Completed Sublteties of Aeromancy

[Kynier]

84th of Summer 518 A.V.

When Kynier descended into the basement he was carrying with him five unlit candles. The Training room was always fairly dark until every one of the torches and sconces were lit. Most of the time, Kynier would only light a couple of them which would create numerous long shadows to dance across the room. Zavath lingered nearby but kept a distance from the young Nightstalker as it always did. The older shadow was an oddity to Kynier, the way it was civil yet only ever engaged with Kynier in the interest of the Favored. When Kynier finished giving light to the Training room he took a moment to greet all the shadows before beginning his set up.

Kynier shifted some equipment around to allow for a suitable clear space on the ground. Mentally, he made a note that they should begin reserving some funds for another expansion of the Midnight Gem. One that would generate another room in the basement for the purposes of training their magic. While the Training room allowed some space, it would not be long before Kynier reached a point where it would be too dangerous to exercise his power in a way that improved his abilities. Still, a plan for the future. If he reached that point and they still did not have funding, it would provide all the more reason to focus on his love’s abilities rather than his own.

Once the space had been made, Kynier set the five candles down in a straight line. He set each of them down with only a few inches to separate each of them. Kynier took a step back to critique their set up from a distance. He decided to adjust them and set them closer together. The second element of his Reimancy, Air, was not as simple as Fire. The mage thought that it would have been a simpler element to manipulate and control but was very wrong. Once Fire had been made it was only set or thrown somewhere. Beyond that, controlling the intensity of its burn. Air was… more involved.

When each of the candles were lit Kynier stepped back once and sat down on the ground. His eyes settled on the base of the center candle. The five of them were in a straight line from left to right before him. The small light was not harmful to his eyes so long as he did not focus on them directly. With one last adjustment to his posture, Kynier took a deep breath and began meditation. Crisp air filled his lungs as the mage focused on removing all distractions from his mind. On occasion, the sight of Kelski’s eyes and smile would interrupt his thoughts. As welcoming as the distraction was, he pushed it aside so that his mind could be calm.

After that, he meditated in a way to make his mind forgetful of his own body. To ignore the comfortable cold of the basement as well as the hard surface of the floor he sat on. After several chimes of slow breathing, Kynier had entered a state of being almost completely devoid of thought and sensation. When his body was in a self-induced state of numbness, he turned his thoughts inward to retrieve the Djed at the core of his soul. With nothing blocking his mental effort, Kynier was able to delve into his soulcore faster than he ever had before. He took mental hold of the Djed and pulled it to his hand, where it transmuted into a gaseous res that settled above his open palm.

Kynier focused his intent on the res and his will to not create Air, but to collect it from the surrounding environment. The word he chose to associate with the intet was the only one he could think of that closely described the process. Inhale. Kynier felt the power activate and the air around his hand brushing over the skin of his fingers.

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Kynier]

Mentally, Kynier pushed on the small collection of Air that was forming above his hand. The unused res was sent closer to the burning candles. It was not until it had settled less than a foot away from the center candle that a couple of their flames began to flicker. But not all of them. The warm sensation of Djed continued to flow out through Kynier’s arm as he attempted to a firmer intention on the concept. Still, only two of the candles began to flicker as the air was pulled through them. Kynier willed the growing mass of air to hover even closer to the candles. When it was six inches away, another of the candle’s flames began to dim and flicker. None were put out from a lack of air to burn.

When he released his control over the collection of air that had been forming, Kynier watched to see if there was any visible sign of its existence. Briefly, it had appeared as though a very very faint fog had been forming. That quickly vanished and the candles themselves continued to burn undisturbed. Kynier looked around and realized that he did not have his reimancy journal with him. With a small grumble, he stood up and began climbing the stairs to go and retrieve it. The shadows whispered after him, to which he merely responded in their Makathian, “I’ll be right back. I am fetching my journal so that I can make notes.”

