[Annalisa] In A Place of Knowledge

[Pandaemus]

Utter fascination. The young nuit had never seen such an easy way to boost one’s power! He had merely thought the runes Thanadoros had taught him to write were simple focus aids for more complex animations. But this was so much more. He had formed a question after her reply about using the art as a cipher. It had been mostly what he thought she had been doing. That seemed to be something he may have to figure out on his own later. But this voiding aid was too good to resist.

The nuit wizard did not have to wait long. Annalisa explained the glyphs she had used on her hand to him. Each distinctly different type of glyph had a specific purpose in the pattern. And the pattern seemed to change for the specific use. Focus, Barrier, Paths, Switches. It would all have to be inspired by the individual. What may serve as a Focus for Professor Marin would not be the same for him. He had to create his own set of glyphs. His own dialect of the art, so to speak.

Had she not said that before? Pandaemus began to fumble around on the table for a quill and found one near the ornate candelabra along with a stack of basic parchment. As he pulled the materials closer to himself and pushed his book away, she was giving him a task.

“Yes, yes. I just want to write this down before attempting it on my own.” He dipped the quill in the inkwell she had been using and quickly scratched out the names of the glyphs and the purposes she had dictated. His notes were spiky and quick, but would serve to remind him for later use if the need arose. He had always been a more hands on learner anyway, but it never hurt to keep a record. His brain was dead after all. In fact, he decided with a grim smile, he would start taking more notes from now on. Who knows what would happen to his mind in the future?

He set the parchment aside to dry and pulled up another. Focus, focus, focus. He needed to find his own image of the idea. He licked the tip of the quill, forgetting he had already inked it. Then dipped the feathered tool into the blackness of the inkwell again before gingerly touching it to the slightly thready parchment. He drew a simple spiral that moved out from where he had first touched the paper. His focus. Barriers, he would have to think up at least four different runes, well three now. Each would have to be adequately representing their own purpose within his pattern.

A barrier. What could represent a barrier? A shield perhaps? No too simple. A shield only protected one direction, and he wanted something more. The nuit’s mind drifted to a wall. The quill began to press against the page once more. Two parallel lines flanking a single dot. Pandaemus glanced up at Marin to see if she was watching, and to possibly read her face. In his distraction, he almost forgot to leave room for the switch glyph.

The nuit pauses only briefly. The black tip of his tongue escaping from pale lips. The quill touched parchment three separate times for the switch glyph. The trifecta of inky black dots were arranged in a triangle between two of his newly fashioned barrier glyphs. Pandaemus was already anxious to repeat the process on his hand and try to augment his voiding.

And lastly a diamond would serve as his Path. Happy with the designations, Pan repeated the process, connecting the two Glyph circles together with his diamond shaped Path Glyphs. The whole thing reminded him of the set up for a standard Animation. He had no idea how the implementation of these glyphs would affect his animations, and the idea of botching it was a chilling one. Animation was all about pulling your djed into the circle and crafting it to carry the desired aspects of the Source across the link. But these glyphs that would make it easier may pull the djed too quickly, or too much. Pan had never even attempted trying to will the wild djed back from the far circle before. The thought made him queasy.

“This may be dangerous to implement into animation without more study…” He said slowly to the professor. His words prompted more questions about his craft. He pushed his parchment over for review without word. His mind was already lost in trying to explain the concept of a Soulcore. The cadaver found himself once again struggling with trying to teach.

Bloodless fingers rubbed against a temple. Pan frowned at the woman for a few moments before trying to answer. “The Soulcore is always crafted from the animator’s own djed. You infuse the djed with emotions… memories that give the construct the basics of it’s self.” He wasn’t sure if his words were getting through to the woman. Animation was a hard field to understand without practical application involved in the training. “That’s why this-” he gestured to the glyphs.”Might be dangerous. You don’t want to enable the wild djed in the circles to pull too much from you. I suppose if your barriers were doing their job…” He lost himself in thought for a moment.

Her waiting stare brought him back and he recalled her second question, about the Sources. “The source is limited in it’s applicability to the objective of the construct to be animated.” He said quickly, the phrase brought up from his past with Thanadoros almost without thought. “That is to say, the creature you draw aspects from to create the functionality of the golem. Sometimes a wizard will use themselves for more than the Soulcore. If a wizard wishes their golem to play the flute, they would have a flutist as the source. Said flutist would concentrate on the different keys, the notes, the music, and memories of playing. The wizard would extract all that and attach it to the djed before channeling it into the shell. If said wizard wished for an obedient golem, he may draw from a loyal dog.” Pan said, hoping that was enough to explain it.

“Now, do you think I’m ready to try those glyphs out on my voiding?” He could not hide the eagerness. This was turning out to be a very productive day already.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna watched as the Nuit worked, noting that at first he seemed to have difficulty trying to come up with his own designs. Luckily he seemed to quickly pass that phase, jotting the Glyphs down well enough. They were obviously a novice's work and were drawn a little too hastily for her liking, still the overall product was completed to her specifications. She'd chosen that layout for a reason, mimicking his description of an Animation set up to make him more comfortable. He still had a ways to go, but it was a good first step in getting him familiarized with the basics.

Again her attention was gained, though with a bit more distraction as her headache still throbbed in her skull. His definition and description of these concepts helped with her understanding, indeed she had to wonder if the snake staff he wielded was a product of that magic. Wouldn't that mean his source had been a snake, but the Soul Core had come from himself? Did the Soul Core then allow him to infuse feelings of loyalty towards himself then, so avoid it lashing out at him?

He had mentioned why the Glyphing set up might be dangerous, however there was an easy way to remove the danger. Unfortunately, Pandaemus was likely not advanced enough in the craft to properly understand what Triggers were and how they functioned. If nothing else he might be able to use the Switches to filter certain effects, slowing the process down to gain better control but keeping the smoothness and flow. It was only a theory as she had never attempted something like Animation, though the desire to try was growing quite strongly inside of her.

