Solo Shield Me, Semele

[Ronan]

Shield Me, Semele Timestamp: 19th of Fall, 512 AV The following night, Ronan did the same again. He broke from camp to go and practise his reimancy. He figured Sama'el would know vaguely what he was up to by now, but as an apprentice, it was Ronan's prerogative to train. Reimancy was a part of that for him. He found a quiet spot again. It was not so starry tonight, cloud covering much of the vast darkness. It mattered not. It was not Zintila's domain that ruled over this training. He touched the ground consciously. It was Semele. The dreamstone grew cold in his hand. I ask for your power again this night. I will use your earth once again, and learn how to become the warrior you need me to be. Bless thee, Semele. He said the small prayer silently in his head, before both hands went to the ground again, fingers searching through the grass to touch at the soil beneath. Then, he began to ground, centring his thoughts and breath. He remembered the castle he had made yesterday. He proved he could pool more res than he had first thought - though he knew he had to be careful. Sleep had been difficult yesterday, with his head throbbing so dully. This time, he was going to do something more practical. Not sand. Not castles. Something he could use in battle. If Semele had been right... if dark tidings came, then he had to be prepared. Regardless, the grass presented its own dangers. Combat abilities would never be wasted as a Drykas. Hands out, fingers wriggling in anticipation, he began to flush the djed through his body, moving it to his hands. There, he turned the energy into liquid, pushing it out as res. It still felt a little strange, though he was slowly becoming conditioned to the feeling. Between his fingers he began to collect it. The res pooled, growing larger. He watched it, sitting as still as he could as it amassed. He felt powerful. He couldn't help it. Here he channelled the building blocks of the universe. Here he became Creator - oblivious to the fact he had been just that in his soul's past incarnation.

[Ronan]

The more res Ronan pooled, the harder it was to stop. He had heard the stories, of crazed mages, and broken men. Magick had very intense dangers associated with it. It could crack ones mind, splintering it into several pieces. And those people rarely came back, broken from the Web forever... He stopped, enough energy swirling around his hands, before he returned to focus to begin the transmutation. He wandered back to Semele's prayer, pulling on her strength and secret. He felt the ground beneath his feet, solid and supporting. He felt the stone in his hand aid his cause, a conduit for his Goddess of the earth. Soon enough, a ball of stone floated before him, still half res. He began to shape it, which consisted of compressing from the centre outwards in small waves of concentration. He was attempting to form a disc like shape, but larger than anything he had made thus far. He couldn't push it to thin or it wouldn't serve the purpose, and he couldn't leave it too thick and cumbersome either. He seemed to move the res about a lot before he was happy with the result, but there was something else he needed to do in the shaping too. He inhaled through his nose, making sure he remained grounded, before suddenly pulling the centre of the disc towards himself. He began to shape it so that it resembled a handle of sorts. Then, he turned his attention back to the disc, and after a moment of trying and failing, sent a ripple of energy through the slowly hardening res to bend the outer rings towards him. Now, the final solidifying. The res that was still liquid began to clump into the shape he had guided it into, and through his own grounding, he made the thing into as solid a stone as he could. When he was finished, he had to hold it firmly and gradually lay it on the ground. It was a shield. He had crafted a shield of solid earth, and now he knew that if he was under fire in battle, perhaps, given time and concentration, he could make a tool to defend himself. As stone, it would withstand a lot of impact, and it would also be heat resistant. It was too heavy to keep on him though. It was not something he could make and then keep in a bag somewhere. He wouldn't even want to burden Tairell with it in her saddle bag. It was something he'd need to practise, until he could build the shape with speed and clarity. In battle, he wouldn't have so much time to ground and craft. He glanced back down at the shield with a smile, as an idea began to form. His unsheathed his dagger and carved a little crossed notch in the centre of the circle. Though he wasn't going to use this as a shield - he had an idea. And it involved his shortbow.

