Discovered Secrets (Kelski)

[Farris]

89th of Summer, 518. 22nd Bell.

Bells passed between light and darkness as the Void mage struggled through whirling nightmares that he could scarcely remember. Farris' dream was shallow, his mind overwhelmed by his life-threatening abuse of the djed that flowed through him. Farris' expression was pallid, a cold sweat spread throughout his body. Blood seeped through the bandages of his wound and the mage didn't dare move his limb. Instead, he remained curled on a bedroll. Ebon saw to the Void mage for a time, carrying him from the room he'd collapsed in hours before and setting him on the floor. Farris' body was curled up, deep shivers coursing through his body. Clothes were drenched and dried anew, the threat of a new layer present. The human shell turned against him, the wild abuse of his djed driving it into self-preservation. His body was heated at the chest and forehead, but little else received such a pleasure. On and off the Healer checked on the fool of a mage, and when the Kelvic noticed that blood began to seep through and stain the floor, he took action. The bandages were undone, revealing a newly festering wound, a clean hole between his index and middle knuckles. If one looked closely, they'd see the cracked bone and ruined flesh, all cast into the Void. The edges of the wound were festering with infection anew and the Healer sighed sympathetically. He raised Farris' hand by the wrist before they closed around both sides of the wound.

Farris winced in pain, his lips emitting a brief whimper before the blue healing light of gnosis absolved him of his pains. He let a breath escape his lips as his eyes found Ebon. The Kelvic pointedly avoided his gaze and it wasn't until the light faded away that he moved. Bandages were thrown anew over the wound and the Healer went to dispose of the waste. If Kelski arrived home, he'd also be sure to alert Kelski of the idiocy her mage friend enacted upon himself. When Ebon was gone, Farris twitched and fell into darkness once again. Violent thoughts set upon him, bitter anger at his foolishness ablaze within him. Unable to move without coursing pain throughout his body, he elected to remain quite still. His injured limb was elevated by the other beneath it, and Ebon had turned Farris' body to lie on his back. The Void mage stared at the ceiling, and with each blink he saw an echo of the Other Side cast upon his vision. Shivers tore through his body, both chill and fear invading his mind and heart. Farris heard footsteps in the distance but he was unable to move, hardly avble to breathe. His senses collapsed upon themselves and the darkness took him again for several moments.

You... might have fucked up, Farris, the Familiar realized at last. The Kirt was instrumental in Farris' overgiving and yet... it attempted to do its best to assist him after words. Neither of them realized just how fervently the grip of obsession might come upon the senses and almost impossible to ignore. Power surged through his fingers and cast the Void into being, and Farris was far too eager to stop himself from what he knew could happen. He was on the precipice of a breakthrough, a greater understanding of Voiding and he relished the moment when he reached it.

Oh... did I? You're a tool, Xypher... the Void mage thought to his shyke of a Familiar as the gecko-like being padded along the basement curiously. It, unlike the Reimancer, was capable of healing itself. It went searching for stones and gravel that it greedily flung into its mouth. The rock turned to djed within its digestive system and it so greedily hoarded it for itself. Farris hated the thing, cursed his lapse of judgment in signing the contract between them. He thought maybe Xypher was the answer to the dilemma in his life.

I thought you were an answer... You only create questions. Am I fucking insane? he thought to himself, and of course, the Familiar heard. It laughed, the noise causing a piercing headache to tear through the fragile mind of the Void mage. His fingers gripped into the ground, his injured hand clenching instinctively into a fist. The motion was one Farris grew to immediately and vehemently regret. Pain shot through his body with tendrils of fire that painted agony on his senses. He screamed aloud, his entire body spasming with the wound. This pain did not subside. It dulled with time, permeating along the palm of his hand and shooting through his arm.

How... long has it been? he asked himself, and by definition, Xypher.

Well, you were out for more than four bells after healer man tended to you. It's pretty late, now. Syna left a while ago. He came in just now to treat you again.

I'm well aware, he spat at the Familiar, who was enjoying this entirely too much. The Kirt padded towards Farris and let his forelimb hover an inch above Farris' wounded hand.

