[Flashback] Physical Encounter of Magic Melding (Rayage)

[Darian]

Date: TBA by Rayage

Darian sat upon a stump, a white bone held easily between his thumb and forefinger, and braced against his thigh as he worked the small chisel in his hand against the hard surface, gradually forming a thing groove in the smooth surface. He was careful as he could be with the bone, his dragging motion across its surface slowly forming as perfect of a circle as he could manage. The line the tool was making was clean, and when he blew the bone shavings from its surface it looked even better still, and finally he met with the original groove he had started the whole thing with, completing the circle, and although it was a bit faint than for what he intended for it, it would do for now while he decided on what to shape into the center of the circle. Setting the small rabbits skull beside him, he looked over to the bloodied rabbit carcass by his left foot, blood still seeping slowly from its empty stub where it's head had been, and the pile of what had covered it's skull lying just before the body, all of it having been meticulously scrapped off by him before he even started the process of carving it's skull. " What did you enjoy doing in life " he asked the rabbit as he studied it's body, and remember the good bit of luck he had in catching the little creature that could have so easily evaded him. " Should have passed on that carrot boy " he said, a tisk, tisk noise emitting from his lips as if he was disappointed in the animal. Seemed as if it had been too easy to catch this rabbit, but that didn't mean it wasn't clever, just hungry at that point in time, so with that thought in mind he decided to carve something to do with the intelligence of the naturally clever beast and picked up the skull again this time cradling it in his lap.

Holding the chisel in both hands this time, he ran the edge of the iron just hard against the circular groove he had carved only moments ago, and continued tracing his previous marks with just enough pressure to make the circle more permeate against the skull but not hard enough to cave in the thin layer of bone, and thus ruin the entire piece. The effort kicked up even more bone shavings, and every once and a while he had to stop his careful work to blow the obstructions from the smooth surface just so he could finish the circle. In the end though, the circle turned out to be well formed and now possessed the appropriate, purposeful depth to it, and he could start on the center of it.

First, he lightly tapped the point of the chisel against the surface of bone, and gradually worked his way around inside of his small parameters, forming the basic outline of a rabbit and eventually the hole he would depict it hiding in to escape a predator. To him the rabbits legs seemed a bit longer than would seem natural, and it's head a little bit too circular, but he was trying his best, and simply couldn't stop a few mistakes from happening, and on the positive side the carving as a whole didn't seem to have any serious mistakes on it. Sticking his tongue out from between his teeth, he focused intently and slowly he made the marks deeper, and the image of a rabbit in hiding came clearer into view. However even with this much progress he still didn't stop until it showed in as much detail he could manage, a small slight crevice, and a rabbit hiding within it, and even had the appearance that the crevice was actually enveloping the rabbit in comforting arms, giving the carving a slight pop out look to it, and he smiled, satisfied that he was finally finished with it, at least he was finished with the brunt of the work. Taking a file out of the bloodied carvers pack at his side, he worked on smoothing the edges of the work, and making it look more three dimensional, carefully sanding down the bonier portions of the skull since this would be indeed be made into a necklace when he was finished.

Finally the work was refined to the limits of the structural integrity of the piece, and he set it down in favor of looking for some twine in his carving pack that he could use to make a make a pendant from the skull, and pulling out the length of twine from the package, he snipped it at what he deemed as the appropriate length, and set the rope beside the skull to be put into use soon. There was still one more thing he had to do, and with that he pricked the base of his thumb, drawing a drop of blood from it, and he smeared it against the top of the carving to activate his carving. Sighing, happy to at last have finished the work, he looped the length of twine delicately through the eye holes of the skeleton, and then put the necklace on over his neck, letting it rest there after a quick tie of the twine. Now with that out of the way, he knew it was time to get on with the rest of the day's events and see if the powers of the skeleton would manifest themselves at all or if his malediction worked at all. Putting up all his carving tools reverently he stowed the bundle inside of his pack, and began walking down a trail, paying no more attention to the bloodied rabbit carcass he left in his wake.

[Rayage]

56th Summer 506 AV

There was something about summer, something that sickened him to no end. It was a time when the world was so filled with life, and it reminded him of the past, and of the life he could never have. Alchemy is the magic he turned to, and the magic that offered him the answers, the power, and the right to make the life that never was. Summer, how it sickened him with painful reminders of his unlife and his condition, how everything taunts him and seems just a little brighter in his dull Alchemy-obsessed existence.

The sun shining through the trees made him want to stop, another unsavory thing about summer was the heat; not just all the life. The heat took quite the toll on his body and perhaps it was that that made him hate summer. How it sped up his rate of decay and made it harder for him to hide his undead stench. Not that he worries about that too much, just no one around him wanted to stay long. Like he cared, but others might. Not everything smells as fine as a rotten body.

