Journey Beyond (Caesarion)

[Leeta Snow]

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Curiously Leeta tapped her lips as he said he was born richest of the rich. She hooked her other arm around her head and played with her hair. The feeling of it was foreign to her as it was cleaner than it had been in a while. He provided too much information. Too much to be a lie. Too much to be a trick. He was a slave and a proper gentleman. Why would a master want a proper gentleman as a slave? She had some thoughts and it had to do with how he looked in his shiny armor with his cute sword. She idly wondered if he was a guard or some kind of mercenary.

“Bleh..he was likely already mad. You just pushed him over the edge.” she was rather enjoying the attention she was getting today and didn’t know whether he was being serious or not. It was partially why she was toying with him so badly. Upon his question about how bad Zeltiva was she nodded and twirled a piece of hair in her hand. “Yes...it is as bad as they say and worse. Now they are all dead. Each one of them.” She spoke of her family of course, but it more likely sounded like she was speaking about the town itself.

Caesarion seemed serious when he was telling her about Malediction and how she had to teach him. He even went so far as to 'warn her' about the troupe of men on the road. She didn't seem bothered by it and just nodded dismissively.

When he said not only that he was okay with calling her Miss Snow, but that he was ready to leave, could have use of his horse, and that she was coming with them she dropped her act and quickly rose to her knees. Whereas before she was whimsical and a bit crazed, now she was sane and looking him in the eyes. A sharp finger raised up into the air with sass to exclaim her point and with a slight scoffing chuckle she said, “Wait...are you joking? You are -actually- going to take me out of here... if I teach you my magic?” she threw the bird feather from her presence as if to say “Who gives a flip about the dumb feather”. She stumbled emotionally, shaking her head crazily and then exploded in a bit of a rant with arms thrust out to the side and facing upward.

“Ok..You came across a girl... -stabbing- a bird in the brain...talked with her despite her craziness, she told you she had magic and you believed her so much so that now you are willing to take her on a journey...to who knows how far away...costing you tons of money in the process?” when she put it like that it sounded really dumb to her. She was animated now once more and a hand came to her face in disappointment. He hadn’t even insisted on seeing her magic at all. What kind of deal was this? "Do you get scammed often?" She looked up and sighed. "Ask me..." she said almost sleepily in her mockery, "Ask to see my magic...please..."

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Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts

[Caesarion]

Telemaran was fairly mad, yes, he had to agree with that. But was it a true madness or just the luxurious and debaucherous attitude of a greedy, undead man? Greed wasn't necessarily insanity so much as it was an extension of the survival mechanism: securing more and more resources with which to sustain yourself, more food and more protection and more power to ward off enemies. That was essentially the purpose of living for nearly all of the Wizards of Sahova, a greed so that they may be invincible, a simple play at survival and superiority more than just needless power-grabbing. They wanted to become Alvina and Gods. That was the point of it all. "I believe that I did what I had to," he said, sighing. "But to be honest . . ." The mage looked to her face, staring out her complexion and trying to catch her eyes as she tumbled around. "It isn't enough. He deserved something darker." He didn't decide to elaborate on what he meant, as he was sure that she could determine that without his assistance.

The fact of the matter was that when you own someone, you carve into them and sever what's inside of them. You remove the key essentials of their being, such as their willpower, their creativity, their conscious. They become only the outer shell, muscles and limbs attached, faces and body parts to please or displease. They become an animation - a Golem, and even then perhaps less sentient. From the time he was born until the time he would die, he always knew that he opposed slavery. He always knew that it had to end. Telemaran did not suffer greatly enough for all of his sins.

He tried to keep focus on her, though he was as one could expect, lost in his own thought. She was simply moaning about the city, it seemed, and he entirely missed her sentence. When he heard the word 'dead', he expected that she was just speaking her regular macabre words not quite appropriate for a public outing. Her moaning about how she was forlorn in this city - a whining that didn't mean anything to him. He was proudly negligent to cries born of pointless need. Leeta had all the tools before her. Zeltiva was a free city. She was not a slave. She had the ability to live here, she simply needed to work rather than hang outside of the city and murder birds to 'set them free'. At least, that was his own interpretation of it all, from a man who was slightly ignorant when it came to work ethic and self-preservation. He didn't tarry with excuses, only progress. "That's unfortunate," he simply said, moving on.

When he complied, she seemed to change her demeanor altogether. She rose up from the ground and onto her knees, her eyes straightening and staring him down. But why? She had shifted so quickly? What was actually wrong with her? Did he forget how to recognize insanity? Was she just another maddened homeless woman? He thought she had something in her that was . . . uniquely refined. But it seemed like he might have misjudged her. She decided to go on an episode. Are you joking? She asked. You are actually going to take me out of here, if I teach you my magic? As if it was such a worthless exchange. As if magic wasn't worth millions when properly harvested - hundreds of years of progress crafted or dismantled by a Wizard's touch. As if magic wasn't infinite. He learned, in Sahova, that it was. She tossed the feather and then her personality seemed to heat up and explode into what he'd call parallel to an angry rant.

