Initiate Sorcery (Self-mod, private)

[Gye'ron Val Oriden]

Timestamp: 12th of Melora, Spring of Era XIV PF

Gye'ron entered the class and striped himself down of his weapons and all but his brown robes. It seemed that his master was not yet there and the room was smothered in darkness. For now Gye'ron would take advantage of the situation, getting just a little bit more practice in before the sorcerer appeared.

With his legs crossed he rested his forearms on their respective knees. His forearms were turned so that the softer flesh on the inside of the arm was exposed, including the scar in the shape of a triangle that he had carved into his left wrist before the shrine of Diana in the Temple of Divine Sacrifice. It had been on that day that he had met his soul mate, and one true love, Ryiana. His hands were allowed to be loose, with his middle finger of each hand lightly making contact with the tip of the respective thumb of that hand. Gye'ron straightened his back and closed his eyes.

Slowly he removed the smells from his mind, then the tastes, then the sounds, then the feelings. He slowly let the thoughts of all unhappy things slip away until all that was left was the image of Ryiana. That too he eventually let go of until there was nothing.

He focused on a calming memory; the sound of his mother singing a gentle lullaby as they stood off the coasts of Sherian. Waves crashed against the rocky bluffs. A slight wind rustled the grass plains and pushed his mother’s hair away from her face. She starred out into the vast oceans and sang her loving lullaby as he held her hand and looked out onto the horizon. He felt a calm wash over him and everything else slowly melted away until finally there was nothing but the memory. Slowly he let that too fall away from his mind. At last there was nothing but perfect tranquility and his mind was hurled into the state of Clara.

He could see though his eyes were shut. The Vis of other objects in the room radiated, and the raw, untouched Ara filled the gaps, waiting to be manipulated. Gye’ron did nothing to disturb this natural balance and order of nature. He simply felt it, let it be.

It was then that he witnessed the most unusual of events. He actually bore witness to a shifting in the ara of the surrounding world and a ripping in the material plane as he watched a creature which possessed large amounts of vis enter the room through the rift in the plane. Shortly after this another new object appeared, an orb hovering in the air. It was an interesting arcane weave.

He could barely hear a thing when he was in clara, the loudest shout was a whisper to him, and so he left clara in order to converse with his master. What stood before him was a Dracon. What marvelous creatures they were; they represented the hope for redemption and the benevolence of the Gods.

"You were in clara when I entered," the Dracon said as it too sat down within an arms reach of Gye'ron, "so I don't think it would be a huge jump to assume that you've been unbound and you understand the techniques taught at initiate levels of arcane training. So, what are you here for then? If I don't have anything to teach you, why are you here?"

Gye'ron smiled, it didn't seem to him that the Dracon was too smart, if everything else had been deducted from the equation then only one thing was left as a possibility; imprinting. He bowed his head, "Serale master, I am here to have the knowledge of the initiate spells of our craft imparted upon me. My last lesson...many eras ago...did not complete itself. There were certain complications which forced me to leave the city I was in."

The Dracon shrugged, "Won't be judged for having to flee in Vortex. Alright, so simple imparting. It's still going to take at least half a cycle to complete this as you will only have enough vis to undergo the imparting of three spells a day, and after that you'll have to practice each at least once before I let you go and with that added on, you'll be here at least half a cycle, more if you want some extra practice, which I don't mind. You're paying for something after all." The master held up a hand, "But for a moment, just tell me why you're here. Why this sphere specifically?"

Another interview process, he'd been frustrated enough with it the first time, "At first it was my father. He is the man I have, for a long time, tried to emulate. Overtime I've realized that even if I end up being a lesser man, at least I'll be my own man. Besides that, it's already my chosen sphere, I'm drawn to it. Most times when I enter the astral plane it is the plane of force that is most dominant to me."

For a long time there was silence as Gye'ron sized up the Dracon and finally decided to speak, "I'm something of a crusader. Mundane weapons don't always work well. Sorcery is powerful, it will, in my estimation, allow me to best defend those who need protection and destroy those who would disrupt the peace." He was unwilling to specifically say that he meant to destroy dark races and followers of Aeternia or any unsavory Planetars.

The Dracon grinned in a rather scary manner, especially in the gloomy light, "I just wanted the truth to be honest. If I cared about why people wanted to learn I wouldn't allow myself to be bought out for teaching. Let's begin."

[Gye'ron Val Oriden]

"Alright, first I'm going to impart three spells upon you; Deflect, Force Bolt, and Gate. I'm sure you'll get good use out of all three, especially the first two. Well, if you plan on using this craft to combat whoever it is that you feel needs a good thwacking. Those three are all we can do for today, you aren't advanced enough to handle more. Tomorrow we can practice them. Prepare yourself."

