Flashback [Guest ST] Simply Irrelevant

[Aoren]

Cadmus allowed Fallon to reach the conclusions in the fashion she was so want to do. He merely regarded her with that cat-like amusement. The spark of something brewing in his mind quite evident by the glint in his eyes. At her not so elegant refusal of having any knowledge whatsoever on the subject of magic he snorted chewing on the tip of his pipe. Those eyes narrowed but there was no animosity in them. Suffice it to say, his look merely said that there simply would be no getting around the old man’s powers of observation.

“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about my dear.” The old man meandered over to Fallon’s chamber pot. He took the pipe out of his mouth dumping the charred tobacco into it before turning his attention back to her. Taking out one of the many cloths that he apparently had on his person at all times he began systematically cleaning the pipe. His face was pensive as he listened to Fallon. His head was quirked to one side. The tip of his hat wobbled slightly with the jarring of his motions. When Fallon had finished her vague inquiry he merely shrugged his shoulders placing the pipe back into his robes.

“I would do nothing. Why would I do anything? I am a mage. What reason would I have to do anything to another mage? If I had wanted to do something to you I could have done it at the rehearsal. I could do it right now.” He shuffled his way over to a chair sitting down turning to stare thoughtfully into the distance. The old man was silent for a good few chimes. It was likely the longest that Fallon had been around him without him throwing some nonsensical quip or inappropriate analogy her way. Finally he turned his gaze back to Fallon as if realizing that she was there and he wasn’t alone in the room. With a sigh he spoke.

“I find myself in a pickle. I cannot pay you as much as I had hoped to. Because believe you, me, Fallon you’re worth a considerable fee.” He gave her a wink leaning back in his chair. While his humor flared for a moment it faded again. “Now, make no mistake that I intend to pay you still. I will simply be needing a bit more of my funds to, well, grease a few palms to slip quietly out of the city.”

He rubbed his chin thinking for a moment.

“What if, to compensate for the cut in pay, I were to perhaps share my knowledge with you?” It was a significant offer to say the least. There were most certainly not a lot of mages in the city of Ravok who would make such an offer.

[Fallon]

Fallon looked at him down the bridge of her nose, and then sighed, "Fine, you win this time. Yes. I know of some things."

With that she promptly perched herself on the edge of her bed, fingers lacing together and her thumbs twiddling. There was a sight guilty look upon her face, her eyes looking down to her nails as they caught the edge of the light. Cadmus however was simply sitting there, the gentle puffing, the clunk as he cleaned out his pipe with a set form of age old precision. She could not bring herself to look at him properly, that niggling feeling of being trapped grating against her. It was an uneasy feeling to say the least, but it was one she would have to deal with regardless - he knew now, there was no escaping that factor through clever words and trickery. Toeing the ground she listened, ears straining as he spoke through the his thoughts, the question still resting there in the air.

"I don't know," she gave a shrug, "Anything really? I was always told that mages could be fickle..." She watched the almost silent contemplation of the mage, what was he thinking? What was he planning? Was he going to pull a stunt and force her into something? Regardless, he looked deep within thought and it was perhaps then that she was spurred into taking and using the opportunity - somehow. That troubled expression, or more over the noticeable silence that still rested there. It left her in anticipation, waiting for him to make some move to do something other than make no sound what so ever.

When he did once more finally speak up however there was almost a sigh of relief that it was not one in rage or judgement. Coin was the subject now, and it seemed to be one he did not want to admit to - begrudging even with the lace of humour that rested there. Her head cocked to one side, almost quizzically to him and searching for some form of hidden meaning beneath it all. But it was the offer of knowledge that snatched her attention truly. Eyes brightened, sharpening in their tones, a gentle lean in as she pondered. Even the Lykata seemed to throb with anticipation on the subject of learning something new. Her finger rose, lips parting to speak, "You are being serious, right? I mean... you're suggesting I learn what you can do and I'm haven't misinterpreted it?"

Blinking her hand lowered a moment of being little more than stunned - something new, another magic in which to sink her teeth into, to learn and to understand. Her pulse quickened, the curling up into a broad grin, before furiously nodding.
"Yes!" she exclaimed, paused and sucked in the air, "I mean, yes, that seems fair. Knowledge for services is a suitable... payment. I can work with that. How did.... Do we do this?" She paused blinked and leaned in close to meet his gaze, flickering and searching for a way to understand, words quickening slightly as they escaped, "How does it work? How did you learn? Special words? Certain way the mind has to focus? Or..." she cocked her head to one side, "An initiation of sorts?"