As he expressed the desire to try the Glyphs in his own Voiding Anna simply shrugged. Glyphing combined with augmenting personal magic use was hardly dangerous even with lesser drawn Glyphs. It was the starting point many Glypher's encouraged, which was why Glyphing was always taken up after one knew of other magic. Using the Glyphs for his Voiding might yield the exact same results hers did, or it more likely would only allow for greater Focus if his Glyphs weren't drawn with care. Considering his apparent lack of comfort it was really up in the air.

"Glyphing used as an augment is always a good starting point for starters, however I'd recommend you take your time. Just looking at the Glyphs you already drew I can tell they were drawn rather hastily, which is certainly not something you want to do. It might result in the functions getting confused, which if you are using a sigil could be... unfortunate." The sorceress explained, giving him a frank look.

With that she would leave him to his work. Likely it would take him more than a few chimes which would give her time to work out the words in this tome. Thankfully the Glyphs would make the task of translating anything she didn't know into easier to understand words. The actual task of creating a circle was already known to her, as was the need to draw blood in order to actually open it. Spike had been ever so kind as to explain that. He had not divulged the Astral Coordinates for Summoning though, which left her with a bit of knowledge that she couldn't properly use.

So that was really was she was looking for here, that and likely a diagram or two depicting exactly how to draw a basic circle. She assumed there was more to the circle than just being a circle. Luckily for her, after flipping through the introduction which was just a long winded introduction containing useless warnings and the typical reason why the wizard was so great in their day, she was rewarded with a single sequence of numeric digits below an unfamiliar word.

She turned to her Glyphs and started translating the words by running it through her basic understanding, eventually returning with the word Fyrden. Since it was above a set of digits, she assumed this was the world in which she sought. So she pulled aside another piece of parchment and started writing down the numbers next to the name of the world.

Fyrden- 6701984710485453

Reading a little bit afterwards she managed to catch a few words of interest among the technical jargon, turning the page to see if there was anything she could easily translate. What did catch her eye was the term 'Familiar' used over and over again. That... was rather interesting all things considered. A couple of chimes of translation and she had a better picture of exactly what she was looking at, the world were Familiars came from.

Anna had heard little more than passing rumors of Familiarity, a discipline of magic whereby a wizard bonds themselves to an otherworldly being. She'd never seen a familiar, nor did she possess much knowledge about it other than what it supposedly did. Considering her current situation with a lack of allies and friends, perhaps that was a tidbit of information to file away for when she actually worked up the nerve to practice a bit of Summoning.

The sorceress squinted, locking her jaw as she came upon another wall of text with this one looking quite daunting indeed. Idly she considered skimming once again but decided against it, choosing a few vaguely familiar looking phrases to translate.

...Array of circles in the above specified manner.

...Sixteen slots beneath outer ring.

...Intersecting lines.

Anna glared down at the tome, the broken phrases frustrating her more than anything. Speaking the Ancient Tongue was one thing but reading it was simply an exercise of utter frustration. Even with the Glyphs this was extremely difficult, really only the part about an array of circles made any sense to her. Even that confused her.

If the author was talking about Summoning circles why did he specify an array? Wasn't only one circle enough? What the petch did sixteen slots and intersecting lines have to do with anything?

Just when she was certain she was going to tear her hair out in frustration she turned her attention back to Pandaemus, deciding to see how far he had come. Hopefully he was finding more luck than she on matters of a magical nature.

[Pandaemus]

The former professor shrugged off his ambitious declaration without much thought. She told him it was a good way to get familiar with Glyphs, for starters. Then her book consumed her attention, leaving him to his own devices for now. His brain was already awhirl with questions. The allure of trying his voids with the assistance of Glyphs trumped the entire lot of them however.

The parchment in front of him would serve as a practice sheet. A sort of dry run for the Sigil he would mimmic Annalisa with. He wanted to make sure it was perfect before depending on it with his djed. There was no use wasting energy. Pan turned his full attention to the parchment in front of him.

The central spiral came first. Quill and parchment met in a dark pathway of ink that slowly circled itself until he lifted the writing utensil. His second Focus Glyph was smoother and more balanced than his rushed first attempt. He stared at it for a moment before continuing. The second stroke was one of his five Switches. Pandaemus thought it might be better to create all five before the Barriers, to make sure he had them in the correct spots. The inkwell provided a fresh dose of ink and he continued.

The Barrier Glyphs were made and his Sigil was nearing it’s completion. The diamond shape of his Pathway Glyph was traced again and again with meticulous care. He stopped halfway through this work to stretch and flex his white fingers. Care must be taken in the creation of this Sigil. Personal magic was nothing to screw up. Mistakes could mean death in some situations. Insanity, mutation, and severe pain were all other lesser results of careless djed manipulation.

Pan dipped the quill again, his light fingers a pale contrast to the dark shades of the feather. A shallow breath escaped his lips as he touched the black ink to his dead palm. The focus, maybe the most vital part of the entire Sigil, was the first to be etched on the preserved skin. Taking care not to rush and let the ink bleed, he stopped and forced air into his lungs for the first time in a season.

It was awkward and unnatural for him. He let the air out in a gentle stream upon the ink. His dead lungs contracted slower than normal, for they were shriveled and mummified. But he succeeded eventually. He repeated this process for the rest of his glyphs until his hand was covered in the ink. Pandaemus stood, setting the quill down lightly, the inky tip bleeding upon the grains of the table. Experimentally he moved his fingers, making sure all the ink was dry.

He forced himself to stare at the hand. The nuit did not want to have to close his eyes to summon this Portal to the Void. It was like the woman, the table, the golems, were all just paint on a canvas. He was able to focus on the djed in his hand. It pulsed and swirled at his attention. He could feel the power of it, and his heart raced.

