Expanding one's Repertoire pt II

by **Savis Maren** on November 20th, 2018, 1:20 pm

85th of Autumn, 518 AV

When Savis Maren returned to the Bharani Library, she was very set on the task she needed to continue. The Nuit exited the Dawn section the day prior, meeting up with Madeira in an unrelated effort. However, she needed to focus, and upon her return, the undead mage sought to turn the rest of the world away. She stepped through the doors leading to the Dawn Section, passing Silvya Toha by without so much as a word. The attendant knew already the pressing issue of Savis' pursuit of Shielding magic. Time was of the essence and Savis Maren had only gone through one concept - though by far the most important one.

The formation of Shields in the process known as extrusion is an invaluable asset, given that it's the basic underlying factor in everything the discipline does. However, there's surely more to learn. The Nuit noticed that in the middle of the day, the Dawn Tower section of the library was much fuller, with a number of souls pilfering through materials. Fortunately, Savis Maren set her tome aside, hiding it beneath a shelf. When she searched for the tome, she was pleased to find it where she left it. She could simply seek out a different one, but... why?

Sousa Dawn has a tone that's to my taste. Besides, based on the binding and wear on the texts, it's a very safe bet that this woman is still alive. Perhaps I'll meet her in the future, she reasoned as she collected the tome and separated herself from a group of Dawn Tower students that took to discussing the principles of Reimancy in an animated discussion. The Seekers didn't intrude on this area nearly as much as the rest of the library, it seemed.

Entitlement is common to those with power, she mused as she looked to those young souls, all so eager and happy to engage in discourse. Savis had no desire to share her insights or receive any from fledgling students, and sought out isolation, far from the prying eyes of students. What she didn't expect was that in that isolation, she'd find herself face to face with a renowned figure.

Yana Dawn was a woman who commanded tremendous respect within her family's tower. Though Savis wasn't privy to the politics or intricacies of the Tower itself, she knew of the enigma that was Yana. The woman was a born leader, in charge of the city's emergency Reimancy squad. Of course, the Nuit was enthralled by the sight of her, and couldn't help but introduce herself to the woman, who caught sight of Savis immediately. Unlike other, judgmental souls, Yana Dawn did not seek solitude upon noticing the Nuit. Rather, she allowed a polite interest, offering a smile as Savis introduced herself.

"You're a student of the Tower, then?" Yana asked, curious to know the woman who'd the courage to strike a conversation. Most were intimidated by Yana Dawn's prestige and power. Savis was, as well, but power was intoxicating to the undead.

"Uh, I am not. I submitted a petition so that I could read up on Shielding and apply that knowledge to my own private work," she answered

"Oh? You're the Animator, right? *I thought that name was familiar. I took a peek at your application. Shielding's not a magic I've a hand in, but you...? Multiple disciplines, right? How impressive," she remarked.

Savis Maren was somewhat flustered at the praise offered, and she nodded before she took note of the numerous books Yana Dawn had open around her. Tomes with yellowed, aged paper and written in Nader-canoch...

Pre-Valterrian architecture? What a curious hobby, the Nuit mused before she said, "You seem very busy, Ms. Dawn. I should leave you be." Yana Dawn nodded, but before Savis turned away, Yana said, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Savis. I'll be listening for your name in the future," she assured the Nuit. The undead hadn't the mind to reply, so floored by the notion of being addressed so... civilly.

Once you reach the threshold of mages... it seems people are much more accepting of one's conditions, she mused, the thought quite curious. However, there was much to do and little time to do it in. So, she left Yana Dawn behind and found herself in an isolated part of the Dawn section, pulling up a chair and opening her book, eager to continue with her indulgence into the art of Shielding.

What's next, then? Tasking, right? she made sure, flipping past her bookmark and pulling it out of the tome before she allowed herself to become fully comfortable in her space and properly engrossed in the subject material.

