Rune Mastery (Vers, Ikos Master Training, Private, Carly)

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly looked at the bead of sweat on Jonas's brow, wondering if he was nervous to be in the same room as two more proficient mages, or simply uncomfortable with his posture. She set her mind to the issue, the sigil floating infront of her vision as she imagined it, almost as if it were a second language.

"Well, I suppose I'd use a sequence pattern. Use Evo for the bringing of the ants, Ikos and Genas could represent the school, a place of thought and magic, through enclosure of course. And the ants would be represented by a comination of Dharv and Uram, for the hive mind and their existence as 'animals' or insects if you prefer. A simple enough sigil. Just an apprentice level spell really." Carly said this part as she looked at Jonas and winked conspiratorily.

[Fish Stick]

"Very good. Definitely an apprentice level spell, but one that you may or may not be able to accomplish without the rune of Uram. Now, let's talk about some of the techniques that you will be able to use as a Master Ikomancer. The first one is Impression. Tell me what you know of this technique..." said Rosalind.

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly racked her memory for what she'd read about Impression, where a normal arcanic Master had all sorts of techniques and fancy spells they learned when they became a Master, Carly found that an Ikomancer just got so much better at what they did. She rummaged through the halls of her memory and drew on what she'd discovered.

"Well, Impression is the method by which an Ikomancer can... draw a sigil on a non-solid medium. Like air, or sand, or water. It is the point at which an Ikomancer has become so good at imagining their sigil, and knows themselves so well, that they can hone their skills to drawing sigils quickly. It's a bit like when an archmage would think the rune in their head, the use of the fluid medium just adds a bit more concentration to it. Of course, its much less likely to be successful. But it really is the point, when you can do it, that you can use Ikos on the run."

[Fish Stick]

"Very good! Jonas, go get the sand box now..." instructed Rosalind to her little apprentice helper. He got up, and left the room. Moments later, he returned, and in his hands was a large box, filled with sand, big enough to cast a sigil in, depending on the sigil one was performing. "Now Carly, it's obvious that you probably won't be able to accomplish anything, but i'd like you to practice drawing a sigil or two in the Air, and then in the sand. Just to have you start getting the feel for it, because it will be important. Say, when an Ikomancer is on the run, being chased by someone, they could quickly draw a sigil in the air to decrease the chances of being found if they began hiding somewhere... perhaps you could figure out a sigil for that one with the runes you know, and practice that one..." she said, and then waited for Carly to either ask a question, or do as instructed...

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly watched the sand box, impressed by it's size. She considered the sigil, a simple enough concept. Me alone, pursuer go away. Charu, salucha, Pipittili, Dharv and something for the away... Genas! As in, that guy goes and gets his chase wrecked. And possibly an Ikos for the chance of things going awry for him.

She considered the flow of the individual runes, the pattern of the whole sigil. The sheer artestry of it all, thoughts wizzing through her head in mere seconds as the rune painted it self in her mind, chalky and bright. Then she tentatively held out her hand and traced the sigil from beginning to end, almost as if done in cursive writing. Then she moved her hand and traced the sigil again into the sand, in the horizontal. Not bothering with clara.

"Hmmm... there. Not as good as a sigil with time spent on it, but I think it's passable for something on the fly."

[Fish Stick]

"Impressive, although, i'd expect nothing less from you Carly," said Rosalind. "Now, tell me about the technique Permanent Blessings or Permanent Curses, and why these can be useful, as well as dangerous..."

[Carly Jr'ana]

A permenent bless? Isn't that just like a regular blessing but more... permenent? She scratched her head. "If I draw a parallel to regular arcane spheres, its much like an enchantment, the only reason it is more permenent then an imbuement is down to the level of detail and skill the mage puts into the work.

So a permenent bless or curse is only that way due to the intricacies the Master can put into the sigil. Of course, you can never be sure of permenency, thats a misnomner really... you increase the chance of it happening. You'll never know if it worked. Has a lot of applications, in business, in life. You could effect the long term development of a city, or a culture if you wanted. Dangerous as any other sigil, except it's a bit like a tight rope.

The high the rope is, the more painful it is to fall. If you mess up on as intricate a sigil as a 'permenent' bless, well, there's no telling what could happen."

[Pescado Branch]

Deleted content due to post by GM's PC.

[Fish Stick]

"Good Job!" exclaimed Rosalind. "Well, moving along, i think the next thing to discuss is Runic Creation. Now, I want you to explain to me what this is, and then give me an example of it, how it might be demonstrated..."

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly pursed her lips, waggled her brow and shot Rosalind an incredulous look. She had never actually created a Rune, it wasn't something a Journeyman attempted. Of course, she had altered those... the process was similar. It had been explained.

"Ah... let's see. Well, there's so much room in an individual for the regular set of runes. Those runes that occur naturally and are shared amoung all sentient beings, or so we hypothesize. It's quite possible a katta is unable to process Bhun or some other rune, I've never met one who practiced Ikos so I can't be sure.