He forced the idea of nothingness into his mind. The black expanse of sheer absence. It filled his mind’s eye and yet he could see the world around him as well. Was this all due to his focus Glyph? Or could he have done this before, but was too afraid to try and fail. Either way, he was doing it now.

He projected the idea of nothingness with a willpower that was straining against outside stimuli. Someday he would be able to do this smoothly, and with very little thought. But today was another struggle, another lesson. The djed in his hand changed, he willed it to shift and make the Portal possible. After moments of pouring his willpower and energy into it, he was able to extrude the deed’s energy from his own hand and into a point above it. A tiny, almost unseen point of darkest nothing. The Portal to the Void.

To his astonishment, after the initial door was cracked open, it grew with an ease and a speed he had not seen in previous attempts. Before he knew it the Portal was the size of the book resting on the table. The djed in his hand was easier to manipulate with the Sigil inked upon it. He could spend more energy and willpower on other aspects with such ease. The moment he thought of the Pull, it increased noticeably.

Pan’s face shifted into a slow forming smirk. This was so much better. He did not have to struggle with size as much anymore. The possibility of crafting a Pull into the dimension of Nothingness suddenly was thrust within his ambitious grasp. The cadaver wizard focused his mind on the pull. Pull, the dust in the air. Pull the dust.

It increased again, though still not noticeable to any other besides Pandaemus. Success. He felt like he could push it even further, pour more into the Pull and make it stronger. He could engulf this whole desk!

No! You must stop! His senses warned him, though his mind found the prospect so appealing. He blinked a few times, biting his lips. Just a bit more…

The void shrunk and collapsed upon itself. Pandaemus fell onto his bench and stared at his white hands for a long moment, holding himself up. The ache in his head felt horrible, but welcome at the same time. The pain almost made him feel… Alive. He had been hungering for it so long, that feeling of life. Sahova and her corpse wizards had masked the need for feeling, but the moment had shattered her work. At least for a little while.

As the pain faded he could feel himself numbing to the need for it. It was like waking to the memory of a beautiful dream, only to have it slip from your mind unstoppable. An imprint of a memory, happiness. And the bitter aftertaste was all that was left. Pandaemus blinked and looked up at the teacher. Had she seen? What did she think?

“That was a bit wild.” He muttered.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna had managed to watch Pan create his bridge to The Other Side and nodded with approval as she noticed the relative ease in which it was created, pleased that the Glyphs were indeed working. A seasoned user of personal magic herself she also knew temptation when she witnessed it, which Pan was likely fighting against. His facial expressions denoted a struggle, which made the sorceress wonder if his experience in Personal Magic was dwarfed by that of World Magic. It caused her to raise an eyebrow at the very least as she watched him, and also to focus the slightest amount of Djed into her palms in case he lost control. She was rather drained herself but a spell to overwhelm the Portal he was handling wouldn't be overly difficult to create.

Fortunately that seemed to be unnecessary as he willed the Portal closed and seemed to draw back into himself, looking much like she had once when learning the basics of Reimancy. The only difference here was that Reimancy was far, far more difficult to resist in terms of temptation. Manipulating the natural world induced a wonderful euphoria, beautiful and pleasurable all at once. So great was it that on some level Anna often disliked needing to resist the urge, compared to that need and hunger Voiding was a fair bit more easy to resist.

She allowed a ghost of a smile to tug at her lips at Pan's comment, oh yes Personal Magic was very wild. His Glyphing was adequate for a beginner but it was his use of Voiding that had caught her eyes. The sorceress lifted an eyebrow, regretting the action at the headache spiked through her skull once more.

"Personal Magic in general is rather wild Pandaemus. I hope you don't mind my observations but you seem to be relatively unaccustomed to the magic of the self. Does the urge throb at the back of your skull? Do you long for the pleasure that casting can bring? Its relatively common to experience." She stated.

"The urge will always be there, of that I can assure you. No matter how experienced you might become it will always try to push you upwards and beyond your limits, this is universal for most of the magic of self. I trust you know that grave are the consequences of pushing too far, that pain of the body is the least of your worries should you go beyond your limits? Personal Magic effects the mind as well, if you wish to see the worst of its consequences to sanity stop by the Element's Sanctum and meet Master Roknus Maelstrom. He's a genius of Reimancy, but an utter mad man." The woman continued, the lecture on the dangers of magic being something she often gave to students.

The tall woman paused for a moment, realizing that she had perhaps gotten a bit too wrapped up in the heat of teaching. Pandaemus was a Nuit and likely an accomplished Animator besides, likely he already knew all of this. Besides that why should she really care if he got himself killed with his own magic? The University had apparently stuck with her in more than one way, she noted sourly.

"Ah, my apologies. I often forget I am no longer a Professor teaching students. You likely already know what I'm telling you. In any event, your Glyphs were adequate to the task and will likely improve much more if you continue to work at it. My recommendation is to approach each sigil you draw with care and patience, considering that you are undead its likely you have a good deal more time than I to perfect the craft." She said with a shrug, not really envious of his undeath.

During and even before the voyage she had toyed with idea of seeking Unlife, however it had eventually been discarded. Nuit's, for all their longevity, lived a more fragile existence than humans. Without a host they simply couldn't survive, not only that but they couldn't heal normally if Tsaba was anything to go by. Immortality came with a steep price, and it was not one she was willing to pay just yet. Besides... there were many paths to the same goal.

Idly Anna toyed with the idea of considering this Animator for a potential companion for her journey into the Heartlands, discarding it soon after. Without a suitable resume of offensive magic he likely wouldn't be all that useful, a golem he might create perhaps but his Personal Magic was rather lacking. A pity, but such was the way of things. There were other apprentices and if all else failed there was always Kouri, as questionably reliable as she was.

"Just remember Apprentice Pandaemus, all power demands sacrifice of some sort. Whether the sacrifice is companionship, sanity, or even freedom there will always be a cost to pay at the end for it." Her tone indicated that the lecture was ended, her face turning back towards the tome.

