[The Silver Sliver Tavern]An Afternoon Sip[Xii]

by **Clyde Sullins** on April 1st, 2015, 9:02 pm

As Clyde spoke he continued focusing his aura reading, pouring djed slowly along the link to the girl, flowing through Cha and out into the world were it latched onto her essence. As more djed poured in his inspection grew ever deeper, the picture of her growing ever clearer in his mind.

As she dug into her pack and took out paper and something to write with, a thought occurred to Clyde. Why hadn't he looked into her bag before? Now that she'd opened it the contents were a bit of a moot point, but the thought of looking inside before hadn't occurred. In hindsight, he supposed if he could look literally within her, to her bones and matter, he could also look within her things. His focus however had been on her, and not her equipment. A mistake he'd not likely make again.

As he reached even deeper, peering down the length of her essence as a string of greyish light, he began to see a second light, spots of concentration of the light, not exactly stronger but more fresh, more extended. As he pulled this in too compare it to her body, he saw the strong glow of djed concentrated in spots. Djed residue, something he'd long ago come to understand and be able to search for.

It seemed more potent in certain bits, a small smattering on bits of her skin, on her throat and tongue, even a bit loosely seeped into and effervescing from her bones, or at least certain instances of such. It was a clear sign of magic within her, or of remnants of past magic that had run through her. Comparing it to other instances that he'd seen there was not a direct match, but it seemed likely she was a mage, a personal mage. Though he could not tell how strong of one.

Still though, she'd not mentioned it before, not mentioned she had magic, and so that said something in and of itself.

“You misunderstand. I did not say that without good there would be no room for evil, nor that he needs good. I simply said that without it, evil would lose meaning, for without something to compare it to all is the same. Evil is only evil, or understandably so, so long as good exists to oppose and differentiate from it. Because of this they are a part of each other. That being said, the Knighthood are not the only good, so even if they were utterly wiped out good would exist still. So long as good exists, evil will. So long as evil exists, good will, even if only to differentiate from each other.”

“Good and Evil... The concepts are inextricably tied. Perhaps one would be hurt if the other truly came to not exist, perhaps not, that remains to be seen. Or perhaps something new would emerge to take its place. Who can say?”

“As for taking away Rhysol's power by being safe from him... I don't think so. If I have the power to burn you alive with a flick of my will, but choose not to, are you any less in my power? No. It would be by my grace that you are safe. While we are safe from Rhysol in our understanding of him, in his acceptance and protection of us, we use that safety to then extend his domain into those not under his protection. We extend his domain in thanks for his freeing us from its dangers, and for helping us excel in its power.”

“Think of fire. It can be used to help, to heat and feed you, or to hurt, to burn and destroy. If you gained protection over the negative's of it, the pain and damage to yourself, would that then make its positive any less for you? No. In turn you'd be that much better able to wield its negatives against those who are not protected. Such is the protection Rhysol extends. Do you understand?”

“To become a citizen, you must reside within Ravok for a time while being a helpful and productive member of society. As for gaining protection. That depends upon your uses, and who sees fit to protect you in exchange for what you can offer.”

At the next bit Clyde smiled, shaking his head at the girl.

“As for money... Don't be a fool. Those with the power to protect you have money, and wouldn't have their heads turned by whatever meager funds you have. No, if you want to gain protection you'll have to prove to someone of power that you are of use to them. Show them your skills, and convince them they are worth protecting you in exchange for the skills or services you'd offer.”

“What of you? What do you have to offer, that would make someone interested in offering you protection? What can you do that others on the street cannot? What makes you different and special? Why should I have interest in you? What can you do for me? Convince me first, and then we'll see.”

Clyde wondered if the girl would tell him of her magics, or if she'd try to keep them secret. Physically she was not impressive, so she'd be of little use in combat, at least directly.

Perhaps she'd think to impress him by her powers. Though he'd be hard to impress, considering his own magical might. Of course she didn't know the information he'd gleaned from her magically, did not know of what he'd learned of her. But then, that was the point of it to a degree... To keep her talking and thinking him a fool who'd learned nothing, and testing her in her words when he already knew the answer.

by **Xii** on April 1st, 2015, 11:26 pm

This Ebonstryfe... was beginning to rankle at her. Admittedly it had taken him longer than most, simply because he'd had power she looked up to, answers that she'd wanted, and so she'd found him useful. But that didn't stop him from being human.

He still had more answers that she'd like to pick from his brain ~maybe literally, with her little food knife. She doubted she could actually hurt him, but it might be fun to try~

No, she told herself. No.
...Though she might think about coming back later to see if she could kill his dog.

The Zithling took a deep, grounding breath, pushing the surprisingly vivid images that had popped up with that line of thinking out of her head, then looked down to adjust her notes to show for the things Sullins had just corrected. Her hand, for some reason, had clamped somewhat tightly around the charcoal. She loosened her grip before it caused the thing to snap, crossing out some of the lines that had been wrong before, writing in a few that were new.

At one particular thing that Sullins said, the mixed blood looked sharply up. "If I have the power to burn you alive with a flick of my will, but choose not to, are you any less in my power?" The man said it with a straight face, but once more Xii's eyes went to the stick he was holding, and curiosity rushed through her. "Could you really do that? With the fire, I mean?" She had heard of such magics, but never actually met someone who could perform them. Grudgingly, his estimation in her mind climbed. Assuming he wasn't a liar, of course. Or talking himself up.

She wasn't certain she agreed with the part about not taking Rhysol's power. Perhaps she had phrased that wrong when she'd asked before. She'd meant that by accepting Rhysol's protection they were in a way limiting him. If Rhysol had to cast protection over an entire city... well, that was a loss, wasn't it, when he could have been doing something much more wicked? But maybe Rhysol knew something she didn't know about this process. Or maybe Sullins did.