His multicolored cloak, probably as old as the nuit itself, trailed behind and around him as he wandered the forest. There was nothing wrong with wandering to collect ones thoughts, nothing wrong with a pleasant stroll through the forest, and surely nothing wrong with scoping the area for new blood to augment with his power… Alchemy, it was his life, and he would bleed to see his experiments brought to life.

Stopping between steps he saw someone ahead. He wasn’t expecting anyone to be this far out in the wilderness. Either they were very stupid or very clever, much as the mage thought he was. Who knows what lies in this wilderness.

Spying the person he smiled as he watched him, what was he doing, carving? He could only guess as he watched from afar. The detail of the mans actions were obscure and unsatisfactory. If he wanted to know exactly what was going on he would have to go ask himself… Not that anything was as interesting or as powerful as his Alchemy.

Watching the entire process he saw the man get up and start to walk away. Intrigued he really couldn’t just let him walk away, but he couldn’t just come out of nowhere, could he? Well, he could, a smile brought his face a little more life to it than most, and he would. Following him through the woods he made his steps obviously loud, there was nothing sneaky about these tactics as he announced his presence with the sound, ”What an interesting necklace you have crafted for yourself” he said rather loudly, Ray trying to project his voice further than it wanted to go. He was used to talking rather quiet, but he could handle this. Though nothing was free and the price for exerting himself like that, in this heat no less, made his voice sound even more dry and ‘rotten’ than it normally would.

[Darian]

Young, breaching yet his twentieth year, much had happened to him of late. Their blood still stained his hands, and tainted his mind horribly, rendering him wholly incapable of empathy, compassion, and loyalty. The last remaining blood relatives to him where dead now, and he had no one to call his own. In Sunberth, the streets where as dangerous as ever, the wild even more so, but at least the wild didn't judge him with too curious faces, or concealed daggers. Here where the birds sang, and the beasts ravaged, he was at peace for there was to subterfuge in the wild, only the brutally honest truth. Even then, it wasn't wise for someone with little to no knowledge of the forest to be spending any length of time in the vicious woods, and his steps now carried him closer to Sunberth with every stride.

The rhythmic patter of his feet on the ground echoed through the quiet wood, only to be matched by another, and particularly louder at that. Confused and startled, he whirled around, reaching back and brandishing quickly a simple file from his pack. Words echoed from the stranger that seemed to fold in on themselves with he hoarse connotation the man used. His heart beat hard in his chest, fear creeping up to the surface alongside disdain for not having a proper weapon yet.

"Who are you? Come to sheath a blade in my back!?" Darian growled coldly, his hazel eyes narrowing as they looked the man up and down.

[Rayage]

Ray smiled and laughed when he heard the boys response to his presence. Nothing could be funnier than what he was saying. Grinning at him still chuckling a little the laugh sounding dry, old, and most importantly withered, ”My dear boy” he said in a mocking tone, ”Why would I want to stab you in the back? That would be wasting a fine a body.” he let his words trail off his gaze fixed on him, ”I am Rayage your oh so humble Alchemist. The more important question, boy, is who are you?” He laughed again as if what he was saying as a joke. Humble… That was one word that didn’t describe the nuit, but the boy would find that out in time.

”That necklace of yours,” he pointed it out again raising a hand to point a lazy finger at it, ”Its quite interesting, did you make it?” He asked. His smile, his grin didn’t fade it was as if the question itself was mocking him, though really he was preparing a simple spell of sorts. Dabbling in hypnotism he knew how to implant feelings into others and he was exuding his Djed to do just that. Once he felt he had a good grasp on what he wanted to accomplish he would do so, the simple emotional response would be that of pride and hopefully the boy before him would connect that emotion with the rabbit skull. If one takes pride in their work then they are more likely to brag about it, and that is exactly what the nuit wanted.

A moment passed and he shifted a little in place, it wasn’t that he was uncomfortable but rather he was getting antsy. He needed to move, he needed to think because those two things allow him to live the illusion that he is among the living and not an undead himself. Though his rotting body would give that away, and his cold pale flesh… Its not that he hated his condition, being a nuit has allowed him to live much much longer than he normally would be able to and has allowed him to further study Alchemy. No, this was not a curse but a blessing of the highest sort. He reveled in his undead state and although it had some drawbacks it was completely worth it.

He waited patiently for an answer. He just watched looking for any reaction to his meager hypnotism. Yes, he just watched and waited. He could tell already this was going to be a fun and interesting conversation.