In honesty what she said was true, but she also contradicted herself. If she was trying to scam him, she would not confess to such a scheme already. She would happily go with him and force money and luxurious treatment for a talent she did not possess. But . . . "Let me explain to you just how I know you're not a scammer. I'll dissolve everything you've said into my evidence. Be warned that I don't make illogical decisions. If there's anything I know how to do, it's read people. You are eccentric, not crazy. There's a difference. I know the difference." He wasn't going to take her mockery. He ignored her when she told him to ask to see her magic. "Firstly, magic is a privileged subject. To know of how it operates is something uniquely rare. You knew about Djed. You knew about how Djed lives within people's bodies - potentially even their bones. This was a theory of mine. Only mages make magical theories. Commoners with no magical ability never do. Why? Because it's taboo in the first place. There's no reason to invite enmity towards your person if you're not going to gain from it. If I was not a mage, I would never dare to ponder upon magic." That was his first reason, and it was the second most important of them.

"You knew the difference between world magic and personal magic. That's quite important." Another reason. "You knew of 'drawing circles' - something often done in world magic, if I recall correctly. Most people don't understand the relevance of such circles, even mages, as most mages in this world are personal magic users from what I've seen. Not to mention you're obviously displaying yourself as being crazy and - essentially - without any sense of normality. You're asking to be rejected, not to be taken on. Would a skilled con artist act as you have? Perhaps, but it's unlikely. You'd likely be trying to seduce me instead - though of course you'd fail." He grinned. Didn't bother explaining that one. That all led to the most important of his reasons - one that she wouldn't be able to deny. "I'd be paying for your trip upon reaching Riverfall, anyhow. You wouldn't get a dime of mine until then. Do you not think that I would notice if you were a false magic user, by then? Do you think a mage wouldn't be able to tell if someone were being honest? Morphing is a personal magic by your description of it. Even though you may have been able to fool me with Malediction, you would have failed miserably when it came to morphing. And so . . ." He let his Res flow to his palm, then he released it upward and pointed at the sky - firing a bolt of lightning from jagged streams of Res. The sound was loud, powerful, and the speed immeasurable. His face lit up as the lightning passed above him.

"If you lied to me, and I found out, I would have killed you. Absolutely nothing to be gained from me in death. Do not underestimate a mage. We are born without mercy, Miss Snow." That was a threat and a warning. If she tried to manipulate him, he would not mind electrocuting every drop of blood pumping through her veins. Caesarion was merciless when it came down to it. "That, and I would've expected you to prove your authenticity before coming on. I just have manners and class and don't like to offend people that I am inviting to spend time with me. Perhaps in Zeltiva you don't extend the same courtesies. Or perhaps it's just you alone who doesn't see that my social graces are what determined my reaction to you, not my . . . forgetfulness. I have no such thing."

[Leeta Snow]

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The young lad would have gained her attention merely by his seriousness. She contemplated what he meant when he said that his old master “deserved something darker”. Her mind exploded with thoughts of morbidity, yet all that came out of her mouth was.

Somewhat murmuring under her breath, yet audible enough to hear, she said “Coulda made him into a necklace.” with that she absconded in conversation as if she had not said anything creepy at all. “I don’t like slave masters...the whole thing to be honest. Sure, would I like to be waited on constantly by handsome men? Yes...but I’m glad you are not part of it anymore. Now you can come talk to me without someone whipping your back for doing so. Yes...I don’t like slaving. I might have a brothel one day of fine men, but I will have them all from my own charm and good looks.”

She was pretty to look at, but only in the right light and if you didn’t think she was so crazy, other than that, there was nothing whatsoever that made it seem as though she could ever achieve a brothel due to her own good looks. Often times she was approached by men who liked her tattoos or thought that it meant she was easy, only to be repulsed away later.

Caesarion went into a point by point demonstration on why he had reasoned her to actually be a mage. It wasn’t easy to be yanked about emotionally and mentally and yet still retain the wisdom and understanding of the way things actually were. For that she began to be impressed with the youth all the more for each point he displayed to her.

Excitement grew with each speech and though she tried to hide it she failed. He even went so far as to threaten her; a display that brought a solemn look to her face, but in the end he called her Miss Snow, and that made her feel important. It could even be said that it made her feel needed. He spoke of manners and social norms that he had and she let out a pleasured hmm. She didn’t doubt his forgetfulness now and the teacher was pleased with the student. Slowly she stood up, somewhat like a giraffe stands after drinking water, and then righted herself. She gave her body a shake and released grass from her dress.

“Great” with that, if he would let her, she would give him gangly hug and a big smooch on the cheek if he would even let her out of pure awkward joy. She didn’t care if some of the people had a strange look on their face toward the two of them; what with sending lightning bolts into the air and her random dramatics. While before she seemed completely nuts, now she seemed somewhat sane. Something in her face said that she was odd, but not quite as odd as she had played before; yet at the same time, one couldn’t be so sure. “I am going to go grab my things. I’ll meet you back here in an hour!” With that she’d run off as fast as her thin legs could keep her up while running in boots.