Ebon was assisting a customer in the show room and was too involved to notice Kynier coming up from the basement or heading up to the living areas. Workers from Rodgers and Rodgers were still working on the first expansion. Having added a proper kitchen and several more bedrooms, the place would feel less crammed. Kynier moved through the small field of debris and tools to make his way to the master study where he kept his journals. There was one for Reimancy, one for Shielding, and one for Voiding. The Voiding had not been started and the Shielding only had one entry thus far. Reimancy had taken most of his attention in an effort to reach a point where he would feel comfortable with himself trying to Initiate someone else into the discipline. And someone special at that.

Grabbing the Reimancy journal, as well as a vial of ink, Kynier made his way back down to the Training room. He sat down on the bottom stair and opened the book to begin taking note of what had just occurred a few chimes ago.



Eighty-Fourth of Summer, in the year of 518 A.V.

In continuing with my research in the discipline, I have begun to expand on the next basic concept of elemental control for Air. Collection of a preexisting resource. With Air, it is in profound abundance unlike Fire. Several burning candles had been set when making the effort to determine how wide of an area the Air is collected from. From the first effort the result was that only the Air within a single foot of the Res collection was affected. Perhaps in time, a much more impressive range can be accomplished.

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Kynier]

Setting the journal and the quill down, Kynier relocated himself back onto the ground a few feet away from the five candles. He scratched his chin for a moment in consideration. While performing the elemental attraction was something to work on, in truth, he did not really see the point in doing so. With Fire, it was used as a means of controlling the environment. Either taking from a torch or other light source or, during an extreme emergency, controlling a blaze that had been set. Such a thing had never happened at the Midnight Gem, and with good care it never would either.

His thoughts went back to the fire he had set at the Plantation. The reports of how it had consumed the entire plantation had not taken long to fall under his notice. Kynier felt a deep guilt for he only intended to burn the crop fields. How many people could have died was something that he had considered many times. But the rumors of Sunberth never seemed to care or consider the number of lives lost when it was not about a gang related battle. If magic was no so spurned by the locals, Kynier was sure that he could have controlled the fire well enough with Reimancy to have avoided the loss of a lot of life.

With a mental shake, Kynier returned his mind to the present moment. He was working with Air, not Fire. There was another function of the candles that he wished to utilize. Without further delay, he closed his eyes and reentered his meditation. While he worked at keeping his posture straight, as his mind relaxed so did his body. The thoughts of the Plantation Fire left his mind and the worries of what that would do to the city. When his mind was calm once more, Kynier opened his eyes and stared at the center candle. Kynier reached in to evoke his Djed. When it came forth he was about to direct it into his hand again when a new idea suddenly struck him.

The Djed came to his mouth and took the form of a gaseous res behind his lips. Kynier pursed his lips as he willed the res to transmute into air as he blew. The artificial air propelled from his lips towards the candle line. The three center candles were all snuffed out and left narrow rising columns of smoke from the charred wicks. The outer two candles also flickered as the air had blown by them. The mage gave a thoughtful sigh before standing up. He picked up one of the still burning candles and used it to relight the center three.

When that was done he returned to the bottom stair to begin writing in his journal. A shadow was resting next to it. It was smaller than most shadows and Kynier found its presence a bit strange. “What’s your name?” he asked the small shadow.

“Ejuil. And before you ask, I find your methods rather interesting, Nightstalker.”

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Kynier]

Ejuil spoke with a younger voice than he would have expected from the shadows. Almost, adolescent. The little shadow moved off from the bottom step when Kynier sat down on it. Kynier would have asked Ejuil what it had found so interesting about his methods immediately but did not want to be distracted from the notes he wanted to form at the current moment. He wet the tip of his quill and began to write down his thoughts.


I had shifted my focus for a moment to reattempt a subtle use of aeromancy. In an effort to blow out a single candle from multiple that had been closely set together, I had in fact blown out most of them. The issue most likely is not in the concept but in how I had approached the challenge. Instead of forming the res outside my body I had gathered inside my mouth and literally blew it. The aeromancy was not as finely focused as I would prefer. Having the ultimate goal being able to extinguish a single candle without so much as disturbing the others.


