Aural Explorations [Alric]

by **Oralie** on March 10th, 2022, 10:25 am

5th Spring, 522

The Outpost was still overwhelming to Oralie, even more so on this particular occasion. Not only did she not have Bree with her today, she did have a companion in the form of the shadow being that had appeared on the first day of the season. While she knew that the thing could follow her anywhere it wanted to in Syka, she had hoped that coming through the door to the Outpost would have stopped it. But she had stepped through and turned around, only for her stomach to sink as it drifted through the closed door after her.

She had no idea what it wanted or even what it was really. It appeared to be made of shadows, save for its eyes which glowed menacingly silver. It was vaguely humanoid in shape, and it drifted everywhere like a ghost would. The being never made any noise and it never moved except to follow Oralie wherever she went. It was most perplexing, but for the time being Oralie mostly chose to ignore it, as its behaviour did not change if she acknowledged it or not.

As she was a little on edge, Oralie decided that she would not stop to have a look at any of the markets today. It had been her plan before, when she had first met Alric, but now that she was here she just wanted to get to the apartment.

She moved off, stepping away from the Dovecote and into the depths of the Outpost proper. The weather here was fairly similar to that of Syka, though the air was much drier. Oralie’s leather sandals made slapping noises on the path beneath her, and her cream skirt swished around her legs. She had chosen her pink blouse for today, and had her gold bangle secured on her upper left arm. She also carried a small canvas bag that contained an assortment of Sykan fruits. While she presently did not have any useful skills to offer Alric, she could at least bring him exotic food that she suspected he could not get back in Sunberth.

Even though Oralie did not have Bree with her today, she knew that she would have little problem finding the apartment again. Last season Oralie had received a gift – like all the Sykans – that had given her a unique sliver of what she could only assume was a type of magic. As such, all she had to do was picture the apartment in her mind and she would know which direction to head in.

She kept the thought of the apartment in her mind as she wove through the bustling crowds of the markets. Oralie had no idea how anyone was able to find their way to the stalls they were after for it seemed to her as though it was like a sea – always moving and sometimes you had no choice but to go with the tide. Eventually she made it to some clear space and she took a moment to orient herself again.

As she walked, she started to recognise places she passed. The solid buildings were easier to store in her memory than the shifting market stalls. Out of the Bazaar it did not take her long to find her way to the apartment building. She passed through the reception area and out through to where the door to Alric’s place waited for her. She knocked twice and waited quietly for him to open the door. The shadow figure hovered next to her, staring at her silently.

As she waited a peculiar thought came over Oralie. How did she know Alric in the first place? She knew that the last time she was here - her first visit – she had delivered him something. A letter? Some food? But she could not remember why, as hard as she tried. She frowned at the door as she thought. Maybe it had been one of the Founders asking her to go as they had been busy last season and she had simply forgotten… that must have been it.

+677

by **Alric Lysane** on March 11th, 2022, 6:35 pm

Alric was starting to comprehend the truth of his life, beset by his inequities he was hemmed in by fate in ways that no amount of preparation could possibly guard him against. It had been startling enough to wake up with fresh cuts scattered across his body at the beginning of the season, panicked and thinking he had been found and somehow tortured…or marked. Things had simply escalated from there, finding letters and scraps of notes to check parts of his journal, and instructions to keep correspondence to a woman he didn’t remember, but clearly knew and admired. The fact he was also a Reimancer, without remembering the initiation, was also something that had rocked him.

It hadn’t stopped him from pursuing the learning of it, but he was beginning to see what his own hand had written – he couldn’t remember not thinking he was destined to die in some blaze of…not glory, necessity. Yet there must have been a time he could, before this season’s curses, see a future beyond whatever this destine meeting of foes was. He had spent Bells trying to force the memories back, had gone to the Vision Waters, had even considered using the Memory Tea once more, yet nothing had surfaced consciously for him to access. He had instead focused himself back upon his training, hoping that some other avenue would present itself in time. It felt cruel, like abandoning something beautiful that deep down rippled something within him…but there was nothing else that he could do.

So he had returned to the market and had purchased the weapons he had promised to – both of which were now attached to his weapon’s harness alongside the small quiver and bolts, a hand crossbow and a kukri, the blade fitting snugly in the small of his back, a surprise for any would be attackers, perhaps. He had come into more miza than he had expected, finding a chest stack whilst trying to clear out the Philtering Lab in the apartments, hidden behind a secret moving panel of wood, missed by the Landlord and conveniently not reported to the man either. He had had enough to begin purchasing supplies for the art of poisons, something he could see a use for in the long battle against Arcadius and his bands of mercenaries – if he could win sneakily, without a fight, then he would take it.

