Completed Learning New Ways To Use Familiar Things II

[Tazrae]

Timestamp: 40th of Spring, 522 A.V.

The Mulgon smiled at her, his fanged mouth beautiful in the genuineness of the emotion. He reached out his hand, took hers firmly in his, and linked their fingers. Then Tazrae felt it clearly… his djed was like a curious serpent reaching out and entwining with her soul core. He didn’t dip down into her djed pool like she’d been taught to do as a mage. Instead, a sense of him filled her everywhere, as if his entire being slipped into hers – like his physical body wasn’t big enough to contain him. Taz gasped and his hand tightened around hers.

“Suspend what you know, Tazrae. And come into me.” He coaxed, his djed tugging on hers and teaching her how much more she could be. Taz let go of her physical form and felt herself spread, bigger and bigger, far bigger than she’d ever felt before. There would have been no courage for that if not for the creature's hand linked to hers. She slid into Zethas as if he were a mold built around her spiritual shape. And then she felt it fully. It wasn’t a split so much as an expansion of awareness. As he was within her with his power, she was within his and they were linked up. His incredible djed pool was hers to use and she could feel him slipping down and investigating her own.

It was an energetic blending on a scale she couldn’t even begin to describe. She just ‘knew’ him then. His age stretched out behind him and she realized he’d lived thousands of years. He was a creature of patience and observation. He was a thinker and scholar of sciences and arts. He wasn’t so much a denizen of the jungle either. He was more, so much more, than that. He was connected to it in ways that let him be in many places at once through his expansive awareness.

It put a new flavor to ‘Guardian of Pavena’ for her. All the old ones were something like him and could do things akin to what he could do. But the Mulgon was unique unto himself and she knew immediately the rules of djed as she knew them didn’t apply to him. And if she wanted, they didn’t have to apply to her either. Time would, at least for now.

She looked out of his eyes, linked to him as she was, and gasped. He saw things so differently than she did. She saw a thousand shades of green and brown, earth tones upon earth tones. She saw the wild growing wild; life upon life. The Mulgon did not see as she did. He saw in shapes and music, waves of sound feeding him information that his brain processed.

She inherently understood without the link what he saw and how he saw it would make no sense to her own brain which was not equipped to process as The Mulgon processed things. But she had his knowledge, and sunk into him she had his ability to see as he saw. And he showed her how he saw her. She was a tangible song, a complex melody of swirling shapes and colors. It was appealing, and she almost reached out as if to touch herself but in his perspective, he saw notes rise from her and stretch out, as if to embrace him.

[Tazrae]

Taz laughed, dropped her arms, and the music that made her up shifted, changed octaves, got happier, lighter, and filled with wonder.

The Mulgon smiled slowly, and Taz saw it from her human eyes and felt it from her linkage to him. “You can learn this way.” He said simply, and thus linked, he began to teach her. And it was stunning, how limited language was to him. There was so much more behind his words than just the ideas themselves. And so they both fell silent and began to speak on an energetic level, exchanging concepts and shapes in the form of music and energy. Zethas slowly began to show her the fundamentals of shifting djed, transferring his djedpools to hers, and transferring her djedpools to his.

Then, when she had a handle on linking to him and transferring djed back and forth, he demonstrated a simplistic spell using Reimancy. He lifted his hand into the real world, and Taz watched through her human eyes, banking the music and shapes for a moment to pay attention to her whole core. He used her skill – her Reimancy – to form the sphere of water above his palm. Taz felt him pull the talent from her. She felt him utilize her djed pool. It didn’t hurt her but it struck her then how dangerous this could be. If he wanted, he could drain her dry, overgive her into death, and steal her abilities. She could see that he could not use them at her full strength, but he could still use them. She didn’t know if that lasted beyond death.

“No… not beyond death. Just until your life is over, no further, and only while we are linked.” He said instead. “This is why this ability was taken from humans. They used it to enslave others with large djed pools. They would use the energy to power flying ships and machines that would do things for them… like run cities and dam rivers.” Taz didn’t understand what that meant until he pulled her deeper into the linkage and she saw whole cities powered by a central thing… a mainframe … that acted like a brain for things that didn’t have souls and weren’t living. Cities. Settlements. Even Pavena had been powered thusly. Pre-Valterrian cities lived and died by the enslaved djed of people who were unwilling. Taz was horrified. She knew that slavery existed, but this was far beyond what she understood slavery as being. Taz had never been a slave nor known anyone enslaved other than Shiress… and she’d only met Shiress when she was free.

“Does Pavena’s mainframe still operate?” Tazrae asked, thinking back to Talia who had mentioned it a time or two.

Zethas considered this and looked thoughtfully in Tazrae’s human eyes for a long moment. “It’s possible. I’ll have to investigate. I’m not sure how it could be functioning after this long, but they might have had other sources of djed to keep it operational. Why do you ask?” He queried, concerned slightly.

