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

by **Clyde Sullins** on April 4th, 2015, 4:03 am

Clyde sighed, having to explain something again that wasn't there main topic. It was still related to their topic, and not even through a confusing mix of logic but a quite direct link, but wasn't the focus of what he was teaching her.

Still though, a bit of quick base knowledge wouldn't hurt, so long as they stayed on topic.

“World magics tend to be more tool and crafting based, at least the ones I've seen. The effects also are often more long lasting. Though that depends also on the particular world magic. While I'd describe most of the effects of personal magic as spells, one time use and the effect is over... Something you can work on and figure out naturally. World magics aren't necessarily that way. But then the way they get their djed is also different.”

“But I'm not teaching you about world magic. All you need to know is that its different from personal magics in that it takes the djed not from the user, but from the things and world around it. It can also be much more expensive. While personal magic just needs you, world magics often needs a setup, or a lab, or equipment, or tools, that allow you to do whatever, to make whatever. This room is one such setup, it is a lab with the needed equipment for a particular type of world magic. However no matter how good I am at the magic, if I don't have access to a facility such as this, I'm incapable of using said particular magic.”

Clyde purposely did not mention the name of the particular magic, nor go into details about it, since he knew it would only further distract the girl. And he did not want her getting off topic.

“I know how to meditate, I've spent an extensive amount of time learning to do so, so I am quite proficient at it. That won't be a problem. Its a common skill for mages to learn. Its used in several magics initiations.”

Her explanation of how she used the magics, her thought process and other means, was interesting. From his own experience he did not doubt it was more about the mental process, the willing of it and the focus on the change, than the particular mental process she used. Likely he could use his own unique way of causing the effect, of working it in his mind, and it would likely still work.

“Likewise since I am already a personal mage, I already know how to access and use my djed, and to sense it. So that aspect should also be simplified and possibly accelerated. ”

Clyde paused for a moment, thinking on the idea of rationing her magic, of setting limits for her.

“How about for now, you limit yourself to one spell per day? That should be reasonable, till we can figure out a full list of rules and limits. Enough to do some basic practice, but not enough to strain yourself. It'll also make you value it more, and consider your spell more before casting, since you'll be limited. I'd also say that you should only use magic if you truly feel a need, not simply upon a whim, or where more mundane means would allow it, except when you are training and so no that you won't be in danger. Perhaps you could use Rye as a target? Try slowly over time to get him to like you and trust you?”

Clyde paused for a moment, stretching, and looking at the doors at the back of the room, which led into the adjacent bedrooms.

“You can stay here for the night if you wish. Take the spare room in the back. Perhaps before bed though you could aid me in starting on initiating into one of the magics, and then in the morning you could help me further?”

by **Xii** on April 4th, 2015, 6:06 am

The girl stifled a yawn with one hand, the other still writing dutifully, though her fingers were starting to cramp. She had only ever learned her letters ~though there might be some she couldn't remember~ and had hardly ever actually written a page or two at once, before today. Still, she wrote through the discomfort the last couple of lines, until finally it seemed that at least for now they could be done.

The way that Sullins was talking was interesting, and might have been more so if she wasn't so tired all of a sudden. He spoke about her befriending his dog, and even offered that she might stay in his house for the night. The Zithling tried to figure out if she should accept or not, as if suddenly, after all this, he might spring a trap... but she didn't think so. And besides. She thought it must be dark outside by now. It was probably safer in here than it was out there.

Xii frowned at the thought that she might limit her magic use, but... maybe he was right. If that overgiving stuff was as bad as he'd made it out to be, then perhaps she shouldn't risk too much until she knew more. "Alright," she said, fighting the typical annoyance at someone telling her to do something. "Just one spell a day." She cast a look at the big black dog, and thought perhaps she needn't kill him after all. Besides. If she could teach him to like her, then he might be more useful as a model. She could inspect the movements of his legs and stuff like that. Feel through his fur to figure the layout of his bones as they were working.

