Closed Of Stone and Djed Part II[Sayana]

[Clyde Sullins]

As he finished up his words, Clyde turned his mundane eyes to the cave for a moment, as he put on the finishing touches. He'd excavated so to speak the basic shape and design he had planned. All that was left with a bit of spit and polish, taking out some specific rough bits that were jutting and making it smoother.

His fingers danced for a moment in minute motions as he ticked away the small bits visible within his aura sight of the tiny cave. Now that he had neared finishing his progress was slowing, as he made ever more minor changes and edits to the shape till he had the image in his mind that he'd been working on brought to fruition.

“Trust me when I say you don't have a complete handle on it as it is. Even if you don't think you've heard the whispers, I've seen them in you. Heard them myself. I've seen the look in your eyes, the need, the desire, telling you to drive onward against reason. Or even inventing reason. Its a dangerous slope to slip down, and one ending with a large cliff and a long drop.”

“Whether or not you turned down magic before, said you didn't wish to learn Reimancy, doesn't mean too much. I'm more concerned with how you use the existing magics you have, rather than the ones you turned down in the past.”

Staring at the soup Sayana had made, he pondered for a moment. As always he was hungry and could probably eat the entire thing himself. However he didn't have anything to eat with, no spoon or such, let alone a bowl which was a bit more superfluous.

A sudden thought occurred to him though, and he stared down at the stone ground below them. A stone spoon? It'd be tricky, more of a ladle or a flat handled spoon with a bucket at the end more than a scoop of a spoon, but he supposed it could work. Perhaps though, he thought to himself, he could think through a better design.

He spent a moment pondering on how it would work. If he took a ball of stone, and hollowed out the middle... Then cut it in half. He'd be left with a hemisphere of stone with a depression in the middle, a tiny bowl. If he then projected off the side of that a handle, a length of narrow stone sticking off, then it might work...

Pulling the res backward from the cave now that he was done, he let it swirl for a moment around Cha's surface before sending it down her length into the ground below them, the solid Kalean stone of the mountain.

With that he began to soak the res into the stone, elongating it out into a length of stone about a hand long and wide.

“Sure... Just give me a minute...”

[Sayana]

Sayana met his eyes as he spoke of the sweet whispers. Yes, there was that longing, that desire to do more. That sweet release when she could feel the magic working through her own hand. But hadn’t he been talking about other magics and whether or not she wanted to learn new magics? His subtle change in topics left her on uneasy footing. Instead of giving a full reply, she simply nodded in acceptance. That’s what he wanted, didn’t he?

It was only then that she realized how much he had completely missed the subtle layering of messages within her story. No, he was looking at the soup with the gaze of an inventor with a sudden idea. Not exactly the response she had been targeting. Another time, another day.

Sayana breathed in deeply, trying to embed a sense of patience within her. For a moment, she even closed her eyes. He was obviously busy with his new idea. Slowly she exhaled, counting the ticks until all the air had left her. For a moment she let the image of the dark sun wash over her. When she opened her eyes she felt oddly rejuvenated. Ever watchful, she turned her attention back to the mage.

He was using reimancy, again. The silvery fluid was enough of an indicator for that. Was he not tired? She ladled some of the soup into the bowl she had brought. Clearly he had other ideas, so she chose to use the simple eating utensils herself. It was hot, so she sipped the soup slowly as she watched Clyde work his magic.

There was something bugging her. Like an itch. Hadn’t Clyde just spoken of the dangers of sweet whispers? She shifted uncomfortably, by now she was half done her soup. At last, she decided to try the most tactful approach.

“Clyde? Where are your limits when it comes to magic? How much must you do before overgiving? You did all that, just this morning.” She paused and gestured to the pycon cave he had created. “Now you’re doing more, and…” It was strange. It was as though she had some legitimate concern for the mage.

“You speak about the sweet whispers as if you know them and have conquered them. How would I know the signs when that is no longer true?” Her mouth felt dry despite having just had a bowl of soup, and her heartbeat quickened in her chest.

