[Guest Mod] Deceive Me (Yuralria)

[Laszlo]

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I believe in what I see, and also what I hear. Did the night play tricks on me, or were you really there? Fall 51st, 511 Two bells past sunset. Miss Yuralria, If you want to know more about Hypnotism, please meet me in the library two bells after sunset. This magic works better in relative privacy without distractions. I look forward to meeting you. Morwen keep you, Josaan Winterflame Reclined in his chair, Josaan was enjoying the quiet of the warmly lit library, surrounded by insulating walls of books that smelled pleasantly of must and rich cedar wood. This late in the day, the Stories in the Snow archive had few visitors, allowing the young Winterflame to pursue his research in peace. While the chief librarian Felix Naturdan was vigilant about keeping a silent library silent, the prospect of prying eyes (however speechless) made Josaan inordinately nervous. This evening, Felix was in the back room repairing some old tattered books, leaving Josaan alone in main library, seated at the tables in the far corner. It was absolutely silent, except for the creaking of wood and the busy scrawling of his quill. Lying on the table was a newly furnished copy of Magic and I, opened to the twenty-first chapter, "In Which Shaik Escapes the Brainwashing." Nearby, Josaan was copying down passages he found relevant to Hypnotism and possible overgiving. His soft black hair hung over his warm, mahogany eyes, tinted with traces of dark amber as he absorbed the words on the page. He wore his dark fur coat over his shoulders, the sleeves hanging empty at his sides. She'd arrive soon, he knew, if his newest student was of a punctual breed. It was the wait he hated, wondering what she would be like, and how easy or difficult she would be to work with. The air felt tense with his anxiety, worrying himself over the imminent social interaction. It wouldn't be so bad, really, once they got started, but it was just the wait, the agonizing wait.

[Yuralria]

OOCFeel free to date the thread at around the 50th of Fall

Yuralria ran to the library, She wasn't late yet, but she was cutting it close. She had been dancing, and almost forgot about her appointment with the young Winterflame mage, Josaan. She had wanted to learn hypnosis for some time, ever since she had read about it, but all of the books that actually explained the discipline had been out. She approached the Library doors, there hadn't been a chime yet, so she was still on time. She waited a moment to catch her breath before walking in the double doors. Stepping into the library, she realized Josaan had never told her where in the library to meet him, and she hadn't seen him much in person. One of his acquaintances had told her about him and passed on the message that she wanted to learn. She shrugged off her thick cloak and hung it up Her pant's were tight and hugged her hips, to show off her figure as she danced, and her long sleeved top dipped low enough in back to show the swirling storm that shadowed her shoulders. Looking around, she spotted a young Vantha diligently copying passages from some book or another. Yuralria noticed that the lobby was empty except for him, so she took a chance and walked up. Approaching the table, a soft breeze blew through her hair and accross the table, ruffling the pages of the books. "He's cute." Whispered the wind into her ear. She wished she had took the time to braid her long hair before she came. Flipping her bangs out of her violet eyes, she introduced herself " Hello, I'm Yuralria, I assume you are Josaan Winterflame?"

[Laszlo]

The heavy library door sent a deep echo reverberating through the empty library as it was shut, sending a breeze that playfully tossed the pages of Josaan's open book (which he frantically batted back down). He released a breath in anticipation. It had to be her. His fingers tensed around the quill as he briefly paused his writing, feeling his nerves tighten. As the amber color in his eyes began to flush out the burgundy, he touched the quill to paper again, determined to finish out the passage. Josaan lifted his head, both eyebrows raised under his dark mop of hair, mouth hung slightly agape as he met eyes with the girl. She looked different than he expected: pale and young, and with traces of color in her hair that the hypnotist found distracting, but not unpleasant. Remembering himself, Josaan politely closed his open mouth as he looked the young woman up and down, taking her in, before belatedly answering her question. She was prettier than he thought she'd be. "Uh yes, sorry, that's me," he greeted in a chagrined tone, putting on a crooked smile. He closed the book and returned the quill to his inkpot, then rose to his feet. Leaning across the table, Josaan extended his hand toward her, meeting her vivid eyes with his. "I'm glad you made it. It's nice to meet you; may I call you Yura?" He gestured for her to take a seat as he did the same. Carefully lifting the sheet of paper, he blew a gentle breath to dry the wet ink, then set it aside. As Josaan regarded Yuralria again, he folded his hands on the table and began to study her features, attempting to focus on her aura. It was a little different than most other Vantha, though he couldn't exactly place why. "I'm sorry for asking you to meet me so late in the day, but I thought it would make this easier for you. Hypnotism works best on a relaxed mind, so it's a little easier to do at night." Josaan lifted two fingers toward her, mixing a gesture with deliberate eye contact to insert a hypnotic compulsion into his following words. "So tell me honestly. Why do you want to become a hypnotist?"