Kynier set the journal aside and stood up. He took a position a few more paces away from the candles than he had before. This time he did not sit down but remaining standing. The changes would make any comparison of results more difficult, but this was by far a much more comfortable approach than sitting on the hard, cold floor. Standing there, Kynier closed his eyes and raised his hands before him to set his fingertips against each other. In his meditation, he breathed in through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. His exhale coursed through the gap between his hands. Djed transmuted into a gas form of res between his hands as he continued to exhale through them.

When the res was ready, Kynier willed it into a small sphere of air. Mentally, he compressed on it to make it as small as possible. When he opened his eyes, he extended his arms. Hands opened so that only the thumbs and pointer fingers were still connected to each other, which made a triangular shape. Through the triangle, the center candle was in the middle of his aim. Kynier sent the sphere forth with a burst of momentum. The sphere of aeromancy did not succeed in blowing out the candle that he had aimed at.

Rather than blowing it out, it struck the candle violently and knocked it over on its side. The small flame did die, but not in the way that Kynier had intended. The only good note was that none of the other candles were affected, though their flames did flicker when the sphere went by. Kynier’s hands dropped to his side, and a shadow began to laugh. There was no need to guess which shadow it was that had found the exercise rather amusing. Rather than inquire to the being’s amusement, Kynier walked over to the candles to realign them and reignite the center.

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Kynier]

Another attempt to extinguish a single candle has ended. While by technical definition it was not a failure, the result was not what had been desired. I had formed a sphere of condensed aeromancy and propelled it at the center candle. What occurred was much more violent than I had intended. One of the Makath speakers has found my attempt amusing enough to laugh. I will inquire to what it was that it found so entertaining.


“What’s so funny Ejuil?” Kynier said in a bit of an agitated tone. Bourin had never laughed at him, though there must have been countless times when it was warranted. So, what was it the shadow found such mirth in?

“Your approach is so Human in thinking. When your subtle effort fails you try something more aggressive in nature, yet you think that it was also subtle.” The small shadows moved around the edge of the candlelight as it spoke. “You formed a sphere, ever consider manipulating the element into something more…” The shadow paused for a long time in search for a way to describe what it was considering. Kynier had not idea what it was thinking of to be able to assist in its ability to articulate. “Narrow and fluid?”

Narrow and fluid? Kynier pondered over that for a moment. He guessed by narrow Ejuil had meant something not as large as a sphere. Perhaps something as small as a pebble? But fluid? The second word of the description was what really rattled his thoughts. Kynier set a knuckle to his lips thoughtfully as he sighed. The feeling of his sigh on his fingers was extended as the air… flowed…

“Of course,” he muttered to himself. “Wind moves in currents like a river. So, a single burst is not likely to extinguish a candle without being very aggressive. When it is flowing it… ‘washes’ away the flame.” Kynier took his position again and evoked the Djed once more. When the res came into being, Kynier mentally altered the shape of the wispy gas. Not a free-floating substance, nor a condensed ball, Kynier shaped it into something like a javelin that was less rigid in structure. Breath. The artificial air took form as Kynier propelled it at the center candle with his mind.

The center candle went out and wobbled. While one of the neighboring candle flames flickered slightly, there was no additional effect beyond that. It was not what Kynier ultimately wanted to achieve but it was significantly closer than he was a few chimes ago. In reality, he would want to perform a gentle enough gust over a large enough area to extinguish all the candles in a room. Having the control to be able to do that to a single candle without effecting others would assist with that.

Kynier turned his head to the small shadow. “That was quite helpful, Ejuil.” The mage turned around and went back to his journal to document the advice. As well as document what he had done with said advice.

Boxcode credit goes to Gossamer!

[Kynier]

Grades!

Skill Rewards

• Logic +2
• Meditation +3
• Planning +1
• Reimancy +5
• Research +4
• Writing +3

Lores Learned

• Meditation: Entering a physical state of numbness
• Reimancy: Forming Res inside the mouth
• Reimancy: Using aeromancy to attract the surrounding air
• Reimancy: Using aeromancy to form a condensed sphere of air
• Reimancy: Using aeromancy in a more “narrow and fluid” way