[Annalisa] In A Place of Knowledge

[Pandaemus]

“Yes, because I don’t know how I’ve lasted this long without this Amaryllis’ tender touch. Seeing as I am a nuit and I too have to shed ichor for my magic, logic would tell us that I am not completely without my own abilities in the field of corpse preservation.” Pan let the words slide from his lips with a snide curve to the mouth, and a bit of venom in the delivery. He hated overconfident apprentices. “I just thought it not worth mentioning.”

Pan began the process of connecting the circular slots to the center, where he would make a circle. He did not look to see a reaction, hoping that his lack of concern might get under her skin. It was dangerous, to play such games with a stranger. But he did not like the look on her face. Pulsers. They thought they were so much better because their heart still beats. Pan need not attempt to check her arrogance too much. After all, nuits reigned supreme here. Almost every personage of prominence on Sahova was a nuit as well.

“What is your plan if something… upset comes through?” Pan asked as they worked. The nuit was not fond of the image of the two of them getting skewered by some other worldly monster, only to be eaten later by an equally wretched monster of Sahovan crafting. He glanced expectantly at the woman. She struck quite the dashing figure, in her chain shirt and weapons. Would she be able to defend against the dreaded horrors he had heard rumor of? Pan was not so sure.

The summoning circle was nearly complete. Pan was etching the digits into their inky slots while she did whatever it was that she was doing across the stone slab. He was not sure what Swalden held, but if Annalisa had any knowledge of the world, as she said, it would be best to go with it. Having some idea was better than being ripped apart completely blind.

He wondered though, if the two were up for a challenge. He could use voiding to protect himself, though it would be impractical. But with some glyphing it might be quick enough to help. He learned that today, thanks to her. A rare moment of appreciation swept over him. He knew his animation lesson was less important to her than her vital glyphing lesson would be to him in the long run. The nuit finished the last coordinate with a dark swirl of his brush and stood slowly.

He turned to stare at the woman. Her chain shirt winked at him in the periodic sunlight. Right now she looked the part of a warrior, even if she had not proven that yet. “Thank you.” Pandaemus intoned a bit quietly. “The Glyphing was much needed. I know how hard knowledge can be to part with, so I just wanted to say it is appreciated.” He finished. His moment of uncharacteristic humility was over even before the words were out of his mouth. And they left a sour taste in it. The nuit turned towards the open Prairie so as not to see the look on her face. “I’ll keep watch while you Glyph the circle.”

oocSorry it's so short, couldn't pull much out of it

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna barely held back a chuckle at how easily she'd gotten under this Nuit's skin, it wasn't her fault their race was so very fragile and frail. She could see getting a fair bit of amusement out of Pandaemus if nothing else, though having someone placed in a Lab 15 in her pocket would no doubt have its uses. The undead ruled here but it was the truly powerful wizards that thrived, Anna was more than willing to count herself among that number. Her power grew and grew with each passing day, even still she barely felt like she had scratched the surface of her capabilities.

The sorceress split her attention in watching carefully at how Pandaemus created the circles, making certain to memorize as many details as she could, and watching for threats on the horizon. Her reimancy was strong enough so that a well placed lightning bolt or ball of lava could very easily crush most enemies, monsters or not. The drain upon her Djed was large however she had no doubt that in the event of an attack she'd hold her own. If not, well hopefully sword play was not that complicated to pick up on the fly.

Her attention was returned to her companion, a wry grin finding its way to her face. That he actually bothered to ask her exactly how she'd deal with threats was rather amusing, bordering on hilarious actually. He'd seen her use reimancy and yet still asked how she would dispatch less than friendly threats. She stifled her chuckle and thought for a minute, he was obviously concerned with their odds of surviving and attack. Best to dispel those worries as quickly as possible.

"Have you ever heard of the Element Sanctum or its Master, Roknus Maelstrom? I managed to meet the vaulted Master of Reimancy for every spell sent my way, so to answer your question anything that comes to attack us won't be living long enough to regret it. They'll be drowned in lava or blasted to chunks with lightning." She replied.