Becoming a helpful and productive member of Ravok sounded like a bore and highly unsatisfying. She wasn't certain what was better. That, or bowing down to one of the greats of the city. Sullins' questions at the end more than anything irked her, causing her shoulders to stiffen in irritation. Xii cracked her knuckles, staring up at him.

What made her better than everyone? Well, there was the fact that most of them were a bunch of mewling humans and she was Zith. That was more than enough.

...Of course, she reminded herself angrily, the humans wouldn't see it that way.

Rashly, Xii dived headfirst into her well of emotion, the place in her mind where she accessed her hypnotism. She imagined the pool as her dead ~stupid murdered~ mother had taught her, searching around for the stone ~emotion~ that she wanted. Some were more difficult to find than others. These ones... easier than the ones she really wanted to send his way: fear, submission.

Instead, she gathered up acceptance ~strange grey and oddly fuzzed as if with moss; openness ~tiny as to be the size of a marble and crumbly like it might fall apart; and satisfaction ~brilliant red and shiny. Then she swam up to the surface of the lake of djed that surrounded her, and skipped the rocks, targeting each at Clyde Sullins.

Openness was cast the strongest, with acceptance and satisfaction both in equal but lesser measure. They would come across as one of two techniques she knew. Openness and acceptance would be suggestions, and satisfaction an emotional response. Now, as she spoke, she wove them into her voice, djed waves rippling out and evident in the strength of her eyes. "Why are you asking me what I can do to impress you? Do you want to be my protector?" She refrained from petulantly asking if he was even strong enough, as that would undermine the hypnotism she was trying very hard to control. Also, he was still much stronger than her. The statement about fire leapt to mind. "What makes me special are the things I can do. I've been trained in certain... magics. I can control people, given enough time. Little things, yet, but in time they can add up. And I can control myself: the shape of parts of my body. I understand these magics the more I use them. I can see where the power might take me, should I be diligent."

Xii abruptly stilled the hypnotic waves that had splashed across her target, hopefully influencing him to be more accepting towards her words, more open to the idea that he might become her protector, and satisfied with her answer. As she did, she felt the drain, as if her own djed lake had lost some water, and slumped a little where she sat. "Besides that," she added mundanely, feeling the familiar yearn to use more hypnotism, to try to dominate completely, "I have skill in hunting and medicine and I've trained with a bow. Though I'm looking to learn much else in my time here." Her eyes flicked once more to the blue stick he held.
oocLooooong post. >.> Hopefully Clyde doesn't slap her into oblivion!

by **Clyde Sullins** on April 2nd, 2015, 1:45 am

In response to her first question, Clyde just smiled. He knew well enough to leave some things to the imagination. The possible threat of something unknown was a greater threat than a sure ability. Along with that he didn't want to fully show his hand just yet, and so it made more sense to keep his own abilities secret for now.

Plus she was the one who had to prove herself. Clyde was confident enough in his abilities that he felt no need to show off.

His later questions though finally seemed to make her facade of nicety break. While his question wasn't inherently mean or rude, nor was it nice. Clyde was a straightforward person most of the time, and so he made his point cleanly and plainly. Which was more than she could expect from most people. They might think or say the same thing, but certainly wouldn't be so direct and honest about it. And in honesty if she couldn't answer that question sufficiently for Clyde, she had little hope of answering it for another.

As she answered his next question, he felt a thrumming across his skin, and could see a sudden glow, a djed hotspot coming to life within her aura as magic occurred, magic from her. Overlay-ed with her physical image, her tongue and mouth seemed to glow a sudden hot pink, while the rest of her was a more mute grey.

As she spoke the thrumming continued, seeming to match up and resonate with many of the words she spoke. But that wasn't all. The humming was coming from himself. Quickly looking inward he saw the same hot pink djed floating about himself, a slow stream injecting into his own aura and djed.

As she spoke her mouth was the conduit, the sounds laced with djed and absorbed in through his ears and into his own essence. It was not a strong effect, and was in fact subtle, but since he'd already been looking, and since he was as skilled as he was at Aura reading, he did see it.

A fiery glint came into his own eyes as she finished speaking, likely not the reaction she'd expected. Knowing that an effect of magic was being laced upon him, into his thoughts and mind, knowing who was casting the spell, he was much better able to fight it.

When the subtle effects attempted to insinuate themselves into his thoughts, to gently guide his reactions and choice and feelings, he mentally glared at it, exposing it as what it was in his mind, quelling the feeling with a wave of annoyance and anger that quickly swept it away.

Taking a step forward towards the girl before stopping, Clyde slammed Cha on the ground once more with a sudden rapport, before responding with the same glint subtly hinting at anger or annoyance in his eyes.

“Yes, I know, and your about as subtle with it as a rock through a pane of glass. Do you even understand what you do when you do it? Do you even understand magic, what it is, and what it risks? I think not. Your a fool, a foolish child playing with a toy they do not respect, and thinking themselves grand for it. Not seeing the poison nested within.”

“Let me make one thing clear. If you try to use your magics on me again, without my permission, you'll see just how real my powers are. I'll not have my mind controlled, and if you try again, know you won't live to see another sunrise.”

A small smile came across Clyde's face, though not the smile of one joking. It was swept away in a few moments as Clyde pressed on, but it had been there all the same.