Credit: Shimoje

[Clyde Sullins]

While for a lesser Reimancer his work might have been a lot, for a master it wasn't nearly so much. Tied into that fact was that he'd worked on the cave and cut it out over time, not doing it all at once, slowly adding more djed as he expended res and exuded more to replace it.

His newest spell, moving his res over that remained from the cave work so that he could carve out the spoon, wasn't even creating additional res but existing. And once res was exuded, the djed was spent. He could always reabsorb some of it, gaining most of the djed back as his djed to res transfer was almost complete unlike lesser Reimancers. In fact, beyond increased control, gaining a better ratio in transforming djed into res was one of the largest factors in increasing their usable res.

Clyde had long since learned that as one became a more skilled mage, they didn't gain more djed. Instead, they became more efficient at tranforming the djed, and spent less djed to do the same amount of work once more skilled.

It was the only thing that explained why he was able to do great bits of work with magic he was very skilled at, such as Reimancy, without growing tired. At the same time when he did much smaller spells with magics he was less skilled at, he became disproportionately exhausted. The only logical reasoning Clyde had for this after years of magic use with different magics at varying levels was that he simply expended more djed for a effect of a given size depending on his skill in that magic.

A small spell in Reimancy spent little djed, a small spell in shielding left him exhausted.

He thought on these things in response to Sayana's words as he worked another small spell. This time he focused on the spoon, a hemisphere of stone, with a length of stone jutting off. The flat bit the ground, or the low point of the ground since it wasn't completely level.

Moving the res with some more small finger motions and swirls, he made an outline in his mind of the simple and solid stone spoon with the edges made of res. Once he had a good rough shape he transmuted a tiny layer of stone along its edges into air, perhaps a quarter of an inch thick of stone into air.

The stone spoon dropped a bit, and Clyde silently reached down with his free hand to pick it up. Staring at it he led the remaining res float over it, what little was left after all his work, and flowed it in a sweeping circle rotating endlessly over the hemisphere.

Each time it rotated past the top he transmuted a tiny layer, cutting into the flat top of the hemisphere with a length of stone jutting out as a handle which he held it by.

The first two sweeps with small transmutations simple made the spoon level. The next few slowly began to cut a depression into the stone, forming a bowl in its center. After a few more passes a decent sized bowl had been formed, and Clyde was left holding a somewhat chunky and solid yet functional spoon in his hand.

With a flick of his index finger the remaining res flowed upward along the spoon and met with the skin of his wrist. A moment later simply by willing it, the res was reabsorbed into his skin, the small bit of res regained from the process. Almost all of the res reabsorbed was regained as djed, almost none was lost due to his skill, however there was so little left that in that way little djed was actually gained. But as he always told his students of Reimancy, anything gained back was better than none.

Blowing on the spoon Clyde freed a few loose particles, and headed over to the waterskin to wash off the stone spoon before using it.

While he did he turned to Sayana, finally answering her question.

“First of all, magic doesn't work that way. Bear in mind much of this is based on my own theories, from by own observations on magic and things I've come to understand. Just be happy I'm a scholar mage and study and consider such things, since such mechanics of magic are lost on many other mages. I doubt most mages are even aware of some of these things, so this is a rare bit of knowledge on magic I'm divulging to you.”

“Ones limits with each magic is specific to that magic. If you were skilled at fighting with a longsword, could fight quite well, and then picked up a mace for the first time, would you be able to fight well with it?”

Clyde paused for a moment, giving Sayana a chance to answer his obvious question if she so choose. Either way he would progress onward in a moment with his explanation.

“Similarly each magic is its own thing. In my experience your skill in a given magic will decide your limits with that magic. I could be a master Reimancer, able to exude great quantities of res with no problem. But if I tried to create a similarly sized effect with a magic I'm less skilled in, I would grow much more tired and expend much more djed.”

“Now, can you see perhaps why I'd not want you to begin new magics when you are still not fully skilled in the old ones? The most obvious reason is that splitting your djed between practicing several personal magics will mean you can do less of each. But there is also the danger of overestimating your skill over all in one magic, overestimating how much you can do due to having used one magic you are more skilled in and then going to use another you are less skilled in.”

