatigue wash over him.

“And I believe this young man has just broken one of those barriers,” muttered Asperenus, staring at Derric with a degree of respect. “It’s all rather simple, really. A true illusionist – one who bears a gnosis mark from Ionu – can create and control his own illusionary energy. However, the illusion that we are currently trapped is not under anyone’s control. It’s raw djed, transformed into illusion. One does not have to be an illusionist to manipulate this kind of power. One must simply have an aptitude for it. To put it simply, the hard part was already done when the illusion was created. Tweaking it and breaking it is considerably easier if one has the talent for it.”

The Symenestra woman shot Derric an odd, contemplative look before turning her gaze back down to the sand which she was so intent on inspecting.

Curn appeared to be slowly recovering under Aselia’s gentle ministrations. Feeble sputtering sounds began to escape the man’s throat, quickly turning into full-blown coughs. His whole body shook with the impact of the violent coughing, his head rising and falling back onto the sand multiple times. Finally, he cracked open his eyes, immediately focusing them on Hadrian. “You little-" he growled feebly, rattling off a string of curses in the Ancient Tongue. “I’m going to kill you, you pathetic excuse for a reimancer! You-you!”

“That’s enough,” Asperenus pronounced loudly, an undercurrent of anger evident in his voice. “You have proven yourself to be a traitor, Saaren Curn, and you will face the Scholars of the Abode when we return to Alvadas. In the meantime, kindly refrain from running your big mouth.”

Asperenus approached the newly-visibly armchair, cautiously prodding it with his foot. “This appears to be quite real. Yes, this young man here-" said the scholar, waving his hand in Derric’s general direction. [color=#DAA520]“-has done us the favor of breaking one of the illusion’s cruder barriers. It should be easier from here. Sanessa, would you like to instruct everyone one what should be done?”

The Symenestra looked up from the ground, her eyes glazed and removed from reality. She glared at the man as if he had just interrupted an immensely important train of thought and went back to staring at her feet. Asperenus expelled a bushel of air from his nose in irritation, and said, “Everyone must try to visualize a cabin inside a ship. Even though we are not illusionists, the feat shouldn’t be so difficult since the illusion isn’t held together by anyone’s power. I must warn you, however, that because most of you have not been trained in the art of visualization and meditation, you may end up feeling some unpleasant side effects. Fatigue, headache… All are quite possible and even probable. Hadrian, do not push yourself into this unless you feel that you have had enough time to recuperate after all the magic you had already performed. And you, Derric, is it? Don’t push your mind too far either. We wouldn’t want you to develop a migraine on top of everything else.”

With that, Asperenus lowered himself into the armchair, touched his fingertips together, and closed his eyes.

by **Elhaym** on January 8th, 2011, 5:15 am

This was getting more ridiculous by the second. Pain stood from her seated position, carefully leaning down and wrapping the blanket around Tanny to protect him from the harsh illusionary wind and sand. He had done more than his part today. Pain exhaled greatly, reached with a bandaged fist and rubbing her bloodied mouth. She moaned as she withdrew her fist, noting the smudge of red across her hand. The burning sensation in her nose was lessoning, but she still felt woozy from the onset of pain that had been with her since the first few seconds of her fight with the sailor. She was irritated.

So irritated in fact, that she felt the need to further express it. She'd already lashed out at the scholar and Hadrien, to which they had duly ignored. Rather than take another shot at them, Pain focused on another figure. One who seemed to be crawling about on the ground, and apparently was a traitorous bastard. Pain stomped towards him, squinting her eyes and ignoring the burning sand's touch on her bare feet. As she grew closer, she could hear him muttering to himself a string of curses and other such nonsense.

"Hey. Shut. Up." Pain growled, kicking her right leg forward in a flurry of sand. The intention wasn't to kick him, rather to thoroughly splash his face with sand as he turned to look at her. As he coughed and weezed, Pain stepped onto his back and lowered herself into a seated position with her legs folded underneath her. At the very least, she could stop this freak from going anywhere. As Pain shifted her weight back and forth atop Curn's back to find a comfortable position, he began to protest. A quick rap on the back of his head from her knuckle's silenced him for the moment.

