Lost Perspective (Jilitse, pls)

[Malia]

Azola blinked. So Jilitse wasn’t yet willing to send her off to Mashaen, instead she wanted that Azola stayed with her a little longer. She was thinking about doing something with Malia herself, that was obvious. The younger Nuit inwardly shrugged. If Jilitse would be the teacher herself, she was the last to interfere. After all, she just wanted to learn. Her instructor just needed to be competent. Jilitse was as weird as every Nuit in her own, unique way, but she undoubtedly was competent enough.

Waiting for what was to come, Azola relaxed. Sahova was confusing, but also so exciting! She tasted the unfamiliar air, felt the atmosphere and knew that she would get used to it in due time. If she was lucky, she would call it her home by the end of the season.

The next words she took in with interest. Jilitse loved Mashaen? Another facet of that inscrutable person. It tasted bland, like something said again and again until it had lost its original meaning. Azola wondered whether Jilitse was still feeling the same for him than she had felt at their first meeting. So she had been one of the first volunteers of the Sahova Project. That meant … she was over 500 years old! Significantly older than Malia herself and one of the oldest Nuit at all. From one minute to another Azola was looking at her opponent with much more respect. What had she experienced during those countless years? Azola’s own story was quite extraordinary, speckled with foreign cultures and strange encounters, but now she was even more interested in Jilitse’s story. However, she could be patient. She had come because of Animation, not because she liked listening to others telling their life stories.

Considering that decision, the next question was more to her liking. She nodded and just opened her mouth when Jilitse continued to talk. First she told her the basics about circles and sources what was basically what Azola had already read back in Syliras. When Jilitse showed two almost identical gears to her, Azola curiously placed the smaller one in the smaller circle. She was paying close attention to what Jilitse was saying and doing. However, a few things she didn’t understand at the first time. “What do you exactly mean with emotional attachment? And what other soul can one use except their own?”

Then she tilted her head, lost in thought, and eventually commented: “If the object you want to animate mustn’t have a soul … Are plants qualified?” Her mind was already running a search for objects she could animate without too much further knowledge. Of course, she would have to learn a few additional things to make Animation easier and more efficient. That was the first time she actually got an idea of how difficult Animation was.

But now that she had begun there was no way back. Never.

Her thoughts went back to the lesson she was just receiving. Although it didn’t show, she was grateful that Jilitse didn’t send her off to Mashaen or ignored her or worse. Azola had a nice set of moral principles she usually stuck to … so she memorized that sort of debt. If Jilitse ever needed something Azola could give, she would gladly help her. Her mind worked like that.

The commands in the ancient language echoed in Azola’s ears. She hoped that she didn’t have to learn Nader-Canoch to imbue commands into her golems. So there was a second layer and a third layer she needed to make sure the golem received. Quite complicated, but she hadn’t expected anything else. “How does the teaching process look like in detail?”, she asked. The last part had sounded quite short and direct, but Jilitse had skipped the most important detail.

Then she nodded. It sounded like a fair deal. Give me an example of what you can do and I’ll determine whether you’re worth or not, Jilitse’s small quest seemed to convey. Azola, however, started with tilting her head, inspecting the laboratory and thinking about what she could do with the tools she had at hand.

OOCSorry for the huge delay! Was uninspired. And 1) I try to call her Azola from now on and 2) will think about the object she wants to animate in the next post.

[Jilitse]

"It is akin to copying the contents of another book." Jilitse said, tapping the left side of the table, "and transferring them to an empty book." She motioned her hand to the right side of the table. "But there are many kinds of books, thin ones, thick ones, useful ones, worthless ones, academic books, entertainment books, picture books..." She zoned out, probably recalling an older lecture she had once received. It was her father, comparing different kinds of people to different kinds of books. After a while she turned to Azola, "But you don't copy the contents outright. You modify it accordingly. It works both ways. You can improve on the book's contents or, worse, you can end up writing something stupid - in the same way you can copy your human movements to another object, but never fully imitate."

