Teachers and Teaching

by **Zerren Verre** on September 22nd, 2012, 4:00 pm

Zerren felt a lot of the tension leave him after Ethan finally gave an answer, although it hadn't exactly been the answer he had been looking for. Dangerous? What could be dangerous about WIND? I mean, I guess you could blow over a tree with wind, so maybe that's what he means? But I'm not stupid enough to blow a tree over on top of myself, and if it landed on someone else they'd have done something to deserve it... And I didn't actually want to learn about wind magic in the first place! Out loud Zerren took a slightly more diplomatic tone. "Oh, well alright. I suppose that makes sense... And I'd be more than willing to pay you for your help, if Hadrian thinks you're able to." Zerren figured that learning to use magic would cost him, but he also figured that it would be worth it in the long run. How many rabbits equals the ability to blow down a tree? Hmm... Probably aught to brush up on my boar hunting skills if I'm going to take that approach.

Zerren wasn't concerned that Ethan had casually pushed the question over to Hadrian, even though his silence had been almost palpable up until that point. I just told you that it was Hadrian who told me to ask you. Shouldn't that answer your question? Zerren was almost certain he was going to get taught now. Wait, but WHAT is he going to be teaching me? I've never heard of that before. Of course, Zerren hadn't even heard of the idea of learning magic until a few days ago. Regardless, it doesn't do me much good to start learning something if I don't know what the petch it actually will do for me. "What exactly is auristics anyway? Will it be able to help me with my hunting at all?" Zerren's way of determining something's usefulness probably wasn't much of a surprise. If it couldn't be used for defence or offence in some way, it probably wasn't worth learning. Which is why it's taken me so long to get around to learning to read... Maybe Hadrian or Ethan can help me with that as well?

by **Hadrian** on September 26th, 2012, 9:23 pm

"I don't see any reason why you couldn't teach him Auristics," he said agreeably, nodding his approval of both Ethan's caution and his generosity. Kelvics were relatively rare and, in many ways, endangered, subject to the predation of man. Auristics would only help Zerren survive, and the chances of overgiving were slim.

Though he thought Ethan had better explain it, the teacher in him couldn't help but start them off.

"Auristics is a magical extension of your senses. You are surely aware that in your two forms, your senses vary in strength. Auristics is the ability to sense djed, the energy that makes up everything. You can recognize patterns. If you were blind and deaf and could not smell, but had auristic ability, you might sense prey nearby, feeling their spirit..."

He glanced to Ethan. "Would you like to elaborate? Or explain it better than I do? Then, if he trusts me, I can give him a glimpse."

by **Ethan** on September 30th, 2012, 6:17 am

"A glimpse?" Hadrian's speed to introduce the Kelvic into magic was startling but not so surprising. Once upon a time Ethan too was introduced just as quickly and was none the worse for it. Would this time be so different? Of course Zerren was nothing like Ethan. For one thing he had a much more level head than Ethan did. But still...

"No no, you're fine Hadrian. You did an elegant job of covering the basics. But perhaps we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. It's hard to explain a sense that you've never experienced. I think a glimpse is a wonderful idea."

by **Zerren Verre** on September 30th, 2012, 7:03 pm

Zerren grinned slightly as Hadrian said yes. Even though he hadn't been expecting the man to disagree, it was nice to hear that Hadrian hadn't reconisidered. Then came a description of what he would be learning. A description that seemed to be completely useless and utterly confusing to Zerren in all the ways an explanation could seem to be those things. Okay, so Auristics is a way to broaden or stengthen my senses, either more so or at least differently than changing into a panther does... And it's also seperate from my senses so that I could still use it if I couldn't see, hear, or smell otherwise... How would that work?

The idea of feeling the spirit of something also didn't make much sense. I thought that the spirit was something that COULDN'T be felt... Or seen or heard or smelled or tasted... What would spirit even taste like? Would it just be like whatever the spirit belonged to? Or could it be completely different? What if rabbits tasted like grass or... Zerren pulled his mind back to the task at hand, with some difficulty and with only relative success. The thing about being able to smell and see and hear everything, is that it's so hard to concentrate on any one of those things...

