A New Chapter (Clyde)

[Clandestine Duplais]

Summer 10th 512AV Gallo awoke much like he usually did every morning. He slid on the fabric of his underwear before he slid on his pants. Normally he wouldn't bother with his pants, however he expected company today. When Clyde would arrive was a bit of a mystery to him. He skipped the usual morning workout and instead decided to move right to his daily run around the Docks. He walked into the main room and moved to the ink on his table. Stacks of papers graffiti with much scribbles of practiced runes and focuses scribed across their rough surface. A quill sat idle on a half finished focus design, which Gallo remembered he had fallen asleep too. How he had made it to his bed was beyond him. Perhaps his body was so used to the same routine he had sleep walked to his bed. Regardless he picked up the quill and uncorked the ink bottle. He moved a quill into the ink after he slid down his pants some. He had begun to make the painting of focuses on his body a daily habit. He had changed his focus symbol into something much easier for him to draw and draw well. The quill began to move as he slowly drew out his initials in the same manner he had drawn on the Sylirian Knight's foot. While he drew it, the image burned into his subconscious as something quite significant to himself. He stretched his legs before he opened the simple door into his home. He sighed and soon began to jog and then run through the less crowded alleyways and street of Ravok. The sun had only just risen, yet the city was alive with activity. His path constantly changed as he adapted to the different crowd flows. He never really wanted to get in the way of the busy merchants or the dock workers as they offloaded the product of that day. However, this day he decided to move toward the center of the city and toward the The Temple Of The Black Sun. He wondered to himself how far along the construction was. He wondered fleetingly why the Voice hadn't made an appearance in a while, longer than usual. But he dismissed it as he crossed a long bridge over a wide canal. He passed the somewhat destroyed temple. Scaffolding had been erected around it as construction of the upper levels had begun. A group of Ravokians had been gathered to listen to the Druvin as they worshiped. Gallo felt a burn in his legs, not used to the run so far into the city. As a nod to Rhysol he began to rattle on a practiced prayer to Rhysol which also helped him focus on his body's energy to the focus. As he began the prayer, the feeling of intense burning in his legs continued to throb. But as he repeated and soon focused on the incantation and the symbol of his initials. Soon he could feel that strange energy that flowed through him and down toward the focuses drawn on his legs. The burn in his legs soon vanished as the feeling of water soon flowed down to his legs and empowered him. The sun had grown higher in the sky as he soon made his way back to the docks. A bit later as he ran around the rim of the city and back to his home he found himself stood in front of his door. His torso glistened in the hot sun of the day as he panted and caught his breath. His legs buzzed with life as he felt his muscles attempt to relax after being worked so thoroughly. He wiped the sweat from his brow before he looked at the door to his apartment. Something seemed odd as the door was slightly ajar. Gallo slowly approached it, still breathing hard, he slid the door open before calling out into the room. “Hello?” He asked loudly but cautiously. oocI figured the door would be easy enough to get into. If you'd like Clyde could let himself in or not. My intentions in leaving the door open was to either set up the idea that someone has surveillance on Gallo. If you choose to have Clyde enter the house while away, please do mention the door was open.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde had told his new "student", and possible apprentice, that he would be coming over today. He had not really been specific, to the time or what they would be doing. Really, he did not yet consider him as his apprentice. He had not yet shown himself to be worthy of it. But perhaps he would, so it was best to test him, to see what he could do. He had seemed able to at least grasp the basics of glyphing, the first magic he had taught him. Though it was hard to say how skilled he really was to learning magic. All he could do was test him, and see if he caught on. Perhaps they would hit a wall, the limit of his skill, and he would not be able to teach him further. Or perhaps he would die, in what he had planned for there next lesson... It was hard to say... Regardless, he was not going to fully invest in him, until he had passed his tests, all of them... Then... Only then, he might consider him to be his apprentice... After he had signed a few papers that is, to make it official... Clyde did not get up early, simply rose when he awoke. He got up and used the bathroom, ate a small meal, and then finally headed over Gallo's house, with Rye in tow. He was his guard dog, which Gallo had not yet seen. Best that he got used to being around him. Clyde appeared at Gallo's house, to see him standing inside, as Gallo was saying "hello" out loud. What the petch was wrong with him? Standing there all sweaty, and grimy? Did he have no self respect? Clyde cleared his throat to pull his attention to him, and walked in the door, giving a curious glance at Gallo. Rye was close at his heels. He did not growl at Gallo, which he assumed was a good sign... "So you are here... Well, I supposed we should get started." Clyde came in, and set down his staff, his cloak, and his pack, setting them off in a corner. Rye simply followed along with were he went, keeping close, but not so close as to get under his feet. He was well trained. "Now, we will start off simple. I want you to make a simple scroll. A focus in the middle, a barrier around it, and a trigger, which when activated, turns off the barrier. And I want to see your trigger clearly. The way you activate your trigger is important for me to see, so I can say if you need to work on it. Not all activations are equally good. So get started."