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Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts

[Caesarion]

He was glad to know that Leeta was at least resistant to the idea of slavery. That seemed to be something true of the general Zeltivan, which was pleasant to uncover. Actually being a slave himself made his perspective on slavery - and associated hatred for it - much stronger. Still, she was always very animated about her words and opinions, so even the exceptionally rambunctious Caesarion was often put to amazement at just how glamorously she decided to make her descriptions. How she wanted to be waited on by handsome men . . . or start a brothel with them, but solely by her charm and appearance. She wasn't unattractive - he would say she was attractive, but charm was certainly not something she possessed, at least not in great quantities. He decided to nod with a bit lower lip almost as if trying to suppress a smile as she spoke. "If charm and good looks are all that are required of a successful all-male brothel, then perhaps I should start one." Yes, he was in fact arrogant when it came to his personality and his physical attributes. The idea of running such a brothel didn't offend him though. Maybe that's what he would get into with all of the pleasure slaves he'd be freeing. Surely they wouldn't want to completely leave their comfort zone.

Through his demonstration, he noticed that the girl seemed very pleased, as if she'd been testing him in the first place. That wasn't so enjoyable a thought, really, as he didn't like the concept of being tested and toyed with. He was fairly certain that she was the begger here, not the chooser, so Caesarion had absolutely no need to pass any such test. But that was fine. She could play her games, and he would play his, if it came down to it. A mage was a mage and they always liked to compete and revere themselves as the superior one. That was fine too. A bit of games and competition, secrets and curiosities, would not scare him away.

She gave her approval, then she jumped forward to hug him after removing the grass covering her black dress. She kissed him on the cheek, and he reacted by raising his eyebrow and placing his palms against his hips. "Uh-huh," he said. Caesarion's energetic disposition at learning of her magics had changed drastically in the past few minutes, and now he seemed somewhat wary of her personality. He would give her the benefit of the doubt - but witches with a penchant for sexual harassment and oddly angled questions did not bring him comfort. Not at all, really. When she left, he wordlessly waved her goodbye, then turned his head towards the road. If she would be back in about an hour, then he would recover his things as well, which would probably take longer. The man stretched his arms over his head, sighed and walked back to the dock.

He made his way towards the ship. Vladimir, his Bloodbane, and Actaeon the Gildling were standing on the harbor being handled by the same young man he'd initially found handling a Denusk. He waved him 'hello', then figured out he needed to try and manage these horses. He needed to . . . "Place a halter on," he said. There were several pieces to a halter. Crown piece, buckle, cheek pieces, throat latch, and nose-band. Of course, he didn't know any of these things, so he had to ask the boy handling the horse. "What are these pieces called?" he asked. And so, he spoke them. "Crown piece, buckle, cheek pieces, throat latch, and nose-band," he said, rightfully so. Caesarion nodded, though he had no idea what any of that meant. So, he came at the horse from the side and stared mindlessly at the object. He didn't know where to start. "Put the lead rope on," the man said. Caesarion nodded, and did just that, though he wasn't quite sure if he did it correctly. "It's so you can hold on if it moves away." The Ravokian nodded again as a reaction. "Okay," he replied. "Now?" He asked. He was completely adrift in all of this.

"We don't have the time to teach you how to halter a horse. Just let me do it." The handler seemed irritated, which made Caesarion kind of irritated as a reaction. He didn't need this sassy little pony caretaker acting like he was dumb when the boy would probably kill himself if he tried one tenth of the stuff the mage had to do on a daily basis. "Mmhm," the Ravokian nodded, narrowing his eyes. Just ask who gets paid more, dunce, he thought to himself. When the halter was on - something he observed the process of but didn't completely understand - he decided that he would have to try and get on too. "No no," the man said. "Tack it up. Saddle it." He said. Caesarion looked completely confused. The horse seemed uncomfortable and fairly irritated - and he didn't like that, considering Ravok Bloodbanes looked like ferocious monsters and they could quite literally rip out your throat if you got them going. Caesarion tried to put the saddle on, and failed, which upset the horse and made it start to move and exhale uncomfortably. The handler stepped in and sighed, taking part in that little process for Caesarion as well.

Eventually, with two men holding him up and a ton of time spent, he managed to actually sit on the horse and he didn't seem to upset it very much. "Tap behind its stomach with your feet," the man said, irritated. Caesarion nodded quietly, and did so. As a result, the Bloodbane began to walk forward . . . but then it stopped. Caesarion tried doing the same thing, and it wouldn't go. Instead, it turned its head to the side and seemed to almost be looking at its rider with its eyes. Creepy eyes. Caesarion was instructed to tighten the reins, and the horse started moving in circles. He was instructed to straighten it, and it stopped for a moment before beginning to move forward. Then, the horse began to move forward a lot faster for no reason. The mage wasn't sure whether or not to be afraid at this point, but he tried to remain completely calm. "What's wrong with this horse?" he asked. But no one was really there to answer him anymore. He looked back to see the caravan boy leading his Gildling in the same direction. Caesarion decided to try and tightly grip the sides of the horse with his feet, which seemed to slow it down a little, but not by much. The creature continued to run forward, causing a scene, until eventually it halted and turned its head yet again, trying to restore eye contact. The look spelled: try me, as if the horse were trying to compete or something. Caesarion responded by patting it atop the head, moving his face forward and growling ferociously.