WC: 788

by **Savis Maren** on November 20th, 2018, 1:42 pm

85th of Autumn, 518 AV

Eager to begin, the Nuit immediately found her place on the page, sifting through the text until the aspects of tasking were mentioned. Silvery eyes pored over the text, committing it to memory as she breached into the wellspring of her djed. Savis Maren pulled at the astral arm not tied to the one holding the tome. She freed the astral body from the physical and her arm went limp on her lap. She reached with her astral arm, undoing the clasps that held her satchel closed. She'd left Wheels at home this day, preoccupied that the light of Syna might encourage (and rightfully so!) a torrent of students to crowd around the Nuit and interrupt her studies.

Savis didn't enjoy publicity, despite the vanity that coursed through her person. She relished in being praised and admired, but to be questioned and pestered by numerous people... that sounded like a nightmarish hell. How did the Nuit intend to be a teacher? Perhaps a more private tutor is a better option, she mused, allowing one final thought to distract her before she retrieved her notebook with the utilization of her astral hand. She whipped out the leather-bound tome, snapping it towards her before performing a safe re-attachment of her astral limb. Relieved to have her notebook, she pulled a charcoal stick from her pocket and began the effort of creating abridged notes.

The text referred to tasking and then referenced a number of related abilities. The tasking to block djed was a given, an ability that any shield that exists needs to have in order to serve any kind of purpose at all.

However, refining the tasking and adding new incorporations to the Weave is something entirely different. The text refers to biological tasking... According to Sousa Dawn a more practiced user of Shielding can retrieve hair, blood, or even flesh and weave them into their shields. The shield will absorb the material and then the Shielder is capable of tasking 'for' or 'against' that material. Even more powerful practitioners can get very refined and assign the tissue given an identity... and task for or against that specific entity?

Savis Maren was astonished to know of just how powerful shields could be as the practitioner's competence in the craft grew. The discipline of Shielding could add a great deal of versatility to the protections offered by Glyphing, as she referenced in her letter. Moreover, Shielding could be used on Madeira's lab, to complement her 'ghost nails' and make it so that only certain entities could enter or exit.

Matters to consider for the future, she thought, quite pleased with the information given. However, it was far beyond the Nuit's current ability to Shield, and so, she wrote it into her notebook but did not attempt to practice such a thing just yet. Instead, Savis Maren decided to make a far more primitive use of Shielding, to get a grip on tasking and see if she properly understood what the tome referred to.

According to the text, she began, flipping her notebook to the very back pages before holding the notebook in that spot with the use of the Shielding tome. She let it be at that before snapping the end of the charcoal stick off, a tiny nub set in her hand as she put the rest of it down. She had an idea of what to proceed with.

If I break off a piece of this charcoal, then I could weave that bit into my shield and 'task' a page in my notebook against the material altogether! While not the most practical show, doing it in the notebook itself, I have no cause to believe that my paltry Shielding skills would inconvenience me with an unmarkable page for very long, she reasoned. The Nuit was quite eager to begin the work, and so, she placed both of her hands on one of the pages as she tapped at the reservoir of djed that dwelled within her soul. Savis Maren pulled it forth, beckoning for it to flow into the palms of her hands. Those palms grew warmer and warmer until the Nuit felt the extrusion - reminiscient of water pouring from a poorly opened faucet, ooze from her presence.

Droplets painted onto the surface of the paper, coalescing together as Savis Maren began the effort of extruding. She held the charcoal in the center of her palm, and, indeed, she pushed it into the extruded djed. The shield began to wax, the process growing just slightly simpler. She learned how to extrude djed, but that didn't make the thin, watery djed easier to manipulate once it was out of her. She struggled to connect the droplets, and they frayed against one another until ultimately matted rather poorly to the page. There were small holes sprinkled throughout, but Savis Maren kept at it, eager to test the newest bit of information she'd learned.

