Runic rhymes

[Eanos]

Spring 41, 510

The light from the candle above the Isurian smiths head flickered softly causing the shadows to dance along the walls, but Eanos didn't notice because his eyes were firmly shut as his thoughts traced along the paths of memory.

Now he was a smith, and a smith was his chosen vocation, and yet the black skin of his left arm told a very different tale. Pitrius by birth, his heritage was one of expertise in the arcane arts. Clan Pitirus, masters of the Silver Tower, mages of the clans, were not on the whole the smiths who made the Isur famous for metalwork enhanced by both exquisite skill and gnosis. They had their own fame, though likely few outside the clans had much clear idea that there were such clear lines between the areas of clan expertise.

Now, as his elbows rested on the edge of the table and his fingertips tapped softly, his memories surfaced the things which he'd been taught as part of his training back in the clan stronghold. The clans held tight to their own specialities which was the main reason why Eanos was so far from home. It was true that the mages of his clans could apply their skills to items produced by the smiths of other clans and yet Eanos wanted more than that, he wanted to try to apply his clan skills to the items as they were made, to actually include those skills into the process of making the item.

Of course only time would tell if this approach had any real advantage over the one which existed back home, but even if it didn't, for Eanos the pleasure it would afford him made it worth the effort.

[Eanos]

The Isurians training in the arcane arts was not extensive since his education had been deliberately of a general nature and he'd left the clan holdings before his time in the Silver Tower had begun in earnest and one day, in the not so distant future, he intended to return all the long miles back there to become proficient at the more complex and formal skills of magecraft.

For now though he needed to continue the work on the basics. Auristics was becoming a part of his work at the forge as he used it as an aid to his eyes. There were times, such as when bringing metal to the right temperature that mere eyesight was unreliable and at such times traditionally the work was done at night when it was easier to see the colours of the metal. Eanos hoped to be able to cut to the heart of that issue with his auristics such that he could work at any time. The softer part of the skill, working with the auras of living beings was as yet something which he did not concentrate on.

Next though on his target list of skills was glyphs, and until now he'd not spent any great time on it. The reason was simple; his metal working skills had not been good enough to warrant the need for it. Now though he was becoming competent at the metal works and it was time to start to use the glyphs to introduce effects, effects which one day he might be able to replicate with the more powerful, permanent and effective skills of magecraft.

Unlike that skills, glyphs were ephemeral. Relatively quick and inexpensive to produce they were also somewhat less reliable, often less powerful and as far as he knew only a one shot effect. He could make a blades edge sharp with a stone, he could imbue it with sharpness by using his gnosis or he could use a gylph but of them all only the gnosis had much chance in his knowledge of actually keeping the blade sharp for any appreciable length of time. For him the gnosis in that case was merely a way of replacing the stones, which would be useful for a novice who did not understand their correct use. Or more to the point, it would be an instant effect at the time with the work done beforehand. Not that at this point he had any idea how to use glyphs to produce a sharpening effect, or if that he ever would be able to. Glyphs after all were used to store and control magic, and he lacked knowledge of the sort of magic skills which would be able to produce such an effect.

[Eanos]

He allowed his mind to relax and delve into the lore which he'd been taught about how the glyphs worked. The basics were simple in his mind now he focussed his attention on the memories, and many of them were there as clearly as they had been on the pages of the books on which the glyphs had been drawn.

But though some were clear, others were not and he was unsure whether or not that really mattered. One of the other odd facts which intruded into his mind at that point was the memory that different mages used glyphs which while different in construction were the same in effect, and so using that logic, he ought to be able to customise his glyphs into those which had the greatest meaning for himself.

Too though flooded back the memory that the glyphs themselves were merly parts of the sigil and that it was the whole which made the glyphs work, though a simple work could be done with just the focus. For the time being, he couldn't really imagine needing much more than a focus with his current skills in Auristics, but still he didn't discount it and so concentrated a little harder to bring the other memories into focus.

To contain a spell, perhaps in a parchment, perhaps just written out around something he'd created a focus for, then there would need to be a barrier which prevented the triggering of the spell, but at the same time, a barrier needed to be crossed or removed at some point in order to allow the focus to be activated.

[Eanos]

His eyes flicked open and he shook his head to clear it of the memories which were worse than reading it in a book for the first time. The last phrases which had run through his mind sounded like gibberish and so he took a deep breath or three before switching his attention back.

The sigil, yes, a combination of glyphs, each with its own purpose; the focus to hold, the barrier to restrict and the trigger to release. He ignored for now the memories of path and switch because he could barely imagine a use for what he had, never mind the more advanced applications of the craft.

His fingers slipped his knife from his belt and laid it on the table in front of him. It rocked for a moment and then laid still, the sharpened edge glinting lightly in the candlelight. He focussed his attention closely on it, opening his mind to the aura which wrapped around it. It had changed somewhat from when he'd forged it for now it had a handle bound on it and that was different in its own way. The steel had history in his hands and much as the way the steel looked to his naked eye so too the aura was familiar, only changing where the steel was wrapped around by the handle.

He reached across and took the stick of charcoal which had lain on the table and carefully scribed a glyph on the blade, tracing the double curve with the ease of prior practice and not forgetting the little flick on the end. Then he concentrated again on the aura, but this time focusing first on the glyph, using it as a lens or at least so it seemed for the aura of the blade came into focus a little easier and as it did the marking on the blade seemed to dry for it came loose from the steel and slipped, crumbling down the slight angle of the blade. The action broke his focus and he rubbed his eyes and then looked around the room afresh. Enough for one night!

[Dusk]

XP Award! Eanos XP Award Glyphing: 1 XP Auristics: 1 XP Meditation: 3 XP Lore Award Glyph: Focusing Auristics Recalling memories Additional Note I'm so glad to see him getting into Glyphs! I love magical weaponsmithing, I just think it's such a great thing for a world like this, and especially for an Isur. For the next one you do for Arcana skill points, have him spend more time actually practicing making and using Glyphs rather than reviewing how they're made, and that'll get you more of the actual skill points. However, I really liked the story of what he knew, and how he'd learned it within the context of the Isur society, so I'm selfishly a little happy with this. I like being entertained.