A more unorthodox method of payment (private, HyRune)

[Minerva]

The Academy’s reception was not the most desirable of meeting places the man would have opted for, and, to put it bluntly, was possible one of the last places he would have deigned to even consider for his select purposes. That said, however, he did not really know where else he could have positioned himself in order to grab his hapless victim on his way out of classes, and so, the locale of the reception room, even against his most fervent wishes, stuck. Pacing restlessly and with a blatant impatience, the man intermittently paused in his languid strides to glance vehemently towards each of the exits trailing off from the room proper. Corwyn Venastre was most obviously not a man given to wasting even the slightest, most insignificant moment of his precious time. Hawk-like in every manner possible and available to a human, the man’s face was all angles, sharp lines and contours, the length of his nose long and protruding, sharp and pointed at its end. A lean, feeble looking man, Corwyn had been employed by the Academy for an admirable amount of time now, and had been aptly rewarded with the dismal and fatuous task he was endeavouring to handle now.

He had been informed that one of the newer students at the School of arcana, a blind mystic in training by the name of HyRune, had, having not being able to afford the full amount for tutelage in his chosen sphere, been given the opportunity to sculpt for the Academy as an alternative means of payment. A smirk alighted his face as that thought traversed his mind. It would be interesting to witness how a blind man would tackle the prospect of having to create a decent sculpture to adorn the relatively dull confines of the magic school. The notion of one who could not see being able to create something as delicate and refined as a stone statue was one that was all but lost on Corwyn, a man who was apparently lacking in the imagination department.

Resuming his incessant pacing, the man would continue to wait with a barely baited restlessness, breaking his frustrated gait only once he had his target in sight; HyRune. Once he had succeeded in doing this, he would approach the man, burdening the blind sculptor with his obnoxious presence.

“HyRune? Are you HyRune, the sculptor? I’ve been waiting for you. Or, at least, I was told to. Can’t say it’s the most exciting task I’ve been charged with in my time here so far. Now, shall we talk about this sculpture you’ve promised to make for the Academy, hmm?”

Without being polite enough to allow HyRune to speak, or to voice even one paltry word, Corwyn continued to plunge on in his part of the currently one-sided conversation, his tone supercilious and wrought with the purest form of tedium.

“Now then, the Academy of Mind and Fire is currently in the process of redecorating, of making itself more...aesthetically pleasing, if you will. This is where you come in. We want some statues to be placed around the Academy, and you will be making one or two of these as payment to us for your lessons in Mysticism. Now, the Academy hasn’t specified anything in particular, so long as it’s relevant, so you can feel free to use some of your creativity and...‘artistic license’, or whatever you call it. Remember that the Academy specialises in teaching the spheres of mysticism and elementalism, so something that reflects either of these should be more than apt. We will have materials supplied for you, just as soon as you are ready to start. Understood?”

Finally putting his vocal chords to rest, Corwyn laid one eye of scrutiny on HyRune, studying him curiously as he awaited the sculptor’s response.

[HyRune Raven]

HyRune was aware of the man's scorn--it was difficult not to notice it--but he patiently ignored it. "Yes, I've been thinking about that," he said, "I was considering the idea of an Elementalist summoning the power of earth--it would make sense to sculpt something like that from stone, which is my medium, and seems appropriate for the Academy. The biggest question is size and material, and how much stone the Academy is willing to supply. I have only worked with basalt before but I am sure I could handle a more aesthetic stone such as marble. I could do something a few feet high for a hall table or something, or I could try to give you something life-size. It just depends on how much material the Academy is willing to provide. How does all that sound to you?"

The man he was speaking to quite obviously had no taste for art, and that was fine. HyRune hadn't come here to please him, he'd come here to learn Mysticism, and sculpting something new was the welcome price for such a quest.

[Minerva]

“Yes, yes...That’s all very well.” It was quite clear that Corwyn did not wish to remain engaged in idle nattering with this man for any longer than he physically had to. “Something life size will cover the costs for your lessons nicely, I’d imagine, and this idea of yours for the statue seems...adequate.” Once again, the apathetic man managed to display his blatant and commodious ignorance of the creative refinement of artistry.

