[Stone Garden] Vision and Execution [Lucas]

[Hadrian]

Hadrian let go, sensing perhaps that he had overstepped himself, but he had wanted a closer look and Lucas had paused in his creation. He sat back and smiled, wishing he had the skill to draw on that level even if his own aesthetic would be a bit different. "Oh, surely. If not by nature, then by magic. I mean... wild magic, or morphing... There are ways and ways to make real the fantastical. It's just a matter of how. And a matter of whether it should be done." He considered a little demonstration of Morphing, but knew some of the knights, and especially some of the squires who were more black-and-white in their worldview didn't appreciate magic. Of course, most people were frightened of it, and rightly so. Hadrian just thought it was worth the risk to have a powerful tool. It required respect, not fear. Looking down at his own drawing, he attempted to fix things here and there, but it was not on a par with Lucas' work. Ah well, everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. This, at least, was something he could improve upon with more practice.

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas was quite aware that a black and white view of the world was expected of him, that he should probably be very suspicious of magic or maybe even tremble in fear and scream weird and at least partly unjustified insults, but he really wasn’t in the mood for that. As far as he was concerned, it was all a big, exciting adventure, and he wanted to find out more about it, so he asked, „Wild magic? What is that? I’ve never heard the term. Is it magic that occurs naturally, without a mage doing anything?“ He looked even more curious, if that was at all possible. „And morphing, is that possible? Can you really do that? Can you really make yourself look totally different?“ The seventeen year old, soon to be knight resembled more like an overly excited little boy for a moment, and then he stopped being excited rather abruptly and looked more confused and irritated than anything else. „Why shouldn’t it be done?“ he wanted to know and furrowed his brow. „I mean, if it doesn’t work out, you can just undo the spell, right?“ he asked, revealing his lack of knowledge as far as magic and all its unpleasant side effects were concerned. That producing creatures such as the one he had drawn, would be considered highly unethical by at least some people and probably went against the beliefs of his fellow knights didn’t occur to him in all the excitement. He hadn’t really thought that far, but was more focused on the unusual, creative aspects of such a hybrid.

[Hadrian]

"There is the wild, untamed magic, yes," he said thoughtfully, "but I was speaking more of the wild magic that was created by the Valterrian, when even the energies of the world were changed by the cataclysm. There are... aberrations... out there. Although such mutations are considered by some to be natural because... well, nature made them. Just with help. But some of these creatures... surely are born without the right faculties to look after themselves. There are preserved bodies of such things that could not hunt in the wild, ugly, strange things that didn't deserve a short life of pain and degradation. "Well, everyone has their own opinion on things, I suppose. But that is the major ethical question of magic: just because one can do something doesn't mean one should do something." He had countless examples, but wasn't sure how much Lucas really wanted to hear. Instead, he let his djed rush up into his face and then willed it to mirror Lucas' own, bone structure shifting under his skin, colors and textures altering by what he saw, until finally, after several minutes, there wasn't an exact replica of Lucas' face staring back at him, but the face Hadrian saw, anyway. "Morphing," he announced. "You know, there are mage-knights, but I don't think they're teaching the squires much about this stuff. I find myself educating them for free. Perhaps I should charge?" The voice was still Hadrian's; he hadn't bothered altering his vocal apparatus, which was still largely beyond him.

[Lucas Arias]

„Wild magic that was created by the Valterrian?“ Lucas asked. The squire’s eyes were so wide now that they threatened to fall out of their sockets. „You know about the Valterrian? Have you seen any of those aberrations? Is there any place where I can see those preserved bodies?“ He tried to imagine a creature like the one he had drawn – or a man with two heads and four legs. The thought made him sick and fascinated him at the same time. The conversation with this man was turning out to be more interesting than he could ever have imagined. „I suppose you are right“, he agreed and nodded as Hadrian stated that you shouldn’t do something just because you could. With that he watched Hadrian as he did whatever it was that he was doing. It almost seemed to him as if the man’s face were changing, as if his bones were shifting, as if he began to ... gods, he began to look like himself! Lucas stared at him open mouthed, and then he proceeded to extend his hand and touch Hadrian’s face to make sure that this was real and not just an illusion. Realizing that Hadrian did indeed have his face now (apart from a few minor details), he laughed out loud. „We could be brothers! You could almost pretend to be me!“ he stated and shook his head in disbelief. „And no, the knights don’t touch us about this stuff. At least my knight doesn’t. All he does is make me go on patrols and stick my sword into petching training dummies.“ As Hadrian wondered if he should charge, Lucas made a face. „What, I have to pay now?“ he asked incredulously, and then he observed, „You don’t sound like me. Can you change your voice as well? Do you think I could make myself six feet tall and give myself a deep voice with this Morphing?“ If he could, it would solve all his problems!

