[Inner Sanctum] Prototype; Tricks of the Trade (Eanos)

[Hadrian]

4th Fall, 510 A.V. Hadrian arrived rather earlier than usual that morning to work on his project. The Novice who guarded the space was still yawning fit to crack his jaw open, but thanked Hadrian for the mug of coffee that he poured out for him from the thermos he brought from home. There were perks to living with one's wealthy family at times. His keeper mollified, Hadrian began to scour his project with an exacting eye, augmented by Auristics. He was always exigent where his own endeavors were concerned, of course, but now a fellow magecrafter was coming to see what he was about, and he didn't want to give a bad impression, especially after Eanos had proven himself such an able crafter and teacher to boot. The Isur had a mark of Izurdin upon him, the favored race of crafters, and Hadrian needed approval from him. Perhaps one day that would become approval from the god himself, and Hadrian's own works would improve as a result. For all his searching, he found only minor inconsistencies, the which he fixed as soon as he was able. With a paintbrush, he linked a couple of glyphs within the overarching circular sigil that bound and encompassed his nascent enchantment. To his Eye, it looked like a sleeping creature of pure energy, gradually manifesting into a higher order of complexity. To the normal eye, it was a large, circular table painted around with glyphs and containing six gems, one larger than the lesser five. To the normal eye, it was arcane mumbo jumbo. He was curious, though, to see how much Eanos would recognize on his own.

[Eanos]

It was a meeting to which Eanos came with great interest yet also with a good degree of trepidation. Not that he was afraid of the man, but rather that he was afraid of the impression which he would give. With the forge work it had been easy to appear more knowledgeable than he really was; not that he'd intended it deliberately or even to any degree, yet to a novice it wasn't hard to give that impression and Eanos had the reputation of the Isur to uphold, at least in his mind he had, if not in reality. Passage to the place he was to meet Hadrian was simple enough for by now he had spent enough time in the Citadel to know his way around, though the final stages of this route were new to him since the Knights discouraged the sort of curiosity which obsessed Eanos, at least in areas they didn't want to satisfy the idle curiosity of passers-by. At the door he was confronted by a Knight of some sort but allowed through with an explanation of who he was and that he was there by invitation. Inside he paused to assess the layout of the room and nodded a greeting to Hadrian. "Thank you for the invitation," he said but in truth his attention had already been drawn to the table which had clearly been laid out already for some working or other. He walked closer and stuck his hands behind his back whilst he reviewed the layout. The glyphs were easily recognisable as such and yet as ever with glyphs the designs of another were on the surface meaningless to him except in terms of general layout. The other items told him little either though clearly their presence told him that they had purpose in the design. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if enough time had passed yet and then transmuted some of his djed anyway since his curiosity was indeed far too great to prevent it. Normally he worked either with touch or sight, but now since he was focussed on what he was seeing a new sense of vision opened in his mind and overlaid the scene. He glanced up at Hadrian for a moment to see the whirls of djed which made him seem afire like a forge but then concentrated again on the table for he'd transmuted the smallest amount of djed he could and he didn't wish to waste it. Now the glyphs came to life and his eyes tracked the pattern with a new understanding for without the cryptic disguise of their apparent forms the energy flows they created were revealed. He stopped short of attempting to interpret the flow as to what was intended here and shut away the vision before the after effects made their almost inevitable presence known. "Interesting," he said with a smile of pleasure, his nerves already forgotten. "Would you mind explaining what it is that you do here?"