“We will have you work in marble, and you will work on the sculpture whenever you can, whenever you have the free time. If it’s possible, you will start next brightening. We’ll even arrange to have a room specifically dedicated to your work in progress. You never know, if you do a good job at this, the Academy might even commission you to make us a second piece. That is, we’d pay you to make it for us, instead of giving you lessons as an exchange.”

It was evident that Corwyn did not think HyRune to be the brightest of people from his first judgement of the man, given that he felt the need to clarify his explanation somewhat.

“Now, how does that all sound to you? I’ll make arrangements for the marble and suitable tools to be brought to the Academy on the morrow. I expect to meet you here again after your lessons with Domenique, alright?”

Despite the fact that he was presenting himself to be a rather impatient man with little respect for HyRune, or indeed the task that he had been set, Corwyn at least appeared to possess the basic decency to await an answer from the sculptor before making good his escape and darting off to indulge himself in something that was undoubtedly much more interesting and appealing to him.

[HyRune Raven]

HyRune gritted his teeth for a moment beneath his closed lips, but nodded. "That will be excellent," he said to Corwyn politely, "I shall see tomorrow, then. What did you say your name was again?" The question was a subtle reminder that Corwyn had not even been polite enough to introduce himself.

As soon as he had his answer, the blind man made his careful way out of the Academy, not relying on his newfound abilities to find his way because--if truth be told--the training had completely drained him.

----

Timestamp: The next day, after the lesson, in the Era of The Return of the Ancient Allerians and Their Crowning of HyRune Raven as Their Leader, as Well as Supplying Him with a Lifetime Supply of Root Beer

HyRune left his second day with Dominique feeling as mentally drained as he had the day before. He had never known that arcana could be so tiring! He turned his head as he left the room, searching with his ears and sense of motion in the air for Corwyn.

[Minerva]

Corywn sighed heavily, as if in sheer exasperation and irritation. Apparently, he really had not been successful in remembering the fact that he had not properly introduced himself, and felt quite inclined to believe that he had.

"Corwyn Venastre."

Curt and blunt, as always, the other man nodded abruptly towards HyRune, offering only the mildest form of politeness, and one that, ironically, the sculptor would not be able to bear witness to. Once the brief gesture had passed, Corwyn turned stoically on his heel, leaving the reception area to seek out more interesting tasks to which he could attend.

~*~

The next brightening, and Corywn was in as equally a somber mood as he had been the day before. Luckily for him, however, HyRune arrived promptly after finishing his lessons for the brightening with Domenique, lessons and teachings which left him quite exhausted and drained by their conclusion. Still, HyRune had the good grace to keep to their arrangements for this meeting, and for that Corwyn was mildly thankful, even if he did, or course, refuse to show it.

“Ah, so you’re here at last. Now, as I said I would, the Academy has freed up a room for you to go about your work. It’s in a nice quiet section of the Academy, and we’ve already had all the materials we’ll feel you’ll need moved in there.”
Pausing in his brief speech, the man looked skecptically at HyRune as he noticed that the other man looked mentally sapped, a feature that was only too obviously the result of his lessons with Domenique that day. A grim smile alighted his face as he beheld the man. He still sincerely doubted as to whether or not HyRune could create something as aesthetically pleasing and intricate as a sculpture; a notion that he would hold to until he had seen the end result of the sightless sculptor’s endeavours.

“You look a little…tired. Obviously mysticism hasn’t been agreeing with you. Are you sure you’re ready to start work today?”

[HyRune Raven]

HyRune nodded. "I'm sure you remember it from your own training," he responded evenly. "Take me to the room. I'll take a short break before I begin--I should only need a few minutes or so." Of course, I certainly won't be using the Awareness spell to aid me today. He has, in spite of his mental tiredness, happy to be about to sculpt again. What had started as a rebellious challenge had become an artistic passion, and the blind man was looking forward to feeling hammer and gouge in his hands once again.

If Corwyn would lead the way, HyRune followed.

[Minerva]

Corwyn studied HyRune in a way similar to that in which an eagle would eye its prey. He obviously did not think too highly of the sculptor, and was not feeling inclined to do anything to disguise that fact. Instead, he merely gave a hefty snort of discontent, before muttering for the sculptor to follow as he lead him to his designated room. Footfalls echoed heavily on the callous flooring of the Academy; a sure sign that Corwyn was, once again, suffering under a tremendous boredom to be here.