Zerren did catch that Hadrian was going to give him a "glimpse" of Auristics, whatever that meant. I suppose since the explanation didn't clarify anything at all, maybe a demonstration will help clear things up. At the very least it can't make it worse... Right? Zerren decided against voicing his doubts, wouldn't do to seem afraid of being shown something after all. "I'd appreciate that, I think. But how exactly are you going to show me a sense? It's not like you can show a deaf person how to hear, right?" That thought brought forth an entirely new torrent of other, mildly related, thoughts with it. Zerren pushed them all to the back of his mind without hesitation. If there's any benefit at all to being distracted every second of my life, its that I've gotten used to it... Or is that a benefit? Hmmm...

by **Hadrian** on October 3rd, 2012, 4:11 am

"It's one of those things that's difficult to explain in words," he said, and found a grease pencil. He took Zerren's hand and carefully scrawled a few glyphs into a sigil of receiving, then drew a similar sigil, this one for sending, on his own palm. It was a matched set, though, one complementing the other. Ethan might understand, but Zerren would have to witness it.

"Just calm yourself," he said, placing his palm carefully against Zerren's so as not to smear the channel he had created. Then he ever so carefully opened himself up to the djed around them. When he had begun, there had been flashes of heat against his palms, a buzz in the air, or faint visual distortions. When he had gotten better, any of his senses could be augmented by the auristic sense. But when he truly mastered it, he realized it was actually independent of his other senses, a thing in and of itself.

Different.

Impossible to explain.

But the subtle flare of power in that mostly passive discipline passed through the glyph on his hand and the glyph on Zerren's hand until the Kelvic could share these strange sensations. His mind might not be able to make sense of them quite, but Hadrian kept a tight rein on himself so as not to overwhelm him with detail and power.

"Do you understand?" he finally asked.

by **Ethan** on October 12th, 2012, 3:05 am

It was strange to see this happening to someone else, different but almost exactly the same as his own experience. The glyphs on Hadrian's hands were of the same design and structure as they were a year ago. But done with more skill and precision.

Ethan envied Zerren's virginity. The opening of a new sense was an intense rush. He remembered how he spent weeks in the markets of Syliras. Feeling the Aura's of the shop keepers and peddlers. Everything was so new and exciting. It was the only time he actually liked being inside that retched fortress.

"I guess we will finally know if Kelvic's typically feel Auristics differently than humans." It was an on going discussion between the two. Auristists could use any sense to anchor their abilities, although most tended to lean towards sight. But Ethan reacted painfully to the sense and went straight to touch. Ethan thought it was a fluke, Hadrian thought it could be because of his nature. As a bird kelvic, his sight was increased far beyond the capacity of any human. Making it overwhelming to further alter his vision with magic. Or so Hadrian thought.

by **Zerren Verre** on October 14th, 2012, 1:48 am

Zerren stood still, confused, as Hadrian drew some strange symbols on to his hands. At least he assumed they were strange symbols, for all he knew it meant 'thanks for the deer'. He did his best to hold still as Hadrian carefully penciled on to him. When Hadrian had finished with Zerren's hand and started on his own, Zerren looked at his palm with utter confusion. And this relates to showing me a new sense... How?

Zerren responded somewhat distractedly to Hadrian's order as he continued to ponder what possible use the symbols could have. Maybe it's some sort of meditation thing? Calm my thoughts or something so that I can "see" more clearly? If this is some ridiculous joke I'm going to be a very offended... Woah. The power flowed from Hadrian and into Zerren and suddenly the world warped and shifted around Zerren in all the ways it was most certainly not supposed to.

First everything started to get a fuzzy glow around it and the world seemed even more washed of color than it had a moment before, save for a few spots of color here and there. Then, as Zerren's vision returned to normal, he started as he realized that he could just barely feel the cool touch of a breeze at sea. Then he could barely smell the sharp scent of ozone, like after a lightning strike that hit a mile away. The maybe he tasted the taste of a deer on his toungue, or the memory of the taste of a deer. But those sensations soon passed just like the odd shift in vision. What in the world is going on? What is Hadrian doing to me? Should I pull away or... Wait, what's that sound?

The world seemed steady enough, but Zerren could hear a sort of static at the very edge of his hearing. He couldn't identify a source, it was simply everywhere and coming from everything. He looked about himself and realized that as he focused on any one thing in the room, certain parts of the static seemed to get louder and others seemed to get softer. He turned his attention to Ethan and listened as part of the static seemed to get more and more clear as he did. The sound resolved into a steady, constant thrum, like someone playing a low note on a harp. But the sound didn't stop clarifying, Zerren could sense differences in the tone on different parts of his fellow Kelvic. Ethan's hair sounded different than his hands and his hands sounded different from his eyes. This is amazing... Then Zerren pulled his attention away from the strange sound that was Ethan and refocused on the man touching his hand.