"Quiet. I'm thinking here."

Pain closed her eyes, and settled her hands atop her knees. Imagine a cabin inside the ship, huh... Well, that was easy enough! Pain's vision was black, lit by several glowing spots that emerged and floated around, seemingly changing color. "Was that blue? No, now it's just gray. Hey, that little line is purple now..."

Pain gritted her teeth, and shook her head as though a fly had landed on her nose. "Dammit. Okay." She thought, now attempting to visualize the cabin she had stood in with Derric. "It had been dark... with a candle. I remember the candle. That woman had been talking, talking, talking... oh, then the water had start pouring out. Crazy how that went down, good thing Tanny was around. Then through that door, where that freaky sailor had been waiting. Really should have moved with an instep on that second punch, could have taken a shot with my elbow and followed with a right cross... He was a big guy though. That thing I did, the choking thing... that was pretty good. I'll have to remember that. Could be usefu-... Dammit."

Pain opened her eyes in frustration. She had no experience in any sort of meditation, and her thoughts seemed to wander and invade her mind despite her intentions. Curn groaned once again, and pain retorted with another sharp blow from the tips of her knuckles on the back of his head.

"Shutup, dammit. I almost had it."

She did not almost have it. It seemed it was up to the others to fulfill Asperenus' commands. Between the broken nose and her own nature, Pain couldn't seem to do what he had asked.

by **Hadrian** on January 8th, 2011, 6:51 am

After years of scholarship as a child and then at the University of Zeltiva, his memory for names hardly even required mnemonics. He wished sometimes -- now being one such a time -- that he had more applicable skills, though he had to admit, even to himself, who was his worst critic, that the bit of hydromancy had been a fine application of what he had never truly embraced as a magical skill.

Derric seemed intent on the Symenestra; they always put him a bit off, perhaps because of Devan who had stolen the opening for a resident magecrafter in Syliras. Alichino was nowhere to be seen. Aselia, at least, was helping. And Elhaym was --

He raised his hand to block the spray of sand, and while her frustrated attacks on Curn pleased a less than admirable part of him, another less than admirable part of him was irked that his -- victim? -- was being prodded without his permission. Perhaps all these illusions were having a greater effect on him than he thought. Certainly once one began to second-guess oneself under these circumstances, it was the beginning of the end so far as sanity was concerned. But was taking one's every whim as a gods-inspired truth be any better?

The globe of water obeyed him like a cobra obeyed the clever flautists of Ahnatep's Pillars of Dust, attracted to the res still covering his palm and fingertips. He nudged it closer to Curn's mouth by way of warning, then glanced about in frustration.

Why was Derric the savant? Why shouldn't it be Hadrian?

He knew that Asperenus spoke wisely, though, so he settled into his kneeling position. A glance at Elhaym proved that she had Curn mostly under control. He focused on his breath again the way he had to foil Curn's illusions the first time, letting his breath direct his thoughts, and trying to let go of everything, though a sliver of thought was required to hold the watery threat aloft.

Compartmentalizing his mind, he allowed another thread of consciousness, so much easier to manage once in trance, to Flux energy from his reserves to the rest of his body, recharging his aura from its endurance run with the hydromancy. Aligning the power centers along his meridian, he allowed the energy to spread out, djed flushing his body until his fingertips, toes, and scalp fairly itched with it. He would need to sleep a great deal when all was said and done, but that would never come if they could not beat this.

At last he began to visualize the cabin as instructed. While he couldn't be absolutely sure that it hadn't been an illusion, too, he also knew that he had no better reality to offer and hadn't the strength of will just then to counter the efforts of all the rest. Illusion was new territory for him.