As for the initiation... she balked for a moment. She'd already basically described the processes that she'd used, as she understood them. And she hadn't ever done anything like this before. But finally she sighed, and said, "Okay. Morphing, then." Xii pushed out the chair and grabbed up her journal, which she stuffed into her backpack. "This might take a while, depending on your skill in meditation and how readily the magic comes to you. Do you have someplace to sit?" It would probably be best if he did this in his room or some such place, where he might be comfortable.

Once they were in a quiet, appropriate place, Xii would instruct Sullins to find a place to sit, whether that be on a bed, a chair, or even on the floor. Sitting was better, at least until the meditation got easier. You didn't have to think about trying to keep your balance when you were sitting.

"Sit in whatever position is best for your meditation. Mine is like this." Here she would sink once more to the floor, where she'd cross her legs lotus-style, her hands resting gently on her knees. "I shouldn't have to tell you about breathing techniques or stilling your mind, since you said you already know how to meditate." She rubbed her eyes.

"Let's begin. I want you to take in the room. All of its furnishings and every little detail you can. Look at the walls and the ceiling and the floor, the furniture, the door, whatever you can see. Make it about sight. By putting your mind to your environment, to the visual aspect of your environment, you discourage any other thought. Which is what you need, if you want to lose yourself enough to morph. Once you've memorized the room, I want you to close your eyes and visualize it, in as much detail as possible. Try to see it as a series of parts, and then switch perspective and take it in as a whole. Repeat this process as necessary until the room you envision is as close to the actual room as possible."

She didn't know any other way to try to teach this, other than what she'd been taught, and she didn't know how long it might take for him to accomplish the task she'd set forth. Basically, the whole initiation was just learning how to absorb and then become a piece of one's surroundings, effectively making oneself an object that could then be molded as the mind deemed fit. How long it took to do this, or how many attempts at meditation, probably depended on the person. One just had to learn how to let the idea of 'oneself' go.

"Once you've reached that point, if you feel comfortable continuing on, the next step is to put a visual representation of yourself into the room that you've imagined. But no matter what, you cannot allow yourself to identify with this aspect, to associate thoughts or feelings with it. Inspect it as you might a sofa, or a crack in the wall. Though it is you, you must not think of it that way. In your mind, it will become just another part of the environment."

If Sullins was able to reach that far, to the point that he saw his body as something other than him that might be created and recreated, then that was where the initiation stopped and the morphing began. Usually it took many meditations to reach that far, however, since people were in general so used to thinking of themselves a certain way. The hardest part was giving up that mentality.

After Xii finished instructing and before Sullins got started, she would shift back to her feet and say, "I can stay, if you want. To observe and answer questions if you have any. Though you shouldn't have any." If he was able to formulate questions during the process, he would be doing it wrong. "If not, I'll go to the other room and leave you here to continue. But..." and here she spoke sternly, making it clear that this was important, "...if I leave you here and you meditate and you reach the morphing state ~you probably won't on your first try, but if you do you'll know it when you reach it~ if that happens, don't do anything. No morphing. You should have someone watch over you, at least the first time." She wouldn't have normally cared if he accidentally destroyed himself in the process, but she still thought he owed her information and she wouldn't want to be cheated out of it by his death.

If Xii was allowed to leave, she would find the empty room he'd indicated, ignore the bed in favor of the floor ~using her backpack as a pillow, with her little red cloak tucked around her like a blanket~ and would soon enough drift off to sleep.

by **Clyde Sullins** on April 4th, 2015, 3:01 pm

In his offering Clyde hadn't even considered she might refuse. He simply assumed she would, as anything else wouldn't make sense. After all it was late, they had work to do together, and being in his home offered her a level of protection she wouldn't receive elsewhere in Ravok.

Thieves tended to steer clear of his home and even his street, after he'd made a few clear examples of those he'd found practicing such near him. Word had apparently gotten out that a angry mage who accosted thieves lived there, since he'd not seen another since. Perhaps it was due to his displays of magic, of his name in Ravok, or perhaps simply that he'd been intimidating enough to make them scared of his retribution.