[Hadrian]

"Well, I know some... from books, from lectures, from excavations. I know a few professors in Zeltiva who keep preserved bodies of the strange mutations, some who couldn't support their own life, others probably trophies of battles or something. If anyone in Syliras would know where to look, it's probably Devandil Nightshade. He was a professor in Zeltiva before he came to be the magecrafter of the Order. He would be a good person for you to talk to if you are interested in these things." After his change of face and Lucas' reaction, he just smiled at the wonder and that it made him reach out to touch it to verify its existence. As he continued to observe Lucas' face in action, the way he reacted, tiny expressions and bits of expressions that made him unique. He tried to tweak his work to reflect this, making little corrections, but still not quite duplicating him. Some of it, of course, was in the personality behind the face, the anima that brought a body to life. He wasn't quite the actor. Yet. But after all this study, he could probably draw a passable sketch of Lucas' face. "It wouldn't hurt to be educated," he said. "If you're good with your sword, you're good in a fight, but if you're educated, you have more potential to work your way up the hierarchy, I imagine." He concentrated on the vocal folds within his body, an internal tingle where there weren't nerves. When he spoke again, his voice was erring toward the timbre and pitch of Lucas' own, though not nearly as close as the face was. "I can try," he said in that pseudo-Lucas voice. "It takes lots of practice, and... I'm actually doing fairly well for trying to copy the details of another person. Probably because I've been drawing so I'm... I don't know, paying close attention to detail. But yes, you can make yourself taller and change your voice with Morphing."

[Lucas Arias]

„Professors? Zeltiva?“ Lucas repeated. „Did you go to university in Zeltiva? I’ve always wanted to study there, but they said it’s more important to become a knight and serve Syliras.“ The boy looked a little annoyed as he said this. Of course he wanted to become a knight – it was a great honor – but sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to life than that. His existence in Syliras was lacking excitement, and he could almost feel his intelligence decreasing because there weren’t enough intellectual challenges for him here. Fighting and riding and shooting things with your bow was great to keep your body in shape, but it didn’t affect the mind all that much. „I’ll definitely talk to this Devandil Nightshade“, he then remarked. „I hope he’s willing to see a mere squire.“ Even though he didn’t know the magecrafter at all and had no idea how he would react, the squire was already looking forward to the meeting. He grinned as he thought about how he might soon know more about all those strange creatures. „I want to be educated“, he insisted. As Hadrian spoke again, the squire could only stare. „Now you sound almost like me. You know, I’m half tempted to drag you into the dorms and see if the other squires think that you are me! And you can really make yourself taller with Morphing? How do you do it?“ He looked at his feet and tried to imagine them becoming a bit longer. He furrowed his brow very hard, and then he shook his head. „How exactly do you do it?“ he asked. „I don’t really know much about how magic works.“ He didn’t look very happy as he admitted that. Lucas really hated not knowing everything! „Can you teach me a bit?“

[Hadrian]

"I did go to university in Zeltiva," he confirmed. "And it was wonderful, but you can learn anywhere. Here, there, Ahnatep..." He shrugged, knowing that a love of learning was probably the most important requirement. "I don't see why he wouldn't take interest in a squire, and he could surely teach you morphing better than I could..." He concentrated long enough to stretch himself out, adding height, but it stretched him out almost like dough. He was not yet skilled enough to allow for great changes in size or weight. Finally he felt himself nearing the weariness, and he let it all go, his form quickly returning to plain old Hadrian. "But I can't really teach you in an afternoon. It takes weeks of meditation to really achieve anything, but then it's just a matter of practice. Devan could probably guide you through those meditations and then... well, your imagination is your only limit once you've built up the skill... or so they say. But they also say that the more you change your shape, the more you change your mind because we identify ourselves so much by the shape of things... I don't know if that's universally true, though."

