Severed Connections

by **Aldebaran** on February 26th, 2015, 12:55 pm

The smile seemed off on his youthful face, but Aldebaran didn’t inquire further. The topic didn’t interest her in the slightest. If he didn’t understand, it didn’t matter, and if he did, he’d learned something. Either way, she wouldn’t bring it up again. It only tired her and kept her from pursuing things more worthwhile.

So when he asked about glyphs, her silver gaze lit up. It seemed her excitement had fired him up, if only just a little, and that in turn motivated her to be completely open with a fellow mage. Glyphing did prove relatively harmless to share as it only supported other disciplines. If Kaik used her lessons to improve his golems, that wouldn’t touch her in the slightest as she used it to enhance her reimancy.

So she nodded. “That’s what they’re used for most often, although they can also control risky magic, store spells or even objects. Usually there will be several glyphs that form a sigil. Let’s see...” While speaking, she stood, brushing dirt from her pants, and took a few steps into the clearing.

Picking up a stick from under a nearby tree, Aldebaran returned and began scratching lines into the dry earth between them. For teaching purposes, any material would be fine as the glyphs didn’t need to last long. She was drawing in silence, stopping and redoing parts of the glyph several times. The result was something like a letter, but more archaic and complicated. As a fellow mage, Kaik would instinctively know it was meant to store something. “This is the focus, the center piece of the sigil. Next comes the barrier that’ll keep the spell inside for as long as I want.”

With that, she began drawing a stylized circle around the glyph. Several variants of the same letter were connected by lines, like bars of a gilded cage. As she worked, Aldebaran locked her trembling excitement deep inside her mind. Her hands didn’t tremble and her gaze was intent. After she’d drawn the barrier, she scratched a small symbol over the circle. Hesitating for a tick, she wiped it out with a sleeve and wrote two different symbols, entwined and reaching into one another. The first said ‘speech’ and the second ‘up’.

Aldebaran straightened, slipping back into her meditation pose, and gestured towards the finished sigil in the dirt. “The last two glyphs are the trigger. They will deactivate the barrier, thus activating what is stored in the focus. However, there’s nothing stored in it yet, right?”

The Ethaefal held out her right hand and focused on her palm. Whether he’d asked for it or not, Kaik would get his demonstration. Staring at her white palm, she willed res out from under her skin and into the air where it manifested as a pale blue wisp of smoke. With a flick of her will, she transformed the outer layer into air and let it fall from her hand towards the glyph in the circle. Before it hit the ground, all res transformed into a gust of wind that disappeared in the glyph.

“Now that something is stored in the focus, I can trigger it. Ready?” A glint of mischief entered her gaze. As a mage, Aldebaran relished every opportunity to show off what she could do. After a dramatic pause, a single word rolled off her tongue. “Alat.” And a gust of wind rose from the sigil on the ground, rustling the shadowed leaves over their heads, tugging at snowy strands and wiping out all the lines she’d drawn.

by **Kaik Leyr** on February 27th, 2015, 2:41 am

So many ways to use Glyphing. Such a useful tool for a mage! Surely there has to more uses it than what she said? Perhaps I should just watch for now.

Kaik watched with eager anticipation as the Ethaefal walked into the clearing. A sense of familiarity began to well up in the animator as the glyph began to take shape. He could not explain why he felt like he knew the meaning in the lines being etched unto the earth. It was this sense of understanding that made Kaik all the more captivated by the demonstration.

Focus and barrier. She’s drawing some kind of...storage? I don’t want to disturb her but...I need answers.

“Could please go into detail about this...sigil? When you say ‘centerpiece’ exactly what does that mean? Is a focus required in every glyph? And….” Kaik took a moment to word his next question correctly, “And the barrier. It can keep the magic inside as long as you want? Are you sure of this? Is there no limit or exceptions to this?”

When his questions were answered Aldebaran continued to etch more symbols into the ground around what she had already drawn. Kaik admired how focused the fellow mage was in her work. New symbols were drawn to which he once again felt like he knew despite his lack of knowledge in glyphing.

