Closed A Touch of Magic

[Sayana]

Spring 3, 516 AV

When Sayana had first spotted the sly dhani in the Wolf’s Cave, she had been so surprised that she had ducked behind a corner until he had disappeared from sight. Truthfully, she was still recovering from the battle against the undead and she wasn’t sure exactly where she stood with the zith or the other residents of the more carnal inn. At times her mind was playing tricks on her as she itched to use more magic, possess more control, gain more power, and… Breathe. Keep it together Sayana.

She found herself anxiously drumming her fingers against the table she was sitting at. But despite the unsettling effects of the hypnotism, she wanted something new, something strong and she was owed a favour by a certain dhani. She had plans to leave Alvadas rather soon and the snake hadn’t yet held up his end of the bargain. And so she sat in the common room of the Wolf’s Cave, not quite within plain sight but still with a good vantage point of the hallway and stairs that led to the rooms. She wore her black robe with the hood up and was half hidden by a pair of rambunctious kelvics. She had a cheap drink in one hand, mostly to keep up the guise than something she actually cared to sip.

There was a movement from the hallway and she chanced a quick dart of her eyes. No, it wasn’t him. The large wings gave away the creature. But then… She suddenly caught sight of the tangled mess of hair. Light hair. Sayana counted one, two, three ticks before rising from her seat. The snake was good at avoiding attention and she nearly lost his trail right then and there. But then a door shut and she darted after him quickly, yet keeping her footsteps light and nimble.

She followed him for a time, every so often catching a glimpse of his hair or his clothing. She also avoided attention by mingling with the crowds when she was able, or sticking to shadows and street corners when there weren’t many people. The spun fabric which littered the city streets was a little unnerving, however it also provided many more places to hide even with its brightness.

When they had reached a more secluded area of the city, Sayana at last spoke up and was clearly audible to the dhani. “Sssomone owess me a favour. I do not make bargainsss lightly.”

She quirked her head at the sight of Reysin and waited for him to turn around and acknowledge her. Then she paused and struggled to remember the two words he had taught her over a season ago. “Hello handsome…” She hissed softly with a slight smile spread across her lips.

OOCHope you don't mind a little stalking

[Yisanareysin]

Rey slipped out of the Wolf's Cave, and paused for a moment to take in a deep breath before continuing on his way.

It was good to have space to breath again, and not get a lungful of smoke and rot. After nearly two years in the city, Rey had no doubt Alvadas would throw some more insanity at them before long, but for now, things seem quiet. Relatively speaking, of course. This was still Alvadas, after all.

Still, as much as Rey would have loved to spend this calm period relaxing and destressing, he had preparations to make. He needed to revisit and possibly reestablish his contacts in the underground and around the docks, needed to check up on his dead drops, squash any rumours that might connect a short blond man to the Dhani who'd been slithering around during the war, and a whole list of other tasks, half of which he was still thinking up.

Which was at least part of the reason the usually paranoid serpent completely missed his silent shadow.

“Sssomone owess me a favour. I do not make bargainsss lightly.”

Rey stopped mid-stride. Once, he would have simply turned to look, and deal with the situation as it came. But the insanity of Alvadas had taught him the virtues of paranoia and preparedness, and so his first instinct was to reach deep within himself for the one thing that had never failed him.

The tingle of magic flooded his body, sinking into his flesh as he scented the air, focusing entirely on the voice behind him. Dark skinned, his height, focused on him, a flash of ..friendliness?

A familiar scent. Ah hah. Turning, Rey released his sense, and grinned in delight at the sight of the Eypharian. Good to see that she was an Eypharian again.

"And hello to you too, gorgeous." He hissed in return, knowing full well she couldn't understand him.

"It iss good to see you have all arms again. Wingss iss... wass? Odd look for you." He shook his head in teasing disappointment, and smirked up at her.

"Firsst lost your Lakan, then your armsss? Impressssed. You are here for traded lesssons, yes? For...." He trailed off very deliberately, hoping she would follow his lead and not say the word out loud.