But it didn't seem to matter. The horse kept his eyes trained. Caesarion stared back, quietly, before gripping the horse's bridle and holding tightly. He wasn't quite sure if he knew what he was doing, but . . . "Turn his head with the bridle. Make him look straight. Then, tap again." He nodded, and followed those instructions. It began to walk forward. Somewhat patiently this time - calmly. But not really. It still seemed like it wanted to kick him off. "Petching animals," he said. He held back on the Bloodbane's bridle and made it stop. It seemed to resist, and almost threw him off if not for the careful guidance of the young man beside it. Caesarion stepped off the horse and simply grabbed onto the lead rope, keeping it going that way instead. "I didn't realize riding a horse was so difficult," he said, frowning. "Am I really going to have to do this for the next eighty days?" The boy rolled his eyes, and Caesarion was led out with the large group beginning to catch up and follow. There were many horses, many men, and there was much cargo. This was a fairly large party and the economic value of the group was very high. He figured that would be a bad thing if encountered by bandits or slavers.

"Are we going to leave immediately, now?" He asked. One of the men shook his head. "No, we need to handle something first. You don't worry about it." The mage sighed and shook his head silently. He went out through the gate, going over to where he'd met Leeta. He couldn't see her by first glance though. He decided to spend the time he had waiting training Reimancy, so he went over to a secluded area and started to weave wind around a Res that flowed in circles around his wrist before rolling it outward and transmuting it. The result was a flowing breeze of air, but one that swirled as if spinning around endlessly until it made contact with whatever destination. He wondered what would happen if he did the same thing, but aggressively, and using solid Res. Would it kill? Would it break through a boundary? He tried again with slightly more violent movements, the swirling wind more fast-paced. It flung into a group of bushes and completely disassembled much of the structure. Of course, all of this was a distraction - he was just waiting for Leeta to show up, wherever that crazy witch went.

[Leeta Snow]

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Having made it to the Inn she burst through the door. It scared poor Serra half to death. Clutching her heart she cried out, “Mind the door Leeta!” But it was to no avail. Leeta was a flurry of gangly limbs, twisting about random people who’d congregated at or near to the front desk. She left the door swung wide open and raised a hand upon Serra’s command.

“Soorry. I’m checking out!” with that she was gone from sight and tromped down the hall with her clunky boots. Some people who were sitting in their rooms poked their head out of their rooms to see what all the running and noise was about, but it was too late. Leeta made it to her door and burst in. Excitement was the last thing anyone had seen from her in the last couple of weeks. She’d been a downright witch to people, harsh and lashing out. This was strange and people began to murmur. All they could see as they looked down the hall to investigate was Leeta’s door slamming shut.

“Gotta pack...gotta do it quick. Two hours?! That’s not enough time.” She shriek and looked about at her room. Parchment, clothing, candle statues, and tools lay strew about the room. These consisted of some manacles, pinchers, some opened toolkits, various tools that one would think a blacksmith would use, yet were covered with a light layer of blood, and her embalming equipment. “Ok ok...stuff it all in.”

She threw open her chest which had some clothes in the bottom of it and began to scoop up some things and throw it into the chest haphazardly. Quickly it became full and there was a knock at the door. It was Serra coming to see her. “I can’t talk right now, busy!”

“Leeta it’s Serra. Can I come in?”

With a roll of the eyes she stuffed more into the chest. “Okay hurry hurry.”

The woman opened the door and kindly came in to see the tornado of a mess being shoved into the large trunk. “Leeta? You’re leaving us? Do you want me to get someone to help you carry your stuff?”

Leeta nodded and continued to shove things in. “I met someone. He is taking me far away from here. To Riverfall. It’ll be good to get out. To get away from…” she trailed off and paused her packing. Serra knew what she was going to say anyways, having seen the carnage herself that night.

“I still need to run to the store and get some things, but I’ll be right back!” She then left her room half unpacked to run to the store to buy some things like a traveling package and food for the trip. It was nearing on an hour when she finally made it back. Out of courtesy Serra had someone pack all her things neatly for her in the chest in an organized manner and had the chest waiting for her when she walked in. The girl swung open the door with a bit more care this time, but nearly took out a window as she turned to the counter with the big tent package in her hands. Leeta wasn’t very strong so it was a bit of a challenge to maneuver through the doorway.

Paying her fees, giving Serra a hug and kiss on the cheek, and arranging for a delivery escort to bring her things to the caravan, now she only wished that in-like stunt that Caeseron was not toying with her. She was trusting, and would literally be destroyed if he wasn’t there upon her arrival. She truly would probably just lay down and waste away with what little willpower she had left in her.