The words weren't shaped like a boast or bragging, it was a simple statement of fact. If any creature threatened them she'd destroy them, otherworldly or not everything had a weakness. It was better to deal with the Sweet Whispers for a season or two than it was to die, at least that was how she viewed it. Hopefully the ease and surety of her statement would dispel most of Pan's worries, really he was beginning to sound like quite the scared child. Anna didn't like having to be out in the open like this either, however she at least kept her mewling to herself.

The sorceress raised an eyebrow at his thanks, which had certainly not been expected. She allowed herself to bask in the moment, letting a slightly warm feeling fill her chest. The moment passed quickly, reminding her that this was not the University and everything she did needed to benefit her in some form or another. Pandaemus was a potential ally of sorts, though how useful he really was had yet to be determined.

"You are quite welcome, though don't expect me to hand out lessons as easily as that again. Knowledge comes at a price after all." The sorceress stated, her tone rather clipped.

She of all people knew how very true that last bit was, how steep the cost for knowledge really was. Her eyes gained a slightly glazed quality as her memories slid into the forefront of her mind.

The bluish gas was in her mouth, it was behind her eyes, it was snaking its way through her very blood. Anna had given up all pretense of being able to remain still, collapsing to her hands and knees before the man. A scream was ripped from her lungs, loud and continuous as the alien substance spread through every inch of her body.

It wasn't so much painful, however it was beyond intimate and close. It went beyond boundaries of the flesh and into matters of the spirit, she felt violated in every possible way. Her eyes squeezed shut, trying vainly to block it all out with a single though pounding in her skull over and over again.

You asked for this.

The memory passed, the nightmare that had been her initiation into reimancy faded as she remembered where she was. The price had been very high that day, soul rending really. Without the experience though, Anna doubted that she would be who she was today. She still would have been a face in the crowd, no magic and her potential completely untapped.

The sorceress turned her attention towards the circle, remembering the task before her. Glyphs, right, she needed to reinforce the circle with Glyphs. The woman shook her head and stepped closer to the raised stone dais she had created, looking over the Circle for the key points where she needed to place the Glyphs. The Sorceress chose the point where the lines intersected for the Focus, dipping her brush in the borrowed ink.

The stylized inverted triangle was easily made, her strokes confident around the point of intersection. Idly Anna noted that the whole thing looked remarkably like a scroll sigil, with the centermost circle being kind of like a Focus and the circles kind of like Barriers. Indeed, it even came with its own Trigger, which was activated by the blood of the user. It was amusing really, to reflect on the similarities and interconnectivity of it all.

Anna sighed as she finished the Focus and started immediately with creating a series of Pathways Glyphs up the lines already made. The pattern of her shapes were that of stylized geometric shapes, a small diamond came first, followed by a rectangular shape, which was then followed by a right side up triangle. The pattern repeated itself up the Path, which were drawn a little more carefully than the Focus. If the pattern were messed up then it could confuse the rest of the circle.

She repeated the process on every line, linking the slots to the center most circle with the Paths. That should increase the stability and flow of the circle, though Anna was only theorizing here. With this complete she started up her Barrier, tracing it along the edges of the outer most circle. The pattern used for her Barriers was reversed from the Paths, going triangle, rectangle, and then diamond. As before she made very certain to move her brush more carefully than she had with her Focus. She didn't want any screw ups with this process.

Anna stepped back slightly when her last Glyph was in place, looking at the array to see if she could spot any flaws. Seeing none she nodded to herself and glanced over to Pan.

"Alright then, those should make the array more structured and hopefully make anything potential nasty have some difficulties in breaching the Circles. I guess we should get started then, no reason to waste time out here. I'd suggest Glyphing your hand, just in case the Void might prove needed here. There is no prepared like being over prepared." The Sorceress stated, pulling out her dagger from its place in her boot.

She moved closer to the Circle, taking a few deep and calming breaths before raising her left hand over the array. She moved the small blade under her pinky finger and gave it a slight prick, droplets of crimson falling slowly from the tiny cut. She placed the injured digit on the outer most circle and waited.

