Completed [Fire Challenge] Learning To Dance With Fire II

[Tazrae]

Timestamp: 85th of Winter, 521 A.V.

Continued From: Playing With Fire I

Once the Firedancer had spun off enough of the fuel so that fuel wasn’t flinging everywhere, she stopped moving and just kept swinging them in circles together at her side. “See what I did there? I spun off the excess fuel, slapping the ground with the poi so when I actually started doing fancy tricks, I wasn’t flinging fuel all over people watching.” Rainmere added. Then as she kept spinning them to keep them from burning her, she urged the other woman carefully to put them out.

“Tazrae…. concentrate. I know you need to learn control of your element in the magic so I want you to snuff out this fire. I want you to will it back to nothing. Part of Reimancy is controlling your element completely.” She added, wanting Tazrae to safely put the poi out.

The young Innkeeper nodded, reaching out with her mind. She could feel the power and its drive to burn. It was fueled by her Res, which was something she owned completely. It was her Res… under her control… and she could command it as she willed. So, she simply started to call it back to her and the fire leaped upwards as if wanting to arch over to her. She squealed, dove sideways, and willed it out of existence. It snuffed out immediately, driven more by her fear than anything else.

Rainmere shook her head. “That’s not the way to do it. Reimancers call fire back to them… the res home so to speak… and they are going to get horribly burned.” The woman gently chastised. She set the now unlit poi down, pulled a towel from her basket, and turned to jog down the beach to the waterline. She dipped it into seawater until it was sopping wet, then jogged back up to where the blanket was and laid it out next to Tazrae’s little picnic spot still sopping wet.

Then she knelt and demonstrated. “Always have a safe place to put your poi out, Tazrae. This towel is as good as any if your magic isn’t reliable. You can use a bucket with a lid too as long as it's fireproof. Lay the burning poi exactly in the middle of the wet towel, fold over once, fold over twice, fold a third time, and pat dry. Make sure the towel stays wet. Now… “ Done demonstrating the folds, Rainmere unfolded the towel, held up the poi, and gestured for Tazrae to lit them again.

Concentrating, Taz reached out with her hand, sending djed she’d already tapped out in Res form to coat around the poi and ignited it with her mind. The magic was easier this time… far easier. And she directed the fire to burn down, which caused Rainmere to quirk her eyebrows at Taz’s concentration but she didn’t have to set them spinning. “Interesting… good good good.” The woman commented.

Gently, the woman gestured at the towel and laid the burning poi in the center of it this time. “Your turn… not with your mind, with your hands.” She directed.

[Tazrae]

Taz folded once, twice, three times, and patted the towel, leaving the chains to stick out at an odd angle, but the fire was out. She carefully unfolded the towel with a smile and noted it was still sopping wet. “I think I got it.” She added to Rainmere’s nod of agreement. The other woman grunted and smiled. Then gestured for her to unfold the towel to release the poi. Taz did so… as Rainmere moved further back.

“Always fire dance on gravel, sand, dirt… some sort of fireproof material. Don’t do it on a deck unless the deck is soaked with water and you know it won’t burn. Even the hard cobbles of a street are better than wood. Don’t do it inside for obvious reasons, and don’t firedance near burning things like tents or blankets on the ground. Yours is fine there because its outside of my dancing circle. The cleared sand free of grass is just fine. But don’t dance up in the fringe grass, because you can easily set it on fire.” She added.

The Innkeeper nodded. This was going to add a dimension to her guests experience, she decided… if they wanted to see firedancing that was.

“Always be thinking before you firedance, Tazrae. Don’t visualize things going wrong, but plan ahead… sweep away dried leaves, that sort of thing. You don’t want anything going wrong with a crowd watching. Things happen. You minimize incidents by being aware and observant and taking a ton of precautions before you Firedance.” Rainmere supplied, making sure Tazrae was watching, listening, and paying attention to this part in particular. The other woman was staring at the poi as if she couldn’t wait to get her hands on them… and Rainmere knew that being a fire Reimancer, Taz would probably never need more than her own Res to keep her poi burning. And once she got ahold of control … learned the fine art of messing with it… then she’d be all set to dance and dance and dance.

“Light me up again?” Rainmere called out.

Taz nodded and concentrated, sending her Res outward, igniting it around the poi, asking it to cling to them and then burn down, away from Rainmere. It was getting easier and easier… it was a small task to ask of the magic, something simple. Go there. Burn this way. Secretly she loved it, being able to do so, and understood more and more how much of a gift Duncan had given her.

“I firmly believe fire is a living being. It has its own will and its own agenda, Tazrae. You need to respect it to build trust, but you also need to treat it as if it could go wrong at any moment and keep it under control. Think of it as wanting to be naughty and you guiding it to be gentle.” Rainmere started out, continuing her lecture on safety and skill building with her particular tools.