“This will be your room, HyRune. The block of marble has been mounted up over there, at the back, and your tools have been placed to a table at the side. Start when you will; this room will always be left open for you.”

Not wanting to remain a second longer than he truly needed to, the impatient man turned on his heel and scuttled out of the room with yet another indignant snort, leaving HyRune to his own devices as he closed the door brusquely behind him as he left. As soon as the curt man had exited the sculptor’s room, a welcome silence draped over it swiftly, allowing the artisan to explore the room in peace. The block of marble, as Corwyn had indicated before so rudely taking his leave, was propped up on a small plinth near the back of the room. Almost the same height as HyRune himself, the sculptor still found that he could easily reach the zenith of the stone, and position himself at any place on the ground around the marble structure’s perimeter. Next to the block of stone was a small table, a sturdy device despite its diminutive stature. On this were placed all the tools HyRune could possibly need in order to work and carve the stone; the hammer, chisel, rasp, gouge, et al. Regardless of Corwyn’s iniquities and blatant disinterest in art, the Academy certainly appeared to know its stuff when it came to the tools of the trade. Besides the table a carved wooden chair had been placed, in anticipation of HyRune needing to take rest-breaks at intermittent points during his creation of the sculpture.

Everything had been prepared, and all that was left now was for the sculptor to ready himself in order to begin working at his potential creation.

[HyRune Raven]

The first step, as always, would be the gouge.

After HyRune had spent a few moments acquainting himself physically with the location of everything in the room, he stepped forward and took up this first tool, feeling the familiar sensation of the wooden handle in his left hand as he lifted the largest available hammer in his right. Stepping over to the tall marble block, HyRune set the gouge against the stone and began to work.

Very slowly, he scraped away the stone around a vaguely humanoid shape. HyRune's elementalist would be an elf, he had already decided. That race was known for its afinity with magic, and the blind man could think of none better to exemplify his work. Eventually delicate features would grace the figure he brought forth from the stone, but for today it would be nought but a very rough outline.

HyRune did not use magic to aid him. Not yet. Today, he was still far too exhausted from the training--besides which, he had done enough sculpting that he had no need of an Awareness spell to aid him in the simplest stage of his work. That he would save for the small gouge and chisel. For now, he merely checked his work with his fingertips as he'd always done.

[Minerva]

The marble block was a great deal larger than any of the pieces of basalt HyRune had worked on in his past, certainly, and, as such, it took a great deal more time and effort to get anywhere with it. With practice and experience, however, came determination and dedication, and slowly but steadily the stone seemed to take on some sort of shape. The details were still incredibly vague in nature, but began to deign the sculpture with a more human appearance, a personality and demeanor all its own, even if these traits were currently very bland and almost indiscernible.

Gouge and hammer worked in unison to play at the marble's rigid surface, piercing dutifully at its surface and resulting in a light yet persistent spray of fine dust and useless fragments of stone falling elegantly as some miniature waterfall from the block's gouged surface. The stream continued pouring forth, leaving a considerable trail on the ground on which HyRune worked, until finally a basic, rough outline was formed; the real start of the blind man's sculpture.

Deftly checking his progress in the same way he normally did, cool callous marble met his fingertips, its contours almost perfectly matching the deign which HyRune had envisaged. Everything was going according to plan; experience, as always, was proving to be a great asset when regarding the sculptor's work. Fatigue, of course, would be quick to sink its grubby claws into the vulnerable frame of the sculptor's mind, especially after the onslaught of his lessons with Domenique that brightening. It was possible that he could go a little further into developing his piece of art, but, once again, that was a decision that would lie entirely up to him.

[HyRune Raven]

He elected to push himself, and get as much done as he could the first day. He could see now--no pun intended--that he would probably not be touching the chisel today, but perhaps he could at least get most of the gouge-work done. Resting his cramped fingers for a moment, HyRune lifted the gouge and hammer once more and began cutting in a vague outline of a man who would be wearing an austere robe, his hand upraised in a summoning gesture. A large slab of stone in front of the man he left untouched, for it would eventually be the Earth Spike that the marble mage was raising from the ground.

As soon as he had cut out the area between the spike and the elven figure, HyRune began to shape the remaining slab of uncut stone into a vague shape like a stalagmite rising up from the unfinished ground. The wonderful thing about the spike was that it was quickly finished. Meant to look like exactly what it was, there was no need to refine the edges with the other tools--it was supposed to look like rough stone.

