Solo [Common Labs] Bunny Feet Days Before Judgment

[Sorcha]

36th of Summer, 514 AV 4th Bell The past day or so in Sahova proved to be a roller coaster ride she never thought she’d experience if you had asked her a decade ago when she was chained to a man who preferred an iron fist, nix the velvet, to handle her with. It didn’t take long for her to find the Common Labs after she settled down in the Quarters she was allowed to stay in as a current visitor, hopefully soon resident, of the island. She left Jasper back in her room not entirely sure if she was allowed to bring him into the labs and the last thing she wanted to was make waves before she passed her Judgment. After her Judgment, well that’s when she’d stop tip toeing around the others inhabiting the Citadel. She had no doubt she could create pieces of beautiful, yet novice, work but she wasn’t entirely sure the little she knew would be enough to sway the scale in her favor. The lab she chose to enter was one of the quieter ones though there were still quite a few others inhabiting it. Each step the Eypharian took with bare feet led her in a graceful sway towards the shelves and cabinets that housed the ingredients she would need to create something that would hopefully impress her abilities upon the arbitrators. She had no idea what she would want to make, there were so many options but she also had no idea what sat on these shelves and that could either limit or help her in her quest to become an apprentice. She wasted no time as her deep black eyes scanned the shelves of bones and animal remains trying to find the perfect one. Rats….mice….squirrels….rabbits….fish….bat…. Carcasses lined the shelves and her mind swirled with the possibilities of what something could become. Fingers of a hand traced over the delicate bones of a rabbit’s foot before moving on to the bat’s skull and slowly a smile crept across her lips, twisting at the corners. Ideas flooded her mind and before she knew it she was plucking both the rabbit’s skeleton and the bat’s from the shelf. Looking around she spotted a quiet corner where no one else would bother her so she moved over there to set down her findings. Now she just needed some tools to carve the delicately small bones she had chosen to work with. Moving from her station she searched for several moments for something to use on the bones in the process of her new creations. She found carving first but a frown crossed her lips, carving would not do the bones were to weak for such stress to be put on them. A few more moments of searching and she found a few paints and a tiny brush that should work nicely. Unfortunately the items she created would not last long as when the paint finally began to wear down they’d become useless. Paint was not her preferred medium when it came to items but it would do for the purpose of the judgment. She didn’t have the time she might have other wised put into the project with attempting carving. A deep breath through her nose she used it to calm her fluttering nerves knowing the next few days were going to be the longest in her life until she knew the outcome of her possible apprenticeship. The tall Eypharian moved back to her stool and slid into her seat getting comfortable for the next few hours. Leaning forward she let her lowest arms fall into her lap for now while the middle set were used as a support for her form against the table. It was time to get started. Slowly, carefully she started with the rabbit’s bones that were sitting in front of her. Moving them to the forefront of her attention she left them on the table for now deciding that handling them as little as possible until she was ready would be the best course of action. What did she want to create? Rabbits had so many properties to them that her mind spun with the ideas. It had to be something she could easily show to the judges so that they would see the properties at play. Her eyes scanned the bones slowly until finally they settled on the hind leg and then traveled along the length of the spine. Perfect. Reaching up she carefully grabbed the ever-long ebony locks and twisted them in a swirl so that the strands would stay out of her way for now, once she did that her hands came back down to the rabbit and she slowly started deconstructing the skeleton. One piece at a time she would separate the bones, though she left the foot complicated structure intact, and then laid them next to each other bit by bit so when they were laid out they made the same shape of the rabbit only disjointed now. Setting the pieces she didn’t want or need off to the side she took a deep breath and just sat there for a long moment imagining the process in her mind. She did not want to have to do this over again as her time before the Judgment was limited and she still had to make a second piece and test them both.

