Completed Terra Forming Part 2

[Kynier]

26th of Fall, 518 A.V.

How long had it been since he last worked on the project? Five days? Tenday? Usually he gave himself a full day’s rest, maybe two, in between the nights when he worked on the expansion. Unfortunately, Doler had been giving him tasks that required more than one day to fulfill. The frequency of those sort of tasks had been increasing. While Kynier was appreciative of the opportunities to expand his knowledge of things most people never learn about Sunberth, it was only annoying in the sense that it was distracting him from this project. Something he had hoped to have the first half completed by now.

The progress he had accomplished was not even close to that point yet. The inlet of the secret passage had taken several days to complete. Developing the passage beyond that was a lot slower. In the thirty days, which really was more like eighteen days, that he had been working on it, there was less than what he’d hoped for. What he needed to do was a little more experimentation on his methods. Geomancy was usesful, but it was proving difficult to believe that he had found the most efficient method of its application now. Converting Earth into Air consumed a lot of res which drained his Djed reservoir fairly quickly. So, what could he do that was different?

Kynier set the burning candle down at the edge of the inlet itself before taking the four paces worth of distance he had managed to carve out that season. With a hand, he caressed the surface of the wall he was going to work on. His eyes shift down to gaze at something that only exited in his mind. Here, he decided, was when he’d begin the descent. Where the stairs would actually begin. With the shadows dancing around at the edge of candlelight, Kynier took a deep steadying breath as he reached in for his Djed. Bringing the power to the surface of his hands, it transmuted to a gas. Gaseous res emanated from his palms and fingers to brushed up against the surface of the wall.

Then, with his will, he imbedded the gas into the stone. The mystic substance burrowed beneath the stone’s surface and spread itself to be under the whole area of the wall. Kynier concentrated on the concept of solidity as the res bound itself to the stone. It felt as though his mind had a mental hold on a rock, albeit a five foot by seven foot by an inch or two rock. Then, he willed it to change. To have it crumble so rapidly that it changed into Air, to deteriorate it in its entirety. Kynier’s hands had been resting against the wall, but then felt it recede away from his touch.

Candlelight danced as the new air gently blew by. The soft breeze brushed past Kynier’s face for an instant before it was gone. He exhaled the breath that he had been holding as he reached out and touched the rough surface of the wall’s new location. Only two inches at the most. The mage sighed and shook his head. This project would take years if it remained at this rate. But he squared his shoulders as he looked at the wall with extra determination. That was the way he had been progressing. Time to test the any other methods that he could think of.



NaNo Post: 569

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[Kynier]

Most of the shadows were chittering away in their secret language. The mage had learned how to tune out their constant chatter while he was thinking on the details of his project. He had taken the measuring rope from the handyman’s toolkit that he had with him and began measuring the distance from the beginning of the inlet to how far it was to the wall that he just relocated. Approximately seventeen feet in distance from one far wall all the way to the other. Squatting down with his arms resting on his knees, he thought out what he wanted with the distancing.

The inlet itself was almost exactly five feet. A comfortable amount of space to walk into. That was something that he did not want to change, feeling that it was fine the way it was. Twelve feet was more than enough to beginning carving out the stairs. For he was likely about to be directly under the show room if he wasn’t already. Kynier wanted the ceiling of the first room to be a little higher and would have to go down in order to do that. A chalk mark was set about six feet away from the inlet’s edge to mark the beginning.

Kynier stood up and placed himself in the first section of the passageway. Setting the rope and the chalk aside, he scratched his chin as he though on how to apply his res this time. “I suppose I should start with something fairly basic for my comparisons,” he commented aloud. The shadows formed around the mage to watch as he evoked more of his res to form. Gas drifted from him to settle on the ground, containing itself to not cross over the chalk mark and into his section of the floor. With a little push of his will, the res soaked through the earth. He felt it reaching into the ground as he willed it to cover more than a mere few inches.

Then, he focused on the solidity of the stone that his res was latched to. Kynier willed it to deteriorate, but not completely into Air as he had before. This time, he focused on breaking it down into sand. The res cut through all the hard bonds of the stone that kept it together as a solid object. A very soft rumble emanated from the place that his geomancy was working as Kynier could visibly see cracks forming in the stone. The flow of Djed felt small and steady as it converted into res. Less of the reimancy material was being consumed to accomplish this task as compared to before.

