Initiate Ikos - Remy - Private

[Remy Lambert]

Remy arrived where he was told to, a decently sized room with a low ceiling. There were windows, but they were covered and so the light was very dim. A few lanterns were here and there, on old books and tables. A number of chairs littered the room as well. It looked as if this place could double as a tavern at night. Amoungst the tables sat a man in a long crimson cloak much like Remy's. He was hunched over the table, as if writing something and weary of people peeping over his shoulder. The room was too dark and quiet for Remy to see anything, but he could smell the dust on the air, and hear the man breathing.

Suddenly, a voice was heard by Remy, "Welcome to your first lesson." Remy nodded and answered, "Merci Monsieur, I suppose I'm in the right place to meet an ikonomancer?" Remy had signed up for this class in order to secure a deck of the enchanted cards these mages were known to have. As far as the class itself, he had no idea what he was getting himself into.

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OOC ~ This is a peer moderated training thread ~ I have chosen to write in my GM identity under an npc guise.

IC ~ The disembodied voice belonged to a odd little man who stood barely5 ft tall and had a round belly and snow white hair. He chuckled and continued

My young friend, I am not your enemy, so I do not need to show you mercy although it appears I may be the very person you are searching for. My name is Master Yojo Crib call me master and I am the Iconomancer you seek. Now come and sit beside me and tell me why you are really here?

Yojo replaced the quill beside the sheath of papers he had been working on and waited for Remy to take his place beside him running a gold crown over under and through his fingers with expert skill.

[Remy Lambert]

Remy didn't understand his comment about mercy, but soon realized he was referring to his use of "merci." Perhaps this man wasn't familiar with the Jaedaxian tongue. In retrospect Remy had come quite far from Arios, where many knew the Jaedaxian tongue. In fact, he was much farther south now, and perhaps there was a sort of "invisible" line when it came to language that seperated the northern from the southern peoples. He would do his best to speak in the common tongue of the medonian men. Perhaps that would be better.

Remy felt around for a moment, making his way to the spot the voice originated and then took a seat in the chair he hoped was next to the man speaking to him. The chair wasn't very comfortable. It was constructed of wood, but unlike worn wooden chairs, this one was still quite flat and hard for sitting. "Alright," Remy commented, feeling akward for his real reason for coming. "The truth is monsieur, I came to secure one of your decks of enchanted cards."

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Master Yojo Crib chuckled quietly and then looked deep into the sightless orbs of the blind human beside him.

ah my friend, you have had some bad advice along the way, enchanted playing cards would be a curse, a dangerous and possibly life threatening curse. First of all even if they existed you would have to insist they were used in every game. That alone would raise suspicion amongst your fellow players and then if you won too often that too would raise suspicion. No my friend I neither have nor would I give you such a pack of cards. Yet if I am not wrong you are blind, how do you manage to play cards at all if you cannot see the suits and the rank of the card?

Yojo clicked his fingers and a young acolyte brought him tea and left a cup for his guest on the table.

[Remy Lambert]

Remy's head fell in dissapointment. He had paid 350 crowns to hear this? It was most disconcerting, but the mage was right. Remy would end up dead in a cycle if he had such a deck. Still, perhaps there was something he could get out of this meeting, afterall, he had paid a pretty crown to be here. He moved in his seat and brought himself closer to the table, placing his elbows on the table and holding his brow in his hands. "Well then..." Remy said, ready to ask what surprise was next when the mage asked him the "blind" question.

"I can feel the ink," was Remy's answer. He said in honestly and without much zest. Just then, a man entered carrying something and the room lit up if for only a second. Remy could hear his footsteps and see the legs of the person walking towards them. Also he could hear a clay rattle which turned out to be the lid on the tea. Thanks to the rattle, Remy could see what was coming. "I'll take a cup." he said to the mage, "and what shall we do now?"

