Solo [The Divine's Gateway] Thinking with Portals.

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

28th of Fall, 514.

Cyq needed something bigger.

He'd toyed around with the bones of smaller rodents, and those that he could kill in the wilderness with a small amount of ease. He needed something bigger.. but he couldn't go after the bears and the other larger creatures. Matter of fact, there was just no point in going after them.. he wasn't a hunter-gatherer, he was a maledictor. His job was to craft items from their bones, not to go out there and try to hunt them all down.. otherwise, he would have taken up hunting instead and cut out the middle man. No no.. if he had any semblance of intelligence, he'd find a better way to bring the creatures to him. He'd find a way to bring exotic creatures to him.. ones that would be more valuable, and would create more powerful Legacies.

Of course, this led him straight towards the one place that could be possibly capable of producing such creatures. It was also the one place in Lhavit where one could practice Summoning.. of course, that didn't mean that he couldn't get a lesson or two, and then go outside the walls before he continued the practices on his own. Find some monsters, some kind of creature and bring it across the gap.. then kill it and maledict the bones. It was a purely genius plan, so flawless he had to remind himself of the dangers that could come from this to make himself stop and think on just what he was doing. If he didn't, he threatened his own life by getting swept up in the moment, as he often came close to doing.

He had no clue just what he'd find if he went inside. He didn't have a clue what he might learn, and what he might be able to use later. If he tried summoning elsewhere, out in the Unforgiving, without sufficient assistance or knowledge in how to control the creatures that came through those gates then he could well die. He didn't have enough control over his Res yet, hardly likely that he could effectively match himself up with the monsters that emerged from there unless they were under control. It'd take time, that was certain.. but he'd still try it, for the sake of trying. If he got his hands on those bones, then it'd all be worth it.. he could craft some extraordinary weapons and items with them, after all. He could make it well worth the risk.. perhaps sell them off, if he could, to make a little extra cash. The possibilities were near-endless for the Pycon, and he'd already made up his mind.

He had to admit, the Divine's Gateway was pretty damn impressive. The amount of Skyglass forged together to create it, the amount of Kina that must have gone into its production and its maintenance.. it didn't bear thinking. He wanted something like this, eventually.. he wanted a fancy lab, with all of the materials he could need held inside. He wanted his own followers, his own students and employees running at his calls. Walking through the building was like walking through his own dream come to life.. only there was someone else steering at the helm. It was this person he was around to see - this person called Colin Row. Through the various bustling people, both visitors and employees alike, he eventually found one man issuing orders to a small group of others in similar outfits. Here he is.

"Excuse me, Mister Row." First impressions were everything. He had taken the form of a mouse for the day - whatever reason, he had no clue. The walking stick was at his side, as always. He had the necessary Kina stored away inside his clay, ready at a moments notice. But, as it turned out, they weren't needed. The man glanced down to the mouse for barely a moment and then turned his head elsewhere and gestured down a hall towards one of the lesser domes. The mouse didn't understand, and simply stared at him until he explained. Was he showing him the door, that he wasn't needed?

"Sorry.. actually, Mr Row is down there. He's busy teaching a small group on Summoning, but you can go down there to see him if it's really important." Suddenly, the mouse felt like a complete idiot. He held those thoughts inside, though, kept his expression firm and stoic, as he gave a brief nod and turned towards the dome. Stupid, stupid! He couldn't hear any snickers or smatterings of laughter as he turned and made his way down the corridor, but he was sure that they were there - hidden under their palms as they all watched him go. How am I supposed to be taken seriously, if these people know that I can't even tell them apart and see which one is running this place... it stank of unprofessional-ism and poor planning.

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Even walking down the small corridor leading to one of the two outer domes drew the Pycons attention back to the sheer level of expense that went into the whole facility. Did they really need all of the Skyglass filling every inch of the walls and roof, to the point that the entire place was just one massive glass dome? He didn't really think so.. he didn't know a lot about Skyglass but he doubted that even if the stuff did have important qualities, it needed to be used for every inch of every substance. All of the different layers, the levels and the scale of the rooms.. it was all far too large for even the humans to require such large amounts of space. Why they needed enough room for two separate floors for the various observers and students to wander around to get the best view of the Summoning circle set out on the middle of the dome was utterly beyond him, but then again.. he wasn't even a novice summoner yet. The symbols, the numbers, were all far too confusing for the mouse to even begin deciphering.

Of course, his first instinct was to step down from the railings above and approach the man.. but the moment he tried, he nearly fell backwards as he bumped straight against something. It felt like a brick wall, but at the same time, it was absolutely nothing like it. Hard, like stone.. and yet it was soft enough that the impact didn't actually hurt at all. He stumbled backwards a few steps, leaning heavily against the stick for balance, to catch his breath. What the shyke even was that... By all logic, he should have been able to step through. There was nothing blocking his path as far as he could see.. at least, with his normal vision. It was a strange thought, to try and use his auristics to see just what held him back.. but it was worth it anyway. Especially after several more attempts proved equally fruitless when trying to pass the space.