[Darian]

Red flushed his cheeks, and his eyes narrowed at the strange man who stood not far from him, criticizing Darian's competency like he was a child. His long fingers clenched tighter around the worked metal of the file, and he gritted his teeth. It would take only a moment to plunge the tool into the man's neck and be on my way. The confidence the man radiated was unnerving though, like he knew something Darian did not, even though he couldn't see a weapon openly on the pale skinned one's form. Perhaps he had one concealed so well Darian wouldn't see it until it was too late, or an even worse prospect would be if it turned out he was well versed in the magic's and didn't need a weapon. It drew a shudder along his broad shoulders, and standing a bit straighter, Darian let his eyes widen a little bit more, but still kept the petulant cast to them that told the man he was by no means trusted.

"Your bloody name doesn't help me much. What group you belong to, who are you working for?" Darian spat, his knuckles quick to turn white from how tight he was gripping the file in his hand, and cautiously he took a step back, his eyes never leaving the stranger. Many worked behind the scenes in Sunberth and almost everyone was involved with one of said groups that so divided the boundaries on Sunberth's blood soaked streets. Darian was almost completely unknown on the streets thus far, partly because he had grown up on the outskirts where the farmers tilled the earth for any scrap of food they managed to grow, and hadn't been submerged as much into the politics of Sunberth. Perhaps this man was a friend of his uncles, and if so, Darian would have to be quick and smart about what he did in the next few moments. "The name is Ol' Lie, take it for what it's worth" He spoke up finally, his blatant lie said through clenched teeth. Coming up with names on the spot wasn't exactly his specialty, but giving his real name, or a name of one of his relatives was out of the question, especially if the man was a friend of his uncles.

Darian flinched at the man's next question but despite himself he couldn't help but manage a smirk at the man's words. He had noticed the necklace, and was interested in it, perhaps he had something here. Of course unknown to Darian this was all do to the sense of accomplishment that welled up in his chest, the foreign implant of emotion going largely unnoticed. "Yeah, I crafted it, wasn't too hard seeing as rabbit skulls aren't the hardest thing to chip away at. Still managed to get the circle right on there though, what it does is still in question." His shoulders relaxed a little as his talked, his grip on the chisel lessening ever so slightly as his eyes watched the man before him.

[Rayage]

Ray would laugh a little at the mans words, ”What group do I belong to?” he asked the question again just to be sure he heard him right, ”I belong to no group. I am my own man, as I assume you are.” he told him. Ray wasn’t much for violence that is outside the lab. He was more of a man of words, a man of thought, a man of, dare he say, reason? Yes, reason… His own sick and twisted reasoning, defending every action that he has done so far, and all the while the mage was thinking how this man before him could help him realize his true potential. Perhaps he would like to be stronger? The bribe of strength was always a valid one, especially when one wishes to control people. Nothing was out of question, nothing was out of reach, everything can be revealed through Rays thinking, his method, and his reason.

Seeing the positive reaction to his hypnotism he smiled, nodding at the kids response. His white knuckles returned to a normal color as the grip on the tool was loosened. Ray was glad of that. Perhaps his undead appearance does come off as somewhat threatening? Thoughts of his appearance vanished as he continued to admire the skull, ” Oh, so its supposed to do something?” he asked trying to sound even more interested in the trinket than ever before, ”What magic do you partake in?” he asked him putting a steady gaze on the necklace. At least he was calming down a bit. ”As I said before, young lad, I am an Alchemist. I can create just about anything I can dream up.” he bragged a little rubbing his hands together, ”But enough about me.” He told him still staring at the item, ”Lets take a peek at what this is”

Little known, or maybe known all too well, the entire time he was talking to Ol’Lie, if that was even his name, his eyes and mind were focusing on the item, on the necklace, on the skull. He was trying to see beyond what his normal sight would allow, for him to see the aura, and so he needed to concentrate. Falling silent after the last sentence he said he really began focusing on the Djed, and the item, on the aura. Slowly, as he continued to concentrate, the aura began to present itself to him.

He had seen regular animal auras before and this one, this one was different. This one’s aura was thicker; it had more depth to it, but what that meant to him he had yet to figure out. Taking a closer look he smiled to him, it was surely enchanted somehow, and what it does? Well he didn’t have enough skill to figure that out, he was just lucky to see that it was enchanted.