HyRune set down the tools. He would return to his newest piece on the next brightening--today he was just too exhausted, physically and mentally. Somehow he was finding it more difficult than it had been before to concentrate on his work. The philosophy, the passion behind sculpting had been watered down a great deal by his recent experiences with war. Hopefully he would be able to put more energy tomorrow. Then, too, the spell he'd learned today would be a great help.

[Minerva]

Pushing himself after having been put through the strain of learning arcana for a whole brightening was perhaps not the best of ideas, but something that HyRune felt ready to commit himself to regardless. Then again, at this early stage of work it probably would not make too much of a difference. After all, this was merely the point at which the sculptor would form the rough beginnings of his piece, the 'outline' of his main composition. The details would come much, much later, and, with any luck, by the time he reached that hypothetical rung of the creative ladder he would be much more rested and filled with vigour. For now however, he continued to work with the gouge.

The outlines were vague, but what could pass as a humanoid shape was continually forming before him, the folds of his elegant robes not yet becoming fully apparent to any unaware of HyRune's greater schemes for the marble block. The slab of untouched rock before the representation-elven mage was next to come under the sculptor's gouge, a simple process which left the rock pointed and shaped much like a stalagmite one would find in one of Demios' many mountainous caverns. Possibly the easiest step in the construction of his sculpture, the Earth Spike was quickly finished, and HyRune was ready to put his mind to another aspect of the sculpture altogether.

However, he did not. Finally succumbing to tiredness, the man set down his tools and decided to call it a brightening. The statue would presumably be left untouched until he was ready to work on it the next day following his lessons with Domenique, and Corwyn would hopefully ensure that none disturbed the piece of art in progress until it had reached its conclusion.

[HyRune Raven]

HyRune returned to the room the following brightening after his lesson, finding it with only minor difficulty typical of his handicap. Once there, he paused for a moment to rest his mind, permitting himself a quick fifteen-minute doze. Once he had availed himself of this one indulgence, the blind artisan stood, stretched muscles he was about to put to use, he left last night's tools where they were and pulled out his own, which he had remembered to bring with him today. He selected the smaller of the two gouges, along with the appropriately smaller hammer, and set to work cutting away the stone around the vaguely humanoid figure's outstretched arm, shaping the sleeve and hand carefully with the gouge. After getting some of the easier, rougher work out of the way, the blind man set his tools down for a moment.

Reaching deep within himself, though he was already mentally tired from the training, HyRune blanked his mind of all conscious thought, relaxing into a state of clara. If the several-minute meditation was successful, he would immediately cast Awareness, in identical fashion to the way he'd created the spell in training.

ooc: the following is based on the spell being successful. if it's not, this is all still true save the parts about the spell aiding HyRune.

More aware of the shape of the stone now than he had been while blind, HyRune was in a better position to make a decent sculpture. He would still use his hands to feel the stone, combining the tangible picture his fingertips received with the magical one the spell gave him to form a mental image nearly as accurate as sight itself. With practice, this technique would become like breathing for the sculptor. For now, it would be good enough.

Aided by his magic, the initiate mystic and intermediate sculptor focused his energies--both physical and mystical--on his subject's arm. Carefully he continued to shape the limb, trying to create a semblance of a cloth-effect with his gouge that would eventually be the sleeve of the Elementalist's robe. Once he was satisfied that the stone would appear thus when smoothed later, HyRune turned his attention to one of the most difficult parts--the hand. Focusing all his energy and concentrating deeply, the human made several cuts directly into the stone, creating the space between fingers. Next he would shape those fingers, using the gouge to tap lightly along the edges, forming a rough shape like a cupped hand. Eventually, he would use the chisel to shape the knuckles and make the hand appear rigid with power--but for now, he set the tools down for a moment to take a breather.

Whether he would go on was entirely dependant on how tired he was at this point.

[Minerva]

Luckily enough for the sculptor, Corwyn Venastre had not tasked himself with pacing up and down the corridors that day, or even had the good grace to show his aloof and audacious little face. If he had caught HyRune napping, however, it was safe to assume that the results would have been nothing less than unpleasant. After all, the man had already proven himself to be one incapable of merely waiting around and letting the time slip languidly by whilst the world went on with its business around and without him.