“Honour means little to the dead” he muttered to himself as he carried the small wooden crate back towards the apartments.

It was as he arrived that he saw Oralie standing outside and paused, watching her for a few moments with a small smile. She was alone this time, which for her was a big deal from the letter he had read. It was understandable given her past, she likely wondered whether she’d be snatched again in the crowds and returned to her owner, whether she realised it or not. Minds had a funny way of playing tricks on themselves, even when trying not to. In fact, the act of trying often caused it, in his experience. He chuckled and approached the Kelvic Ocelot, his free hand tussling her hair briefly after he spoke greeting.

“Morning Oralie, how are you doing these days? Better hopefully, getting braver I see to! Good, very good. Come in, co come…I hadn’t meant to entertain today but your company is always welcome, just me here after all. No doubt I’ll be considered a scoundrel if no one wants to come visit me at all” he grinned as he unlocked and pushed open the door, slipping inside and putting the crate of poison supplies down upon the table, leaving the door open to help with the stifling heat.

“How’s Syka these days? Still paradise undiscovered? I keep thinking about visiting but then I remember it’s well over a season’s travel and I’m never sure I could survive that long on the seas without the gods drowning me, knowing my luck eh?”

Secret :

by **Oralie** on March 12th, 2022, 7:04 pm

A familiar voice sounded not from inside the apartment, but from behind Oralie as she waited. She turned to see Alric approaching, a chest under one arm. She wondered if he had been shopping or was just arriving himself from Sunberth. She also noticed a small bow, a crossbow if she recalled the name correctly.

She blinked in surprise at the affectionate ruffling of her hair and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. He was in a far, far better mood than the last time they had met. It was a testament to her growth too, that Oralie had not flinched away from his touch. During the winter season in Syka she had become much more comfortable with just being around people in general and it showed in her easy smiles and newfound knack for conversation.

“Hello Alric.” She had wondered if he would be able to see the shadow that followed her, thinking perhaps he might have been different to the denizens of Syka. But he paid it no heed, his gaze resting firmly on her until it moved right past her ‘companion’ and to his front door.

She followed him inside, glancing back over her shoulder to see the shadow being drift through the gap in the door after them. Oralie placed the canvas bag on the table next to Alric’s box and then perched herself on the arm of the closest chair. “I bought you some fruit.” She smiled at him. “I’m not sure what you may or may not have tried before so I picked a good selection.” She hadn’t been around the Outpost enough yet to know what sorts of food could be found here.

“Syka? It’s…” She paused for a tick, her gaze sliding to rest on the shadow being. It was hovering on the opposite side of the table to where she was sat, staring at her like always. “It’s as warm and abundant in food as ever.” She smiled at Alric. Would she call it paradise? Last season, absolutely. This season? She wasn’t sure. While nothing too drastic had happened, there were signs that something was perhaps amiss. She had her shadow being, Naadyia was definitely having a problem with something, and the two siblings staying in the Inn weren’t quite themselves either.

“We’ve got a lot of new visitors this season, which is nice. It’s always busy at the moment, especially at the Inn!” Oralie found that she enjoyed the background bustle of the guests. She chuckled at the man’s other comment. “Well, there’s always room for one more! I can’t tempt you with the idea of more food than you can pile on this whole table?” She grinned and slid off the arm of the chair to sit in the seat of it properly.

“How have you been Alric? Is Sunberth still… Sunberth?” She braced her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands. The shadow being drifted a little closer to her and, by proxy, Alric. She looked at it sharply but it still only had eyes for her. “You seem a lot more cheerful than when I was last here.” She couldn’t recall exactly what had been the issue, though she did remember that somebody was after him, wanted to use him for some nefarious end.

Oralie reached out and grabbed a small orange from the canvas bag. She rolled it in her palm before digging a fingernail into the waxy rind and peeling it carefully. She separated a couple of segments out and popped them in her mouth, biting down so the juice was released before chewing them.

Her golden gaze fell on the box on the table again. “What’s in the box?”

+622

by **Alric Lysane** on March 13th, 2022, 11:30 am

“I always appreciate gifts, Sykan fruit doubly so, they’re delicious and good for hot, dry days like this one. Thank you, though you know you could’ve saved them for yourself, food is food and hunger can be quite…terrifying” he said, looking at her warmly, something tickling at his senses but not picked up.

She had changed, he could see it now that he was closer and that they were alone within the apartment. Last time she had been hesitant and timid, eyes darting this way and that. He had not made the best first impression he seemed to recall, though the emotional upheaval behind his anger was now lost upon him – perhaps he had just snapped under the strain as people sometimes did. Now, however, she waked with more confidence, her posture straighter and more open, her gaze meeting his and her face lighting up with smiles. She had not cowered from physical contact either, though he had felt her stiffen up straight slightly.