Upon coming up the street she could see a caravan preparing to leave, but due to his secluded nature of to the side she didn’t see him. She wasn’t very observant anyways, and so her heart began to grow terrified the more she approached. She started to scan one side of the caravan and then the other. Then she did a quick spinning look around and run her hand through her hair as if worried. In tow were two young men from the hotel staff carrying her things. One of which was a large chest with a lock on it that clanked and rattled like there was metal objects in it.

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Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts

[Caesarion]

The man continued practicing, growing practically negligent of his surroundings as he started to shape Res into various figures before transmuting the gaseous form into air. Shields were made, walls, all sorts of forms that he could maintain for a period of time - all the meanwhile protecting him, though he wondered if only a solid wall of Air Res could actually maintain a stable defense. Then, as he continued on in his practice, his hands circling around in the air and his mind observing the structure of the elemental shapes, he heard a young man call from behind him. "Caesarion," he said. "We're to get going now." He turned around and nodded, a blast of wind that would have formed a shield instead plummeting into the ground. He walked towards the caravan and looked around for Leeta. Then - he was sure he saw her, freaking out as if he wasn't gonna show up, with two people helping carry her load of . . . stuff. "Did you bring saddlebags?" he asked. If she didn't, she'd have to leave all of that behind, as the horse wasn't quite a magical object holder. It needed somewhere to store her equipment.

Assuming she was competent enough to realize this, he patted his Bloodbane on the side and desperately tried to get onto its back, elevating himself by stepping onto one of the little side-foot-hook things before climbing atop the creature. The horse then looked back at him and let out a sound of disapproval, beginning to turn around in circles as if trying to get the rider off. "Hey!" he yelled at it. The handler tried to help keep him stable, the man tightening his hold of the bridle and leaning forward. Eventually it seemed the hassle of dealing with Caesarion grew worse than the creature's irritation, so it took a momentary pause in its rebellious behavior. Enough to pose her a question. "The horse I'm on is Vladimir and the other one," he glanced at the creamy-colored horse, "is Actaeon. You can feel free to rename him if you so desire." But, before he would allow her to load him up with her equipment and ride him to Riverfall, he made sure to be truthful to something he'd said earlier.

His eyes scanned her, looking down as he lightly stroked the creature's mane, hoping to try and seem cordial. "We have a few minutes before we completely depart. In that time, I'd like for you to teach me, hands on, about Malediction." The stable-boy helped him off of his horse, and he patted him on the shoulder in thanks. He reached into the saddlebag nearest to him and pulled out a Gibbat Dog's skull. One of the many he'd killed and brought to Telemaran's residence while he was in Sahova. "Gibbat Dogs were one of the more common prey in the Forest of Thorns in Sahova. They were exceptionally hard to kill, considering they had very attuned senses. Hearing was one - seeing another. Surely smelling. I had to do a lot of work to kill them, and very often that work involved... long distance spell-casting." He nodded. Lightning bolts from afar - that was one example. "This one's skull was in good condition because I killed it by impaling it on my longsword. I was wondering - if Gibbat dogs had such extensive senses, would this Malediction impart that to me if you made this skull into a bracelet or something? If you ripped the teeth from it and made them into the parts of a necklace?" He handed the skull to her, his eyes inquisitive.

"I want you to show me the process of doing the circles. How can you draw circles on something as small as teeth, for example? Wouldn't that be extremely difficult? Don't magical circles need to be very precise?" He wanted to know so that he could begin practicing this on his own as well. What sort of circles did she need to be drawn? What sort of details? How did simply drawing circles have such a magical effect? What sort of 'ink' was needed? Could it be carved instead? There were so many questions and luckily he'd be given eighty days with her so that they might all be answered. All. "Oh, and a display of Morphing wouldn't hurt either." He was looking for an immediate return on his investment, clearly. Caesarion wasn't one for playing games - he was one for risk and reward, and he risked a lot to bring Leeta with him when he had so little money. He expected a big payout, whether now or within the span of their journey, or even afterwards.

oocGibbat Dogs are aurists.

[Leeta Snow]

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While actively looking, she was not very observant. Like a child looking for their toy, she just glanced here and there, not really doing the best job of actually seeking the object of her desire. He was nearly next to her when she caught sight of him. Part of her squee’d and yet she remained composure. His voice was so manly and strong, right to the point. His nice looking armor and like-accessories did make him a bit more shiny to her than the rest of those around here, even if the man wasn’t going to be attracted to her. His voice like lightning pierced through her, shaming her. Shyly she answered back.

“No...this is all I own. I thought. Well.. I thought I could put it in the wagon with the other peoples belongings. I guess that was rather daft of me.” she admittedly said. What did she know? She grew up here, and not even here, secluded from here.

Caesarion tried to mount his horse and to say the least, it was disasterous. It began to twist about in a circle and she couldn’t help but laugh behind a hand silently at him. As he made full circle she stopped laughing so he couldn’t see and the handler grasped the horse to keep from moving. She looked up to him attentively as he seemed to want to ask her something. She waited till he was posed and ready. He began to tell her the names of his horses again, obviously proud of them and their names. She moved to the horse called Actaeon, who’s creamy color appealed to her. While she always admired the dark cherrywood colored horses from afar, now that she was up next to the beast, she took in its size and beauty. She approached slowly, letting him come to her hand, and if he did, she would pet him.