Soon, his eyes disconnected from his nexus. Concentration pulled away from the outside world, and instead drew back through even his clay, until there was nothing but his nexus, and the eye within it. As usual, the eye was closed, but as he focused down further and further over it, he felt the lid twitching and flexing. His breaths slowed further and further, until he was barely breathing at all, as the eye slowly drew itself open, and flourished with a mass of colour forming at the iris and radiating outwards. Everything suddenly rushed back through him, eyes reconnecting at once and nearly stunning him with the sudden sensory shock. What little breath was in his lungs was suddenly forced out, and he gasped for breath while leaning heavily on the stick at his side. He was stood before a mass of a shield, stretching high over the dome and down over the entrances.

The closer he looked, the more he could see. It wasn't just one layer, but two, three.. he couldn't count that far inside. The colours were astonishingly bright and vibrant - he didn't know who on earth, or what on earth could be responsible for such things, but he doubted that it would be any normal shielders. These people had to know what they were doing.. which made sense really, if they were making things so powerful. It looked as though he'd be waiting for the lessons to finish before he entered the dome - more out of necessity than personal preference, though.

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

It seemed an age. He could see just through the doorway - the circles being drawn, the small gaggle of students that enclosed around the man as he mouthed to all of them while waving his arms exaggeratedly. Times like these, he wished he could read lips. It only went on for about five chimes - he supposed that the man was drawing towards the end of the lesson by the time the mouse had made his arrival. Eventually, the students began filing out of the room, and the shields lowered - a second glance through his augmented Auristics sight confirmed it, and the mouse managed to slip inside just as the rest of the group left. The speaker, who he knew must be Corin Row, was still down at the circle on the decks of the dome. The circle was being wiped clean with wet rags, making more space for the next circle to be drawn up, likely for the next lessons.

As the mouse descended the stairs and approached the human, he didn't seem to notice. The little orb of a Familiar hovered over his shoulder, and must have said something, because abruptly he turned around and passed a sincere smile. "Sorry, I didn't see you there." Cyq would have been surprised if the man could - he didn't seem to have eyes in the back of his head, after all. "Can I help you at all?" He seemed somewhat distracted, for some reason. Perhaps he was still talking to his Familiar? He couldn't tell.. the thing must have said something, because the man had turned.. and yet, Cyq couldn't hear anything coming from the little almost-glowing orb that hovered precariously over his shoulder, seemingly staring down at the mouse and yet at the same time completely detached. It was strangely unnerving.

"Yes.. I'm here to learn Summoning. I'd like to take up lessons." Now that brought a wider smile to the man's lips, and his concentration focused in - not just in his voice, but in his eyes and face too. It was as if he'd said some secret, magic words to him.

"Ahh, that's good. Wonderful! But.. I'm afraid I'm going to need to ask for a charge." His mood seemed to drop again, just as quickly as it'd rose. He's not very consistent, is he. A strange one indeed.. why would he show such clear dislike of having to ask people around him for money, in return for his services? It was a perfectly normal thing after all. Chalk and other materials didn't come cheap, and neither did all the extravagance of the facility. He supposed that his money would go towards another few glass panes to fill the sky with, but he didn't voice that - he just reached into his clay and wordlessly brought out the same amount he'd been told by those in passing he'd asked about the place. At least he'd prepared that much for the journey. What a coincidence that 25 Kina was just about the amount he could carry in his body before it became too burdensome. "Lovely.. actually, I've got an idea."

He turned back to the circle he'd made, and half wiped off. Instead of picking up the wet rag to finish clearing it away, he picked up the little stick of chalk and immediately went about restoring the circle. However, there were strange differences to it - lines that had existed before were soon wiped away, while others were made. The numbers in the smaller circles running around the outside of the circle were wiped away, leaving the circles blank. The whole process was done remarkably quick - barely a chime or less. When it was done, he rose back to his feet and glanced over his work, nodding quietly to himself. "Don't worry, it takes years of practice to be able to do that. Doesn't mean it's impossible." The mouse nodded dumbly, staring at the circle filled with lines, smaller circles.. it only had four lines running to the middle in a cross, but each one was neat and straight. The circle actually was a circle, and not a wonky shape like most of the circles he carved into his Legacies.

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

After a few chimes of standing and staring at the circle, he spoke up again. "So, do you know what this is?" He shook his head dumbly. "This is a basic Summoning Circle. The most basic of all, so this is something you'll likely need to practice making. It's got everything you need for summoning a creature and absolutely nothing more than that." That left a stunned moment of silence for the mouse - the thing looked pretty damn complicated as it was, and the man was only now telling him that this was the most basic of all the circles? How complex could these things become, he had to ask. He didn't of course, but he suddenly wanted to know. He doubted they could ever become as complex as the circles he'd carved into bones, and he'd seen carved into them - but that was still a feat unto itself, to be able to draw out such shapes.