“You’re different,” he said by way of warm compliment, “not the shy cat of before. You stand stronger and aren’t afraid to show yourself…it’s good. I’m happy for you” he said, looking her over in more detail now, noting how her gaze seemed to flick to the same spot every so often but dismissing it as a remnant of nervousness that would no doubt vanish one day.

He started to unpack the things from the box, mostly vials of liquids and powders but some more interesting items came out too – a leather braced, crude in its design but effective in its uses – and a metal spring blade that he had already almost stabbed himself upon and so had left extended for now. He set them out so that she could look upon them if she liked, listening to her tales about Syka with the corners of his lips curling up at her energetic descriptions. Once he had fully unpacked he put the wooden box aside, he had promised to return it within a day and had only been given it because he had made a large order that required adequately cushioned transport – the wood shavings and linen he left in there for the next shopper’s use.

“New visitors? I suppose things are warming up everywhere, travellers start up again. Even with Morwen gone it seems people can’t break their patterns, hunkering down for Winter then moving on,” he reflected, coming to stand closer to her as she started to work at an orange for a snack, “anyone interesting? Anyone dangerous?” he asked, the implication of his question there if she wished to consider it. He couldn’t remember why Syka had had mercenaries there for the guards to clear, but he knew that it had happened and wanted Oralie to stay safe.

“Although, maybe you’ve already surpassed me in fighting skill, no? If there were some rough sorts I’d think you could claw them up and throw them back into the ocean, eh?” he grinned., his grin turning into a soft, warm look at her temptation, “I would take you upon the offer…but…well once I’ve finished what I need to I promise I’ll come visit. How’s that?” he offered, not quite the acceptance of a full temptation but a partial offering.

“Sunberth is always still Sunberth. Sometimes I think I must have done something terrible in a past life t deserve the place. I suppose, at least, I have pretty ladies to look at whilst I work, better than some in the city,” he sighed, looking at something in the far off and immaterial distance for a few moments before coming back to himself, “and it’s poisons. I thought I should learn something sneaky for if I ever get caught by Arcadius and his thugs. I’d rather survive and win than fight fair, especially with that bastard. Just basic stuff, nothing too fancy, there’s a Philtering Lab upstairs, thought I could make use of it”

“But enough about me,” he said as he selected a particularly ripe banana, broke the stalk and started to peel it, “what brings you here to see me? Missing me already?”

by **Oralie** on March 13th, 2022, 3:01 pm

Oralie nodded as Alric confirmed he did in fact enjoy the fruits that Syka produced. He must have come across them in the markets here somewhere. That, or the other Sykan he knew, whoever she had come on behalf of last time perhaps gave him some too. She smiled at his comment, though it was not a happy smile.

“I know that all too well.” She paused and then blinked quite suddenly, as if throwing off a memory. Her smile became warmer. “Syka has an abundance of fresh food. I could bring you this much every week and it wouldn’t make a whole lot of difference.”

She watched him for a moment, nodding in agreement. Even Oralie herself could feel the difference in herself. She had been growing in character ever since she had arrived in Syka, but the end of the winter season had sped up and solidified her development. She couldn’t quite recall the events that had done it, but she knew they had caused her to really come into her own.

“Thank you.” She tilted her head at Alric and smiled again. “You are too. You seem… lighter?” She could vividly remember the feeling inside the room during her last visit. While they had ended up having a somewhat normal conversation, the air had definitely felt strained, tense with anger that Alric had been keeping at bay. “It’s nice to see you happier too.”

Oralie watched with interest as Alric unpacked the box her had placed on the table. There were plenty of liquids among other things, all different colours and she peered at them curiously. Clearly they were for mixing, though with what and what their final use might be she couldn’t tell. Perhaps he made things like Ialari did. The Isur had shown her a little of philtering after her first ever Tenday.

She started to nod, and then paused, trying to recall some information. “Morwen… oh, the Winter Goddess? I’ve never really experienced winter.” Oralie had not yet been born when Morwen stopped bringing Winter to the world of Mizahar. She had only heard whispers about her. “What… what was winter like? Why would people needed to have sheltered?”

Oralie continued to eat the orange segment by segment. “Hmm, interesting? I guess everyone is interesting in some way. There’s two siblings at the Inn, a woman with her son and also, I think a monk?” Oralie had yet to properly meet the latter two guests so she wasn’t entirely sure her words were correct. “Um, James also bought over a dozen kids with him on the boat so that’s going to be interesting for sure. There are some really little ones. It’s nice actually, seeing them about. Who else… oh another Isur arrived too. I don’t think any of them are dangerous, I doubt the founders would let them stay otherwise.”