Derric had recalled the tatty old armchair; Hadrian focused on the table with the map spilling over it. He would leave the seven other chairs out of the equation for now. That would only diffuse his focus, and when he was running low on energy, he had to make up for it with precision.

by **Derric** on January 8th, 2011, 3:53 pm

Derric opened his eyes, not entirely sure of what he was looking at. A handful of questions flowed through his mind, the most prevailent of which being, "Was that actually my doing?" Of course, as Asperenus began to speak, that confusion gave way to pride. The scholars next words only managed to confirm the performer's suspicions. He'd done it. He had actually done it. Sure, breaking an illusion was nowhere near as impressive as creating one, but, if anything, it was a taste of the power. The thought of being able to manipulate the senses far beyond just breaking through an illusion was surely enticing. His worries of insanity shifted to a lower priority in his head, the hope of someday being able to master control of illusions were once again renewed. But, of course, he wasn't anywhere close to such abilities. What he had just accomplished was nothing when one considered how an illusionist could alter reality. Pushing the thoughts aside, he turned his attention back to the Symenestra, just in time to notice her contemplative glare. He questioned the look, but chose, for now, not to speak up.

Then, at the head scholar's request, Senessa began to explain how to finish the job that Derric had begun. However, there was only one thing she said that truly made the performer think. “Even though we are not illusionists...” Hadn't they been told that she was one of the two people aboard the ship who had control of illusions? He added the thought to his repository of questions and turned to see how the others were doing. Asperenus seemed to be working, as did Hadrian, however, whether or not they were successful wouldn't become evident for a few moments. As for Pain, the artist seemed to be having the least luck of the three, and Derric, too fatigued for the moement to risk bringing back another object, walked over to her.

"You okay?" Derric tried to seem casual, thinking maybe he could help her break the illusion instead of risking a worse headache by trying again. It never occurred to the man that the task had been too easy for him, and that another person might not have the same degree of luck. Instead, he simply figured that she just had to focus and keep trying. After all, he wasn't that special, right?

by **Cadence** on January 27th, 2011, 6:18 pm

Curn’s eyes bulged as Pain flopped down atop his body. “I will not stand for this. Get off me this instant, insolent girl!”he squeaked, his signature hiss sounding much less impressive with the air being squeezed out of him. His mouth opened and closed a few more times like that of a dying fish before he seemed to resign himself to his fate. With a final grunt, he all but turned himself into a lifeless ottoman.

Asperenus cracked open one eye and muttered to Senessa, “You could at least try helping, you know. I think you’ve proven your point now. Why let laymen do the work when you’re perfectly capable of ending all this on your own?”

Senessa titled her head up to look at the man with blank, disinterested eyes. “I have already proven my worth to Ionu. The rest of you have not,” she whispered tonelessly before returning to stare at the sand. It was obvious that even though she was a powerful illusionist, she was doing absolutely nothing to suppress to end their current predicament.

Fortunately, the rest of them were at least trying to do so. The air crackled with the intensity of their concentration, sending ripples of wind through the sand. The tension was almost a palpable entity, straining the illusion in all directions, tearing it at the seams. The dryness was the first sensation to give way. In a single second, moisture seemed to rush into the air, replacing the scratchy feeling in everybody’s throats with a pleasant wetness. The parameters of the illusion were the second to break. Their surroundings seemed to shiver and shrink, snapping back to their original state. All of a sudden, they found themselves in a medium-sized room covered with sand.

A table shimmered into being, becoming more solid by the second. The more Hadrian concentrated on it, the more details wove themselves into the table’s fabric. A large, sprawling map appeared on the table surface. A crack ran along one of its legs. As soon as the table was complete, Hadrian felt a sharp ache in his temples. It was as if someone had dropped a pebble inside his skull, and the little stone was now ricocheting off the walls of Hadrian’s head. It was not a pleasant feeling. In fact, it was downright painful. But that’s the price one must pay for exerting oneself so completely.

Gradually, everyone became aware of a soft, humming sound. It grew louder and louder as the illusion fell apart piece by piece. At the pinnacle of its volume, something seemed to snap. A high-pitched, howling assaulted their ears for the space of a second. And then, everything fell mercifully silent.Everyone was now standing in a cabin, complete with a table, chairs, an armchair, and a pile of crates. There was no sand in sight. The wooden planks underneath their feet creaked familiarly, and a ceiling was restricting their view of the sky.

