Solo Candlelight Vigil

[Elias Caldera]

15th Day of Spring
514 AV

"I can help!" Elias cried, his voice lost in the roaring madness. The man only ignored him as another leather bucket passed into his grip and he flung the contents at the flames. The water seemed to sizzle and vanish before it even reached the fire. Maybe he had just not heard him this time, but Elias was sure he had heard him the last half a dozen. Something groaned within the house and shout rang out from everywhere at once. Elias felt a hand grab him and harshly yank him back just before a thunderous snap exploded from somewhere within the inferno. The two story house caved in on itself a tick later, collapsing into a pile of ash and blackened wood. Flames spewed out hungrily, sending those who had formed the bucket lines fleeing for their lives. There were also those were hard at work trying cleave away the surrounding buildings with axes and poles in a desperate attempt to keep the fire from spreading. Elias didn't know if they had been caught in the flame or not.

"Get out of the way." Came an angry growl from behind and Elias was abruptly pushed out of the way. He nearly snapped. He had had quite his fair share of petching shoving and pushing for one day, he didn't think he could keep his calm if he was on the receiving end of another. The man who had done it though was less concerned about Elias's hurt feelings and more about rallying his men back into the fight. The fire was spreading and it looked very much like they may not have had enough time before it jumped to another home next door. People were pouring out from the neighborhood, buckets and pans of water in hand. The man in charge, Marco, by the sound of it, quickly had them all forming into a disorderly arrays of bucket brigades. Many simply went about it their own way, many more just stood by and stared.

This had all been because of the riot. The events that had unfolded after the exhibition went to hell had sent angry citizens spreading out throughout the city. Many formed mobs who swiftly focused their outrage and indignation on destroying whatever they could, wherever they could. It had sparked more than one fire around the plaza, but thankfully the Ebonstryfe had arrived with reinforcements to crack down hard on the protestors. Part of Elias felt that this was partly his fault as well however. He had tried to douse an oil fire with his reimancy, only to have it explode in his face, spreading the flames and nearly killing the people he was trying to save. He had to make it right. He had to help!

"Dammit I can help!" He shouted.

"Then grab a petching bucket and get in line." The burly man roared back, sweat and frustration running off his face. He had taken up the front of his particular line -there were three now, roughly- and was the one who seemed to be doing the most damage to the fire. He would often yell at the others to do something this way or that, like focus on a particular hot spot, or have the axe men repositioned. Elias understood little of his tactics, and he felt annoyance bubbling over within him. Not at Marco or his people, but at himself. He decided he had to act. Fear had been holding back his hand, but as he watched the family looking on helplessly as their home and livelihood burned down to the ground, the young mage knew the repercussions would just be something he had to deal with later.

He called upon his magic.

Djed raced from the depths of his body, tearing itself apart from the source and warping into the glowing, mushy res that now seeped down his arms. As Marco made to throw another bucket of water at the fire, Elias struck out his arm and the water froze in the air, captured by the attraction of his reimancy.

[Elias Caldera]

One bucket, then two bounced of Marco as he stood there gawking. When those behind him took finally took notice as well, it wasn't long before all of them were looking at Elias. The water whirled around in the air, a formless mass of swaying liquid that swirled and swished about within an imperceptible barrier of res.

"Let me help." Elias said again, his voice finally calm and focused. Marco, after a moment of wariness, nodded. Five chimes later, Elias's bubble of water had turned into a small lake. He had instructed Marco to simply bring the water to him, and the man quickly set about instructing all the water lines in turn to bring them to Elias. The instruction went unanswered by a few as the fury of the fire washed away all other thoughts and sounds, but by the time the attracted water had become as large as the man controlling it, everyone with a bucket or a mouth of spit with was adding to it.