WC: 826

by **Savis Maren** on November 20th, 2018, 2:11 pm

85th of Autumn, 518 AV

The process of extruding djed was tenuous at best for the Nuit. She struggled in creating any kind of uniformity in her production of Shield-worthy djed. It flowed too quick at times, and some of the djed dissipated into the atmosphere. Or, it flowed too slowly, and failed to adhere in any sort of practical fashion. Savis Maren spent thirty chimes of dedicated effort, forming the extruded djed along the surface of the page, then began to mold it with her hands. She guided the extruded djed into shape, flattering it along the surface, willing her personal djed to act as a catalyst and guide the glowing droplets. Another fifteen chimes passed in silence and utter concentration, the Nuit's silver eyes narrowed as she utilized her hands, djed and all that was at her disposal to create a uniform layer of Shield over the piece of paper.

Of course, there were breaks. Even with the time and effort spent, Savis Maren struggled to fill in gaps, but she saw very clearly the pollution present within the Shield as she stretched it over the surface of the page. The charcoal was a grayish tinge that spread throughout before colour, vibrant and blue, poured throughout, representing the completed shield. Savis Maren hummed as she 'tasked' the Shield, intent on using the sound to sharpen her focus as she sought to will the tasking 'against' charcoal into the Shield. The material flattened into the Shield and Savis felt somewhat (not very) satisfied in the appearance of the barrier. Deciding to test her application of 'Tasking', the Nuit reached for her charcoal pencil and decided to have a go at it.

Savis placed the stick on the surface, intent on carving it along the page to form a large 'S' along the expanse of it all. The Nuit passed along un-Shielded sections, pieces that withered away within moments of their creation. Of course, Savis wasn't going to be able to create stable Shields. The slightest pressure seemed to bend and break it. However, she did notice that the pieces of the Shield that did remain were quite resilient to the charcoal! The black lines did not form in the paper, with only the edges of the shield surrendering to the black adherent material. The Nuit arched her eyebrows in surprise, quite pleased by the results. Savis Maren didn't berate herself for her poor shields. It was a part of personal magic to fail, with trial and error the greatest of allies in the effort of furthering one's understanding of how djed as a whole function.

The Nuit ceased her movement over the page, setting down her charcoal pencil before shifting the page back to the section of the notebook she actually did want to write in. As expected, once the page lifted the Shield lost its integrity and the djed, warped beyond all recognition, simply withered away into the environment, to be absorbed into the air itself. Savis Maren did not trust her mastery of personal djed any further than this. The tome mentioned the overgiving effects of Shielding to be milder than that of other personal magic disciplines, but the Nuit was not one to gamble with her own life. Indeed, she was the opposite, fearful of the iron jaws of death and defying such a fate with every moment her unlife persisted.

Savis Maren allowed herself a respite from the manipulations and merely sought to further her understanding of 'Tasking'. The Nuit began this effort by augmenting her notetaking with diagrammes. First, she formed a circle, to represent the 'shield' around an object that was represented as a dark circle in the center of the transparent one. Then, she sprinkled small dots and squares into the shield.

Meant to represent the material woven into the Shields. I saw as the charcoal fragmented and warped as it carried throughout the structure of the shield. Though djed cannot be destroyed, it can certainly be changed beyond all recognition, she thought as she completed the diagramme and moved on to the formation of another. She drew several lines, each an incomplete circle that was portrayed as more complete with every subsequent image. The process of Shielding, of extruding djed and having it encompass a surface. The Nuit labeled her diagrammes accordingly, making sure to document her findings and the difficulties she noticed in the creation of the Shields.

Particularly, I'd like to make clear the difficulty of extruding properly. I've not yet made a shield that's nice to look at. It seems my means of extruding is akin to the movement of water droplets along a surface. But it's as if the faucet I'm using is located in a hurricane. The djed is stubborn, difficult to meld together and runny on the surface. Given time, surely it'll grow easier, and, indeed, this magic is coming easier to me than Projection did. But this isn't intrinsic. It's very active and I'm not yet used to the practice, she reasoned before closing her notebook and the Shielding text. She'd give herself a bell's rest from her studies, believing that delving too deeply, too steadfastly into the source material would only serve against her interests.

Everything in its time, she told herself.

WC: 877