"Think of material objects as books. If you write your own story, if you copy your own self onto another material object, your djed gives life to its djed. It is like giving birth to your own making, and what creator does not feel some form of bond with her invention? Like mother to a child," she added a little sternly. "This, of course, can be disregarded as mere sentimentality. If you've been a nuit long enough," she nodded carefully, as if deliberating arguing thoughts in her head, "you eventually forget what it is like to be irrational, illogical. You forget trivialities."

"Preference for using other soul patterns is not always attributed to fancy emotional disorders. Sometimes it's matter of convenience and practicality. Say if you would like to animate an object to have snake-like movements - well I'd like to see you try that, using yourself as the source." Her tone was monotonous, half-sarcastic, half-amused. She drummed her fingers on the table. "You can, of course, use a real snake since its anatomical composition, form, and movements are closest to the characteristics you might wish to imbue to your creation. Now remember what I said, the source must not leave the ritual circle - you don't want to unleash half-a-snake of a creature." There was a light happy laugh. "Catching a snake is a feat in itself, much less controlling it during the animation ritual. How you can do such a thing I'd leave to your own musings."

Jilitse and Azola joined in silence, both of them adjusting to one another's presence. Azola continued the conversation with a question which Jilitse dutifully answered, "It depends. This, coming from an animator who works with golems. You see, someone like me would be concerned with an invention that is purposeful. I do not have pet projects. If I do I would do well with animating bones." Her smile widened, as if suggesting some sinister plan. It quickly disappeared into a thoughtful frown, "A leaf, a flower or a plant in a sense, is alive. My opinion, of course." It was her favorite line - saying that something was her opinion - because it sets the boundaries between the kind of creatures that think alike her and the kind who are only interested to have their own thoughts and opinions to be echoed.

"I am not very familiar with botany and biocosmic energies, but I suppose you could animate dead plants. Logs, chunks of twigs, and dried parts. But those things won't last-- I apologize, I do not wish to impose my sense of practicality on you. By all means try," she waved her hand dismissively and let go of her prim and proper posture, "I do not want you to think that animating objects has a list of things you must animate and must not animate. The only thing that should refrain you from animating any object - and I really mean any! - must be your will and interest. And ability." She added pointedly. Jilitse tried her best to open up her knowledge to Azola, in the same manner she was taught that knowledge was borderless and possibilities endless.

"Teaching process in detail?" Jilitse echoed, letting the words hum from her lips, "Aren't we in the process of learning already?" She stared inquisitively at Azola, as if she did not understand. "We could stay here in the laboratory, find anything of interest to you if you like, and I'll try my best to guide you through. If you want to animate something that cannot be found within the walls of the Citadel, I can accompany you elsewhere." Jilitse made the last comment sound both enticing and dangerous.

"For starters, I'd rather have you learn some paramagic skills. The animation ritual is not performed as it is, and it is helpful to have accompanying skills such as drawing and glyphing. I can teach you to use a compass if you don't know how to." She ran her fingers through a pile of metal tools and lifted out a metal compass. "This can aid you in drawing circles."

"If you are a stickler for perfection we can drop by the library and learn glyphing. I use glyphs to enhance my magic, but I'm not exactly an expert. We can learn together, if we have the time. Also," she added, "depending on the kind of object you want to animate, we might need to craft something. I can also guide you to a bit of metalsmithing if you want." She cut herself, "But those would delay performing a ritual. I'm laying down choices for you, and I'm giving you the opportunity to decide how to go about your learning."

"I can perform a ritual and you can learn vicariously from watching. But I strongly suggest that you perform your own ritual, I'll supervise you, don't worry. If things get awry I think I can get us new bodies within a matter of chimes."

[Malia]

Azola listened with great interest. The knowledge and skill of Animation would grant her more power, but apart from that she also enjoyed learning about the mechanism that had created her own Nuit existence. It was very interesting to learn something about her origins and how her ‘Master’ must have performed the ritual. Maybe she could support him with her knowledge when they met again.