"Have time now, if you wissh. Underground iss not far."

OOCWhat's a little light stalking between friends?

Snake Tongue : Common : Arumenic

[Sayana]

Sayana smiled as the snake hissed in return. She could have sworn she heard a familiar combination of sounds, but they all sort of molded together and she really had no idea what he had said. Other than the fact it was friendly, by the look on his face.

At the mention of her arms, she nodded and open her black robe wider wiggle the fingers of her low and mid hands. Beneath were simply casual clothes, pants and a red top, but since the robe only had one set of sleeves it meant that her other arms tended to be partially obscured.

“Yesss,” she replied to his question on traded lessons. She was entertained by the Dhani’s accent and playfully copied it. “The Underground is never far. It’s all around us.”

She spun around, looking at the fabric and yarn infested streets. Piles of multi coloured cloth hung this way and that and littered the normally cobbled road. Some of it seemed to sway gently in a breeze that wasn’t there. But there was one piece of weaving that caught her eye about thirty yards to the right. It was a tapestry and it seemed to be supported by nothing, simply hanging in the air vertically. More curious was the picture it showed. It was of a dark set of stairs leading downwards with a flickering torch mounted on the stone wall. She did a double take and realized that the fire woven in the tapestry actually appeared to be flickering.

“Reysin, if you would be kind enough to join me.” Sayana spoke in a rather formal tone and beckoned to him with a wave of her hand. Then she proceeded to step towards the hanging tapestry. One step, then another, and another until… Suddenly everything darkened and her eyes had to adjust as she found herself on the stone stairs leading downwards. Just like she had seen moments before, the torch flickered with its firelight.

She led the way through the Underground until she spotted an abandoned shop. It hadn’t been cleaned in seasons and was in great disrepair along with broken items on the floor. “Is this better for you?” She asked almost pointedly as she shut the door.

“I would like to do what you can do. I know it has something to do with drawing upon the power within oneself. I have done that before, so you need not teach me that part.” She did not elaborate on what magic she had used her djed for, only that she had utilized her djed before. She knew he could sense things that others could not. Was it just a matter of opening one’s mind to see and feel more? Even though she could attempt it on her own, how would she know that she was seeing or sensing what she was supposed to?

“First tell me more about what it is, and then how to do it.”

[Yisanareysin]

Rey trailed behind the Eypharian, following her down into the Underground. Glancing behind him as he decended, Rey grinned when he saw the view of the street had now become a tapestry itself. Alvadas never ceased to entertain.

Stepping into the shop, Rey considered Sayana's words carefully. So, she already had some experience with magic? He'd have to try and get more information about that out of her, although he was well aware that she was not a person who gave up her secrets lightly. Something to do with fighting, perhaps? He hadn't seen anything while sensing her, but that didn't mean that much, did it? Perhaps they'd simply never used magic at the same time?

No, that wasn't right. He could sense magic without focusing, he remembered now. It had been so long since someone had used magic around him... So she had never used it while he was close enough to feel. Paranoia, maybe? Perhaps there had been no reason to, if it was a lethal sort of magic. Or perhaps she'd only recently learned it? Well, no use speculating about it. He'd find out. One way or another.

Clearing out a space on the floor, Rey sat cross legged, and gestured for Sayana to do the same.

"It iss... ssensing. Humanss have a name for it, I do not know it. Jusst like a animal hass a smell that a hunter can understand with nose, all thingss have a scent that can be understood with mind. Things that are dead, they have only a ssmall sscent. You musst be closse, and musst focuss to notice, but iss alsso ssimple. Animalss have more sscent, more complexnessss. Ssmarter animalss, stronger sscent. Human, Eypharian, Dhani, others that can think and talk and learn have the sstrongest sscent.