After a few chimes, there was no more stone to deteriorate, and a small pit filled with sand lay before him. Kynier took the wooden measuring stick from the handyman’s tool kit and plunged it straight down into the sand. When it struck the bottom, he pinched where the sand came up to and removed the measuring stick. “Seven inches, that seems to be a considerable difference.” Kynier brushed his fingers over the surface of the sandpit. “But now I’ll have to remove all the sand,” he commented with a little annoyance. It was an inconvenience to be sure, but nothing truly severe.

Tapping his power once again, Kynier focused on a place that was about the middle of the sandpit. With the power of his will, the mage imagined the presence of nothing. Djed fueled that sensation, an absence of everything, as he muttered a small incantation that Bourin had helped him to learn for the exercise. “In a place of nothing, there is something. The Other Side,” he repeated softly as his Djed punctured through reality to form a gateway. The location was just below the surface of the sand which immediately began to pour through the small hole.



NaNo Post: 642

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[Kynier]

The mental effort was the same as attempting to rip a shirt apart with one’s bare hands. Wider did the gateway to The Other Side grow, but not in a way that was symmetrical. Eventually, it grew to be wider than the palm of his hand in size. The mage pulled on it more to try and even it out into a more circular shape. Gradually it took more of an oval shape than anything. That would suffice for now. Kynier then affected the Pull so that it would begin to attract all the sand particles and empty them into the Void.

After a couple of chimes the last of the sand had been sucked through the gateway. Kynier ceased his pouring of Djed into the spell so that the gateway would be able to close on its own. He exhaled a little heavier than normal and felt beads of sweat forming in his brow. “Hmm,” he gave thoughtfully as he watched the passage to The Other Side close. Kynier turned around and left the hidden passage that he was building. His journals about his progression in understanding his various disciplines were up in his study. Kynier hadn’t thought that he would be needing them today, but now his mind had several thoughts that he wanted to put to ink before he lost them.

Sealing the door of the secret passage behind him, Kynier made his way up to the study. Digging out a quill, some ink, and two of his journals took only a moment. Observations of the Elements and From The Other Side were both set on the desk. Kynier opened the journal for Reimancy first and wet the end of his quill before he started writing.


Twenty-Sixth of Fall, in the year 518 A.V.
Converting one element into another requires a significant portion of res to be consumed. Having employed this method as the primary way of my expansion project explains why it is slow coming. Today, I tested to see how much more could be accomplished with a more basic application of Geomancy. By simply breaking down stone into particles of sand, as opposed to converting it into Air, was able to yield a little more than three times the amount of stone being removed. However, it left sand behind which then had to be removed. While manual strategies could have been employed for its removal, I used Voiding which is less time consuming and more efficient. But the combination of disciplines more than likely consumes more Djed than an element to element conversion. Will attempt other ways of accomplishing this conversion to see if there’s a more efficient way that what I have been doing.


Kynier dipped his quill in the ink to refresh its supply before flipping the other, blank journal open to its first page.


Twenty-Sixth of Fall, in the year 518 A.V.
Today, I had conjured a gateway in order to remove a large collection of sand that had been formed from a project that I have been working on for some time. While attempting widen the passage in order to accelerate the process, I noticed that the gateway does not keep to a, for lack of a better term, appealing geometric shape. It was warped and misshapen. While I was eventually able to stretch it into an oval form, it was not without some effort. Perhaps with continued practice, the control over the gateway’s form will become easier. For now, more focus will be emphasized on increasing the size of the gateway rather than they aesthetics of its shape.


When he was done writing, Kynier placed the cork back on the vial of ink. Eyes flicked between the two open journals for a moment. Observations of the Elements would be used again today. That was a certainty. The other one was less of a guarantee. So, Kynier lifted the Reimancy Journal in a way that allowed the page to remain open as the ink continued to dry and brought it back down to the basement with him. He set it down close to the candle and settle the quill in the spine between the page in use and the next blank page. After that, he picked up the measuring stick and the chalk to make a few measurements.

Kynier placed a foot down in the small pit that he had made. His ankle rested up against the side of what was to be the first step. The measuring stick was then laid down next to the length of his foot for him to gage how large of a step he would want to make them. The seven inches of difference in height was not deep enough for his liking, but that could be addressed a little later. Kynier decided that a two-foot-wide step would be sensible. While there was no longer an Akalak present that was pursuing the advancement of their magic, he wasn’t going to exclude the possibility that one would appear. Having a larger step would also be more comfortable. So, Kynier marked the two-foot mark with a line of chalk.