Anyway, she understood what Jilitse meant. Emotional attachment … the connection of an inventor and his invention. Of course she wasn’t familiar with such a relationship, even less so considering that the invention might be able to talk and move on its own in the future. It was quite a good thing to know, but not more. She didn’t think that getting emotionally attached to an object could be so easy. It had to take more than standing in a circle and using one’s soul as foundation. She stayed quiet though and listened.

Meanwhile her mind put the information she received in order and categorized it. A foundation could be your own soul, bones or other parts of an animal or dead things, although those weren’t recommended by Jilitse. Azola easily understood why: What kind of things would objects with the life principle of a leaf imparted be able to do? Obviously the life principle decided on what actions were available for teaching the creation. Azola inwardly ticked the information off and followed the lecture. Of course, the most important question Jilitse couldn’t answer was what she wanted to achieve with her animation.

Then she blinked. Apparently she hadn’t made herself clear enough … but she let Jilitse talk about useful skills which was quite interesting itself. Yet it hadn’t been what she originally wanted to know. When the other woman was finished, she explained: “I’m interested in the idea of performing my own ritual. What I meant was the third layer of the animation process, teaching the animated object what I want it to know. How does that work?”

While processing all those facts, she thought about what kind of ritual she wanted to do. Obviously she wasn’t yet able to do difficult and complicated rituals, so she just had to build some kind of … thing that had enough limbs to perform limited movement, attach a life principle to it and teach it some basic commands like the ones Jilitse had shown to her earlier. After some time of thinking she let her gaze wander over the laboratory equipment, looking for something she could use. Something simple …?

Eventually she took a small sheet of paper and started sketching her plan on it. Of course, Azola’s drawing skills were average at best, but since the object she had in mind wasn’t very complicated, it could be drawn without too much effort – and even be recognized as what it was meant to be by others. It looked like a small doll, the one poor mothers created for their children out of cotton and wool rags. The material was the same, although Azola would be flexible. Leather would work best, she thought. Maybe Jilitse would voice some suggestions if she realized that the construct couldn’t work that way, although Azola wouldn’t demand any. Then she scribbled notes next to the sketch, jotting down the commands she wanted the thing to know. They were:

• walking
• moving arms
• bowing head

Then she hesitated for a while, thinking about where she should continue as well as giving Jilitse some time to comment.

[Jilitse]

Jilitse examined Azola's sketch and found it feasible. She silently stared, giving the impression that her mind was elsewhere.

"Hmm," She hummed, "These commands are a bit difficult for a beginner, but since you're willing to try, I'll give you some pointers." She looked thoughtfully back at Azola and continued explaining while complementing her words with hand gestures and reiterated the first few steps. Then, she paused and stood quietly, turning her back against Azola. "Creating the persona is a complicated process. I shall guide you to a basic method, but you will be free to follow your own course. For your doll, you will first have to focus. You can lay down your doll on the floor, but since your design is not sturdy to let it stand on its own, you'd have to work your way starting from scratch."

She put her palms together behind her and gracefully paced around. "For a basic persona, you have to create and transfer basic directives. These are necessary concepts such as the ones you wrote: bowing the head, moving the arms and walking. I'd suggest you begin concentrating on allowing the doll to stand. By experience you need not have it stand immediately, that can be done later on. Once you've taught it to stand, you can order it to stand. As the source, you will have to represent the actions. It will not be easy. But you can etch your commands into the object's memory, binding its actions to command words that you'd like your object to learn and follow."

"Unless you'd be willing to improve your design, you might have a hard time teaching your object to move around. Clothes are wobbly and simple rag dolls do not have the complicated joints that will allow it to resemble the movements of your body. But we don't exactly need a masterpiece," she stopped and glided towards Azola, "this will just be your first, anyway."

"We'll just have to make sure that your doll will be sturdy enough. Even so, you shouldn't try to make its limbs work the way elbows and knees bend. Teaching it to walk will be quite an effort, so we'll both concentrate on that. Moving its arms should be limited to swinging, anything else will be too hard to accomplish. Bowing its head will probably the easiest action to teach, but I recommend that you do it after allowing your object to stand."