[Sorcha]

5th Bell Sitting in front of the Eypharian were multiple bones, some long and thin while others were round curved. “Phalanges, metatarsals …” she murmured under her breath as she accounted for each piece of the hind foot she planned to use. Turning towards the spine she did the same thing “…lumbar….thoracic …” Deft fingers kissed the edges of each bone so softly she didn’t even move them. She knew the bones of the foot wouldn’t lay nicely around her wrist like the spine would but as she looked at it she positioned it on the table with the phalanges pointing upwards envisioning those running along the back of her hand rather than her wrist. Next she lined up the spine, using the larger lumbar vertebrae to fan out half on either side of the foot so that it had a more structured support on each side. Finally she used the thoracic vertebrae to connect the separated ends of lumbar vertebrae into a continuous circle. Nothing was connected and she hadn’t even begun the tedious task of carving yet but she wanted to know what the final product would look like so that she knew where she would inscribe what. Sorcha looked around for something that would help her in the painting process; she needed to make sure that she would be able to complete her circles with precision rather than a shaking hand. Spotting a piece of scrapped wood she would lean over to grab it and set it down before she carefully picked up the main focus of her work today, the rabbit’s foot. Placing it on the flat surface of the wood she uncapped the paint she had found, there were browns, yellows and reds that she would be able to work with and that was just fine with her. She pulled the colors close to her and the wooden makeshift pedestal so that she didn’t have to look very far when she needed to dip her brush back into the desired paint. It was as if all her attention was now focused on the item she was crafting, the sounds of the others behind her faded away and she only knew the bones and the paint before her. With a careful steady hand she started her first circle on the talus; it was the one of the larger bones that she would be working with. Dipping the thin bristled brush into the red paint she began to slowly arc the paint letting the circle take up as much space as it could while her mind focused on nothing but the task at hand and the desired outcome of jumping that rabbits were known for. She wanted to jump farther then she currently could, it would be a great physical display as long as the piece worked when she was done. She focused on the djed of the animal and she paused in her painting only long enough to recoat the brush and then continue again. With each swipe of paint on the first circle she pictured the strength of the rabbit’s legs as it kicked from the ground using this force as the basis of her circle. The first circle took half a bell to complete in the perfect form upon the small bone and attempt to infuse the desired strength into it. Next she turned her attention towards the bone that belonged to the heel of the foot and she started the process all over again though this time as she painted she imagined the act of jumping itself while using the brown paint now. The circle on the heel took longer than the first simply because of the odd shape to the bone and she needed to make sure that it was exactly as it needed to be. Slowly one by one each larger bone on the foot became adorned with a circle and either of the following impressions upon the circles in equal proportions: Strength, Jump, Distance. It was several bells by the time she was done with the circles on the foot and when she finally moved out of her hovering position her entire body screamed with protest and stiffness. One by one her six arms stretched above her head to loosen and her spine righted as she finally stood. Rubbing a hand over her sore backside she sighed and spun her body, from the hips up, to the left and to the right to crack her back. Biting her bottom lip in thought she looked at the piece she was working on and smiled, the size of the circles she had been creating were delicately small and she was proud of the way they came out even though she wasn’t entirely sure if they would work yet. The reds, yellows and browns stood out from the ivory colored bone like small jewels just waiting to be worn. She still had more circles to create on the larger vertebrae but she knew that would be another few bells of time and she hadn’t eaten since before she walked down to the labs. Her stomach rumbled subtly to let her know it was hungry but she knew she could wait, it’s not like she hadn’t gone without food for a day before it just had been a while since then. She didn’t want to leave her work right in the middle of it so she forced herself back onto the stool and moved the foot to dry to the side before she plucked the larger vertebrae from the table and placed them on her wooden pedestal.

[Sorcha]