The first sound to break the silence was Doddel Asperenus’s cough. The man cleared his throat, making no move to get out of the armchair in which he sat. “Well, I do believe that was a task well done. You all performed acceptably well,” He paused to look down at Curn, who was still being used as a bench, and something like a mischievous twinkle lit his eye. “each in their own capacity. I daresay Ionu will be quite pleased with your efforts.”

Gracefully, Senessa picked herself up from the floor, dusting off her azure robes with long, elegant fingers. “As if you know what Ionu wants, Doddel,” the Symenestra said, rolling her amethyst eyes. “Ionu looks for those who understand illusion and who are willing to go out on a limb to do so.” Her eyes bored into Hadrian, Derric, Aselia, and Pain in turn. “Ionu has taken notice. Its gaze is now trained on you. Do not disappoint. Falling out of favor is much easier than rising in the ranks.”

A pitiful sounds escaped from Saaren Curn as the man tried to shake Pain off him. His face was deathly pale and he kept biting his lower lip, as if to keep from letting lose another string of curses. The man’s indignant squeaks drew Asperenus’s attention once more. “And we have still not decided what to do with you,” Asperenus addressed himself to the ex-Deputy Scholar. “The other scholars will of course have the final say in your future, but I do believe the opinions of everyone present here shall hold some weight.”

He turned his head to regard Pain, Aselia, Derric, and Hadrian. “This man has jeopardized the safety of everyone abroad this ship in his mad hunger for power. He planned to break the minds of everyone present here and use the power he gathered from us to overtake the Scholarly Abode of Illusionary Pursuits, and then to conquer Alvadas. And while Ionu may appreciate his impressive display if illusionism, I do not believe it would take kindly to someone daring to gain control of its city. The Scholars will not be able to pass fair judgment without having been present abroad this ship and having witnessed what went on here. In view of this, I propose that each of you give me your opinion on what you think should be done with Saaren Curn. I am certain that whatever degree of leniency the four of you choose to exhibit will be taken into consideration by the Scholars. Likewise, any thoughts on Mr. Curn’s punishment will be taken into account.”

by **Hadrian** on January 29th, 2011, 6:55 am

Hadrian tried not to fall over when the illusion finally gave way under the weight of their combined wills, though it felt as though he had been pushing on a wall and, when it fell, his weight was thrown off balance. He braced his legs without locking his knees and began to focus on Fluxing just a bit more of his reserves to his body so he would not pass out in front of the deity and everybody. The pain in his brain intensified, and he squinted past it like it was some illusory weight upon his brow. He just could not fail now.

It was difficult for him to intuit the subtext between the Alvadans, and he hoped he wasn't the only one who was a little lost on that score. Ionu was watching, they said. Well, that was a good thing, perhaps. He was honest enough with himself to know that he would be pleased to earn favor from the androgynous deity, though it wasn't his sole purpose in coming.

When nobody spoke right away as to Curn's sentencing, Hadrian spoke, hoping to get things over with so he could pass out in his berth and recover. Overgiving was never a pretty sight to behold.

"Hypnotic rehabilitation," he offered, his voice thick and dull, even if his idea was not. "I assume," he continued slowly, "that hypnotism is a common sister skill among illusionists. It would seem rash and ill-advised to execute someone favored by your patron deity. If his gnosis were revoked, one might take that as approval from the deity to enact extreme punishment. At the same time, he cannot be permitted to run rampant if he will only scheme to take over Alvadas and break the minds of people intent on adding to its glory. Make him a valuable tool to the Scholars and Ionu again."

He tried not to waver on his feet; not in front of the scholars and favored of Ionu, not in front of Elhaym and Aselia, the lovely ladies, and not in front of Derric, either. New beginnings were always an opportunity to improve upon oneself, to be free of the illusions that were imposed on a person and build new ones more suitable to one's purposes.

"Or perhaps it would be better to address the Scholars upon our arrival, when we have had time to rest and process our ... experience."

by **Aselia Timandre** on January 29th, 2011, 2:28 pm

Aselia listened to Asperenus’ answer, surprised that he responded to her random question. A part of her was eager to learn more about illusions, but the more reasonable side wondered how that’d help them in breaking it. Then a chair materialized in the desert.

