[Inner Sanctum] Prototype; Along Came A Spider (Dusk)

[Hadrian]

12th Fall, 510 A.V. Nearly two weeks into his contract with the Syliran Knights, and Hadrian was pleased as punch with his progress even if he wasn't keen on having other people walking in on his space. He supposed that if he had made more of an effort to befriend the previous magecrafter of Syliras, he might have been able to secure that title himself, but that would have meant returning to Syliras and he had preferred the relative anonymity of Zeltiva. But for now he was alone but for the young Novice guarding the room, and he could block out the indignities of life while absorbed in altering the sigil upon which his enchantment was based. The enchantment was more complicated than any previous attempt, but if his current progress was any indicator, he had a more than fair shot at success and, perhaps, a long-term client in the Knights of Syliras. Certainly they had the mizas to support his efforts. With his Auristics engaged, he watched the carefully cut tip of his paintbrush link a node of intelligent thought to a rune of binding. The djed responded before he was even finished, though once it was complete, the real movement of energies began. There was a lesson to be learned there: interconnectedness. Everything affected everything else, and it called him to plan appropriately all the more, because mistakes, even temporary ones that could be fixed, would have their effects. He stood back to observe the overall effect for a time, the new order he had arranged within the circle of his enchantment, and smiled.

[Dusk]

"You're doing it wrong," came a voice from the doorway, musical and purring, as if a harp were given speech. What stood there, though, was nothing short of a nightmare. Tall, taller than most humans, towering over the Knight that stood behind him by more than a foot. His long frame was dressed not in robes as one might have thought a sorcerer to be, but a strange amalgam of silk cloth wrapped around and around his limbs, midnight blue and shimmering in the buttery sunlight pouring through the windows of the Inner Sanctum. Over the silks, an odd black armor was strapped over his spindly limbs and torso, and the chitinous plates just added to the overall spider-like appearance of him. Black hair hung in sharp spikes of disarray, brushing his shoulders and swinging into his eyes as he tilted his head to consider Hadrian's layout. His fingers were unnaturally long - and his bare feet ended at huge black claws that looked as if they'd been filed sharp. But what truly identified him as a powerful magician were the myriad glyphs that were etched into his armor, and the thick black ribbon of smoke that hid his sensitive eyes from the sun. Even from across the room, Hadrian could see that it pulsed and slithered against his face. "What are you even trying to do here?" he murmured, scuttling into the room and glaring at the circles he'd inscribed.

[Hadrian]

"Oh for the love of..." he groaned, but by the time he turned around to face Professor Spiderpants, Hadrian had managed to adopt a neutral mask. "Hello, Professor Nightshade," he said. "Welcome to Syliras and congratulations on your new appointment." If only Akvin Kultra had buggered off around the same time Hadrian had gone to Zeltiva for his higher education, he might never have had to deal with Devandil Nightshade. He wasn't sure how they had gotten on the wrong foot with each other, as Hadrian had always shown his professors the utmost respect, but somehow he had managed it. At least he had become Stonemiller's favorite or else he might have had to choose another specialty within the arcane arts. But he said nothing about his current project. After so much planning and now twelve days of work, he was almost halfway through. Where he might have accepted constructive criticism from Stonemiller, the last thing he wanted was for Spiderpants to scuttle in and shit all over his work. The Symenestra mage only had an inch on him, and sometimes when Hadrian had spent too many days out of the sun studying, forgetting to eat, he might have looked a bit like a Symenestra himself. Perhaps they were too similar to get along. Perhaps. He made no move to block Nightshade from his large circular table covered with runic script and painted lines of connection centering on the six focii with their gems. With a blink, he brought his auristic vision back up both to gauge the interloper and to check his own work when the inevitable critique came. There would be no sigh, however. If Nightshade were truly to be installed as the Knights' own magecrafter, there would be little work for Hadrian after this. Not that he wanted to stay in Syliras, of course, but... well.

[Dusk]

The master magecrafter peered down at the work, a ponderous frown on his lips. "Why is it that you have never been able to simply answer a question, Hadrian?" he said evenly, reaching out to almost touch one of the gems, though his hand never made contact. "And it's Master Nightshade if you've the need for platitudes, though I don't think either of us require them. Devan is fine," he murmured. And that was at least something new - as a professor, he had always required the strictest protocol be followed between student and teacher. The rules were different here, though, and no one was more aware of that than Devandil. "You're making a... what, an alarm system?" he asked, taking in the entirety of it. "Where's the blood? Where's the sacrificial offerings? You'll never get it to the power you need with these regeants. What are you using anyway?"

[Hadrian]

Hadrian was indeed shocked by the familiarity offered, and made a mental note to use the diminutive in future, though he would likely forget when frazzled. That the spidermage's presence was off-putting was obvious, but what upset Hadrian more than that was the predatory allure of him, and the obvious power. Such thinking was dangerous, and likely to lead to a dangerous web. "My answers invariably earn disdain, Devan." He sighed. "I have no wish to quarrel with you." He glanced again at his work, at the subtle play of djed that he was becoming more and more aware of as his auristic skill improved. It seemed like the energies came more into focus the more he practiced, with an ability to understand too what he was seeing. "A sort of an alarm system, yes. A bit of compass action, too, to help locate bearers. I don't know if you saw my presentation on the blood-compass at the University this Spring... Anyway, the idea is that the sergeant of a wing of knights would hold the larger gem, and be able to find his or her underlings, as well as know if they are under attack or ... well, dead. "I wasn't supposed to talk about the reagents, but since you work for the Knighthood now..." He stepped over to the open cabinet, unlocked while he worked, and brought a glass jar over for Devandil to observe. Inside were six leaves. They had not even begun to rot or desiccate, and to his Auristic eye, they sparkled with a strange kind of energy. Dimmer, to be sure, than he imagined the Windoak would look, but of the same variety. "I haven't applied this to the gems yet," he explained, "but they should be ready in about three days. You are welcome to observe." His plan was similar to a technique he had tested with Hrair's blood-compass, but he still had to construct the mechanism and hope that it worked with airborne reagents as well as it did with liquids.