Still, even a mere 15 minutes of rest worked wonders for the man, especially after a brightening of solid concentration and arcana practice under the instruction of the mystic, Domenique.

The tools provided by the Academy lingereed in the same place they had been laid the day before, although these remained untouched by the sculptor as he brought out his own set of tools, devices he was clearly much more used to.

Details would be much harder to work on with reagards to a sculpture of this size, but taking one thing at a time, and working at a reasonably steady pace would ensure that HyRune completed the work of art with little mistakes or iniquities created on his account. Evidently, the outstrecthed arm of the stony-faced elementalist would come first. Utilising both the gouge and hammer in unison, HyRune worked at adding the beginning of needed deatil and complexity to the marble, a single process that caused dust and chips of disused stone to fall to the cleanly swept floor of the room once more.

Slipping after clara after carrying on with this for a short well posed no real problem for the mystic in training. No problem, of course, bar the fact that he had already undergone a strenuous brightening of lessons in mysticism that brightening.

The spell of Awareness slipped over HyRune's disfunctional sense of sight quite willingly, allowing him to bear witness to the energies and bodies or ara that lingered within the structures stood within the room. The marble block had, of course, been harvested from telath, been a part of nature, and the earth, and the aura of ara it was steeped in was one that would allow the mystic to recognise it as such.

Whilst the shape that the ara created was by no means definite or even detailed, it was clearly much better than being left completely in the dark when it came to viewing the composition of the sculpted stone before him. And even despite the fact that the image imparted to him was not incredibly precise, HyRune had grown quite used to working without the aid of magical spells as such before, so perservering with something like this should not have proven to be too much of a problem for him.

Turning his attentions to the folds of the stone elf's sleeve, the sculptor set his mind to making the swathes of cloth look more realistic in their appearance, to grant them some semblance of depth and substance. Once these had been created to HyRune's satisfaction, the man reasserted his focus onto the state of the statue's hand, blessing it with the additions of fingers, contours that would appear more realistic to any viewer's eyes once the stone had been smoothed and finished.

That done, and the sculptor decided to temporarily take a pause from his work, resting a moment from the task he had been set. Arcana, as always, was rather demanding for the mage to keep up, and his mind would likely be feeling immensely drained from the amount of use it had been put through throughout the space of the brightening. Perhaps taking a bit of rest now would assist the relieving of this mental fatigue. then again, there was always the chance that it would not, too.

[HyRune Raven]

Deciding to do just a little more work before he retired for the day, HyRune picked up his chisel and laid it against the stone surface of the Elementalist's hand. Carefully he began etching in the details, cutting the lines into the palm and the back of the hand. He also cut into the front of the sleeve with the chisel, making deep, powerful indentations to create a hole deep enough that the sleeve would appear to be empty save for the arm. Running the chisel along the inside of the man's wrist, he worked at creating the veins of the arm that would stick out slightly with the caster's effort of raising his Earth Spike.

The chisel-work on the hand and sleeve was the last work HyRune would do today. He would return on the following brightening after his lesson for the rest, and so he lovingly returned his tools to their place and made his exit, planning to take a well-earned nap as soon as he arrived home.

[Minerva]

Details were becoming more and more of an integral part to the sculptor's work, or so it seemed. Perhaps this was simply the result of an increasing amount of practice, or HyRune's growing eye for the intricacies and points which would inevitably lead to a more refined and realistic end sculpture. Etching lines into the statue's palms may have seemed like a petty and trivial endeavor to some, but, to the artisan, it was a necessity. The sleeves received the same sort of delicate, dedicated treatment after the mage's outstretched hand had been successfully dealt with, before the slight protrusions of multiple veins were set and created in the callous stone of the marble.

A few minor mistakes and iniquities were only to be expected, although any of these that were manifested within the duration of the chiselling process could be easily rectified or disguised by the man, if he only set his mind to working on them.

Whether or not he did, his work was done for today, his tools set down where he would be able to find them the next brightening without much of an effort. Rest was likely to come easily to the man, flying to him swiftly on wings of a mottled silver. As if arcana practice was not already tiring enough, having to sculpt every brightening for as long as he physically could after his lessons was sure to complete his fair share of fatigue. Leaving the room, his tools and the sculpture itself would remain untouched, ready and waiting for him the next day when he came back to work upon them once more...