“If I didn't think you might be of some vague use to me, I'd end you now for your audacity. I am a mage. I am a Ebonstryfe. And I am not to be trifled with by a upstart like you. Clearly you are untrained, and don't even understand your magics. What do you think they are, a toy? A tool to be used upon a whim? They are a double edged blade, as likely to drive you mad or kill you as they are to affect your foe if you don't respect them. No more magic for you. At least not till you come to understand it. Not even the smallest spell. Or else I'll seal it away, permanently.”

Clearly at this point Clyde was not joking. But even he knew that the mention of sealing away her magic would likely sound a bit far fetched. Clyde knew it was true, had done it to another before for a time, and knew of his ability to do it, and that was enough for him. Either she'd believe him, or she'd force him to prove it.

And it was clear from what he'd seen that he couldn't allow this girl to go about using magic of her own volition about Ravok, even if it meant doing so by force.

by **Xii** on April 2nd, 2015, 3:21 am

His reaction was not what she'd expected. Not at all. She'd had some people resist her compulsions before, and she'd figured it was because they were more strong-willed or maybe even smarter than regular folks... but when he suddenly took a step forward, slamming the stick to make a sharp crack! upon the ground, she knew that somehow he had known. He knew she'd tried to use magic on him.

She was up on her feet in a moment, forgetting the backpack that lay abandoned on the floor, thinking it wasn't worth it to try to get it if it meant getting closer to Sullins when he was angry. And he did appear to be angry. Xii clutched the journal tightly between her hands, planning to throw it at him if she needed to as a distraction before making a leap for the door.

But after that one step forward, Sullins took no more. There was a burning look in his eye that she thought she recognized, and she didn't like it at all. And then he began to speak.

Despite the suspense for violence her body showed, she still bristled when he said that her magic was as subtle as a rock ~an oddly apt choice of words considering that she envisioned stones, and one that riled her up even more. She didn't know if she was keeping the anger from her face; it felt like her cheeks had flushed with it. She hated being called foolish.

Soon confusion joined the mass of emotions that churned within. He was saying something about magic being poison ~a double-edged blade, dangerous to mind and body~ and at first she didn't know what he was talking about.

Then an image leapt to mind: blood oozing from her skin when she had last practiced her morphing, passing out on the floor, and the physical ailments that had cropped up after, which might even still be affecting her. Xii had known these problems had something to do with using the magic, but she hadn't known exactly what or how. Back when her mother had told her of the dangers of hypnotism, she had disregarded the warnings, thinking them a trick. Another means to try to control her. Now Sullins was saying the same thing. So did that mean it was actually true?

The Ebonstryfe continued on, and when he said that he would take away her powers, the girl's mouth dropped open in astonishment. She felt her fingers bunch even tighter into fists around the binding of the journal, and felt the urge to throw it at him just because petch him. When he continued, saying that he wouldn't allow her to use magic until she learned more about it, she couldn't contain herself any longer.

"What... who..." She almost asked who he thought he was, but he'd already said. A powerful mage. Ebonstryfe. She struggled to come up with something to say, some objection, that wouldn't invoke him to become even angrier at her. At once she wanted to use the hypnotism again, maybe to try to calm him down, but... he had known. He had known. "How did you do that?" she finally asked, not able to hide her glare. She edged towards the window, slowly, just in case. But if he was expecting her to cower before him and beg forgiveness, she would not. "How did you know? You cheated or something. Some sort of trick." She was deflecting, trying to distract him while she slid even closer to the exit. "It's that, isn't it? That's how you knew. That thing, it... does things." Xii pointed at the stick, casting it a distrustful look, but not for long. She wanted to keep her eyes on Sullins.

She continued on, trying to be persuasive and not knowing how well she was doing considering her defensive tone. "These powers are survival, not a whim. They're what I have. Do you think I would have lasted this long by myself, without some sort of advantage? And I was subtle. You're just better than me." It was difficult to spit out the last even if it was true, but she did it as smoothly as possible. Perhaps admitting her relative weakness would act in her favor. "As for not understanding it, I know I don't. Not all the way. That's why I use it. Practice is my only means of learning. I don't have a teacher here. What am I supposed to do?"

That was the real question, wasn't it? Xii hadn't ever heard of someone being able to seal off magic, but then again she hadn't ever had someone realize that she was using it on them before. He likely had abilities that she didn't know about. She didn't want to tempt his anger again. So as the Zithling spoke again, she forced her tone down to one that was level once more. "What am I supposed to do?" she repeated, calmly this time. "You say that you won't allow me to use magic again, not until I understand it. But how could you enforce that when I leave this place, other than sealing it away? And I don't have any means of learning more."

A pause, then fishing for something, she didn't know what, maybe information and maybe something else: "What did you mean about respecting the magic? How... do I do that?" Adrenaline had spiked through her veins as she jumped to her feet. Now her hands and legs began to tremble in response. Her whole body felt as if it was shaking. She gritted her teeth together.

by **Clyde Sullins** on April 3rd, 2015, 4:03 pm

Within his own aura, there was still a fuzzing of the pink djed he'd sensed arise in Xii. Clearly there was still some remnant of the effect upon him, even if he had fought it off consciously. But he knew all to well how magic could work, and did not doubt that it would still have effect to some degree even if he knew it was there.

He of all people knew the truth of that, having faced the magic in its most unsubtle nature, and still fell prey to it. If he forgot about it, or let his mind waver, it all to likely would sneak in.

It was also clear the girl thought to make a run for it. The idea once more brought a small smirk to Clyde's face. He was seeing all the more clearly how unsubtle the girl was. Her responses seemed rather predictable and repetitive. Any threat that came her way was met with evasion and fleeing. That seemed to be her only defense mechanism. The magic seemed of the same sort, at least in how she'd used it.

“Sit down girl, if I wanted you dead you'd be dead. You'll leave my home when I say you can, so stop eying the exits.”