She now had to get her gear aboard. Not by saddlebag but by some other means. She looked to one of the men nearby loading things and asked, “You wouldn’t mind too terribly if I put my things in your wagon would you?”

“Umm...well I don’t really want to weigh down my wagon too much. Is this all you have?” He indicated to the two men holding her things.

Leeta nodded to the man and he shrugged saying sure. Even if the chest was weighed down with metal, it wouldn’t be enough to hinder his beasts of burden at all to where they’d notice anything. Giving him a hug and a smooch on the cheek she backed away, thanking the man repeatedly. It was really happening. She was leaving.

Even still, as she looked in the direction of her country home, she could feel the tendrils pulling her. It seemed to disturb the girls face, and while perhaps all in the imagination, she tried to conceal it on her face. Turning to ignore the draw, she conquered herself and her fate and looked back up to the looming man above her. He seemed gentle now though and was petting his horse, who seemed to enjoy the action, as far as she could tell anyways. She likewise reached out and patted Actaeon with loving brushes over its short hairs on his neck.

“That sounds fine.” she consented happily to the man and as the men were loading her chest in the back of the wagon she said “Wait. I need something.” She hopped over and produced a key from a pocket that her black dress seemed to almost concealed amongst the dark stain. She unlocked the chest once it was set down and dug through the neatly organized contents inside until she found her toolkit. With latching hands, she snagged it out and relocked the chest. With a slip of the key into the pocket, she headed back to Caesarion, who now had dismounted and held a Gibbat Dog’s skull; a man after her own heart, just happening to be carrying a skull on his person. She listened to his explanation of the beast, taking in the details of what he had experienced.

It was a valid question that the young man had asked her. She looked to his inquisitive eyes and knew she had to impress upon him the dangers and brilliance of her magic now. “While the Gibbat dog displayed extensive senses, it was not necessary its primary function for its djed where Malediction is concerned. While the item is chaotic in nature, meaning that its effects could potentially be random, the Maledictor does indeed have influence over that bit of craziness.” she smiled playfully, looking into the eyes of the skull.

With a hand she reached out and turned the skull in his hand so it was facing him and looking to his face. She pointed to it in an effort to have his eyes focus upon it, all the while focusing her djed to begin altering her pretty face. She then continued saying, “If I were to take the teeth of this skull and perhaps draw circles depicting the senses of the beast, then it is likely that if you bore the necklace of teeth that you could indeed have increased senses, though the effects likely would be minor. The more you learn of the art, the more you’ll be able to understand about what attributes transfer easily. At first Mr. Panthos, you will be working with bones such as this; animal and monsters. Then when you have learned all you can from me on that subject, you will start learning about how to Maledict with more...sentient beings, which yields even more impressive results. Even some that on the same scale of Reimancy in destruction, can lay waste to cities or build them up.” She opened the flap of her leather case and produced a tool to etch a stencil upon bone, much like a wax pen, yet he could see there were many other tools inside. Once the tool was removed she closed up her toolkit and reached out to show him by stenciling very very lightly into the surface of a tooth the beginning of a dot for the first circle. Though she had the tool, and though she worked for a chime at it, her purpose was to show him how long it could take. “Now I have worked this long to make a single mark, as bone does not want to let anything in, yet the circle is full of complex design.” she showed him the tiny bit of work she did. If he resisted she wouldn’t mark it up yet, but it wasn’t permanent, yet if he did let her, it would display what she wanted to say next. “It can take many days to complete a circle, but it also depends on what you use. You can permanently mark the bone, or you can simply use paint or draw marks with mud. But once the mark is gone...then its effect is gone too, so for something important, you want to know carving...which is what I do.”

She hoped that was enough of an explanation for him for now. She returned the pen to its place and closed and tied the flap shut. He had asked her to display morphing and she said, “As for morphing...prepare yourself. What you may see can be...disturbing to some. I will use the magic on myself as it is not possible unless I mark you to make you look differently. Because of this, don’t be scared at my touching your face.” She calmly shifted her hair about and looked boldly into his eyes. Her focus on her djed previously now increased as she stared into his eyes. She reached up to feel his jawline, his ears, and she lightly pressed on his cheekbones too. She felt his skull up and around his eyes and as she did so she began to silently incant various phrases of her intent in Nader-Canoch. As her hands slid down from his face, her face began to match his. It was subtle and slow at first, but after a few moments passed, he was looking at a double. There were some very minor inconsistencies with his face, but if you didn’t look super closely he was a spot on match. “Go on, you can touch.” she said, inviting him to use his senses to feel his face on another person. Meanwhile she looked to the horses hoof and used her same focus to alter her hand into that of a horses hoof. It was simple make, but the interior of the hoof took some manipulating. As she did so the looks of his face faded and she returned to her old self once more, now with a hoof for a hand. She held it up for him to touch once more if he intended to and then would slowly return her hand to normal with focus. Her heart was racing a bit faster now, though these were beginner transformations. She now could confidently change the entirety of her body into a horse, though it’d be more like a pony as she had not developed enough power to change her mass.