[Clandestine Duplais]

The room looked to be as he left it as he entered the house. Once more he asked to himself, “Hello?” But no reply graced his ears. Well that is until the sound of a throat clearing made his eyes dart to the door. Gallo was a little as he swiftly, practiced swiveled and took a low defensive stance. The sun silhouetted Clyde and his companion, though the dog would appear more shadow like by nature than Clyde. Gallo softened his stance as he recognized Clyde's voice. “Wasn't sure when you were going to come. I was out for a run before...” Gallo trailed off as Clyde walked into the house as if he owned the joint. The man with his staff was quick to get down to business, which Gallo normally wouldn't have minded. Though something felt out of place or perhaps it was paranoia of a door not shut properly. He dismissed and soon settled in next to Clyde and left Rye to be on the other side of the mage. Something his father had taught him, always protect those that are important by putting them in the middle. “A scroll already? I just barely got down barriers.” Gallo protested initially, but even in protest his hands moved to find a scrap sheet of paper. He dipped his quill, which had shown signs of wear, and began to draw the initials of his name at the center of the paper. His mind was focused on his drawing as the black ink soaked into the fibers of the paper. The decorative D and G meant much to Gallo, most importantly it was the point of realization that Gallo was no longer a boy but a proud Duplais. When he completed the focus he began to write out a series of letters and numbers around the focus. The figures were written in a clockwise direction seemingly randomly, though to those uneducated in Cryptography would just appear as a bunch of random figures. Though the sequence was written in Gallos first encoding of a sentence. The sentence was meaningless however it marked the discovery of a skill Gallo felt proud of. Finally he came to the trigger. He wrote in plain common “Release the barrier when torn by the hands of a stranger and not the writer of this scroll.” Gallo was unsure if that release would work, however it had been being jostled around in his head for a while. What better time than the present to try something a bit different.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde only partially listened, and just frowned as Gallo questioned his instructions, of making a scroll. But soon enough he set to work. But he would clear things up anyways, he would not have him questioning him. "Do you want to learn from me or not? Don't question my instructions! And I don't expect the scroll to hold for long. At your level, it would be more likely to backfire and go off randomly, than to actually hold together. But being able to make one, to pull the various things I showed together, is important." Then Clyde went through his bag, rooting around, searching for something. Finally, he came out with a scroll, which he unrolled, looked at, and then set aside, before inspecting Gallo's work. He was glad that Gallo had changed his glyphs, and was no longer simply copying what Clyde did. That would make the work stronger, if it had some relevance to Gallo. It was better than his first paltry try at glyphing, but not by much. Clyde walked up to the page, and pointed out a few bits of the barrier sigil. "This, and this, need to be strengthened, with additional runes. If you tried to hold magic in here, these would ruin the effect. Eventually it would wear down, and go off letting out the spell. There are few things more dangerous than a badly made scroll. Especially when reimancy is involved... Though I have no clue what would happen with the magic you know." Clyde took another look at the glyphs he had drawn. He noticed there was something about them, a bit of repetition, perhaps it had some logic to it. But he did not know of cryptography, and so did not realize it was a encoded message. "There is something about this. What are these runes supposed to mean? Do they have some deeper purpose? Or are they just random." Clyde would give him the chance to answer, possibly actually listening. Then after a few chimes, of letting him explain, or to work on his scroll, he would pick up his scroll he had taken out earlier. "Now, surely you would like to see something a scroll can do? I made this a long time ago, infused it with magic, and then sealed it within this scroll. It has held together all of this time." Clyde held open his scroll, with the focus pointing down to the ground, like he was holding open a sack, and about to let something roll out. Then he spoke, activating the scroll, and unsealing it. "Stick Come forth!" As he said it, suddenly a wooden stick came falling out of the focus, the end sliding out, and then the whole thing, to smack onto the ground, were it started to thrash and bend and wiggle. A normal looking, stick, like one that might fall from a tree, but that was wiggling around, as much as it could without snapping itself in half. As the stick finished coming out, the scroll crumbled to bits, and blew away as dust.