For a few ticks nothing happened, which changed very quickly as a vortex of sorts came into existence and it was rather larger than her Portals to the Void. It glowed and a sound resembling loudly crashing waves filled her ears, an oily smell filling her nostrils. She'd made certain to only make the stone dais about as large as a small table, but still the watery and shifting Portal looked rather impressive compared to her inky black gates to the Void. She stepped back slightly, wary of whatever might come forth from this newly birthed Portal to another world.

Anna raised an eyebrow as nothing happened for a few chimes, glancing back towards Pandaemus with an eyebrow arched in confusion. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted when the Portal started to glow brightly and emit a low humming sound. Wary eyes regarded the construct of magic, as an outline of something small started to emerge.

A moment later a small bluish gemstone was ejected from the portal and clattered onto the stone dais. The sorceress stared at it for a moment, again turning to regard her companion. She was understandably wary of touching anything that just came out of a portal, though the gemstone didn't look dangerous exactly.

"So, do you want to touch the thing? Or should I?" She asked while pointing to the gemstone with her dagger, her tone a little uneasy.

[Pandaemus]

The cocky retort should have been expected. She said the words as if it were simply fact. Pan had not heard of Roknus Maelstrom, or his Element Sanctum. This talk of lightning and lava was making him uneasy though. If this Roknus Maelstrom and Annalisa Marrin had been trading elemental blows at that level, what did that say about his pathetic magics? No matter, he would become stronger.

There was nothing in the world like competition to make one grow. And there was nowhere where competition and back stabbing was more prevalent than Sahova. The Sahovan Wizards turned the political strife and personal ambition into a sort of sport here within the dark stoney walls of the Citadel. Pan was just one more player in the great game. He saw now that he would have to up his game.

Pan begrudgingly agreed with the girl when she told him he should glyph his hand. Having the optimal level of security was always the best option. Pan had just crouched down at the edge of the stone circle and begun the process when Annalisa responded to his thanks. Her tone seemed ill suited to receiving appreciation. It was almost like she was surprised by it and her response had a bite to it. Could not show weakness on Sahova.

A grin cracked the nuit’s pale features. Sure, more lessons would come at a price. But now that she had showed him the basics, he could experiment and learn on his own. The intrinsic language of magic was his to command now. Etched symbols crafted into sigils floated through his mind, their various uses leaving an eagerness in the wake of thought.

The Inscribing paint clung to his hand with a stick the regular mundane ink had not previously had. The swirl of the focus came easier now. The cadaver had had a lot of practice today. His movements were choppy but careful. The black paint on his hand seemed as well placed as the time in the Library, if not better.

Pan had taken his time, and devoted his undivided attention to the particular spacing of the glyphs. The size and the thickness of each line, each stroke. The marks slowly transformed from so much unintelligible ebony scars on his skin to the powerful sigil it was. Fingers wiggled experimentally as Pan found he appreciated the new paint more than common ink. It was far superior in terms of fitness for use on one’s skin.

The scar in the air appeared and had Pandaemus instantly ensnared in its wonder. The fear that rose within him was only just enough to keep his wave of curiosity in check. His scholarly interest in such dangerous things would surely be his downfall, someday. The nuit dropped a hand carefully to his kris at the same time as flexing the fingers of his Glyphed hand. The djed within his palm stirred hungrily. He was ready if he’d ever be.

Then the thing came through the Portal to the other world and was somewhat disappointing. The stone seemed to be a small piece of something that was far grander, once. The human woman looked disappointed as well. Apparently she had not known what was going to come through either. Pandaemus had to remind himself that they were both extremely ignorant in this field, and the fact that anything happened at all was very good.

She asked if he would touch it. As a undead he was not inclined to partake of unneeded risks. But the nuit still clung to some manner of morals from his life, just a season lost. As a man he felt he should be the first to risk it. She was also an embalmer, and would be far more skilled at giving aid to him than he would be to her. Pandaemus can to the conclusion that he would be the ideal candidate for first contact, grudgingly.

He made a brave act of it however. Pandaemus drew his kris hesitantly. He attempted to look like he knew what he was doing, but his mind battled a sludge of fear within the invisible confines of his thoughts. He crouched a bit as he approached the meteorite, not looking at or saying anything to the woman. He just hoped she would help him if he needed it. He took a knee next to the stone. He tapped it with his kris.