Since they were still linked, Taz just opened her memories up to him about Talia, and her comments, and had Zethas nodding. “The library had one and I don’t see why it still isn’t operational. It was ran not by stolen djed but by the energy of the sun, which is a djed freely given. If we start teaching you about plants, you’ll have to understand the sun sheds djed as well, and plants collect djed like people want food. They take that light, eat it, and convert it into their own form of power. The library’s mainframe was like that. It wasn’t like the one that powered Pavena. There’s only one still functional, as far as I know, and that is the one at Sahova that is run by a very talented golem.” He added.

[Tazrae]

“I know about that because Sahova has one of the oldest most advanced mainframes. Its central golem is fierce.” He added, gently pulling out of the link slightly so she could hear his common, and stop feeling the powerful emotions he had surrounding the past marvels of the world before it was destroyed.

Then they were speaking again, in words, but their words were punctuated by images and feelings, by music and emotions. It was easier for Tazrae. She clearly saw Drainira as Zethas knew her for a moment in his thoughts and in his words. He also knew something else… that she had four marks, did that golem, from a god that made puppets. And Zethas’ wariness was tangible as he shared that thought with Tazrae. There was a name to go with the god… Sagallius, but she’d never heard of the deity before. He couldn’t have been more clear with his warning. And all Tazrae could do was shiver. Drainira was some sort of champion of someone or something so dark Tazrae didn’t want to know more.

She already had nightmares from her research on monsters in Mizahar. She knew there were other kinds of monsters, so many, too many, but she hoped the mainframe Talia talked about wasn’t one such creature. If it was, Syka was in trouble. But she could feel Zethas’ certainty and reassurance. There was no mainframe here run by a champion golem from a God darker than any she’d yet encountered. Taz could almost feel the nightmares creeping in on her… tied by her arms and legs to a marionette’s strings… made to dance this way and that.

Zethas intervened. His quiet cool confidence washed over her as he took her under his literal wing, wrapping one of the membranous limbs around her and comforting her. “You have no fear of that. Those days are long gone and Sahova is far from here.” He assured her, knowing it was quite true. “The island is inhabited by the undead that would not survive the damp heat and humidity of the jungle. While life thrives here, there is no place for undeath.” He rumbled, washing music through her djed which was comforting and almost seductive in its ability to help her relax.

“So you said you’d show me how to manipulate the djed of plants.” She reminded him, needing to get her mind off what he had revealed.

Zethas nodded, then glanced around. He released his wing from around her and then shifted so he was not hanging upside down anymore, but so he twisted and landed lightly on his feet. “Let’s talk about what you need to do for your new discipline.” He said, studying her on an eye-to-eye level. They were still linked, so Tazrae could see how he saw her and he could see how she saw him. It was an odd displacement, but one she was slowly growing used to.

“Do we need to stay linked to do this?” She asked.

The Mulgon nodded. “Easier. You can see how I do what I do without me having to explain it.” He added, then tossed a gentle question at her. “Why do you want to manipulate plants?” He asked thoughtfully, trying to get to the entire angle of what Tazrae was about in asking some of the question she had and doing some of the work she’d indicated she’d done.

[Tazrae]

The bard smiled. “That’s actually an easy answer. Plants are everywhere around here. They grow with such abundance and to such great size, that I thought it would be very handy and a good compromise rather than tearing them down, clearing land, and building structures of dead stone… that we coax plants to grow in a way that would make it easiest for us to live in them, be sheltered by them, without so much death and destruction.” She added, building a picture in her mind as to what she wanted to do.

She imagined the house she wanted to live in…. on Garden Beach… a big oval affair with a reimanced fountain in the middle and rooms flowing off the outside edges all encircling sheltering trees. The floors would be live-growing planks and the walls woven trunks of trees that parted when windows were needed and air circulation was required. The ceiling would be woven boughs, tightly knit together to keep out the weather and more importantly the rain. She could picture it all around her, beautiful, natural, and welcoming to humans and Ixam alike. It would be outdoor living indoor and indoor living outdoors with live blooming flowers forming arrangements on quaint kitchen tables rather than cut flowers that would only wilt and die. It was a big dream, but Zethas had already assured her that she could do it easily enough.

So once she was done explaining to him what it was she wanted to do, he nodded. “That should be easy enough. You’ll need whatever base plant you want… if say you want a Kopak tree to use as your base, you’ll need a seed or an already living tree. “ Taz happened to have one on her but she wasn’t going to say that. Her Kopak Tree seed wasn’t something she utilized for this sort of thing. It was a secret shelter. Luckily, Zethas launched off the limb they were perched on, winged around, and dropped to the ground. He winged back up to the limb once more, a small Kopak seed in his hand. With that, he was ready for the next section of his lesson for Tazrae.

“Taste my essence… feel it from your senses. And use the linkage we have active to watch what I do.” He said, causing Tazrae to let her eyelids drift closed as she literally became one with him as he tapped into the seed’s djed and thoroughly examined it. He carefully fed his own djed into the seedling, blended it with the djed of the tree, and infused the essence of the plant with his power.