To sccent iss to undersstand. The sscent iss.... iss everthing. It iss the outsside, the sshape and feel and tasste of a thing, yess. This iss eassiest to know, just like it is eassy to ssmell if food is cooked or rotted or bleeding. But it iss insside, too. Sscent of human, kelvic, dhani, all are different, very different, even when all are in human shape.

There are many other thingss sscent can tell. The feelings of a living thing, the mark of a goddess, ssometimess even illussionss, sometimes. That iss... not alwayss true. Ionu'ss illusionss affect even thisss ssensse. But illusionss of a Ionu marked?"

Rey grinned wickedly, recalling a certain angry illusionist. He needed to go find and needle that girl some more.

"Sscent doess not lie, exccept when Ionu hersself willss it. To learn iss... difficult. And your kind doess not ssmell as mine doess. You ssay you learn to draw on your sstrength? How did you do thiss, firsst time? How doess it feel to you?"

Snake Tongue : Common : Arumenic

[Sayana]

Sayana took his lead and sat down upon the floor of the shop. Was learning this magic going to be anything like how she had grasped control of hypnotism? For a moment she seemed uncertain, as if dreading the patience and mental activity of clearing her mind to obtain… more. But even so, it was like an itch she needed to scratch. She could obtain more, and she was going to.

The Eypharian listened closely as Reysin began to explain the magical art in more detail. Smelling, sensing something more. Much like the nose, as he compared it to. It was curious that somethings had stronger and more complex ‘scents’ but as she thought about it, she gained a certain understanding of it. Just like plants and dead things could not create sound, and animals could only make crude noises, whereas Eypharians and other races could speak complex languages, it corresponded well that their ‘scents’ would follow similar levels of complexity.

Her eyes brightened at the idea of being able to tell the feelings of someone. Now there was something she didn’t expect and could prove highly useful. Usually she could tell most of what someone was feeling but to have an extra edge that she could exploit… The idea of recognizing illusions was also an intriguing thought.

At his questions, she paused trying to remember her first experiences with magic. Or at least the ones that didn’t involve failing utterly. There had been mirrors, reflections upon reflections, a maze of colour and darkness and inverted colour, and this feeling of finding something within her that had been dormant.

“When you strip away all your feelings and emotions,” she began hesitantly. “Then you try to feel everything and nothing all at once. And only then can you taste that faint glow within yourself and make it grow and expand into something more. Something you can use to…”

Sayana stopped suddenly, realizing that she had gotten carried away with her description. “Something you can use to work magic.” She concluded without giving away which magic she had learned to invoke.

“Is your sensing like that? Do you first learn to rid yourself of all other senses so you can focus in on the new one and bring it to light?” Sayana asked, starting to see some connection between the two.

After giving him a few moments to respond, she recalled her experiences with a pycon mage named Nivel. “To the east, across the Suvan, they call your sensing Auristics. And that everything, from rocks to people, have auras.”

[Yisanareysin]

Rey listened intently as Sayana began to descibe her own experience with magic, turning her words over in his head. Strip away all feelings and emotions? Feel everything and nothing? He tucked that little tidbit of information away in his memory. It might well be a clue as to what kind of magic she'd been learning.

"It iss ssimilar to that, yess. It iss...." Rey closed his eyes briefly, recalling his own initiation into the magic. "It iss... sseparating. You ssee, feel, ssmell thiss thing, until the sseeing and feeling and ssmelling hass no meaning. Then, without thiss disstractionss, you undersstand. You ssensse thiss thing, without needing your body'ss ssenssess."

Rey had no idea how coherent his explanation was, but if Sayana had learned some other form of magic, perhaps she'd understand anyways. He simply nodded when she spoke again, considering. Auristics, was it? Interesting that she could say that so definitively, that she knew this was the name of what he did.

Rey pulled a pair of leather gloves from his pack, and set it before her. It wasn't ideal, but it was the most textured thing he had on him, aside from, well, himself. And sensing a person for her first time was far too complex.

"Here."

