Close Calls (Ignotus)

[Samantha Slate]

Samantha’s smile faded as the man continued speaking in a more subdued tone, "Very well, if you'll accept Shielding as well in exchange for Glyphing. One thing, though... Learning Reimancy is not a painless procedure. It requires initiation, and it can be incredibly dangerous. While I'll certainly teach you, my ability with Res is far from fine at the moment. If I were to attempt to initiate you now, I'd likely kill you by accident. If you could give me a bit of time to hone my own skills before initiating you, it would put my mind to ease, and be much safer for you. Of course, I'll still be happy to talk about it with you, as well as anything else. Just a season or two should be enough time." Though she was almost certain that he would indeed honor his word, Samantha was unnerved by the promise of a difficult initiation. She had heard that some disciplines were incredibly risky; even more so than the ones she studied. They were greatly beneficial, but dangerous nonetheless. If he so wanted, Ignotus could learn what he needed and ‘accidentally’ botch the initiation, dooming her to some undoubtedly horrid demise. The very thought seemed odd, though; Ignotus wouldn’t hurt her. Still… She couldn’t bring herself to trust someone she had just met with that kind of power over her life. "At any rate, it'll just mean your lessons won't have to be broken up by you teaching Auristics." With a shake of her head, Samantha somewhat guiltily informed Ignotus, “I’ll teach you Auristics after you teach me Reimancy, we can work on Shielding and Glyphing in the meantime.” The mage felt bad that she was withholding her knowledge from Ignotus, but she had little choice. It went against everything that Samantha had always lived by to entrust herself fully to someone who had no reason to keep her alive. Once he had her knowledge, all he’d need to do was get her out of the way; she couldn’t very well allow anyone to put her in that vulnerable a position. No one at all. Even if she were absolutely certain he’d never do such a thing, she couldn’t bring herself to weaken her position that much. “Where could we do the teaching?” She asked after a short pause, unwilling to give the man a chance to try to persuade her otherwise. With his affable manner, he very well might succeed. “Glyphing takes space, and Shielding requires privacy. Do you have anywhere in mind?” It was true; she couldn’t teach him Shielding somewhere where other people might overhear. It would do no good to just pass out her knowledge like candy to eager children.

[Ignotus Everto]

“I’ll teach you Auristics after you teach me Reimancy, we can work on Shielding and Glyphing in the meantime.”

He supposed it was to be expected. A little disappointing, but he really couldn't complain. Teaching a nigh harmless discipline in exchange for Shielding was more than satisfactory for Ignotus. The Hypnotist smiled resignedly at her and shrugged. "All right then, if you say so."
“Where could we do the teaching?”
Ignotus shrugged again. "Your dorm would work just fine, I think. We're heading there anyways. We might as well use it, yes?"

Simple. Practical. Private. Perfect.

[Samantha Slate]

"Your dorm would work just fine, I think. We're heading there anyways. We might as well use it, yes?" The Nuit's words brought Samantha's attention back to the fact that she was, in fact, showing a complete stranger where she lived without a second thought. She knew that it should bother her, but it just didn't! Normally, she'd be deeply unsettled if she even considered doing something like this. For some reason, she just trusted Ignotus. The wizard didn't know how she knew it, but she was certain that he'd never hurt her. Instead of fighting it, she just decided to go along with it for once. Samantha was tired of being cautious and worried over every little thing; one indiscretion couldn't hurt, could it? After considering Ignotus' words for a few ticks, the wizard nodded her assent, "All right, Ignotus." Samantha picked up the pace slightly, eager to get out of the chill night air--and away from the possibility of unseen threats--and back into the safety and security of her dormitory. The woman closed her eyes for a few ticks, centering her mind as quickly as she could, and skimmed the nearby auras. There weren't that many, as she had only a short range and the thick walls of the buildings screened out some of the closer auras. Samantha opened her now-blue eyes and allowed her grasp on the auras to fade. She didn't want to overwork herself, after all. They seemed safe enough, and Ignotus could surely protect her if they ran into any trouble. Huh, She thought, Since when did I count on other people to protect me? Samantha was unsure exactly how she felt about that.

[Ignotus Everto]

It was a pleasant enough walk back to the University. The air was cool, the city was blissfully silent, and there were no surprises or unpleasant encounters. Ignotus was quite pleased with the way things had turned out that night. A bit of fun with a drunken sailor, a lovely new puzzle, and the promise of not one new horizon, but two. And he didn't even need Auristics to know exactly what this one was feeling!