Then he removed his foot as well as the measuring stick and began to conjure more res for the next use of geomancy. Unlike before, he did not generate it as a gas, but instead formed it in a liquid state. As it began to coat his hands, Kynier knelt down in the pit and wiped his hands over the area he wished to sculpt out. After a chime of forming the res and spreading it across the floor, Kynier straightened himself and applied his will to the project.


NaNo Post: 941

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Kynier]

Today was going to be less about progress and more about technique. Discovering which way as best for continuing the tunnel below ground was more important, because of the time and energy it would save later. With that in mind, Kynier harnessed his will and the liquid res into breaking down the stone into sand again. For an instant, the small trace of candlelight reflected off the translucent surface before the texture of the floor began to change. The once smooth surface turned porous as cracks and divides formed and the molecular bonds were forced to occupy less space.

The liquid res appeared to work like an acid. It sank through the surface and the change could be heard. Almost like water sinking through sand. Through his mental will, Kynier was able to feel its progress as it burrowed deeper into the stone. After a few chimes it ended. The mage took the measuring stick and pushed it down through the sand to find the bottom. Once it connected, he pinched the stick at the place where it was level and withdrew it. The area was smaller than the two previous uses of geomancy, so when he saw that the measurement was ten inches deep, he was less than surprised.

His hazel eyes wandered over the surface of the new sandpit as he tapped his chin with the end of the measuring stick. When using Reimancy this time it did not feel as though he had used as much Djed to accomplish what he had. So then, using the liquid state of res for sculpting passages out of stone was more efficient than gas soaking through the stone’s surface. But did combining it with Voiding make it more, or less, cost-effective than the less simple elemental conversion? Kynier sat down on his rump as he focused on harnessing his Djed to find out. “In a place of nothing, there is something. The Other Side,” he repeated to himself. As the words quietly echoed in the small passage, a small rip formed in reality’s fabric. The gateway to The Other Side formed to be a circle about the size of a gold miza before Kynier willed it to stretch and be larger.

Now, he worked on increasing the Pull in order to accomplish the task in less time. The grains of sand were drawn into the gateway to the cold abyss the rested on the other end. The increased Pull of the The Other Side did not require much more Djed to manifest or maintain. But from one previous experiment of Voiding, Kynier was very hesitant to push the boundaries of his abilities with the discipline too far. Unlike all his other knowledges, Voiding was much easier to lose control of, while also being much harder to sense when control was being lost. When the last of the sand had been removed, Kynier ceased his Voiding and allowed the gateway to collapse on itself.

Kynier gave a disgruntled sigh as he realized that he did have another note to add to his journal about Voiding. He stood up, retrieved his quill from the book that he had brought down, and made the journey back upstairs to the study. The second journal was still laying open on the desk. Kynier did not bother to sit but just started writing his thoughts down as he leaned over the chair.


I do not know if it is simply a natural affinity, or something that all Voiders share in their experience. Increasing the Pull of the discipline did not require much more use of Djed. This allowed for what I wished to be sent to The Other Side to be taken there more quickly and with less effort. Although, I did not apply a very strong Pull, simply a stronger one than I had done previously. It is not my intention to be self-Voided like many foolish people have done before. Perhaps a Pull that is strong enough to take a person requires a notable amount of Djed to be applied. Time and practice will tell.



NaNo Post: 681

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Kynier]

As before, he did not think that he needed to bring the journal down with him. Yet he did, in case he was wrong a second time. Kynier set the Voiding journal down by its Reimancy counterpart and stepped towards the end of the passage that now had two steps developed. They were of different lengths and heights, but the uniformity was something that could be worked on later. For the time being, he was mainly working by sight. There was no reason to not sit down and draw out a design for what he intended. But as he knew from other endeavors, it never turned out how you intended. So, Kynier was just working on it and it would unfold naturally.

Cool subterranean air filled his lungs as the mage took a deep breath. He was beginning to feel tired. It was not physical from exertion. Nor was it mental from an over abundance of thinking. It was a spiritual exhaustion caused from the repetitive use of his Djed by the two more taxing disciplines that he knew. Kynier suspected that he had enough for just one more application of both before he needed to rest. He could reflect on his findings of his experiments tonight and return after a few days knowing what method was best for the project.

Kneeling, he grabbed the tools that he had been using. On the second step, the marked the next two-foot increment for the next step to be formed. There was not a lot of space left to sculpt before running into the wall. Tunneling out the next step would not allow for an accurate comparison for Djed usage, since it was just a step down and would take a lot less out due to the smaller space. Digging further south was going to be required first before the next step could be formed. So, he marked the corners where the side walls met the end wall, as means of measuring how far he progressed with his next experiment.

