Young Spider [Closed]

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

5th Winter, 510 A.V. "That's it," said Petya, the weaver. It was appropriate, Sama'el supposed, for a master weaver to be skilled with the Web as well, but he was surprised to find so young a man a master of anything. Petya was older than him by several years, but still. It made him respect the man all the more, as much as he would any elder, and gave him another person to model himself after. Sama'el had stopped trying to pretend the Web wasn't there so the lines of light didn't distract him from his more mundane, day to day activities, but here in Petya's pavilion, he was being encouraged to look. He wasn't sure how Petya could tell that he was looking, but perhaps it was just encouragement. But look he did, and see he did. Daed had opened his eyes to this most Drykas of disciplines, and he wondered whether it was something anyone could learn after being initiated or if it was a particularly strong skill among his people. He wondered if there was something special about him that he could practice it, albeit inexpertly for the time being. "I see it," he confirmed. "You have a lot of lines running into here. I guess that makes sense, though. This is where you and your family sleep and spend time together and... what's that?" He saw a smaller web woven around a small wooden chest, craved with flowing horses and glyphs. "Good eye," approved his young mentor. "That's where I keep my treasures, and I made a specific web to surround it. Anyone who touches it will leave a mark that I can read and follow. Of course, I don't imagine anyone will steal anything from my pavilion, but people can be curious, and I have young children who might take it into their heads to play with things that might prove too dangerous for them. So you see." Sama'el nodded thoughtfully, wondering whether he had anything in particular he should so Web. "And I will have to pull my Windrunner into my personal Web," Sama'el mused, "but not Dohaina." "No, the Striders are born already connected. It's part of the mystery. They're a gift from the gods, and they use the Web to help them run. They aren't exactly Leechers, but they can use it. And that is one of the reasons we have to repair the Web as we travel, because if they are in the middle of a crisis, they can't always draw from the Web gently..." "I see," he said, and he did, though he was also following the various lines of Web energy around the room. "All right, Sama'el. Now I am going to go into a trance and do a bit of weaving. I want you to breathe in sync with me and watch what I do. When I am done -- you'll know -- I want you to step out of yourself and into the Web. But don't go anywhere. Baby steps." Sama'el nodded, turning his gaze to Petya, breathing more mindfully, and using Petya's own breathing as his guide.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

As Sama'el watched, the weaver stepped out of his body. He could see the vague outline of a man, silvery and almost reflective, while at the same time translucent. There were qualities of light that only seemed to make sense on the energetic spectrum of the Web. Soon it was more readily recognizable as Petya, and the figure winked at him. Sama'el smiled, still letting his breath pattern follow that of the empty body. They were safe here, of course, but Sama'el could easily have stepped over and broken Petya's neck. There was a level of trust required when leaving one's body in the presence of another. Petya's spiritform began to spool djed out of its own substance, and he saw the fingers of his body twitching with movement as if to mirror what was being done on an energetic level around them. He poured that energy into the web around his chest, making the lines shine all the brighter with renewed vigor. His hand brushed the spherical construct of lines, tracing a glyph in the air, which appeared to key the Web, which expanded, making enough room for Petya to stick his hand through and touch the box without tripping a line. He glanced to Sama'el, who nodded. As the little Web contracted again, Sama'el pulled himself out of his body without help. It was a little painful and slow going, but it was better than having to be pulled out by someone else. Concentrating on his self-image, a sort of spiritform began to manifest that corresponded with the body he was used to. Petya touched him, spiritform to spiritform, and images and words passed between them until Sama'el nodded again, knowing what to do. He reached out and touched the Web, which turned a bloody red in warning. Though he had no body at present, it felt as though his hand had been burned. He drew it away quickly, but had no breath to cool it. Glancing at Petya, his guide slowly showed him the glyph that would unlock the trap. After several repetitions, Sama'el could draw it with ease, and he began to draw it right flush against the little Web, spilling a bit of his own djed out of his fingertip for ink, and the Web expanded again. Politely, he did not put his hand in, and Petya touched it, which made it contract again. The weaver pointed to a line traveling from the little Web to the larger Web that scored through his Pavilion, and Sama'el drew the glyph-key again, then took a hold of the ley-line. As he did so, he experienced things in reverse: the feeling of invasion, a red glow and Sama'el's own surprised face cast in silver; a feeling of invigoration and expansion, energizing support from Petya; then a long stream of tedium before the fleshly face of a toddler attempting to touch it, knocking the contents over and ... He let go of the ley-line, not wanting to continue in reverse as it made his brain feel funny. Eventually he would get used to that. Petya's spiritform seemed pleased, though, and beckoned to him before following that ley-line out of the pavilion. Sama'el could but follow him.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Outside the comforting dimness of the tent, Sama'el's eyes were all but blinded by the sudden sunlight. Outside his body, he could see the energy as it was, a rain of energy striking every surface, bouncing around into a chaos of refracted and reflected colors whose underlying order was too complex for him to fathom. When he could sift through the energetic information and see more clearly, he noted that Petya had paused for him. Of course, the web weaver would know how difficult some things would be for an apprentice. But when Petya moved, Sama'el followed. He found that the more he moved, the easier it became. This was, of course, logical. Soon they were beyond the bounds of Petya's pavilion, and then beyond the bounds of Endrykas proper, and the informational noise began to thin out and become less overwhelming. They raced outward across the sun-dappled prairie, faster than a Strider at full-tilt gallop. They must have gone nearly a hundred miles when Petya slowed, slowed, and stopped. His silvery form turned to Sama'el and held out his hand as if to warn him off from traveling further. Indeed, the apprentice felt as if he were stretched and pulled, an ache in his 'belly' where the cord connected him with his body. He nodded to Petya, then looked where his mentor was pointing. The ley-line they had followed was part of the greater Web, which was too complex for him to figure out who had laid this line even though there were fewer lines out this far. But it was good to know limits, and Petya seemed to be showing them to him. The mentor swooped farther out beyond what Sama'el felt he was capable. But he returned, and Sama'el nodded. Satisfied, Petya moved back toward Endrykas, but at an angle from their previous trajectory. Sama'el followed, picking up speed again and finding that it was easier to travel back toward his body than away, most likely due to the cord of energy attaching him. There must have been a sort of elasticity to it. When Petya slowed and stopped a second time, Sama'el saw a smaller Web, more simple and easily assimilated. Glancing at Petya's soul-form, his mentor indicated the little Web, so Sama'el reached out to hold it.

[Mycroft]

- Sama'el -
"What's that?"

Experience:
Webbing: +5

Lores:
Guided By a Mentor
Petya's Treasure Box
Personal Webs for Specific Use

Notes: Freaky thread. o_o I just learned a TON of stuff about webbing. The only thing that got me was the Petya NPC. I'm new around here so I don't know if it's established. I can't see your storyteller secrets, but I saw no mention of Petya in your CS. It was my understanding that any master NPC had to be modded by a Storyteller, but I'm not 100% sure. However, as a mod yourself (you're the vet here), I should think you have an understanding of the rules and I may be missing something. I haven't been able to contact Mix, but I assume he gave you permission.

Regardless, what Sama'el did on his own WAS well involved and was within his skill level, so I feel comfortable awarding a full 5 points. Cool beans!