Timetamp 73rd of Spring, 519 A.V.
Kelski carefully nailed the lid on the last crate and stepped aside for the help she had hired to carry it down and load the last crate in the wagon waiting quietly outside The Midnight Gem. The Gem itself was quiet, pensive, her soft voice silent in Kelski’s head. The Sea Eagle had waited until the very last minute to do this thing. For one, she wasn’t certain how to do it. She only had the words in a book that she had tucked safely into her backpack to say she could. She believed the book, written by her brother and gifted to her through Ember’s hand. She had no reason not to believe it. Thus far, she’d trusted everything the book had to say. She’d followed its directions carefully… and it had led her to this time and place.
Moving to where her backpack hung on a peg near the hearth, Kelski took the magical bag down, opened it up, and reached in for the book. She lifted out the leather-bound hand-written journal and sat down before the hearth cross-legged. The Architectrix mage opened the book, flipped through to a marked page, and pondered the writing there.
If an Architrectrix Mage has a significant bond with a structure and indeed has earned the Structure’s trust, then it is possible to move the sentient awareness of that building from one place to another. A mage must be significantly skilled to do so – having earned at least an expert level in Architectrix. Mastery is, as always, preferred. The younger the building the easier this move will be. The older the building, the harder it is to carry out this procedure. Ancient buildings are almost impossible to move.
Why?
Moving an awareness involves talking the structure into condensing its awareness down into an object the structure already occupies or one that has been within the structure for a significant time. These objects can be anything from a hearthstone, walkway flagstone, a roof tile, or even a picture hanging on the wall. Even windows and doorways work. It is important to understand that condensing one’s awareness down into something so small when one has been something far larger is a hard thing to ask and the structure may need coaxing or hand-holding.
Once moved into a portable item, the structural awareness then can be used as a seed to plant both the magic and the awareness into a new structure. The new structure should be infused with the essence of the same creature the Architectrix was before it was moved. The awareness will have felt as if it had been asleep. Moving Arch structures is a delicate and hazardous prospect. It means that the structure must WANT to move and that it must TRUST its mage to move it and wake it back up once it has been reseeded. This process should not be rushed. It must be handled with the delicacy of any parent coaxing a cranky child to sleep.
Sometimes, for unknown reasons, this awareness can come back significantly altered or in more extreme cases, cannot be revived at all.
Kelski swallowed hard. She ran her hands across the page and shook her head.