[Lucas Arias]

„Ahnatep? Where the Eypharians live?“ Lucas asked excitedly. „Have you ever been there, Hadrian?“ The squire had a weakness for those six-armed people – and especially their women! In fact you could say that he had a bit of an Eypharian fetish. If he ever got married, he wanted a wife with at least four arms, so that he’d have four arms stroking him and embracing him! „Do you think the’d accept a human student?“ Here he made a face. Eypharians were not only some of the most attractive people he had ever seen, as far as he knew they were also quite racist which made dealing with them a bit hard sometimes. „I’ll talk to Devandil then“, he decided. He was a little disappointed as Hadrian returned to his usual form. Talking to his twin had been much more interesting! „But does it really take weeks of meditation?“ he asked. When Lucas wanted something, he always wanted it right now and didn’t want to wait a couple of weeks. The boy was incredibly impatient! „I wouldn’t change myself drastically“, he assured Hadrian. „I’d only make myself a bit taller and a bit more muscular. That wouldn’t have any negative effects on my mind, would it?“ He looked a little worried. While Lucas wished he were taller and looked older (sometimes people still took him for fourteen!) he liked his personality the way it was now and didn’t want to change anything about it. As far as he was concerned, he had the perfect personality!

[Hadrian]

"Once, with my father." Hadrian considered that. "I think some Eypharians would take a human on as a student if the money was right or they had some other reason to do so. They aren't all bigots, but most of them are. I realize the irony of generalizing them..." He smiled tightly and shook his head a bit. "It didn't take me quite that long to start Morphing," he admitted, "but I had a background in magic already, so that might have helped. But every skill takes time to hone. I'm still not an expert. But someday you might make yourself taller, more muscular, and grow extra arms. Then you could pass for Eypharian and it wouldn't be so difficult to acquire an Eypharian teacher." Hadrian wondered if it might not be a good idea to Morph himself a more impressive physique. He was already tall, and magic required energy of the body, so he was in no danger of growing fat if he was as diligent a magus as ever. All his travel had hardened a soft body as well, but he was not really used to thinking of himself as a physical creature, so much of his time being spent in the realm of ideas and thought and that higher plane that overlaid their own: djed.

[Lucas Arias]

„Well, I don’t have any money“, Lucas said. He rummaged through his pockets as if to verify that this was indeed true. As he withdrew his hands again, he was holding a few small coins in them. „Not a lot of money“, he correct with a smirk. „Not enough to convince an Eypharian to teach me. I’m just a poor squire. And while I’m reasonably good at persuading people to do things for me, I doubt I’ll be lucky as far as Eypharians are concerned.“ He put the coins back into the pockets again, wondering if maybe he should get a purse or something. His pockets would soon overflow! „You think I could do that? Grow extra arms?“ Lucas looked at Hadrian incredulously and then he looked down at himself to see where he it would be best to attach those extra arms. Did his shoulders have room left for a second pair of arms? Or would it be better to attach them below his normal arms? He didn’t want to have arms below his belly, he decided. That would look ridiculous. „I can’t really imagine having more than two arms“, he admitted. „Do you think I’d be able to control them? Or would they just hang from my torso uselessly, as if I were a partially paralyzed Eypharian?“ He made a face. If he got himself a few extra arms, he wanted to be able to move them as well! For a moment Lucas looked like he wanted nothing more than to jump up and run to this Devandil to learn more about magic and start morphing, but then he turned back to Hadrian because something had just occured to him. „Which other magic do you know?“ he asked. The drawing he had made and his decision to practice his art had been as good as forgotten. The squire had just discovered something very fascinating!