10th Bell Carefully Sorcha chose the six largest vertebrae to work with so that there would be three on each side of the foot preferring the symmetry that would be provided by doing it this way. She started with the ones that would be closest to the foot, framing it on either side, and she dipped her brush back into the yellow paint that she had used for her circles of distance. Her mind wrapped around the concept of being able to double ones distance with the jumps that she was hoping to perform. Her paint slowly formed the perfect circles on each piece wrapping around the vertebrae like a colorful band rather than like the little jewels she seemed to create upon the hind foot. She continued this same long, daunting process of the next pair as well allowing the red paint and her impressions of a rabbit’s ability to jump to be fused with the bone until she was satisfied. Again it was a few bells before she finished the last set of vertebrae containing strength and her hands trembled with the precision they were forced to keep for the better part of the past twelve bells. Her mind was spent and wandering by now, she just wanted to crawl in a bed and sleep but she was almost there, almost. Rubbing her palms harshly into her thighs she shook her head and then cracked her knuckles – her body not used to the length of time she had been sitting there. Normally she would take a break or two but she didn’t want to leave her work out where anyone could access it and she hadn’t wanted to move the pieces until she needed to because she didn’t want to chance messing up the circles as they dried. Finally she stepped back from the pieces and she looked around the common labs to see that in the time she had been working there were very few of the same faces but those that were seemed just as engrossed in their work as she had been. She was almost done, once she was done she could sleep and eat – sleep was much needed in her weary bones from the travel and the work she had been doing today. Jasper probably needed to go out soon as well though he would have to wait, he was just a dog but she was convinced that he understood her need to focus. Whenever she had made things in the past he seldom bothered her until she was done plus he had been on the travels too he was probably sleeping the day away. Taking a step away from her work she turned towards the labs fully now to find something to connect the pieces of bone together into a proper bracelet. Her search was fruitful after a few chimes she found a roll of twine, it would be the easiest thing she could use so she brought it back to her station and began measuring out the length of cord she would need. Using one of her hands she pulled out her gladius and used it with a quick flick of her wrist to cut the twisted twine where she wanted it. Next she began to unravel the cord, it was a bit thicker then would be needed and she needed to make sure that when she started twisting, knotting and threading it between or through different bones that she could do so with ease. It took about a half bell to get the twine to the desired thickness and to twist it all back together again but once she did she found the center of the piece she cut and from there she began weaving it gracefully between the toes of the rabbits foot. She was not a rope master, she barely used the stuff in fact but as she criss-crossed each piece and brought it up through one toe and back down through the other she hoped she was doing a good enough job to at least last through the judgment. Circling the twine equally around the base of the heel while trying to avoid the circles she then used it to start threading through each vertebrae. At the end of the last thoracic vertebrae she knotted the cord so that nothing would dare slide out of place and she then examined her work for the last time before she would add a bit of her own blood to it. It was definitely a unique piece of work compared to what she normally made, the thought of the bones scraping the back of her hand was a little odd but she was sure she wouldn’t notice it through her nerves at the judgment. Bringing her gladius to the tip of her finger she pressed the sharp blade until crimson blood began to bead on the surface and she held it over each circle sealing the magic into place, or at least she hoped so. One the last drop of blood that was needed was squeezed from her finger tip she quickly sucked on it to slow the bleeding and she began putting away the tools she had used and even place the bones she had not used back on the shelf should someone else need them. As she cleaned up the blood she had spilt slowly dried and once it was finished she picked up the bracelet carefully and headed back to her room in the quarters. Take out Jasper. Eat. Sleep. Test bracelet and then start all over again. That was the plan anyways.

[Sorcha]

23rd Bell The nap she had taken had been short, only a few bells, not nearly long enough but she could sleep again before she started her next malediction item. Right now she had to test the bracelet she had created, there was no way she could walk into the judgment with a dud. Scratching Jasper on the top of his head she spoke to him as if he could answer her “Do you like it here Jasper? I know it’s different from home … maybe we can go out and take you hunting after the judgment … if I pass. If I don’t well then we’ll be heading back to Ravok I suppose and there is plenty to do there for you ….” Grabbing her backpack she laid it out as close to the wall as she could without hindering a jump, it would be her starting point and then she’d plot her first jump without the bracelet on and then she’d plot her jump with the bracelet. Hopefully there would be a significant distance between the two points. Backing up slightly Sorcha readied herself to make that first jump with a brush in her hand so she could mark where her feet landed. Rolling to the balls of her feet she bounced slightly, she wanted the best jump she could do so after a moment of this bouncing she flung herself forward using her arms like weighted momentum at her side. Her bare feet caught ground a couple feet from where she started and she quickly bent down to place the brush in the spot before she moved and had to start from the beginning. “Well that’s decent I suppose?” She muttered to herself looking at the distance she crossed. Turning to the malediction bracelet she made the Eypharian studied it for a moment without touching it, she didn’t like the idea of things possibly going very wrong when she put it on but she’d have to deal. Reaching out she’d place the bracelet on her upper most left wrist and lay the rabbits foot against the back of her hand before lifting it up and tying it with her other hands. She didn’t feel any different when she put it on and part of her worried that maybe it wasn’t going to work and she’d have to start all over again. Walking to her backpack she lined herself up just as she had the first time and she bounced slightly without letting her feet leave the ground. When she did finally kick off the ground it was as if a surge of power shot through her thighs all the way down to her feet and she was vaulted into the air with more thrust then she had been on the first itemless jump. Her height was a bit of a problem, as it were when she stood she could touch the ceiling without problem and now as she jumped her head hit into the ceiling and she fell ungracefully to her knees. “Petch!” she swore loudly as she rubbed her head and glared at the item adorning her wrist. “You could have warned me.” She muttered to it though she knew it couldn’t have, it was just a bracelet after all. The throbbing in her skull slowly subsided and as it did she started to smile “Jasper it worked!” The dog’s tail started wagging back and forth in excitement from the pitch in her tone. The bracelet worked but she knew enough about malediction to know that there would be side effects to the rabbit’s foot adorning her hand. She had to find out what those were. She figured she’d first just wear it for a while and do normal things to see if anything triggered, perhaps she wouldn’t be able to stop hopping? She had no idea, only time and action would be able to tell.