Whether or not she noticed that he wasn't even looking at her before he said this, meaning that he'd known where she was looking and could see her even without looking at her, would depend upon how much she was paying attention to him. With her focus on the exits, this seemed a bit less likely. With her caught within his aura sight he had no need to use his mundane vision to see her.

Clyde shook his head, letting his annoyance show once more, before letting out a sigh and continuing. He did however smile once more at her wondering question of how he'd known of her spell. He'd been asked similar questions quite a few times, in more or less the same situation and wording.

The last one had been a petulant ghost girl who'd called him a cheater or such in a game of hide and seek, when he'd used his aura sight to trace her as she hid within the ground. Funny when someone called you a cheater when they were also in the midst of cheating, and called you a cheater for being able to detect their cheating.

For what was magic but cheating?

“And Cha here is none of your business. She is what she is, and through me she does as she does. She is not an initiator.”

This would likely make no sense, at least to anyone without a firm understanding of Magecrafting and Magic Staffs. But such inside statements that Clyde understood, but his audience did not, was but one such method Clyde used in his speech, dangling a truth before someone that he understood but which his listener lacked the knowledge to make sense of.

“Survival is one thing, but if you cannot survive life the magic will only lead to desperation and destruction. If you gain through magic what could have been gained without, you will have wasted your abilities utterly. Then when true survival is necessitated you will be found weak and defenseless, and either die or press so hard with your abilities that you'll wish you'd died. If you don't lose yourself in the process. Overgiving strips away at you one bit at a time, till your a whole different animal.”

“As for understanding magic... Magic is magic, all the same but unique. If you come to understand one, you'll see the interconnectedness and sameness of each, even through the uniqueness of them. Perhaps I don't know your magics specifically, but I do understand other magics, other personal magics. Such as the control of the elements. I have the knowledge to teach you, to teach you caution and understanding. But if you just practice alone without measure or restriction, you'll end up pushing too far, and not knowing when to stop.”

“I could teach you. Of magic, djed, personal magic, and how each works, and of control and restraint. But the question is, why should I? Why shouldn't I just seal off your powers, and cast you out? What can you offer me in exchange for the knowledge you need? And need it you do. Without it, I can see your path, and it will lead to your own destruction. You clearly don't have the patience or caution needed to master this power on your own. Not without a guiding hand. So what will you offer me?”

The girl was a mage, even if she didn't understand it. But she was casting away bits of herself, frittering her essence away as one did money or food. Without understanding what she was spending, or how she came by it.

by **Xii** on April 3rd, 2015, 5:46 pm

Xii was in the middle of trying to figure out which would be better to go for, the window or the door ~the window was maybe a little high up for her, but the door was closer to Sullins~ when he told her to sit down and stop eyeing the exits. The Zithling's eyes snapped back to the Ebonstryfe, but for some reason he was looking slightly away, and she wondered if he was daring her to try for it and see what happened. She almost took him up on the challenge, just because... but then her legs gave a particular tremor and she had to abandon that goal. If she tried to run now she'd probably trip and fall flat on her face. The girl unwillingly wobbled back to where she'd been before, and sank to the ground. To keep her hands from shaking too badly, she grabbed her backpack up and slid it back on, though the journal she kept in her lap.

His next statements were confusing once more, and now it was beginning to seem like he was doing it on purpose. He said 'Cha' as if it was a name, and he must be talking about the stick... but who named a stick as if it was a person? He also called it a 'she', which was weird. It was clear from his words that the stick did something, but not clear what. Xii wanted to ask, but knew that that would be giving in to his taunts, and so held her silence.

Throughout his speaking, Sullins used terms that seemed familiar, but that the child was not quite certain of. She knew that she'd definitely heard the word 'overgiving' before, and figured it had to do with the dangers of the magic that he had been speaking of. Though she wasn't entirely certain she didn't want to become what he'd called 'a whole different animal'. What if the 'animal' she became was more powerful than she was? What if it caused chaos fit for Rhysol himself?

It interested her greatly that he said he didn't know her magics, and she nearly glowed as if it was a compliment. 'Personal magic' was another term that she thought she remembered hearing before, but this one she had no idea about. Wasn't every magic that a person used a 'personal magic'? And then he admitted to being able to control the elements, a question she had asked and he'd only smirked at before. So the fire thing was real then, wasn't it? Xii wondered how she might get that for herself. Because that was something she definitely wanted.

His conclusion that he might teach her caught her off guard, and she stared up at him as if trying to make sense of what he was offering. Why should he teach her? A moment later and he questioned the very same thing, and Xii realized that it was another of his taunts. He'd said earlier that he might have a 'vague use' for her, and now he was asking ~again~ what she might offer him. She'd already told him that, though, hadn't she? Earlier, when she'd used the hypnotism.

No, he was getting at something else, and the girl furiously dissected the words, reviewing them all in her head. Why was he asking this, dangling knowledge like a bait? What was it he wanted her to do?

And then, at once, she realized. The magic. He had said he didn't understand her powers ~something that again made a glow of self-importance flash through her. He wanted to make an exchange. Basic instruction for knowledge of her magics. He would teach her how not to harm herself while using her magics, and in exchange he wanted to understand them himself.

She was loathe to agree to the deal. Anything that she taught him he could later use against her, should they meet again. She didn't like the fact that he might step on her to gain even more power. And yet... she didn't know if she had a choice. If she told him she had nothing to offer, would he simply seal the magic within her and throw her to the streets? She didn't know how long she'd last without it. Maybe not long at all, if she couldn't get people to do what she wanted with hypnotism anymore, or figure out how to use the morphing to evade the slavers.

