Basic Protection (Solo)

[Eridanus]

Day 42, Summer of 512 AV
Night
Traveler's Row

Eridanus retired to his room in the affordable lodgings graciously provided to visitors, yawning as he removed the outer articles of his clothing and placing them neatly by the side of the room. His mind was heavy with the announcement made by the head honcho of the city. Although he knew that there was nothing much he could do but wait until the expedition departed, his body was buzzing with an equal mix of anticipation and apprehension.

What could he do?

Turning to Wysar as he began systematically folding his clothing, he returned to his bed, sitting cross-legged on it as he reflected on the previous incidents in Alvadas - the dreams and uneasiness that made him and his konti companion travel the length of the Suvan Sea. He thought of the current incidents, and what may come later.

His mark tingled mildly as his thoughts turned to the God of Conviction, which brought his mind to Evantia. The holy aura that anticipated movements, allowing him to know what would come next. He wondered if Avalis' mark was similar in that while Evantia was short-term while Avalis' was long-term. Perhaps he should probably ask Nira'lia about it.

Discipline.

He tried his best to portray that ideal, and always did so with steeliness in body and mind. It was what he could do to-

Preparation.

That was it! There was something he could do after all. Waiting was not going to solve problems. No, Wysar would have wanted him to strengthen his body and mind. He did not help those who did not help themselves, and he knew now what else he could do. It required extensive work, but he could not afford to be lazy.

That was not becoming of a Faithful indeed.

[Eridanus]

Recalling the quickly made shield that he created back in the Caverns while sailing across the Suvan Sea, he sighed, aiming to make something more complete this time. Now he had no excuse, for he was on firm ground (he had never really gained sea-legs).

However, if he wanted to believe and trust in something that he might be relying his life on, he had to do it the slow, elaborate way. Retrieving the artist's kit in his bag, he chose a dark colored crayon, one that could leave a dark mark easily.

Taking a deep breath to calm his body and mind, he began tracing circles and symbols throughout specific points in his body. The wrists and forearms and palms for a start, for these would be the beginning point of the entire shielding process.

Recalling the procedures he invented way back in Zeltiva, he began to recreate the various glyphs necessary to improve the shielding process from the ground-up. Djed multiplexers, and various paths and barriers, as well as simple empowerment glyphs, all these would help to concentrate and enrich the djed extraction process to result in highly refined and purified djed for use in shielding, and to facilitate the cohesive and smooth spreading of the shield throughout the body.

[Eridanus]

With the pre-shielding glyphing done, he began to hum in a low voice as he focused his mind. Pulling from djed from his body, he noted with satisfaction the low output-to-input ratio, as a result of the purification glyphs that were involved.

When he extracted enough, he began to spread them evenly throughout his body, not leaving a single space as the shaping process was further facilitated and eased by the path glyphs that he drew earlier.

So far so good.

For the first instruction, he decided to use the standard one of absorbing djed. Now intimately familiar with the pattern required to task that instruction, he could have easily eased through the process. However, there was something more interesting in mind.

He would simultaneously weave the instruction with a glyph, integrating the two intimately so that the instruction itself could be further boosted, thus amplifying the intended effectiveness of the final product.

As he weaved the first pattern, he modified the pattern slightly to accommodate a Glyph of Empowerment. It was actually a basic glyph amongst his arsenal of custom glyphs, with its purpose to simply amplify and thus, 'empower' the effect of whatever it was used on. In this case, by enhancing the power of the "Absorb Djed" instruction, the shield would increase its djed intake in terms of absorption. The benefits would then be two-fold, firstly to increase the longevity of the shield, and secondly to improve the shield's auto-fortification process in the event of a failed attack upon the construct.

[Eridanus]

As he began to craft the next instruction, he decided to focus on bladed weapons and related sharp objects. In other to do so, he first began mapping the basic template for anti-object tasking. As he finished the last of the template that was common in all anti-object patterns, he reached for the center, creating a central theme for this pattern.