She finished her orange and placed the rind carefully on the table. The shadow being was still staring at her and she looked at it for a tick before returning her attention back to Alric. She chuckled lightly. “I mean, I doubt it! I have claws and teeth sure, but I’ve never used them for those purposes. I’d definitely beat you in a race though. I’ll hold you to your promise and then we can see for sure.”

She narrowed her eyes as Alric seemed to stare at something in front of him. Had he noticed the shadow being? She shifted a little in her chair, and noticed his eyes were not quite focused. He must be thinking. Surely if he had seen the shadow, he would have reacted to it. Oralie glared at the being until Alric drew her attention back.

She looked over the little bottles all over the table again. “Huh. I don’t know much about poison, aside from what creatures to avoid in Syka.” She leaned forwards to look closer, though did not touch anything, instead bracing her forearms on her legs. “How will you use them? Dipping arrows in them? There is a lab at the Inn too, though I haven’t the foggiest how to use it.”

Oralie watched as he chose a banana from the bag of fruit, settling back in her chair again. She grinned. “Of course!” Her demeanour changed pretty swiftly though, and she paused as she tried to decide how to ask her question. She picked at the hem of her skirt before meeting Alric’s gaze.
“Last time I remember you telling me that you knew Auristics? I was wondering, would you tell me about it some more? I just, I figured I should learn some magic, and it’s something I’ve been interested in for a little while. Way back when I first moved to Syka someone told me about it and it sounded really useful to me.” She blinked at him hopefully.

+809

by **Alric Lysane** on March 14th, 2022, 6:22 am

“I forget that Kelvic’s aren’t as old as they look,” he said, pausing thoughtfully for a moment with his sorting of newly purchased items before continuing, “you look old enough to be seeking out a partner and growing into the adult version of you. Winter…well winter is cold. Was, now, I suppose. Snow, which is like a powdered version of ice – frozen water – would blanket the ground and rooftops regularly. The river might freeze over, puddles too which people would skid and slip upon. Children might skate upon the ice if they braved it breaking underneath them. But…mostly…it was a bitter time, time to spend indoors with a nice fire and blankets by the bundle”

It felt strange to try to describe things that you simply took for granted, not that he had seen it in many years now. Despite memories of shaking cold, he missed the season, it had always had a way of bringing people together. When you were forced inside by the elements there was an unspoken unity, for a time at least, as everyone knew they might be stuck together for a while and didn’t really want to be even more miserable than they already were. There was a sad look in his eyes for a few moments as he walked through his memories, before returning to their conversation.

“Importing children eh? Seems almost unfair, a decade ago I might’ve got a free ride to somewhere nicer,” he said with a snort of amusement, “though I think they’d have kicked me out again just as quickly. You all need to start pairing up and having some fun, what’s the point in being in paradise if you can’t experience all of life?” he noted, though his heart wasn’t in it, he couldn’t exactly claim to be one who took advantage of everything he was offered, if he did he doubted he’s do much guarding at Ruby’s at all, amusingly.

“As for the run, I will start training now to prepare, though you have the look of swiftness to you, and no doubt though slender you are there’s more strength to you than at first appears. Besides, I’d not risk the claws by winning, I hear cats like to get their own way…or that’s what they say anyway,” he winked at her before her other question brought a more serious look to his face and he picked up the spring blade and passed it to her, “with this…careful, it does go back and forth, designed for quick puncturing, but also slicing. I’m not expert either, but I’m going to try to learn…between everything else I’m having to learn anyway…but a lot of the cheaper poisons are given through injury…hence the blade. I also have many others, too. Some powders can be inhaled, or drunk…at least that’s what the shopkeeper said…those are more tricky I’d imagine so I’ll start with a easier stuff first. I don’t have many options, and I quite like being alive”

He nodded at her words as he ate his banana with few manners, never really needing them in a city of scum and villainy. HE remembered her mentioning it last season. Parts of their first meeting were foggy, like trying to look through frosted glass, but some point were crystal clear and he remembered that. As he chewed, he thought upon it, watching her and still wondering why her gaze kept flicking to a certain spot every so often. Eventually he swallowed and tossed the peel upon the table – he’d tidy it up later.

“To do that, we’ll need to be somewhere away from this fruit or it’ll distract us too much,” he squeezed her shoulder and gently pulled her along with him as he set a gentle pace toward the second floor, where he did most of his training, “I remember you telling me that you have your own mage to face. Is that why you want to learn, deep down, or is this something that you are just curious about? I only ask because it can still be dangerous, and it isn’t exactly easy. And once you begin it will be difficult to stop” he asked in soft, warm tones as he led her up the stairs, grabbing his journal as they passed the small book shelves.