The message was clear, if Pan wanted more the he'd need to ask the right questions to get answers from her. Anna appreciated his tips on Animation and would likely follow up on them at some point, however she wasn't going to just give away all of her knowledge on Glyphing so easily. That was simply how she was, though it might have been Amaryllis rubbing off on her. The Nuit was certainly worthy of respect, the closest thing to a true mentor she had really ever possessed. The Embalmer was no doubt using her, but then again Anna was doing the same. Amaryllis was a path towards power, for that Anna was willing to play her part in the Nuit's games.

The woman's eyes scanned back over the translated words, trying to piece together an overall meaning to them. On a hunch she looked at the Astral coordinates to Fyrden, counting the number of digits slowly. 16, there were 16 numbers all told. It would then follow that the slots the phrase spoke of had to contain the coordinates, which meant that the circle needed the digits actually inscribed somewhere on it for it to be really effective.

That actually made a lot of sense, though it certainly didn't illuminate the meanings of the other two phrases regarding an 'array of circles' and 'intersecting lines'. Likely further research into the subject would need to be conducted, ironed out in actual contained practice. If she kept it small and perhaps reinforced the Circle with Glyphs then it likely wouldn't get too out of hand. If it did... well she was a rather good Reimancer.

For now she decided to simply look for further Astral Coordinates, there had to be other worlds in the tome other than Fyrden. So she decided to simply skim the ancient pages of the tome, ignoring the no doubt multitude of warnings and guidelines contained within. It didn't take her long to come across yet another series of numeric digits beneath another unfamiliar word, which she was quick to translate as Kseyden.

Kseyden- 3893849280160001

The sorceress decided to do a brief search through a few entries on the planet, noting a single word appearing over and over again. She set about translating it through her cipher, eventually getting the word 'Vilemoss'. Anna had never heard of such a thing, perhaps a Botanist would know more. Unfortunately, the woman knew exactly zero botanists on Mizahar let alone Sahova. So she simply shrugged it off and searched for another set of numbers.

As before she skimmed and eventually came across yet another series of digits underneath a word. A run through translation identified the world as Shoyden.

Shoyden- 0012926672185630

Unlike the other two the sorceress found conspicuously few words to translate, which made her a little wary. That essentially meant that she had zero information at all about this world in question, which was rather dangerous all things considered. Not even having a name of something that was beyond was certainly something to induce caution. She decided to continue her search forwards, hoping that the next one might have more information.

As before it took some skimming and searching but she found a fourth set of numbers beneath another word. Swalden was the name of this world, hopefully it would have more information than the previous one had.

Swalden- 8492841047291777

The sorceress actually found that the entry on this world was very short, as though there wasn't much of note on it. The word she did notice over and over again took a few chimes to translate correctly, an error or two causing her to start over. The word was Memosites, though she had zero petching idea what that was. It could have been some kind of monster for all she knew, causing her again to curse her lack of fluency in the Ancient Tongue. Such was the way of the world unfortunately.

Sighing she continued to skim until she neared the end of the tome, skipping through here and there until she found the last set of coordinates the book had to offer. She translated the name of the world as Zaiden.

Zaiden- 1069002583582104

The following entry was actually much longer than the others had previously been, which led Anna to assume one of two things. Either there was a lot this world had to offer, or whatever was on it was so hazardous that the warnings were staring her right in the face. A single word that came up again over and over was 'The Diverse'. For some reason the sorceress doubted the name was of a friendly creature.

Whatever the case the rest of the tome would require likely hours, if not days, of dedicated translation. She didn't have that kind of time between ducking around Daren and preparing for her potentially lethal expedition to the Heartlands. Whatever warnings inside were going to have to wait... although perhaps her new 'friend' here might want in on some magical study. Study pertaining to Summoning perhaps? As a chance to research more Glyphing applications as well or course.

Anna slowly closed the tome and regarded Pandaemus, her expression perfectly cordial. Yes... she had a feeling she could use this Nuit for things other than the Heartlands.

"Hmm... I've found what I have been looking for and I've found five set of coordinates to other worlds. I'm rather eager to try them out. Would you care to join me on such a venture, Apprentice Pandaemus? Likely there will be more opportunities for education in regards to Glyphing." The Sorceress proposed to the Nuit.

[Pandaemus]

“I will if you tell me the astral coordinates you know. I know a bit of summoning. I helped a man perform a few when I was… younger. But I don’t have any astral coordinates myself.” Pandaemus explained quickly. He very much wanted to take part in more magic. He was a world mage after all and this was more his expertise.

He stood and returned the book on voiding he had gotten to the golem, unopened. He had barely the chance to muse through it’s introduction before realizing it was not what he needed to improve his voiding. But after finding a method to strengthen the personal magic, the nuit was more interested in Annalisa’s project than he wanted to let on. What could she possibly be trying to summon? Was what reason did she have to do so. Summoning was probably one of the more dangerous world magics, for you never really knew what was going to happen when you opened a gateway to another world.

“And if that isn’t appealing, I could always just come back and find the book myself tomorrow… But I really would love to help you.” Pandaemus decided not to smile this time. Perhaps too much embellishment? If nothing else, it was rather unnerving when he saw himself smile in a mirror. Nowadays he was looking more like the old, craggy cadavers of Sahova than his old self. Or maybe he was just more like them in every way.

The bench creaked under his weight as he returned to his notes. Gathering them carefully he folded and stored them in his belt pouch. He would later transcribe them into his personal journal that also acted as a spell book. Thanadoros had kept one, and it contained details of every animation and summoning he ever did. In reality it was more like a chest of journals, seeing as he was very old and had been practicing for a very long time.

Pan stared expectantly at her from across the table. “Oh and you can keep the book for a while if you need it. Be careful though, the Librarians will probably kill you if you damage it.” He warned, this time he did smile.