The Dracon reached out and touched the Kemite's forehead and there was an incredible rush of force as the three spells were imparted to the student. Suddenly, it seemed to Gye'ron through the heady and dizzying rush, that he now knew how to cast the three spells, but he didn't know why he knew or exactly how to do it. It was almost like if he tried it would just flow from instinct. "Do you have them?" Gye'ron simply nodded and smiled, it was oddly refreshing and reassuring to know that he wouldn't only have the mundane tools of armed warcraft at his disposal now.

"Good, good, here is a tomb on sorcery. It's just a short description of those spells that you will learn in your initiate training, and possibly in the future if you have the ability to advance much farther. Take it with you, read it, and rest for the rest of the brightening. If you feel up to it practice one of the spells but don't push yourself. You need to restore yourself before you return next brightening." Gye'ron was given a tomb, or rather more aptly termed a leather bound book. He felt exhausted but despite that still opened the book and flipped through the first two pages reading about the three spells he had just learned:

'Deflect
Duration: Instant
Targets: Single – Other
Range: Close Proximity
The Sorcerer can bend the fabric of space so as to cause a projectile – either physical or magical – to veer off to the side of its original path. This spell becomes increasingly useful to deflect a single, oncoming danger. At greater proficiencies, larger items can be successfully deflected.

Force Bolt
Duration: Instant
Targets: Single – Other
Range: Close or Medium Proximity
Harnessing the power of force, the Sorcerer can construct a spherical mass of repelling force to send hurling towards an opponent. The force generates light to moderate damage, and at greater proficiencies, a larger bolt may be used to cause greater damage.

Gate
Duration: Instant
Targets: Single – Self
Range: Close Proximity
Students of Sorcery learn early on how to charge their homes, or a single place of permanent dwelling, with the essence of energy. When a Sorcerer casts the Gate spell, the field of space breaks open to form an instantaneous and momentary aura that teleports the caster back to the home. The destination of the Gate spell, the Anchor, can only ever exist in a single place that is completely secured and controlled by the caster.'

Upon arriving at his room in the tavern he slept clear through the rest of the brightening and the darkening, waking only just in time to be able to eat and rush to the academy for the second brightening of his training.

[Gye'ron Val Oriden]

Upon arrival his teacher merely commented, "You're a minute late. Take this wand, it will help you with your meditation and casting. Simply think of the spell you want to cast when you're casting and point your wand in the general direction that you want. First I want you to do the spell, Deflect and I'll send a Force Bolt your way to test it out." Gye'ron was handed a thick iron wand that was roughly 13" long. It was covered in odd runes that he had never seen before, but he supposed they had something to do with the functioning of the wand.

He focused on a calming memory; the sound of his mother singing a gentle lullaby as they stood off the coasts of Sherian. Waves crashed against the rocky bluffs. A slight wind rustled the grass plains and pushed his mother’s hair away from her face. She starred out into the vast oceans and sang her loving lullaby as he held her hand and looked out onto the horizon. He felt a calm wash over him and everything else slowly melted away until finally there was nothing but the memory. Slowly he let that too fall away from his mind. At last there was nothing but perfect tranquility and his mind was hurled into the state of Clara.

Though his eyes were closed he could still see everything around him in perfect detail. He saw the vis weaves of those things around him, saw each object as a shimmering blue shape. He focused on his teacher and could sense an extraordinary amount of power from him.

He focused in on the strands and clouds of ara that floated around him, pulling them into the grid of his vis. Suddenly his mind was cast onto the astral plane, a place where time had no meaning.

The blue vortex of time and space drew him in, and he drew power from it as he channeled the energy through his vis and his mind was sent back into the material plane.

He pointed the wand directly in front of him as he thought of the spell Deflect and instinctively he shaped the spell and cast it. He was brought out of his meditative state to see a shimmering field in front of him that appeared to create the same effect as a mirage would.

Suddenly a mass of shimmering air flew toward his spell and he felt the shock wave of the impact of two opposing forces colliding. There was a sudden burst in the stone wall off to Gye'ron's right as the force bolt that his teacher had cast had been deflected by his spell and exploded against the wall. He felt his spell slip away, the mana used to create it having been exhausted by the impact of the force bolt.

Gye'ron felt slightly weaker somehow, a bit less able to easily concentrate.

"Good, you just cast your first spell and it was a success. I used very little power for that spell though, as I think anything more would have blasted through your spell and caused you some pain. You'll get stronger though, I can sense that you have many more levels of unbinding in you, there appears to be no permanent mental block at any level. Take a breath and then we'll work on Force Bolt." His instructor gave a toothy Draconian grin that was rather frightening.