“And you say you have never really learned magic before, but how do you best learn things? Other things? Do you like to sit, silently contemplate? Or di you dive in, learn by doing? Are you a doing cat, or a thinking cat?”

by **Oralie** on March 16th, 2022, 3:29 pm

Oralie smiled, letting her pointed canines show. “My birthday is in the Summer. I’ll be four then. If I had had a regular childhood I would probably already be bonded though. I think I’m quite old to still be by myself…” She had understood that much from her conversation with Mathias not long after she had arrived in Syka. It had been playing on her mind more and more often recently.

She listened attentively as Alric explained Winter to her. It sounded… well, quite unlike anything she had ever seen or heard about before. Snow on the ground, which was powdered ice. She tried to imagine it but only came up with some sort of sand type substance. Ice she did know, but she had never seen anybody ‘skate’ on it before. It all sounded very exotic to her, and a million times removed from what she experienced daily in Syka. She couldn’t imagine Winter there, even if Morwen was still around to bring it.

Another smile twitched at the corner of Oralie’s mouth. Alric’s comment made her wonder what he had been like as a child. Had he been as serious as he is now? She missed the sadness flicker in his eyes as she was too busy checking to make sure the shadow being wasn’t doing anything unexpected. It was not, and had never done, yet she still did not trust it. It had an air of wrongness about it.

She chuckled wryly. “It’s paradise until something tries to eat you!” He did have a point though. She knew a lot of the settlers had been there long enough that the Founders likely expected some of them to have joined together. It was curious that nobody had yet. Again her mind circled back around to its quiet need to find a bondmate. While Oralie did not feel it as strongly as she suspected a younger Kelvic might, it was still something she knew she should seek.

“I’ll train too, on two legs! Then I can beat you twice.” She grinned, her golden eyes glittering with mischief. Carefully, she took the offered blade from him. She turned it over in her hands, examining it. Ever so gently, she touched the blade itself, feeling the give of the spring that she supposed gave it its name.

“I imagine poisons are very useful, actually.” It was not something Oralie had ever thought about. Any notion of fighting, of hurting another person or even having to defend oneself were not things she had spent any time ruminating over until she had moved to Syka. Those skills were needed out of necessity there, but poisoned weapons felt like another level altogether. While parts of the reasons that Alric needed them were fuzzy in her mind, what she did recall led her to believe that such weapons would aid him. “I hope the knowledge serves you well…” She passed the blade carefully back to him. “I also like you being alive too!”

Oralie let him pull her from the chair and towards the stairs that she had failed to notice before. There was a quizzical raise to her brow as she wondered on what he meant by the fruit being distracting. Casting her mind back to her very first Tenday, she tried to remember what Seladonna had said about Auristics. Perhaps the fruits would have very colourful auras? She would have to ask Alric.

“Well.. it’s a little of both really. I’d like to learn a little magic in general that can help me with aiding Priskil. But I heard about Auristics before then. There was a Verusk who told me about it, and it sounded so fascinating and quite useful. She suggested I learn it actually. It can tell you all sorts of information about things, so she said.” Oralie stopped speaking then, realising she was effectively telling Alric about a magic he could already use.

She stopped at the top of the stairs, casting her gaze about to take in the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shadow being drift past her to hover nearby. She wondered idly if it would have an aura. If it did she imagined it would be a horrible colour.

“I… I’m a doing cat.” She smiled at Alric. It had taken her a tick to decide, but she had recalled learning to write. While she was still not anywhere near being able to pen a beautiful letter, she could put together a basic sentence now. Herself and Bree had recited and spelled words out over and over again until they stuck. It had been the act of actually saying the words and physically writing that had solidified things in her mind. It had been the same with pottery. She had watched for a long time, but it had not been until she had made something on her own that she had truly understood how the craft worked.

“So… what do I need to do to see an aura? I assume it more than just imagine it there?”

+846

by **Alric Lysane** on March 20th, 2022, 8:51 am

So far, he reflected, he had met two Kelvics from Syka, both of who were roughly the same age, and both of which had not had this ‘Bond’ that they mentioned. He had never really had many dealings with Kelvic, though the ones he had met seemed nice enough. The bond they seemed to want, or need perhaps, sounded different to Alric’s idea of settling down with someone and loving them, perhaps having children and the rest. He wasn’t quite sure whether it was something Kelvic required, or whether it was a choice. Oralie’s tone seemed to suggest that she was concerned she had not yet had one, as if beginning to think there was something wrong with her. Tentatively he reached out to pat her shoulder.