[Dusk]

"Disdain?" the creature said, the smooth velvet tones of his voice suddenly ruffled as he titled his face around to stare at Hadrian. Would likely have been a much more intimidating stare if he could see Devan's eyes - but then again, it wasn't terribly comfortable being stared at by an undulating swath of darkness either. "Come now, Hadrian, you're too smart for that. I was a teacher - and a teacher of a bunch of hot-headed, vicious, and most importantly powerful little bastards. Hand-holding and politeness wouldn't have served me at all, especially not among the human children. I have found that for the most part, my race is either hated or feared - and if they are neither, then they are inevitably slated to become a victim. You, especially, wouldn't have learned anything from me had I been kind to you. Stonemiller may have patted you on the head and told you what potential you had, but it was I who took that potential and molded into actual power." He took the jar from Hadrian's hands without asking, holding it up and shaking it just a little to get a better look at the leaves. "Ah. They are very interested in this project, aren't they? Well. Powerful catalysts, these are, but they still will not be enough. One for each of them, and the power inherent in them will give it sentience enough for the gems to understand what's going on - but the runes alone will not not give it the ability to communicate that to the focus gem, and it certainly won't give it the impetus to do so. This is a complicated bit of magic you're attempting, and you've a good start and a firm grasp of how to execute it. I simply doubt you've done enough experiments with expensive regeants to understand how much you'll really need." He handed the jar back to Hadrian, tilting his head again as he considered the layout of his circle. "Communication. You'll need the Sergeant's blood for the focus gem, and blood from each of the wing members for the others. That will bind the gems to their wearers and ensure that they care what happens to them. As for the ability to communicate... animal sacrifice, I think. Which would you choose?" he asked, turning the full of his attention back to Hadrian.

[Hadrian]

The slender young enchanter did not reply to the rehashing of their past encounters; of course, he had thought that might be the case, but the lonely student had never been comfortable assuming that anyone cared particularly for him. Even Stonemiller's esteem had seemed disinterested somehow, as if it was politic to take Hadrian under his wing, whether to inspire philanthropy from his rich father or ... well, suffice it to say, Hadrian made himself miserable regardless. "I could never get a petition through for more expensive and rare reagents from the University. Stonemiller said it would be more likely if I returned to teach..." But he had not wanted to get stuck teaching when he could be doing, though the temptation had been there. "My hope was the Windoak's own... substance... would be enough to make them care, and to allow for transference to new wing members... If I bond them each to specific people, they will only be usable by those specific people... And once I seal in the blood and complete the enchantment, it's not like I can readjust them for new users. "What if," he considered aloud, "what if I went with animal sacrifice for urgency... added Sylir's and Tyveth's glyphs here and here... and here... and tied the bonding process to their oaths? Then they needn't bleed at all, but an oathbound knight holding the stone would activate a bond with it. I'd have to change the angle of..." He looked closely at the web of glyphs that formed the entire sigil. He could only hope Devandil wasn't leading him astray so that he himself might grasp an absolute monopoly on the Knights' custom.

[Dusk]

Had Hadrian voiced his concerns about Devandil trying to monopolize the Knights' business, he might have actually heard the Symenestra laugh. Instead he just nodded at the mumblings as the other man worked out the problems of how to imbue his artifacts with what he needed. "Use the sergeant's blood for the focus gem," he said, turning to make his way out of the lab. "That's something that shouldn't be transferred. They should be the only one with control." And with that, he headed out, unless stopped with some other question.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian had almost forgotten how Devandil was like to do that: appear, critique, disappear. He supposed there was even something comforting in the familiar discomfort. Opening his mouth to say something, he settled for plain and simple. "Thank you, Devan. Take care." For his part, Hadrian began to pen a letter to his contact among the knights to see if sergeant's blood could be added to the list of necessary reagents.

END

[Nisaba]

Grade Complete: XP Award! Name: Hadrian   XP Award Glyphing- 1 XP Auristics- 2 XP Magecraft- 2 XP Hadrian was working on a rune of binding at the beginning of the thread, which earned him one point in glyphing. His use of auristics sporadically throughout the short thread received a couple of points, and both his experimentation in and discussion of magecraft earned him a point in the magical discipline. If you think I missed anything, please just let me know.   Lore Award Unwelcome Interruption Discussing Magecraft Process & Necessities Additional Note: This was a very nice (modded) thread. Even though it was short, it held a lot of information. Hadrian’s past with one of his professors, his present with the complicated magecraft experiment, and his hope for the future with the Syliran Knights as a client to fund his endeavors. I really enjoyed reading it, especially the parts discussing the magecraft. I did see it as a thread written as much for the progress in story as for the skills, but please correct me if I’m wrong.