They threw bucket after bucket at him, and he poured more and more res into the center of the pool, focusing everything he had into the allure of the element. Many soon discovered the pull was strong enough that they did not even have to throw the water directly unto the mass, but instead just near it. The end result was a dozen of so twisting streams of lake water flowing into the collection until eventually they were absorbed completely. The mage reveled in his own power. He had rarely ever controlled this much with his magic, and the idea that he could at all invigorated him. A natural element, attracted by the mage's res was so much easier to handle and gather than the alternative, which was to forcefully rend the res into an element itself. Elias sometimes wondered if he could control the entirety of lake Ravok one day. Why not today? he mused with a smile. Why not go and try. Better yet, why not go and just do it. He had the magic, he had the power. He could do so much wi-

He stopped himself with a sudden burst of alarm as he tasted the slick sweat pouring off his face. Dira's seven hells, what is wrong with me! Get a hold of yourself Elias. It was the Sweet whispers. He petching hated sweet whispers! He turned to Marco, the man watched him and the waves of water he had gathered at his back with equal measures of suspicion and curiosity. When he noticed Elias nodding at him however, he seemed to snap back to reality with ease. "We can't let it spread to the other buildings." He shouted. With a gloved finger he pointed to the burning exterior of the engulfed wreckage. "Start there."

That was all Elias needed. He made a sudden move with his hand, shifting focus from gathering to controlling. He preferred gestures to incantations. They just seemed more natural to him. To have his body flow like the water just made it easier to understand and force his will on his water reimancy. With an open palm he shot a hand out at the fire and a stream of water followed, launching like a geyser from the giant, amorphous blob at his back. The stream pierced the flames and a gout of steam erupted from the conflict.

It was a conflict Elias intended to win.

[Elias Caldera]

A hand touched his shoulder and it nearly startled him out of his boots. Had he closed his eyes? He hadn't remembered doing so, but he could have sworn they were open... perhaps the flames had just seared themselves unto his eyelids. He opened them and turned to see Marco by his side. "There." The older man pointed, shifting Elias's attention to another flare up in the fire. His hand twisted, then snaked outward, a second stream of water lashing out. He had lost track of how long he had been fighting the flame. It felt like bells, but was probably only chimes. His head was pounding and his mouth tasted like he had taken a bite out of his belt buckle. At that point Marco had taken to looking at him with less distrust and more concern. Needless to say, the sudden change made Elias concerned too.

Its just the poison. Elias told himself. You're fine. Keep going. He needed to finish this. The flame's intensity had been greatly reduced, but the inferno still raged fiercely. Almost everyone had taken to simply staring at that point, including the Ebonstryfe that had arrived. He was happy they hadn't cut him down for his blatant magic use. He knew it was only the fact that he was trying to help that had saved him from immediate persecution. He didn't want to think of the not so immediate that would follow. "Tell-..." A wave of exhaustion hit him, but he weakly fought it off. "Tell them to get back." He finally managed, his voice barely audible.

"Alright." Marco said, instantly going about ushering everyone away. Once they were clear, Elias grit his teeth and willed himself one final push. He crouched suddenly, his feet sliding out from under him almost as if they slipped on the soaked ground. He withdrew his arms and brought them close, and as he did so, the streams of water dwindled and died. With exaggerated motion, he rose, his arm trembling as they displayed the internal strain of his djed work. The entire remnant of the pool he had gathered began to move and he moved with it. It wasn't until he was nearly on the ashen remains of the front porch did Elias stop again. By then the pool was hovering a foot over his head, considerably smaller than it had started, but still he willed it higher and higher until it rested over the house. With a gasp, he released his control on the djed, and the res holding it all together collapsed.

The dam was broken and the water surged forth unabated.

He stood there among the stinging steam and smoke, coughing as the water pooled around his feet and surged out across the street. It was black and tainted, littered with the dark debris of the fire's victim. A soothe stained doll washed up against his boot and he leaned down to pick it up, nearly tumbling unto his face in the attempt. He felt a rough pair of hands take hold of him, then an equally sturdy shoulder take the bulk of his weight. He grabbed the doll before he was helped back to his feet. "Thank you." He mumbled to Marco.

[Elias Caldera]

"You alright, fella?"

"Elias."

"What?"

"My name, its Elias."

"You alright, Elias. I only ask because you look like hammered shyke and I rather not explain to the Stryfe how I wound up with a dead wizard in my barn."

The mage brought a hand up to his aching forehead and left it there a while, savoring the cool touch as tried to lean back into his chair. "I'll be fine." He grumbled. He could almost feel the blood churning behind his eyes. They were no doubt blood shot, and the pressure they were putting on his already terrible migraine didn't help matters. "Thank you for what you did." He spoke after a while, referring to what Marco had told the Ebonstryfe. He had explained that Elias was his employee and had full right to use his magic in the defense of a Ravok, lest they wanted an inferno take grip of the city. The men had seemed to believe that, or they just weren't all that inclined to trouble themselves with a mage. Either way, Elias owed Marco for that. "You're kidding right? Its the least I could do... I liked the touch with the doll in the end though. You did a good thing for that kid, even if we couldn't save her house." Elias replied by sinking deeper into his chair with a tired sigh.