[Annalisa Marin]

Annalisa considered Pandaemus' condition for a chime or two, going over the possible risks and benefits to this situation. On the one hand she would be giving up rather potent knowledge for one who might wish to become a summoner, five Astral Coordinates were nothing to balk at. On the other hand, giving that Pan had apparently possessed experience with summoning in the past he might very well help to prevent possible problems in the actual process. She'd need to give knowledge to receive help, a difficult prospect to not be wary of.

Pandaemus' words about taking the tome were actually what brought her back to the world, a little wary about being forced to suffer the wrath of Librarians for any reason. So she swiftly mirrored Pan's previous actions and returned the book to the golem, looking a little unnerved with the prospect. Considering her stalker, taking a tome would be rather ill advised at this point in time.

As she returned to the table she gathered up her own notes, just the Coordinates she'd managed to gain and the few translated words the sorceress had deciphered. With a somewhat reluctant sounding sigh she slid the paper with the Coordinates on it over to Pan, certainly not actually wishing to give away any amount of knowledge. Still, his assistance could very well prove useful in this little personal venture.

"Those were the five I managed to gain from this tome, considering that I actually managed to locate them in a book its likely they aren't anything massively secret. Just a theory mind you. In any event if you are in for it then I see no reason for us to stall then, we should start today." Anna stated, nodding to herself.

Possible venues inside of the Citadel were few and far between where summoning could be practiced, likely even the Common Labs wouldn't just practice something like that in the open. It then followed that the Testing Grounds were an excellent choice, though considering how drained she felt from the previous casting threats might not be so easily dealt with. Hmm... a trip to the Prairie or perhaps Pan had a secluded place for them to practice this particularly dangerous magic.

"I doubt the Common Labs would appreciate the prospect of Summoning being practiced in the open, so the Prairie seems like a good alternative. Plenty of space there to work with. Unless of course you have a suitable venue?" The sorceress said, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the apprentice.

If he did then she would gladly go there, the Testing Grounds could be rather dangerous no matter where one went. The beasts tended to ask questions never and just settle for eating one's face, at her full strength the woman was confident that a healthy dose of lava could sort any of them out. However in her current state that might indeed prove more dangerous than not. If it was life or death then she could very well simply give more than she normally did, but that was a complete last resort in every possible way.

[Pandaemus]

Pandaemus pulled the parchment within reading distance greedily. He did not bother to hide the satisfaction on his face. If she did not already know his addiction to knowledge, well then she was very unobservant of the common condition in Sahova. Most of the undead here in the Citadel of Corpses were fueled by the same hunger. What else could they find to drive themselves? The thirst for knowledge was slowly replacing the thirst for company, the need for engagement, and the chaotic thrill of emotion within him. His fear and his sorrow were turning into a hunger. But his hate remained strong. The bitter need to blame someone.

He had initially blamed Thanadoros, but the dead were not a satisfying target for one’s hate. He had shifted such hate to Uldr. OR more accurately, he had pushed more of his hate on the God of the Undead. He had [/i]always[/i] hated the god, but now more than ever. But he also hated the living. For jealousy was just a different flavor of hate.

Fervent scratching marked the eager strokes of his quill. Pandaemus quickly copied Annalisa’s notes onto his own parchment and folded it. He glanced up at her and pushed the paper back across the table to her, smiling and pocketing his own copy. “Good. Now I am fully prepared to aid you in this summoning?”

The nuit began to walk to the exit of the Library. There were a few options for places to conduct the summoning ritual. The ideal place would be a summoning lab, but seeing as neither of them wore the ring of a summoner, they would have trouble getting their hands on some lab space. Annalisa had not proffered her own lab for use, and Pan doubted very much if he would continue to be welcome in Lab 15 after pulling off a summoning in their space. So their options were indeed looking thin. Pandaemus did not know of any private, secluded area within the Citadel that was open for use. If he had, he would probably keep that information to himself. Even if she was able to teach him something.

“Well we don’t really have very many options within the Citadel. Any lab that would be ideal, you and I would not be welcome in.” He waved his Animator’s ring as he opened the door to the library for her. “And the labs we are welcome in, I think it’s safe to say, would not very much like to witness a summoning within their walls. Perhaps the Prairie would be the best choice. Pan grimaced, not happy with the prospect. He had his fair share of unpleasant memories outside the Citadel, and did not want to make any more of the kind.

With the prospect of danger, the day was still a good one. He had gleaned valuable knowledge about multiple magical arts and a connection, however precarious, with this Annalisa Marin. If he was to plant his seed in the proverbial garden of Sahova, he would need to make his roots deep. The more people he knew, the better. Perhaps he could even find a use for her? The obvious appeal was having a first choice of prime cadavers when he needed one… But he was sure that they would be of use to each other, eventually…

The idea of another body besides his own was still unnerving to him. Undeath had become easier to accept after a season on Sahova, but he still viewed some part of him as associated with his physical form. It was still his body. Once that changed, he feared he would really lose one of the precious last shreds of his past identity. His severing from life would be complete.

He rolled his head back in the way he was prone to doing. A sort of makeshift sigh for a man who had no need to breath. The corpse gazed longingly at Annalisa. The way her skin glowed with life. The dark pulse of blood pumping strength to the body. He could not make such details out from his place next to her, but he imagined them. A part of him hated her. Not as a rival apprentice. Not as a former member of the university he had longed to attend as a child. Not even as a potential enemy in the game of power here in the Citadel. A part of him hated her because she experienced what he so longed for. She could trade any amount of knowledge and power, and he would still have some hate for her. She had the one thing that could not be traded, and the one thing he found himself wanting. Jealousy was just a different flavor of hate.

