A Captivation of Interest!

by **Khal'iah** on April 11th, 2013, 11:06 pm

Timestamp: 16th day of Spring 492 AV

At long last, the frosty nip of Morwen's presence had retracted from the Cyphrus region, and the warmth typical of Riverfall began to make its return. For this, the young Akalak born to the name Khal'iah Vojak was exceedingly grateful. Though he had nothing against the deity of winter and ice, he absolutely, positively could not stand cold weather! As such, the warmth of spring was a welcome sensation to wake up to; especially in Khal'iah's mind. The youth rose from his bed shortly after the break of dawn, as was the habit his sire had drilled into him, and garbed himself in the simple clothes he had laid out the evening prior. Following this, he set about his morning routine: first tending to his hygeine, then descending the stairs of his home to greet his mother, sire, and twin sibling at the breakfast table. They all sat together for no more than thirty minutes before deviating to begin their respective days.

Khal'iah's always began with a basic, morning workout that lasted from the time of breakfast until late morning. This generally consisted of a jog about Riverfall, a light spar with his sire, and the lifting of weights within his home. Once complete, the youth was afforded three hours to himself before he settled into an even more rigorous training session that consisted of lessons in wielding various weapons. Though the young Akalak would generally spend his afternoon freetime playing about with his peers, this afternoon Khal'iah decided to deviate from his general routine. His reason being: his birthday had passed only eight days prior and he was constantly reminded of his rapidly approaching trial and all that it entailed for his life. Upon succeeding, which the youth was confident he would, he would be able to pursue any line of work he so chose...and as such, he opted to look into the future occupations that were at his disposal.

This led the young man to the Valkala Library: the towering, two-story center of knowledge within Riverfall. To one so small, it was a cathedral of learning, characterized by miles of shelves crammed with books! The young Khal'iah, once he got over the state of awe that typically overwhelmed him upon entering this particular location, set about browsing the various subjects that were open to him. He thumbed through tomes of the arts, collections on the sciences, and even skimmed through a book on military tactics. Yet none of these sufficiently captured the purple-skinned Akalak enough to have him sit down and dive in. So, he continued to browse about, eventually coming to the section of the library dedicated to the study of magical arts. Though he had no skill whatsoever in magic, the youngling couldn't help but paruse this section as well.

Eventually, the youth came upon a particular tome on the subject of Alchemy. He gripped the large, leather-bound book in his small hands and hefted it over to a table before beginning to read. Much of its contents flew right over the youth's head, and in earnest it was the pictures that captured his attention. After all, he was a mere twelve years of age! Still, the book and its subject matter fascinated him, enough so that he sat there for several minutes, simply thumbing through the book.

by **Rayage** on April 21st, 2013, 6:54 am

Ledger Adjustments :

The Alchemist sighed faintly as he looked down at the blank book which he had procured recently, quite recently in fact. The blank pages teased him as he stared at it, mocking him. Could he do it? Could he really write his own tome of alchemical knowledge and experience? Of course he could. The undead had plenty of experience with the magic and knew some things which others might not even begin to understand about the art. The main study of his research- the Augmentation, Alteration, and Creation of Life was a taboo subject among many people, and was outlawed even in the early days. It amused him how laws, if not followed, were meaningless if the one who broke them was never quite caught.

The nuit wore his signature look: a bald man in a robe which looked as ancient as the walking corpse. The robe was, for all purposes, mostly black. Patches of all sorts of different materials and colors dotted the cloak, obscuring the black fabric and tainting it with a sort of happiness. Human, by all means, dark circles were under his eyes looking as if the man didn’t get enough sleep at first glance. However signs of the post-death conditions were beginning to show. With the coming of spring and warmer weather he was sure his bodies wouldn’t last nearly as long as they normally did. Rayage, in that way, liked winter as the cold helped him in many ways.

He already wasn’t trusted. That much he could tell. The Akalak followed him, watched him closely, and monitored him, which suited Rayage just fine. He knew he was an outsider, but he was glad he wasn’t outright attacked. The nuit was intent to show that he posed no threat to the community at large. He was here, well… for a very simple reason. He wanted to escape and see someplace new, someplace where he had never been before. Adventure called to him, to his more youthful side, and beckoned him onward towards the unknown, looking for the light of the sun in this sea of darkness which was now called Mizahar.