It would require the creative use of another of his custom glyph - the Glyph of Definition - whereby he could stretch meanings and words with the ancient language and of course, a healthy dose of flexible creativity. Integrating the tasking creation and glyphing as he mixed and matched djed threads, he placed a central theme of the idea of sharpness, and the resulting injury that it caused. Lacerations, cuts, amputations, decapitations, they all resulted from sharp weapons, and that was exactly what he wanted to prevent. It was only a matter of finishing the rest of the tapestry in a similar manner as he tried to expand on the theme so as to cover the entire idea of bladed weapons.

Reaching for another space in the shield, he relished for a moment on just how many instructions he could map onto a shield as compared to - say, many years back. Things were so limiting then.

Preparing the shield for yet another tasking, he used the similar method of integration with the Glyph of Definition as he created the central theme of blunt force and trauma. It was similar to the way he did so for blade resistance, but now for blunt resistance. Weapons such as maces, hammers, or basically any brawling object that could cause a great impact. Swellings, bruises, fractures, even force to the point of actual flesh and skin splitting. He included all of these along with their own Glyphs of Definition as he weaved the entire instruction set for this particular tasking.

[Eridanus]

As some djed filled his eyes, he inspected critically the magical traces and aura of the shield, the unfinished product lighting up a whole lot more as his magical vision flared.

He estimated that there was one more space to squeeze into the shield, and he decided to dedicate it to ranged threats. Using the same Glyph of Definition, he set the central theme in place right at the center of the provided space. That of projectiles, of pieces of objects travelling at a speed from afar. Technically, sharp arrows might be protected by blade resistance, while a ball from a slingshot be protected by blunt resistance. However, he did not want to trust his life to technicalities, for it did not matter if he 'wasted' shield space for he could always stack shields.

It was better to be safe than dead.

Thus it was to this theme that he finished the rest of the tasking. Bladed arrows, blunt bolts, projectiles of all sorts, he expanded with the help of glyphs and imagination onto the tasking space and classified the whole thing under ranged weaponry protection. Projectile resistance.

As he prepared to finish the shield, more information regarding magical traces reached his eyes, and he realized that he had overlooked one more task space.

So I can shield 5 now?

[Eridanus]

Pursing his lips as he thought, he decided to settle on a personal favourite of his. The idea of total biological limitation, so as to prevent organic contact of all nature. He had been doing this for quite a while, and so he did so, though he would have to modify it somewhat.

First he decided on the pattern to use, then planned to integrate it with a Glyph of Partiality. What the glyph would do was to allow biasness in the shield, in that it would shield against one side but not the other. It was similar to the masterfully crafted one-way-only glass pieces.

Doing so would allow him to be protected against say, a punch, but still allowing the force of his punch to get through. Of course, he had to add more Glyphs of Definition to include this exception, and for the djed to shield himself against the impact if he chose to punch. It was complicated business, for it involved many more glyphs in the formation of the instruction.

[Eridanus]

As he finished the last bits of the shields, straightening a pattern here, redoing a little bit there, he inspected the entire construct with his magical vision, only shutting it down when he was satisfied with the result.

Finally, he took the entire shield, and place a general glyph on the whole thing. He had remembered the possible mess that he might have landed should he choose to withdraw reimancy from his body, and so had to include an exception.

Understanding that stacking was possible, he instead used the idea of this current shield as a "base shield" to form the foundation of the future stacks. Thus, glyphs that applied to this shield would then apply to the rest, and he would not have to do repetitive - and potentially inconsistent - glyphing.

It was a Glyph of Partiality, whereby he allowed djed and res to leave the shield but not enter. Placing the last djed threads in place, he finally sighed, his body and mind drained by the focus that was required in the last bell or so in putting it all together.

Perhaps he would continue on another day, but for now it was time to rest.

[Emblem]

Congratulations! You Get Glorious Experience! Eridanus Skills Glyphing- 3 XP Shielding- 3 XP Auristics- 2 XP Drawing- 1 XP Meditation- 1 XP Lores Custom Glyph: Glyph of Partiality Custom Glyph: Glyph of Empowerment Object Tasking: Blunt Resistance Object Tasking: Projectile Resistance Other Shenanigans: Request granted but such a shield will take immense amount of djed and overgiving is most likely something to overcome. Comments : Good work Eri! Just be weary of overgiving with this little project of yours. If you have any questions or concerns PM me!