Then! Then there is room for individual runes, for unique understandings of the world. It's in these spaces that more personal runes can be placed, like a little window in the soul that allows more precise spell casting. I suppose it acts as a focus, I spend much of my time around the ocean so if I were to meditate I might find myself creating a rune to do with water, storms, fish... those sort of things. It's not very likely I'd create a rune about a desert.

It's not a.. it's not a precise art. It's a deep and prolonged meditation on the self, and only through this is a new Rune created, and that rune isn't applicable to another caster. It's unique to the individual as far as I know. Is that right? It's not a thing that gets talked about much outside of the literature."

[Fish Stick]

"Very good!" exclaimed Rosalind. "Now, finally, what is Sigil Mastery, how can one go through with this process, and what can some of the end results be?"

[Carly Jr'ana]

Her brain felt taxed, so many questions and so much thinking. Ordinarily she was adept at musing away at thoughts from the rising of the suns till their sinking, however she felt her patience slipping with Rosalind's relentless questions. Carly was not a girl who enjoyed being questioned.

"Rune mastery isn't a process, it refers to the true artistry a Master Ikomancer should reach. Practicing their art for so long directly with their Ikos they should have picked up a number of skills. The sheer detail used to evoke the subconcious makes their sigils not merely spells, but art.

The finer the artwork, the more personal... the greater the chance of success. Everything is subjective and art is the most personal expression of all. A picture paints a thousand words they say. In the end, this art is transient. We destroy all our sigils in the end, which only works to enhance it's beauty. Like a sand castle."

[Fish Stick]

Rosalind looked stunned by Carly's answer, but in a good way. "I guess i shouldn't be surprised by the fact that someone like you has good taste in art," she said smiling. "Well, I guess it is time to bring you infront of the masters..." Standing up, the cether walked down the hallway, leading Carly to another room. [b]"Please wait here until I can gather them all..."[b] she said, and then took her leave to gather the other five Masters at the academy. Luckily for her, none of them happened to be within a class at the moment, and were all available. Filing in after the cether, the other five masters each gave Carly a smile, and then sat down in a chair in a semi-circle around Carly. The first one to speak was the Master Mystic of the Academy named Master Sirus. "Greetings Carly, I hear you wish to become a Master Ikomancer? Well, you'll have to pass a test from each of the six of us.. the first test is mine. I wish for you to draw three sigils, each of them having to include a different set of the runes you have already memorized, to show me that you understand each of the runes you have taken into your heart..." he said, and then awaited for Carly to finish her first of six tasks...

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly followed Rosalind to the room, she took her seat to wait and found herself practicing a breathing meditation. So focussed on the rise and fall of her own breath, she startled somewhat as the Master's entered. She could not deny the quickening of her heart beat, or the way her tongue seemed to swell within her mouth with anxiety. This was a moment she had waited so long to approach, people who would be her peers if they judged her worthy.

In the end, it was not they who would really be the judges, it was Carly. And as any adolescent girl with her skill she judged herself worthier then all, even if there was a moment of hesitation. A nod to the first Master, hands withdrew from pockets to reveal a rainbow of chalks and every possible shade of grey, to which she spread to either side of her.

Kneeling she took up the first chalk and began to trace the lines of Bhun purely from memory, the rune took on a life differant from it's classic inception. It took form from Carly's own personality, colours that matched those of her inner self. Soon followed the runes of Dharv, Genas and Evo. The rune took a strange form, one enclosing the other and forming a polygon structure. "I don't expect you to understand my sigil's, but this here represents a happy... love life. Tranquil and passionate, but always good."

Next she moved on, scooting across the floor to begin another sigil. Aga, Chanu, Genas and Dharv gave rise to a sigil of plentiful crops. Their order ran in two directions, both in a sequence if read clockwise and also as taken together. The chalks evoked the browns and greens of the earth, the blues and grey's of the sky and it's life giving water. "This here is a blessing for crops, something to aid a farmer or a village."

And the third sigil she drew, she endeavoured to weave an intricate web to impress. In her own time Carly often sketched runes within her own note books, musing on one outcome or the other. A star pattern took form on the floor with all nine of Carly's original runes, if she did not have to cast a sigil she felt she could draw all day. She took great care not to step upon or smudge a line of chalk as she worked, the Master watching either with interest or apathy.

She began with the idea of heaven as the central focus, working outwards on three arms. The first arm evoked the knowledge and possibilities in the world with Evo and Ikos. The second arm read as if a sentence, evoking the love of a partner. Genas, Salucha and Lopeter. The third arm of the star sigil spoke of riches and the soaring freedom of the soul. The traced their borders in stark black and white, filling each rune with a dizzying array of colours until her fingers looked as if they had been dipped in dusty prisms. She paused as she came to the end and indicated with her arms she had done so. "A path to heaven on earth."

[Fish Stick]

"Very good," said Master Sirus, whom then gestured towards the other Masters. "I am satisfied that you have reached the requirements for becoming a Master Ikomancer..." Smiling, he sat back within his chair, when an Elf, Master of Sorcery stood up, and then said, "While our resident mystic might be satisfied, I am not, and there is no way i'll be promoting you unless you can, and are willing to explain to me that last sigil... what exactly does it mean, a path to heaven on earth, and how might it affect this world of ours?"