“I am well aware of this, am well aware of my relative abilities and skills in my various magics. But for one who hasn't yet mastered a magic, at least one, you don't so fully understand the limits of a magic and how your magic develops over time as you become more skilled. Its less of a danger in that way for me since I've mastered several magics, have come to fully understand them, and understand my limits in these magics I am newer to. You however have not, and so risk issues due to lack of full understanding.”

“Now, magic isn't simple math. Its not you do two spells and then you overgive. Many things factor in. Skill relative to the size of the effect of the spell you are performing. How much djed being expended. How distracted you are. How quickly you do the magic. Doing a spell all at once in one go is much more draining than doing a spell slower over time such as I did in crafting the cave. And other factors.”

“You've yet to see what I can do with Reimancy. The cave wasn't a small spell, but neither was it near my limit with Reimancy. Not something at my full potency. Reimancy... Reimancy is one magic I have truly mastered. I have no more refining to do, only new techniques and such to learn, such as with this cave making and spoon crafting.”

“As for sweet whispers, there is no such thing as conquering them. It is a constant battle, and requires constant vigilance. You must always be aware, always on guard, and always know your limits. Always know when you start to cross them, and therefore know when you must be extra vigilant in questioning your own actions.”

“Overgiving will vary for every mage, and for myself it varies for every magic. There is no one single sign, nor even any specific ones to look for besides perhaps insanity. As I've said sweet whispers drive you to cast more, but usually that only happens when you are not in control or when you near your limits. Usually. I'm not sure which of the two it was foryou with your Auristics. The last time I recall it perhaps happening to me... Was when I single handedly took on an entire raging thunderstorm coming in from sea.”

Clyde paused in his speech, bending down with his spoon still damp from being washed, and took up a single spoonful. Carefully he tasted the soup, trying it out slowly, before finishing off the mouthful and taking another spoonful.

Eating was good for recovering djed, which was perhaps one of the reasons Clyde was almost always hungry and almost never full.

[Sayana]

“A thunderstorm…” Sayana repeated with quiet but distinct awe. Throughout his speech the Eypharian had sat still, simply listening and sipping at the soup. Unlike other times he had lectured, her focus had remained on him for the entirety of it, truly desiring to listen and understand. Although, when he had stated his obvious question in regards to using a mace versus a longsword, she had quickly affirmed his point.

“So that’s why Auristics is so hard?” Sayana asked as she recalled how mentally taxing it felt to get hardly any result. “I mean, why it’s hard for me... and currently hard.” She quickly amended. She thought back to when she had first began practicing hypnotism. In some ways it had been more intuitive, but she had still felt the same exhaustion and repeatedly she had tasted blood or seen it form around her eyes when she had used it too often. Which, had been often.

She did feel a certain sense of relief that Clyde had his magic under control, at least with reimancy. Or more like, what he did was fairly trivial compared to his full abilities. If he could take on a storm… She thought back to the chaos that had occurred within Syliras not long after she had arrived in the city. He may have had help, but even without help, it didn’t take much to imagine him conjuring a fiery explosion or more. Taking on a thunderstorm… What did that even mean?

“Clyde? You said that there are benefits to truly mastering a magic before starting new ones. Or starting too many new ones. When you come to trust me, will you let me practice hypnotism on you? Or even your dog?” Her words were cautious and a bit tentative, not wishing to offend.

“While I can exert my power over others in passing, it is difficult to know how effective my techniques are, or even if they truly work. And not many are willing to give casual feedback when toying with their mind.” A brief smile formed on her face at the thought of asking someone on the streets. “Plus, I believe there is more to hypnotism that is within my grasp, but I haven’t had the chance to experiment to see what might work. Of course, I would only do so with your express permission. I only could do so with your permission.”

She was, of course, making reference to the Grand Oath. And while Clyde’s dog was not part of such, she chose to be polite and tactful with the mage. However, despite her apparent request, she began cleaning up as if she assumed his answer would be ‘no’ or at least not today. She put away the traveler’s stock paste, and with a bit of water she rinsed out her bowl, pot and utensils. The fire had burned low but she felt little need to refuel it and simply let it be. The remaining parts of the fish, namely the head and some bones, she offered up to Rye in case it was of interest to the dog.