Swallowing, Fallon suddenly remembered herself and gave a lean back. Pink graced her cheeks with slight embarrassment, "Sorry, I... get a bit excitable at knowledge. I'm... sure you will uptake on this deal in good time. Once I've done my side of it of course."

[Aoren]

“I assure you dear, I am quite fickle. I am the fickliest fickle there is.” Cadmus brought a hand up in point of fact. The glint in his eyes and the slight smirk on his face however told Fallon that she had very little to worry about. For all of his tricks the old man didn’t come off as insincere.

“Of course I’m being serious, Bright Eyes. Besides, the next time you find yourself in a jam caught between the wily attentions of two horny men you’ll have more than your devastating charms to protect yourself.” He chuckled bringing his hands down to fold them in his lap. His face grew serious at that moment though. He leveled Fallon with a stare taking in her form carefully.

“I won’t lie to you. The initiation into Reimancy is not a pleasant one. It is something that will stick with you for the rest of your life well into your old age. You’ll never forget it. During it you may even wish you’d never even considered it but the moment it begins it must be followed through to completion or you risk death.” He reached up removing his hat setting it upon the surface of a nearby table. Reaching into his robes he withdrew what could only be described as a sharp eating knife. It would hardly be a threat in any sort of tussle but it was still capable of cutting flesh. He set that beside his hat.

“I will have to make two cuts. Both of them will be on the palms of your hands. When that is done I will conjure the wisps of my djed in the form of a gas then pass them into your open cuts. I must fill your body with the gas which could take several minutes. They will likely be the longest few minutes of your life if you’ve not experienced something of this nature before.” His eyes lost focus for a moment. Silence drew out between the two of them. Cadmus was lost in thought. His mind had reached back into the recesses of his memory recalling the beginnings of his journey as a reimancer. It was so many years ago but it still felt fresh. His body ached just to think about it. With a blink of his eyes the memory was banished.

“You are still certain that you want to go through with this? You are still certain that this is the kind of power you wish to command?”

[Fallon]

Fallon blinked at him for a moment, eyes looking to the hand almost as if she was expecting him to conjure something from it - only to find nothing. That glimmer, that hum of amusement that hovered there for a moment before it was once more wrapped behind seriousness. It was perhaps only then that Fallon begun to allow herself to relax slightly. It still did not stop her from twiddling her fingers however, and her mind flickered back briefly to the scene, "Yes, very devastating indeed... though I'm sure a swift kick still would have worked wonders."

Shaking her head she turned her attention to what was at hand, a wiry smile as she tried to find some form of humour behind it all - and struggled to do so, "If it was not for the nature of the conversation I would have accused you of making some strange euphemism for something." There was a wince, her finger tracing down the palm of her hand. She remembered her initiation into projection, the way she was grasped and pulled free of her flesh bonds, the way there was simply a floating nothingness and then a rushing of a return. She blinked away the memory.

"That sounds... very intrusive," she mused, as if trying to imagine it mentally, "No, intrusive is the wrong word. Consuming is better. Drenching almost." Her eyes flickered down to the eating knife, a moment of stiffness as she wondered what exactly he was going to do with it. She reasoned, after his earlier words, that if he was to do anything he certainly would have done it by now. A puffed exhale escape, a flicker back to seriousness. Lips were wetted, a question escaping, "About as dangerous as having your astral ripped out and folded back into your flesh?" she paused, "I'll see it through to the end. I have dealt with long chimes of life few a times before, this will... be another to add to the list."

It was with a lump in her throat that she said that, the weight of the endeavour making itself known. It was dangerous, incredibly so - it was not some simple sit down and chat. It was much more than that. There was a look upon the palms of her hand, a subtle trace along the lines that made it up. Writing would be difficult to do whilst they healed, as would a few things she mused after a while. But the potential to know and learn outweighed the inconvenience that would occur. Knowledge, after all, was only useful if one knew how to use it.