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Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts

[Caesarion]

As she began to explain another aspect of Malediction, Caesarion listened and observed very carefully. She claimed that the Gibbat Dog's senses may not be the primary function for its Djed so the result may be something different, although the Maledictor apparently had some influence over the result that was - altogether - fairly random. She then described that if you drew circles and depicted the senses of the beast on them, the result would likely align closer to obtaining senses from the beast, even if minor. Caesarion very much liked this thought. Malediction seemed to be a craft very capable of almost evolving the wearer - giving them enhancements from many different elements. That thought was enchanting. The scary part was that Malediction seemed to evidently be a double-edged sword, but then again, all magics were - especially personal magics. The risk didn't seem altogether too prominent to stay away from the magic.

She explained more about it. The more he learned of the art, the more he'd be able to understand what attributes transfer easily. At first, he would only be working on animals and monsters, then eventually . . . sentient beings? Did she mean humanoids? "I see," he said. Items that could devastate cities? That sounded sort of . . . chaotic. Then again, he didn't mind the thought of sending a giant maledicted nuke to Sahova. He pressed the thought aside though, and watched her closely as she began to draw. It obviously took a long time considering the surface. He supposed malediction was something that required a lot of patience. Then, she further explained the details and properties of the drawing and how he wanted to make sure the marks would be permanent, so he would have to learn carving if he desired such important results to remain perpetual. All of this information was very intriguing, and he would be certain to remember her lessons for whenever he decided it would be best to venture on his own and try to perform . . . malediction. He took back the skull and examined the markings more thoroughly, seeing her process and beginnings. It seemed a story of the creature's abilities or perhaps their life and death were what mattered with this magic. If that was the case, he would have to refine his artistic abilities so that the story may be drawn more concisely.

Next, she started to reveal to him her morphing. She moved forward and started to examine his face, feeling all of the contours and making sure she understood his proportions and all. Then, after some weird-sounding words, she began to transform using . . . Djed . . . most likely, and she mimicked Caesarion. Her face looked a lot like his now, in fact it was almost the same despite a few things he noticed incorrect. These faults were miniscule, but considering Hypnotists needed to stare into the mirror for hours at a time, he knew every single inch of detail on his face. He touched, and it seemed to feel more like his too, though he wasn't sure if that was just his mind tricking him. Then, while he was still admiring her work on mimicking his face, she transformed her hand into a horse's hoof and he touched that too. Weird, he thought. This magic was so . . . weird. "How do I learn Morphing? Personal magic, yes? Should I just examine a model - like you for example - and use my Djed to try and simulate your attributes? Would that even work? Somehow I don't know if it's very safe to use Djed for something like that." His own body . . . ? Dangerous.

"It can't be like Reimancy where you create Res and transmute it. Hypnotism, you learn to empty actions of relevance until you can craft the perfect convenient lies to infiltrate someone's brain." He did just admit that he knew of Hypnotism. He decided he'd be honest. "And this? What is the technique to initially learning it?" He did enjoy the idea of such transformations. Disguise was evidently possible, and judging by her hoof for hands, practical reasons came to mind. If he could totally emulate an animal, would he fly like a bird or sense as the Gibbat Dogs did? The thought compelled him. He did not ever imagine he would run across so many different intriguing magics in one young girl - but he supposed that was the nature of Wizards, unpredictability.

"Caesarion, we're to get going," one of the men said. "And you're paying for her passage too - if she doesn't." He nodded his head. Of course. He personally felt that his own passage should be free considering he was the guard of this filthy caravan, but whatever. The man desperately tried to get back onto his horse again, climbing atop it and trying to steer its head straight. The thing seemed slightly more keen to the thought of letting him ride, but not really. He decided the best way would be forcibly. So, he began to emit his Djed in the form of hypnotism to calm the horse. "Be calm," he said, using Suggestion from the magical school. "Be calm." He pet the thing's mane, the creature seeming more docile the more he repeated the words. At least it was somewhat intelligent, though it was probably just the soothing noises that calmed it, as he was sure it didn't speak Common. "Okay - Leeta, whenever you're ready, get on your horse and we'll head onward." He beckoned. "Every night we'll take rest stops and set up camp. You can explain to me more about these magics then."

[Leeta Snow]

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One thing Leeta liked about Caesarion Panthos was that he was a good listener. He knew when to be quiet, and yet at the same time show respect by commenting at proper times. She wasn’t sure who she was dealing with exactly, but she liked him. Something about him, perhaps it was the way he held himself, as if being a slave couldn’t touch him, or perhaps it was his attitude, but whatever it was it communicated to her that he had drive. What that drive was didn’t really matter to her. She didn’t care about money, royalty, power, or wisdom. Perhaps that’s why she wasn’t a master wizard in her arts. Yet what she did have was ambition to see her goals through. She believed he had that at the least.

