Memories of magic past (Flashback Druidism training)

[Tomasyn Storm]

17th brightening of Junctior, Era XVI


Tomasyn sat in a tree near the beach, drinking rum punch from a cup the size of a thimble. The trees of Ieffreon were different than the one's she was used to, but in a large sense that is why she had come to the island. When she thought of nature, the image that always came to her mind was of verdant green forests full of lush undergrowth. This, she knew, was not accurate- nature was just as much lonely desert wastes and lichen covered rocks projecting from the sea.

Gazing out over the blue waters, Tomasyn thought back to a brightening two eras previous. Today was in fact the anniversary of that brightening, which was the reason for the rum punch. She settled back to lean against the trunk of the tree, thinking of that other time.

[Tomasyn Storm]

It was dark inside the tree. The morning sunlight was subdued by a rim of clouds that lay along the horizon, and by the time it had filtered through this and the leafy canopy overhead and made its way into Tomasyn’s chamber, there was very little of it left.

Tomasyn’s mother shook her a second time. “Wake up,” she said gently. “There is something important you must begin today.”

Tomasyn rolled over, pulling the blanket of woven plant fibers tightly around her neck. “I’ll do it laaattteer mom.”

“Twillit is here now.”

Tomasyn sat up in bed and looked around the chamber, bleary-eyed. Twillit was the leader of the local colony of fairies, as much as it could be said that they had one. Tomasyn was not sure what was going on but knew that she would have to get up, and she did so now. She stood, stretched, flapped her wings a few times, and descended the narrow staircase behind her mother, groggily scratching herself. Twillit was waiting in the front chamber. She stood rather than sat, but she wore a relaxed expression as she turned to face her hosts.

“Serale and good morning,” she said. Tomasyn blinked the sleep out of her eyes and then said “Serale” in return.

“I will get straight to the point. This brightening you will be unbound. This morning as a matter of fact. I have a mission for you and it is time for you to learn Druidism in preparation for it.”

[Tomasyn Storm]

Tomasyn’s mother looked concerned, but she said nothing. Tomasyn looked from one to the other. “A mission? Huh?”

“You know, she is still quite young,” her mother said, her voice betraying nervousness.

“She is ready, and I must unbind her now or not at all. Calm yourself, all will be well. Tomasyn, do not worry about the mission yet. Your first thought must be to Druidism, which will require your full attention to learn. Come with me.”

Twillit turned and stepped out the front entrance, her wings catching the still morning air as she lifted lightly away. Tomasyn followed her, still feeling bewildered, and the pair of fairies made their casual way through the dense forest canopy until they came to a large beech tree with a natural hollow near its crown. This was Twillit’s home, and she led the way within.

Twillit gestured for Tomasyn to sit on a couch carved from the substance of the tree. “Tell me what you know of Arcana. What do you expect to happen to you?”

Tomasyn lived among magical people, and was well versed in the basics of the process. She had long known that one day she would herself be unbound and taught magic- druidism being her selection- and if she had not studied the process diligently at least she had paid attention when others spoke of it.
“First I will be Unbound,” Tomasyn said. “This will allow my mind to expand so that I will be able to manipulate arcanic energy. The unbinding will cause me to sleep and have a dream, which may or may not be meaningful. After this I will be able to use a process called Meditation to achieve a state called Clara, from which essence will be visible. I will then learn to Focus my mind and send it to the plane of Nature, and from there Channel essence, which by combining it with my Vis in an Arcalysis reaction will turn into Mana. Finally I will shape this mana into a spell using one of several patterns you will have installed in my head. "

Twillit gave a laugh. Her voice was low for a fairy, and her laugh was resonant. “Good! You have the theory down, or at least the basics of it. You will find that reality is notably different, but still you are guided by your knowledge in the correct direction. Are you ready now?”

Tomasyn admitted that she was.

Twillit reached towards her and made a snatching motion, as if removing a cobweb from Tomasyn’s face, and the girl slumped back in her chair.

[Tomasyn Storm]

Tomasyn found herself high in the air, with the world layed out below her like a painting. The forest was a ruffle of green the rivers smoothly sweeping wiggles of blue, and beyond the forest the farmlands were unnatural squares of brown, gold, and green of a light hue. The lambent sunbeams filled her with a sense of euphoria, and she struck a series of dramatic poses, flitting here and there through the sun-drenched air.

A female voice spoke to her, the sound coming from all directions at once, and Tomasyn immediately understood that it was the voice of Nature speaking, the voice of her goddess Carmelya.