"Yes, I am certain, very certain," the glimmer died down behind seriousness once and for all, only to be replaced with an iron willed determination. She could not falter, not now, not when there was so much opportunity before her. She turned her palms upwards, looking upon the distant gaze of the man before her, and rested them upon her lap. It was slowly she nodded, confirming her words for their worth, "Maybe to some it is a power. But it seems... more like a tool to me. I... instruct me in what to do, and I will do it." And she would of course, for that was all she could do now - obey and do to the best of her ability.

[Aoren]

Cadmus gave a nod weighted down with finality. He rose from the chair picking up the knife as he did. He did not yet approach Fallon however. Holding it up he gesture to it.

“Knife? Meet Fallon or Bright Eyes. Fallon? Meet the instrument of your initiation.” Giving Fallon a cat-like grin he stepped closer motioning for the girl to relax.

“The last thing you want is to be tense, my dear. This will be harsh enough as it is. So why not make light of the fact I’m about to cut you? Hmm?” He chuckled in good humor. Odd. There was no end to Cadmus’s oddities. He came to a stop just a few inches away from Fallon then cleared his throat.

“Now then, it might be best if you kneel. We wouldn’t want you to flop about only to collapse and bump your noggin now, would we?” He made a supplicating gesture with his hands. Raising his arms with palms upturned he nodded for Fallon to do the same once she got herself situated. “Right, I’m going to swipe the edge of the blade across your palms then fill you with my Res. Easy as pie. Ready?”

Whether she was or not, Cadmus stepped forward firmly grasping one of Fallon’s wrists. His grip was much stronger than one would have expected for a man of his apparent age. There was a seriousness to his gaze as he focused on the center of her hand when he plunged the tip of the knife into her skin and made two diagonal cuts forming an X. Releasing her one hand he moved to the other repeating the cuts at the center of that palm. Stepping away Cadmus set the knife on the table then turned to study Fallon for a moment. As he did an orange misty cloud began to billow out from his hands. It followed him as he returned to stand directly in front of Fallon. Positioning his hands over Fallon’s upturned ones he studied her eyes for a moment.

“This my dear, is going to hurt.” The orange gas surged forward then plunging into the cuts on Fallon’s palms. More than that though the gas surrounded her head seeping into her mouth, her nose and her eyes. The whole while Cadmus was silent. His brow was furrowed in concentration but he kept his eyes level. There was an understanding in them the resonance of empathizing with what the young woman was being put through at that very moment.

[Fallon]

"Pleasure to meet you Knife," she spoke dryly, attempting to mimic the sense of humour that he seemed to carry. It was hard to find a level state of calm to hold onto, the emotions fluctuating as he came over with the bare steel. Part of her flinched when she caught the gesture, simply sticking to obeying and taking to her knees when he suggested it - minimise accidents and danger where possible. Her shoulders hunched in slightly, her hands raised to take as he wished. A chew upon her lips, her eyes gave a flicker. There was still time to pull out, was there not? Still time to change her mind if cold feet got the better of her. Or not as the case may be.

"Easy as wha-" Hissing as the tip pierced her skin, her entire body gave a jerk out of reflex, a juddering as the unexpected strength held her in place. Blood gave a bloom, barely bubbling and seeping out through the slit before he moved onto the other. She tensed, trembled and shook, eyes flittering back and forth as she watched the intent folds within his face and the look of concentration behind the wrinkles and beard. She fluttered, a repeat before
freezing as the knife was set down.

Swallowing her eyes darted, racing to look at everything at once. She felt the encroaching, a sense of dread clawing its way up from her stomach and resting heavily upon her shoulders. The scene blinked, another wetting of lips - nervous this time in nature - a forced level of breathing set upon her. An inhale in, followed by an exhale, deep and steady. Her eyes blinked, the pulse quickening as she felt the adrenal rise. Urges to flee came, the thoughts screaming that there was still time to escape this quickly encroaching fate. On the flip side the hunger for knowledge, the lust to learn and understand what was before her. And it was being offered to her freely - or near as - all she had to do was reach out and take it.

Lips parted, an rough exhale as she flinched to the surrounding gas, a moment of wariness creeping up once more. Maybe it was a trap, a scheme to set her into a false sense of security and then to simply smother her. Then again, she was surrounded now, there was no turning back and if that truly was the case she was most certainly already dead. It came, a sharp intake of breath, and then nothing more than pain.