Should I step on you? You're vulnerable mage. I can destroy your night if I so chose to.

Doubtful. My pain is your pain if you aggravate my injuries.

Oh? Maybe it's worth it it mused.

[Kelski]

The Gem was upset. The Kelvic Eagle had gotten into the habit of greeting the building mentally when she arrived home and this was no exception. Her hello was met with a flood of worry and agitation. Kelski could tell the moment she returned something was wrong in The Gem’s confines. On one level, it was thrilling which meant the building was more awake. On other levels, the Kelvic wished the sentient building could tell her more. Laying her hand on the doorway to the shop, she could feel its acute distress. She wasn’t sure what was wrong though. The Kelvic tried to send soothing thoughts into her connection with the structure, but when she didn’t know what was going on, it made it hard to sooth the Architectrix. So she simply reassured it, over and over, mentally, that she would find what was wrong and attempt to fix it.

Immediately, she went to find Ebon. The conversation with the Kelvic Night Lion was quick and left the Kelvic Eagle frowning. After having been told Farris was here, injured, and laying on the floor in the basement, her only response was… “You left him on the floor? Seriously?” Footsteps took the steps down to the basement, two pairs, and Farris would feel himself lifted, supported and carried. Ebon also told her about the strange creature that had arrived and was lingering around Farris seemingly surly.

“Yes. I didn’t know what else to do with him. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I was waiting for Kynier or yourself to get home.” He said defensively, thinking he did the best with what he had experience with. Kelski nodded, realizing Ebon did the best he could. “You did well. Thank you Ebon. I worry about these mages. Sometimes… things don’t go the way they plan them too.” Kelski said, trying to be diplomatic and not sure she was succeeding. The truth was, the Kelvic Night Lion had done his best, not wanting to move Farris in case there was danger.

Both Kelvics ultimately made a good team. Kelski skipped even attempting to speak with the mage until he was more comfortable and off the floor.

Together they picked him up. His torso was mainly supported by the Kelvic Lion while the Kelvic Eagle managed his feet. Both ignored the stonish creature with him, leaving it to climb the stairs if it wanted or stay in the basement. Kelski assumed it was a mage thing, though she eyed it warily. Her priority was getting Farris up the stairs, past her workshop and into the living quarters. She made Ebon wait a bit, holding all of Farris, so she could spread a blanket across Aer'wyn's bed before Ebon set him down on it.

Kelski was glad the big blue guy was absent for the moment.

Then, carefully and quietly, Kelski moved one of the bigger chairs up against Akalak's occupied the bed and perched into it. She took Farris’ undamaged hand and gently rubbed it. She was concerned about the mage, uncertain what was going on, and while she knew about the hole in his hand, didn’t know what happened to cause it. Kelski sat with her friend, keeping him company, and watching over him as Ebon checked on him periodically, changing his bandage.

She eyed the creature when it put in an appearance. “Stay away from him.” She said fiercely, keeping an eye on the creature, uncertain as to what it was. Kynier had told her he would gladly answer any questions she had no magic. Kelski put a quick description of the creature on her mental notes to ask Kynier about later, perhaps after bedtime.

Quickly, very quickly, Kelski filled the kettle and hung it up over the hearth. She stirred and uncovered the coals, feeding them tinder to get the fire lit quickly. Then she added logs to quickly stir the fire and began cutting vegetables – carrots and potatoes – to add to the pot to make a vegetable soup. She grabbed some celery from her market basket, added in dried rice, and then put in butter and cream to flavor it. Corn was also cut from the cob and added into the pot along with salt, pepper and thyme. It wasn’t the most sophisticated meal, but it would come to a boil soon enough and provide – along with some fresh bread – a nourishing meal for Farris.

Kelski also took a moment to throw open several windows and open the main door out to the balcony so the living quarters wouldn’t get too hot in the heat of the day with the fire in the hearth going. She kept Aer'wyn's door open, watching Farris carefully to see if he roused.