Resting his hands on his knees, Rey closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. Inhale, exhale, his mind focused on the rhythm of it.

"Mind musst be empty before sstarting. " He said, opening his eyes to watch her. He wasn't going to be able to clear his mind entirely the way he was asking her to do, but he wasn't the one who had to. He waited until she seemed sufficiently empty, then continued.

"Now focuss on this, sso it fillss you up. Everything elsse iss nothing. Think jusst of it, the ssight, the ssmell, the tasste of it. Know it until your "

He did so as well, focusing on the gloves, letting everything they were, all that there was to be known about them fill him up. Warmth flooded through him, scent and understanding filing his nostrils and flooding into his mind. Black, leather, well used, a little worn in places, but far from patchy. He hummed contentedly, and released his sense. No doubt Sayana would have a harder time of it her first time, but he had faith in her.

Sitting back, Rey watched Sayana, ready to help where he needed to.

Snake Tongue : Common : Arumenic

[Sayana]

Sayana listened intently to his description of the magic and how to access it. It was separating the physical from the mental. Or the physical from the spiritual. However one wanted to interpret it. This is what she was afraid of, of straining mental exercise.

When he pulled out the leather gloves, she looked at them curiously. Definitely worn, but seemingly well made. She reached out instinctively and felt the soft smooth leather between her fingers.

Mind must be empty.

The Eypharian watched as Reysin closed his eyes before proceeding to do so herself. Everything went black, or more accurately a dark murky red. She tried to relax and found some of her hands resting upon the wooden floor while others were placed upon her knees as she sat cross-legged. She breathed in slowly, trying to clear her mind, but it felt like all her nerves were on edge as she could feel every inch of the floor beneath her and the warmth of her hands upon her knees. Outside she heard thudded footsteps, probably made by boots, but she forced her attention back to the blackness, the emptiness.

Suddenly Reysin’s voice cut through the stillness and for a moment she was irritated by the distraction. Just think of the leather gloves. The touch, the feel, the dark look, the smell… What exactly did leather smell like? She shook her head briefly as she tried to calm her thoughts once more.

Instead of only focusing on the gloves, she let herself get consumed by the blackness, never opening her eyes. She reached further back and back, straining to feel the djed within her. It was like starting to do magic all over again, but this time she wasn’t fueling it with thoughts and emotions. Her mind was kept empty, focusing on the darkness and trying to sense the essence of the djed within her.

She must have sat for fifteen chimes or more in silence, each time stray thoughts entered her mind she replaced them with the feeling of blackness and emptiness. Again and again she tried to grasp at her magic. She was almost at the verge of drowsiness, of sleep, as she kept reaching back and back and back until…

It was like her whole body had gone numb and then was suddenly lit on fire with the feeling of pins and needles as if her circulation had been restored. Everything had a touch. The wood felt slick and sappy under her hands, her clothing was textured and fluffy at the same time, and her hip burned with the sharpness of her daggers as if they had no sheaths. Even more than that, she felt a sudden pervading cold. Cold contrasted by warmth. Slick smooth dryness contrasting the warm softness. She held up her hands reflexively and for a split tick she could have sworn she felt the delicate roughness of scales.

When she opened her eyes there was a sudden blinding array of colours. Swirling, everywhere she looked. “No, no, no!” She muttered in panic as she stood up. It didn’t stop and was soon joined with the loud creaking of old wood and the clashing sound of steel on steel. It wasn’t stopping. Why wasn’t it stopping? Perhaps her repeated and addictive use of her hypnotism had caused her to grasp hold of the djed more forcefully than usual, sending it spiralling out of control.

She looked to Reysin in panic then closed her eyes, wishing for it to all go away. But it didn’t, at least not right away. Then suddenly… Sayana let out a resounding sigh of relief as the sensations from the auristics disappeared completely and were simply replaced by a sharp pain in the palm of her hand, and the faint wetness of blood running along her skin. Sharp physical pain to pull her out of the magical sensations that had overloaded her mind. Only then did she realize she was still panting as she leaned against the wall of the abandoned shop.