Tazrae nodded her understanding. These early days and these firm rules were important.

[Tazrae]

“This fire will burn you… so what you wear is important Tazrae. Wear cotton, leather, Isuas, anything that’s not silk or highly flammable. Sometimes you won’t even notice you splashed yourself with fuel… you hit yourself accidentally with the poi, it splashes on burning fuel, and suddenly you are lit up and on fire. You want things on you that won’t melt, but will just sizzle away with a bit of fireproofing… if you can do so shield your clothing against fire, or fireproof it somehow. There are herbs that can do it and there are saps and things that are naturally fire retardant.: Rainmere advised, then continued.

"But above and beyond that, you should always have a ‘safe person’ who’s helping you as you learn and train. Bree could do it because she’s always with you. You need a way to communicate with each other that gives you a way to know beyond the fire lingo that something is happening… like say you are on fire. I like to use safe words… ‘Potato’ is my favorite. It’s out of place at a firedance, so if I said… ‘potato, left shoulder’ you know your left shoulder is on fire and you won’t mind me running at you with the wet towel to put you out.” Rainmere grinned.

“Or I could put it out myself with my Reimancy if I know its there and happening.” Taz supplied.

Rainmere nodded. “You’re understanding this.” She said, pleased. “Pick any word you want with your safety. We’ll use potato today.” The firedancer said, smiling.

Taz, the whole time, had been concentrating on Rainmere’s poi, keeping the fire burning down, and she was starting to feel the strain of it. Just for practice, she reached out and snuffed out the poi, willing the res to stop burning. It did, though much of it still coated the poi’s bottle brush like ends, as if waiting for a relight.

“Good.” Rainmere said gently, then took a moment to organize her thoughts before the lesson continued.

Tazrae interrupted her though. “If you are on fire and not a mage, how do you put the fires out? Do you grab the big wet towel or is there some other way?” She asked, not sure how non-mages handled such things.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you?” Rainmere laughed a little, self-consciously. “You just pat it out with a hand. Often just a quick swipe at your leg, arm, whatever’s burning, will be enough to snuff the fuel. Most Firedancers wear fingerless gloves so their palms are protected so they can do just that.” The Firedancer explained, using quick motions to mimic patting out fire on various body parts.

“Not everyone’s magical, but you need to use your mind to do these things, Tazrae, not your hands. Mages need absolute control of their magic at all times. It’s important.” Rainmere said firmly, giving Taz the impression she didn’t want her to ever have to swipe at her person to tamp out being on fire. She had to use her mind.

[Tazrae]

“The more you practice lighting it and snuffing it out, the better you will be. You should just be able to do it with a thought, not even seeing it. At first, your control will absolutely suck, but you’ll get better with time.” Rainmere said, then suddenly shouted.

“ENEMIES. PUT ALL THE TORCHES AND LANTERNS OUT.”

The shout was a terror-filled bellow. Taz hadn’t relit Rainmere’s poi so they were still out and felt momentarily confused before the words penetrated her confusion and she turned to act.

Taz froze, then cursed herself for doing so. Quickly, without looking around to see where the thread was coming from, she thought of all the torches, the lanterns, all lit with fire… from her Res and she pulled back on them, willing the fire out.

It wasn’t a fast process.

Slowly, one by one, they sputtered and died until finally Rainmere and her were standing in the quickly falling dusk. Taz looked wildly around for the enemies, and Rainmere laughed.

“No threats, Taz. I just wanted to see if you could do it. I’m relieved you can, but man… that was awkward. They should have all gone dark at once. Duncan said you were a very new mage, but I hadn’t expected you haven’t been practicing at all.” She said, shaking her head.

“This is something you need to do. Even without your Res, lanterns, candles, and anything that can burn that has fuel should be able to be lit or snuffed out instantaneously. There will come a time you will need to be able to do that and if you can’t… there will be issues. Practice, practice, practice…. And keep practicing until it's second nature to you. If you start to get headaches, nose bleeds, or hear odd voices during your practices… stop and rest. You are overgiving. But until then, when we next meet, I want to see you be able to do it with a thought.” Rainmere added, firmly, as if there was no questioning her judgment.

Taz started to open her mouth to protest then quietly closed her lips again. This was the most connected she’d felt since she’d returned. Taz had been waking up, going through the motions of her life, and had felt listless and detached. Rainmere had her thinking again, excited for something, and she’d done it without even mentioning that tenday and the events that had happened then.