He smiled. “We will need to be on our toes out there. Many a nasty things that aren’t nearly as polite as you or I.”

oocYou can jump us to the Prairie if you want ^.^

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna idly considered Pan's words and briefly imagined Amaryllis' response to a summoning in the Palsa Hydrasa, shivering briefly as she remembered the Embalmer's reaction to her mentioning the name of the Warden of the Heartlands. It had been a reminder of just how dangerous Amaryllis could be to her, how very easily the Nuit could arrange for the strings of life that bound her to the world be severed. The second the sorceress went from useful resource to annoyance or threat was the second she better enjoy life more than ever, as her's would likely end soon after.

In that way the Embalmer was much, much more terrifying than Maelstrom or even Daren Marlow. She had never displayed obvious magical skill, never cast a single spell in her presence but she could prove more deadly than any spell the Master of Reimancy could send her way. Anna respected that kind of power, almost more than she wanted it. For indeed there were few she respected more than the Nuit, and few she wanted to visit the same terror upon.

The woman's thoughts turned from that to the prospect of the Prairie, knowing that her magic alone would not be enough to protect her there. She was drained from her demonstrations and her reimancy would thus be effected by that, likely she could still destroy most threats there but a little added security never hurt. A quick trip to her room would be in order to reclaim her 'personal defense' implements. She'd just acquired them today, best to put her spent money to good use. The sorceress nodded and made her way out of the Library, leading the way for all intents in purposes.

"In the vein of needing protection and staying on our toes I'll need to make a quick side trip to my room. Reimancy is my most potent of weapons, but non magic has its place. Feel free to either follow me or simply wait outside the Vestibule." The woman stated, taking up a brisk walk.

Whether Pan followed her or not was of little concern to her, there was nothing in her room worth stealing except for a change in clothes and her weapons. Well, nothing obvious. Luckily her memories were safely sealed under the floor of her room, reimancy had many uses and not all of them were merely destructive. If Daren couldn't find them then Pan certainly wouldn't have anymore luck.

As she passed through the Common Labs she made certain to claim a couple of vials of ink, knowing they would actually need something to draw the circles with. Cutting Pan and using his ichor was an option, but Anna doubted he'd be willing to just go along with it. Using her own vital fluids was naturally out of the question, at least until actually creating the portal came into play.

The woman would quickly cut a path through the Courtyard and to the Quarters, quickly filing down the corridors towards her room. Once there she would deftly close the door behind her, casting an eye over the clutter of her tiny room. This place was her domain for all intents and purposes, the small bit of Sahova she'd claimed for herself. No bigger than a broom closet, however Anna knew that this was merely the first step to something more.

She shrugged off her cloak, letting the tattered and fraying thing fall to the ground. From there she was quick to add her torn and faded shirt to the ground carelessly with it. Her torso was nearly bare but for her undergarments, which she kept on to keep her rather average assets protected. She carefully gripped the small bit of armor she owned, a recently acquired chain shirt that tinkled and chimed slightly as she picked it up. She placed it on over her head and noted that the fit was rather nice, not snug or perfect but well enough. Its weight was certainly noted, though Anna supposed it was simply something she needed to get used to wearing. Armor was a new thing to her, as were physical weapons.

With the light armor donned the tall woman replaced her old shirt on and tied her cloak back in place, deciding not to wear her nicer clothes. They would only be ruined in the Prairie. Her attention turned to the two blades resting in the corner, one an average and rather unremarkable longsword, the other a small dagger.

Carefully, the woman picked up the sword and memories came flooding back to her. Though her father had been a simple man with a common trade he had possessed a similar sword, according to him it had been passed from his father who had in turn received it from his grandfather and so on. The trade of Wave Guard had been in the past of the Marrin family, the only claim to significance for the common family. Warriors they had once been, so perhaps it was the hand of Lhex that placed a sword in her hands.

Anna knew absolutely nothing about swords, her realm was that of magic and mind rather than battle and conflict. Another memory resurfaced, a pleasant memory from her childhood. Her father had caught her once again playing with sticks, using them like blades.

The trick with swords, Anna, is you have to stick em' with the pointy end.

A time long past, a reminder of who she had once been and now how far she had come. Holding this sword was acknowledging the blood that flowed through her veins, her father's as much as her mother's. Though he had not returned from the grave she liked to think it was his influence that led her to purchase this blade. Her moment of self reflection over, the Chaon gripped the sword's hilt and placed the weapon at her side. She opted to place the dagger in her right boot, deciding that it would make a useful last line of defense. Idly she took up her smaller brush, knowing that she'd need an implement to draw her circles.

These tasks accomplished the sorceress would open the door and make her way towards the Vestibule. Her steps were brisk across the Courtyard once more, leading her the Citadel entrance and quickly down through the stairs. As she stepped outside of the Citadel the woman placed a hand on the weapon, she might not know how to use it well but she figured that swinging it around was bound to accomplish something.

She made very certain to not reveal her lack of comfort with the weapon to Pandaemus, the more capable he thought her the better off she would be. Anna had already noticed his thirst for knowledge, as long as she had plenty to offer the sorceress was confident she could securely wrap the Nuit around her little finger. If that failed in the end, well, intimidation and threats had their places.

For now she simply focused on navigating the small tree line separating the Citadel from the Prairie, occasionally glancing back to ensure the Undead was still following. It wasn't long until the Sorceress came to the open field that was the Prairie, her senses on high alert as she focused Djed under the palm of her right hand. Best to be prepared for any beasts that might be so foolish as to try and make a meal of her.

"Hmm... yes, this is a good location. Lets start here." Anna stated with a nod of approval at the wide open space.

Idly she willed the gathered Djed under her hand to push outwards, a purple liquid quickly forming on her hands and snaking its way up her arm. The headache from before hit her once again, though the urge was not nearly as strong as it had been. Perhaps because this task would not be so stressful. Anna willed more Djed to gather under her other hand and soon enough two streams of res were flowing down her body and moving outwards.