’Speech’ and ‘Up’. That’s what they say, but I’ve never seen this runes before. How can I know? The world of magic seems larger than I thought it was. Why use those words? Is she going to active something with her voice? But then that doesn’t make sense with the word ‘up’.

Finished with the glyph Aldebaran went back into a relaxed position while Kaik analyzed the finished product.

Another word, trigger. It’s starting to make sense. The focus is the storage, the barrier is the walls, while the trigger is the door.

“Do all glyphs look like the ones you’re drawing? Is there a specific....symbol for each sigil?”

Kaik nodded his head to answer Aldebaran’s question not quite understanding what she planned to store inside the glyph. When she had held out her hand it soon became apparent what would be stored in the glyph. He stared in wonderment at the blue wisp that had formed before it fell into the glyph.

“Um, I’m not really prepared...but go ahead.”

The Eth took her time before starting the show and Kaik waited much like any child for the grand reveal. A foreign word was said to which puzzled Kaik since he could not get the feeling he had previously. Still he could take an acceptable guess to what it meant. A gust of wind raced upward toward the sky.

Alat. To the sky. Surely that was what it meant? How fitting. It was an amazing display of magic.

“That was...quite amazing, thank you. I guess it’s my turn? Well I could just...hmm...then again...my demonstration may take a long while to perform...and well...I don’t really have anything to work with. I’m sorry but...do you mind? Er I mean like...do you mind just me answering questions? I’m not really sure where to start.”

Boxcode by Estrellir Konrath

by **Aldebaran** on March 3rd, 2015, 11:00 am

Aldebaran tapped the heart of the sigil. “Yes, it’s the crucial part. The barrier and trigger aren’t even necessary, technically, but without them the focus would release whatever is stored in it immediately. Pointless. Now if you craft a sigil with a permanently active effect, that’s an entirely different story though. You’d want the sigil to both store and direct it towards whatever you wish to affect. This means you’ll have to draw it on your chosen object and replace it from time to time. Wear and tear depends your skill as a glypher.”

When their attention shifted to the barrier, she shrugged. “Naturally, the trigger should be foolproof. Vocal triggers with rare words tend to work best as they hardly go off accidentally. There are other ways, possibly more effective, but I don’t know enough to teach those yet.”

As he asked about the appearance of glyphs, she looked at the shapes she’d drawn. Their meaning stood out plain as day, but Aldebaran had heard such literacy was individual to the wizard. Those drawn by others tended to look completely different and less pleasing to her. Looking up, she shook her head. “Not at all. Every glypher has their own system. I use variations of the old tongue, but you can do the same with whatever works best for you. However, you instinctively understand my glyphs because you’re a mage too.”

After the demonstration, they were left with little but whispering echoes and dust. Aldebaran couldn’t help but feel a faint loss as if something she’d raised had disappeared into the wide world, but she pushed it away with little effort. Kaik seemed impressed, although he didn’t ask any of the expected questions. How to use glyphs on golems. How to stabilize or aid his discipline with sigils.

Instead he declared it was her turn. Licking her lips, Aldebaran sat straighter on the cold grass and went over everything she knew of Animation. The golem stood by his side, perfectly still and attentive. “Could you give me a short summary of how golems are crafted? How do you fill the shell with purpose? Also, what kinds of golems are used most often? Do they always take on humanoid forms?”

Leaning back with arms crossed in front of her chest, the Ethaefal was eager to hear his answers. Despite the late bell, she showed no signs of tiring. Magic often kept her awake all through dusk and midnight rest.

by **Kaik Leyr** on March 3rd, 2015, 4:49 pm

Kaik listened closely to Aldebaran as if he was taking notes on every word she said about the sigil.

Hmm so...if I were to draw a glyph on Arya it wouldn’t actually affect her? Since it would be pointed away from her? No that can’t be right. Surely I can have it affect her. Pointless? I refuse to see that. Surely there’s a use to only the focus.

As Kaik racked his mind to some use of just the focus he listened to the Eth’s explanation of the barrier, at least that was what he thought she would talk about when their attention moved to the barrier.

I didn’t really ask about the trigger but about the barrier. I guess it was still useful information none the less. I can only assume the barrier’s limit is based on the user’s ability, as is what it’s always like when it comes to magic.