[Sorcha]

37th of Summer, 514 AV 2nd Bell Sorcha spent the past hour eating and she even took Jasper out for a walk so he could do his dog business, all the while she didn’t notice what was happening because it was so gradual. Outside she tested her jumping capabilities again, this time without the hindrance of a blasted ceiling in her way. She found that, from her estimations at least, she could jump twice the distance she could inside and her arcing height was a bit taller as well in order to cover the span from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. Sometime between eating and taking Jasper out she started thinking about the Judgment, it had been all that consumed her thoughts since she decided she wanted to come to Sahova. Normally Sorcha was a calm person raging from the inside like the eye of a horrible storm but by the time she got back to her quarters she was pacing in her room fretting about the possible outcomes. “What if I do pass … what if I get an apprenticeship and my Master hates me? What if they decide I’m not good enough for them even though the judges had agreed I was …” Panic set in the deep golden depths of her almost black eyes. Her hands twisted in her hair more intricately with each step of her pace and her heart rate was slowly increasing. “…or what if my teacher believes in me and then I fail him?! What if I die at the hands of one of my own creations because I try something to advanced for what I am able to do?” Her nerves ratcheted tighter and tighter with the passing time and as the third bell passed she was sweating and her hands were shaking. Jasper whined at her from the corner he was watching her from and she was chewing her lip to the point it bled. “Oh god, I’m never going to pass this judgment …” Her pulse hammered in her veins and she was about to start collecting her things to flee the island when her eyes were attracted to something hanging on her wrist. Her gaze locked on the bracelet she wore and because of her anxiety and fears that were driving her blood pressure ever higher she had forgotten that she was wearing it. Quickly she untied it before placing it on her bed and stepping back like it burned her. She definitely was not one who enjoyed emotions forced onto her, least of all something that affected not only her mind but her body as well. There was no instant decrease in her fears but it was as if something had lifted and slowly after almost a half bell of her no longer wearing the bracelet her pulse slowed and her mind rationalized the intense emotions she wasn’t used to feeling. Only because they ebbed away so quickly after removing the bracelet did she fully put two and two together. “Petch, well that could prove troublesome in the judgment. I won't be able to wear that for very long before hand.” She spoke to herself just like she often did whether she was alone or in a crowded place. As her emotions stopped unraveling and they started to form back into some semblance of normalcy she tucked the bracelet away safely in a pouch until she would need to use it for the Judgment three days from now.

[Mirage]

Sorcha

 

Skills Improved

• Malediction - +3
• Painting - +3

 

Lores Gained

• Malediction: Testing the Results

 

Purchases

+1 Rabbit Charm Bracelet (Effect approved via PM. Please add description to your CS)

 

Character Notes

THis was a beautifully written thread! Color me VERY impressed lol. Because this thread is required for your judgement I bumped it up the ladder in my todo list so that we can get you going in Sahova. Please add the item's description to your CS!

Also, keep in mind if you do not have the lore you do not have knowledge of it. Sorcha had quite a bit of knowledge on anatomy which is not reflected in her CS. I am letting it slide this time because, well, I'm very generous (and not full of myself at all ) and this is your first thread in Sahova. From now on however remember that any knowledge you claim to know needs to be reflected in your lores. If you want Sorcha to know about animal anatomy have her spend some time in the thread learning about it .

If you have any questions just PM me! As always, Happy Writing!

Question your Reality,
Mirage