[Yisanareysin]

They sat together in silence for a long while, Sayana focusing intensely, her eyes squeezed shut, Rey watching her carefully. She was tense at first, but over several chimes something in her body language seemed to shift, like she was drifting off.

Curious, Rey focused on her again, opening his own mind up to her scent, her aura, as she called it. He did not reach for her, precisely, knowing that that would take too much out of him, especially with his earlier uses of his sense. Instead, he simply absorbed the information as it came. There was no telling how long it would take for her to begin to sense, and truth be told, Rey was curious to see how long he could sustain it. He rarely used his sense for long periods of time, favouring intense, short bursts of information before moving on.

As he waited, Rey felt himself calm, slowly slipping into that peaceful, empty space he had found when first learning to sense. As he did, his sense seemed almost to sharpen, the smells and tastes flooding him growing clearer than they normally were.

His other senses sharpened with sense as well, he realized, his eyes falling on a haze of light pulsing in Sayana's core. Rey's tongue flicked out briefly, scenting for it, and he tasted... something warm, rich and intense. It tasted like her scent smelled.

He could hear a buzzing in his ears too, one he knew intuitively was linked to the Eypharian. It flickered around the room sometimes, landing briefly on him, then flickering to the walls, then to the floor. For most of the time though, the buzz settled within Sayana.

She wasn't focusing on the gloves, he noted, but on herself. An interesting technique, though not the one he had recommended. Why the deviation? Rey puzzled over what she'd said earlier.

"That faint glow within herself, and make it grow and expand."

Was that how she'd learned the other magic? For Rey, reaching within himself had come after reaching out. Idly, he wondered if it was a difference of magics, or of personality.

Before he could think more on the matter though, a sudden change drew his attention. His skin prickled, humming with magic, sharper than he was used to. A moment later, a sour and spicy emotion or sensation spiked through him, with a distressed aftertaste that had his eyes watering. Sayana's haze of light pulsed again and ballooned outwards, and the buzzing grew sharper, darting to and fro.

Rey's mind split into two directions. There was a part of him, the part of him that cared for Sayana and considered her a friend, that drew up in alarm, worried for the woman, wanted to help her through whatever was causing this distress.

A much larger part of him was fascinated by the change, drinking in every tidbit of information it could find with greed. The greedy, obsessive side won out, and so he sat there, watching as Sayana panicked.

The twang of distress intrigued him, considering that she'd used magic before. Rey's first experience with sense had been jarring, but in his delight, he'd soon gotten over the strangeness of it. Sayana, on the other hand, seemed very much upset, almost in pain. And there were other oddities as well.

That haze of light, that magical warmth, for instance, had expanded to fill all of her now, gathering on her skin, or so it seemed to Rey, instead of flooding to her eyes or nose as he'd seen in others who used sense. Did that mean she wasn't sensing through smell or sight?

She was standing now, stumbling backwards into the wall, and Rey frowned in puzzlement. Her eyes were open... but it was like she wasn't really seeing anything. Or if she was, she wasn't quite registering it. Standing, he drew close to her, as if being closer could tell him more about what was happening to her, but as he did so, that light pulsed one final time, and faded. The prickling of his skin faded as well, and Rey released his sense, understanding that the show was over.

It was only then, without the distraction of that fascinating new phenomenon, that Rey's concern took over.

"What happen? You are alright? Firsst time can be very much, but sseems in you, it iss too much? " Reaching out, he pushed her hair out of her face, checking for any signs of overgiving.

"Feel bleeding? Pain? Numb? Check you can sstill see or ssmell. Sshould not have been long enough to do much hurt, but besst to check, alwayss after. "

Snake Tongue : Common : Arumenic

[Sayana]

Sayana was still breathing heavily and trembling as the dhani approached her. But when he pushed her hair out of the way, her face was hard, determined. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot from the ordeal, but there were no other signs of overgiving. Discretely, she returned the small dagger to its sheath and kept her injured hand in a fist. It stung but the blessed pain, physical pain, had brought her out of the nightmare of magical sensations. It had almost been comparable to Ionu’s illusions, but twice as strong and ten times as confusing.