[Yuralria]

As Josaan looked up Yuralria caught a glance at his deep mahogany eyes. He was cute, she thought to herself. He seemed slightly distracted for a moment, but he finally motioned for her to sit. She sat down as he Indicated, and she waited as he cleared off the desk, watching him as he did so. Call me what you want" She stated in answer to his first query. Josaan made an odd gesture as he asked his second question and Yura's snarky remark left her. "I'm interested in learning a discipline that I would find useful" She said blankly. Realizing briefly that that wasn't how she intended to answer, she was confused. I think you've been played whispered the wind in her ear, once again playing through the papers resting on the table"Did you just hypnotize me?" Yura asked incredulously. Josann had taken over effortlessly, if only for a moment. Yura realised in that moment just how scary a power like hypnotism could be. If you had the skill, something as small as a glance could go a long way.

[Laszlo]

Call me what you want. Ahem. Well, then. Josaan slapped his hand down on his sheet of paper to keep it from flying off, evidently victim to a rogue draft in the library, presumably from a window left open. The Vantha's shoulders sank as he peeled his hand off the parchment, his palm now marked with his own backwards handwriting. With an embarrassed sigh, he futilely wiped it off on his black furs, but his hand was well stained. "Yes," Josaan replied curtly, turning back to the girl a comically serious look, which he couldn't quite pull off after that blunder. He cleared his throat, gathering what vestiges of dignity he had, and clasped his hands back together. His stained fingertips left inky marks on his other hand. "It's easy to get into anyone's head when you're face to face. All you need is a gesture, or the right look in your eye, or just the barest tone of voice. Getting you to tell me the truth was simple. That's why this magic is dangerous. You can get almost anyone to do almost anything, and they won't even know that they're doing your bidding. But that's not all." Reaching over to his paper, he briefly inspected his writing, the ink now smeared on the page. He frowned in disappointment, then shrugged helplessly, folding the sheet between his hands. Josaan could always copy it down again. He turned to Yuralria with a warm, crooked smile. "Hypnotism will drive you insane. Over time, if you use the magic unwisely, it will get to you. Because you can alter people's thoughts, you can hurt the people who trust you. Eventually you might not even trust yourself, or know for sure whether your thoughts are your own. Then there are the Sweet Whispers, Yura. But I can talk about that later." A discipline I would find useful. That was an interesting answer, but practical. There were many magics that only had a use in combat, and some that had practically no application in daily life at all. It was as much as Josaan had hoped for: if Yuralria had mentioned wanting to scorn someone specifically, he might not have taught her at all. "In the short term, you'd just have to worry about overgiving. With Hypnotism it starts with lightheadedness, then headaches, or maybe blurry vision. If you keep going, your might bleed from your eyes or your ears. You can kill yourself if you push too far. So if you ever start feeling dizzy, Yura, do me a favor and pace yourself. All right?" Josaan leaned across the table, his smile widening and taking on a daring gleam. "So are you still interested? Hypnotism is risky, and can be just as dangerous to you as to other people. Are you sure that doesn't scare you?"

[Yuralria]

Yuralria sat in the comfortable library chair, listening to Josaan as he talked about the ins and outs of being a hypnotist.

Getting you to tell me the truth was simple That was a scary thought, that she couldn't effectively lie... and sweet whispers? Sounded so sinister. But she could do it, any magic was dangerous, she knew that. And it all could be avoided by stopping before she went too far, she hoped. "Any magic is dangerous, I know that much" she stated, looking back up into Josaan's beautiful mahogany eyes. Did that thought just go through my head? she shook away the thought. "I noticed something when you hypnotized me last time, when I realized you were doing it, your... influence weakened, was that intentional?"

Even as she finished speaking the wind blew across the pages again and Yura couldn't help but smile. "You know," she said, speaking to the wind "You're gonna tick him off, and I'll lose my teacher" The wind blew across the table again I'm just having fun It whispered into her ear, blowing her unbraided hair around her face. "I know that... but.." She said, stopping suddenly. She had just realized how stupid she must look. She stopped talking and looked down, hiding the blush on her face.

[Laszlo]