Fallon choked, throat constricting, tightening and then relaxing as it entered. It grasped and grappled, expanding in the lungs, an intrusive feeling as it wheedled its way in. Veins rose, her teeth snapping together as her skin writhed, fingers trembling and clawing in reflex. Lids flared open, a whine that broke into a gasp, croaking as her mind pulsed. What was going on? What was he doing to her? Initiation of course, the very nature of it forced her muscles to spasm, contracting and relaxing faster than she could control.

But it continued to burn, form slumping, her head rolling forward as she fought to not simply surrender to it. Suffocating, no more than just that. It was consuming in every sense of the word, and the word 'hurt' in no way really prepared her for what was to come. Agony would have been the more apt description. Her face grew wet, shoulders rising as she tensed up again, looking to somehow mentally ground herself against what was going on. No, this was different than an initiation to projection, a slither of her mind managed to muse before being promptly snuffed out once more. When would it stop? When would it be over? How much longer could she bear of this?

[Aoren]

Throughout the ordeal Cadmus maintained a silent vigil over the girl. He did not cease pushing the gaseous Res into her body as she coughed, writhed and convulsed. The hard look in his eyes would tell an observer that despite his silence he knew exactly what the girl was going through. An understanding of the pain she was in was in the set of his brow and the tightness in his jaw. His stance was rigid but the whole while he did not stop. He could feel his Res flowing through her body seeping into every pore and flowing through her veins.

He did not speak. What words could be said to bring comfort to this agony? There were none. There was only the slow descent into oblivion as the slicing pain cut its way to the very core of your soul. Such a thing could not be described. It could only be felt and in this all reimancers shared a kinship. The price of power etched itself permanently into every memory it touched. This moment made certain it would never be forgotten even as the mind became addled with age.

Slowly, darkness would descend upon Fallon’s vision. Her conscious mind retreating from the experience in the hopes that blackness would prove a reprieve from the pain. Finally, shadows would enclose around her vision and the bliss of unconsciousness would embrace her fully.

---------------------------

88th of Winter, 509 AV
Early Morning

The morning came as it always did, with the rising of Syna over the horizon. The pleasant warmth of Ravok’s perpetually perfect weather kept the sting of winter at bay. With Syna came the reminder of the night prior. The encounter with the uncomfortably assertive men, the brawl in the tavern, the revelation that Cadmus was a reimancer and Fallon’s initiation into the discipline itself. All of it surging to the forefront of the girl’s mind at once in a rush of noise and emotion.

When Fallon awoke, she would find herself alone in her living spaces. The old mage was gone. His ever present grin just a memory. A haze would cling to Fallon’s mind lending to the notion that perhaps all of it had been a dream brought on by an indulgence in too much alcohol. The only proof to the contrary? Fallon’s hands were bandaged and resting upon her nightstand was a folded piece of parchment upon which rested a bronze colored ring bearing a strange signet of a pipe with smoke trailing up from the basin. Upon opening the parchment Fallon could find a handwritten note in a quirky and impatient script.

“Bright Eyes,

If you’re reading this, congratulations! You survived! You had me worried there for a moment but I knew that the scowl on your face was proof enough you were too stubborn to die. I do apologize but I thought it wise to depart the city without lingering too long. No doubt the Ebon…the Ebon….Ebongripes will be looking for parties involved in the brawl that broke out at the Silver Sliver. I might advise you make yourself scarce until things blow over.

In the mean time! I would like to be the first to tell you that you’re a reimancer. I have no idea what element you’re going to start out with. None. That, I believe, is up to you. Find what resonates most clearly with you, my dear. You should find it too horribly difficult to produce Res for the first time. If you’re a Projectionist like you say, making Djed gather at one point on your body and then pushing it outward shouldn’t be too hard.

I suggest you start by trying to make it manifest in your hands first.

On another note, I would like to give you a bit of advice. You may heed it or you may call me a coot.

Don’t get so lost in your own world. You’ll find that the deeper you fall into the depths of your own mind, the less you see of the world around you. Live as Kihala intended for you to do. Laugh because dammit, Rhaus gave us music and song for a reason. Love because Cheva will guide you and one day die without fear because Dira will be there to embrace you.

Kisses,
C.D.”