Credit: Shimoje

[Clyde Sullins]

For a moment Clyde was lost in thought far off in his memories. Memories of facing off against a raging storm breaking upon Nyka. Wind, rain, lightning, all mixing into a tempest. He'd faced off against the forces of nature, and broken it, become it, and passed it safely over the docks and the city to softly release its rain over the farms to the west of Nyka.

There had been a time during it when the distinction between himself and the storm had been blurred, as both had been him as he delved deeply into his magic.

Breaking from his moment of thought Clyde bent and took another spoonful, slowly eating at the soup with his stone spoon now that he was done speaking and it was Sayana's turn to talk.

He shrugged at her first statement as she had more or less answered it herself, or in one manner was just repeating a concept in regards to something he'd said.

When she did finally ask him a question Clyde pondered it for a moment, considering as he took another sip of soup without fully tasting it.

“On myself, at this time no. I don't want that magic used on me except by a case by case instance. As for Rye... Yes, bearing in mind no permanent damage is done to him. Rye is my property, and permanent damage to my property was included in the oath. I think driving my hound crazy or some such thing would be included in that. So... And I'd rather not have to go off finding a new guard dog, Rye is well trained and such dogs aren't easy to find. With possessions its a bit less firm, since if you replace what you damage its not permanent damage to me, but as I said Rye isn't so common a thing to replace.”

Frowning, Clyde tuned to stare at Sayana, pointedly staring for a moment.

“Its not about lack of trust. But often with magic things can have... Unintended consequences. The worst of problems can arise from the best intentions. And while one thing might be meant, another may be the end result. I'd rather not have my mind any more stressed in regards to magic being placed upon it than needed. Not after all I've experienced in the past with that magic.”

“I'm sure though if you think about it, and put in some effort, you'll be able to find a more willing subject. Not everyone fears magic, and there will always be those who want to trade one thing for another, even if trading magic being used upon them for something else.”

When Sayana offered Rye the food the hound simply stared at her, all but growling, and didn't take the offered food.

Clyde silently reached out a hand and picked up the head, offering it to the dog, who now being offered the food by his master eagerly took the fish head and began to gnaw on it.

Smiling at Sayana, Clyde shook his head. “It's almost like he doesn't trust you. Don't worry, he's trained not to trust anyone, he wouldn't be a good guard dog now would he if they trained him to trust everyone?”

[Sayana]

Like owner, like dog. It seemed that although Rye tolerated the Eypharian’s presence, he did not trust her. Or at least when it came to food. Sayana gave a nod at Clyde’s comment, particularly when the black dog began chewing away at the fish head. She hadn’t expected the mage to let her practice on him, she would have been surprised if he had, but his comment about magic with unintended consequences gave her pause. Where auristics seemed less, invasive, hypnotism was quite the opposite. There was also room for error with intended meanings. It was something she hadn’t thought much of, since she still found her abilities to be subtle and not long lasting. Small actions with seemingly no long term consequences.

Turning her attention back to the dog, she watched as it licked away at the carcass. “No, he doesn’t seem to trust me. But he doesn’t bite me or bark at me either. Though there were a couple times he growled at me. But overall, he trusts you and if you’re not showing signs that I am an intruder or an enemy, then at least he’ll tolerate me.”

Her eyes shifted from the dog to his owner. She now sat comfortably next to the dying remains of the fire. “A good hypnotist doesn’t start by planting new ideas into someone. If you can start with existing ideas, and strengthen them, then the subject will be more receptive to new ideas with a similar theme. It’s similar to how you described the ways of Rhysol. Start with something small, harness that hint of doubt, and build from something already existing.”

“If I want Rye to start trusting me, or better yet become loyal to me, I don’t start with trust or loyalty right away. Especially if he is quite against it to begin with. I start with something he knows.”

She paused for several moments, collecting herself and breathing in calmly and deeply. For a moment she gazed off into the distance, not really seeing as she focused on the image of a setting sun. In… and out, the rays of light piercing over the mountain tops. One by one, additional thoughts and emotions in her mind drifted off leaving a certain calm about her.