Taz had started to feel a bit of hope in that regard. Maybe she could come back from something like this stronger. Practice Reimancy? Yes… it would give her something to do. And it would please Alric too. She could induct him or bring Duncan to do so if she couldn’t get her skills up fast enough. Wait… See Alric? Gods… no. Not yet. Taz almost shut down completely but Rainmere seemed to sense something and reined her in… drawing her attention back on the area.

“Light it up, Taz.” She ordered, gesturing at all the lanterns and torches. “It’s getting dark and I can’t see a bloody thing.” The Firedancer grumbled, laughter tinging her complaints.

[Tazrae]

Tazrae concentrated again, reaching out to the Res on the poi and all the Res she’d used to touch the torches and lanterns. With a burst of power she willed the fire into being. Hoping for a showy burst of light on the beach, she was sadly disappointed as one after another, several of the lights as she looked at them sputtered half-heartedly to life. Some continued to burn and flamed up nicely, others sparked and died. Taz felt her concentration splintered and realized how hard it was to light everything at once. She turned to those who sputtered and died, then concentrated on them one after another, willing the Res left on them to ignite. They did, but Taz was sweating afterwards, and stepped back a moment to sit down abruptly on the sand. “Wow… that wasn’t easy.” She added, taking a break for a moment and hoping Rainmere understood.

Rainmere nodded. “Relax a moment. I forgot to talk about another aspect of Firedancing safety. First and foremost, on your poi… every time you use them, check the chains, the attached wick, and the handles. Make sure there’s no wear, breakage, or weak spots. The last thing you want to do is have one of the chains come loose and fling a flaming wick over into a crowd… and light them up. On the poi… this is the handle, the chain, and the wick.” Rainmere pointed out the parts, then since Taz had been controlling her fire, she dropped them into the wet towel, folded multiple times, then patted the wicks out. She unfolded the towel, and handed one of the poi to Taz. Taz inspected them carefully, nodding to Rainmere, before she handed them back.

“Got it.” She said, standing up once more, ready to try again. “Is there any more hard fast rules?” Taz asked, curious, as she shifted on one foot to another, eager to actually get to hold them and play.

“Sure. It’s a duo fold rule. First and foremost, don’t light yourself on fire. Just don’t do it. You will… if you firedance enough. But don’t. And along with that, as part of the duo fold rule… don’t hit yourself with the poi or whatever firedancing prop you are using.” Rainmere instructed, smiling. “We all do it by accident… not often, and think clearly about it and put yourself out. But those are the big ones. Each sense of movement, each time you play… each time you dance…. Its all about you. But you’ll stay safe if you actually are careful and don’t hit yourself and don’t light yourself on fire.” She said with a smile. “I’ll teach you how to use them and move so the change of that happening is limited. But remember, thirty to forty-five seconds, after you start swinging that, becomes the danger zone. That’s when you are most likely to get wet because your fuel or Res hasn’t burned off enough yet to be not dripping… and you’ll do your spin-off - burn-off, during that time. That’s when you are most likely to get burned… or burn someone else… or set something on fire. Remember, your poi will only burn for three to five chimes unless you keep refreshing your Res. If you’re just doing fuel, they will go out. And the longer they go the safer they are.” She added, repeating this information from earlier for Taz’s memory... wanting it to stick.

Taz nodded, grateful. “Thank you for this. I’ve… felt more alive in the last thirty chimes…. “ Glancing around, she realized it was actually a whole bell or more… .”This whole bell… than I have since Tenday.” She admitted, shaking her head sadly.

Words: 2,660

Continued In: [Fire Challenge] Learning To Dance With Fire III

[Tazrae]

Grading

Tazrae –

Reimancy +5, Firedancing +5, Interrogation +1, Arcanology +1

Reimancy: Snuffing Out Fire, FD: Proper Spin-Offs, Reimancy: Never Call Res Home, FD: Wet Towel Safety Smother, FD: Lighting Poi, FD: Proper Substrate, FD: Visualize The Dance, FD: Clear Area Where One Is Firedancing, FD: Minimize Risk Before Performance, Rainmere: Believes Fire Living Being, FD/Reimancy: Respect The Fire, FD: Proper Attire, FD: Using Shielding To Prevent Fire, FD: Safe Person/Spotter, FD: Safe Word For Fire… IE. Potato, FD: How To Put Out A Fire Quickly, Arcanology: Mages Need Absolute Control Of Their Magic At All Times, FD: Snuffing Out All Fires/Torches At All Times, Reimancy: Practice Putting Out All Fires All At Once, Tazrae: Feeling Better Suddenly, FD: Check Poi Carefully Before/After Use, FD: Duo Fold Rule – Don’t Light Yourself On Fire, Don’t Hit Yourself With Poi, FD: Danger Zone