Solo [Sunset Falls] Secluded Practice for Dummies

[Hemis]

34, Winter 514- Noon

Departing from the Traveler's Row, Hemis headed northeast in the direction where the Sunset Falls were. Because he was setting on foot, it would take him at least 2 days to reach the falls, which would give him a perfect window of opportunity to hone his ability to meditate as well as to strengthen his physical body; it was to the odd one's fortune that the falls were found within a forested area, an environment that Hemis had grown up in and was most accustomed to. Trudging on, Hemis looked at his immediate surroundings to see many woodland creatures and plants of various shapes and sizes; so with all the sights and sounds the childlike youth could enjoy, learning never looked so furry, leafy, and... wrinkled???

It hadn't even been an hour into Hemis's journey when the infantile boy encountered and cheerfully greeted an elderly man who was bald and had a long unruly gray beard. The old man began to speak in strange riddles and rhymes while inching closer to the strange youth; Hemis began to feel nervous as the rhyming kook continued advancing uncomfortably near, being somewhat fearful of what the out-of-place oldster might do if he got close enough; which as a rule, his Jamouran family had always told him to attack a potential threat's most vulnerable area and flee if there was anymore danger.

Before the old man could finish that last word, Hemis had punched him right in the stomach and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, running for what seemed a long moment before feeling safe enough to slow down. Catching his breath, the odd boy continued walking through the forest; it then came to him that he had forgotten to buy a compass that would have helped him navigate through the forest in the right direction. This had initially caused the little person to panic by running around in a comical fashion, before abruptly stopping and shrugging it off as a mishap of fate; with that knowledge in mind, paired with his being exhausted, the weirdo with the puffy hair decided to take a break.

Having easily regained his cheerful state, Hemis simply placed his stuff down a spot he thought was a good place to settle down, where he then sat down in his usual lotus position to concentrate; which was slightly more easier to do than before, making one of the few problems left being to grasp this higher level of understanding. Alternating between his "Majesty of Sound Mind" chants and his "Prosperous Soul" chants along with regulating his breathing were exercises he kept consistent, as reaching for that spark was becoming more and more possible no matter how many times he fell short.

After a few hours, Hemis packed all his stuff together, and began moving onwards to wherever his path took him. He waddled happily despite this mishap he just had, which made him think of the phrase his parents once used : (That is Life...)

[Hemis]

34, Winter 514- Evening

Massaging his now sore feet, Hemis had traveled for hours in who knows where as he looked upward at the darkening sky. The odd youth had set his stuff down nearby as he began collecting some sticks and some dried up foliage to start a fire; although cold, it was both a good and bad thing that the forest floor didn't have snow on it, as finding the fire-starting materials he needed were much easier, but the lack of snow meant an absence of a readily available source of water he could drink and use. Having gathered a nice bundle of dry shrubs and an armful of sticks, Hemis wheezed as he dumped the finds on the ground to catch his breath; being secluded enough in the forest, the childlike individual felt safe enough to use Reimancy to start a fire, having been forewarned by the guards at the Main Gate that that the use of magic without a permit or without being a squire was forbidden and carried a severe penalty.

Taking a deep breath, Hemis focused as he prepared to produce Res, which was brought out in the form of gas being exhaled out of his mouth. Out of fear, the strange little person had only expelled a small amount of the gaseous substance, knowing that he didn't have a total mastery of the skill; in fact, using Reimancy always tired him out, and the concentration that the personal magic demanded was very taxing on his mind and body. The fear that helped focus Hemis's manipulation stemmed from past experiences where using it in too high a potency or for too long a time caused both backfiring and overgiving; if accidentally drowning himself or getting set on fire hadn't killed him, the debilitating effects of overgiving would have claimed him if not for the intervention of his family and his master.