Aldebaran answered his question about the style of glyphs with ease. “Oh, is that why? Well I suppose I am a mage.” Kaik said to himself.

So that’s why I’ve been able to understand what her glyphs were saying! But this ‘old tongue’? Of course I’ve heard of the language but I never bothered to learn about it. Not that I will have to know about it anyways, I can just use my own system as Aldebaran mentioned.

When Kaik saw the gust of wind push toward the sky an idea popped into his head.

“You...said before that using only the focus was pointless but I...I really wanted to prove you wrong. So um...I can’t say I’m too confident with what I had in mind and there’s definitely some problems with the plan but here goes.” He waited a moment to choose his words correctly, “Perhaps in an open area we have the enemy and then we have the...er....hero, I guess. Okay what if the hero had like a glyph composed only of a focus etched unto his shield? If the enemy were to throw or shoot something at the man’s shield then would it be possible for the object to be redirected at the enemy?”

Kaik tired of standing sat back down with difficulty due to his broken thigh luckily Oliver was there to give him a hand. Upon easing himself down upon the ground he caught a glance of the Eth licking her lips. He casually looked away to make sure she thought nothing strange of him. Kaik could not help but grip his right arm sensing a pain that was all in his head.

That petcher Mellisa! Even in death you haunt me. Calm down. Have to calm down.

The doll maker released the grip on his right arm and let his mind drift back into the calming atmosphere.

“Right. Short summary? Okay okay um...Oliver, please get that stick for me,” Kaik knew that Oliver would not know what a stick was but with an added pointed finger and the words ‘get’ Oliver could do as asked. “Thanks Oliver.”

Still sitting he drew two circles, one larger than the other, and connected a line between the two shapes. Using the stick he pointed to and said what each meant.“Source and destination. First the user will give up a part of their life source to gain a...connection to the circles. In my case it would be blood, though it’s only a drop.”

Guess my job at the studio is actually useful. After explaining the basics for so long I don’t stutter when I teach students. Still this isn’t someone who is going into Animation, at least that’s what I think, so maybe it be better to not let her attempt this?

“Before I continue I just want to make this clear...don’t try to attempt Animation unless you plan to fully study it. It’s the same with any other discipline, right?” Kaik said looking directly at the Eth to make sure she understood. “Anyway um...after all that is placing what you want in the circles, what will happen is er....what’s the right word? Information. Yes, information is copied from one circle to the other. While you are copying information, you will still create an artificial soul. That’s um...about as simple as I could make it.”

Kaik looked up at the sky as he watched his breath turn into a cloud drifting with the wind.

“I think that answered at least one of your questions. I could go into detail about exactly how I...’fill the shell with purpose’ as you say, but to sum it all up I focus on the connection I have with the circles and copy, modify, and transfer information. Hm? Oh right...yes... heh actually they never usually take on humanoid forms. It’s...a lot more simple to create a....hmm a uh...a box with wheels then it is to make the joints of human. The only reason I’ve been able to manage to create my golems is due to copying the designs I’ve seen on dolls and such. It works but...it’s not the most effective design. So um yeah...to answer your questions...I’d have to say they are more likely to use wheels versus legs...not many would use humanoid creations.”

Once I answer some more questions I think I should ask more about how I could improve my animation with the glyphs.

“I was wondering if it was possible if you could show me how I could integrate glyphing into my magic. Like ummm...how about...oh, how about the animation circle...is it possible to improve it? I thought it better you know about animation before I asked.”

Boxcode by Estrellir Konrath

by **Aldebaran** on March 4th, 2015, 11:57 am

Aldebaran blinked, then realized what he was referring to. A shadow of irritation touched her features for a tick before she returned to the patient façade of a teacher. Hadn’t she addressed that topic just a moment ago? Perhaps she hadn’t been clear enough or he had dismissed those words as a mere footnote. “I think it would. Naturally, this would be a different sigil than the one I drew on the ground. If it’s active all the time, barrier and trigger are unnecessary. On the other hand, the effect won’t last forever. Then it’ll have to be replaced by a new sigil.” She paused, trying to imagine what glyphs would be needed for the sigil to throw back whatever touched it. Eventually, she shrugged. “That’d be a complex sigil though. I wouldn’t know where to begin if asked to craft such a thing in reality.”