“Hypnotism also works better over longer spans of time if given the chance, and animals tend to be easier subjects. Today, all I’m going to do is remind him that you trust me. It’s a very subtle technique, one which I don’t always do since I prefer to give people emotions than direction or ideas, so it’s something I should practice more. Also, usually I engage people through eye contact than with words, but today I’ll harness the effect verbally both for your benefit as well as my own practice.”

Even though he had said she could work her hypnotism on the dog, she felt the need to explain her intentions, and also better teach him what was involved with hypnotism and the options she had. She paused for a moment or two, in case he had any second thoughts or objected to her method.

Then, so long as there was no undue complaint, she began reaching to the back of her mind for that familiar feeling of magic. It was almost sickly sweet as she found it, having done so little hypnotism for the past while. There was something almost soothing about the magic as she eased into it and put her focus on three distinct concepts. Clyde, trust, and herself. Slowly she began to feed the ideas with her djed, strengthening and solidifying the thoughts and layering multiple interpretations of the core concepts.

“Hello there Rye. You’re a very well trained dog, did you know that? Hardly a fuss from you and yet you’re always by Clyde’s side.” She spoke rather directly to the dog, but staying where she sat and not invading its space. Her first words were merely to get his attention, and now she began lacing them with magic. “Clyde, your master, that tall man over there… he trusts me. He likes me, he likes my company, he feels safe with me.” It felt strange using words alone, and at the last tick she caught the dog’s red gaze. But by then much of her magic had seeped past the dog’s natural aura.

For a moment she felt the desire to do more, complete the job, win the dog over, but a faint tingle on the tip of her tongue reminded her of the temptation of magic. Particularly in the presence of Clyde, she did not want to cave into such.

“That will be all for today. I hope you don’t mind that I continue to make friends with Rye in the upcoming days? I can explain to you what I am doing and why. That should help satisfy your interest in the magic.”

Credit: Shimoje

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde smiled, shaking his head at the hypnotist.

“He doesn't bark at anyone, he's trained not to. Just growl, which is less noticeable and less likely to give me away and put me in danger. As for biting, if he thought you were attacking me, he probably would. He's also trained not to bite unless I'm being attacked, or I order it. But then, being a dog his sense of me being attacked can be... Well a tricky thing to point at. He's better at more clear attacks, but then that's the same with any guard, even if not a dog.”

Clyde listened as Sayana spoke on hypnotism. While she hadn't mastered the magic she was still knowledgeable on it, and could aid him in understanding it better. her tie in into hypnotism and Rhysol was a clear example, reminding him of the Chaon curse he'd left on her. Left with him wondering what it'd done.

As she spoke on hypnotism and said she planned to use it on the hound, Clyde focused out his aura sight and sent out twin tendrils, one to examine Rye and one for Sayana. Perhaps, he thought to himself, he'd understand the magic better if he saw both ends of it as it was in progress. If nothing else he'd become that much better at recognizing the particular magic from its aura residue and signs, and that much more familiar with Sayana's unique djed trace.

As he watched the felt the tingle and hum of the djed coming active, reverberating within Sayanan's aura. He felt her aura, saw the bloom of the purple lights shimmering on the edges of her aura. He watched as the light and sound broke off, extending and latching onto Rye's aura in turn. He watched as the bits of the extensions broke off, latching onto and sinking into Rye's aura, the taint of the djed mixing with the aura and its color mixing and diffusing into the grey-black aura of the hound.

Her aura appeared to almost be injecting a bit of it into Rye's aura, though when she was done her aura didn't seem diminished at all from the forced injection of djed.

Once she was done Clyde nodded, pondering her words and her actions and her magic of the day.

“You know, you never did tell me, how did you learn hypnotism, who taught you? Also, what was the process by which you learned it? I know the processes for learning many magics, how it is done, but I've not heard of how one becomes initiated into hypnotism. What was your initiation? I don't know if I'll learn it or not, but I'd rather know how and never use it than to not know and one day wish to learn, or to need to know how it is learned.”

[Sayana]

When the mage began asking her about the origins of her hypnotism, she seemed to freeze. Thoughts swirled within her. Panic, fear, regret. Regret for bringing up her hypnotism so obviously so that he might ask such. Had he still been focusing on her aura, it might appear in disarray to reflect her emotions, but her face remained a mask.