Morphing apparently was the first magic she planned to teach him, and as she indicated he moved to his own bedroom, leaving it clear that her room would then be the opposite room at the back of the lab. They were connected in that they shared a bathroom though.

As he entered he picked up and showed her the small mirror, similar ones were held in each bedroom, something she'd mentioned before being of use in such initiation.

Her explanation was a bit confusing, but more or less straightforward. Setting aside his robes and kicking off his boots, Clyde climbed onto the bed with Cha still grasped in his hands. They were deeply connected, and he knew it would be far harder for him to attempt this without her.

Clyde quickly ran through a mind stilling exercise, taking a few moments to breath deeply and to gain a steady rhythm, while focusing his mind to a single thought of a fire burning in darkness. As he inhaled he imagined the flame drawing in, and as he exhaled he saw it flare brighter, though still not piercing the darkness. After several repetitions of this Clyde felt his mind emptying, allowing him to focus better. It was only an initial step in meditation, one of many, but an important one all the same.

Her instructions were simple, picture the entire room, each detail, and then closing his eyes attempt to see them all perfectly. Then repeat. It was a rather boring method, but from his prior experience he knew that was likely part of the point. Voiding had been a similar initiation, with him opening his mind and coming to understand true nothingness over days, till he learned to open a door to the void.

He was to think of himself as an object, just another thing in the room, a thing that could be molded or shaped as a piece of hot metal was by a blacksmith.

Smithing. As he thought on that topic, something he'd trained in back in Syliras, he thought that perhaps he'd found the mental process that would work for him, once he got that far. A piece of metal seemed solid, unchanging, but when you added heat, djed in this case, and force, will in this case, it could be shaped and changed into something new.

However he did not focus on this, instead he focused on the room, looking about and seeing each thing. First was the bed he was upon. The door that led into the bathroom. The door leading into the lab. The mattress and sheets and pillow on the bed... A chest of drawers. The small mirror sitting atop it. A small bench. A small bedside table. A candle.

Clyde counted out the things over and over in his mind. Bed, sheets, mattress, door, other door, drawers, mirror, bench, table, candle. Again. Bed, sheets, mattress, door, other door, drawers, mirror, bench, table, candle... Over and over, trying to hold them all in his mind.

After the umpteenth time, long after Xii had left, he closed his eyes, and tried to picture them all, down to the smallest detail. The bed. A wooden frame, strong, with a thick soft mattress. Clean sheets. Pillow. Across the room the first door, and then the other, similar but not quite the same. The chest of drawers, each chest with a knob letting it be pulled out, with some of his clothes held within. The mirror sitting atop it, clear and reflecting. A small somewhat roughly made bench, at least compared to the nice bed which he'd paid extra for. A side table, similar to the bench a bit roughly made. Atop it the candle.

He tried to picture it all in his head, all of the objects. Simple dead objects, that with his living will and desire he could unmake, destroy, or remake.

As he went through the process of separating himself from his body, of thinking of himself as an object to be shaped, he thought back to a time long ago, but not so long ago, of a similar experience with Reimancy.

He'd thought himself half crazy at the time, but he still recalled it... He'd exuded his res, and it had molded and melded with the earth, he'd been the earth, he'd been that bit of himself without shape, the other self that was his res. Like a broken off bit of him, aware and reacting to his upper self's will, matching it not responding... Himself but in another form. He'd felt in that moment as his earth self had felt the weight of his other upper self resting upon him, his body setting upon himself, standing, both real and yet not real.

Perhaps then if he'd experienced that separation, then learning morphing wasn't so impossible? He was as much that upper self as he was his res, his res was as much a part of him as this self. And it could be molded and existed on its own, without shape, bonding and melding with other things...

He'd also felt as the res dwindled away and decayed, as it died... He'd felt that bit of him lost, felt as that part of him died, and yet his upper self had been largely unaffected. It had died and expanded, joining permanently into the soil and ground, losing all cohesion and hold to return to the earth.

by **Elias Caldera** on April 8th, 2015, 12:14 am

Behold, Your Just Reward !

Clyde Sullins

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Xii

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