On the first page of the book, cover just opened, Rayage dipped the quill into the ink and in big font wrote “The Arcane Alchemia” in common tongue. Each word occupied a line of its own. ‘The’ started out in the very left hand corner of the page, and slowly the words flowed over, drifted across the page as the nuit went to the next line and wrote ‘Arcane’. The word had some space and was not positioned directly under the word ‘The’ but a little to the right. Finally Rayage finished ‘Alchemia” which was positioned a little to the right under the word ‘Arcane’.

Below the title the nuit quickly drew a circle; a near perfect one too as he has had plenty of practice drawing such circles in the past. From that circle he marked off four points as if to form a box within the circle, but instead drew four smaller circles around the center of the points which he had marked. In the center of the bigger circle he wrote ‘Daladjas’, which was really the theme he was setting out to write about. The change, to improve – dala. I, self, oneself, the speaker- djas.

Rayage loved the ancient tongue, most especially the word ‘dala’. He found it amusing that the word represented both the idea of change, and the idea of improvement. It hinted at the thought process of the ancients, and much wisdom could be derived from that very word. To change is to improve as improving is to change. Change is always good, change is always needed, change runs the world round and round…

The alchemist kept at his work writing various phrases and single words in ancient tongue surrounding the ‘alchemy circle’ which he drew below the title of his ‘book’. He needed to focus, and even the youth who came in didn’t disturb him. Rayage kept to himself, secluded at the table, not minding what the other was doing. Why would he care what some young akalak could want to read about? It was probably something on the benefits of body building or tactical information on the lands surrounding Riverfall. Something. Something which did not interest the mage.

by **Khal'iah** on April 21st, 2013, 8:01 am

As the small hands, and even smaller fingers, of the young Akalak continued to flip the old, yellowing pages of the musty tome, a new expression found its way upon its countenance. His mind, so naive and ignorant to the practice of Alchemy, could not even fathom that which was passing by his shimmering eyes; and the more he turned the pages, the more advanced the subject matter became. No longer was his curiousity sated by vibrant images of circles and various pieces of equipment. Instead, confusion found its way into his mind as he skimmed passages regarding formulas for different reactions: more text than pictures. However, where most children would simply discard the book and pick up another, probably on the art of body building or something regarding tactics, the young Khal'iah simply flipped to the beginning of the book and started from page one.

"Alchemy." he said, stating the words upon the page aloud. This was a habit he had formed since shortly after he had learned how to read. Fortunately enough, his young voice did not carry very far, covering a distance that perhaps the one seated at a table adjacent to him might here. Nonetheless, the youngling continued with absolute disregard for whomever was in close vicinity. "A discipline of....world magic....that creates ar-ti-fi-ci-al...matter by el...elevating sub-stan-ces found in nature." The first sentence proved difficult enough, as he had to sound out some of the words. It was not that the young Akalak was illiterate or lacking of education. No, it was simply because the tome was written in Common, his second language and one he had yet to fully master. No matter, he had enough grasp of the tongue in order to at least read the first sentence before his brow tightened in frustration.

"I don't get it." he said dejectedly, slumping back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest. His lips momentarily poked out in a childish pout as he fumed. Normally, Khal'iah was used to picking up things with relative ease. This was not due to any exceptional talent on his part, but due to the nature of the training he endured on a regular basis. This training was specialized in order to the trainee to walk away with a new skill each and every day. Reading tomes on Alchemy and comprehending them were an entirely different ballgame. However...Khal'iah Vojak would not be so easily bested! Not by a book of all things! So, with a childish fire in his eyes, the young Akalak seized the tome in his hands and looked about the room for any adult who might be able to clarify the subject.