And there was the idea that she might actually need to learn the things that Sullins was offering. She could no longer convince herself that using magic did not have any risks.

Finally, feeling as if she'd been backed into a corner, the girl crossed her arms across her chest and said, "I can offer to teach you what I know about my magics. You admitted you did not have knowledge of them, yes?" Xii couldn't avoid the dig. She thought perhaps she might hate this Clyde Sullins, even as she felt a strange and repulsive respect for him. "You teach me that, what you offered, and I'll teach you this." The set of her mouth and shoulders indicated that she didn't like it, but she wasn't certain she had a choice. The girl glared up at him with barely concealed hostility, and waited for his answer.

by **Clyde Sullins** on April 3rd, 2015, 7:08 pm

As expected, the girl conceded to Clyde, offering her magics in exchange for Clyde's tutelage in regards to magic. If she wanted his protection though, simply offering that knowledge wouldn't be enough. It was a somewhat even exchange, knowledge for knowledge, over in a moment and done with. But a more long term deal... That would require more on her part.

It was clear she was not happy about it, and that she did not like Clyde, but she seemed smart enough to know better than to turn down such an offer regardless of how she felt. A good sign. He didn't after all need her happiness, nor for her to like her. He just needed her to obey, and to keep in line.

For the initial deal he was certainly risking more, offering more, than the girl was... But if he didn't offer it, well he couldn't allow an untrained and out of control mage to wander about Ravok. Plus he hoped for future gains from the initial dealing, and so that made it an investment instead of a waste or lost deal.

He hadn't lied when he'd said she might be of use to him, though at the moment he wasn't fully sure how. He'd need to understand her abilities better before he could formulate ideas.

“Agreed. I will teach you what you must know of magic, and in turn you will teach me what you know of your particular magics. But do not think to cross me, or to attempt bewitching me again. I have much power, and know many magics, some you've probably never even heard of, with effects both potent and amazing. Your magics are but two of many. So long as you stay on my good side, you'll not see my ire.”

With that Clyde turned, heading for the locked door, and called for Rye to rise and follow. Taking out a key Clyde unlocked the door, and ushered the girl inside. As he did he'd go into a basic bit of information about magic.

“Now, the first thing you should know is djed. Djed is energy, it is what makes us, what fuels us, and what fuels our magic. We gain it by eating, and naturally expend it by living and moving and such. Magic is simply any application of djed to cause some type of change, either outwardly or inwardly, to make the impossible possible.”

“There are two types of magic. World magic, which takes its djed from things and the world, due to the inherent laws of djed or nature or some such thing. Personal magic however takes it djed from your person, sapping and spending yourself in order to affect the change.”

“That is why it is so dangerous. Every time you cast a spell, every time you cause a magical change, you expend some of your personal djed. But your body can only expend so much before it causes problems. If you spend to much too quickly, overgiving will occur. First you'll grow tired, exhausted, sapped of energy. If you keep on going and press onward, you'll really start into overgiving. If your lucky that will cause physical symptoms, but the more severe the overgiving, the further you press past your limits, the more severe the changes and damage to yourself.”

Heading inside of his lab, Clyde waited for Xii to follow, before closing and locking the door, and continuing on.

“Now, for starters, tell me of your magics. What are they called? What specifically can you do with them? What instances of uses of them can you recall, specific spells or effects? What range do you have with them? And what instances of overgiving have you felt with them, specifically?”

by **Xii** on April 3rd, 2015, 10:07 pm

Things were getting interesting ~and dangerous~ two of Xii's favorite things. The girl scrambled back to her feet when Sullins and the dog ~Rye~ passed by, and she trailed after him, watching with undisguised curiosity as he unlocked the door and motioned for her to go inside. She scooted around him and entered the new room, taking her new surroundings in and not really sure what exactly this place was for.

It was like some sort of... study. Maybe. Except different than any study she had seen thus far. There was the normal desk and books, but then another desk, and a weird pedestal in the middle of the room, plus a barrel and water basin to the side. She wandered towards the pedestal, not really knowing where to go or what to do, wanting to inspect further but thinking ~with a glance thrown back at the Ebonstryfe, who was lingering at the door~ that Sullins might not like it. Xii took in the two other doors that the room lead to, and was somewhat disquieted that there didn't appear to be any windows. That sense of disquiet grew further when she heard a lock click, and she turned to find that apparently he had sealed the door behind them. "What is this place and why does that need to be locked?" she asked abruptly, trying to keep her voice flat as she did. Based on what she'd learned so far about the other mage, however, she wasn't certain he'd answer. So the girl added on, "Also, is there anything in here that I can touch? I want to make notes, and I don't know if it's alright to use one of the counters to write on."

This sudden politeness ~asking for permission~ was just so that she wouldn't annoy him again unduly. If Sullins pointed her to someplace that she might use, the girl would go there and reopen her journal in order to make more notes. If not, she would find another place on the floor and do as she had before.

Xii listened without interruption as Sullins spoke of magic. Djed she had known some about, though she hadn't known what exactly it was or where it came from or how it was used, just that each person had it and used it for working magic. She'd never heard of 'world' magic before and the thought that there was even more magic to be learned and accessed was intriguing. The pitfalls of using personal magic, magic that Sullins explained came from the djed within, sounded very familiar, and she frowned at the idea that with personal magic you used up bits of yourself, and that the more you used the more dangerous it became.

After he had finished speaking, she asked, "So, then is world magic safer than personal magic? And... and if you 'overgive' as you called it, then could you consume a lot of stuff ~food or water or whatever~ to gain back your djed more quickly, and to stop the effects of the overgiving? What are the worst things that can happen when you overgive? And can your amount of djed increase in time?"