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See the ink, how very strange. Yojo was intrigued very, very intrigued, a blind gambler that could make out the patterns on his cards that was luck indeed. If gambling was a case of bluff this guy had a built in double bluff. His fellow card players would think him an easy mark and be careless with their cards and when he won they would put it down to beginners luck. If he kept on winning, they would blame their cards but it would take a very astute card shark to work out that Remy had a secret ability. It just did not make rational sense a blind man could not see the cards therefore he could not see what they held in their hands or the expressions on their faces. All that was left was to blame some hidden accomplice or the secret use of arcana at the table.……………….He sat there sipping his tea. Until he made a decision………………

My friend how would you like to learn how to improve your chances to give the gods of luck a nudge in your favour? I speak of the art of Ikos, but my friend nothing is easy and the arcane discipline I speak of is both difficult and risky. You say you can see the ink , well friend I hope that is not an idle boast because one mistake can mean disaster, but you know how that works if you have sat a card table. …………….So I will teach you Ikos and your 350 crowns have not been wasted.

[Remy Lambert]

Remy was all for getting something out of his 350 crowns spent on this meeting and many more he figured. Therefore, he was ready to delve into any challenge set before him. Still, he felt that either this man was reading his thoughts or simply interpreting his words. Either way, Remy would rather have it straight. He sipped his tea and sat it on the table. "Well monsieur, I never said I can "see" the ink, in fact, I can't. I can feel it though, and therefore I know what I hold. I suppose as long as you know, it makes no difference how."

When it comes down to it, a playing card is nothing more than vellum with colored ink upon it. The ink does seep into the vellum, but alas, when you apply it, the die does form a very small ridge undetectible by any mortal race minus fae. It would seem then that Remy could not detect it, when in fact he can, thanks to an improved sense of touch. "So, the question is, what is it exactly I will be learning? What is ikos?"

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Master Yojo Crib settled back in his chair sipped some tea and began to deliver his understanding of the mysteries of Ikos

”Sometimes, we are presented with situations and events that defy the natural course of the world. Our knowledge and common sense, which are mostly empirical and experienced based, are baffled by such occurrences, and we tend to refer to these happenings as 'lucky' or 'unlucky'. Whatever the reasons behind the events taking place in the Multiverse and whatever the source of 'luck', it is known that the forces of Arcana, and more specifically, the power of Ikos, is able to shape, channel, and transmute local flows of destiny, making what is normally unlikely or next to impossible come true.”

“ Ikos is currently practiced by a minority of Magi whose castings more often referred to as wishes or intents are able to affect the future through indirect means. We Iconomancers believe our sphere to be the most genuine and pure among all the Arcanic disciplines in that the aim of a spell is expressed in one's native language and then hopefully carried out by the inner workings of the mind, without the need to learn and master low-level Arcanomechanics and mana-shaping techniques.”

“On one level then Ikos is about nudging “luck” in your direction but to do that you will need to practice your skills.

There was a great warrior once who was never defeated in battle every stroke of his blade hit the intended target and he seemed to get all the breaks in a fight. People called him “lucky” but the warrior retorted to his critics that the more he practiced and trained the “luckier” he got.

So Ikos is also a skill , you have sat at a card table and faced an opponent, your skill lies on deciding whether your opponent has either the better hand or the courage to play what fate has delivered into his hand. That too comes with practice.”

he paused in his explanation and drank from his cooling cup watching Remy’s face for any sign that his initial lecture had struck home.

[Remy Lambert]

Remy listened intently and sipped his cup. He was quite surprised by his luck of coming across such a mage, with such tricks. The idea of nudging one's fate in a certain direction appealed to Remy very much. He had never had the best of luck, being born blind and all. And after his parents death, he had figured his luck to nothing but ill rewards, and cursed it publicly. But perhaps now things could change. Perhaps now he could make up for that which he never had, his sight, by directing his chances for the better.

He leaned back in his chair a little and crossed one leg at the other's knee. If ever he could strike a look of business it was now and Remy was anxious to learn. "Aye, I see monsieur. And I am paying you to teach me this, correct?" He was certain he was, but perhaps he had been mistaken and if that was the case, he would right his wrong. Afterall, this mage had plucked the strings or both interest and opportunity in this Jaedaxian's head.