After all, he was always taught to ask questions if he didn't understand something. In the bat of an eye, the young, violet-skinned Akalak found the Nuit seated adjacent from his table and nearly leapt up from his seat in order to approach him. While the child regarded the man's attire as strange, and his appearance as stranger, he was not deterred in his quest to understand what the book was talking about. "Excuse me sir." he inquired in Common, laying the tome on the table facing the man so that he could clearly see the content of the first page. "What's Alchemy? What's World Magic?"

by **Rayage** on April 21st, 2013, 2:06 pm

The nuit was satisfied with the first page. The Arcane Alchemia, it had quite the nice ring to it, and the alchemy circle, as rudimentary as it might be, served as a good symbol of what the book was actually about if one couldn’t guess from the name. The art of Alchemy, the power to not only change the world, but set yourself on a journey to become change itself. It was almost a religious philosophy the nuit held with the magic, and it was that philosophy which he would inscribe in the first chapter. Change everlasting!

Setting the quill back in the inkwell the nuit waited for the page to dry properly. His glaze wandered about the room looking at the various books which Riverfall had collected over time. It was quite the accumulation indeed. There had to be respect for any library which housed and stored information, especially one as particular as this. The books seemed to be written by many different people, passed through many different hands. It was a wonder that they, as a civilization, had the power to properly store such knowledge for the future generations. It made the nuit feel almost obligated to protect such a place, and the people who spent their lives safeguarding the knowledge.

However, little did anyone in Riverfall need the nuits protection. What little security he could offer was often laughable compared the sheer martial skills everyone seemed to possess. It made him feel a little awkward. Not because he couldn’t protect, but because he would be so outmatched here if anything would to happen. Even he children were trained in the martial arts. Rayage was a researcher, and as such he knew just about nothing about fighting, armed or otherwise. Though, everyone had what they were good at, right? This nuit just happened to good at Alchemy, a form a magic.

While waiting for the page to properly dry the wizard heard mumbling of a child reading aloud to himself. The Alchemist didn’t pay much mind to him, as he had more important things to do and worry about. Besides, Alchemy was a dangerous art, and one not suited for a warrior-child. It was only until the kid regarded him did the nuit respond. Eyes looked over the book set in front of him before they cast a judging glance at the young Akalak before him before returning to the book itself. There was a pause, a mental contemplation before he spoke, ”Alchemy and World Magic…” his voice trailed off.

”If you don’t even know what World Magic is, child, I don’t think you can even tell me how Magic is generally defined as?’ he asked, testing the youths knowledge on the subject, ”If you cannot define to me ‘Magic’, then starting with Alchemy itself, and wanting to define ‘World Magic’ is impossible.”

”You are starting too narrow, boy. It is like wanting to learn how to fight when one doesn’t know how to make a fist. Learning Alchemy now would be like defending your ‘honor’ only that you do not know what the word means. Do you understand?’ he asked.

by **Khal'iah** on April 22nd, 2013, 12:13 am

For the briefest of moments, the brow of the young Akalak furrowed. He was ever so slightly frustrated, not at the Alchemist who had so eloquently put things into perspective for the youth, but at his own ignorance! There were many things that the violet-skinned child did not understand, but all the questions he had were generally answered by those above him in such a way that left him satisfied. However, the Nuit, though he had put things into context brilliantly, had left the Akalak with more questions than answers. Before responding to him, the young Khal'iah abandoned the tome of Alchemy and gripped the sides of the closest chair. He proceeded to drag it over to the Alchemist's side and promptly seated himself.

"I understand." he said nodding in a childlike manner. He paused and looked up to the man, his pale eyes glistening with intrigue. "I don't know what Alchemy is...I don't know what World Magic is....I don't know what Magic is...but you do! Could you teach me what they are?" The young Akalak inquired, his voice elevating with hope. It was one of those things were the youthful nature of children came into play...Khal'iah, though a kind, innocent child, was not always the type to take no as an answer. What's more, being an Akalak, he had no trouble persisting until he either got what he desired or came close to it...

Such was the nature of children.

by **Rayage** on April 26th, 2013, 7:47 am

The raking of the chairs legs across the floor all but shattered the nuits concentration. It wasn’t that he wasn’t a patient or devoted kind of guy. It was just that some noises had a certain power to them to utterly mentally shatter anything put in its way. This power was astonishing, but expected as it was experienced many times before. The Alchemist wished that the chair would not make such a noise, and it seemed to annoy him more than anything.