“You aren’t alone though, you have many people who care about you. Perhaps one of them will be this…bond…for you in time. The importance of such things isn’t in how long it takes to find, but in the fact one finds it, I would think” he suggested gently, leaving it at that unless she wished to unburden herself upon the topic at some point.

He liked Oralie, she had a growingly vibrant personality that had shifted from what he had imagined she must have been after first stepping into Syka. He had met her only twice, though he hoped to meet her many times more than that. He could see she was already more relaxed around him, her way of moving somewhat more feline in grace. He wondered idly, how he had not noticed such things in their first meeting. Had he been distracted by something? Even her smile was cat like now, pointed teeth poking just beyond her lips. There was some more banter, largely her getting into the spirit of conversation as was hoped, before they began their slow walk upstairs and she spoke of her desires over magic. As they walked he retreated a portion of his mind within, floating above that mountain lake ‘well’ – changed from blue waters to silvery fluid now since he had read that letter about the Reimancy initiation – and focused upon his Djed, forming the link and letting it flood through him until he had an average amount, letting the link shrink to a trickle thereafter.

“It can tell many things, though it is far from total knowledge. It’s like how you can see smoke and then infer that there must be a fire. You can read the colours of someone’s aura, hear their music and smell them in ways that, perhaps, only an Ocelot Kelvic might understand,” he offered her a small smile, his eyes now an emerald colour as his Auristics began to work, the world shifting and becoming that world behind a world, “so you can detect changes, understand what someone might be feeling if you have already familiarised yourself with the colours and their meanings…but it isn’t an exact thing. You need smarts for figure it out”

“It’s not quite the same as looking at a distant thing, focusing and then narrowing your view to study it and learn things automatically. It takes time. You can focus, but the real beginning is when you find the…world behind the world…like a fuzzy replica, filled with light and energy. It’s the core of everything, all else just builds upon it. Once you have that, then you can shift your focus to encompass a person. You can just try to look at the coloured aura of someone, it works, but it is better to just focus upon them. Their entirety. Sight, smell, sound, feel…everything. Then, like watching a fire, you start to see patterns, get a deeper sense of the flames so that the smoke you see given off makes more sense…if that makes sense? I’m sorry, I’ve never taught before, so you’d be my first. Let me see if I can show you” he hummed, coming to a stop in the middle of the room and turning to look at her, placing his journal upon the table he usually used.

“So…let me see…you you you,” he took a deep breath, centering himself and letting the sensation of her wash over him, “you sound like…crackling logs…and feel like…a warm sun on the skin that fills you with a relaxed hope…oh that must be your Priskil side…also the sound of soft footsteps upon fallen leaves and other things…the smell of…where’ve I smelled that before? Oh! The cats! Fur…with a thousand soft scents locked into it, like a signature…Kelvic side? And your aura…soft colours at the moment, warm ones, oranges and yellows…you’re relaxed, at least at the moment…or at least I would hope so…perhaps…slightly nervous?” he smiled, letting his Djed ebb away and looking at her once more with normal, blue eyes.

“A small taste, if I had days with you then I’d possibly hear and smell more, hear more. It’s…not precise, I might not have understood much of that had I not known who you were, what you were and of your divine connection. Do you understand what I mean? You can use Auristics to locate people, each aura is unique so now I will recognise yours…I’ve read you can use this to track people maybe…but magic has a lot of stories about it these days. You can tell temperature, whether something will taste nice, if someone is ill – though not what with – or injured perhaps”

“But first, know that all magic is dangerous, even Auristics if used inappropriately. It tires me out no matter how much practise I give it and you’ll end up eating all of the food in front of you to replenish yourself. Sleeping a lot too if you push yourself too hard. But, also worse things…Overgiving…which is when you try to push yourself well beyond your own limits. Can cause blindness, deafness…a whole host of things, though what I’ve managed to find and note down suggests with Auristics the price paid is largely sense based. So…small and steady is the rule with magic. I’d rather not be responsible for you getting hurt, I quite like you”

“But first…you are a doing cat. Which is the more fun of the two choices. For you to use magic you must find what I was told is your ‘well’,” he said, gently pointing at her heart, “it exists inside you. I don’t know where, it’s different for everyone and it’s where you find the…bridge…between your conscious mind and the Djed laying within, ready to be grasped and controlled…used. Mine, for example, is a mountain lake, with a forest surrounding it, snow upon the peaks and a sense of calm, earthy peace. Yours could be anything but it will be somewhere that is likely peaceful…safe. And to get there…well you could have just sat there with your eyes closed…but you chose the more fun type of focusing one’s mind…yoga. Perhaps even dancing if that doesn’t work. Copy me, should be good I know cat’s like to stretch themselves”

He settled into his Yoga routine, gesturing her to stand close beside him and imitate his movements. It was a simple routine, not much involved in terms of requiring concentration. She would be able to do it without much difficulty, the aim wasn’t to get her to concentrate upon and learn it in any depth, it was to provide a series of repetitive motions, removing her mind from her body slightly, allowing it to retreat within and find the place she needed, then to flow back up and into full wakefulness with her power. They would keep it up until she managed to do so, if not they’d move onto another method, until they found one that worked for her.