"For now," Jil folded her arms, "those are the things you should know about creating the persona. There are many things you can impart using the animation ritual, and if your designs had been less complicated, maybe I would have..." She let the words trail off.

She placed her hands on her hips, "Well, Azola, I can't really fully explain the process this way. It will be better if I guide you while you perform the ritual..." She bowed her head as if thinking, "Maybe you can also start creating your little doll, we can both exchange insights on how to animate it."

She lifted her head and gave Azola a small smile. "What do you want to do next?"

OOCHey, sorry for the delay. My practicum got extended a bit and it was too busy to sneak a post.

[Malia]

First Azola thought that her opponent wasn’t really looking which almost caused her to move on with the production, but then Jilitse spoke and Azola listened. A lot of the input she gave was difficult to understand and even more difficult to assess, but Azola was used to thinking a lot, so she didn’t have any major problems. To understand the content of a speech, it wasn’t necessary to understand every single word, after all.

Apparently the planned material created a problem. While listening to Jilitse, Azola thought about other materials and how likely would it be to get them on the island. The most important question, however, was: What kind of material would be useful enough for a doll that was supposed to move its limbs? Hardened leather might work, although Azola couldn’t think of a reason why the Sahovan wizards would keep such a material. Jilitse would know about exact information, though, she supposed. “I’m considering the option of using hard leather as material”, she interrupted at some point and added: “If that’s available for experiments.”

Then she nodded at Jilitse’s suggestions. No elbows and knees, limiting the arms to swinging and concentrating on teaching the doll to stand. That sounded quite reasonable and she didn’t intend to create too complicated golems anyway. It was her first piece and special because of that, but it certainly wouldn’t become a masterpiece. Azola could accept that and be open to suggestions at the same time. Her goal was to make the rag doll golem as easy to command as possible.

When Jilitse finished her explanation and stopped walking around, Azola tilted her head. “I’d like to start creating the doll now. Depending on the available materials, it would be produced out of rags or leather … tied together by thin, but strong threads, so that moving is possible to a certain degree.” She didn’t drop her gaze, but rather kept her eyes fixed on Jilitse’s equally black and emotionless ones. “I’m no seamstress, but I think that would be easy to actualize.”

Images crossed her mind … Plans started to adjust and unfold at the same time. Azola was concentrating on the project. Still she hadn’t understood every part of the process, but issues about later stages would be resolved later.

[Jilitse]

Jilitse smiled at Azola. Or rather, she showed her eternal smile at Azola. She walked past the nuit, but not before softly patting her shoulder. "Wait here," she said. "Try not to break anything while I'm gone."

Jilitse went out of the laboratory and walked a few corridors away where another common tool shop was. She picked up some tools: nails, hammer, clips, scissors, and the like. Then she tried to look for leather in a nearby tailoring room. There wasn't any fine leather available - Azola's golem-doll called for slightly expensive materials and those required special permissions. No use dawdling about filing out a request form that will take days to get approved. Jilitse settled for scrap leather, ranging from leather, cloth, fur, and even bark. She tried to salvage the bigger pieces, and placed them all in a small bag. Jil also borrowed a couple of sewing tools for Azola.

When she returned to the room where she left Azola, she was carrying a couple of bags and some tool kits. She handed the bag of scrap cloths and furs to Azola. Above it, she placed a rectangular box that contains all the sewing tools Azola might need. "These are scrap materials, I don't really have the resources to get you good stuff. I also brought my own tools," Jil showed Azola some gadgeteering tools. "These might come in handy." She picked up a nail and a small hammer, "I can punch holes through the leather."