What Caesarion may come to find out, that because of this drive, Leeta was a bit chaotic in a sense. She saw that there was good in chaos sometimes, though at the same time had a respect for order, thus why she had instructions for him. Her job as a trainer though wasn’t a concern on how he used her magic, just that he do it justice and preserve it. If he could rather be a good willed wizard, she would prefer that to a dark evil one, but really she had seen her own family and how dark they were, and yet they still did great things. Even when the Valterrain happened it was said by her father that their family came to help out the town of Zeltiva, so even being dark as they were, they still did good. The man took back his skull and examined the markings more as he did so.

She liked his inquisitiveness and when he had finally begun to pay attention to her changing of her face into his he touched it. She could tell how much stranger it was to have a stern jaw like a man like him, though his hands still felt like he was touching her skin. She could tell there was a minor difference there, but it was so miniscule she waved it off. He at the least was admiring her work and that made her smile. It was his teeth in the mouth that smiled back and while she smiled slightly different than he did on a normal basis, she still could have passed as him.

“It is a personal magic.” she said as her shifting finished turning into a hoof. His question was valid and she shook her head, now focused on shifting her hand to that of a lions paw with claws. It was rough to look at. The hair that adorned it looked flat and the colors were slightly strange, but it did look like a lions paw. “You can change without a model...but unless you practice a lot, it can be rather crude. The more you learn, the easier this comes. You can eventually do this almost effortlessly, but as for having the abilities of the intended, it can be very difficult. For instance, I’ve seen a bird in my life, and could morph into one, but I have never been kicked out of the nest by my mother. I’ve never had days learning to flap my wings and gain strength in them. I’ve not ever gained the endurance it takes to flap and maintain flight. So while I can change into their form, having their abilities is very tricky stuff.” Afterwards she altered her djed back to her own original state, taking a moment to collect herself.

“My father for instance, could transform into a Wind Eagle, fly around, hunt a beast, and return with dinner. He was so skilled that without really even seeing the creature, just knowing what it could do, he could physically manipulate himself to have the abilities of it. So he could have turned into a snake and if he bit you, he’d actually poison you!” she exclaimed as it was crazy even to her how good her father was. “So to learn morphing, we need to teach you the basics, to understand how your djed works in relation to changing the physical structure of your body. Your hypnotism...you tricky devil…” she winked and continued, “is closer in relation because you will your voice to weave the djed to infiltrate someone's brain. In morphing, you use the djed to manipulate your skin, structure, insides, and very being. Don’t worry, we’ll go over basics.” she pat him lightly on the shoulder and as one of the men came around the corner. After listening to Caesarion she moved around the back of her horse, who proceeded to kick dirt upon her boots.

“What!” she jumped to the side, thinking the horse was freaking out, but it seemed to be nodding its head almost as if it were laughing at her. She gave the horse a weird look and then looked back to Caesarion. “I’m probably going to die before we get to anything.” she didn’t go into detail because the guy was still back here with them, but Caesarion would know what she was talking about.

She cautiously moved up to the saddle and went to put her foot into it. As she lifted her leg, the horse leaned slightly to its left, causing her foot to just barely nick the stirrup and then fall back down. Trying again it leaned to the right this time. “You are messing with me!” She tried it again and the horse let her get into the stirrup. She grabbed the pointy thingy on the saddle, not even knowing what it was and pulled herself up. Fortunately due to her light weight she just hopped right on up. Sitting on the saddle wide legged felt really weird for her and it put pressure on her thin bones.

She had seen people ride horses before and picked up the string thingy that was what they pulled when wanting to turn it. She knew that you kick it in the sides somehow and that’s how it goes. Other than that her knowledge was next to none. She gave the stringy thing a pull to the side, turning the horse slowly. It began walking in a circle like Caesarions and suddenly she felt stupid for laughing at him when she was just as horrible at it.

“umm..ok...other way.” she made her horse turn its head the other direction by pulling the stringy thing the other way. Eventually with some practice she got it to face forward. With the lightest baby kicks to the ribs with the stirrup the horse looked back at her funny. She shifted forward in the saddle a little and said “Ok...time to go...go forward.” she kicked again, slightly harder, though it was still weak. She didn’t want to hurt the thing, taking into thought that she would not want to be kicked in the ribs, but the horse didn’t budge. Eventually kicking harder she was able to get the beast of burden moving forward and she felt like her pelvis had begun to grind down. “I’m riding a horse. I’m so amazing.” she said playfully to Caesarion. “I’ve never done this before!”

She would practice starting a bit and didn’t fully understand stopping, but eventually she got it. It wasn’t too hard to understand, though she only ever let it walk; afraid to make it run. As the caravan headed off she would try to talk with Caesarion along the way, finding out what his job was on this caravan.

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Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts

[Okara]

Grades and Awards   Leeta Snow Not graded due to inactivity. Please edit your post in your grade request to reflect that it has been graded. PM me with any questions.