After the mage had been made comfortable and the meal wouldn't burn, Kelski attempted to talk to him. “Farris… Farris… talk to me. What’s going on with you?” Kelski said, speaking quietly, judging that the mage was a recovering a bit more, maybe even ready to talk. But there was no response.

[Kelski]

She went to readjust the pillow beneath Farris’ head and discovered something Aer’wyn had left tucked under his pillow. Kelski wasn’t nosey by nature, but the Akalak was disturbed lately… more disturbed than he liked to admit, and Kelski didn’t hesitate to grip the object and pull it free of the pillow, fluffing it as Kelski had began to do for Farris’ comfort.

The object was a book or rather a collection of books, journals even, hand written in a delicate hand. Kelski flipped it open and saw that it was code – mostly -with notes in common in the margins. The notes in the margin were in thicker bolder handwriting, as if someone different had written it. It looked well loved and there was a name on it. Karisa. Kelski traced her hand across the bound up journals and glanced up at Farris’ passed out visage. Magic had done this to him. Yet magic had also given Aer’wyn back his arm. The two were one in the same… both blades that could save and kill. Kelski saw it clearly, and yet wondered why Kynier could not.

A thick tome it was. A cluster of several notebooks compiled together haphazardly by thread and enveloped in leather. It had seen many years of use, perhaps even a decade or two. Some pages were loose, others stuck together but in spite of all that this book had seen, it remained in a condition that would save it from the garbage at least.

She respected the care Aer’wyn had for the book. And it would be returned to beneath his pillow as if she’d never touched it. But as Kelski sat with Farris, she ran her hands across the pages and began reading what she could of it… studying the magic she knew Kynier would not approve of.

The journal was about Morphing. She knew its name because Aer’wyn had told her. And she knew too that it created things using djed, things one studied intently and duplicated with their mind, forcing djed into the studied shapes. The magic appealed to Kelski for two reasons. First, she was all about details. Being a jeweler, the finer details were important to her so she knew studying this magic would be something she might excel at. Secondly, she had a need to change her appearance sometimes. She wondered what she’d look like more human, but beyond that her Sea Eagle form was striking, and if she could somehow dull her feathers – change her silver and grey to brown and tan – no one would give her a second look. No one would recognize her. And she could travel more places unnoticed. It was more appealing than she wanted to admit… and something she had a mind to do.

So Kelski set the book down a moment, retrieved a blank journal from her own desk, and along with a quill and ink began to take notes and write her own thoughts in a new journal… something perhaps later she’d show Kynier. As she touched Karisa’s book, all she could feel was Aer’wyn’s love for his long-lost wife and to her it sang of joy and sorrow and a life lived in regret. She stroked its cover, knowing the collection of journals hand sewn together would be something she’d keep safe always away from other prying eyes.

[Kelski]

And yet there was treasure there as well. Morphing notes were written in the back, in common that was hard to read but with patience easy to puzzle out. Kelski sat with Farris and read form the journal, transferring her own notes to her journal, learning what she could of the magic Aer’wyn knew. It was an old magic, perhaps one of the oldest, according to Aer’wyn since cave paintings of ancient peoples had showed normal humans transforming into something more or having extra things that modern humans did not. Humans. Kelski bitterly bit her lip for a moment, jealous of all their history and their long long lives.

The magic involved burning ones djed to alter his physical structure. The structure had a memory of itself and would return to normal after a period of time unless the wizard kept fueling it. It was a painless helpful magic that took time and patience. One’s flesh was often twisted, pulled, reshaped and sculpted until it reached an end point the mage desired. Those first learning the art could pull and push and shape their own flesh by their own hand, assisting the process long until they learned enough to burn their own djed and do it instinctually. As one grew more experienced, one could transform into a pre-studied and pre-learned model flawlessly. And there were degrees… always degrees of the magic. One could physically alter one’s face to look similar to someone else or even everyone else, while transforming one’s specific body into something completely different took a ton of energy. And when a mage got truly gifted at morphing, they could alter their size considerably… going as big as whales in some cases and as small as butterflies.