Again, the sound clarified slowly from the general static that lay at the low end of Zerren's hearing. The barely audible thrum became louder, just as Ethan's had, but different in some way. Parts of Hadrian sounded different from each other, and Hadrian's parts sounded different than Ethan's parts. Hadrian's eyes sounded like a flute of some kind, similar to the wierd blueness in his hair... And underneath that flute Zerren swore he could just make out another sound, but it didn't sound like anything he could describe... Wind maybe? A low, constant wind? Zerren tried to focus in further, but didn't feel like the sound was becoming any more clear. Maybe there's a little bit of change in the pitch? It's just such a small change... Maybe I can find something similar if I focus on Ethan...

Zerren started to zero in on Ethan again, but suddenly wondered if maybe non living things made the sounds as well. He focused on the walls, the window, the floor, sensing a new strange sound with each (though the walls sounded suspiciously like the floor). He was preparing to focus on door when suddenly he realized something was strange... Wrong in some way that Zerren couldn't quite place. What's changed? What seems so... I can't smell the meat anymore. I've been smelling that meat since I first brought down the deer and haven't lost the scent yet... Where did the smell go? Zerren jerked his hand from Hadrian's and started rubbing at his nose, not frantically, but with a certain amount of wary concern. "Those noises, were those what you were trying to show me? And what happened to my nose? I can't seem to smell anything... At all..."

Zerren's nose was still failing to register any of the smells he knew should be in the air. There was no meat, no sweat, no stray scent of Hadrian or Ethan. Nothing. But just as Zerren was about to start freaking out, the smells slowly started to come back. Zerren let out a sigh of relief, but still felt all the stress that had been ready to come loose with what he thought was the loss of his ability to smell. He turned his green, feline eyes warily on Hadrian and asked his second question again with a colder tone. "What happened to my nose during all that?"

ooc :

by **Hadrian** on October 14th, 2012, 9:00 pm

Hadrian kept close tabs on Zerren via his aura. Whereas he could focus on many auras at once, the Kelvic would be dizzied by that, and would only be able to focus on one at a time without overextending himself. All seemed to be going well, and he paid close attention to the part of his aura in and around his head, wondering which part of the brain controlled which senses. When Zerren finally broke away, he had his answer: that part of the brain controlled the sense of hearing. He glanced to Ethan to see if he had seen it too.

"Everything is all right," he assured Zerren, staying close in case he lost his balance and needed help sitting down. "It's another sense, so it can confuse the other ones for a while. It would seem you were focusing through your ears, and turned off your nose to help you focus. It will come back. Do you need to sit down?"

Now the Kelvic knew what he was reaching for; if he still wanted to know how to do it, they would have to teach him the basics of meditation so he could quiet himself and let his mind find that place again to tap into its abilities.

OOC :

by **Ethan** on October 21st, 2012, 7:41 am

Ethan hadn't noticed the shift of power in the Kelvic's brain as Hadrian had. He was paying attention to the flies swirling around the dead rabbits on their table instead. There was only so much interest he was willing to give someone he cared little for. And, while Zerren's company wasn't irritating, he just didn't care.

Most likely Hadrian would chide him for his indifference towards the magical significance, but Hadrian didn't stay mad for long. He tensed slightly when Zerren's tone grew cold, but it led nowhere of course. Civilized life was starting to chaff. His human skin was starting to feel tight and he wondered when this little meeting would end. He was tempted to rush Hadrian and his new pupil, but it didn't seem doable without giving offense. Damn these rules.

by **Zerren Verre** on October 27th, 2012, 9:12 pm

Zerren warily stopped rubbing his nose and looked between Ethan and Hadrian again. They both seemed fairly calm about the fact that Zerren had almost lost one of his most important senses in exchange for one that he still wasn't positive he could use effectively for hunting. Hearing strange music when I see a rabbit isn't helpful if I have to see the rabbit before it works that way. The static would probably just stop me from hearing some of the more subtle noises... But even with all the negative reactions flowing through his mind, Zerren found himself excited by this new sense. For a few brief seconds, everything had a new depth and dimension that Zerren had never considered before, a new level of interest that he couldn't quite explain. No matter how much of a waste of time Zerren thought this would be right this instant, he was far too cat like to not pursue it, at least for a little while.

"I think I'm fine standing." Zerren glanced down at his hand and looked at the symbols that were drawn on it. "So... Will I only be able to hear those Auras if I have this symbol on my hand?" Zerren wasn't good at drawing things, and the symbols that Hadrian had painted on his hand looked complex in a way that made Zerren think he'd never be able to recreate them exactly as they were.

ooc :