[Ronan]

Ronan pooled res again, and began to make smaller versions of the shield. Miniature stone discs, that looked an awful lot like targets. It was easier making them, since he didn't have to gather and guide so much res. He didn't focus so much on the strength either - because that would be antiintuitive to what he planned to use them for. Eventually he had ten of them, and he bagged them up and started walking further away from camp. His eyes scoured the grass and landscape around him, looking for small ridges and raised mounds. Soon enough, he found what he was looking for. A little lump in the land, just enough height to lean the small stone discs on. He did so, laying out just the one to start, and then began to count paces back from it. He retrieved his shortbow and arrows from his pack and strung the bow, pulling the string until it grew resistant. He closed one eye, looking down the shaft of the arrow with the kind of heated concentration he applied to his magick. The arm that pulled the arrow back remained straight, and he consciously kept it so. His eye landed on the centre of the stone disc, as that was where he wanted to fire. He had made the objects thin enough to shatter upon the appropriate force, but the arrow would need to strike the centre - the weakest point. This would be a good test of his accuracy, and potential for the weapon he had purchased in Riverfall. Returning to his concentration, he breathed deeply, and then with a arm seemingly made of stone, he relinquished the resistance. The arrow flew true, arcing towards the disc. Though it missed the centre, it was not far enough away to put him off. He nocked another to try again. This time, he changed his stance slightly so he stood more at a sideways angle. He continued his look down the shaft, keen eyes following the sight of the arrow. He bent his elbow ever so slightly, knowing he would have to raise the arc of his shot a touch. He let go again, and this time the arrow hit the disc. It missed the centre, though skimming somewhere in between. The disc cracked but did not break. He had built that into its simple res design. He readied the third arrow, mimicking the techniques he had followed before but fine tuning them all the time. He changed his angle ever so slightly, but kept his arm in the same position. His third shot struck gold, the arrowhead striking the centre of the weakened disc. It audibly shattered, the pieces falling below the grasses reach. He swung his shortbow round triumphantly. "Bullseye," Ronan whispered softly.

[Ronan]

With his remaining discs, Ronan began to double them up, leaning them against the bank in pairs. This time he was going to practise the speed with which he could fire with the shortbow. That was another important aspect of horseback archery, he figured. Taking a few steps back - a little closer this time so accuracy wasn't an issue - he began to draw the bow. A bundle of arrows poked from his bag now at his back, reachable so he could practise the technique he had in mind. He strung the arrow, pulling the string back with the angle he had previously followed. He aimed for the stone disc as normal, and finally with forceful release, struck the disc - not the centre, but struck it all the same. Quickly, his hand reached for the bag and strung another arrow. Following on from the first shot, he aimed and released again, shooting for the second disc. He was closer to the centre this time, but more importantly, it struck just as the first arrow fell. Not enough time for an enemy to react for a first strike - and then, by surprise, they would be thundered by the deadly bolt of a second arrow. He changed his angle, the next two discs lined up in preparation. Speed and aim. Speed and aim. He whispered the little mantra, hoping some positive affirmation would help him in his training. Then, aiming for the products of his reimancy, he fired off another arrow. His hand shot to grab another, he pulled back, and fired again. This time he managed to shatter one of the discs. Without pause, he grabbed another arrow and moved onto the final pair of discs, firing twice in quick succession. No shattered stone, but hits, and the agility which he sought. He turned back to the first pair and fired again. This time, he got another disc to shatter - weakened by a previous shot. With his bundle running low, he traipsed back over and gathered the arrows. There was a satisfaction to the shortbow. The feel of the arrow released, dancing in its deadly arc. He knew it was a weapon he could work closely with in battle. Breathing and preparing himself, he went for one last round, barely a pause between the discs. He managed to shatter another two. After, he mopped a bead of sweat from his brow and smiled. Reimancy and shortbow training in one go. He couldn't go wrong with that.

[Jackalope]

Ronan

Award

Skill	XP Earned	Lore Earned
Reimancy	+3	Practicing is Important for the Watch
Shortbow	+2	Spell: Shield of Earth
		Using Shields as Targets
		Firing a Bow Rapidly

Minor Overgiving: Since you made just short of a dozen of those shields, it seemed a bit much for an 8. Nothing too serious on it, though. For the next 10 days Ronan will experience an earthen taste in his mouth whenever eating or drinking.

Witty Remark Here

Entertaining thread. I enjoy reading reimancy threads, so I'm looking forward to more of them. If I could see a bit more struggling with the shortbow, it seemed a little accurate for 0 in it. I appreciate not nailing bullseye off the bat, though. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.