While Azola was working on her doll, Jilitse was left to her own tinkering ideas. She took a roll of thick wire and started to work on some form of skeleton. She began by straightening out a couple of wires. Then, she cut a few pieces into identical lengths: two for the arms, two for the legs, a long one for the torso or spine, and a shorter one for the head. She worked by her table, pulling and bending the wires with ease. Jil bent the two longer wires with her pliers, twisting and rolling parts to resemble feet. She checked if the legs could stand on their own and each time the legs were bent awkwardly, she pulled and straightened the wire. She also hammered the feet, it was important for the stand. For the arms, she bent all the ends into hooks. Jil then cut a piece of wire for the hips, bending and hooking the spine wire onto its middle. She tightened the wire's hug by pinching the pieces with a plier. There was also a need to keep the spine straight, so she double-checked her pieces and made sure that there was no misplaced or dislocated 'bone'. Then, she pulled, bended, and rolled the edges of the wires for the hips. In here she hooked each of the legs. She had to measure the proper length of the legs, making sure that the legs are equal so that the skeletal model will be able to stand upright. She attached the legs securely, leaving enough room for the legs to sway back and forth. Jil did the same for the arms: she started with a wire that she attached to the spine, which she bended slightly to resemble a hanger; and then twisted and curled the edges into an eye; afterwards she hooked the arms, and then twisted, curled and secured the arms. She attached the 'head' as it was, a stick connected in between the shoulders.

Once done, she turned to Azola. "Look at this. See, you must make your doll so the feet can only move back and forth. If you allow other directional movement, there's a big risk for your doll to walk awkwardly. You want your doll to step forward and backward," Jil demonstrated the doll tipping left and right, "not have it wobble like this. If you get competent enough, it'll be easier to animate anthropomorphic golems." Jil demonstrated how the doll should stand and walk. Next she showed Azola the skeletal arms, "For the arms, I suggest you find a way to allow the arms to move freely." She forcibly rotated the little thing's arms, playing with it. "You can make it stretch up! Or down, or left or right. Remember," she gave the wire doll to Azola, "the more actions you want to teach your doll, the harder it will get."

"It's not enough that you give your doll arms and legs for it to learn how to walk or dance. You must make it so it can walk or dance." She nodded softly, "So, let me see how you're doing?"

[Malia]

Jilitse left Azola behind in the laboratory, reminding her not to break anything. A little confused, the younger Nuit eyed the departure. Now that she was left with time on her own, she started thinking about what she had seen of Jilitse so far. The witch was quite extraordinary, that was sure. Apparently she knew much, but she didn’t share it with others for free. That, however, was contrary to what she did with Azola unless she had taken her story as a payment. Perhaps she simply liked watching other people’s attempts to survive around the citadel. Perhaps she had found something about Azola she liked to observe. Naturally, Azola couldn’t be completely sure what Jilitse was up to. Perhaps she would be able to understand her intentions when she reached the age Jilitse was in now. Then, however, Jilitse would have become something entirely different again.

The age thing actually was quite tricky. Nobody could truly understand someone older, because they hadn’t experienced what the older person had already gone through. A complicated topic time was. Tanroa had woven her net with care and cleverness. Not that she tried, but would Azola attempt to understand the reasons behind her Patron Goddess’ behavior, she would certainly fail. Unfortunately? Well, there were more than enough options to gain power. Blinking, she thought about the blue rings circling her irises.

After some time Jilitse returned with a heavy-looking bag and some more tools. When she explained that cheaper materials had to suffice, Azola nodded, unperturbed. “Thank you”, she simply commented, arranged the tools around her and started working. Occasionally she glanced over to what Jilitse was doing, but apart from that she fully concentrated on her own task.

First she thought about the skeleton of the doll. Apparently it had to be constructed in such a way that it was able to stand on its own. The limbs had to be limited to moving into the particular direction she wanted them to move. While pondering over her construction plans she noticed that she slowly got a better grasp at the principle of Animation. Although it was a discipline of magic, one had to do a lot of extra work to ensure that the golem was working in the end. It was more of a craft than some flashy spells one could hurl towards an enemy. On the contrary, golems also were more durable and stayed with one until their destruction or until one had no need for them anymore. They were reliable. Azola hoped that Animation was a secure discipline. Most people told stories about the horrible things magic could do to its owners, but hopefully Animation was one of the less dangerous disciplines.