The sorceress gritted her teeth against the headache and fell into a prepared stance, her posture as rigid as the element she sought to command. Her legs spread and her arms held out at her sides in curled fists, she willed the liquid to pool in a location not to far from them. She willed the force of attraction to call out to the small rocks near the res, gathering them to it.

Casting in reimancy was so much more pleasurable that Voiding, though that likely had to do with her level of comfort. She didn't bother to bite back a throaty moan as her Djed fueled the spell. Certain that the stones would help with the overall structure the woman moved one fist upwards slight as though she were flexing a muscle. From there she willed the other to rotate slight to the side.

The purple liquid shifted the sediment within, moving into her envisioned shape. The liquid looked rather like a stump of wood, though a liquid rather than a solid for the moment. Anna willed the res to harden and transmute, changing to the element of earth. The purple res became smooth and unyielding stone, a flat surface about the size of a desk. A place to create small circles on.

Normally the casting would have barely required a flick of her wrist, but the Voiding earlier had taken a chunk out of her. Even now the urge throbbed at the back of he skull, but she pulled herself back. Anna regarded her companion, nodding towards the stone pedestal.

"A flat surface for the circle. Before I actually attempt to draw it I'd like your opinion on my notes, specifically circle construction. Tell me, in detail, everything you know about the art of making a circle." Anna demanded, wording it as a command rather than a request.

[Pandaemus]

Annalisa seemed not to care if he followed her, which he did. For a short while at least. The nuit felt that if she was fine walking in silence then he was more than happy to do the same. Why not reinforce the stereotype? Aloof, inhuman, unemotional. Eh, some of those were right. In the end he was little more than a soul chained to a rotting body, grasping for meaning in a world constantly dying. He smiled. Wasn’t everyone though? Pan shook his head violently once.

He had found his thoughts wandering a lot lately. Perhaps it was because it was becoming increasingly difficult to find stimulus except for that of the mind. Most of his days were spent deep in thought, with little attention reserved for the physical world around him. Was this the salve so many Sahovan Nuits spread on their wounds? Become so engrossed in your work that life become little more than one long mental rambling? Well he was not sure how he felt about the prospect.

Pandaemus followed Marrin as far as the Quarters. He carefully held back until she was out of sight before slipping away to his own room. It would not due to actively show a stranger where he lived. Though he kept most of his valuable magical aids, not that he had many, in his workspace in Lab 15. He had not yet acquired much in the way of magical equipment. Opening the door the nuit glanced both ways before entering. He collected his vial of inscribing paint and the ornate brush he had lifted from his dead master. The Sikuva hissed a welcome to him from the mesh cage in the corner.

A grim, lifeless smile greeted the snake. Pandaemus thought about dropping his Kris off in the room. Truth be told, he thought Annalisa would be better in a fight than he was. She was alive, and had a better grasp of personal magic than he, no matter how he didn’t want to admit it. But what if one was enthralled within some form of magic? The thing about world magic that may not be as true of personal magic was that it took up quite a lot of one’s attention, especially if not practiced in it. He slipped the wooden sheath back into his belt. It jutted out to his side at a wild angle. He may have to defend them from the wild experiments that wandered the island. He didn’t particularly like the prospect, but he would do what he must.

In the Vestibule Pan leant against a wall, waiting. Pan’s mind drifted, once again, to the existence of the Sahovan Wizards. To be a true Sahovan Wizard, one was undead. He found himself more and more perturbed by their state of mind. When he first came here he was not sure what they were. But now he knew them to have shrugged off the mantle of life for an unparalleled dedication to their scholarly pursuit. A means to what end? The nuit himself had wanted to use his unlife as a way to experience more of what he would have missed if he died at eighteen, as fate Lhex had intended. He found his goals clashing with the intent of the Sahovan Wizards. But for now that was fine. Living on Sahova was enough of an experience to satisfy both of the parties involved. But someday he would want to take the time to explore more of the world.

Annalisa Marrin, the former professor, strutted out of the Citadel and barely glanced his way as she passed on the path out into the island. She was now bedecked in weapons and armor fit for a modest mercenary. Pandaemus smirked to himself as he hauled himself off the cold stones of the Vestibule wall and followed behind her. Perhaps he would not need his Kris after all. If she wanted to defend them, then more glory to her.

The sun shone through periodic cloud cover as they walked. Annalisa was in front and the nuit followed behind her. Dead eyes bore into the back of her skull. He wondered how a professor of magic came by such weapons and armor. Was she any good with her mundane tools? Were her blades as deadly as her djed manipulation was supposed to be? The new side of her had him wondering at her backstory. Perhaps he’d ask. Though he doubted she’d give a truthful answer, especially at this stage. But having a friend with a blade could not hurt. Friend. The cadaver smiled a wretched twist of the maw behind her. He had no friends.

The wind blew in the way it sometimes does when it can’t decide which direction to go. Autumn was almost over, and the chill of winter was coming. Though he was dead, Pandaemus was not looking forward to the cold season setting in on the Island. To the east was nothing but the open ocean and it was bound to bring a bone aching chill to Sahova. A raspy chuckle escaped his lips. His body was rotting away and he was worried about a cold winter.

They reached the Prairie and Annalisa Marrin found a spot she liked for this summoning they would conduct. She began casting some sort of spell. After a moment’s struggle she created a stone surface, smooth and big enough to work on. Pan was impressed, not least of all because she had already used her djed before. He would never compliment the stranger though, unless beneficial. He rubbed a finger over the vial of inscribing ink in his jacket pocket, wondering if he should mention it, or if she had brought her own.

Then the woman turned to him, her face a mask of professionalism. She demanded he tell her his entire experience. It was not such a surprising question, given the task at hand. But Pandaemus certainly didn’t like the way she went about it. In Sahova he had learnt to appreciate tact and finesse in his dealings with others. The upfront way she demanded his knowledge rubbed him the wrong way.

