Closed Spiritism 101

[Madeira Craven]

Expectedly, Moritz had a question. He thrust his hand into the air, and Madeira nodded at him to go ahead. Puddled on the desk in front of him she noted his fully formed soulmist.

"Not everything needs rules and measurements", Madeira smiled privately to herself. It was a very Moritz question. Everything must be quantified and accounted for and explained to the boy. "The blood used in soulmist is just for activation, so I've found that one drop will do for however much I've made. But if you want to experiment with mass-produced soulmist and the blood to dough ratio, be sure to let me know what you find." She did wonder if that would change anything, though not enough to try herself. She never needed more than she carried on her, as her soulmist didn't rot. "But how much soulmist you can produce at a time is partly due to your skills as a spiritist, not just how much blood and dough. A master can make more from those crackers than a novice, simply because they're more practiced at it."

"As for what happens to the foods djed... Hmm, that's an interesting question, Moritz. Spiritism doesn't deal very much with djed, so I'd ask one of the Aurist teachers here for a more complete answer. But did you know that a ghost has no djed? Or rather, in the transformation from living to dead, their djed decays and is inert. Since this food is undergoing this same death transformation with a sliver of your own soul, I'll assume its djed decays too. It's physical properties are likewise changed by your soul, which you feel inside your body as it transmutes."

Opening up her posture, she addressed the entire class.

"If you have questions about how things work, I'll encourage you all to experiment! I once worked with a candlemaker in Alvadas to see what would happen when soulmist was mixed in with different elements of the candle-making process. What if you soaked the wick in soulmist? What if you imbued it into the liquid wax? As it turns out those candles, when burned, attracted ghosts from miles away. Curiosity is good. Ask questions, discover things. That is how you'll get the answers you need, and expand this craft with new tools and techniques."

Somewhere in the depths of the tower a bell began to peal. In the corridor outside a hum of activity started up as classes ended and students flooded the hall.

"Okay, that's it for today. Your regular teacher will be back next class. Pack up your things, clean up your desks. If you have soulmist either take it with you or leave it behind for the ghost."

A chorus of "yes, ma'am" was bleated by the class as they dutifully gathered themselves up to leave. Emma shuffled in behind the desk and Moritz to stay out of the way. The students thanked Madeira as they filed past, spilling out into the bustling Tower.

"You're initiated", Madeira mentioned offhandedly, looking down at where Moritz sat in the teachers chair. She reached down and squeezed his shoulder with her right hand. "That means your a spiritist now. Congratulations, Moritz."

x

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz frowned as he listened to his mothers response. He found her words somewhat.... Lacking. He could not help but think that just because she did not know the rules or measurements, did not mean there was not any.

He was unsure if she was being serious, though from her comment she seemed happy enough to let Moritz try and to gain from his efforts if he succeeded or failed. That seemed a bit unfair to Moritz, since he would be doing all of the work in that respect and she would be gaining freely without putting anything in. In some respect that was much of learning, but normally it was in the direction of the teacher to the student not the other way around. And teaching was her job...

It did make sense that a skilled Spiritist would be able to make more soulmist from the same materials. It seemed to imply that one gained greater efficiency as one became more skilled, otherwise the output would not change with the input being the same. He was rather rough though, so inefficiencies in his process made sense to the young kelvic.

While his mother spoke of their not being numbers or measurements, increasing the ratio of change or multiplier or whatever one wanted to call it, well that seemed to be just those things.

"That implies that a skilled user has more efficiency in their action, if the output changes but the input is the same."

Moritz vaguely understood that a ghost had no djed as a human would, but instead it was decayed and inert djed, but hearing it in that way as explained by his mother made more sense and gave him a more specific set of details to go on.

Moritz was one to question and try to understand everything. But the more he asked of his mother, the more he came to realize there were many things she did not question or try to understand at all. This was something that somewhat saddened Moritz, that she seemed to have so little curiosity, no wide ranged wonder or attempt at understanding things. Which meant many of his questions, logical extensions of what he had seen, had not even occurred to his mother.

You used your own djed, by your blood and Spiritism, to turn the food material into soulmist. And since soulmist was a decayed form of djed used by ghosts... Then a similar transformation was being performed when soulmist was made or... Transmuted into?

Moritz listened to his mother explain a time she had worked with a candlemaker, but found the story odd. Mixing soulmist with making candles, to make a candle that... Attracted ghosts? Odd to his mind.

As the class ended and the students filed out, Moritz mother once more returned to Moritz, looking down at her child. It seemed to be a sign of support, noting his success and that he was officially a spiritist now, though in truth he did not really feel any different. Moritz simply nodded in response, taking a moment to consider all that had been said and mulling it over in his mind.

Cataloguing. Considering. Sorting. Mulling over. Reconsidering. And onward.

WC: 533