Nothing.

He glanced back at Annalisa Marrin.

His glyphed fingers reached and found cold rock. He picked the thing up. It was not heavy at all. The surface was some sort of pale grey mixed with purple. He wondered if it held magical properties. As he turned to shrug at Marrin, victorious, his mind was accosted with an image that was not his own.

He was on the battlements of a castle, bedecked in some archaic robe. He was taller, and alive. A mane of grey hair was shaven into some sort of mohawk on his head and glyphs that were far more complex than he could even dream of splayed across his skin. He formed and loosed a vicious lightning strike upon the forces arrayed below him. The uniformed men around him, and the similarly uniformed enemies below told Pandaemus that this was no recent image. Or memory?

He spoke to the rock in his hand. “The Suvan forces are here! They have taken the surrounding area and are attempting to burn us out. I fear I do not have enough power to hold them. I do not have enough men. But we will die to the last, here. Bring men, bring wizards! The people are not safe.” The desperate thought that he did not even have time left to encrypt the message stone was followed by a deep feeling of mourning. He had lost seven men already. Two novice Reimancers and five archers, all men of high quality.

The memory faded and Pan was left confused. The nuit had seen something from a past life perhaps? No. It seemed too constructed. Too specific. It was a message. But a message to whom, and from when? The Suvans… Someone had attacked what had seemed to be some sort of outpost. He felt dazed, and a bit sick really. The rape of his mind had left him uneasy and oddly hollow. The nuit turned to Annalisa and opened his mouth. Then another image blurred into life inside his mind.

Thanadoros, in all his pious fury, stood above him. He held a skull in one hand and a ceramic bowl in the other. “Just do it! It’s non-negotiable.” The old, grey nuit had said. He held them out with withered hands. Pandaemus, now a small boy of seven still alive and well, took the proffered bowl and the skull with it. He felt tears forming in his eyes, but could not let them fall. Too much crying, no more strength to do it anymore.

His hands set the bowl and skull down next to each other in front of him, on the plank’s of Thanadoros’ apartment. The low candlelight made the skull look almost alive. It laughed at him silently. Pan drew his dagger from where it slept at his belt. The orange gleam of the blade flickered eagerly. It was hungry.

His hand felt the soft fur and squeezed. The rabbit was afraid, as was he, but he could not let it go. They would both suffer that way. Pan’s face scrunched into a grimace as he ran the knife across the rabbits belly, opening it and holding it over the bowl. The thing spasmed, like he knew it would. He willed it to die quickly. But his master had taught him how to kill the creatures slowly, to make them suffer. He refused to let the boy make it quick. That was the whole point.

The boy held the innocent creature over the bowl for a long while. He stared at it and loved it as he had never loved another person. It was innocent, it was unknowing. It was beautiful. Pan was none of those. He envied the rabbit its place of grace, and its ugly release. When all the blood was out of the rabbit and pooled in a black puddle within the bowl, he dropped the carcass on the floor. He would clean it later.

The boy then picked the skull up and placed it into the bowl. He rolled it on the blood and listened to the nuit chant in Nader-canoch. His words rasped and were harsh on the youth’s ears. Pan finished and was still, though his heart beat a chaotic rhythm within his chest.

“Now go put it outside, so Uldr knows where his faithful are.” The nuit demanded.

The memory faded and Pandaemus was standing in the Prairie, staring at the woman. He looked at him carefully, expectant. Pan closed his mouth and looked down at the stone in his grasp. “It is definitely magical. Perhaps some vault of memories? Maybe a… message device? I don’t know.” Pan walked it over to her, his legs weak. He was determined not to let the memory bother him. He held it out to her. “Here, take a gander for yourself.” He would be glad to rid himself of the object.

oocTook some liberties on the worship of Uldr, I figured the hate and mistreatment fit well. Also the memory was supposed to be a Empirial message that never got delivered, but Pan doesn't understand it. PM if I should change anything.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna watched as Pan approached the gem cautiously, a bit surprised that he actually deemed to pick it up. Not that she was complaining, if it was anything hazardous he'd be the one to pay the price not her. A rather jaded line of thinking, but what magic user wasn't just a tiny bit jaded or overly pragmatic? She valued her own living skin than she did that of a corpse jumper, no matter how useful he might be in the future. Likely his appointed time had come long ago anyway like everyone else here, none could elude the grasp of Dira forever.