When he eased himself back on the stone, she watched with mild curiosity. So her former impression was confirmed once again. Kaik had been hurt some time ago, resulting in limping and occasional pains. Apparently his golem hadn’t been able to protect him. Reimancy seemed to be better suited for directly influencing one’s surroundings, although it had a higher price. The way he explained his discipline confirmed her thoughts too. Animation only seemed to make certain things easier. Comfort. Assistance. Dolls didn’t require nourishment or wages, after all. When he asked her not to perform animation lightheartedly, she nodded. It was the same with other disciplines. After the initiation, there was no way back.

Thoughts and possibilities were whirring in her head as he spoke of different types of golems. Wheels were more practical? “So you design the golem and artificial soul according to your needs and the thoughts you copy dictate what the golem will be able to do?” Pausing, she went through everything he’d said again. “Once the creation process is complete, you control the golem by saying certain words, right?” Similar to glyphing. Words held magical power.

At his last question, Aldebaran gave a thoughtful hum. Her finger was drawing patterns in the dirt, erasing them and drawing new patterns. “According to your explanation, the animation circle channels magic and also keeps it from leaking into the surroundings. If you were creating complex golems, I think a second circle of glyphs around the animation circle would stabilize it further. Like the barrier that contains the focus. If drawn around the circle you’re in, it could also help you focus during the copying process. Is that what you meant?” Brow furrowed, she looked up. If glyphs on her hands helped Aldebaran channel her res and wield elemental magic, she was sure they could aid animation too.

by **Kaik Leyr** on March 4th, 2015, 11:59 pm

Odd. Didn’t I hear her say the same words just a while ago? Oh jeez...was that what she meant? I thought a sigal was a combination of the focus and other parts, or would that be glyph? Ugh...why can’t we just call it a focus if we’re only using a focus? Difficult? How hard could it be? Don’t you just use the same symbol for a focus and be done with it?

Kaik knew better to complain so he made sure to keep his thoughts in check.

“Yes, I design the actual body of the golems based on what I desire. I...suppose you’re right when you say the thoughts I use determine what the golem does but...it’s definitely a bit more complex than just ‘thoughts’ but...yeah um I guess you would be correct there.” A moment after his answer another question was posed. “That’s er...not how it works, at least for any usual animator. I suppose there are some uses in doing it that sort of way but...no, more likely that won’t happen. How do I...explain it? Hmm it’s like...I don’t use any sort of ‘magic’ words to control a golem...well that’s unless I want to shut them down...but anyways they have a mind of their own. They go by certain…laws, I suppose, that are woven into their souls. I can, for example, make it so that when a golem sees the night return home. I didn’t have to tell them to do that, I simply made it so they know to do so. That make sense?”

That’s good. She’s going to help me improve my animation circles. They’ve worked well so far, wonder how much better or perhaps faster they would work with glyphs? Based on what limited information I know it should work like that. Based on Aldebaran’s explanation a barrier would stabilize the circles, thus keeping the information from leaking outside the circles and be directed straight at the other circle.

“Yes, that’s what I meant. Besides just making it easier to focus, it should keep the information from leaking during transfer, right? I hope you don’t mind but...could you show me how your sigal would look? I want to try to do it myself. Um don’t worry I’m not trying to...steal the look of your glyphs or anything like that...I just don’t really have any kind of ‘system’ to how a glyph should look.”

Better to ask before one tries it. I’m sure she’ll give me an odd look or dismiss my politeness as nonsense but I’ve read enough stories of wizards to know their madness. Though she does not seem crazy, I’d rather not risk being cut into pieces by wind. We may have already exchanged plenty of information but one can never know how much is enough with a mage.

Boxcode by Estrellir Konrath

by **Neologism** on May 11th, 2015, 2:10 pm

x

Aldebaran

Notes: Please pay your living expense for Winter, 514AV. Pm me once you have done so to receive your grades.

Kaik Leyr

Skills:

Lores:

Notes: Please edit your post in the request thread as 'Graded'.

PM to join Severed Connections