[Clandestine Duplais]

Gallo, apologized for his questioning of authority and continued work until he had finished. He looked at his work, sloppy at best, however he could see an improvement to his first glyph drawn. He had kept the one he drew when he first met Clyde as an example and motivator to see how he improved. He heard Clyde comment on the odd configuration and pattern of letters and numbers. Gallo paused and seemed to have taken a very serious stance. Straight faced he looked up at Clyde as if he debated whether or not to answer that question. “It is a family secret,” he turned back still with a stone faced and almost stifled anger posture. He added rather matter-affactuly, “Someone would have to disappear if I revealed the secret.” He remained quiet for a long while before he snickered. “I'm a horrible liar. The series of numbers and letters is an encoded message that uses a simple displacement pattern of the alphabet to the right a certain number of times. I added some numbers to further encrypt the message. It is like a game to me, I enjoy it.” Gallo smiled to himself, proud of what he does in his free time. But he also felt a slight tug of apprehension. The craft of encryption was quite secret and could potentially be rendered useless if others knew the key or hint of how to break the code. Gallo wondered if the same feelings were shared by Clyde and his magic. He was brought out of his own thoughts when a demonstration of a scroll in work was offered. Gallo stared wide eyed as Clyde pulled out a scroll and unrolled it. Clyde uttered the trigger and Gallo watched as a wooden protrusion began to extend from the focus. He couldn't believe what he was witness too and moved to the side so he could view the backside of the scroll as well as the front. Such a curious sight it was for Gallo, uninitiated to the world of magic for the most part. What intrigued the young man more was the fact the twig seemed to have life to it as it clattered to the floor. It wriggled and writhed on its own in unnatural ways, it reminded him of a centipede chopped in half. Gallo didn't hide his amusement as he eagerly questioned, “wow, what kind of magic did you use to make such a thing?” He thought for a moment back to the original demonstration of scroll work, then recalled the Res, “You can put physical objects into a scroll? I mean it doesn't have to only be a liquid?” Gallo continued to stare down at the mystified object in awe.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde simply looked at his student, as he made some odd joke, claiming it was some deep family secret, in what his symbols meant. Clyde was not often a joker. And when he did open up, and tried to explain what he was doing, encrypting. Something about encoding the message, through displacing the letters... Though he had no clue really what he meant... He did gather, it had something to do with making your message appear as gibberish, when in fact it had meaning. "Well, perhaps you can explain it to me later. To be honest, I don't really know much of such things of... Encryption, did you call it? Maybe you can show me an example that is a bit easier to a novice... And explain what exactly this craft is for, or is properly named." Names after all, often had power. It was important to know the proper name for something. Often a name said a lot, and by knowing what the craft was properly called, he would understand it better, and be more knowledgeable. Not that Gallo really had much fear by explaining the basics to Clyde. He was no master encrypt-er, and just by explaining one simply example, and letting Clyde try it, would not set him off on the road to being a master of it. He was far to busy with other things, like magic. If nothing else, it would be helpful to know the basics, so he could at least un-encrypt a message. Or whatever that was called. Clyde grabbed a piece of parchment, and began to write a barrier glyph, this time using common words as his sigil. He created it out of words such as: barrier, block, guide, enforce, and route. Once done, they would circle around, creating a complete circuit, of a barrier sigil. "Just a little something I picked up awhile back. Nothing you need to worry over. It is a magic, that allows you to give life, to inanimate objects. This is one such example. Though that is all it can do." "Yes, you can put physical magical object into a scroll. Anything that is made entirely of magic, can be sealed away. Whether that is a magic attack, made out of djed, or a magical process, such as what you do with your body, magic, or this golem, which is a object infused with magic. Mundane things cannot be stored though, only magical things." "Thing of the scroll as a house, with the focus being the open door. You can put something inside, and close it in with a barrier, or a shut door. Then when the door is opened, by the barrier being released, the thing comes back out, exactly the same as it went in. Just as fast, and in the same direction. Usually you want to point a scroll, away from you, when you open it, so the thing inside does not hit you."

[Clandestine Duplais]

Gallo looked up at Clyde curiously as he explained the purpose of a scroll and what potential it had. He wondered to himself if a god could be trapped in a scroll, but he disregarded the thought and looked over the barrier Clyde had drawn using a peculiar set of words. "I'd enjoy showing you the basics of cryptography. It is a fun game at times!" Gallo touched the piece of parchment and slowly turned it around to read the words upright. "Seems you already know a bit of the skill, what do these words mean? Is it a barrier?" Gallo questioned curiously as he attempted to associate the layout of glyphs to the pieces that were used to make them.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde simply looked at him a bit oddly... What the petch was he talking about? They were just words, not some secret code like he was seeing it as. He was seeing codes, were there wasn't one. "Yes, it is a barrier. And it is not a code. They have no meaning beyond what I wrote. Sometimes, I use words as runes, and in this case the meaning of the words reinforces its purpose. The words are all things I want the barrier to do. Simple really, as an application. Runes can vary, don't forget that, amongst different glyphers, and even amongst the same one." Clyde continued work on his glyphing... Making his common focus, of a drawn out circle, with wavy lines emanating from it. His trigger linked into the barrier, using a slightly changed release from before to activate, "Release the barrier when the scroll is held, and the holder says: Stick come forth!" He grabbed the stick off the ground, and held it up longways, and stroked a finger down its length. As he did, the stick stilled, and stopped shaking and bending. He then bent down, and shoved the stick into the focus. It descended into the focus, like there was a hole in the floor under the scroll, like some petty trick. "Well know that is taken care off, time for something new. A pathway. A pathway is like a road. Twin barriers, were magic goes down the middle between them. I want you to make one. Maybe draw it on your arm, and try to flow magic down the path to a focus on your hand."