He touched it with his dagger, and didn't burst into flames like she had half expected. Well, that was certainly a good sign as far as she knew, though she wouldn't know exactly how good until he picked the thing up. Nudging it was one thing, touching it with flesh was a bit different as far as magical activation went. So, naturally, when he picked it up she was justified in preparing to draw res into her hands to create a barrier between him and her.

Anna looked at the gem and immediately noticed something extending from the Portal, a thin strand of some glowing energy. Pan mad no indication of caring over much about it, it was like he hadn't even seen it. What the petch was that thing and why did it connect the gem to the portal? This mystery was given a back seat as Pan regarded her with glazed eyes, frozen in place. She allowed slight tinges of worry to enter her mind, that certainly did not look good.

He recovered after a little while, opening his mouth to address her before his eyes seemed to grow unfocused once again. The sorceress was sorely tempted to knock the stone from his grasp, clearly it was having some ill effect on him and that was certainly not good. Finally though he seemed to recover, explaining what he suspected the gem actually was. Anna raised an eyebrow at the information and regarded the offered stone carefully.

Clearly this was the so called Memosite the tome had referenced, and if it involved storing memories she was somewhat wary of touching it. There were certain memories within her mind that were very, very dangerous even for her. The experience of being marked by Rhysol came to mind, something like that could break lesser minds. Not only that it could be dangerous to her if someone ever found out. Still, she gingerly grasped the stone and prepared her mind for something.

A tick passed by, then half a chime. Still nothing was happening. The woman regarded the gemstone again, glancing at the glowing thread extending out to the Portal. She then regarded Pan, lifting a single eyebrow.

"Its not showing me anything. Perhaps its just a one charge thing? It shows you a single image and then is left empty? Kind of like a Glyph being used up once its function is complete." The sorceress suggested.

"There is also the matter of this cord connecting it to the Portal, know anything about that?" She asked, moving her hand along the glowing oddity.

A thought seized her and she regarded the stone again. Perhaps there was a way to test her little theory as to the whole empty memory idea. Anna filed through her memories, opting for a recent one from early this morning. She closed her eyes and focused upon the memory.

The unmatched splendor of Alahean architecture smacked her sensibilities, overwhelming her with awe once again. The Palsa Hydrasa was truly a beautiful place, the vault of a time long lost and never to return to the waking world. The placid pools shimmered slightly as she passed them by as per the norm, leaving her idly wondering if Amaryllis might allow her the pleasure of bathing within the waters.

Her steps took her to the office of the Chief Embalmer, which resembled more of a hall of worship than a work place. A grin played at her lips as she likely imagined that the Nuit was vain enough to believe herself worthy of worship. The peacock clad Nuit was, as ever, scratching away at her seemingly endless supply of parchment. She gave no indication that she'd noticed her apprentice enter, though she did look up after a full chime to regard Anna.

Her skin was unmarred by any of the normal signs of decay, looking as lifelike as any normal member of the living races. Radiant was an understatement, truthfully even though Anna knew she was undead she couldn't help feel ever so slightly attracted the Nuit. Whatever else one might say about Amaryllis they couldn't claim she didn't know her embalming.

"Ah, Annalisa, I trust you are well?" The Nuit asked, a rather normal false pleasantry that the Sorceress expected by this point.

"Yes Amaryllis, I am indeed. Is there anything you require of me today?" The tall woman asked, her tone as cordial and polite as possible.

"Indeed. Your requisitions arrived here and are waiting for you in another room. I didn't think you a swordswoman." The Embalmer replied, turning her attention back to a fresh document and losing interest in Anna.

Anna allowed herself a brief grin.