[Darian]

No affiliation.. could be lying... Darian's lips curved into a cruel snarl, but his hand reached back and replaced the tool back in his pack, he didn't much feel a threat from this man, not at the present moment at least. Still there was something odd about the man, the way he carried himself, the way his body held itself at rigid attention constantly in a odd manner. Taking a hesitant step forward, his hazel eyes continued to comb over the man's form, an oddly colorful form at that. Certainly the man wasn't from Sunberth, or else he held a secret Darian himself would do well to learn if this man could keep hidden in the shadows with such bright vestments. Casting a odd glance at the the rabbit skull framing his neck, he looked back up at the strange man and sighed. "Perhaps it will, of course I never know with these things, it's a fickle thing. I practice no such thing as magic, what I do is simple carving with a touch of my own blood." Darian said cooly, his fingers twisting the skull around in his hand thoughtfully as he spoke. His eyes never left the all to strange man, and even widened when the man spoke of strange things. "What is a Alchemist?" He asked, and he found he couldn't stop his curiosity from seeming into his tone. Involuntarily he took another step forward, but his eyes now occupied himself with the woods to the side of them, him not to much liking the awkward stare the man was giving him. "What you trying to do anyway, stare a hole through me?" he stuttered out, looking towards the man but not yet daring to look at him directly.

Taking in a deep breath his eyes found the man's and he took another step forward, drumming his index finger against his chin thoughtfully. "What lands do you come from anyway, you certainly don't dress like anyone in Sunberth that I have ever seen." Darian added, oddly perturbed with himself at the flood of questions that spilled from him, and he wondered slightly if it had anything to do with the man showing curiosity in his necklace.

[Rayage]

The mage nodded at the mans words, practice no such thing as magic. That had to be the worst lie he had ever heard, but nonetheless put a smile on his face. There was something about knowing, the knowing that someone is lied to you, that brings a certain amount superiority into the situation. Oh how he wanted to laugh, but he would just smile. He knew, yes he knew from deep within, that he was more than this living person could ever be or hope to become. He was better because he knew. He had knowledge and that was the power that the nuit thrived and survived on. Though Ray knew how to play along, ”It’s a shame that you don’t partake in the act of magic.” he shook his head, ”Really disappointing, because without at least some background knowledge one, much like yourself, can never hope to understand the fine and obscure complexities of Alchemy. You ask a question that you cannot comprehend an answer to.” he grinned at the mans face, ”and what use is answering something if you won’t understand?” he asked, ”It is a waste of time.” he boldly proclaimed, ”On my part, and of yours.” he shook his again, ”Again, a shame that magic is not with you. Would make understanding much easier….” he cut himself off, ”It seems I was going to ramble again. Im sorry,” for some reason the apology didn’t seem sincere, ”Did you have another question?”

He paused a moment glad to have seen the man put away the potential weapon; he didn’t want to damage his precious body. Bodies are so hard to come by nowadays. ”Ah!” he exclaimed a finger flying in the air, ”What lands do I come from?” he laughed, ”Would ‘not-Sunberth’ satisfy you?” he asked, ”Or maybe I should list all the lands I visited?” he was having too much fun with this. This human was oddly, brilliantly oblivious and he could have a bit of fun. What was the problem with that? He saw nothing, and he could afford to mess about a bit. ”How about we keep it simple and say I hail from everywhere and nowhere?” ‘Course the nowhere referring to the lands that were destroyed in the valterrain, yes nowhere was a good definition of it for it didn’t exist anymore.

He preferred not to answer the other question about staring a hole into something. He kept his silence, the man did not need to know what he was doing or have done. He was mildly humorous though, or maybe it was the fact that Ray saw someone easily manipulated that had the nuit so interested and ‘lighthearted’. Whatever it was the situation would benefit him more than anything, or he hoped if he played his cards right.

[Darian]

Darian scowled at the man's continued remarks on the arcane and fancy words that reeked of twists and turns that attempted to cover a perceived manipulation. His shoulders tensed in response, and his fists reflexively clenched as he watched the man before him, his hazel eyes flaring with obvious anger. "Magic! Why the petch would I want to know about magic. You can keep your words to yourself cause I will not abide to hear any of your trickery. Magic is a tool for the weak, something of a crutch for those who don't have the strength of will and arm to remain alive by their own cunning. I have no place in my mind for magic, nor any other answers from you." He said, spittle spraying from beneath his clenched teeth as he practically shivered with rage, barely able to contain himself from leaping across the distance between them and throttling the man. His body was tense, and now he wished he still had that chisel in his hand so he could drive it through the skull of that trickster in front of him. No man would get the better of him in such an unnatural way, and get away with it without right fearing doing it again.

As he trembled in rage he slowly took a step back, trying to keep himself from launching forward at the man, and killing him right then and there. It was too soon, he didn't much want to leave a trail of bodies for others to follow, and the death of the man might bring other consequences as well. No that wouldn't be good for him, he would try to let the man think very carefully about his next actions before he did anything. If he felt his life was threatened he wouldn't hesitate to defend his life no matter the consequences.