"Now, let me guide you around this, before you draw one out yourself." He wasn't going to be able to draw one of these out if his life depended on it. "You've got an outer circle, which holds the creature inside the boundaries of the circle. You want to keep this pretty small, but not too small.. you won't have room for any of the inside stuff, and a lot of the creatures on the other side won't be attracted to it. Next, you've got the inner circle, and it's got sixteen slots all spread out evenly. These are where the co-ordinates will go. You need to make sure they're spread out evenly, because you want an equal amount of them in each corner of the four sections drawn in the middle. The little circle right in the middle is the focus point, and if you were going to activate a circle, this is where you'd drop the blood in.. or the clay, in your case." Before the mouse could speak up, the man answered his question swiftly. "We won't be activating this one, though. If you come over the next few days, you can join in with the rest of the groups and I'll teach you more on how to activate the portals." The mouse nodded.

Suddenly, the circle was wiped clean with several swipes of the wet cloth. Then, a piece of chalk was handed over to the Pycon. "Now I want you to take a hand at drawing it.. err, paw, sorry." The last comment was said in hindsight - he didn't know what drove the man to say it, but he dismissed it fairly quickly and returned to the chalk in his paw and the empty space before him. He'd drawn circles before, that was true.. but they were usually carved into the bones or hide of an animal with a pick or a chisel. This was completely different. The clay moved smoothly along the floor, with a flat surface to write on instead of the curved surface of the bone. No bumps and ridges to push his drawings off at an angle. But it was so much larger.. he had to drop his walking stick for the moment so that he could walk around the small patch of ground, just to keep up with the drawing.

The outer circle likely could have held twenty Pycons inside its perimeter, but it was quite a bit smaller than the original circle that had stood in its place. Sometimes, he hated being so small. He had to work with so many creatures, human and not, that were used to using such larger proportions. He put it behind him as he began on the second circle, an inch or two away from the first and a bit more wobbly than the first. Both were looking pretty bad so far.. at least they looked like circles and not ovals, or other disproportionate drawings. However, the circles weren't straight lines like that of the circle that'd been there before. These lines were wobbly, weaving in and out of their tracks, nearly intercepting at one or two points.

When it came for the circles lining the inside circle, he could prepare himself for failure - and he was glad he did. The smaller circles were easy to draw, but they weren't easy to keep spaced equally apart. The sixteen circles were pretty bunched up at one point, and then spread far too thin the next - the final four lines that split them into four quarters only made it even more blatant. The lines weren't even really matching up the right way, and the cross was quite disfigured and wonky.. just like the rest of the circle. Standing back, he was immediately ashamed of it - even though it was his first ever attempt at drawing a circle, it was still awful. If Corin had any opinions on it, he kept it well to himself and nodded in satisfaction. "That's good! First tries are always the most difficult, and the circles we draw here and the more complex of other disciplines."

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

"Like I said, practice is important when it comes to this stuff.. nobody gets it right the first time, not even me. But, for the sake of this, let's just make a few small adjustments." He'd already picked up the forgotten piece of chalk, as well as the wipe, and wasted no time in taking a knee next to the circle and beginning to wipe away small parts of it. He didn't completely destroy the circle to start from scratch - he augmented it, changing little abnormalities in the circle and carefully wiping out just two or three of the circles and moving them inches here or there, until they were perfect. The man had absolutely no hesitation in his actions, and within ticks, it had been restored to a perfect replication of the one he'd drawn earlier. "See, the basic structure is still there.. you just need to practice, and you just need to keep working at it." He found himself nodding eagerly, despite himself. How could he not? It was interesting, after all.

"Hmm.. I've still got some more time left over, so why don't I include one last part for it." Now this was strange. Soon he was kneeling again, but this time he began to draw numbers into the circle. Specifically, the smaller circles lining the inner circle. He started from the very top, closest to them both, and worked his way around it clockwise, filling each of the sixteen circles with a number. 0, 0, 12926672185630. The words were utter nonsense to the mouse, but apparently they were enough that the man could draw them out of his memory with the ease of a second language. Once it was done, he lifted himself and sat back on his heels, looking over his work. "This circle would be ready for activation now. You have to put in the astral co-ordinates in a very specific way, otherwise it won't work. You have to know the co-ordinates as well.. there's no point just dropping in whatever numbers you want, because you could end up opening a portal to a world of heat so intense it could incinerate you in a moments notice. Or draw forth a creature from that world that could not only bring an end to you in a heartbeat, but all of Mizahar itself..."

