The Dabbling Druidess [Private]

[Aydyn Blair]

Imbuements
Self-Mod Approved by Crimson

Second Cycle in the
Month of Ponutis in the
Season of Winter, Era XV

Aydyn fiddled with the bracelet at her wrist absently. Of the jewelry she had purchased during her training with H'annaeryth she had only ever Imbued the necklace, a green peridot that hung from a delicate silver chair. Her hand fell away from her wrist to caress the faceted gemstone that hung against the hollow of her throat. Prior to her training as an Adept, she had never before seen the need for jewels and still abhorred the use of them for idle decoration on her person. But these had a purpose. In the necklace she had stored a spell and already she had used it once, if only to protect the lives of a set of turtles. But one brightening, she supposed, there might be a more urgent need for the spells. She already wished she'd had them when she'd traveled alone and pregnant. Perhaps she might never have become a slave.

Her hand fell away from her, but not before she reached to her wrist and unclasped the bracelet, setting it down alongside of the silver bracelet Stephan had purchased for their daughter Noah. She was sleeping now, curled up in the bed the pair of them shared, mother and daughter. Aydyn would never have risked having her present while she worked on this. Noah meant everything to the Druidess. Her fingers lingered over the small sapphire charm that dangled from the bracelet. It had been silly to gift a small girl with a sapphire, she thought. What would Noah, a few months more than one ordinance, do with such a trinket? But there it was, an object to be Imbued. What would Aydyn choose to protect her daughter with when she came of age to start wearing it?

Uncertain of what she meant to do with that just yet, she picked up the bracelet she had just removed, absently inspecting the pale green peridot that glimmered in its metal setting. In this, at least, she knew what she would place. She already wore a spell around her throat that she could unleash if she needed to protect her daughter. But it would also be considerably useful to have at her wrist something to heal if she or her daughter required it.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn got herself settled, but not before creating a circle on the floor and drawing around her a protective Circle of Magic that prevented her endeavors from traveling beyond her workspace; if something went wrong she would not have her daughter harmed. Aydyn turned the bracelet in her hands. The gem was not cracked or damaged. It seemed whole. She could not tell if it was flawed, could not tell these things in a gem, but the quality seemed consistent, decent. It did not look badly to her.

Putting it down again, Aydyn gradually began the process of relaxing her senses and stripping away the thoughts that would hinder her. Clara came upon her in such a fashion that she smiled faintly, pleased. She had always been fascinated with arcana in such a manner that the use of it was almost intoxicating. The wonder of seeing the different Ara structures around her, the Essences on the Planes, was an amazing thing. She never tired of it.

Around her, the wisps of energy presented themselves, but it was on the bracelet that she focused. She extended her heightened awareness to the gemstone and began the process that would allow her to find the holes in the Weaves that would accept an Imbuement. She tried not to recall the first time that she had done this and how long it had taken her to find what she wished. But she knew now what she wanted, what would make an acceptable slot for the Imbuements, and she had confidence as she bent over the peridot and continued to study it.

The green and blue wisps that were generally a part of Aydyn's Ara and Vis stood out starkly against the peridot. She hardly noticed the physical object at all, only in a fashion that the Ara and Vis showed its shape in their formation. She meandered her way through the Weaves they created, knowing she held her breath now and again as she did so. And then she found it. A pocket almost near the jewel's heart. She caressed her arcanic senses around it, examining all the more closely, and exhaled a noise of satisfaction. That was the place.

[Aydyn Blair]

Having found what she sought in the gemstone, Aydyn eased away from it slightly and concentrated next on the shaping of the spell that would be fitted into the piece. She had chosen already the Healing spell, albeit with a trace more Vis than the Initiate Spell typically demanded. She would, she thought, make it akin to an Apprentice spell with the amount of Vis she would construct it with.

She extended her senses out into the Ara around her, avoiding the gemstone, and enticed it towards her. She mixed it with the green throbbing of her Vis and entwined the two energies together, adding a little more Vis as she worked to combine them together.

She felt the shift into the Astral Plane as the Vis and Ara clasped hold of one another, clinging, the Arcalysis gently pushing her into it. Here she reached out clasped the Nature Essence of the Druids, retrieving what she required for the spell she was shaping. Here the energies were thicker and the Material world almost dissipated as she Focused on pulling the energy out.

With the Essence she needed Channeled into the Material plane, Aydyn began the final process of shaping the material, now Mana. There would be six charges to the spell, she had decided, and she kept this in mind as she shaped the Mana with Evocation. Six charges to be fitted into the bracelet.

She worked to make the Mana as small and compact as she possibly could and finally, the Shaping completed, she focused the spell on the gem and carefully began the process of fitting the Shaped mass through the pockets of the Arcanic Weave.

With the spell in place, Aydyn began the final process of the Imbuement. She gathered to her a small pocket of Vis, completely unShaped, and worked it around the pockets she had just slipped the spell into. She smiled to herself as she released the Vis around the gem and looked with satisfaction on the piece. Just to be positive that it had worked, she slipped again into Clara and extended her senses towards the gem. Yes, there it was. The spell was present and she had only to strip away the unshaped Vis to gain access to it.