"I'm not, however best to cover all bases considering my current situation." Anna said, taking Amaryllis lack of reply as a dismissal to collect her belongings.

Anna cut the memory off there, opening her eyes to regard the stone. Carefully she offered it the gem back to Pan, feeling a little light headed for some reason. The stone seemed to hum slightly but it could have just been her imagination.

"I charged it with one of my own memories, lets see if the theory of these things acting as storage is indeed true." The sorceress said, genuinely curious as to discovering whether Pan's experience was able to be repeated.

She'd chosen the memory because it was non compromising, nothing in it really gave away too much about herself that she hadn't already revealed. Besides, the memory was also relatively pleasant as well.

OOCWasn't sure if you were charging the Memosite with your own memory, so I operated under the assumption that you didn't. If I was wrong PM me and I'll edit my post!

[Pandaemus]

“Of course I don’t know anything about it.” Pan said irritably. His lack of knowledge more than her prying into it was the culprit of this particular outburst. The nuit wizard hated not knowing. He wanted to step through the portal. He wanted to discover the world this rock had tumbled from. But such rash actions were suicide in the dangerous art of Summoning. So he stayed put, he observed. “Perhaps a link to it’s world? Perhaps this rock is a fragment of something else?” Pandaemus’ mouth bent in dull frustration. The rock had been hungry for his memory. Did it take it or was he able to rein in the emotion riddled thought before it had a chance to?

He watched Annalisa carefully as she reached out and grasped the stone with one hand. The look on her face was intelligently apprehensive. Of course she was as guarded about this whole ordeal as he had been. It was a few ticks before she reacted to the thing’s touch. Her face went slack, what little emotion splayed across it retreated in the presence of the sleep like trance that now accosted her.

Pandaemus looked from the woman to the stone, and then the link to the portal. Was she channeling her memory through the portal and back to the other world? Were there people there who could see it as if it were their own, like he had. Was that a memory of another world he had seen? Pan walked closeer to the portal now. His curiosity guiding his steps more than anything else. The jagged scar in reality seemed to pulse with energy, with life. Was the person whose memory he had witnessed somewhere on this other world?

No. He was dead.

So this really was a messenger sort of device. Pan turned back to Annalisa now. By the time he returned to her side her usual icy focus was back. The woman held out the other worldly stone. ”I charged it with one of my own memories, lets see if the theory of these things acting as storage is indeed true.”

Pan rolled his head and hesitated. He stared at her as if trying to discern any possible betrayal. Betrayal was always possible with people like Annalisa Marrin. So Pandaemus settled for a scrying of probably betrayal. She seemed to have no sinister intent behind her offering. Pan was sure he would have been able to detect some sort of evilness. He reached for the stone and held it.

The image of Anna in the Prairie shimmered as had reality before. Pan was shifting into the dream state. His mind was fleeing reality for some past thought of Annalisa’s. He struggled against it, pushing back at the strength of the Mamosite. But he was too weak to resist, or else did not know how.

Images flooded his conscience once again. The whirl of new images, presented in the medium of old memories, brought him firmly out of reality and into this dream state. But it was a familiar sort of place. Sahova, perhaps even recently. The dark stones emanated with ancient craftsmanship. A fitting backdrop for the nuit who entered the stage of Pandaemus’ mind. She was clearly ancient by her mannerisms. After a few weeks on Sahova Pan had formed a sense of gauging age in nuits.

Pan stepped into the nuit’s office. The cadaver realized with a shock that he was Annalisa. It should have been obvious, but it still presented a struggle to wrap his mind around. But then the nuit spoke to him, to Annalisa. And her voice rung from his mouth, her mouth. “Yes Amaryllis, I am indeed. Is there anything you require of me today?”

It was odd for Pan to hear Annalisa weave such false obeisance into her words. The scholar did not bother with such things with him. The memory seemed entirely mundane, though it held one small bit of helpful knowledge that Anna must have let slip. Surely she had catered the image to be of little help to him. The armor and weaponry, like his, seemed to be relatively new. At least she had not had it before coming to Sahova.