Willing the sparkly amber vapor onto the pile of sticks and kindling, Hemis then transmuted the Res into a flame that initially burned a bright golden color until turning into the normal bright orange and red. With the fire ignited, the strange youth gathered rocks that were close by to make a pit, simultaneously preventing both the flame being snuffed out by a gust of wind and starting a full-blown forest fire; all of these tasks of necessity had wiped the little weirdo out, which prompted him to get tucked in his bedroll and winter blanket, using the rest of his stuff as a pillow as he propped them up against a tree. Before calling it a day and get some sleep, Hemis ate a wedge of cheese while he sat up, savoring the zesty flavor as he quickly gobbled up the food he brought with him; eating his fill made it easier for him to lie down and do some relaxed meditation until he fell asleep.

Taking slow breaths as he waited for sleep to come, Hemis did his usual chants to see if he could reach for that very elusive spark as he began to fall asleep. (Purity...be to the soul... Purity...be to the soul... Purity...) With a final yawn, the strange child fell asleep, still unable to pursue that spark of higher understanding; but even though he knew his goal remained out of his reach, Hemis was happy to freely explore his dreams and find the contentment that would encourage him onward the next day.

[Hemis]

35, Winter 514- Morning

Waking up after spending his first night sleeping in the wilderness, Hemis was surprised at how well-rested he was, which literally had him bright-eyed and bushy-headed. The infantile youth had yawned and stretched as he gathered his things and stamped out the remaining embers in his makeshift fire pit; the odd young boy made quick work of another wedge of cheese as he ventured onwards, roaming around with no real way of knowing where he was going. Brandishing his shovel as both a walking stick and as a club in the likelihood that he would need to defend himself, Hemis hoped he wouldn't have to hurt anyone or anything anymore than he did before when had he fled yesterday; however, there was a much higher likelihood of meeting other dangers that were lurking potentially everywhere.

Feeling thirsty, the strange little person began exhaling out some gaseous Res, hoping to transmute the vapor into water for him to drink. That was when he started coughing, as some of the Res had turned into water just before it was exhaled out; the result of the backfire was like swallowing water the wrong way, except it was happening in reverse as a bit of water was being forced out with each cough. Taking deep ragged breaths, it took some time until Hemis felt a lot better, deciding not to make a second attempt at making a drink unless he was truly thirsty enough. Lugging around his stuff, Hemis continued walking onwards in the direction he had chosen to follow; it was then that his stopped abruptly and dropped his shovel, his eyes widening at the sight of the series of distinguishable guide markers used by migrants and locals who traveled by horse who were heading towards the Sunset Falls.

Yay...! was the thought of the infantile youth, as Hemis hopped up and down joyfully at having stumbled onto the trail that would lead him to the falls themselves. Picking up his shovel, he hobbled while following the markers towards the destination that served as the purpose of his childish adventure, the anticipation was palpable as he bobbed up and down happily. From what he heard some of the people in Syliras were chatting about, there was rumored to be mysterious whispers and crystal-like creatures that resided near the falls, which fueled the fascination and curiosity Hemis felt in his desire to learn more about the world he lived in; with that in mind, the odd little person's advance was filled with thoughts of making friends with the crystal creatures. In the meantime, Hemis waved hello at all of the small woodland creatures, clapped enthusiastically at the environment he found beautiful, and was very gleeful when he found a random anthill.

To Hemis so far, it was looking like a really nice day as for him, for in the mind of the puffy-haired weirdo was filled with smiling rainbows and Mr. Sun singing his song of the day. It was a good day to have adventures and to be happy indeed.

[Hemis]

35, Winter 514- Noon

Continuing on the marked trail, Hemis hobbled onwards towards where he believed the Sunset Falls were supposed to be. While he journeyed patiently, the odd youth thought back to his family back in Spires, wondering how they were doing and what was the latest happenings; such machinations were always a good distraction of the little person whenever he was waiting for something good to come, or for him to come to where it was. Whenever Hemis wasn't preoccupied with observing the ever fascinating attributes that gave a woodland squirrel its quirks, he often thought of the home he had left behind and missed dearly upon his coming to Syliras; but for the heartache of leaving all he knew behind, Hemis found courage in that he would someday return to tell them what he had learned of the world they all lived in.