Then it was her turn, it seemed, as Sullins launched into his own questions. Xii sat back, contemplating and arranging her thoughts for a moment. Then she began to answer his inquiries one by one, in the order that he'd asked them. As she hadn't ever really taught anyone anything before, her responses were a bit wordier.

"My magics are called morphing and hypnotism. Based on what you said about djed, I would guess that both of them are what you called personal magics. Morphing means that you control your shape, outside or in. Hypnotism is controlling other people ~how they think or feel."

Those were general terms, but Sullins' next question delved deeper, and Xii had to think back to explain. "My mom taught me hypnotism, so I learned it a while ago, it was my first magic. She used it for helping people. She said that hypnotism could be used to soothe ailing minds ~people who had undergone some sort of trauma, or who had perhaps forgotten something they'd once known~ or help calm down medical patients. But she also taught me that it could be used to influence the people around, in order to make them... I guess more likely to do what you want. She taught me, mainly, how to make it so people didn't pay attention to me, or didn't want to distrust or harm me in some way. To make them more agreeable."

"After she was gone and I left for Syliras, I started trying to use it in other ways, to make people feel other things. As far as I can tell, if you're good enough ~and subtle~ you can get people to do pretty much anything you want them to do, but you have to like... play on their own wants and needs to do it, and it might take a while to build up the effects. So it helps to understand emotions intimately, your own and others'. And it helps to know how people usually think and act."

"Morphing I just learned not too long ago. My teacher..." she grimaced, and anger filled her face, "...he was a bastard, but he taught me how to separate mind from body. That's what you do with morphing. To learn it, you have to figure out how not to be yourself, how to let go of the physical. It takes a while to do this the first time. First you have to learn some stuff before, like meditation was a big part of the process. Then you actually have to try to unlock the ability. It took me, I don't know, seven days, maybe more? My teacher didn't let me eat anything for that time. And..." she hesitated, then flushed, though whether in anger or embarrassment she didn't know, "...he also would inflict pain to see if it might distract me. Little things, cuts from a knife mostly, that I would have to learn to distance myself from." She held out an arm and showed a line of straight horizontal scars that marked her from just above the wrist to just under the elbow. "I don't know if that's necessary or just how he wanted to do it."

She paused. "Do you want me to be more specific on the techniques I learned? And what exact spells of hypnotism and morphing I've accomplished?" With morphing there weren't that many, she was still just learning what she might be able to do. With hypnotism... there were a lot more.

"Hypnotism... so far I've only been able to use it on people who are pretty close to me physically, and one at a time. My mom could do further, and affect multiple people at once. So far the worst 'overgiving' has been bleeding ~from the eyes or the mouth, usually, if you're focusing really hard or using your powers too much. I also always feel the urge to use more and more hypnotism after I affect someone with it."

"Morphing doesn't have a range because it's internal. I've learned to morph certain parts of my body, my hair or my face to look like a different person, but I think soon enough I'm going to try to do animal stuff... like turning into a dog, for instance." She slid her eyes to Rye, then back to Sullins. "Maybe I won't be able to do all my body at once. I've never yet managed a complete transformation."

"Overgiving with morphing seems more dangerous and... easier, I guess I would say, than with hypnotism. I have a problem with figuring out when to stop. I think it's because to morph you have to take your mind from your body. But because of it, it's always been hard for me to tell when things are going too far. At least, not until it's too late. With morphing you have to constantly pour energy and concentration into keeping your new form, and for each shift you have to use even more. So far I've had a couple different things happen with overgiving. Things that felt like broken bones and bleeding inside when you do something wrong and mess up your body. I've bled from my skin like red sweat. And passed out completely from the strain, though it didn't really feel like fainting, or even sleeping. It was some... other sort of state, and there were nightmares there, though I don't really remember what about."

She didn't think she liked telling him all this stuff because it was linked so closely with her own experiences. But she had no other way of going about it. Her experiences on the matter were all she had.

by **Clyde Sullins** on April 4th, 2015, 12:18 am

Clyde shrugged and gestured in general at the lab space.

“Touch or sit where you wish, I've got nothing active in here. But if I have a experiment going, or something on the pedestal, steer clear and don't touch that.”

At the moment that was true enough, though he wasn't sure how long it'd be true. He kept pretty busy, and often enough there was something going on in the room.

Whether she sat at the desk or the lab table he didn't care, though the desk was where he usually did his own writing, and it had a better chair for sitting at. The lab table was more used for setting things out, and wasn't as good for use in writing.

Most of his real work though happened on the pedestal in the middle of the room, as it was a properly equipped Magecrafting lab. Not that he'd used it as such in awhile.

As expected, the girl had a number of questions to ask in response to what he'd said. Some he could answer. Some were obvious. Some not so much. Some even he didn't know for sure, though most of these he at least had theories on.

“World magic is... Different. It depends upon how you define safer though. In the sense that you can't overgive, and that the powers don't come from you inherently, its safer. But it is still dangerous, and possibly deadly if you fool about with things. Magic by its nature though tends to not be safe completely. Though in the rending your own soul, and twisting yourself into a gross facsimile of yourself sort of danger, it is safer. The worst you'll probably do with world magic is get eaten, or blow yourself up. Tame by comparison to personal magic I suppose.”

“But world magics tend to be more... Rule bound. And usually require particular tools. Unlike personal magics, which rely simply on yourself. World magics also tend to be less immediate, and take time to do what they do. You won't get an instant effect, you must be willing to wait, whereas with personal magic its much more on demand.”