After some more sketches and notes on the paper she started working with the provided materials. Especially the bark she considered as useful. The stiff and essential parts would be pieces of bark. With a small knife she carefully broke the bigger junks into the pieces she needed. Warnings about cutting herself and spilling her precious ichor drifted through her mind, but she managed to handle the knife without any mistakes. An elongated piece served as spine and then there were smaller pieces to support the limbs if necessary. Azola hoped that the pieces of bark would last long enough to actually animate and test the golem though.

Next was the actual body. Taking the scissors, Azola cut four straps out of it, two being of equal length respectively. After pausing to check with her notes she went back to the bark spine and carefully wrapped some cloth around it to give the doll some substance around the torso. For lack of better ideas she simply secured it with some thread knotted together at the back. A head was fashioned by sewing a ball of cloth at one end of the elongated bark-fabric silhouette. In a fit of amusement she drew two dots and a straight line across what she labeled as the face. The limbs had to be attached next. Fidgeting with needle and thread in her undead hands, she tried to sew the leather threads to the sides of the torso, but found that the material was too hard for the needle.

Then she remembered the hammer and nail and turned to Jilitse. The next moment she was met with the presentation of the wire skeleton and more important lessons on golem anatomy. Azola watched, choosing not to interfere with her request. So she had to attach the limbs in a special way. After Jilitse was finished, she tilted her head, another curious question in her mind. “What do novices usually animate? How did you start to learn Animation?” Then she pointed back to her working space where the doll was lying with the leather limbs stretched out around it. “The limbs need holes to attach them to the torso. I guess I also have to craft some kind of feet. Would you help me with your hammer and nail?”

If the answer turned out to be yes, Azola would patiently wait until Jilitse had done her work and go back to sewing the limbs to the body. Of course, she almost expected the older Nuit to offer some piece of advice. She wouldn’t reject them.

[Jilitse]

Jilitse transferred tables and did as Azola requested. With a serious expression in her face, she turned to Azola's work area and noted the parts of the doll the nuit made. She took a pencil and nicked a mark on one arm then did the same with the other arm. She took a thin thread and checked if the two points were parallel, then took a short ruler and measured if the marks were placed at similar distances from where its shoulder should be. She lightly pounded a small nail into one piece of the leather, giving it a heavier blow to bore a good hole. She examined the piece of leather and ran her thumb and forefinger on the part that had a hole, checking if the leather was damaged. Satisfied that the hole was small enough to not cause the leather to rip, she also took another and bore one more hole. This time she used a slightly smaller nail, the leather was fighting its pressure when she tried to pound the nail through. Jil tried to twist the nail, hoping that the pointed tip would push through the hide, but screwing it down only gave the leather a small punched bump. Then she tested a small thin screw, boring it down the leather strip using her hand. The second strip had a larger hole, but it was barely noticeable.

After that, she picked up Azola's creation. Jil marked the areas where the limbs would be attached. She checked if the marks were also properly in place, measuring with a tape if the distances were correct. Despite what she said about helping with a hammer and nail, Jil took a long thin screw and started to gently turn it on one of the marks, taking her time to bore through a hole. She did the same with the other areas, forcing the screw into the bark, gently moving what seemed to be the doll's dress to allow her to work properly.

Then, she cut out two more leather strips, shaping and measuring it as Azola had done. She reached for a small jar of sticky glue, some wire and a few pieces of smooth thin sticks. As if planning for something, Jilitse made mental calculations while scribbling something invisible with her index finger.

"You can choose to wrap around leather on one of these sticks, or sandwich a wire between two leather strips. We can screw another piece of stick - it will be a pain to cut something so small - to serve as the foot, or we can glue this wire between these two strips, and then you can sew them together, and then when it's dried I can help you bend the wire into a semblance of a foot. I don't really do legs, so I should thank you." Most Sahovan golems were given wheels for mobility. "If your doll will work, I'll get to learn to make golems with legs. Or at least get the idea of one. We shall see." A careful nod.