Thumbing through further, Kelski came to realize it was only organic matter that one could transform oneself into. One couldn’t for example transform into steel or water being a living breathing creature of flesh and bone. But the flesh and bone…. oh the flesh and bone… could be altered in any way conceivable as long as the mage studied a model.

Kelski was excited.

She ran her deep black nails across the pages of the journal and knew because of Farris what her djed was and how to toss it about. Then she looked up at Farris’ hand, so limp on the end of his arm, and drew his hand down towards hers, looking at his human nails contrasted against her inhuman kelvic nails. Her nails weren’t as sharp as claws… but they looked like an exquisitely done manicure that included a high gloss paint job of black. People assumed they were painted until they learned she was kelvic and came to the conclusion they were. Kelski studied Farris’ nails as she waited for the mage to awake, noting the differences between her own and his, how his looked, felt, and the texture which was so much thinner and more flexible than her own.

Chimes passed, then almost a bell, as she memorized how his nails looked and could hold the image of them in her mind firmly. It was a meditation of sorts, focusing on Farris so closely, so critically, as he let his overgiving burn off and recover. He never woke though, not once as she stared at his nails, with the belief firmly in her mind that this magic could work.

She’d seen Aer’wyn grow a new arm with it.

[Kelski]

Then slowly, carefully, she pulled djed from that secret core of hers, and let it well up inside her, oozing to her fingertips. There, she burned it, forcing her black nails to look more normal, more human… working only the thumbnail at first. It was as if a fantasy in her mind took shape. In her minds eye she could reshape the nail, transform it, make it look human. But no such similar reoccurrence took place in the real world. Was she even doing this right? Kelski started to doubt herself, but she shook it off and kept up the study, the meditation in her mind.

Nothing happened for the longest time for chime upon chime. She wanted them to thin, shorten, and eventually become transparent. Staring at her thumb and willing djed to transform flesh into something else was hard work and a beat of sweat slid down her cheek. It was easy to think she wasn’t suited for this work, for this magic, until she realized how her own Kelvic transformation wasn’t about willing herself to reshape her body in the blink of an eye. It was about reaching inward and pulling the Kelvic form outwards.

Could it be that simple? Kelski reached in, as if grabbing the form in her minds eye, and pulled it to the surface. She could feel the djed burn off immediately and she could physically feel the nail at the end of the thumb reshape itself. She watched the nail bed thin, the color bleed out of it, and it shorten and become blunt much like the human’s nail. It was… almost easy after that. She stared at her pointer finger next, then her index finger, and on down the line until her pinkie finger was transformed as well. Each time she did it, she formed a firm mental image of what she wanted the nail to look like and reached it to grab it, exchanging what she had for what she wanted, much like the Kelvic transformation.

The main difference was, instead of costing her nothing to shapeshift from a human to an eagle and back, this cost her something. And she could feel the djed burning off and the price she was paying for even the small transformations intimately. She minded the burn off, watching as if she were watching a full glass slowly empty. And she felt her body react to that glass emptying, growing slower, more sluggish, and tiredness creeping up on her.

She took the time to make notes, writing down the sensation of how it felt to shift her nails and what she had to do to make it work. It was awkward, like trying to teach someone how to skip by just describing the steps and not having them see it or feel skipping first hand. Reading her own steps, it felt somewhat impossible… like she was doing something the hard way… but it was all she had the ability to do… take notes and hope when she went to try this again, there would be an inherent memory on how it was done.

[Kelski]

Kelski turned back to Aer’wyn and Karisa’s notes.

There were warnings that Aer’wyn had underlined in the strange language and had added notes of his own too. “One of the most dangerous forms of magic… due to altering the physical form.” Kelski noted that, knowing suddenly that there was no way Kynier would approve of her learning this nor practicing this alone and unsupervised.

The thought made her smile… like she almost enjoyed defying him. Who was he to put restraints on her anyhow? He wasn’t her bondmate. He wasn’t her husband. They were lovers that were good friends and that was it. He didn’t own her with a collar and a whip and she didn’t owe him any obedience. Aer’wyn had made a bunch of notes on morphers who had went past their limits and it seemed their bodies forgot the inherent memory of their natural form and would not slide back to them. Mutations he’d noted. Kelski saw the word and wrote it in her own book.