[Gye'ron Val Oriden]

"Good, now cast force bolt on me, and don't worry about hurting me." The master simply smiled and seemed to simply blink before flicking his own wand in the air in front of him where a shimmering field akin to Gye'ron's appeared. It was simply that his seemed much thicker and distorted the air around him to a much greater degree than the Kemite's had.

He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, trying to concentrate so as to cast himself into clara. It took several minutes longer than usual as he did not use his normal method. Extraneous noises and smells kept invading his mind and ever little thing was breaking his concentration. After fifteen minutes he had finally managed to completely clear his mind and a minute after that his conscious mind was cast into clara to be greeted by the familiar vis-ara vision that he enjoyed while in that state.

Once again he focused on the ara around him and drew it into his vis matrix, this causing him to be thrown into the astral. There it was, that glorious blue vortex, the essence plane of energy.

Gye'ron channeled the essence from the plane and into his vis matrix, from whence he was cast mentally back into the material plane and he pointed his wand in the direction of his master and thought of the spell Force Bolt. Subconsciously he began to shape it, and after thirty seconds he could feel that it was ready to be cast. Just as he began to cast the spell his concentration was broken as somebody dropped something in the hall outside and his spell simply fizzled.

Now he felt even more drained than ever. He didn't know how mages did this. He was exhausted by the time he had cast his second spell. How he could do a third he had no idea.

The Draconian master looked rather unimpressed and sighed, "I suppose it's not your fault. You're only an initiate after all, can't be expected to hold your concentration if the wind blew against you. Try it again." His spell still shimmered strongly in front of him as he picked at a claw.

Once again Gye'ron closed his eyes. Slowly he stripped away the feeling of the cold air against his skin, the sound of shuffling feet outside, the smell of his own sweat, the taste of salt in his mouth, and at last there was only the blackness that greeted his eyes. He concentrated even further, breaking past his own mental desire not to cast another spell. He had to resort the relaxing memory of his mother singing to him, and once again he removed that from his mind as well until there was nothing left, until he was calm and focused. His mind once again entered a state of clara.

Immediately he focused on the strands of ara around him, drawing it into his vis. Immediately the process of mana creation began and he channeled energy from the essence plane of force and began subconsciously shaping the spell Force Bolt. He put every last ounce of his vis stores into the spell and in half a minute he was ready to cast it as he aimed his wand at his master.

The shimmering bolt exploded toward his master and struck the defensive spell his instructor had previously cast almost half a candlemark ago. The force bolt ricocheted off of the deflective shield and headed straight back at Gye'ron, catching the student in the chest and sending him flying into the stone wall behind.

Sweat was pouring down his face and his head throbbed, and he was sure that it wasn't just from the force of impact. He was physically and mentally exhausted. Soon the Dracon was looming over him and grinning, "Good enough for now. You might as well sleep here, there's a pillow and a mat in the corner for you."

Gye'ron crawled over to the bed and collapsed.

It was many candlemarks latter when he felt a nudge in his side, only to look up and see a shimmering bit of air poking him in the side and a grinning Dracon on the other side of the room. "Come on now, time to get back to practicing spells."

[Gye'ron Val Oriden]

"Alright, the next spell that I imparted to you is Gate. To be able to successfully perform this spell you're going to have to charge the room with force essence before you cast. Go on."

Gye'ron closed his eyes and slowly stripped away the information his mind received from his various senses. It took a few minutes but eventually there was nothing left to distract him and he was free to focus directly on is task on reaching clara. Two minutes later his mind had entered clara and he began to pull the ara around him into his vis, allowing him to access the astral plane.

From here he focused on the purple plane of force and drew essence from it, and once it equaled the amount of vis he had invested in the process he snapped back to the material plane, and while still in clara, charged the room with the essence of force. Once complete he lost clara.

"Good, now go outside and cast the spell. That charge acted as your anchor. Gate will take you to the last place that you anchored."

Gye'ron left the room and stood outside the closed door. He cleared his mind once again and after five minutes was back in clara. He drew more ara toward his vis matrix and instantly his mind was hurtled into the astral plane. Focusing once more on the plane of force he channeled the essence and was snapped back into clara.

He copied the imparted spell Gate and released the spell, pointing his wand in front of him. A purple, swirling vortex appeared in front of him and taking a deep breath he jumped into it.

His body felt as though it was being torn apart and the most terrible sound made him feel as though his ears were bleeding. When he came out on the other side he found himself on the floor of the training room. He wanted to die, he could barely breath.