“As for eating to gain back djed... Possibly, but that depends upon many other things. A body can only absorb djed so fast, it takes time for you to break down food into usable djed, or to replenish djed lost to castings. Eating after a casting might help in speeding your recovery, but it'll take time, and gorging won't instantly make you better. Usually its good practice after a heavy casting to stop, rest, eat and drink, and get a good sleep. And if you heavily overgive you might irrevocably harm yourself, something that no food will give you back. As for lesser overgiving, food might help, or maybe not, it all depends. But it certainly couldn't hurt.”

It was clear the girl had a slew of questions, and likely would for awhile. He did not doubt that each question he answered would cause two more new ones. Likely he'd have gotten to much of what she was asking in time, but didn't say everything at once for fear of droning on and making her lose attention.

Her next question was one he'd been pondering for awhile, one of the ones he had theory on but no true proof. He'd been practicing magic long enough for many ideas to come to him, and to work out many things that only came with time and understanding.

“As for the question of if your djed can increase over time... I don't know that one for sure, but I've a theory on it if you'd like to hear it. My theories more often than not are right, but I can't say for sure that's true in this case.”

This question pulled on his own analysis of his own actions drawn over time, over numerous castings and with many different magics, of which he was at varying levels of skill in.

“I can't say for sure if you gain the ability to use more djed over time, but I believe the answer is no. I think that the greater skill you get in a magic, the more efficient you get at using it, and thus are able to do the same effect while expending less djed, or create a greater effect while expending the same amount of djed that you'd have spent on a lesser spell when you were less skilled.”

“I believe that there is a level of efficiency one gains as you master a magic, and grow more skilled at it. All magic is about causing a change, and I believe that as you better understand and control a certain magic, that transfer becomes easier, and so expends less djed. I've practiced many different magics at varying levels of skill, and I've noticed that ones I'm more skilled in, and have been practicing longer, tend to make me much less tired and spent when I do even large spells. However in magics I am new to, or am not very skilled in, even smaller spells leave me as drained as said larger spell with a more well practiced magic. Or at least, that's my logic to my reasoning. I don't think though that you inherently gain the ability to hold more djed.”

Much of this reasoning Clyde was only thinking out loud right then, and hadn't really nailed it down before. Such was often the course that open magic talk took with Clyde, discovering new theories and ideas that he'd vaguely known, but only figuring it out well when he spoke it or was asked the right question.

Perhaps it was a unique idea or theory, or perhaps not. Perhaps the idea or theory had only occurred to him due to the large number of magics he'd practiced, and with such varying levels in skill. After all, it was easier to see a distinction when the difference was so clear cut. Feeling utterly depleted after opening a small voiding portal, a magic he was relatively unskilled at, as opposed to creating a swathe of flame with fire Reimancy barely leaving him winded, a magic he had all but mastered. Perhaps with his unique experiences, it made sense that he'd notice such a thing, and such a theory would occur to him.

After that her own questions let off for a bit, and she in turn gave Clyde some knowledge. Her own style of instruction and teaching was much rougher. But then, Clyde had been teaching since before he was this girls age. It was a well practiced skill. She in turn had likely not had many opportunities to instruct others.

He noted the names in his mind, morphing and hypnotism. He knew vaguely of hypnotism, having been the target of it before, but could not recall at the moment if he'd known the official name or not.

The various uses of the magics were interesting, though not so crazy after the things he himself had done with other magics. Being able to change ones physical form, and to affect another persons mental faculties and decision making, he could understand vaguely the connection between how such could be done and his own magics. Was opening a rift into the void, or casting out res and creating or controlling the elements, or even the auristics he was still using right that moment, so different? Perhaps in the end effect, but in essence not so different. His statement that understanding one magic helping in understanding others was true enough from what he could see.

“Range and number of targets usually comes with time and experience, from my own experiences. I don't doubt its the same for hypnotism. Intensity and power also usually comes in time.”

It was interesting to hear the effects of overgiving she'd felt herself, in using the magics. Knowing them meant he'd better be able to prepare for them, for possibilities, and to possibly avoid them.

“As for the morphing... It'd likely make sense to figure out the particular aspects in parts, such as say learning how to turn your arm into a dogs paw, and your ears into dog ears, and then combine those into one spell, than to all at once try to take on a new form.”

“Usually I try to practice a spell before I use it actively or in combat... That might also make sense for morphing. So perhaps try the parts, and then to do the full change once you know all the parts. Surely bringing together the various bits of morphing you can do into one spell would be much easier and efficient that trying to both learn the new parts and do the whole spell at the same time. Learn to crawl before you can walk, and learn to walk before you run. Metaphorically speaking.”

With his recent understanding of seeing inside things with Auristics, another thought occurred to him. Surely for testing out morphing, and for fully understanding and examining something, such inside vision would be useful? Being able to see how the bones grow, and what goes where, such deep understanding, literally, would likely make copying the form much easier for morphing. A thought for his own possible future uses.

“I doubt the cutting was necessary. Perhaps your teacher was simply carrying on with how he was taught. I myself, when teaching others new things, try to use what I've learned to refine and simplify the process, and to make it safer. From what you've said it doesn't sound like it was directly needed.”

“So... That is the basics then... Could you give me the specifics of the process, of how you learned each? The steps, the state of mind needed, what you did or didn't do. Such things? Perhaps then we could reason out a more restrained method of you to expand and practice your magics, rules to follow and to self enforce, so that mentally you know when to stop.”

“I find its best not to go with ones instincts in such circumstances, when one is deep in their magics, but to instead steadily follow restraints and rules and such that you've thought of before hand. Otherwise emotion and such in the moment would be far too likely to influence your decision to cast more. Sweet whispers calling to you in your own voice, convincing you to do more magic, is best combated by clear reasoning and rules.”

by **Xii** on April 4th, 2015, 3:03 am

Xii had chosen the desk to sit at, as it had been the only one with a proper chair. The lighting above it was useful as well, though looking at the flames directly hurt her sensitive eyes.