As the memory faded and Pan was thrust back into reality, he was careful not to mention he had picked up on the fact. It would probably be of little value, seeing as she was a practiced Reimancer anyway. He blinked a few times and tried to focus on the world. The landscape around was blurred and seemed to elude his focus for a moment, though he concentrated hard on it. Then the woman, so recently intimated in a way he could have never thought possible, appeared before him. It was odd to look upon her so soon after being her for however brief a moment.

Pandaemus coughed to clear his head, and give him time before making any sort of statement. He turned from her and walked the stone back to the portal. “So that is what Amaryllis looks like. It seems the stone does what we thought. I think it’s time this little summoning session be over.” Pan tried to toss the stone into the portal.

But something stopped him. Would anyone be able to summon it again, void of a memory? It seemed the thing was only capable of storing one single memory. If it was empty, would it be forever banished from Mizahar? Pandaemus did not want to take the chance. He began to focus his mind on the stone once again. This time it was easy, it was desired.

His mind rummaged quickly through the day. Earlier when he had left the lab for the Great Library, then meeting Annalisa outside of it, their tenuous pact, and the Glyphing instruction. He settled on the time spent hunched over the table in the Great Library. Pandaemus focused on the memory of Annalisa explaining Glyphing to him. The memory seemed to encompass his entire mind.

It took all of his awareness. But then it seeped from him in a more controlled manner than before. Pouring neatly into the gemstone. Once finished, Pan opened his eyes and all seemed well. He turned once again to the portal, and threw the gemstone back into it’s depths. He was glad to be rid of the thing. Though always willing to explore new magics, their summoning escapades were enough for one day. At least for him. He was weak from the voiding and wary of Annalisa.

[Annalisa Marin]

The woman disliked the insolent tone Pan took with her, it annoyed her and caused her pride to flare up. It died down quickly enough, the assurance that this Nuit was still useful and with enough grooming he might very well be made to enter Rhysol's fold. If nothing else he could prove a good tool for future outreach, animators might be useful to have allies among. One never knew when they could use a golem.

Anna was pleased when he took the stone appearing to freeze again as her own memory assaulted his mind. The Sorceress had already experienced memories of another before, when Kouri had possessed her. The experience had been alien and jarring to say the very least, to see the world with your own mind but with the body of another. Perhaps that was how the Nuit felt initially when they first changed bodies, it was an interesting though. She was happy with her own body, the one that bore mark of her Lord's approval and his power resonating through her spirit.

The tall woman grinned slightly as he came out of his stupor, looking a bit shaken. He decided to end the session and Anna was more than happy to do so as well, though the cord still held some interest to her. She could always research the subject on her own time later, when she finally received recognition and an increase in rank early the next winter. Anna watched as Pan regarded the stone before tossing it in, likely filling it with his own memory.

She approved, cautious, mistrustful, enamored by arcane knowledge, yes Pandaemus was looking like he could be quite the useful Nuit later down the line. All that remained was to work her way into his trust, or at least close enough. At the moment they now possessed a bond via magical exchange, a practical relationship. He didn't appear to like her and she wasn't exactly crazy about him either, however it didn't matter what she thought personally. He was useful, he had potential, that was all that mattered when searching for potential converts to Rhysol. Anna was confident she could build from this.

Her attention fell upon the portal, which collapsed when the item was sent back. Summoning was definitely something to look into at some point in the immediate future. One never knew what secrets it could bear.

"Agreed, Apprentice Pandaemus. I rather enjoyed working with you, you are far more competent than others I've collaborated with. I look forward to the chance to do so again" The sorceress said, nodding to herself.

She strode past him, stopping at his side where she moved a little too much into his personal space than was normally acceptable. She leaned a bit closer and whispered into his ear, her breath warm and filled with life.

"If you ever desire to work together again seek out the Palsa Hydrasa, I'd be pleased to give you the grand tour." She said, a smile behind the words that didn't quite reach her eyes.

With this Anna would depart the Testing Grounds, leaving Pandaemus to either stay or follow. Yes, a new contact meant more chances to spread the influence of Rhysol in this land of Undeath. Let Uldr have his temple, Rhysol ruled all in the end dead or otherwise. Chaos was served no matter who carried out the deeds, living or undead they all danced to his tune and it was a tune Anna herself was content to dance to.