"We got off topic though. I was asking you if you'd be willing do whatcha did back there on a daily basis, and for coin."

"Like a job."

"Like a job." Kel nodded. Elias furrowed his brow in genuine contemplation as Kel went on to explain how he had never had a reimancer on his crew before, and that by having one doing the things Elias had done, he could completely change the game. All he needed to do was just train him right. Elias paid little attention however. Was a job something Elias really wanted? How long was he going to be here for? Obviously, he had come for his own reasons, and those reasons didn't involve sticking around after everything was settled. That said, if he was being honest with himself, his task here was likely going to be a long one. It was only his first day back and already he had been poisoned, caught up in a riot, been accosted by a symenestra, caused an explosion, and now this. He wasn't sure, but if the rest of his days were going to be this exciting, he imagined he was going to need some mizas for the medical bills at least.

He looked about the 'barn' as Marco had called it, taking it in in all its underwhelming glory. The barn was actually just a warehouse on the docks that had been hastily repurposed to house men and equipment. A few beds were scattered against the far walls, axes and other tools lined weapon racks, and where the water was let in via the dock entrance, a pair of small boats floated idly, a sigil he had never seen before painted on their hulls. Elias had agreed to accompany his false employer to a place to rest, if only to get away from the looks he was receiving, but now that he was here, being offered work... Marco must have seen him quietly judging his surroundings and chimed in. "It may not look like much, but this is probably the best there has ever been in Ravok." Elias gave the man a skeptical look. "Oh trust me, you are looking at the pinnacle of fire fighting here."

He went on to explain how the first to take up the task of quelling fires within the lake city was a man by the name of Avantes, an influential Lark who used his army of slaves to battle the flames that would often plague the closely compacted wooden structures. Unfortunately, Avantes had often been more interested in purchasing the burning property from the distraught homeowners for exorbitantly low prices than actually putting out the fire. He would then buy the surrounding buildings as well as he strong armed those who had had the misfortune of having their homes catch on fire, threatening to let their lives go up in smoke if they did not sell. Then, with his slaves, we would rebuild the damaged lots and resell them, doubling or even tippling his profits. Avantes died a filthy rich man, but trying to find records of him or his slaves ever actually putting out a fire had proven challenging to say the least. If it hadn't had been for the stern look on Marco's face as he recounted the tale, Elias might have almost complimented the old bastard on his genius. He held his tongue however, allowing Marco to go on.

When Avantes died, many realized they were still in need of a force of men who could actually be called upon to fight fires. Volunteers alone proved ineffective to deal with serious infernos, so Ravok officials intervened, forming the Vigilant. With the Master of Vigilance at its head, the group was a small unit of dedicated men and volunteers who could be funded primarily through insurance companies that insured their clients against fire damage. The Vigilant would also have their ranks filled with as many men as they could get, however these unfortunate few more often than not tended to be debtors and criminals who were given the option to either pay off their fines in jail, or serve the Vigilant for a set amount of time.

"So if your men are constantly being rotated out, they not only don't want to be here, they aren't even here long enough to be be trained properly." Elias found himself musing out loud. Marco bristled, as if he had just been waiting for someone to bring it up.

"Exactly! Its a flawed system, and it sees more of these sorry bastards killed, and more homes burned to the ground than I care to count. I don't have enough men loyal to this job, but with a ray... raymei-"

"Reimancer."

"That, we can do so much better. With the way you work the water, we could actually save the buildings we get called out to instead of being forced to chop down their neighbors with axes and hooks. Your magic could help make a difference in this city, Elias...


So, what do you say. Are you in?"

[Abstract]

Grade Awarded!

Elias

Skills

~ Observation - 3
~ Reimancy - 2
~ Leadership - 1

Lores

~ Fires Caused by Riots
~ Reimancy: Tempting to Go Further
~ Employed As a Reimancy Firefighter

Other

N/A

Notes

Nothing to say.