Suddenly everything was clear. While Pain took care of Curn, Aselia carefully brought a foot or so between them. The sand was still burning under her skin, especially her scales, but she didn’t notice anymore. The following explanation only confirmed what she had already supposed. She sat down in a more comfortable position, crossing her legs and letting her hands rest on her knees. Konti sat like that when they tried to meditate, in the grass, on a blanket, under the water even. Aselia had seen a great deal of Konti meditate. Her own sister had learned to meditate in order to use her magic. But Aselia herself had always been too fidgety to concentrate and stand still. This time, however, she was determined to do it. Holuri wasn’t too far away and now she landed on her companion’s shoulder again. Aselia closed her eyes and focused. First she depicted a room of the size Asperenus had told her. Then she remembered the chair. If there were chairs, there must be a table and more chairs, right? She tried to visualize shapes in her mind and ignored the details, for she had no clue about how the room really looked like. She had stepped right into the illusion, after all! Or had she? Now, concentration!

Slowly Aselia’s thoughts faded into nothingness as her mental image of the room became the center of her attention. She saw everything and she wanted it to be real. Sounds and textures from the desert illusion made her eyebrows twitch and distracted her, especially the wind and the sand blown into her face, but she pushed them aside. Again and again. Senessa’s words she understood, but ignored. They were forgotten the next moment.

Then, the dry feeling in her throat was slowly replaced by pleasant wetness. Aselia smiled, but kept her eyes closed and her mind focused. She could do it, together with the others. The breeze gave way to a strange humming. When a cough shattered the silence, Aselia opened her eyes. The sand and the blue sky had disappeared. Holuri let out a cry and it almost sounded accusatory. Aselia grinned and shrugged her shoulder. Of course, the peregrine wanted the vastness of the desert sky back. But she’d have to wait a little longer for that.

Running a hand through her messy hair, Aselia rose from the floor. Everyone seemed to be back in one piece and without any difficulties. Could one get lost in illusions and never come back or only return in pieces? A frightening thought, she admitted, but an interesting question.

Then the Symenestra woman spoke up. Her words held more weight than Asperenus’ scholarly explanations. She spoke of Ionu as if she was Its messenger, as if she knew It very well. Her gaze sent a shower down Aselia’s spine. Whatever that person did and said, Aselia got more and more interested in her. Do not disappoint. How did one not disappoint a deity? If it had been Avalis, Aselia would have known better what to do and what to avoid. But gaining Ionu’s favor was a trickier mission. “You seem to know It very well”, she commented and tried to match the Symenestra’s stare. Even more than gaining Ionu’s favor, Aselia wanted to find out who Senessa was, apart from the type of person who kept more secrets than friends.

Saaren Curn, the victim of his own illusions, was still protesting. With the group’s attention shifting, Asperenus addressed his crimes once more and emphasized the future punishment for Curn. Aselia didn’t really know what he was trying to do. How could be the opinion of a group of adventurers be of any importance? But then, it was probably more the opinion of people who had dispelled a raw illusion. Aselia felt a distant headache pounding in her head, but ignored it for the time being. There would be enough time to recover later, she hoped.

Hadrian’s answer consisted of a lot of special language. Kamalia probably would have understood everything, but Aselia didn’t know as much about magic. What she understood, though, was that he voted for hypnotizing Curn to make him valuable for the scholarly causes again. After him, Aselia spoke up, first with hesitation. “If Ionu disapproved of him, there would have already been more severe consequences, I think. Of course, I don’t know much about It’s character.” She threw a short glance at Senessa. “But I think he should be kept under close supervision, treated like a criminal. He didn’t even apologize or anything, doesn’t show any signs of remorse. To me, he looks like he’d do it again.” Oh, her judgment sounded harsh for someone as friendly as her, but then again, Aselia knew the dark side of human nature all too well. Saaren Curn obviously was not intelligent, but that didn’t count as excuse.

Scratching Holuri, she waited for the other opinions.