If she told him how she obtained her magic, what leverage would she have left? Sure, there was the knowledge of how to refine it, but already she had given ample details about how to apply hypnotism. Would she still be of use? Might he just simply throw her overboard on the ship back to Syliras during some raging storm… Storm. He could control a storm.

She yanked her train of thought back with a brief shake of her head and several blinks of her eyes. She had been silent and unmoving for longer than one might expect to answer such a question.

“Sorry. It was, it was a trying experience.” Sayana apologized to cover her brief lapse. “The memory of it…”

But what else could she do? Clyde had held up his end of the bargain and had taught her auristics. And far more, for that matter. She had actually been trying to prove her own worth by sharing her knowledge on hypnotism. But if he exhausted that knowledge… She could feel her heart racing in her chest and she tried to counteract it with slow steady breaths. In, and out.

“I didn’t have a proper teacher at the time. Not a teacher like you. Plus I was trying to find my magic at the same time. It was not the most elegant situation.”

She paused again. She was still able to stall, or not tell the whole story. But it would be painfully obvious if she did. And if Clyde asked for more but she refused… it would look rather bad on her part and might result in an even worse outcome. Sucking in a deep breath of air, she continued the story.

“You see, when I was last in Alvadas, I had purchased a slave. Young, beautiful. However, when I wanted to brand her as my own, she had the nerve, or sense, to try to dissuade me. Magically that is. But when I realized she was tampering with my mind, I made her teach me in exchange for not branding her.” By now Sayana had calmed significantly. She had made up her mind that the best solution was to trust the mage. To stall or deny him the information would have certainly proved worse.

“I didn’t succeed at first. I wanted to do it all in that very night. It was all rather frustrating, especially since my slave knew something I couldn’t grasp. I can make people feel things without magic. Fear, anger, confidence, love… So I was half tempted to give up on it completely. Except there had been something more to this hypnotism. Something I needed to know and I needed to find out how it worked.” As she continued the story, her voice would lilt gently with the inflections of the phrases. Even her pauses seemed to draw attention to the story, and should Clyde interrupt, he would be met with a swift glare.

“I didn’t succeed on that first night with N- with my slave. Despite trying ever so hard to pass an emotion into her mind. She told me I needed calm and quiet, and that I needed to sit in front of a mirror for days upon days until everything became meaningless. It was only about half a season later that I tried again. And I found mirrors. Lots of mirrors. So many that I swear the whole house was made of mirrors. It was fitting, though in Alvadas you never really know what is real and what is not.”

“I meditated, if you will. I had to empty my mind of all emotions, or fill it with all the emotions in the world. I can’t quite remember. Maybe it was both. The illusions stopped making sense. Not like they usually make sense, but it was more surreal than normal. Colours went inverted, my reflection danced beyond my grasp. I was falling, falling, and then I couldn’t breathe.”

The Eypharian frowned trying to recall it and make sense of it. “In some ways it was like auristics, but in other ways different. There was a lot of mental focus, and…” Her voice trailed off as a certain realization hit her. “For auristics you asked me to read my own aura first. My first ‘spell’ of hypnotism was hypnotising myself.”

“Now don’t laugh,” she spoke swiftly. “While it might seem trivial, or redundant, it’s kind of like tickling yourself. It’s not necessarily so obvious. But when I stared in the mirror, or mirrors, for goddess knows how long, I tried to make myself move my hand, ever so slightly. To lift it up. Up and up and up. And then without conscious effort, my hand was in the air.”

She paused, almost as if trying to make sense of her own story after knowing what she knew about magic now. “I don’t know how much this means to you. You study magic and you know it differently. This… I relied on my feelings and the way I naturally interact with people, and made my guesses and conclusions from that. I use magic to enhance what I already know and what I already do. It’s like an extension or a step up from what I do already. The only real trick, well, the biggest trick, was harnessing my inner magic to it. If I were to truly give you a lesson on hypnotism, I’d give you a lesson on people first. How do you make people feel scared, or angry, or confident, or energized without magic? Then apply the same techniques while harnessing one’s djed.”