It seemed that children were not easily dissuaded with the subjects of their fascination, and what a fascination it was- Alchemy. ”Of course you do not know what magic is.” people do not teach magic to children. Children hardly ever possessed the self-control or mental function to understand the concepts correctly. At least nowadays that is true. This world is terribly ignorant to magic and what it is. ”A lot of folks are ignorant to what magic is, yet they still have thoughts about the arts.” he said, talking more to himself than to the child, ”Ignorant thoughts.” he said sounding almost disgusted with the words he uttered.

”What makes you so sure I know what magic is?” he questioned the boys resolve with a sharp question. He smiled waiting for an answer. ”I could be just some fool sitting in the library, wanting to absorb knowledge just like you.” he told him, ”Or I could be making up the ‘truth’.” he told him, ”Which would be easy to do with one such as yourself. It is easy to sound wise to the idiotic.” He told him, ”Not that I think ill of children, like you. I am just stating a fact. Something that you would be good to remember: Ignorance is man’s ruin. Someone can take advantage of ignorant people. There are masses of them. What happens when one gains control and the confidence of such people?”

by **Khal'iah** on April 28th, 2013, 9:18 am

There were a multitude of answers that the young Akalak could have used to respond to the question posed; yet the vast majority of them were motivated by a child's way of thinking and not a great multitude of mental acquity. First among these potential answers was the appearance of the man, as he was drastically unlike any person Khal'iah had ever encountered in the entirety of his life. Second was what the man was doing: unlike the entirety of the men Khal'iah was exposed to on a regularly basis, who spent their days training, teaching, or performing a trade, this man was sitting in a library writing. Yet the Akalak held his tongue and thought for a moment, but dared not speak. He did not want to give the wrong answer and be shooed away for his ignorance. So, while he pondered a "decent" response, he sat up in his chair and saw the drying ink of the first page the Nuit had written.

And Khal'iah read and understood them perfectly. "The Arcane Alchemia..." he read aloud with a proud smile. Though Common was not his first tongue, he was decent at reading and writing it. "Alchemia sounds a lot like Alchemy...so if you're writing a book about Alchemy, then you'd know what Alchemy is! And...and...that means you'd know what Magic is!" The young Akalak was practically on the edge of his seat, nearly besides himself. He thought he was quite clever in this deduction and eagerly awaited a confirmation of thus from the Nuit before him.

Yet the words the Nuit spoke were not lose to the Akalak. Though he made no immediate response to the explanation presented, and momentarily reveled in his "success", he did indeed commit the words that were spoken to him to memory. 'Ignorance is a man's ruin.' would remain lodged in the mind of the young Akalak for days, months, and years to come. He was uncertain if the question at the conclusion of the explanation was open, or rhetorical, but he did his absolute best to formulate a proper response to this inquiry too. "Well..." he began, turning his shimmering eyes to look up at the Nuit, "if someone gets control, then they can tell them what to do?" This was the best the child could offer, as those in power over him did exactly that. They told him what to do and how to do it. At this stage in his life, the concept of "power" was being able to dictate the actions of others...

by **Rayage** on April 29th, 2013, 4:07 am

The Alchemist found himself amused by the boys answers, more specifically the second one. His lips curled up in a rather dark smile and the nuit nodded, ”Exactly.” he said confirming the boys answer, ”And the uneducated, or perhaps less educated, the ignorant will flock to fulfill that command given by that one person. It is a revolutionary power, a chain of command where strength doesn’t necessarily win over wit. However, the light of intelligence comes with the fire of leadership. Rayage told him, ”That is why I am here, right now, in this very place, at this very moment in time, teaching oh so humbly.”

”We who carry knowledge are bound to preserve it, and use it to better the world around us. It is our duty if we want to achieve a state of continuous change, because with change often times comes growth, but growth comes in many forms, both obvious and not, physical and spiritual, mind and body. It is for that reason I am writing this book: The Arcane Alchemia.” Rayage explained, ”It will not only change myself, for many things come to you when you are writing a book, but also to inspire change in others and to further the pursuit of knowledge, because knowledge is power: The power to better understand and therefor better manipulate the world.”