"I see you've unhappily experienced your first teleport. There are huge advantages to teleporting across great distances but you have to realize that when you're using force arcana you're messing with time and space. There can be serious consequences. Now to impart you with the next spell."

He touched a hand on Gye'ron's sweating forehead and imparted another spell. He went to Gye'ron's make-shift bed and opened the book he'd given his student to a page showing the spell he'd just imparted:

'Lock
Duration: Instant
Targets: Single – Other
Range: Close Proximity
Fashioning a restraining device of his own making, the Sorcerer can place upon a door, chest or other closing object a magical lock that will prevent opening by others using conventional means. The lock can be taken down by either magic or other very creative means beyond the scope of this description. At greater proficiencies, the Lock spell is more difficult to bypass.'

[Gye'ron Val Oriden]

Once again his master woke him when he was ready to train Gye'ron again. Never had the Kemite experienced anything so draining as the arcana that he was learning to cast.

In the middle of the room was a chest with no lock on it. The Dracon master pointed at the box, "Alright, cast the spell Lock on it."

Gye'ron closed his eyes and once again began the process of stripping away the senses that invaded his mind. Once done he focused on entering clara and eventually he did. It was always a magnificent experience. He could see without opening his eyes. Everything was in more perfect detail than it was when he looked at the world with his proper eyes. If he could he would spend his life in the state of clara.

He took a measured bit of ara into his vis, and upon being hurled mentally into the astral plane he focused on the plane of force and channeled an amount of essence equal to his ara intake until he was returned to the material plane, still in a state of clara.

Once again Gye'ron copied the imparted spell Lock and pointed his wand at the clasp on the box. He released the spell when it was fully shaped and was suddenly snapped out of clara. Nothing visible had happened to the box. For a moment it had seemed to shudder, but nothing beyond that happened.

Out of curiosity Gye'ron put himself back into clara and found that the box had been tied shut within it's vis by obviously foreign strands that made the box seem to be comprised of one solid shell. He smiled as he returned out of a clara state.

The Dracon grinned, "Clever, don't you think? It'll work on anything that way. Now for the next spell, Open." He moved forward and touched Gye'ron on the forehead. An explosion seemed to happen in the Kemite's mind as the spell was imparted upon him.

"Now, use that spell to undo your lock."

The pages in his book flipped and the spell that had been imparted appeared:

'Open
Duration: Instant
Targets: Single – Closed or Locked
Range: Close or Medium Proximity
Being intimately familiar with the binary state of movable objects, the Sorcerer can cause a closed or locked item to give way and open, breaking through simple locking mechanisms. At greater proficiencies, the Open spell may be used to break through more difficult locks or magical restraints.'

[Gye'ron Val Oriden]

Gye'ron closed his eyes once again and slowed his breathing as he began the process of meditating. He slowly cleared his mind, stripping way the air on his skin, the smell of the Dracon's sweat, the foul taste of the air. Everything slipped away and his breathing slowed as he calmed his mind and began to focus on his objective.

A bit quicker than usual his mind entered clara and he was greeted by the familiar sight of the silver-blue strands of ara and shimmering wispy clouds of the raw essences that floated around him. He drew the ara into his vis and his mind was immediately launched into the astral plane.

From there he focused on the purple essence plane of force, and then proceeded to channel the raw essence into his own vis matrix until he maxed out and was returned to the material plane.

Gye'ron copied the shaping process for the imprinted spell Open and once the spell was shaped he pointed his wand at the locked box and released the spell.

There was a barely audible snaping sound as the mana bonds that kept the box locked broke. The box sprung open ever so slightly in response to the broken force. Once again he was exhausted, feeling totally worn out and spent.

The Dracon's eyes betrayed a bit of discomfort as he approached and raised his clawed hand to Gye'ron's forehead, "This is going to hurt, but you should survive...the damage shouldn't be permanent." There was a loud cracking akin to a huge explosion and Gye'ron felt as though his mind were about to explode.

Just before he passed out he heard the Dracon master say, "I just imprinted two more spells, you'll be okay...I think." He felt the blood trickling from his nose.

When he woke up the next brightening, his head throbbing, he found the leather bound book open to the page showing what he had just had imprinted:

'Sphere of Light
Duration: Temporary
Targets: Area of Effect
Range: Touch or Close Proximity
Reshaping the essence of matter, the Sorcerer can imbue an area with a glowing sphere of cool light which will provide illumination over the immediate near range. The Sphere of Light dissipates either when the spellcaster decided to close down the spell in order to have additional energy for more involved casting, or if the Sorcerer loses his concentration. At greater proficiencies, larger spheres of different colors may be conjured for a greater duration.