It was with strong satisfaction that Ignotus strolled through the great doors of the ancient academy. Climbing up winding stone steps to the dorms, with Samantha by his side, it was difficult to think that things weren't going just perfect. With a cheerful bounce in his step, he followed the Aurist into her dorm room, and shut the door.

[Arcane]

Rewards and Treasure! Sammy : Experience Points +1 Auristics +3 Negotiation +3 Observation Lores Accosted by a Drunk Saved by Ignotus Ignotus the Fire Reimancer Ignotus' Aura: Dead Yet Living Ignotus Lives in the University Ignotus the Nuit Ichor: The (White) Blood of Nuits Ignotus' Magical Knowledge: Basic Glyphing Ignotus' Magical Knowledge: Beginner Animation The Feeling of Peace and Security with Ignotus The Magic Knowledge Exchange Deal with Ignotus Comments I've always enjoyed your expertise of aesthetics; the combination of exquisite detail, metaphors and imagery is very pleasing to the eyes and mind (and the soul, for the various reader!). Quality writing indeed However, a note on magic. If you wish to retrieve more XP (not just magic though, for skills in general), you'd want to be more descriptive in your use of it, rather than just a "peer into his aura". Of course, that is also permissible if your current skill level allows it, but you won't be progressing in such cases. Also, read the Auristics page carefully and play to your skill level more accurately. What you just described easily in your reading of Ignotus' aura is something a high level aurist can do. At your level, make more effort, encounter some difficulty, and throw in much more time and scrutiny while inspecting the aura. Don't worry though, it's a common mistake and I've done it when I was new before, so I'm giving you these tips and tricks to help you in your future threads Iggy : Experience Points +1 Reimancy +2 Hypnotism +2 Persuasion +2 Acting +2 Observation +1 Negotiation Lores Samantha Lives in the University Samantha's Color Changing Eyes Samantha's Magical Knowledge: Auristics Samantha's Magical Knowledge: Shielding The Magic Knowledge Exchange Deal with Samantha Comments Iggy my boy, you'd really want to write more about the use of your magic skills if you want to get more XP, as I've mentioned earlier. Also, it would be nice if you played to your skill level. It's not just understanding your limits and magnitude of spells, but also in terms of execution. A novice reimancer should have difficulty even creating res and transmuting them. The same goes for a competent reimancer's 2nd element. His first element would be more practiced and familiar, but it does not mean easy nor flawless execution. Take that in mind as you can happily now select your 2nd element. Regarding Hypnotism, I think I've already said more than my fill on it in previous grades, so I won't repeat them. Refer to Kuvarakh's posts where he uses Hypnotism for a good example. I'm not asking you to copy his technique, of course, but to take note of the way he writes it to get what I mean by "more details". Also, take care to avoid overgiving when repeatedly using Hypnotism. Or more importantly, take care not to blow your cover; the best hypnotists achieve their aims with minimal actual hynotism used, placing them only in the most strategic bottlenecks. And even in such cases, the hypnotism acts only as the "tip of the iceberg" or the "end of the fuse". Get what I'm trying to say here? Other than that, I like your wry, matter-of-fact method of writing. It is entertaining and motivates me to continue reading However... wasn't this a perfect opportunity for Mister Fabulous to make his (second) debut?! In Conclusion First note: I mentioned some stuff regarding skills and magic in both of your comment boxes, so I want the both of you to read each other's comment boxes to get the full picture. It's not a major mistake and I'm not berating, more like kindly suggesting on improvements that can be made Generally, magic (and skills in general) can be used in two ways. Either in your comfort zone (something you do easily) and out of your comfort zone (something you aren't familiar with). The former is better than the latter in terms of performance, execution and results, but the latter will make for better progress since you're learning and upgrading. Of course, if your intent was the former, then you're doing nothing wrong. But if your intent was the latter, refer to my suggestions to make it better Now, on to my comments proper... This thread is very enjoyable definitely, due to both of your different but excellent styles of writing. The tension in the air is quite noticeable, and the way that Ignotus manipulates Samantha (and on how Sam's writer writes the results and of the PC's self-rationalization of inserted thoughts) is commendable. However, just a point, when bombarded with repeated hypnotist attempts (such as in this case) by a not-high-level hypnotist, you might get suspicious as to why you are feeling like that. You can of course, disregard it for story purposes, but just letting you know that this option exists in such cases if you encounter such situations in the future. All in all, this is a solid experience for me. Thanks guys! PS: I can imagine secret evil laughter as Iggy shuts the dorm door! Whether that was on purpose or not, the imagery and symbolism is strong here xD