”You must never underestimate the power of written or spoken words.” The nuit said, rambling on like he does, ”Because the most basic form of reality manipulation is the ability to manipulate perception. Do you do know what perception is, child?” he asked, but answered his own question immediately afterwards, the slight pause only to give the boy time to think of an answer before it was provided for him, ”It is how you and everyone around you sees the world. It is why fights happen, because one person cannot see ‘eye to eye’ with the other. The value of a sword, finely crafted, might be worth 100 Miza to the craftsman, but only 50 to the buyer. Perception is color, thought, the individual’s ability to understand and take in the world around them, it is how one reacts to situations around them. We all see the world differently, and we all are shaped by our experiences within this existence. We all have a different view or perception on what is unfolding before us.”

”Furthermore, if you can manipulate how people see a certain subject then you can predict, if you have successfully manipulated their perception, what the person will do.” The nuit explained, taking a moment to pause. Not needing to breathe made his speech slightly faster than average, and he knew that Common wasn’t the most practiced language here. He made note to talk a bit slower, and so he tried, ”A great example of this can be seen in everyday life.” he said, actively trying to control his rate of speech. The unnaturalness of the process showing on his face, ”If your best friend or father told you that a foreigner is odd and not to be trusted because of this or that, most people would take that as fact and adopt that perception of reality then and there. The once blank view on said foreigner is now filled with the information that they are odd and not to be trusted. Though the power of words in themselves lie in how you allow yourself to perceive them…” He cut off in his ramblings.

”Where was I?” he asked, thinking to keep his other comments to himself. ”Ah, yes. You discovered that I might know a thing or two about Alchemy, but more importantly magic. A smart one you are.” he said waving a finger at the child momentarily before setting it on the table to tap the wood as if in thought. ”However, magic is not for children. It cannot be played around with because there are serious consequences with using it. Im not exactly sure your guardians would like me teaching you about magic if you do not already know about it.” he said, looking at the parchment of the book and seeing that the ink looked dry enough to turn the page, he did so. ”Besides, wizards like to keep their secrets.” he said, wondering if the boy would pick up on the walking contradiction which was right in front of him.

by **Khal'iah** on May 5th, 2013, 3:14 am

At first, the young Akalak witnessed a slight change in the countenance of the Nuit: his lips moved to create a rather dark smile before forming the words that would wash over Khal'iah like a flood. The content of his rather sizeable ramblings captivated the full attention of the youngling whom sat listening; his brow ever furrowed as he attempted to wrap his mind about all the philosophies and arguments that were presented to him. However, where some of the older members of his people would simply dismiss the Alchemist's ramblings, the violet-skinned youth viewed every word the Nuit spoke as a valuable portion of a new lesson. Therefore, he hearkened and clung fast to his words, committing many of the sayings to memory.

This was the first time that Khal'iah had ever entertained the thought of manipulating others, nor had he ever acknowledged the power of written or spoken words. Before this fateful encounter, the Akalak had always interpreted power as a measure of one's physical strength and prowess upon the field of battle; but it would appear that power was much much more than that! There was power in perception, power in observation, power in manipulation...all these things the young Akalak now strived to enact in order to further grow stronger in every way possible. As the Nuit continued along in his ramblings, Khal'iah spoke not a word in response. He held his peace and nodded his head every so often, denoting that he was following along to some extent.

Then, a test was laid before him. The long, extended dialogue on words and their power to manipulate was now being put into practice. At first, Khal'iah regarded the Nuit's words as a typical dismissal rendered by an adult in order to remove the presence of a child...yet the realization soon dawned upon him and a confident grin began to manifest upon his face. "And how," he began, sitting upon the edge of his seat as he began to articulate his thoughts with a triumphant tone, "exactly do I know that you aren't just trying to manipulate my perception with your words? For all I know, magic could be like any other thing that I've been taught: it is dangerous alone, it is dangerous unchecked, but properly used and great things can happen! Also, if you wanted to keep secrets, then why would you admit that you know a thing or two about Alchemy?"

Flashback A Captivation of Interest!