Josaan smiled patiently. "You're observant. No, it wasn't. When someone becomes aware that they're being hypnotized—" His sentence was cut short as the pages spread across the table fluttered again, rolling and tumbling over themselves. Two sheets of vellum fell off the table entirely. Josaan groaned in clear irritation, ineffectively trying to bat the papers down and keep them in place. Sliding his chair back, he got up to pick up the lost sheets, mumbling something under his breath. This was ridiculous. Where was this draft coming from? It was so embarrassing. Then Yuralria started talking, but clearly not to him. Narrowing his eyes, Josaan straightened and turned to her, watching her have half a conversation with some unseen entity. She noticed him, and promptly closed her mouth and looked down. "Yura, who are you talking to?" Josaan shuffled the papers in his hand and set them on the table in a neat stack. He sent a brief glance around the library, but knew there was no one else in the room with them. When he noticed Yuralria was blushing, he lifted the corner of his mouth in a friendly smile. Still, he wasn't in the mood for games. If she was talking to some sort of voice in her head, and Josaan was about to teach her how to bend people's thoughts, he wanted to know what he was getting her into. Hypnosis would get him what he wanted, but she'd be resistant to it now. He would have to try harder. Reaching forward across the table, Josaan gently lifted Yuralria's chin with two fingers, locking his eyes on hers. His fingertips tingled with djed as he broadened his smile at her. Smooth tendrils of his dark hair hung in his vision, a little rustled by the earlier wind. "It's all right, Yura. You can tell me." A thought occurred to him suddenly, and he tilted his head in consideration. There hadn't been a breeze before Yuralria had come into the library. Air Reimancy, perhaps? "Do these gusts of wind have something to do with you?"

[Yuralria]

Yuralria smiled slightly at the question. She felt the pull of the hypnotism in Josann's voice, but what really caught her was his eyes, and the slight touch on her chin. She couldn't bring herself to look away from that beautiful stare."The breezes aren't my fault persay, but I'm a big part of the reason." She stood and turned around, Though it took a good amount of effort to take her eyes off his showing off the swirling storm that shadowed her slight shoulders "I'm a Stormwarden" She stated simply "There is a particlar breeze that has taken a liking to me and has a tendency to follow me around, indoors or not." She smirked as the breeze again blew across the table, ruffling her hair and messing up the papers again. "Enough!" She said gently but firmly, Her eyes locked on nothing in particular. "Fine, I guess I could let you be" Said the breeze. It flipped her hair around gently once more then died down. "That should be all the problems we have from him" Said Yura, sitting down again. "Shall we continue?"

[Laszlo]

A Stormwarden? Josaan's eyebrows raised, and for a moment he was completely nonplussed as he stared at her. She was one of Zulrav's? Peculiar, for a Vantha. Was she marked by Morwen, still? Or was her past more tangled than that? Yes, yes it must have been. That was interesting. "How exotic," he said finally in a stunned monotone. It was a ridiculous statement, but it was all he had. As the loose papers blew off the desk, Josaan didn't even try to stop them. They just fluttered past him while he stared at her, an intrigued smile slowly snaking across his face. She was talking to the wind. How wonderful to do that. There were many days in Avanthal when the Winter winds were fierce even for a once-marked Icereaver. Asking it to calm down had done him no good. But Yuralria… "That's amazing," Josaan remarked again, watching as Yura's hair swirled about her head at first, then settled back on her shoulders. It looked a bit like fire for a moment, that that oddly fiery hair color of hers. "I wish you could teach me that!" He laughed, leaning back in his chair and ignoring the mussed papers. Forget them; this girl was far more interesting. "I didn't know wind could have a gender!" It was a pity that Yuralria had just sat back down again, because Josaan was now getting to his feet. Walking around the table, he offered his hand to the girl, politely offering to help her out of her chair. "Yes, let's do continue. We have gotten rather distracted haven't we?" Another smile, comforting like soft, warm bread fresh from an oven. "Please, come with me. There's something I want to show you." Josaan led Yuralria through the library, around a long bookshelf and toward a corner. There stood a large, full-length mirror, mounted to the wall with a gilded border, darkened from years of tarnish. In its shining surface stood the reflections of Josaan and Yuralria, with his hands placed upon his shoulders. "As Vantha, we have a special advantage as Hypnotists. We use our voice, gestures, presence, and especially our eyes. No one in the world has eyes as special as ours. We're naturally mesmerizing." Leaning over her shoulder, Josaan pointed into the mirror. "Now look into your eyes. Become familiar with how they look, how they're shaped, and how they show emotion. Hypnotism is as much magic as it is a social grace. Your eyes will be doing a lot of the work. Take a long look." Josaan remained there at her shoulder. Though he instructed her to look only at herself, he seemed to be taking his own advice. His own eyes, twin golden pools swirling with an unusual reddish hue, stared deeply into hers.

[Yuralria]

Yura blushed slightly as Josaan took her hand and led her over to a mirror... Exotic... She had never gotten that oe before, and dancing in the tavern, she had gotten called alot of things, not all of them pleasant, and most of them, rather insulting. She grinned a little at the thought, then looked up into the mirror.

Yura had never really examined her own eyes before. Stared into the mirror as they turned a light blue, then shifted to a pinkish as her eyes met Josaan's. Her eye's had never been that shade before, but she forgot all about hre own eye's as she looked into his, losing all focus on what they were doing in the library. The beautiful gold and red mesmerized her. A slight brush of wind against her shoulder and her eye's jumped back to her own face in the mirror. Acting as if she hadn't been staring longingly into a guy's eyes, she asked a intentionally innocuous question "So how would I go about putting magic into my stare?"