She watched as Azola worked, and tried to answer her previous question, "I assume you previously asked about novice Animators here in Sahova? They work on making golems." Jilitse looked ridiculously at Azola, "What else will they do?" Jilitse fully understood what Azola was trying to ask, but found it important not to reveal Sahova's projects in detail. If Azola had been undead long enough, she should know what Sahova was up to. You can't conquer the world if the world knew the kind of weapons with which you will carry out your dastardly plans. So as not to sound too impolite, "Sometimes they work as assistants for other Masters. The latter most likely, because novice animators tend to do have bright ideas which turn into accidents. Not that the Masters work better. Sometimes it is they who get stupid ideas and they who make bigger accidents." Like Mashaen and Drainira.

She changed the topic, "I learned animation from my father. It was not easy, learning world magic. When I went to the Royal Academy of," she added upon realizing Azola couldn't have been old enough, "when I went to a magic school in Alahea, this was a long time ago, mind you." She laughed, as if mentioning Alahea in a conversation was dark humor. "I served as adjunct to other better students, and eventually became an assistant to other better mages." Jilitse was concise, as if she didn't want to reveal more about herself.

It was her turn to ask questions, "There is something peculiar about you. I'm curious about your eyes, your master, and your revenge. Why animation?"

Jilitse knew that many skilled Animators were killed during the Valterrian, specifically because they did not have the capacity to protect themselves. With the storm of wild djed, creating golems became a dangerous discipline. Now here was Azola, saying she wanted to learn animation so she could get her revenge. Parts of it Jilitse could not understand, as Azola did not seem to trust her with details, and Jil found it absurd that learning animation could help carry out revenge. If she hears Azola's opinion, maybe she will think differently of her craft, and gain sense of her own capacity as a world mage.

[Malia]

While watching Jilitse and trying to memorize what she did with ruler, screw and leather, Azola realized that her opponent took the time to make sure about details Azola herself would have missed. Most likely she would use visual judgment once more to determine if the feet and arms were of equal length which might have resulted in difficulties for the golem to move. Another thing she had learned from Jilitse.

However, she also pondered over the question of constructing feet. Then Jilitse was finished and added her own thoughts about crafting feet. It certainly was a clever idea to include pieces of wire so that the doll could stand on its own. Azola remembered that earlier Jilitse had said something about the importance of the golem being able to stand freely. With the wire she could accomplish that and at the same time have something to glue to the leather legs so that the feet were properly connected at the ‘wrists’. Nodding along to that idea, she received wire and a different pair of scissors from Jilitse’s tool pile and started cutting the wire into two pieces approximately four inches long. Once again she made sure that they were of equal length by laying them on the table side by side. After all, feet didn’t have to be of exactly equal length, right? Anyway, the leather pieces came next. When cutting them down to the needed length, Azola made sure that they were about one inch shorter than the wire pieces, making sure that the wire could be bent and tied to the leg as well as leaving some space for sewing them together. Considering that she was everything but experienced in sewing, she preferred to leave more than enough space to work some thread into the leather. The jar of glue had already been placed in close proximity, so she only had to reach out and drag the rough side of the leather through the glue so that it got sticky enough to hold the wire in place. The same she did with a second leather piece, wanting to make sure that the wire was safely sandwiched between both of them. The most difficult part started now – taking a rather thick needle and a long, long, long piece of black thread Azola started the painfully finicky process of piercing the needle into the leather and dragging the thread through it.

While working she listened to Jilitse’s answer. Obviously the other Nuit wasn’t ready to reveal the secrets of Sahova – not yet anyway. Perhaps, if Azola stayed long enough, she would get a better insight into what the Animators were actually up to. Of course, ideas and plans for revenge were at the wrong place at the island. Although she didn’t know if she could win, Azola would see helping with projects in Sahova as an interesting option after completing her mission. There was still so much to learn – not only about Animation, but also about the Nuit who inhabited the citadel.

Jilitse answered in short, concise sentences, but that didn’t bother Azola as much as it might have someone else. Her attitude was generally apathetic towards everything and everyone. Jilitse was no exception … although she seemed to start turning into one. If Azola stayed longer, she would certainly get a special place in Azola’s mind for reasons that didn’t first and foremost include her status as a mage.