Speaking of all he knew, Hemis had recalled hearing some of his parents talking about something called "reincarnation"; which wasn't something the childlike youth completely understood other than how they explained life, death, and rebirth. His Jamouran elders had once told him that it was like falling asleep and then waking up as someone else, but forgetting who you were like before and grow up again, dismissing any vague impressions of the previous life that lingered as blurry dreams without any logic or reference. However, it was what the elders had said when they thought he wasn't around that made the little weirdo all the more curious on how the reality he lived in worked; some of the elders possessed a very powerful capacity for memory, and was therefore conversing amongst themselves at their sighting of someone who looked strikingly similar to Hemis, but had encountered this person 10 years prior to when they found Hemis himself as an infant.

After what felt like hours of walking, the infantile little guy decided to make a rest stop and thought it a good idea to practice something he had been working on with his Reimancy. Standing still, Hemis took a deep breath before expelling gaseous Res and manipulating it to shroud most of his body from the neck down and making it appear like a small glimmering golden fog was wrapped around him; it took a bit of time, but there were some things that he wanted to tinker around with. The idea was to use Res without transmutation, which was somewhat easier to do because Hemis had to focus on keeping the Res in its gaseous form until he decided on making it assume a liquid or gelatinous form. Although keeping his Res in its current state lowered the risk of backfiring, unless a transmutation would occur spontaneously at this point, the strain of expelling and exerting will power over the amount of Res taking up a few meters radius in a controlled volume was still incredible taxing; Hemis felt like his knees were going to buckle under him, which would have been the least of his worries until the hallucinations began to happen.

Immediately trying to cease the exercise, the childlike being saw the hallucination take the form of a tall and slender woman with pale skin and was clad in a black robe or cloak that looked like things were crawling in it; the woman was as eerie as she was beautiful, which made Hemis wave enthusiastically in greeting before clapping at having made what he thought was a new friend. However, the woman looked at the puffy-haired little weirdo with an expression that mingled a combination of surprise, amusement, and annoyance. She approached in a rather regal fashion until standing a foot away from the now uncomfortable and nervous Hemis, flicking the odd youth on the forehead with a long thin finger, which brought him out of the trippy vision as he collapsed on his knees.

[Hemis]

35, Winter 514- Evening

The lateness of the day once again made itself known to Hemis, which had him set up and make preparations to make his little camp, propping most of his stuff against a nearby tree as he gathered rocks to make a fire pit before collecting firewood and kindling. After creating a new pit, he gathered as many sticks, twigs, and dry foliage as he could so that he would have a nice and toasty fire to keep him warm at night; with the pit being set up, took deep breaths to calm himself before he attempted to expel his Res to start another fire. Creating the Res fog had taken a lot out of Hemis, as the puffy-haired weirdo had expended a sizable amount of his Djed in order to create it, which left him needing to rest and eat a wedge of cheese for him to recuperate, perhaps popping in his mouth to see if it would help.

Although having a minor effect, meditation helped the strange youth to lessen the strain caused by overgiving, and it even helped his luck in not causing a huge backfire that would have been catastrophic. It was all Hemis could do to not sweat bullets as he concentrated on the task at hand, deciding expel Res from out of the palm of his left hand instead of breathing it out and risk fatal injury to his lungs; as with before, Djed began flowing within Hemis's body as he then secreted Res in a gelatinous form to smear it on the pile of wood and kindling. Remaining calm, the young boy concentrated on the small bit of amber Res gel that was splotched at the center of the pit, transmuting it into fire as it burned a glittering gold into a normal orange-red. The result was a fire that appeared mild and was easy for Hemis to control, something the childlike person was most happy for as it happened without an incident.

Clapping enthusiastically, Hemis sat down on his bedroll and winter blanket as he began to meditate again, hoping to further broaden his mind and gain greater inner focus to help better his ability to wield Reimancy. The little odd one attempted to embrace all things, as he imagined the entirety of existence starting out from the nothingness called oblivion; an exercise that began to make more sense, as its reasoning became clearer and clearer to perceive despite still having a long way to go still in achieving enlightenment. It was at this time that Hemis began to recite his third chant while he regulated his breathing, which unlike the previous two mantras he invoked before, this particular incantation was made up of two phrases that each emphasized something important despite being simple in meaning.