[Strange]

Pandaemus

Skills

Skill Name	Experience
Socialisation	3 XP
Observation	1 XP
Rhetoric	3 XP
Teaching	1 XP
Glyphing	1 XP
Voiding	1 XP
Drawing	3 XP
Summoning	2 XP

Lores

Annalisa Marin: Apprentice Wizard to Chief Embalmer Amaryllis
Annalisa Marin: Born in Zeltiva
Annalisa Marin: Ex-Professor of Glyphing at the University of Zeltiva
Annalisa Marin: Unskilled with her weapons and armour?
Amaryllis: Her Visage as from Annalisa's Viewpoint
Glyphing: Glyphs as a Way of Writing the Ancient Tongue
Glyphing: Different Dialects Unique To a Person
Glyphing: Using it to Focus and Channel Djed
Glyphing: The Focus Channels or Stores Djed
Glyphing: The Barrier contains Djed within a specific place.
Glyphing: The Paths transport Magical Effects from one part of a Sigil to another
Glyphing: Switches split up Sigil functions into different parts.
Glyphing: Creating Your Own Dialect Isn't so Easy.
Glyphing: To Be Used With Caution in Animation
Glyphing: Augmenting Personal Magics is a Good First Step
Immortality: Eternity Is A Long Time To Be Bored
Memosite: A Vault of Knowledge Hidden Within A Small Stone
Memosite: Charging It With Your Own Memory
Personal Magics: Can Bring Trauma of the Mind as Well as the Body
Sahova: You Don't Have to Settle for One Ring
Summoning: Astral Coordinates for Common Worlds
Summoning: Minimal Circle
Summoning: The Summoned is linked to the Portal
Voiding: Earth Reimancy To Collapse an Enemy Portal?

Annalisa Marin

Skills

Skill Name	Experience
Socialisation	3 XP
Observation	1 XP
Voiding	2 XP
Teaching	2 XP
Drawing	3 XP
Glyphing	1 XP
Summoning	2 XP

Lores

Animation: Two Circles, one is the Shell and the other is the Source.
Animation: When the Shell and the Source are linked, information can be passed from the Source.
Animation: The Soulcore is a fragment of Soul given from the Source to the Shell via djed.
Animation: The Wizard can create an Astral Body from their Djed.
Animation: The Soulcore is an infusion of the Wizard's Self
Animation: The Source transmits memories and feelings to the Shell to teach it certain aspects
Glyphing: A Codex to the Language of Magic
Glyphing: Augmenting a Summoner's Circle
Pandaemus: Apprentice Animater to the Wizard Cid
Sahova: A Ring With Cog Equals Animator
Librarian Golems: Don't Damage the Books!
Memosite: A Vault of Knowledge Hidden Within A Small Stone
Memosite: Charging It With Your Own Memory
Summoning: Fyrden: Where Familiars Come From
Summoning: A Slot For Each Digit of the Astral Coordinates
Summoning: Astral Coordinates for Common Worlds
Summoning: The Summoned is linked to the Portal
Summoning: Minimal Circle

Comments :

This was a very meaty thread. No post was airy and as the thread went on it just got meatier and meatier. I tried to reflect this in the Lores. I'd loved to have given you more XP but most of this thread was more theoretical teaching which is also very important for serious Wizards. This was a real melding of the minds. I do just have one thing I'd like to note though. I know you had a great teacher and all Pan but I would have liked to see you fail a few times outright when it came to drawing your glyphs. Similar to when you almost left no space for your switches. I would have liked to see you do things like that a couple of time to make up for your fairly limited skill in the discipline. Oh, also, with the Summoning Lores the common worlds AKA the astral co-ordinates you two learned in this thread are sort of a generally known thing so it seemed prudent to simply give you a Lore of Common World Astral Co-ordinates. Those starting with Summoning usually have this knowledge anyway even without the Lore.

I have awarded your grade to the best of my ability. Of course I'm not infallible so if you have any comments or queries about your grade feel free to PM me.