“Don’t focus upon the body so much once you’ve got the rhythm, let the body fall away, feel your energies flowing through you,” he spoke, almost continuously as they moved, keeping his voice deep and as relaxing as he could, almost monotone in the attempt to soothe, “close your eyes and feel yourself out, deep down inside, let the images come, don’t resist them…it could be anything…deep down…reach out for your Djed” he continued the words, repeating the phrases as their bodies moved, waiting for the moment he’d notice her movements change, become automatic and signalling whether she’d be sliding down into her consciousness, leaving her body behind to do its own thing whilst the magic worked. He knew everything was different for each mage, but there were no schools and he would do the best that he could for her, he wanted her to succeed.

by **Oralie** on March 20th, 2022, 1:21 pm

“I’m very lucky.” Oralie’s tone was earnest, and she meant what she said completely, even with the horrible start to life that she had experienced. “I don’t think I am worried, it seems to be an inevitability. It will find me at some point.” She had been trying to understand more about Kelvic’s ever since her conversations with both Mathias and Seladonna. She had figured that the later a Kelvic bonded, the stronger the bond was and the more human the Kelvic appeared to be. In some roundabout way, she was glad that she had not had the chance to bond before as she had gotten to grow into her own person in the meantime.

As they headed up the stairs, she listened attentively as Alric began to explain Auristics properly to her. It sounded much more in depth than she had understood it to be from the brief conversation she had listened to. “Oh I had no idea it used all of your senses… that’s much more interesting.”

She blinked, noticing the change in Alric’s eyes as he looked at her. A world behind the world… It was fascinating to her. She nodded to show him that she understood his explanations. “So it’s like getting to know a person how you would normally over time, except instead of knowing their personality and things better, you know their… aura? You know their aura better.”

She turned as he moved, following him with her gaze. She stayed quiet and statue-still watching him as he looked at her. His eyes seemed unfocused to Oralie, but she understood that he was just looking at something that she could not see. A smile grew over her mouth as Alric spoke, describing how he was seeing her, hearing and smelling her. It was oddly intimate, not something she had ever experienced before. It felt like he was looking into parts of her that even Oralie herself did not know about.

She met his gaze as his eyes returned to their usual hue. “You can do all of that with reading auras?” She understood now why Seladonna had suggested she learn it. “I wonder if you can tell if a plant would harm you if you ate it?” She was mostly thinking out loud, wondering how such a skill would be of use back in Syka. There were so many things still undiscovered in the jungle that they would need to learn about eventually.

Her expression turned serious to match the shift in their conversation. Oralie’s eyes grew slightly wider, her pupils contracting into thin slits as she listened to Alric detail the dangers of magic. It sounded like using magic might be similar to working out one’s muscles. Using it made you tired, and you had to rest and eat to revive yourself once more. Though the consequences of overuse sounded like they were much more dire than strains and sprains. Her brow furrowed and she nodded. “I won’t overdo it.”

She perked up again when Alric switched the lesson to more practical things. Her head tilted in curiosity as she listened to him explain ‘djed wells’. She needed to look inside of herself for her own well and the place that it lived in. She had no idea what yoga was, but it did not take her long to find out because Alric was immediately showing her and gesturing for her to join him.

She moved next to him, keeping him in her peripheral vision and trying her best to copy the movements that he made. He repeated a series of stretches over and over in a steady rhythm and Oralie found that after a couple of cycles it was not too difficult to remember. As he urged her to try and find her djed, she nodded, only for something else to draw her attention.

The shadow being had drifted around them and was almost directly in front of her, staring with its fathomless eyes. It did nothing to help her concentration. She took a deep breath and moved into the next stretching pose and let her eyes slide shut. The routine was simple and she didn’t think she needed to follow Alric anymore. She remembered what Brosh the Jamoura had taught her when she had visited the Arbor about calming one's mind, tuning out distractions. She focused on only the feeling of her movements and the sound of Alric’s voice, pushing any thoughts and feelings of being watched by the being out of the way.

When she felt calmer again and her mind clear, she mentally searched through her body, trying to feel out for the place where her djed might be. She could hear and feel her heartbeat so clearly and she searched beyond the sensations and soon she could see something taking shape.