The Zithling took in all the new information with a scribbling arm, working as quickly as she could while not sacrificing her ~already poor~ handwriting, so that she might actually be able to read and review it later. At least the jitters had died down; now the girl just felt tired, though she made certain that she kept her face and eyes alert.

It seemed Sullins was a wealth of information, and Xii felt more comfortable around him as they spoke of magic, since making a deal with someone was always simpler than having to try to interact with them in other ways. "Get eaten, explode?" She couldn't help but ask these when Sullins brought it up. What were those even supposed to mean? What sort of magics might do something like that?

Also, "What do you mean, with world magics you have to wait? Are the spells delayed somehow? And what rules are there? What tools?" Was it like that casting fire he had spoken of earlier... maybe setting a trap to work later? Of course when he asked if she wanted to hear a theory she nodded her head, listening intently as he told of the things about djed that he didn't know, but suspected.

Soon it was her turn to talk again, and Xii turned in the chair to face Sullins. She folded her hands in front of her and began to speak.

"Meditation was important in learning both magics. I had to learn to focus my mind on the topic that I was learning, and let all other things ~distractions~ fade away. For hypnotism, I was hurt when I learned it, and so I didn't have much else to put my mind to. My mother said that when she was taught the magic, she was told to use a mirror to stare into for long periods of time, until she could no longer recognize her face. I didn't use a mirror: I used her face instead. We would sit across from each other for bells and just look into the other. Part of it was my emotions; I had to learn to smooth my emotions into nothing, which helped later when I had to pick out and dissect different feelings so that I might learn to use them on other people. Part of it was reading her emotions and making sense of her face."

"We would practice with memories: thinking of a memory linked to a particular emotion, and then see if we could read what emotion came into the other's expression. There would be turns: I would have to smooth my face and guess the emotions that she remembered. Then we would switch. Eventually, during one of these sessions, I felt... different. More connected to myself and her. Also, I felt a power, inside. And when I felt that connection and that power ~which mom later said was djed~ and thought of the memory, it was enough to send it out. Mumma felt it. After that, things got a bit simpler, since I knew what I was feeling for, the djed."

"We used visualizations, as she called them. My mother said that you could picture the place inside where emotions were kept as a well, and that if you looked in the well you might find different stones to stand for each emotion. To make one of these stones, you had to isolate memories that would represent each emotion. So if you wanted to make a stone that represented happiness, you might think of times that you clearly remembered being happy, and then link those memories to an image of the stone that you created: a happy stone, for instance, might be bright yellow and rough and glittering, when a sad stone might be cool blue-grey and small and smooth. By making these imaginary stones, it would be easier to access the emotions you wanted to send to another person."

"For djed, I was told to visualize however it made sense to me, and so I made up that it was a lake that surrounded me on all sides, stretching out so that it might touch and interact with other people and their own djed lakes that surrounded them. That way, when I want to use hypnotism on them, what I do is 'skip' a rock ~or rocks~ to them, from my lake to theirs. The rocks make ripples, and the ripples reach out and wash against the other person, and they become affected by the emotions that I've sent."

She paused for the first time, wondering if that made sense. All of her magics were largely visual. "Mother said that eventually the visualizations wouldn't be needed, once I knew how to easily access and project the hypnotism that I wanted to use on someone, but I haven't stopped using them yet. They make things easier." She shrugged.

"With morphing, once again meditation was necessary. The technique he taught me was to distance myself from my body by instead focusing on my surroundings. At first I would sit and listen and look and even touch, if necessary, to familiarize myself. Then he would tell me to close my eyes and I would have to remember everything about the things that surrounded me. The more that I could take in, quickly and accurately, the better my meditation got."

"Eventually I was taught to incorporate myself into my surroundings. This is easier with a mirror, because then you can see yourself to memorize before beginning, and later when you're morphing. I would begin the meditation by describing everything I knew to be in the room, and then I would add myself as if I was just another piece of furniture. The important thing about this part wasn't to focus on internal things ~like how the chair felt that you were sitting on, or how hot it was, or if your nose itched~ but on the external things ~what you looked like. I got to the point that I was so focused on describing me as a thing and not as myself that... it was like I wasn't me anymore. That was the seven-day meditation I mentioned earlier, where I wasn't allowed food and only little bits of water and the knife. All that was to help with the separation."

"From there it's... hard to explain." Xii wrinkled her nose, trying to come up with the right words. "You just have to reach inside the you that isn't you ~the body-you, not the mind-one~ and change it, like you might change the color of a wall. Only... it's not like painting. For me, I felt... strings? Like strings inside to be pulled, like I was a puppet. But when you pull on the strings, instead of moving it makes changes, like your skin color goes light or your hair turns bright red. Or other things. You learn which strings are where and how to pull them, and you figure out what each one does."

"The only problem, like I said earlier, is that I'm so focused on not being the body-me that I don't feel the changes. I don't feel the bones shifting as I change the shape of my nose or my eyes. And I don't feel when I use too much djed until it becomes obvious, and by then it's too late. That's why it's good to have someone watching you the first time you try it, or maybe every time, I don't know. Because they can keep track of what's happening and if it starts to go bad, they can wake you up."

"As for emotion influencing things... with hypnotism I've felt that, what you called the sweet whispers, almost every time. But with morphing... there's nothing. There's a... disinterest, or something, like the body-you isn't you and doesn't matter. At least that's how it is for me."