Maybe the old man was a coot. Maybe he was wiser than he seemed. Truthfully? It didn’t much matter because in the grandest scheme of things it was all simply irrelevant. Besides, Fallon had more pressing things to worry about, like what was for breakfast?

NoteAlright Ms. Fallon, I do hope you've enjoyed yourself. Feel free to make your final post and then I shall toss up your grade. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to Guest Moderate for you.

[Fallon]

Fallon's head throbbed, a strange drain mixed with a grogginess that reminded her far too well of a hangover. The room, of course, was far too bright for her liking, the colours having blurred in and out around the edges. Her sight swum, her eyes clenching shut once more as she tried to grasp some bearings of what exactly was going. The previous night was a strange lurch in and out of memory, barely coordinated as she tried to come to terms with what had happened. Her hands stung, the flesh across them tightening and restricting, as the let her gaze flicker to them briefly.

"Not a dream," she muttered after a moment of dazed contemplation and struggled up. Parts flickered and burned into life, the tavern, the mage, the initiation. It was the final thought that truly kicked her into action. Shooting up, her eyes blinked around the room, looking and searching for the answer, only to find what had been left to her. A scrabble for the parchment, staggering almost as she pulled it away and let the ring bounce across the surface. The slamming down of the hand over it was what stopped its rolling. The thumb slid roughly underneath, her gaze flickering as she took it and the contents in.

It was with a strange buzz of excitement that the words finally settled in her, solidifying and being repeated in her head. She was a reimancer. A practitioner of another magic outside of projection. Her lips were licked, her eyes looking down to the bandages and then back to the paper. Part of it stung to know the man was presently not about, leaving it to her to try and work things out on her own - but the theory was indeed there at least. The other part of her made her writhe, the 'advice' at the end left only a sour taste in her mouth. Only when older would she truly begin to appreciate those words.

Her head cocked to one side at that point, the parchment folded as she considered what could next be done. The finger ran across the palm, a thinking for a moment upon her djed, the slow feeling of pushing and gathering of it into one point, scrapping up the debris together and letting it bleed forth. Her hand shook for a moment, trembling at the build up with the feeling of a momentary nausea hitting her. She chose to let it go, her shoulders slumping forward and her head hanging in a cool sweat. It would be hard work to learn, she mused to herself and let the limb hang forward. But before all that there was much more pressing things to do, and the location of her next meal was among them. She released a mutter, taking up the ring and twirling it between her fingers, "Time to get to work!"

oocThank you Mr Aoren for running this guest moderation for me. It was much fun and greatly appreciated, I hope you enjoyed just as much as I did. Ta again!

[Aoren]

Fallon

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Negotiation	+ 3 EXP
Interrogation	+ 5 EXP
Appraisal	+ 2 EXP
Dancing	+1 EXP
Persuasion	+3 EXP
Reimancy	+1 EXP

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Tavern Song: Knock Her Knickers
•	Rhetoric: Snarky Humorous Retorts
•	Interrogation: Drilling For Information
•	Social Nuance: Dancing Around A Question
•	Social Nuance: The Importance of Easing Into A Crowd
•	Sleight of Hand: People Perceive What They Want To
•	Nickname: Bright Eyes
•	Cadmus: The Stupendous!
•	Cadmus: A Stage Magician
•	Cadmus: He’s a Reimancer
•	Cadmus: Words of Wisdom(??)
•	Negotiation: Business Is In The Details
•	The Woes of Waking Early
•	Appraisal: The Value of Fine Cloth
•	Flash Powder: Can Be Made With Philtering
•	Glyphing: A Form of World Magic
•	Glyphing: Affects Other Forms Of Magic
•	Glyphing: Can Be Used To Trigger Specific Reactions
•	Persuasion: Diffusing A Situation With Tact And Humor
•	Reimancy: The Magic of Elemental Manipulation
•	Reimancy: The Initiation Process
•	Reimancy: Being Initiated Into Reimancy

Details, Details… :

• | Consequences: Fallon has been initiated into Reimancy! Enjoy your new found magic! She will now bear the scars of her initiation on the palms of her hands.

• | Loot: Blue Costume Dress, Signet Ring, Cadmus’s Letter

Notes :

If you have comments, questions or concerns please approach me at your earliest convenience. Don't forget to edit/delete your request in the request thread!