For some reason, that thought terrified and interested the mouse to no end. A world that would be capable of instantly incinerating? A veritable bomb of a weapon, if held with a trigger.. but no, he'd have to wait for later to learn more on the subject. The last thing he wanted to do was to be incinerated himself, after all. Neither did he want anyone else jumping to the punch before he managed to get in his own slice. "So.. if this one isn't going to incinerate us, then where is this portal going to lead.. or would lead, if it was activated." The numbers were nonsense, but he kept them in his mind. He'd write them down later, and he'd possibly test them out.

"This would open a gate to the world of Shoyden.. are you familiar with that world?" The mouse shook his head dumbly. "Oh yes, how silly of me. Uhm.. are you familiar with the Glassbeaks of Cyphrus?" Again, the mouse shook his head. What was the man getting to, here? "Well, those creatures originally came from this world. Of course, I won't activate it because the last thing we want is a Glassbeak here. They're vicious things, really.. very dangerous, especially in groups. Not sentient, thank goodness." Just like that, the circle was wiped clean with the cloth.. but not before those numbers were committed to the mouse's memory.

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Soon, they both turned and began to make their way back towards the main dome of the facility. Many of the observers, and some of the others that had stood watch over the top - potentially guards, making sure that no summoned creatures escaped, and also potentially responsible for the shields - had disappeared to other jobs. He'd have to guess that Corin would be heading the same way. He couldn't spend all of his days locked up teaching people like the Pycon in the arts of drawing lots of fancy circles, after all. There were more important things to do - what they were, the Pycon had no clue, but he knew that there was a third dome that wasn't being used for creating circles. They had to be doing something in there related to Summoning, but apart from circles and practicing, he didn't have a clue. Maybe he'd learn, over time.

"So.. is that circle the only one that can be made?" His mind was still racing from all he'd seen. The circles, the numbers.. he wanted to know more. It was such a shame that the library was beyond his reach, as of yet.. he didn't really have much information to add to it that already wouldn't be there, most likely. He didn't know what they already had in that library, so how was he supposed to know what they didn't have so that he could find it and give it to them? Sometimes, logic was the only thing that knowledge lacked, in the mouse's mind at least.

"Oh, no no. There are many different circles that you can make.. each suited for a different purpose, depending on what you want to do. You can vary the types of creature that will come through the portal, make it attractive to some and repel others.. you can make them last longer, you can make sure they give you more control over the particular creature you're summoning.. you can make them easier to cross for yourself.." As he listed each one off, the mouse nodded quietly. It seemed he had a lot to learn about.. these circles were much more complex than anything he'd used before in malediction. Usually he just needed a few words, a ring, a spiral - these were filled with numbers and oh-so-many lines.

"And.. how many worlds are there out there, that we can find and summon from?" That made the man stop in his tracks and turn back to the mouse, the hovering form of his Familiar wavering over his shoulder.

"We don't know. Nobody knows. There are more and more of them being discovered all the time. They're hard to find, but not impossible. There are some worlds that everyone knows about.. like the one I just showed you. But there are others that nobody has discovered yet. There are countless numbers of them. We might not find any more than we already know, or we might never know how many there are out there, and what creatures live on them. That's the magic of Summoning.. it's what sets it apart from the other world magics." His voice had grown deep with wonder, and the Pycon found himself leaning in close against his walking stick as he listened in utter rapture.

Unknown worlds. Countless unknown worlds, holding power and riches far beyond anyone else's knowledge. He knew that if he found them first, he could take sole control over them. He knew he could use them for influence. But there were risks, as well, of course. He could incinerate himself, most obviously. He doubted he was the only one to think such things - how many Summoners had let their greed take hold, and perished for it? He couldn't know. He doubted that there were none, at the very least.

"It's an interesting, and dangerous, subject." It seemed like a perfect part to finish the conversation on. They'd neared the main lobby, where the doors to the central dome loomed before them both. "But, I'm sure you'll find it very interesting. Remember, you're welcome to come here whenever you'd like for now. I'll have lessons running constantly, so feel free to pop in for any of them!" With that, he disappeared through the doors, and Cyq took it as his cue to turn and head back to the Respite. He had some numbers to write down. 16 of them, actually.

[Brandon Blackwing]

CYQ

XP:

• Socialization +1
• Auristics +1
• Observation +3
• Drawing +1

Lore:

• Cyq's genious plan
• Lhavit: The Divine Gateway
• Obsession with bones
• Detecting shields through Auristics
• Corin Row: More than competent Summoner
• Summoning: Minimal Circle
• Summoning: The need for the right Astral Coordinates
• Astral Coordinates: Shoyden
  

Notes:
Nicely done, I enjoyed how you portrayed Corin Row. It's always fun to learn about magic with a PC.

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credit goes to Adelaide Sitai