5th of Summer, 514 AV
“What in Dira’s seven hells happened here?”
The voice was a gravelly and familiar one that sounded from somewhere behind him, but the reimancer attention never faltered from the task at hand. With his hands outstretched towards the flickering remnants of the flames that still clung to the ruined vestiges that was once the front wall of the building, more res began to dribble from his flesh, first as pure djed, then as something more tangible and glorious as it was pulled from calloused fingertips into the world outside. His nose wrinkled at the smell of smoldering wood and fibers as a gentle Ravokian wind picked up the smoke and sent its eye watering tendrils drifting back at him. Elias spat and stifled a throaty cough as the res began to warp itself into a small, faintly glowing orb hovering just in front of his palms.
“Some kind of explosion, boss man.” Came the eventual response to the question. Elias recognized that voice as well, but just as he had with the first, the mage didn’t bother turning around. “What I hear, the Ebonstryfe were poking around, looking for some fella who’s been killing folks around town lately. This is what they got for their troubles I guess.” He could imagine the man nonchalantly gesturing towards the blown out wreckage the young mage was currently bringing under heel. The fire wasn’t particularly bad truth be told, and in fact, it was barely even a ‘fire’ really, merely a spattering of embers at this point. A few here and there might have seemed ambitious enough to at least flirt with the idea of growing into something more intimidating, but for the most part, this problem would have likely have died out on its own given enough time. “They just finished fishing what was left of their boys outa the canal before they went rushing off towards the docks all in a huff. Sounded like they had ‘em cornered.”
Elias knew there were still a few wading remnants of burning debris that lingered upon the water’s surface in the nearby canal. Likely bits of scorched brigandine and chainmail too. He thought he could feel them as he pulled from the water, his other hand having produced a second construct of res in which he used to funnel water from the embankment right to the problem areas that demanded his particular touch, yet were too far away from him to easily snuff out with the other ball of res. Effectively he was fighting the problem on two fronts; his left hand, the ball, acting like a sucking void, attracting the very flames on the wood to the point where they were literally ripped off their charred meals and thrown into the churning fireball Elias had so far managed to collect. His other hand, the serpent of water he had formed from the nearby lake, was wielded like a hose, spraying deeper inside the shattered house where pockets of resistance still simmered unchecked. While he wasn’t certain what he was feeling was the disgusting remains of those caught in the explosion as it was being picked up by his res pull, he was however pretty positive that every once in a while someone was accidentally bumping or closely sliding by the gently flowing torrent of water he was controlling. Likely as they casually slipped under or around the arch and bends he had created to allow those working on the scene to get by it without much trouble.
While on its own that was nothing worthy of note, the idea that the people he had started doing this job with, the same people who reeled and railed at the sight of his magic, were now so indifferent to it that they were unconcernedly rubbing elbows with it was something Elias thought he’d never live to see. These men weren’t soldiers who were trained to ignore or accept things and move on. They weren’t even other mages who lived alongside such miraculous and fantastic spectacles for much of their lives. They were just men, as normal and regular as any other, but somehow they had come to know, and perhaps even trust him enough that the arcane inherent to Elias had somehow become… normal now as well.
The voice was a gravelly and familiar one that sounded from somewhere behind him, but the reimancer attention never faltered from the task at hand. With his hands outstretched towards the flickering remnants of the flames that still clung to the ruined vestiges that was once the front wall of the building, more res began to dribble from his flesh, first as pure djed, then as something more tangible and glorious as it was pulled from calloused fingertips into the world outside. His nose wrinkled at the smell of smoldering wood and fibers as a gentle Ravokian wind picked up the smoke and sent its eye watering tendrils drifting back at him. Elias spat and stifled a throaty cough as the res began to warp itself into a small, faintly glowing orb hovering just in front of his palms.
“Some kind of explosion, boss man.” Came the eventual response to the question. Elias recognized that voice as well, but just as he had with the first, the mage didn’t bother turning around. “What I hear, the Ebonstryfe were poking around, looking for some fella who’s been killing folks around town lately. This is what they got for their troubles I guess.” He could imagine the man nonchalantly gesturing towards the blown out wreckage the young mage was currently bringing under heel. The fire wasn’t particularly bad truth be told, and in fact, it was barely even a ‘fire’ really, merely a spattering of embers at this point. A few here and there might have seemed ambitious enough to at least flirt with the idea of growing into something more intimidating, but for the most part, this problem would have likely have died out on its own given enough time. “They just finished fishing what was left of their boys outa the canal before they went rushing off towards the docks all in a huff. Sounded like they had ‘em cornered.”
Elias knew there were still a few wading remnants of burning debris that lingered upon the water’s surface in the nearby canal. Likely bits of scorched brigandine and chainmail too. He thought he could feel them as he pulled from the water, his other hand having produced a second construct of res in which he used to funnel water from the embankment right to the problem areas that demanded his particular touch, yet were too far away from him to easily snuff out with the other ball of res. Effectively he was fighting the problem on two fronts; his left hand, the ball, acting like a sucking void, attracting the very flames on the wood to the point where they were literally ripped off their charred meals and thrown into the churning fireball Elias had so far managed to collect. His other hand, the serpent of water he had formed from the nearby lake, was wielded like a hose, spraying deeper inside the shattered house where pockets of resistance still simmered unchecked. While he wasn’t certain what he was feeling was the disgusting remains of those caught in the explosion as it was being picked up by his res pull, he was however pretty positive that every once in a while someone was accidentally bumping or closely sliding by the gently flowing torrent of water he was controlling. Likely as they casually slipped under or around the arch and bends he had created to allow those working on the scene to get by it without much trouble.
While on its own that was nothing worthy of note, the idea that the people he had started doing this job with, the same people who reeled and railed at the sight of his magic, were now so indifferent to it that they were unconcernedly rubbing elbows with it was something Elias thought he’d never live to see. These men weren’t soldiers who were trained to ignore or accept things and move on. They weren’t even other mages who lived alongside such miraculous and fantastic spectacles for much of their lives. They were just men, as normal and regular as any other, but somehow they had come to know, and perhaps even trust him enough that the arcane inherent to Elias had somehow become… normal now as well.
Title Song :