Kynier closed his eyes and stilled his mind to meditate. The mage imagined that his body was a dam and his Djed the water that it held. A slow flow was needed to regulate what was left to avoid overgiving. Filling himself with relaxation and peace, Kynier began to open the channels of the dam. Warmth filled his body in a way that generated sweat on his skin as Djed coursed through his limbs. His power seeped through the surface of his skin, creating a brilliant white mist to form. Transmuting res into a solid state was more comfortable when done outside the confines of his body. The mist condensed and lost its color, changing into a solid of a translucent nature. With his mind, Kynier pulled on the solid to stretch it out as he fueled it with more Djed to keep its consistency the same. Sweat droplets ran down around his eyes as the res was stretched to cover the width of the wall as well as the height.

With the solid res pressed against the wall, Kynier willed it to break down the stone into sand. The process sounded like a blade being sharpened at a grindstone except deeper in tone. It felt more like a brute force method as stone was pulverized into sand. Grains showered onto the ground as the solid res pushed its way through. The wall was not the only thing deteriorating. The coat of solid res was also gradually wearing down as the process continued. Kynier felt his forearms being coated in sweat as he concentrated his will on the experiment. When the last of the res had been used, he took several deep breaths as though he had just run a mile.

Before he had caught his breath, he raised the measuring rope and checked on how much he had managed to accomplish. To his surprise, he had carved out just under a foot from the wall. But it had been very taxing on him. So much so, that he knew using solid res for geomancy was definitely not the most efficient usage of Djed. Kynier looked down at the sand covering the floor and tucked his lips between his teeth in thought. He stepped away from the results of his experiment to stand beyond the area that the sand had fallen to. Closing his eyes, he meditated, using breath regulation and calming image of Leth over the river.

After several chimes of deep breathing in the dark, Kynier felt calm enough for one last use of Djed for the day. Opening his eyes, he stared at the bottom edge of the wall. “In a place of nothing, there is something. The Other Side.” Djed concentrated at a point of his choosing and the air began to ripple. A small sheer formed in reality, one that expanded in size as the mage forced it open even wider with his will. Once he activated the Pull, sand was drawn to the rift and sent to the Void. Kynier had to gradually increase the intensity of the Pull in order to affect the grains of sand that had fallen further away. Before the last of the sand had been drawn into the rift, Kynier closed off his flow of Djed. The gateway continued to Pull on the sand in the absence of his will and after a chime it collapsed on itself. The mage arched an eyebrow with interest. He went over to his journals to write down his notes and observations of his last experiment.


For my experiments with Geomancy, I performed four tasks in total. The first was the elemental conversion of Earth to Air which is the most advanced technique of the four I performed. For the second, I created res in a gaseous state and had it soak through the surface of the stone and break it down from the inside. Thirdly, I coated the stone with liquid res which broke it down like an acid. And lastly, I formed a solid wall of solid res which pulverized the stone. The solid res method is definitely the most demanding method of the non-conversion techniques. While it does yield more, it does not feel the most efficient.

At this time, it is difficult to determine if Gas or Liquid is more efficient. However, using Voiding or manual efforts to clean up afterwards does counteract the benefit of non-conversion. Making Earth to Air conversion the most efficient use of Djed when tunneling out passages from stone.


Kynier then turned his attention to the other journal.


An unintended discovery has been made. Having utilized a lot of Djed, I was beginning to tire and rapidly while a passage was open. To avoid undesirable consequences, I ceased the Djed input before the task was completely finished. However, the Pull remained in effect long enough to send the last of the waste through before the collapse. This is something that is worth knowing as it can assist in reducing the consumption of Djed. It will take lots of practice to understand the timing and will likely not always be successful in its practical applications. Yet, for situations that lack the sense of dire peril, it will be a most helpful trick to employ.



NaNo Post: 1,217

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Kynier]

Grades!

Skill Rewards

• Architecture +2
• Logic +1
• Mathematics +2
• Planning +2
• Reimancy +5
• Research +5
• Voiding +4
• Writing +3

Lores Learned

• Reimancy: Using Geomancy with Gaseous Res
• Reimancy: Using Geomancy with Liquid Res
• Reimancy: Using Geomancy with Solid Res
• Voiding: Gateways are not always symmetrical
• Voiding: Much easier to lose control of