[Hadrian]

Their greetings were not curt or terse on account of dislike, but rather that they were reserved people. Hadrian was gratified to have his teacher whose skill he respected at the forge here where the young enchanter was more learned and skilled. It was time to repay Eanos for his generosity with regard to his Isurian smithing lore. His eyes continued to See on multiple spectrums, trying to anticipate anything Eanos might spot before he did, even though he had just gone through and recalibrated his enchanting sigil. Anyway, flaws took time to show up in this sort of work; delicate little problems did not manifest until the power had been given time to accumulate in unhealthy fashions, or if one's Auristics or special lenses were fine-tuned enough to catch such tiny flaws before they grew into larger ones. Inexplicably nervous, he ran a hand through his hair, then, because he could, he pushed excess djed riled up by his emotional state up through his arm until he could will it to coalesce, welling out of the pores on his hand: res. This he willed to transmute as well once it hit the air, from res to water, just enough to dampen his hand as he ran in through his hair again a few times, taming whatever cowlicks and bed head he had not thought to correct in his hurry to get to work that morning. As soon as Eanos spoke with obvious approval, his nerves began to dissipate, and he entered his element. "Well," he began, stepping closer to point out glyphs in the sigil as they were laid out on the table. "I'm used to having an entire room, but here I basically warded the whole of the table with this outer ring of glyphs to keep outside influences outside the working. The larger of the six gems will be keyed to a sergeant among the knights, the lesser five to those in his or her wing. They will act as a rudimentary tracking and alarm system, helping keep the unit together and acting as one."

[Eanos]

Eanos nodded slowly at the explanation, fairly oblivious to any discomfort that Hadrian might have felt at having his work examined by another. "Yes," he replied, "when I was training it was common for the whole room to be used for the working, but I like what you've done here and it makes a good deal of sense to have it focussed into a small space." He was tempted to activate his auristic vision once more just to examine again the warding and to see what he could learn of it. Only the fact that he could detect a shadow of false vision surrounding the table gave him the common sense to avoid that and to save that examination for when he next needed the vision for some more focussed purpose. He distracted himself from the whispers in his mind which urged him to just go ahead and open himself to the power by asking a question regarding the stones. "Will only the Sergeant have control of the system, or will all be aware of everyone else?" It seemed to make sense to him that everything would go through the Sergeant and the disparity in size of the stone hinted at that, yet it was only one alternative and one which might have serious flaws once some thought had been given to it, so he considered it only a theory and waited for Hadrian to confirm or deny it.

[Hadrian]

"Control really should not be an issue," Hadrian said. "The Sergeant would hold the master stone, for lack of a better word, and so all of the information would go to him, but he wouldn't be able to affect his subordinates through the system. I could include a system that allowed them to send actual messages to each other, but while the complication to the enchantment is not beyond me, I don't think the Knights are ready to invest the sort of money that would require on a relatively untested enchanter such as myself. Perhaps if this prototype is successful, they might offer me more to work with, but from what I understand, Professor Nightshade, recently of the University of Zeltiva, will take up a post as full-time magecrafter for the Knights. I suppose I will be lucky to have an excellent reference from the Knights while seeking employment elsewhere." He paused for a moment. "I am hoping that there will be a bit of a feedback to the system, however. That the subordinates might get an echo of danger from elsewhere in the system, if not so strongly as the Sergeant with the master stone." In fact, he could have made the flow of information much more comprehensive with a use of Webbing, but he was leery of anyone finding out that the rogue Drykas, Zephyrus Shadowrunner, had initiated him in the art of the Web. The details of their contract were sealed by a Grand Oath, and he would not, could not break them. Secrecy was a great part of it. "If only I were graced with Leth's favor, I could channel His gnosis into this project, allowing them to share thoughts at will." He sighed. Some things might remain forever beyond him.

[Eanos]

The mans closing remark caused Eanos to reflect that there was a good deal which he likely ought to have waited to learn back in Sultros before setting out on his quest for knowledge. But at the same time it made him realise just how much there was to learn and he wasn't at all sure that many back in his home city would be paying too much attention to the other gods such as Leth. Likely though, his thoughts ran quickly, that perhaps that was simply because certain secrets had simply not been available to someone of his level. Perhaps back in Sultros there were many who had gnosis marks from various gods who would co-operate in the the crafting of spells. One thing he was increasingly appreciative of though was that the Isurian lifespan was going to be a blessing all of its own to him. There was so much to learn and he wanted to know it all now! What was becoming increasingly clear to him though was that Magecraft was not the powerful craft in it's own right. He might be wrong but it seemed to him that its power lay in its ability to bring together disparate parts and systems and to meld them into something greater than all the parts. He grinned though, turning his attention back to the table. "That is clearer now, thank you, though perhaps one day Leth might grant you that wish. But for now, is there something that I might be able to help you with? Or should I just stand aside and stop getting in your way?

