[Flashback] Material Things (Solo)

[Auldwin]

76th of Fall, 511 AV

Auldwin thought about life in Black Rock. He spent a great deal of his time here, when he wasn't wandering somewhere around the Endrykas. During certain seasons it was easy to access both places. Black Rock was all about change. Nothing was ever the same, it seemed. The networks of canals moved, seemingly all by themselves. Not changing into anything better or worse, just something different. The once man thought to himself, was that what he was now? Was he worse, better, or just different? That skin, that blood, that bone that made him was forever gone, but he still remained. His memories were still present, even if they moved along, growing faint as the time stretched past his death.

Life was all around him, people going about their ways. Animals performing their routines. Colorful birds stabbed at the shores to pinch up insects and shellfish. Fish swam beneath the surface of the tropic waters, living on lichen, algae, or other aquatic life. Several Ghosts even had some semblance of a life. Some even had businesses. It made Auldwin think, could he represent himself better one day? Could he provide a service, and collect a wage? What a strange thought. What would he do with money even if he had it? Always changing...he reminded himself. Perhaps he'd improve, perhaps he wouldn't, but he couldn't just stay the same, or he would fade away just like those memories.

That was how he ended up deciding to take the time to actively remember all that he was in the past. Before he tried often to think just about himself, and the things he could remember. It hadn't turned out well. Out of the various experiences he had with Soulmisting and Possession, he was still barely more than a novice at Materialization. Now, he decided to think about how others remembered him, and how things were when he was alive. The first person he thought of was his wife, and the various comments she made toward him.

He remembered how the times when he shaved off his beard she would remark how young it made him look. "Like I married a teenager." she would say jesting at his youthful appearance without all that facial hair. Most of the time he kept it as it was, that growth becoming part of who he was. It kept his face warm in the winters, although he could often remember having to comb particles out of it after having a meal. As he thought of those things he concentrated on the feeling of compressing and shaping his Soulmist. There were some similarities in doing the same with Soulmist Projection, but this took more prolonged concentration, where as Projection was quick, sharp exertions of his prowess. For this he had to remain calm, focus inward, and concentrate on one thing at a time, expanding his thoughts outward to eventually include each bit of his body.

[Auldwin]

He remembered the long days he would spend at work. His wife would comment that his skin was rough, dark, and leathery. That made him a man though, she would remark. That tough skin was like a hide that he would use to shield himself from all the harm in the world. Rogue comments tossed at Auldwin would simply reflect off of that thick skin. He looked down at his hand, watching the skin fade in and out. The tips of his fingers were often creased, weathered and beaten from handling rock and mortar all day. His finger nails always had some grungy material behind them that persisted no matter how much he washed them. It almost became part of his very character, those pair of rough looking hands. A working man's hands, so different from the soft exterior of his wife's. He could handle those tools, and handle that rock without any pain, without gloves, without worrying about breaking or cracking his nails.

His nails were often in various stages of length and healing. He watched them now as a Ghost, solidify. They weren't pearly or shiny. They carried no reflective qualities. They were tough and thick. Sometimes they were particularly short, when he had to bite off the hanging portions that were left behind when some tore off due to his working conditions. He remembered how he would grip them between the top and bottom teeth on the right side of his mouth. It was odd to think he had a favored side of his mouth to bite his fingers from, but the more occasions he thought of it, the more he remembered that only that side got any use. Even when he mimicked the motion as a Ghost his hand lingered up toward where the right side of his mouth would be.

His fingers weren't unnecessarily thick, but they were strong. The veins on the back of his hands could often be seen as they traveled upward toward his forearms. He had hair on the back of his fingers, but not much. It was dark and somewhat coarse, but not overpowering. On his ring finger he wore a band, the symbol of his marriage to his wife. As his left hand formed more completely from his Soulmist he thought about that ring. It was plain, two grooves sitting along the top and bottom most edge. It was silvery, and he always wore it. His co-workers chastised him, themselves sometimes losing their bands to their work, or getting it caught on something. Auldwin never worried about things like that. More of his worry came of what would happen to it should he take it off, he and his wife never had enough money to go about purchasing another one on a whim if that happened. Keep it close.

"Keep it close." he thought as the skin around his ring finger changed on his spectral form. It melted into the same silvery color of his ring. With some mental effort Auldwin put the grooves into the upper and lower part of the band. It raised up from the normal skin of his hand, making it into it's own entity upon his Soulmisted form. Things were starting to come together, but he had to maintain his focus. Alone and with only the quiet of the canal waters, Auldwin had time to concentrate now. He could refresh his memory over and over about those little intricacies that one brought together his unique physical form. As plain as he once thought he was, he was beginning to understand just how many small, personalized tidbits all managed to sew themselves neatly into one package.

[Auldwin]

Auldwin had to take breaks now and again. When those rests were done, he had more time to think about his past and the numerous unimpressive things he had done. He remembered a few of the anniversaries he had with his wife. Usually he would take her for a fancier meal then their typical sustenance. A night of her not having to cook was often quite the present in itself. Sometimes he would find things on the jobs he did, like odd cut rocks that glimmered interestingly and gift them to her. When you didn't have much money, you did what you could to keep things special. Picking fresh flowers always did well enough to keep her happy.