She found herself in a small clearing. Above her the tops of trees closed in, trying to block out the clear blue sky above. Vines trailed from them to hang all about her and vibrant flowers nestled in the crooks of their branches. The ground was soft with lush grass, flowers and herbs springing up.

She could sense the soil below, rich with life and possibility. It seemed to call to her softly. Was that her djed? She touched her hands to the ground, and it pulsed, to echo her heartbeat. Oralie paused, knowing with certainty that if she found it, if she dug open her well that she would change forever. But change was good, change had led her to this life that she was now living, a life all of her very own.

She pressed downwards, her fingers sinking into the warm loamy soil. The ground almost seemed to sigh, and as it did, she felt it. She felt the soil - though she knew that was not truly what it was - surge up her hand. Its warmth buried itself under her fingernails, it crawled beneath her skin and up her arms. It gradually wove its way through all of her, to the top of her head and all the way to the ends of her toes.

Oralie’s eyes flew open and her movements halted as she sank to one knee. Her whole body felt warm, felt as though it was humming. She felt breathless with it, like there was not enough room in her body for anything but the energy she could feel - her djed. It seemed to be creeping back to her core again, bundling up into a ball of potential.

“What… what do I do with it?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

+1099

by **Alric Lysane** on March 21st, 2022, 4:46 pm

“Yes, it encompasses every sense that you have, and more according to what I’ve read…and some of what I’ve experienced. Sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing can all be used, and will tell you something more about what you are trying to discern. Each aura is different, and is also different in size, a person’s will be larger…maybe a few feet around them on average”

He nodded before tilting his head slightly, seeing her with a new light, at her own example of getting to know someone. It was a good analogy, one which could even suggest that she might take to Auristics fairly well. She thought in terms of layers, not perhaps the first to voice an opinion in a crowd, but a deeper thinker than many. Patience was half the work, the other side intelligence and wisdom to interpret what was being sensed and transform it into information one could use.

“You’re thinking about it the right way, young Ocelot,” he watched her for a few moments, thankful that she was who she was, someone who would use the magic correctly, and for good purpose in so far as he could tell, “how often do you get to know someone with one meeting? Over time together, different situations, conversations and repeated meetings…a picture is formed. Auristics is much like that, but deeper…and faster perhaps. You can learn much, and a smart person put together many facts in one sitting…but it is far from infallible of course. Plants and similar are easier, so yes, you’d be able to determine basic properties. I’ve never searched for harmful toxins in such thing…but I would think it would be possible” he suggested thoughtfully, tucking the information away for future pondering.

Shifting into the more practical parts of the first lesson, it didn’t take Oralie long to pick u the series of flowing, relaxing poses. She was a smart feline after all, and he had really been trying to get her body occupied, letting her consciousness drift, sinking down and within to find what she would need. He noticed when her motions changed, became more automatic and as if simply going through the motions. He kept up his work beside her, but watching her carefully in case he felt he needed to intervene, bringing her out of it if there was apparent danger. His voice droned onward, boring in tones now which was not what he was used to, but he kept it up despite its strangeness for her sake.

It took a long while, with her still moving but eventually getting slower and seemingly more lethargic, the yoga poses not being quite as complete and full as before. He nodded to himself, stopping his own movements now and instead turning to face her, accessing his own Djed in his curiosity, wondering how she felt as she clearly got closer to attaining the first trickling of her own powers. Her aura flickered into being, her music was softer and slower, muted – her concentrative meditation hu guessed. But her colours and smell had intensified – vibrant and pungent now, filling his senses more deeply. As she dropped to her knee he watched as she…flared was the only way of putting it…momentarily her aura grew larger, almost twice the size, before shrinking back to stay slightly larger than before – a fraction of an amount but clearly there for his senses to pick up on.

“Find your balance point, don’t take in too much Djed, pull an amount that seems small to begin with. Don’t lose your connection but…shrink it to a trickle…like turning a tap to a small flow I like to think of it. Let that amount ripple through you, feeling its power make its way through your body, each sense finds its points in different places – eyes, nose, ear…skin. Then…get up,” he offered her his hand and would ease her up when she took it, “and once balanced there should be what is the passive point of Auristics. I don’t know what it will feel like for you…but for me it’s like that feeling you get when your hair stands up before the breaking of a mighty storm. The world…glows and pulses…there is a…framework…or energy…Djed…beneath everything else. The world is like the added layers to that base layer, as you said before…find it and…feel it for yourself”

“Then…focus upon me. It’s very important, when starting out, that you don’t focus upon more than one thing at once. Focus upon me…your senses should begin to tell you more as you sense me out…all of them at once, some stronger and some weaker. Take your time, we have all day” he told her reassuringly.

Closed Aural Explorations [Alric]