Star of Force
Duration: Instant
Targets: Single – Other
Range: Close Proximity
The Sorcerer can conjure forth a refined blade of penetrating energy that can both pierce and slash. By releasing the force blade, it will be sent spiralling towards the designated opponent and cause light to medium damage. At greater proficiencies, the Star of Force can spin at a faster rate and thus cause more damage.'

His Dracon master sat in a corner with his eyes closed, he waved his hand and shimmering purple shield appeared in front of him, "Try the Star of Force spell. Send it at me."

[Gye'ron Val Oriden]

His head throbbed and despite all the aid that his wand provided he was still having considerable difficulty entering clara. He would just break through and see the vis patterns of the arcanic world and immediately would loose his concentration due to the pain. It was over two candlemarks, once his head ache had subsided, before he was able to sustain clara.

Fearing losing the mental state once again he quickly drew the surrounding ara into his vis and immediately found his mind wandering the astral plane. And there, shimmering and containing all the energy that bound space and time, was the plane of force.

He focused in on the purple essence plane, and channeled the essence through his vis. When he had reached the maximum amount he could take with the amount of vis he had invested in the spell his mind snapped back to the material plane.

He copied the imprinted shaping of the spell Star of Force, and once the mana had taken full shape of the spell he wished, he pointed his wand toward his master and released the spell.

A purple blade had formed in front of him upon being released and had immediately shot off, spiraling toward the Dracon. Unfortunately, after two candlemarks of nothing happening his master had let down his guard and wasn't even paying attention anymore.

With no shield to protect him, the purple arcanic blade made contact with the Dracon. Fortunately, Gye'ron's aim hadn't been exact, just enough to nick the scaled arm of his master. Unfortunately the Dracon reacted on instinct and Gye'ron quickly found himself bound and unable to move, lifted to the ceiling by some spell he didn't know.

"By the Gods boy! Warn me before you do something like that, I almost killed you just now! You have no idea how close I was to making your head implode." Carefully he let Gye'ron back down to his feet and released the binding, "Alright then, good job. The final spell you need to cast is Sphere of Light and after that just dispel it and we'll be done."

Now Gye'ron was incredibly confused, he'd never heard of this 'dispel' thing, "Dispel? How do I do that?"

The Dracon looked quite surprised, "I thought you'd already known all the initiate techniques. I suppose not. Well to dispel something you have two options, either carefully take apart the spell's weave that you're concentrating on, or just use an equal amount of mana to smash the spell apart. Either way, it'll take up the same amount of vis you'd use to cast a spell. Now come on."

Gye'ron closed his eyes and cleared his mind, focusing on the task of entering clara. It was considerably easier, and much quicker, this time around as he had no pesky physical distraction to get in his way. Once there he drew on the ara around him and pulled it into his vis. As before, he found his mind in the astral plane.

He focused on the plane of force, and then proceeded to channel the essence through his vis, and once again found himself in clara in the material plane. As before Gye'ron copied the imprinted spell Sphere of Light and when ready he pointed his wand above him and released the spell.

A glowing purple orb appeared directly above the Kemite's head, make the room much more bright. It appeared that candle light just didn't compare to arcanic light.

Once again Gye'ron entered clara and proceeded to draw ara into his vis, upon doing which was sent mentally into the astral plane. Once there he focused on the plane of force and channeled essence from it into his vis.

With his mind back in the material plane Gye'ron gathered together the mana he had created and used it to aggressively smash apart the arcanic weave of his previously cast spell. He had taken one look at the weave of the spell and doubted very much his ability to undo it. The dispelling of the orb had taken up his last safely available vis, and once again Gye'ron was spent.

The Dracon sighed, "I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed. I watched you dispel, and that was the cowardly way out in my opinion. I thought you would have tried the more difficult path of unweaving it." He shrugged, "Anyways, your training is complete. Goodbye." And suddenly the Dracon was gone, leaving through a purple, swirling portal. And once again, Gye'ron was alone. But now he felt more prepared for what the world would throw at him.

OOC: Here are the threads showing his previous experience with arcana.

Explanation of basic arcanomechanics, original interview, and unbinding:

http://www.playbypost.com/forums/nexus-...ew-gaborn.html

Meditation and entering clara:

http://www.playbypost.com/forums/diana/...ml#post1024325

Drawing ara into the vis, entering astral plane, focusing on a single plane, channeling from it, and then the disasterous results of releasing mana without shaping it first:

http://www.playbypost.com/forums/diana/...ml#post1153523

[Kalinda]

Initiate Sorcery approved!

+ 2 experience points in sorcery.