When Jilitse laughed, Azola almost immediately mirrored her amusement. The shadow of a smile crossed her features and was gone only seconds after. Perhaps she started to copy Jilitse just because she respected and admired the other Nuit’s skill. Perhaps there was something more. Azola didn’t want to think about that strange occurrence while working on her golem. Not here, not now. So instead of drifting off into thoughts and ideas, she tried to force herself to understand the following words.

And heard Jilitse’s curious question. So it was her time to answer and raise another piece of the small curtain that was lack of knowledge. Well, she didn’t have any objections, but she was still careful about what she revealed. Sahova was a hotspot and a gathering place for Nuit from all over the world. Her enemy might already have connections within its walls. Better be careful. Bending down over her sewing work, she decided to ignore the part about her eyes. It was the Animation part Jilitse had elaborated upon, so she would get an explanation about that. “Indeed, at first sight it looks like a silly choice, doesn’t it? Animation doesn’t include any immediately offensive or defensive skills, nothing to startle and stop enemies attacking from behind. But it offers something else: comfort. With enough experience, golems can be anything the Animator wants. They can protect, attack, act as spies. They can even bear gnosis marks, or so I’ve heard. What does appeal to me most is that they are reliable.” Obviously that was the key point she had been aiming at. “Their loyalty, of course, relies on your creativity of determining original commands. Their functionality relies on your skill in gadgeteering or sewing or what have you. Everything about them is predictable and controllable. That makes them the most useful tools. Additionally”, and at that point she flashed Jilitse a quick glance, as if finding out whether she got the joke, “overgiving doesn’t happen to them.” Well, to the wizard it did happen, but Azola assumed that both of them already knew that.

Then she went back to her sewing work. While talking she had managed to more or less properly finish the first foot which had been decorated with a messy chaos of black thread. However, the two parts with the wire in between stuck together and that was everything that counted. Now Azola moved on to the second foot, trying to work in a more organized pattern: After gluing the two leather pieces and the wire together, she would start at one corner, work down the length of the foot, cross the part where usually the toes were located and finish at the corner opposite to her beginning spot. Between those two the wire would be visible and bent towards the leg. The next part would be to attach the feet to the doll’s legs.

[Jilitse]

There was truth to Malia's opinion about golems, but to an Animator like Jilitse, who had seen hundreds, if not thousands of golems get junked, rejected, and destroyed, golems were far dangerous than they ought to be. "Remember, Azola. You are giving life to your creation. Golems sometimes take their directives at heart, sometimes too seriously." Like Drainira. "There are things only experience can teach you, it would be unfair if I will spoil your learning process." Jilitse stared at Azola, and then back at the golem the other nuit wished to make. "Animation requires a tandem of seriousness and creativity. The more intricate your design, the longer you'll take. This is the reason why animating an object may sometimes take days. You, however, need only to stick to basics. Keep your commands simple, keep the directives concise."

"If that's over and done with, we could begin with the ritual." Jilitse took out a compass and handed it to Azola. "Draw a circle. You should place the tip on the surface, and then sweep an arc, and then a full circle using the end with the writing instrument." Jilitse demonstrated this using her thumb and forefinger. "This device allows you to create perfect circles. As a rule of thumb, the better your ritual circle is, the more efficient your magic will be. It may take you more than one try, so feel free to use some of the paper in the drawer for practice. Try it on the desk, just clear away the table."

Jilitse stepped aside and carefully measured four equidistant points from where she was standing. She then drew dots of the same length, and then slowly traced arcs to create a big circle, wide enough for Azola. "If you're confident enough, you may create a circle that meets the edge of the one I just drew. Bring your doll, and set it standing here." She pointed to the area where Azola ought to draw a circle. "And then take my place."

"I'll guide you and intervene if I see that you're doing something wrong. If you want I can repeat the main parts of an Animation ritual." She slided to one side of the room and stood still. "By any chance do you know any Glyphing? If not, we'll have to do without glyphs. Keep focused but pay attention to any advice that I may give during the course of the ritual."