[Clandestine Duplais]

Gallo looked at Clyde and noted the dumbfounded expression. He had intended his statement to just be a jest. But as Clyde explained away the secrecy of his barrier it had only confirmed Gallo suspicion. He leaned against the wooden desk and listened to it complain about the added weight. He watched as Clyde built his focus and continued to complete the scroll that the stick had come forth from. He watched with mild amusement, still in disbelief of what he witnessed, as the stick seemed to calm before it pressed back into the paper. The sight boggled Gallo's mind, something physical vanishing into a bit of scrap. With the strange golem back to its rightful place Gallo looked back up at Clyde and listened intently. He found Clyde enjoyable but couldn't help but feel if he didn't know magic he wouldn't feel an interest in pursuing Clyde as a friend. The thought was quickly extinguished as Clyde introduced something new. “Pathways huh?” Gallo repeated as he stalled and figured out something he could do. When Clyde explained it would be like a road, a lightbulb seemed to go off in his head. “I get it, but I have a question first.” Gallo slid his hand to another piece of parchment. With a freshly wet quill he began to draw a focus and surround it with leaf like figures that seemed to combine together like an ivy vine. Next to it he wrote in common: Release this barrier when the phrase, “Give us forgiveness and we'll give you absolute loyalty.” is spoken out loud by the user. It was a simple glyph of a focus and a barrier. He next looked up at Clyde, “I've been a little afraid to find out for myself but if I were to write this on my body could I possibly store the djed in my body in the focus and release it when I need it when I utter the incantation? I don't want my skin to turn to ash like that demonstration you shown me last time.” While Gallo waited and listened to Clyde's reply he began to draw another rune. This time it consisted of two focuses on opposite ends. A barrier was drawn by Gallo around the two connecting them. “Would this formation act like a lake connected to an ocean? I mean,” he pointed at one circle, “the water, djed, flows from the lake down through the river.” His finger trailed along the supposed Pathway he had drawn on paper first. His finger stopped on the opposite focus, “and end up going into the ocean here. Am I too far off on what you mean by pathway?”

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde had a habit of taking what people said at face value. Sometimes, that created issues with misconceptions, and misunderstandings. But really, he did his best to avoid this. But regardless, they occurred, since people so often joked about things, or were sarcastic, and such. You should say what you meant. More often, he would prefer someone to just lie outright, than to confuse things in their language with such incompatibilities. Honestly though, Clyde would likely not have been offended, should he have known Clyde's thoughts. He did not feel a great need for friends, since it would mean less time for his magic, and his work. No, he would prefer to just do things as needed. He did have acquaintances, and people that owed him, and would help him out when needed. But really, he had little need for friends. He had little illusions, that these people liked him, or were helping him for a reason outside of that they had to, or over something he held on them. Clyde quickly took in the glyphing work Gallo had done, shoddy, but he was not as skilled as Clyde, so it was expected. "Your skin wont turn to ash fool. The ink would simply vanish. Often in a scroll, the paper will crumble, as the ink is directly written upon, and soaked into all the way through. But if I were to simply pain the sigils on a stone wall, the wall would not be damaged when they wore off. But, if I carved the sigils into the same stone wall, then when the sigils broke, then the glyphs would likely crack and damage the wall." Clyde shook his head, at how silly he had been. Really, did he think Clyde would tell him to do something, that would injure him. "As long as you don't carve the glyphs into your arm, and only paint it on, you will be fine." Clyde inspected his newest work... What the petch had he done? "That isn't a pathway. That is two focuses inside of the same barrier, with nothing separating them. I said a road, not a pond, with two stones thrown into it. Clyde quickly took out a new bit of parchment, and readied his quill. At the bottom of the parchment, he drew a sun focus, with a wavy line around it as the barrier. He connect to the top side, a trigger, which would drop that side of the barrier, upon: Holding the page and saying "release". Then up out of the barrier on top, which would drop upon the trigger, he continued the barrier, making a pathway, a barrier on the right and left side coming up out of the circular barrier encapsulating the first focus. He carried this up to near the top of the page, were he drew another focus. However this one he did not box in. On the right and left sides, the sides of the pathway met it. On the bottom was a empty spot, were the magic would flow in. And on the top was bare space. This would allow the spell to come out of here. So if he say put a fireball in the first focus, and activated the trigger, the magic would flow up the pathway, and come out of the other focus.