There were more notes…. Notes on Transformation Degrees and how they could be mixed and matched within certain limits based on the mage’s ability and aptitude.

Kelski made notes in her own journal, writing down her thoughts as she read them in Aer’wyns. Partial transformations. It seemed new morphers never should exceed transforming more than one third of their bodies while they were learning the artform. That was fine with Kelski. Her cosmetic changes would never even begin to exceed that much. Humans and Akalaks too, it seemed, were obsessed with growing claws. Kelski laughed out loud at that, thinking how odd it was she was obsessed with having normal nails. Nails were often what one learned to morph first… growing claws or changing ones face to look similar to another humans.

Could she look like Ember? Ren? Even Kynier? Kelski laughed again at the thought then tampered down on the humor, looking over at the passed-out mage and being worried at awakening him too soon. She read onward then, more quiet in her reactions.

Full body transformations were something advanced users could do. Sometimes it took upwards of a half bell or more, but they could transform enough to look like something else or someone else. That was interesting. And they didn’t always need a model. It seemed if someone invented a look or a persona, then shifted into it enough times, that persona could become a model. Otherwise, one had model transformations.

Model transformations? Kelski read on, taking bits and pieces from Aer’wyn’s notes. These types of morphings were done by skilled morphers who could study other creatures for a time, grasp its anatomy, and memorize its shape into a sort of internal library of models each Morpher had. Kelski glanced down at her human looking hand, smiling. It was her first library model in her morphing collection. If she did it often enough and altered the shape of her nails to be more feminine and less like Farris’ masculine nails, she’d pass for human if anyone only saw her hands.

[Kelski]

The thrill of the successful magic filled her and she wanted more.

So… back to model learning. It seemed learning a new model took significant time. Not bells or chimes, but days and sometimes even tendays or longer of study. One needed regular access to the creature copied. Kelski could learn and learn and learn models…. but if they were magical, she would only inherently be a Kelvic and not what they were. She’d only LOOK like them… not actually be them. So shifting into a human would not make her human. She’d still be Kelvic… and she was glad for that.

Finally the other thing the journal spoke of was supreme transformations. Aer’wyn had clear notes on it. If a mage got very good at morphing, they could take on amazing forms of supernatural tendencies. They could grow gigantic in size or tiny, taking on extremes. These mages, few and far between, were said to be so good at their forms that they could become what they were transforming to, taking on even the powers their creations had. It was amazing stuff to Kelski and something she was truly drawn too… not because she was unhappy with her own form, but because of all the good she could do in Akajia’s name – all she could learn – being able to become anything at all she wanted to.

Kynier’s voice nagged in the back of her head though. Could she? Could any Kelvic? The Jeweler wasn’t certain and worse yet she was afraid to try. The whole of it would take deep prayer to Akajia for guidance and it would indeed constitute a ton of practice practice practice on the smallest of details. Maybe Kynier was wrong. Maybe she could? She wouldn’t know if she tried. But the thought of being mutated, stuck in a form that was not her own scared her… so Kelski filled her journal with as much information as she could, and then secreted it away along with Aer’wyn’s collection of work from Karisa. When she had the books deeply hidden alongside her Architectrix text, she returned and checked on Farris… finding that he was indeed waking up.

That took some time, getting him coherent again, on his feet, and on his way home. By the time she was done the entire household was home, dinner had to be made, and there was no time to prepare look at the journals further. However, she hadn’t added djed to the human nails and she noted after ten chimes… maybe fifteen.. .her hand had reverted back to its normal long black nailed self.

Kelski didn’t worry about it. But it was good to keep an eye on the timing. She wasn’t sure how long Morphing would last without feeding djed into the transformation and she truthfully had no idea how to exactly ‘feed djed’ into an already morphed creation. That was something to work on in the future, in tiny increments. Because she didn’t want to be stuck with human nails. The moment she had them she’d tested them and found them weak, prone to ripping and breaking, and not nearly as sensitive as her own normal black nails had been.