The seed ‘woke’ almost immediately, began to rock in the Mulgon’s hand, and sprouted. It fed on Zethas’ djed and began to grow, throwing up a sprout with feathery delicate roots bursting from the hard seed coat. It wanted to be big. It wanted to drop its roots and grow. And Taz could sense immediately that if the Mulgon kept feeding it djed, he could have it grown into a whole tree in almost no time. Its capacity to grow was directly linked to its capacity to be fed djed, defying time and defying Caiyha’s natural laws. Her question was immediate.

[Tazrae]

“Will this offend Caiyha or even Kihala?” Taz asked.

The Mulgon shook his head. “No, because there is a reason why you are doing this. What this will result in is far preferable to clearing land, milling wood, and all the other things that must be done to make a home. With this, you are drawing yourself closer to them and with Caiyha’s mark as you do, you will have an even clearer voice to the tree.” He added, knowing that this demonstration was all that Tazrae really needed to get her going on the magic.

“So this is all that it really is?” She asked, shifting her position, having sat too long.

The Mulgon laughed. “So impatient. No, this is not it.” He said, gently extracting himself from Tazrae and booting her gently out of his link. When she blinked and everything in her world was back to normal, he continued to explain.

“Not to much not to fast. Humans are fragile. You can control the growth rate and patterning of the plant, but there is more to that. If you get really good at it, you can combine two plants to create a new hybrid. If you get even better, you can combine multiple plants and create whole new species of plants. And if you master it, you should be able to just borrow plant traits – say the flowers or the size or even the scent – and make whole new plants. But first… first you control growth shape and size.” He said, insistent.

“Take things slowly. Find your limits. Test them as you find them. Build something small… a room or a tiny project, then add on to it. Houses get built one element at a time. Do that… build it one element at a time.” He said, smiling at her.

“Now… we’ve talked long enough today. Come back in a day or two… and we’ll see where you are at.” He said with a fanged smile.

Tazrae nodded, offering him a smile. “Why are you teaching me all of this?” She asked abruptly. “In the human world, knowledge is guarded and only jealously given out.” She said, raising a caramel eyebrow.

The Mulgon grinned. “I’ve tasted your essence. You will share as one of my people would share. That’s why I teach you. It won’t die with you.” He said, as she stretched and shouldered her backpack.

“Thank you.” She said, leaning over and giving him a kiss on both his cheeks before starting across the upper stretch of the jungle, more than ready to go home and ruminate on the knowledge she just gained.

Words: 2745

[Tazrae]

Grading!

Tazrae –

Linkage + 5, Reimancy +1, History +2, Research +5, Florabundance +4

Linkage: Linking With The Mulgon, Zethas: The Shape And Form Of His Spirit And Body Viewed Via Linkage, Linkage: Energetic Blending Between Two Mages, Linkage: Can Feel/Clearly See/Use Djedpools of Those Linked Up, Zethas: Thousands Of Years Old, Zethas: Rules Of Djed Didn’t Apply To Him, Zethas: Seeing Through His Eyes – So Many More Shades Of Color, Linkage: Understanding The Other Linked Person, Linkage: Music Within Its Boundaries, Linkage: Can Teach Through The Links, Linkage: Can Exchange Thoughtforms And Concepts, Linkage: Dangers Of Having Abiltiies Stolen – Djedpool Drained Dry, Linkage: Taken From Humans Due To Their Abuse Of It, Linkage: Humans Used Linkage To Sail Ships, Run Cities, Dam Rivers, Linkage: The Use Of A Mainframe, History: Prevalterrian Cities Enslaved Using Linkage, Pavena: Has A Mainframe/Might Be Still Active, Reclaimed Knowledge: Has A Mainframe, Sahova: Ran By A Golem That Acts Like A Mainframe, Linkage: Language Doesn’t Need To Be Used To Exchange Ideas, Linkage: Demonstrates The Limit Of Language, Sahova: Sagallius and Drainira’s Involvement In The City, Linkage: Can Be Comfortingly Honest, Undead: Would Not Survive The Humidity/Heat Of Falyndar, Linkage: Using Linkage To Teach Florabundance, Florabundance: Coaxing Plants To Grow Certain Ways, Florabundance: Replaces Mansonry and Woodworking, Florabundance: Involves Architecture, Florabundance: Takes Seeds To Sow, Florabuandance: Waking A Seed, Florabuandance: Coaxing A Seed Into Growing Specific Ways, Florabundance: Capacity To Grow Based On Capacity To Be Fed Djed, Florabundance: Places Mage Closer To Caiyha/Kihala Rather Than In Opposition, Linkage: How To Break A Link/Extract Oneself From One, Florabuandance: Can Control Growth Rate And Patterning Of Plant, Florabundance: The Ability To Combine Multiple Plants And Create Whole New Species, Florabundance: Take Things Slow, Start Small, Do A Singular Room First Rather Than A Whole Home, The Mulgon: Teaching Her Because She Will Share The Knowledge