(I am a person... this is my home...) was what Hemis intoned within his mind, declaring that his life and identity was with meaning and value no matter how much he would change while he existed; by embracing the person-hood that served as his identity, he had acknowledged and accepted that "control" was an illusion. What he also decreed was that no matter how far he traveled, whether in this world or the world that came after, he will always be at home; this was once again stating that separation amongst all things was also a phantasm to be surmounted. After being punted back into the waking world, Hemis tucked himself in and called it a night.

[Hemis]

36, Winter 514- Noon

After spending the morning eating another wedge of cheese and traveling for hours, Hemis had finally reached the Sunset falls, causing his left eye to widen and his mouth to gape in awe. The scale of which the falls were flowing was an amazing sight to behold and was something the puffy-haired little guy found fascinating to the extreme; with the childlike youth clapping happily at witnessing such an incredible spectacle, he sat down and set his stuff aside to finally relax after having finally reached the place where he would be able to hone his skills without threat of persecution. The best part for Hemis was that he would be able to see many woodland creatures including those fabled crystalline creatures; the day was still young, and the infantile youth was having the time of his life.

Although it was cold at the season of the year, the river the falls were feeding was sill flowing forth at a tranquil pace; this was rather deceptive considering the force at which the falls were actually falling in order too feed water into the river itself, but there were more mysteries as to how the force of the falls were being dispersed. That was immediately made clear to Hemis when those disembodied voices began to make themselves heard; if that wasn't trippy enough, hearing what the voices said when they were audible enough was proving to be more eccentric than even the little odd one himself.

The next voice that spoke made Hemis feel both sad and inspired, as it began describing the sobering woes that the life might have. The speech made by this voice had reached deeply into Hemis's humanity, as the voice was stating that anyone and everyone didn't deserve to live a life of loneliness and sorrow; it made his long journey worth the effort and time, as he learned a great deal about how not to sing and a life lesson about reaching outwards.

Having come all this way to practice the ability for Reimancers to attract elements they've already mastered, but as they occurred naturally in the environment; this lessened the amount of Res he would need to expel to produce a decent but limited amount of the same element. Entering into a meditative state as he began regulating his breathing and concentrating, Hemis walked towards the edge of the river and began to expel some of his Res through his palms as he cupped some of the cold water in his hands; the result was being partially able to manipulate the Res-mingled liquid, with the puffy-haired little weirdo increasing his proficiency in slight increments before stopping some time later to get some rest.

Although not having seen the crystal animals, Hemis learned a few lessons that he would hold on to when he returned to Syliras.

[Katelyn Marks]

Due Rewards

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”

― Philip Pullman

 

Hemis

Skills
➢ Observation +3
➢ Meditation +2
➢ Reimancy +2
➢ Wilderness Survival +2
➢ Land Navigation +1
➢ Philosophy +1

Lores
➢ Location: Sunset Falls
➢ Location: The Bronze Woods
➢ Wilderness Survival: Gathering Kindling
➢ Wilderness Survival: Creating a Fire Pit
➢ Wilderness Survival: Proper Fire Safety
➢ Reimancy: Creating Fire
➢ Reimancy: Res as a Gas
➢ Reimancy: Res as a Gel
➢ Reimancy: Using the Environment's Elements

Consequences: Hemis is going to have headaches for the next few days and some nausea from overgiving.

Comments: Just a reminder, there are no hours, minutes, or seconds in Mizahar. Instead there are bells, chimes, and ticks. Bells being hours, chimes being minutes, and ticks being seconds. Also, I didn't really understand why he punched an old man wandering around in the forest. Firstly, it doesn't make sense. Secondly, there probably wouldn't be an old man wandering in the Bronze Woods in winter in the first place. It's a very dangerous place. Also, how could Hemis find Sunset Falls without a compass or map when he's from Taldera? He seems to have slept outside in the winter cold without a tent as well. This winter has been uncharacteristically frigid for Syliras. These are just a few things to think about. One more small thing. The sun is actually female. So, Mrs. Sun, not Mr. Sun!

If you have any concerns or questions about your rewards please feel free to send me a message. Also, please edit your original grade request and mark it as graded. Thank you and enjoy!