[Aydyn Blair]

With the Imbuement done, Aydyn set the piece aside and examined the silver charm bracelet. She stared at it for one long moment and then sighed, picked it up and stood, first dispelling the Circle of Magic before crossing the room. She put it back into its place, not knowing what to do with it and knowing that she had exhausted any ability to work another Imbuement--at least one with more than just a few charges.

She returned to where she had been working and retrieved the peridot bracelet. She set it against her wrist for just a moment, as if to put it on, then changed her mind, curling her fingers around its silvery length and giving it a light squeeze. She took this back into the bedroom where her daughter slept and set it down on the stand alongside the bed. She sat down carefully with a slight glance at her daughter's sleeping figure. So small, but growing so quickly.

She reached up and unclasped the necklace from about her throat, setting it alongside the bracelet, then quietly disrobed and climbed into bed, snuggling in beneath the covers and resting her head on the pillow. All of this for her daughter, she knew. All of it because of what had happened to Aydyn, hoping it would never happen to Noah. She had so many scars and she hated to think that some brightening her daughter would point to them and ask her 'How'd you get that?' What would she say? What could she say without lying and without revealing that the world was not a soft and gentle place?

She absently stroked the dark hair on her daughter's forehead and considered this, gradually falling asleep with many questions in her head and no answers at all for any of them.

[Aydyn Blair]

The following brightening, her daughter in her arms, Aydyn went out for a stroll. The weather was harsh and bitter and because of this she had bundled not only herself appropriately, but Noah as well. Tucked up in soft woolen mittens, a scarf, and a hat, both females were well-braced against the weather, their noses seeming to be the only things suffering the hard bite of the wind. She was running an errand or few, but there was one thing that she had come specifically out for.

She paused in front of the jewelry shop, hesitating slightly before advancing into the store. Noah was feeling particularly restless that brightening and squirmed in her mother's arms with a few choked cries of protest. Aydyn did her best to ignore them even though her arms burned with the weight of the child. Together they approached the front counter and Aydyn smiled faintly at the woman that stood there.

"Bonjour, I was hoping you might have some peridots? I was looking specifically for something a man could wear, a necklace and a ring both. And also a ring for a woman." Gifts of gems were always so discomforting to Aydyn, but as she had rationalized with her own jewels, Aydyn desired them not for decoration, but rather for a whole different purpose.

The woman produced several examples of generic jewelry; Aydyn had no need for custom work. She flitted her fingers over a pair of rings. The man's was thick banded and set in silver with the pale green peridot a round circle in its setting. The woman's ring was daintier, certainly, but the gem was also round, if held somewhat aloft in its setting. The man's necklace was of a thicker quality than the one she wore at her throat and slightly larger.

"These are fine," she murmured to the woman, stomach twisting slightly as she gave the woman 370 crowns for the entire purchase. The jewels were boxed and handed over to Aydyn in a bag she might carry without having to worry about dropping them as she handled a squirming child.

[Aydyn Blair]

Later that brightening, Aydyn had left the city behind her in favor of her own private quarters. She had put the delicate woman's ring with the peridot on her right ring finger and had left the man's necklace in a safe place for the time being. In her fingers she now held the thick ring she had purchased for Janis. She turned the glittering silver piece with its round peridot and inspected it. A good piece, she thought.

She set the Circle of Magic into the ground again, preventing things from moving outside of her work area, and clung to the ring in her finger as she settled into Clara. She examined the piece in front of her with her senses, exploring the Arcanic Weaves inside of the gem. She found very small pockets that might yield promise, but she wanted something more than that. Something larger.

She worked her way carefully through the weaves, inspecting each place that presented a new pocket that could fit a weave. She found what she was looking for eventually, right in the far corner of the gemstone. But still she hesitated over it, turning her arcanic senses around it and through it until she was positive that it would serve the purpose she required of it.

[Aydyn Blair]

With the pocket in the Weave located, Aydyn began the work on the spell that she would fit into the gemstone. For the ring, she had selected the Transience spell. It was, perhaps, a somewhat useless spell if Janis could not find his way to one of the Glades where he could simply strip away the barrier in the ring. But a useful spell if he could.

She did wonder, briefly, if the spell could be used by someone not an Adept, but at least he would have it. Time would tell, she supposed. Use would tell.

She began by drawing her Vis together with the Ara around her, twining it until the Arcalysis shifted her into the Astral Plane. The Nature Essence was there and pliable and she Focused on gathering what she would need for the spell. Two charges of Transience. An adept spell. It would drain her enough or that evening, but leave her capable of wielding one spell should she need it. A mother could never be too careful.

She Channeled the spell out of the Astral Plane and into the Material and began to Shape it appropriately. It was an odd spell, the Shaping not quite like with other spells. But at least she had it together and twined the spell into the Arcanic Weave of the ring with care.

Once it was safely secured, Aydyn completed the Imbuement by drawing on a sliver of her own unShaped Vis and wrapped it around, securing the spell in place so that it would not activate in its new home.