He was lucky to have her, she was simple, just like him. She would sometimes comment about his build, which was fairly well kept considering his age. All that time in the sun, working hard kept it that way. He didn't have the money to spoil himself on sweets and pastries, so meals were typically meat, potatoes, and greens, just what a Human needed to stay fed. Auldwin drank a lot of water, he remembered that as well, as he would sweat starting from when the sun went up, to when it settled below the horizon. Those few memories gave him enough pause to start back up on his Materialization.

His waist wasn't thin, but he wasn't obese. Instead it was simply solid. When he was alive he would have weighed around one hundred and ninety pounds when standing at a bit below six feet in height. He wore a thick leather belt to hold up his pants, concentrating less upon his limbs and more upon his core now. Some said he was 'long legged' compared to the rest of his body. There was a buckle on his belt, it was the same one his father used, but it was plain. Silvery in color, it was most likely a steel alloy, and not true silver, but it kept well throughout all of his use, though he often had to polish off the salt stains that accrued from all his sweat.

All that sweat. Auldwin could remember what it felt like to be tired. It felt a lot like Materialization, the energy within him slowly expelling itself throughout his efforts. Materialization was still such hard work, and took such powerful focus. Any wayward thought had him losing his concentration and made his body fade back into translucence. He kept that waistline solid though, and worked on making his hands opaque as well. One thing at a time, focus on a little bit and go from there. With enough time, with enough effort, anything was possible. Slowly his legs began to come into view as well, complete with the rugged black boots he always wore. Things were coming together. Auldwin was coming together. The memories of his life converged and looked to rebuild him once again. They could add up to the man he once was, even if his body was lost.

[Auldwin]

Auldwin had dressed warm when he came to Endrykas on that fateful day. It was in the middle of the Autumn, and from what he had heard from Syliras, the seasons outside of the civilized City were not so kind. The temperature changed slowly in Syliras, from Summer to Autumn to Winter. Depending on where the large encampment was, the weather could fluctuate. His father had sent him a message instructing him to dress warm, and he did.

The jacket he wore was one of the few particularly nice bits of clothing he had. There was a fur lining on the inside and around the collar, which did excellently at keeping the chill out and allowing his entire torso to stay warm. It was worn in places and faded from use and being out in the sun during those bright days where snow coated the ground just slightly. That snow didn't always fight off the sun, which shown itself on occasion just as brightly. The buttons where often open upon Auldwin, not truly needing to clasp it all the way up to the neck, and beneath the jacket was a linen shirt made of dark cloth. It had sleeves upon it that came down to his wrist, but could be rolled back when the circumstance was necessary.

Style aside, the jacket itself slowly came into view as long tendrils of mist swirled around, Auldwin tensing his mental prowess as he tried valiantly to keep all the pieces of his person together at once. The boots, the hands, the legs, the jacket and shirt. It was there, it wasn't perfect, but at least with this much effort he could exist. In the back of his mind he could remember the weight of that jacket upon his shoulders, although no such weight existed anymore. The frayed edges and broken stitches here and there upon it. His wife had sewed it closed in places, trying to preserve it's overall shape. You had to patch up those holes quick, or else they ended up getting out of control. Auldwin looked down at the waters of the canal and saw a man. The man he used to be. It wasn't so far away that he couldn't grasp it, but there was certainly room for improvement.

[Auldwin]

"Hold it, just like this." Auldwin coaxed himself. His outline was slightly disproportionate, and there were clearly inconsistencies with the opaqueness of his overall form now and again, but with enough discipline the Ghost knew he could achieve the nearly uncanny replicas of a Human body. As the soft ripples of the water washed against the side of the canal, they masked some of the mistakes Auldwin had made with his own physical representation. It was like trying to draw yourself when you had very little artistic talent. You'd most likely miss something unless you took enough time to remember every little detail. The more he reminded himself of those details, the more easily they would come next time.

Much time had passed since Auldwin had first began, even though the time flowed much quicker when you didn't bother to keep track of it anymore. Being unable to age did that to a person. Day or night was the same to Auldwin, as a Ghost never slept. All he knew was that the sun was in a much different position than when he started, and the light that glowed from it's center was disappearing as it made it's way toward the horizon. Soon the streamers of red and purple would cross the clouds and the night would prevail. Those few living entities that stayed within Black Rock would turn in for the day. Some Ghosts would simply remain where they were, others would wander, others still would do whatever they did to pass the time.

Auldwin would need to rest, he knew that now. Keeping his form put such pressure upon his Soulmist that he had to relax it. All that time and all that effort had an end result, but Auldwin didn't get to enjoy it for long. Perhaps next time, he thought. His overall form collapsed just like that. It started at his legs, almost like the wind was blowing away a sandy outline of a man. The pieces lost their cohesion as he brought his hand up to his field of vision, it was the last thing to go. His boots, his legs, his shirt, his head and face, and eventually his hands.


It was then that he noticed something still maintaining some semblance of realism, it was the ring he had that reminded him of his marriage to his wife. What would she think of him now? He couldn't help but desire to head back to Syliras in order to see her. He loved her, and they had a decent if unexciting life together. She was his friend and confidant after a day of hard work, and an excellent cook as well. He remembered how she would often laugh when he tried to take up such a duty in the kitchen, even going so far as to choke down whatever it was he attempted to make. "You leave that to me." she would tell him, unsuccessfully when he wished to do something for her for a change. Those were the days. There was that familiar feeling of regret.

[Growl]

Appreciation Time! Name: Auldwin Experience: +3 Materialization Lore: Memories of Married Life, Thinking About How You Once Appeared Additional Notes: PM with questions or concerns.