“You appear happy Tomasyn,” the voice said.

“Oh yes! Thank you for this day my lady!” she replied

“You are devout then? You follow me in all things that I ask?”

“Oh yes!” she said again. “Ask and I will do it!”

“Fold your wings then.” The voice said calmly. “Fold your wings and plummet to the ground.”

“My lady?” Tomasyn replied, her voice meek.

“Do you hesitate? Fold your wings and plummet, I believe that is clear enough.”

Still Tomasyn hesitated.

“Why do you not do as I said, as you promised to do?”

“I will my lady, I pause only to mourn the long years of my life which now will not come to be.” She heaved a shuddering sigh and folded her wings.
Tomasyn fell in a lazy spiral, the ground rising up to meet her with a terrible smoothness, but as the tree tops approached she felt herself began to slow. A great invisible hand of such softness that she could scarcely feel it took hold of her, and she was set gently onto a branch.

“Good,” Said the Voice.

“Are you angry?” Tomasyn asked.

“Why do you think I would be angry?” the Voice asked.

“Because I hesitated, because I did not do what you asked immediately.”

The wind laughed through the leaves of the trees about her.

“No child. That was right, that was proper. I do not wish my followers to be puppets, to give over their thinking for me. That is not natural, that is not how things should be. Had you dropped immediately I would have no use for you. As it is…you shall see one brightening.”

The voice fell silent then, and Tomasyn sat for a minute, waiting to see if there would be anything further. Should she go? Should she ask for permission first? The minute passed slowly, and then she realized that this might well be part of the test. She pushed herself off the branch of the tree and took to flight, moving agilely through the upper branches of the tree. Her confidence returned quickly, and she glided down lower, dodging between the trunks of the ancient forest.

She began to smell smoke and headed towards it to see what was the matter. On the way she found an unhatched bird egg decaying in an old nest, and suspecting the source of the soap, lifted it into her arms.

A mile further on Tomasyn found a farmer standing at the edge of the forest, clearing brush by fire so as to expand his farm. It was an effective method of quick brush removal, but dangerous to the forest, and Tomasyn did not approve. Flitting overhead, she dropped the egg so that it impacted with the farmer’s back in a place that would be hard for him to reach.

“Take that!” she cried. “And if I catch you setting fires in the woods again I shan’t be so merciful next time!” The man cursed at her and shook his fist, but her retreated from the fire, allowing it to die. If I am not to be a puppet I shall follow the will of the lady without direction, Tomasyn thought.

[Tomasyn Storm]

When Tomasyn awoke it was the middle of the brightening. She felt listless and enervated, and lay for a time looking at the ceiling, her eyes tracing patterns in the grain of the wood.

“Did the Lady speak to you?” Twillit said.

“Yes,” Tomasyn replied.

“I thought so.”

“Did she really speak to me, or was it just a dream?”

“There’s no way of knowing.”

Twillit brought Tomasyn refreshments; a mug of sweet wine, a plate of honey cakes, and several large nuts served split into strips. Tomasyn ate at a leisurely pace, there seemed to be no reason to hurry.

After a time, Twillit spoke. “I have placed spells in your head so that you will know that patterns instinctively. In many senses you are now a mage and I should congratulate you. However, you still will require much practice before you can cast with ease, even the low level of ease that an initiate such as yourself can hope to achieve. You will cast one spell a day until you have run though your repertoire, and at this point I will end your lessons. Nevertheless you must continue to practice your spells throughout the rest of your life. At first I will guide you, then will allow you to work on your own, and at last I will give you challenges to see how you work under pressure. This is a more rigorous process than you would be treated to in a human university, but we are not humans and must expect more from ourselves. Let us begin.”

“For your first spell you will cast Globe of Fireflies. To begin, you must achieve a state of Clara. This is accomplished by quieting your thoughts and allowing your perceptions to take in the true essence of the world. It is a calm meditative state which cannot easily be described in words, and I will not try. You must find it on your own and I shall not guide you further unless you fail.”

Tomasyn frowned. This seemed less fun than she had hoped now that Twillit was getting stern. She sat up straight in her seat, and then relaxed back slowly against it.