[Kelski]

Why did she always think what she didn’t have was better than what she did have? It wasn’t. Not in this case. But it took Morphing one hand of nails to truly understand that. There was no comparison between the two hands. One had a set of nails that were long, hard, and strong. The other had nails that were blunt, transparent, and weak. How had she not noticed before? The Kelvic made the most of those ten or fifteen chimes, studying the differences and re-evaluating her thought processes. Maybe she was luckier than humans? Maybe her keen eyesight and her strong nails were a blessing in disguise? She should appreciate what she had rather than long for something different.

And tonight, she'd take advantage of her prayer time and definitely thank Akajia for the gifts she had that she didn't even realize she'd had.


Kelski went to check on the stew and while she was leaning against the hearth, she made contact with The Gem again. She was flooded with its awareness, its excitement, and its incredible curiosity. It had witnessed her experimenting with Morphing and wanted to try it too. Kelski froze. Fear coursed through her not for what The Gem might be capable of but for what might happen to The Gem if the magic went wrong for it. She infused the link with love and pride at the structure, but she also infused it with caution and diligence. Kelski willed it to understand to wait… to not try shifting its shape or its form until it was fully awake, fully ready… until it knew it could control what it did to itself. Contractors could always expand and fix any mistakes it made, but the magic was unpredictable and might hurt it in the long run if it wasn’t careful.

The Gem seemed to understand, flashing pictures of Kynier at Kelski warning her to not try magic without him and to wait for him to understand things before he let her try. The Kelvic’s jaw dropped open to argue, but then she realized in a way she was standing in Kynier’s shoes with The Gem standing in Kelski’s shadow.

The Jeweler stood a few moments, her jaw hung open, and laughed before she sent her understanding down the link. Her building was clever, bright, and had a sense of humor. It also seemed to be reminding her to not be so hard on Kynier, for whatever reason it picked. Kelski furrowed her brow at this and sent a question through the link to The Gem. Why? Why not be hard on Kynier?

The Gem’s answer was immediate and swift. Love infused the link, love for Kynier… the kind of love Kelski felt for the mage. She froze for a moment, not understanding, then realizing a passage from her Architectrix Manual that her father had written. “Architectrix’s will take on the values and ethics of their mages in the early stages of their lives. Until they grow beyond they will be a reflection of who made them and like what those individuals like and fear or hate what those individual fear or hate.” It was so true… so very true.

So Kelski sent her agreement and acknowledgement down the link, filling the connection with affection and humor… telling The Gem that she was proud of it, how fast it was growing and how quick it was to pick up complex ideas. It liked her too… the response was immediate and unquestioning.

Kelski smiled slowly... happily, wondering if this was yet another gift she didn't realize she had...

[Kelski]

Grading

Kelski

Experience: Architectrix +3, Body Building +1, Leadership +2, Cooking +1, Morphing +5, Research +5, Meditation +2, Investigation +2, Logic +3, Writing +3, Philosophy +2, Rhetoric: +1

Lores: Architectrix: Structures Can Become Upset, Architectrix: Structures Can Be Soothed, Morphing: The Magic of Shapeshifting Ones Body To Organic Things, Morphing: Old Magic/One Of The Oldest, Morphing: One’s Physical Shape Has A Structure Memory & Will Return To It, Morphing: A Mage Could Keep Fueling A Morph To Prolong It, Morphing: Using Models, Morphing: Fingernails As First Models, Morphing: Djed Is Burned To Fuel The Morph, Morphing: One Of The Most Dangerous Forms Of Magic, Morphing: Can Result In Mutations, Morphing: Partial Transformations, Morphing: Full Body Transformations, Morphing: Model Transformations, Morphing: Supreme Transformations, Morphing: Shifting Into Magical Creatures Didn’t Make One Magical, Architectrix: They Love/Hate What Their Creators Love/Hate


Acquisitions: Aer’wyn and Karisa’s Journals on Morphing.

Farris – I will grade if you ever come active again.