“I’m… I’m alright,” Sayana said at last. In attempt to preserve whatever dignity she had left, the Eypharian stood a little straighter and kept the cut on her right mid concealed inside her fist. “I was feeling a lot… strange things. And when I opened my eyes it was blinding.” Sayana attempted to explain. “I can see fine now. I think I can smell. I might be a little numb, but… no no, I think that’s okay.”

She mentally went through a checklist to make sure everything was still in order. By that point her breathing had slowed considerably to a normal pace and she no longer looked so panicked.

“I should try again.”

She picked up the leather gloves, practically glaring at them and tried to focus again. Conflicting thoughts ran through her mind. Why was magic so hard? She had done it before. It wasn’t her first time anymore. And her first time had been just as hard, or harder. Her emotions were riled and it was hard to concentrate.

The gloves. They felt normal. Nothing seemed wrong with them. Taking a deep breath she tried to clear her thoughts and concentrate only on the small bit of material in her hands. The pain in her right mid was distracting. But at the same time, when she focused only subduing and enduring the pain, it was like everything else was numb.

She was still standing, and she had her eyes closed with one hand resting lightly against the wall. The glove was smooth, and then it was oddly coarse. Like hairs bristling from the hide. And then there was something else. Something just beyond her reach… As she tried to open her mind further and engage her djed, she was suddenly swarmed with the other sensations, much like before. As she found herself being overwhelmed, she opened her eyes and forcefully threw the glove to the ground.

“No. I can’t.” Sayana spoke sharply. It was as though it would be easier to admit defeat then and there, rather than try to struggle through it. “That… That will be all.”

[Yisanareysin]

Her eyes were reddened, but he could see nothing else to cause concern. Satisfied, he drew back, listening to her scattered explanation. The first time for Rey had been strange, but.... blinding? How interesting. Was that literally blinding, or was it just an expression that the more sight inclined races used? And speaking of which, how literally did she mean "feeling strange things"? Rey hadn't missed that her magic had flooded her entirely, instead of concentrating on her eyes and mouth and nose.

When she announced her intention to start again, he nodded, and stepped back to give her some space. It was another chance, he thought delightedly, to understand what had happened with her, to see what it was like to use his sense on one who was still learning, to know to know to know to know to....

No.

Oh joy. The whispers were back. He'd thought they were simply one of the growing pains of his sense, that he'd outgrown them, that he'd gotten his sense under control. He hadn't had whispers in over a year now.

You've been complacent for over a year, you mean. You haven't pushed yourself.

He'd certainly pushed himself today. Now that his hunger to sense was ebbing away, he could feel the toll it had taken on his body. His head throbbed with each heartbeat, and he could feel a dull pain between his eyes and over the bridge of his nose. And yet...

No no no. There was no and yet, there was no just one more. He'd had those rules hammered into his head when he'd first learned how to sense, and he trusted that there was good reason for it. Even if a migraine seemed a small price to pay to learn more.

Still, there would be other opportunities, Rey reassured himself. He was only just over a hundred. There would be plenty of time for him to learn all he needed to. How humans and so many other species managed with less than a hundred years of life, Rey would never understand.

Without his sense, Rey was forced to simply watch as Sayana focused. There was a chime where everything was still, before Sayana reacted violently and flung the glove to the ground.

Stepping forward again, he gently laid a hand on her middle arm.

"Iss difficult, and very sstrange at firsst. Besst to resst, try again another time." A thought occurred to him, on how he might find out more of what had happened with her. "You wish, we could meet again ssoon, practicce more? Can try to help you to control your ssense."

Snake Tongue : Common : Arumenic