However, they were about to perform magic together. Pandaemus stepped onto the platform and slowly began walking the perimeter. “That was a nice bit of Reimancy, Miss Marrin.” He pointedly did not answer her question right away. Still wondering how much to tell her, he continued. “I’m not at all versed in the art, but I know enough to appreciate skill when I see it.” There, a compliment. Finesse. Take a note.

“I have somewhat extensive knowledge, being a World Mage obviously.” He waved his ring at her momentarily. He frowned at her and rolled his head again. Women! “Well, summoning circles are quite different from those of animation. For our purposes I think we should make it rather simple…”

He waved a hand at the platform. “First you need the initial circle, and you should keep in mind we need to add the slots.” Memory flashed to a dark, candlelit, hut at the tender age of eight. He had spent the night redoing a circle for Thanadoros because a fault was made. He had only placed fifteen slots on the circle rather than the needed sixteen. “Sixteen slots. Sixteen glyphed coordinates… We can start there.”

Pan slid the vial from his pocket. He had decided earlier that he wasn’t going to use it. But this was his domain of magic after all, and they should do it right. He bent and began to paint a carefully crafted orb on the stone. While he was hunched over he spoke more of what he knew, which was truthfully not much. The nuit only knew the construction of the most basic circles, having never actually performed a summoning himself. He finished the initial circle as he spoke.

“As I was saying, sixteen slots for the sixteen coordinate digits. Then we need to connect those coordinates to a center circle, that should be good enough for a novice summoning. There won’t be much discerning what we get to come through though, so we’ll need to be ready. On that note, keep an eye on the landscape, I do not want to be mauled while I’m working.”

The ink clashed nicely with the cold stone, and solidified quickly on its surface. It made the task go quickly. He painted circles evenly spaced along the edge, slots for the coordinates.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna was rather a sucker for compliments, indeed whenever someone praised her skill with magic her pride had a habit of basking in the moment. To her it was her greatest of talents, to possess a prodigal degree of familiarity with magic and its core functions. She'd barely been a reimancer for a year and yet she was fast approaching the heights of the discipline, Roknus Maelstrom himself had noted her talent during their fight. Anna knew that once she mastered the art of the elements that she wouldn't stop, no she could only become more and more powerful.

The Void's destructive power would be her next magic of self to push towards complete mastery, with the combination of both the disciplines and her Glyphing there was no limit to what she could achieve. She was young, but her age was a boon in this instance as it gave her plenty of time to work towards higher and higher goals. Pandaemus might be an animator greater than her now, but if the sorceress threw herself at the discipline as well she had no doubt that she could be unmatched there as well. Of course, the power was a means to an end. Chaos was still her master.

The tall woman barely resisted rolling her eyes as he pushed his status as a World Mage, as though it were impressive. World Magic was powerful, but without the tools of their trade a World Mage was powerless before a skilled Reimancer or Voider. Personal Magic was obviously far superior to the weakling scholars who practiced World Magic purely. Anna herself was not what one would call a 'Purest', a wizard that was a user of one branch and discarded others. She was a Sorceress, a generalist who dabbled here and there and expanded her horizons. However, she certainly took a very dim view of one who implied in any way to believe World Mages were superior to Personal Mages.

She listened to his explanation, intently hearing and picking apart his little lecture on circle construction. His words made the actual description of crafting the circle a little more clear, by intersecting lines the tome had meant lines that connected the coordinates to a center circle. So in total she counted three circles that were needed in basic summoning circle construction. An outer one, and inner one that housed the coordinates and a center one that provided overall structure to the array. It made complete logical sense actually, no doubt it would aid her in her own private attempts at summoning.

As she thought on it though the sorceress already started to see where Glyphing needed to come into play, a means of reinforcing the circle's stability and function. A Focus could be placed in the center circle, the lines reinforced by Pathway Glyphs and possibly the outer circle reinforced with a strong Barrier. She nodded to herself, knowing that she'd need to edit some of Pan's work when he was done. His relatively low experience in actual Glyphing would run the risk of compromising the array if allowed to do the task, she being more experienced was the logical choice for the task.

She gritted her teeth slightly as he spoke again, his tone sounding suspiciously like a command. The sorceress let the slight pass without comment and did indeed set her sights on the surrounding landscape. The Prairie was a barren and almost lifeless looking place, grim and rather dour if one stopped to think about it. Zeltiva's landscape had been rocky and hilly, nothing as diverse as Sahova was.

"Once you finish the circle I'll reinforce it with Glyphs, best to be as certain and secure about this as possible. I'd suggest you enter the Coordinates to Swalden, I believe they are... 8492841047291777. Whatever this Memosite might be it can't be as risky as the other worlds." Anna stated, as it did indeed seem rather logical for a pair of would be summoners.

The sorceress thought to herself for a moment, remembering Tsaba's reluctance to shed her ichor from her palms. She'd also seen enough Nuit to know that they needed to often patch up their bodies to prevent leakage, as they seemed to lack any kind of natural healing. Anna, on the other hand, was a human and fully capable of healing naturally from wounds. As such it seemed best that she spend some of her own blood here to seal the deal on the summoning.

"Considering your kind lack natural healing I'll be the one to shed blood over the circle, unless you'd rather be forced to visit Amaryllis a little earlier." Anna stated again, an amused and wry grin finding its way onto her lips.

The tall woman had refrained from using the honorific of Mistress or Master in reference to Amaryllis. The Embalmer had a dislike of the titles so Anna had become used to using merely her name. Being apprenticed to the powerful Nuit had many benefits beyond the lack of formal titles, such as receiving a discount on purchases at the Synchrograph Office or being vaulted ahead of lesser apprentices for her wizard examination. She'd be a full Wizard in her own right on the 20th of Winter, that she was also a Pulser made her feel slightly more smug.

Now if only she could deal with a certain pesky hypnotist her life might actually start looking bearable.