Some people crumble under pressure, worrying too much about failure to achieve success. Some people work well under pressure, using it to bring them focus and drive. Tomasyn fit neither of these categories- she had an unshakable confidence that things would work out the way they were supposed to, and this armor allowed her to shed pressure as a duck sheds water. The minutes past slowly as Tomasyn made a mental inventory of herself, sitting cross-legged on the chair with her eyes opened. Her perception of essence, she reasoned to herself, was already there, she just wasn’t paying attention to it. The meditation could only be to quiet the irrelevant parts of her mind, which she suspected were numerous. 8 minutes later, she found it.

Despite her rather nonchalant attitude what she saw struck her with wonder. She saw it! She saw the essence of the universe, moving over and through her. She saw her connection with all of reality, with nature. She took a quick breath, and let it out in a low “Oooooooh!”

[Tomasyn Storm]

Twillit smiled at her student. “Yes, that’s it. Good work, you were quite fast. Now, you must allow your mind to peer into the plane of nature. There you will find pure essence which you must channel back to yourself, to your vis. There it will combine naturally in an archalysis reaction to make mana. Do this now, and shape your spell.”

Tomasyn worked within a time that was not time, and though she lingered over every step of the process, it nevertheless went quickly. The essence of nature felt warm as it merged with her being, and she giggled quietly to herself, forming the resulting mana into a spell that would call the fireflies into the room in which her body sat.

When she opened her eyes, the fireflies danced about her, energetic satellites orbiting a new star. Tomasyn smiled, and extended a finger to touch one as it went past.

[Tomasyn Storm]

Twillit was practical, at least for a fairy, and she did not like to teach magic purely in a classroom setting. With this in mind, she sent Tomasyn out to find an elusive pink Salamander, giving her a short 10 minutes to return.

“If you do not find one and bring it back here soon enough you shall write an essay of 5,000 words entitled 'why one should not dawdle.' ” Before Tomasyn could register her outrage at the suggestion, Twillit clapped her hands. “Your time starts now! Be quick!” Tomasyn flitted out through the door and into the forest beyond.

Tomasyn had not been told which spell she should use for this assignment, and paused to consider her options. Detect seemed like the obvious choice, and so she settled herself on a branch to enter Clara. Several minutes past as she cast her spell, and she moved with haste once she felt the magic take hold.

The world around her came alive, or rather it was already that way but her awareness of it was incomplete. Information bombarded her, and for a moment she struggled to process it. She flitted over a low stream, and soon was rewarded with the cold squishy feeling that correlated with the salamander she sought. Flying low, she discovered it sitting under a fallen leaf, enjoying a large worm for a meal.

The amphibian looked up at her with still vacant eyes. “Hurry,” she said. “Choke your worm down, you must come with me.” The Salamander paid no heed and ate with deliberation, slowly ingesting the worm. The instant it was done Tomasyn scooped it up and flew at her best speed back to Twillit’s home.

Twillit stood in the door, pointing to a sundial that had been constructed of cedar bark carved to look something like a flower. Her foot was tapping impatiently.

“I found the salamander” Tomasyn said cheerfully. “Here he is!” She lowered it to the branch.

“You’re late,” Twillit said.

Tomasyn eyed the sundial suspiciously. “I hardly think so. How can you be sure with such an implement? In any case I had to wait to allow him to finish his worm. You didn’t want me to give the poor thing indigestion, did you?”

Twillit’s look softened. “Is that how it was? Well in that case your essay need only be 4,999 words. Scoot.” She swatted at Tomasyn’s behind, driving her grumbling into the study room.

[Tomasyn Storm]

Two brightenings later, Twillit and given Tomasyn a book on Arcanomechanics to read, and had gone off on an unspecified errand. “There will be a quiz when I return, so use your time wisely.”

Tomasyn had skimmed the assigned chapters, which she found dry and boring. Much of the material she already knew and the rest seemed uninteresting minutiae. To Tomasyn magic was vital and alive, not this dusty old stuff described in chapters 4 through 7 inclusive. After another light skimming Tomasyn went to the window to look out, leaning over the sill to watch a dragonfly dart back and forth.

The drone of the insect was soporific, and Tomasyn relaxed, enjoying the dappled sunlight and lazy sounds. Suddenly a new sound made itself known, a whining whir which ended as quickly as it began with a sharp and savage pain in Tomasyn’s back side.

“OW! Hey!” she yelled. Twillit stood behind her holding a hickory switch. “Quiz time!” Twillit announced. “Use your healing spell to remove the welt from your fanny.”

Tomasyn favored her with her best withering glare, and then strove for clara. It took her longer than usual to attain it as the sting of the welt and her anger were both distractions. It was with more than a little relief when the spell actually went off, and the pain in her fundament rapidly dwindled.

