OOC Note :
Flashback
2nd of Fall, 466 AV
The Harbour, or, as was more commonly known to the non-denizens of Sahova, Port Silence, was curiously reminiscent of the underground caverns Daekos had explored partially when he was still living in Sultros - both were silent except for the ambient noise and the sound of water. A dark afternoon it was when the Isur had stepped off the ship carrying goods to Sahova, glancing about before being accosted by a Communicator golem.
A short conversation of sorts had ensued, and Daekos was taken into a corner of the Courtyard after he had stated his purpose to the golem, awaiting the Nuit that would deign to take him on as an apprentice - if one would. After all, there were certain abilities he had, and he was confident one would at least give him such consideration.
It was to be a long five hours, but Daekos was nothing if not patient. Patience, that virtue of the quintessential Isur, had served him well so far. He was alone except for the occasional Nuit passing by, either looking at him with curiousity or ignoring him completely. A few times ghosts would try to interact with him, pulling on him or flitting around him. Daekos, seated on the ground, simply ignored them until one particularly insistent ghost tugged on his hair. Daekos snarled, and it was enough to intimidate it.
Night fell before one finally approached him.
"Are you Daekos Volundur?"
The cold, harsh voice coming from a Nuit dressed in plain black robes walking out of the Palsa Hydrasa, surprised Daekos, but he managed to keep his face blank as he replied.
"Yes."
"Follow me."
The short statement was given in a tone that suggested that the unknown Nuit would brook no argument with his order.
Rude. If I were not otherwise desirous of obtaining an apprenticeship, he would suffer for that.
Resisting the urge to stuff Res down its throat and convert it into spikes of water with his Reimancy, Daekos made a sign of assent and followed it into the imposing structure of gargantuan proportions that was the Gug Adjak.
Thirteen floors up, the duo paused before a set of heavily-reinforced doors with a shovel, out of all things, embedded into the door.
What?
They approached it, and a recorded statement played.
"What is the best way to remove Dallisgrass?"
It was rather out-of-place for the now flabbergasted Isur, who stared blankly at the Gatekeeper for a few seconds before the Nuit shoved Daekos out of his way and spoke a few indistinct words in Nader Canoch to the Gatekeeper.
The doors opened, and the Nuit pushed Daekos in through the gateway and into a small antechamber. He tapped certain spots on another door, and opened it to reveal an immense room with a high ceiling, an intimidating-looking giant of a Glassbeak in his line of sight as Daekos entered Lab 7-Q, the domain of one Mors Inim, who was currently pacing about on the many intricate summoning circles that covered the stone floor.
And he was the exact duplicate of the Nuit that had brought Daekos here.
"Is this the Isur who wanted to be an apprentice, Dalani?"
"Yes."
The question answered, Dalani took a step forward and seemed to dissolve into a metallic fluid-like substance - quicksilver - that moved towards Mors, and coalesced into a shimmering, silver replica of a Blue-ringed octopus. Both already appeared to be in an argument.
"I thought I said I would do it myself?"
"I wanted to do it. See what an Isur was like - especially this one. His arm is similar to myself. What can you do about it, Mors?"
Mors muttered dark words under his breath.
"Someday, Dalani, I'll send you to the void."
"That's if I don't send you first."
The master of the Pascid familiar decided to ignore him, and turned to Daekos.
"I am Mors. I believe you are seeking a Master?"
"Yes."
"Show me what you can do, other than Summoning. Use the Cyclic Triangle. Show me... Swalden."
Daekos moved to a section of the floor where an empty circle was carved, ready for him to open a portal. Feeling the eyes of the Master-Familiar duo on him, Daekos closed his eyes and recalled the specifics of the Three-circle.
Stability is of much importance when crafting a summoning circle... The Triangle is one of the most stable shapes in this Art, and as such should be used for minor summonings that require longer connections... Glyphs should be drawn to enhance and support the portal... Sixteen parts the outer circle is divided into: connect the first to the point betwixt the fifth and sixth and another point betwixt the tenth and eleventh...
Having no suitable materials to draw the circle with, Daekos, still with eyes closed, concentrated on his Djed, drawing it out of his body slowly. Once he had attained a constant flow, he opened his eyes and viewed the slowly increasing Res leaking out of his left hand. Raising it above the centre of the circle, he let some of the Res flow down out of his hand, splashing onto the centre and spreading out.
He could feel the connection between himself and the Res - if he were to tug onto it, the Res would respond to his commands. And so he did, manipulating the Res to swiftly flow across the floor and form a triangle with its points touching the circumference of the circle. With another mental command, they turned into earth, marking out the skeleton of the circle.
I won't need to have this portal last for long, so I won't need to place as many Stability glyphs as I would have. Clarity of the view the portal is showing is more of an issue, but unimportant. Likewise for the size.