[Hadrian]

"From your mouth to Leth's ears," he prayed with a crooked smile on his face. As he spoke, he drew two tiny hammers from the cabinet, one of silver, the other of electrum. The latter he handed to Eanos. "If you could rap each of the lesser stones three times with this while I toll the master stone, it will help reinforce the relationship between them. Sometimes it's difficult to get the timing on these things, when multiple objects are wrapped up in the enchantment." He peered meditatively at the master stone. "You know, one of your first efforts as a magesmith should be to forge yourself better tools. If you bless them with your gnosis, they will be touched by Izurdin, and more effective." He glanced at Eanos to gauge his reaction. "I could help you design the enchantment. If you wish."

[Eanos]

Accepting the hammer Eanos listened with half an ear for he had already transmuted enough djed to be exploring it with his mind as he handled it. He dragged his attention back to what Hadrian said with a jerk, repeating to himself the instructions which had been given, and moving to a position where he could apply the hammer as directed. It took a moment to decide whether or not the comment had been intended as insulting but even as he did he realised that he'd misunderstood the intent and relaxed. He was proud of his smithing abilities but it was true that whilst a poor craftsman blamed his tools, it was a fact that all Masters without exception used the finest tools that they could lay their hands on. He smiled to break the tension any change of his expression might have caused. "Thank you, I would appreciate that. I have attempted to use what I know of magecraft in my smithing but so far my lack of knowledge and inexperience has only resulted in failures." That he reflected would hardly be a surprise to the more experienced mage.

[Hadrian]

Eyes open, Auristics engaged, he watched the djed and its reactions within the circle of his enchantment-sigil as he tolled a slow, reverberating tone on the master stone with the silver hammer. As Eanos tolled the lesser stones thrice a piece with the electrum hammer, he could see the energies shifting into a new pattern of crystallization, and the tone of the master stone began to change in timbre even to his untrained ear. He grinned because this was what he lived for. Then he nodded to Eanos' words. "Forgive me if I overstep the bounds of Isur politesse, but it seems we work well together. At least, I can learn from you and you might learn from me as well. With greater tools, one can create yet greater things, and two minds and two pairs of hands can do more than one alone... I believe it would be worth the effort."

[Eanos]

With careful attention to the motions and timings that Hadrian initiated with his hammer, Eanos allowed his tight rein on his Auristics to release just enough so that he too could follow the play of energies which flowed from the hammer taps. Now he used the power in the smallest doses that he could and that was hard for the call was so strong that it was hard to ignore. To distract himself from the voices which still whispered seductively in his mind he focussed on the hammer in his hand and the offer which had been made. "You need no forgiving," he replied with a shake of his head. "It is you who needs to forgive me. Back in Sultros there are only Isur and there are many there who see no need in the world for the other races." His eyes flashed up to Hadrians, "I mean that not in the sense of any intent to harm, the Valtirren has taught us the futility of that, but just that our race is all that we need." He smiled and shrugged a little, easing his shoulders. "Sometimes it is hard for me to adjust to the idea that there is life outside of our cities and worthwhile things to be learned there." For all that it was the reason he had come here, still it was hard to align reality to an idea. "I thank you for your offer and I accept it fully. I think you are right and I speak for myself but I have found that to teach another is often the best way to learn a thing myself. It is all to easy to think you know something, but only when you come to explain it to another do you realise how ephemeral that grasp is."