Credit: Shimoje

[Clyde Sullins]

It didn't take an Aurist to see the Hypnotists reaction, to how she felt and behaved in response to being questioned on her learning of the magic and how it was learned.

Clyde filed it away as a fact, though now that the question had been dropped he couldn't take it back. Whether or not he would have taken it back if he could he was less sure.

He paused, giving her time to think, to speak, and was in the end rewarded by an explanation.

He listened to the story, the story of how she learned the magic, and the story of the process of learning it that she'd gone through.

Listening her came to understand the principles of the initiation. Enough that he could try to initiate himself if he wished to, or perhaps if he wished to initiate another. That, the latter, seemed more likely a reason for him to use the knowledge. Perhaps he'd find someone else who would be more useful to him with hypnotism, and whom he could initiate by this indirect knowledge of a user of the magic.

“I understand enough. Most of the initiations I know of have common elements, though I would lump them into a few groupings. This seems in the more common inward and meditative initiation. Ones that if its not your first and you know how to handle and touch your djed, and with enough time, you can learn it by yourself. Some of the other ones, one of the other groupings of personal magic, are the ones you can't learn yourself. The ones you must be forcibly initiated into by a user. Reimancy is one of those.”

“With those its not about knowledge, or following certain steps, but about undergoing the ritual only capable of being performed by another who already knows how to use the magic. Those tend to be the more difficult initiations for both involved. Be glad yours are both some of the easier to learn ones, and not requiring such forced initiation.”

“As for how you do it, acting on instinct, doing, is the mark of a personal magic. Its less about formal learning, and more about practice and learning by doing and experimenting, activated and controlled by will. So not having an exact conscious understanding of the specific steps, thats common among personal mages. They don't need such things in order to do their magic, and not fully understand how or why it works isn't needed, just that it does. World magic isn't like that. I'm a world mage, so in part perhaps because of that I look at things a bit differently, and understand things a bit differently, even personal magics.”

Heading over to his pack, Clyde rooted through, looking for something. Finally after a chime or two, he found a copy of a small book mixed in among his writing tools and materials. On the front of the book was written the title and the author- "A Treatise on Reimancy: by Clyde Sullins".

Clyde carefully handed Sauana the copy of the book, smiling as he did.

“You expressed interest in the magic. This has a good bit of knowledge on it, that I wrote awhile back. Perhaps it would clear up some things.”

[Sayana]

Sayana listened as he seemed to accept her explanation. In fact, it oddly seemed like he understood the initiation better than she did herself. Apparently there were other initiations that were much more invasive and forced. A flicker of surprise showed on her face when he mentioned that reimancy was one of them. He also distinguished between personal magic and world magic. The former making far more sense to her, and the latter one which she was glad not to have used. He certainly fit the description of a world mage better, how he was so fixated upon spells, techniques, concepts and theories.

However, when he dug out the book and handed it to her, she was genuinely quite surprised. A small part of her wanted to just hand it back, saying that she didn’t read, but her curiosity won out.

“I, um… thank you Clyde.” She managed to reply without sounding too blunt.

It was small, and he seemed to handle it with care. She took it in one of her high hands and delicately opened it. Words, words, and more words. Not even a token picture or decoration. Closing it again, she noticed the few words that formed the title. Mouthing out the letters and whispering softly under her breath, she read the title. “A Treatise on Reimancy” Reimancy? Was this what he meant about being curious about the magic?

As her eyes glanced back down at the book, she stared at his name. There was puzzlement, almost perplexity as she looked at the letters. She felt like she had seen it before, but only now did it seem like there was something wrong, something off about it. Her eyebrows narrowed and she read it once, twice, three times… No, she wasn’t reading it wrong. It was exactly like that. Exactly how it was written. She glanced up at the mage a couple of times, clearly disconcerted, but it took her more than one attempt to finally speak up about it.

“Clyde,” she said as she pointed to his name on the book. “Why is your name spelt with a ‘y’?”

OOCThis will be my last post. I think things are wrapped up here. Feel free to post if you like, though the question is meant to be rhetorical for all ooc purposes and it can just be left like that.

Credit: Shimoje