Allowing a thin strand of Res to adhere to his index finger, Daekos moved his finger slowly over the surface of the circle, leaving trails of Res in the shape of modified Isur runes (that would act as his glyphs). Several times, unsatisfied with the quality of his glyphs, Daekos siphoned off the Res to reuse it. If he felt one section was good enough, he converted the Res to dirt.
The last step was to place the astral coordinates in the sixteen slots. All in all, the process took roughly half an hour.
8492841047291 - Er... Hmmm. Was it a three? Or was it a one? Wait, that's three sevens. Yes, that should be it.
Daekos took a needle and pricked his right pinky, drawing blood; he tapped the outer circle with it, and the summoning circle he had completed activated, drawing out some of his Djed as the portal opened up. The glyphs on the floor not drawn by him glowed a bright yellow even as the floor became luminous, dimly emanating blue light. He managed to prevent a sneeze as the strange oily smell became stronger.
The swirling vortex soon gave way to a memosite that emerged from it.
Mors nodded once, and gestured for him to close the portal. This he did so, breathing slightly harder due to the expenditure of Djed. The strange smell slowed faded away, and the portal shut. The dirt and earth crumbled into sand, destroying the glyphs.
"Coordinates for Fyrden."
Daekos took a second to think of it before replying.
"6701984710485458 - I mean, three."
"Good. At least you know the basics. Now, I saw your Reimancy. Show me more."
Daekos complied with the request - order - and pushed out more Res from within. Levitating the dark gas-like substance above him, he let it stay there for a moment before forming them into six small spheres; he then made a sweeping motion with his left arm, converting the Res into water even as it moved away from him at a high velocity.
Already ignoring the water projectiles that splashed against the wall, Daekos knelt on the floor, placing both of his hands on the summoning circle, touching the earth he had transmuted. Allowing more of the Res to leak out and soak into the dirt (although it was messily done, and used more Res that was needed), Daekos concentrated on the Res saturating the dirt before transmuting the dirt into water.
A small smile appeared on the Nuit's face, and he spoke again in a more polite tone.
"Excellent. You will be useful for my plans. Now then..."
He placed his hand into the pocket of his robes, taking out two sheets of parchment partially covered in glyphs, placing them on a small table next to the wall.
"You will have to sign a Grand Oath. A hundred gold mizas, please."
"Why should I do such a thing?"
Daekos was already becoming wary of the Nuit and his soon-to-come demands in exchange for accepting Daekos as an apprentice, but he knew that Grand Oaths would not be counted as one unless the parties participating
"Now, now..." The Nuit replied, "All my apprentices are to do such a thing. Besides, I require the mizas for... business purposes with you Pulsers outside of Sahova. The conditions are simple: I accept you as apprentice, you stay here for at least ten years. You will do as I tell you to do unless it will permanently cripple you or kill you. If I command you to clean this room, you will do so. If I tell you to summon a Glassbeak, you will do it."
Daekos frowned.
And what do I get in return? He said nothing about it.
"It seems that... you have the better end of the deal."
"I told you that he wouldn't agree. But would you listen? No, you fool."
Mors whacked the Pascid as hard as he could, getting a tentacle in the face as retaliation.
"The contract also states that I will teach you about Summoning and the other arts I know - not everything, but enough that you won't be such a useless good-for-nothing whelp."
He picked a quill, dipping it into a bottle of green ink and started to write on both parchments. He finished several minutes later, and turned to Daekos.
"Another option. Twenty years of devoted service now, and a hundred and fifty gold mizas. I shall grant you a Familiar of your own."
Daekos' frown lessened a little as he contemplated the offer.
The time spent here would be... unpleasant. But twenty years of studying under an expert Summoner would allow me to at least pick up a few things. More astral cooordinates, perhaps. And a Familar would be useful, as long as it isn't like that Familiar of his. Blasted little thing.
"FIne."
Daekos snatched up the quill and scrawled out his signature. Mors did the same, and the contract disintegrated. It was complete.
Daekos withdrew the requested mizas from his bag in a pouch, tossing it onto the table.
"A Water and Earth reimancer! Excellent." Mors repeated his earlier appraisal of Daekos. "You will be assisting me in building my perfect garden at the Forest of Thorns soon enough. Your skills will be most useful."
Mors held an unnatural grin on his face as he watched Daekos display several interesting expressions, including one of horror, delighting in the sputtering that came out of the Isur's mouth.
After savouring the moment and indulging in a horrific-sounding mockery of a cackle, Mors calmed himself down.
"And no, you won't be getting the Familiar this soon."
Mors answered Daekos' unspoken question.
"I agreed to grant you one, but I never said when. A lesson, Isur - ambiguity is most useful. Now then, we start at dawn, since you Pulsers are weak and require rest to... function at levels useful to us. There's your room."
Ignoring any further questions from Daekos, the Nuit resumed his argument with his ever-stubborn Pascid.
"I told you, he would agree to my request. After all, I am Mors Inim, Summoner extraordinaire. My work is perfect in every way-"
"Yes, excepting the fact that you've failed at maintaining your garden for over a century..."