She rose, deactivating the Circle of Magic, and set the ring in its box before putting it away again. That one was done and she had time yet that darkening to relax.

[Aydyn Blair]

The following darkening, Aydyn sat down to work another Imbuement. She held the heavy necklace in her hand. A man's necklace. Another gift for Janis, something she knew for certain he could use and get some use from it, regardless of how he deigned to utilize it. She had plans to put in it one of the Animal Transformation spells, shaped to allow him the use of the Wolf form.

For now she placed the Circle of Magic around her once again and began to work on the gem as she had the other two gemstones, slipping into Clara and examining the Arcanic Weave within.

She was far more comfortable with the process than she had been in the beginning, with several Imbuements now behind her, but she still was careful in her selection, not wishing to make a mistake that could possibly damage not only herself, but perhaps Janis, and maybe render the gem somehow useless. She was not entirely sure that was possible, but a woman had to be careful.

Eventually she found the open pocket in the Weave, although she checked the gem thoroughly after that, just to be certain another opening that was better did not present itself. But she was, at length, satisfied with what she found and she nodded slightly to herself as she curled her fingers around and proceeded forward with the spell itself.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn began the work on the Animal Form, Wolf spell that she would fit into the gemstone. She drew the Ara in towards her Vis and wrapped them together until the Arcalysis settled her into the Astral Plane. From there she Focused on the Nature Essence, drawing on what she required and Channeling it into the Material Plane.

At length she began to Shape the Mana she had fashioned with the Ara, Vis, and the Essence. She Altered it first, crafting the spell so that his shape would shift into that of the Wolf, then Conjured the fur and other such things that made the Wolf what it was. She Divined the Mana last of all, for the cognitive needs of the creature. She shifted all of these into the spell and then carefully began to slide the Shaped Mana into the Arcanic Weave of the gemstone.

When it was finally settled into place, Aydyn bit her lip as she finished it off, drawing on her Vis to wrap around the Weave and hold the spell in its place without Activating.

She came out of Clara at that point and deactivated the Circle of Magic around her. She fingered the gemstone in her hand, the silver so much heavier than the chain around her own neck. She wondered if Janis would appreciate the gifts, hoped that he did, and found herself flushing a little in her own embarrassment as she thought of gifting them to him.

She stood and set the gem in its box, tucking it alongside the box with the ring, lingering over them for a moment, her finger twisting at the ring she had set on her finger. The weight of it felt odd and uncomfortable, but somewhat reassuring. She would work on that one tomorrow. For now she had a daughter to play with.

[Aydyn Blair]

The last gem Aydyn intended to Imbue for some time was the ring she had purchased for herself. It had been almost impulsive, the purchase of the ring, but part of her had bought it as something of a match to Janis's. No meaning to it except that she felt close to the man. Nothing more, she told herself. She did not expect anything from Janis, nothing binding. They shared a magic and she considered him a good-hearted individual. Yes, she cared for him. She could not deny that.

She had pulled the ring from her finger and she rolled it on her palm with the side of her thumb absently. The silver glinted in the candlelight and the green of the peridot cast faint shadows of colored light skittering across the ground. She sat within the Circle of Magic she had drawn around herself, hand closing around the them, and sank down into Clara once again.

She worked her way through the gem with that heightened Arcanic sense, working through the Weaves until she found the pocket that would suit her purposes. She investigated it a moment long before withdrawing and seeking out the Ara around her, drawing it towards her Vis and allowing the Arcalysis to project her into the Astral Plane. She Focused on the Nature Essence there and Channeled it into the Material Plane.

From there she began to Shape the spell. Camouflage was her spell of choice. She had the Healing spell, as well as the Animal Form, already on her person. A defensive spell only made sense to Aydyn. She had drawn enough Mana to Shape the spell into two charges of the spell and so she crafted it with Alteration and Conjuration until finally the spell was Shaped properly and tucked inside of the pocket she had located.

[Aydyn Blair]

She completed the Imbuement by drawing that fine strand of Vis around the secured spell and finally drew herself from Clara, deactivating the Circle around her. She settled the ring on her right ring finger and clenched her hand absently, inspecting the glittering gemstone with idle care. A ring, a bracelet, a necklace. She was more decked out than she had ever imagined herself being. But all for a purpose, she reminded herself. Always for a purpose.

She stood and approached the boxes that contained the ring and the necklace, feeling uneasy with the notion of gifting them to Janis. How many times had she demurred and declared herself somewhat frustrated when Stephan presented her or her child with such gifts as gems? But these were different. Stephan's gifting was different. Hers had the spells, they meant something. Something shared between druids. Stephan's had always seemed far more...material.

But she shouldn't judge him. She knew that. He had tried. Together they had tried to make things work. She wasn't quite certain now why she had tried. He was Stephan. She was Aydyn. They were far too different and old habits would always be far too difficult to mend.

She sighed and lifted the ring and the necklace in their boxes. Yes, this would be a far different gifting from the ones that she had personally experienced.

[Crimson]

+ 1 Experience in Druidism
Imbuements Approved!