[Tomasyn Storm]

It was approaching the end of Tomasyn’s training period, and the lessons had been getting more and more strident. Tomasyn was not at all pleased about her present circumstances, and took no pains to hide her feelings.

“What are we doing here?” she asked for the 4th time. Twillit had tied a sturdy strand of woven spider silk about her ankle, and was making the other end fast to the root of a tree. She did something complicated with her fingers and magic passed through them, causing the knots to meld together, leaving nothing behind to untie.

“OK,” she said brightly. “You were unhappy with my timing on the salamander affair, so this brightening we will use a more objective measure. A hungry badger will soon arrive. When he does, I suggest you be ready with a Befriend Animal spell. I believe you will find it quite useful.”

“You can’t be serious!” Tomasyn objected.

Twillit smiled and flitted away. “Don’t waste your precious moments” she called over her shoulder.

Tomasyn was more angry than afraid. Her unshakable faith that things would work out remained as always, but such a thing seemed outrageous. She threw herself down and went to work. Just as she felt the mana growing in her Vis, the leaves parted in the bushes at the far side of the glade, and the squat head of a badger peered forth. It eyed her cautiously, and then the beast began to trot forwards. Tomasyn stood up and took a dramatic pose, unleashing her spells at the creature.
The badger, if it felt anything at all, did not register it, and continued its trotting.

“Hey!” Tomasyn yelled. “Friendly! Frieeeennnddddlly!” She pointed at herself, but the badger kept coming, unimpressed. As the beast bore down on her Tomasyn screamed “No! Twilliiiiiiit!” The badger extended its large and slightly purple tongue and delivered a slobbery lick up the side of Tomasyn’s neck and across her face.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” She screamed.

[Tomasyn Storm]

It was with some trepidation that Tomasyn arrived for her lesson. Things had been getting worse as the cycle wore on, and she was nervous about what today’s effort by her teacher would bring.

“This brightening,” her teacher began, “We will learn to unweave, or dispel, a spell. This is an important ability and one that you must practice with diligence.”

Tomasyn nodded.

“You may unbind quickly or slowly, the slow way is less energy intensive. Likewise, it is easier to dispel a spell cast by a mage of your own school of magic. Because I am kind you will dispel a druid spell today. Come with me.”

Together, the two fairies flew out of the tree and landed on the forest floor. Twillit whistled, and from out of the bushes came a large white rabbit, lazily chewing a mouthful of leaves.

Tomasyn was puzzled. “Is this rabbit enchanted? What am I to dispel?”

“You will see. Kindly climb upon the creature’s back.”

Warily, Tomasyn did so. Suddenly she felt her teacher’s hands looping cord about her ankles. “Hey!” she yelled, pulling with her feet. The cord fed underneath the rabbit’s stomach effectively tying her to it.

“Good luck,” Twillit said. Then she cast Panic Animal upon the rabbit.

A half candlemark later, a battered and bedraggled Tomasyn returned to Twillit’s home.

“I hope you’re satisfied,” she said.

[Tomasyn Storm]

Tomasyn’s graduation ceremony was a gay affair, with all her friend showing up spurred by the promise of good times. Tomasyn herself was radiant in a gauzy contraption that she preferred to think of as a gown.

Mead was poured with a lavish hand, and fairy dancing lasted long into the hours of darkness. Tomasyn forgot the trials and tribulations of her lessons, and laughed and danced with the best of them.

As the candlemark got late though, Twillit pulled her aside. “I am proud of you Tomasyn,” she said. “I have trained you young, younger than I would have preferred. But after tonight, we are sending you out to make your own way in the world, to do the work of Carmelya. We think that there are great things in store for you and it is necessary that you go forth to meet them.”

“Now? Why now? What’s happening that I need to rush off so soon?”

Twillit considered. “In point of act there isn’t much of a rush for you. I am going away now and I shan’t see you anymore. This was my last opportunity to train you, and so I took it. Since you are now a druid you are prepared to make your own way, and nothing detains you, but as I say you needn’t rush.”

“Where are you going? I could come along?”

“No, I’m afraid you can’t. But I will think of you often.”

This sort of talk was confusing to Tomasyn, who had taken too much mead. But her mood was too splendid to be spoiled by such dreary talk, so she gave Twillit a hug, and then turned to join back in with the dancing.

[Nimh]

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