Initiate Song (Vers, Private, Lyssoryl)

[Fish Stick]

Brightening 2 of Cycle 1 of the Month of Kalendryas, in the season of Winter, Era 1, Era XV PF

The day had come for Lyssoryl to attend her first class for initiate song. Before she opened the door to the classroom, she could hear a beautiful song coming forth from the room. It was the voice of a man, the sound was soothing almost, and she could feel her mind being put at ease as she listened to the song. Upon entering, she would see him sitting in a chair, with a very strange posture, intended to allow him better lung capacity while sitting.

As he finished singing the song, he turned his head to look, his light brown hair falling into his face a bit, as his blue eyes stared at her. Standing up, he smiled, and then said, "Hello, my name is Aeron Sinol... I'm an adept bard, and i'll be your instructor for this class... how are you today?" After he asked how she was doing, and got his response, he watched her carefully, and then motioned for her to take a seat where he had once been sitting. "Are you ready to learn about bards? And what made you interested in learning about being a bard? I'm just curious to know..." he asked, almost a bit shy at speaking with her, as he had never had much luck with woman, even if they were halflings, for they found him a bit too kind, and not a rough enough man, or strong enough man. But he did have one strength, his skill in the arcana known as song...

[Lyssoryl]

Lyssoryl clapped enthusiastically when the man finished singing.

"Hello, my name is Aeron Sinol... I'm an adept bard, and i'll be your instructor for this class... how are you today?"

Lyssoryl curtsied. "I'm an exceedingly pleased to meet you! I am doing quite well, and am no longer nervous. I was afraid you would be a stern old man with a penchant for cracking a ruler across my knuckles every time I went astray."

She climbed up into the human-sized chair and let her feet swing back and forth in the air, giving her best friendly smile.

"Are you ready to learn about bards? And what made you interested in learning about being a bard? I'm just curious to know..."

Lyssoryl answered enthusiastically, without the slightest hesitation. "Because music is one of the most important thing is the world!" She made an expansive gesture, indicating the world around us. "All this; books, tables, steaming bowls of soup on a cold winter's brightening, it's all important only in how it promotes and sustains our inner world of emotions. We fail to eat, and we get hungry and sad. The cold wind blows down our neck for lack or shelter, and we shiver and think dark thoughts." She thumped her hand over her heart. "Here is where we live, right in here. And music feeds us like nothing else does. It is like fine wine for the soul squeezed elegantly out of instruments. I can think of no more noble pursuit than that of being a bard, and should rather be one than an empress of any land in the world."

[Fish Stick]

As she was talking, the adept bard listened with enthusiasm. It was always good to hear a student so excited about what they were going to learn, and it seemed that she was quite ready to learn it. "So, it seems you are ready to learn the great art of arcana known as Song!" he exclaimed. Walking over to her, he sat down infront of her, and then said, "The first thing i'll need to do is to see if i can unlock your mind to our many mysteries. It is called an Unbinding, and will be key for you in moving onto the next step. Now, only about one in a thousand people have a successful unbinding, and we shall see if it is successful for you, which i believe it will be because you are so engaged already in the most important aspect of Song, that being passion. So, are you ready to have your mind unlocked?" When she said yes, which he was expecting her to, he placed both of his hands upon her cether temples, and then closed his eyes. As he did this, she would feel her mind expanding outwards suddenly, and then she'd fall into a deep slumber.

OOC: Feel free to go wild with and unbinding dream, anything you can imagine, can happen, 'cause it's a dream!

[Lyssoryl]

As Aeron touched her temples, she put her hands on the back of his.

"Please be careful with my brain" she said, smiling up at him with nervousness in her eyes. "It's true I don't use it all that often, but I'm rather fond of it all the same."

For Lyssoryl, sleep came like the drawing of curtains close by her face, a soft darkness closing in from the sides until it filled the world for her. She found the darkness stifled her and she made a waving motion, as if brushing away a mosquito, and discovered that there were leafy branches in front of her. Pushing them aside, she could see once more.

She was at the edge of a forest, looking out at a wide meadow of thick moss. The Suns shown from an angle that indicated early morning, casting brilliant golden light on the wildflowers that bloomed amongst the moss in a splendid profusion of colors; sky blues, fiery crimsons, buttery yellows, dazzling whites and rich lavenders. Across the meadow the forest began again, with a variety of trees in contrasting shades of green. Swallows darted in euphoric patterns, chasing invisible insects.

It was a scene of intense beauty, so much so that it raised an ache within her. And yet, there was something unsettling about the scene. Perhaps it was how the trees opposite her spot moved- like powerful animals stalking pray, or like the last wave a foundering ship sees before sinking. In fact, now that she looked, the air was much too still to explain their movement, and in any case they did not move in unison as one would expect of things moved by the same breeze.

In the middle of the meadow, and somewhat to her left, there was a mound of white flowers, and a small figure sat atop it doing something which the distance made indistinct, despite the amazing clarity of the air. With hesitating steps, Lyssoryl left the forest and approached for a better look.

She had to approach quite closely before the figure made sense to her, and when it did clarity came suddenly. Lyssoryl was startled to see that from her closer vantage point the flowery hill wasn’t flowery at all. Rather, it was a great mound of skulls. They gleamed a clean eggshell white, as if each had been polished with a loving hand, and they grinned at her in a manner lacking all restraint. On top of the mound she saw a duplicate of herself, sitting cross-legged and working a long leg bone with some sort of small metal implement. The woman looked up, showing black eyes with no whites, orbs like yawning graves. “Just a second dear, I’m almost through,” she said. Her voice had a slight echoing quality to it. She went back to work on the bone.

Lyssoryl stood transfixed, until the woman looked up again. She examined the bone with care, looking for imperfections, and Lyssoryl could see that she’d made it into a flute. She held it to her lips and blew gently, producing a beautiful dark sound, like a nightingale trapped in a cave deep underground. She ran artfully through several scales, then took the flute from her lips and absentmindedly polished a few specks of bone dust from its gleaming surface.

“Who are you?” Lyssoryl stammered.

The woman considered carefully before replying. “It is important for you to remember that things come undone. In every tender blossom, in every beautiful echoing note lives the shadow of decay.”

“Will you not answer me?”

“It is a kindness I do. You do not ask the right questions, yet I give you the right answers. I shall repeat my kindness twice more.”

“Is this a place I have seen, or will one day see.”

“It is important to remember that things come together. In every reeking corpse, in every wail of woe lives the spark of unborn dreams.”

“I’m not certain I understand. What is to become of me?”

The woman smiled with brilliant white teeth.

“This is the right question asked at the wrong time. And so my third kindness is this- Shed a tear for the burgeoning life of spring, and smile fondly in autumn’s dying light. There is no truth, there is no pain, but there is something else which you will not know but you will feel, and then all will be well.”

Lyssoryl felt something brush her arm, and turned in surprise. Behind her was an apple tree, each fruit a burning globe of fire. Cautiously, she extended her hand to pick one, ready to jerk back at the first feeling of heat, but she found the warmth to be just tolerable, so she pulled the globe loose with a jerk. There was a shower of sparks, and she sat up with a start.

[Fish Stick]

As she awoke, her teacher sat next to her having brought a tray of assorted breads, cheeses, and wine out for her. "Eat, for you will need your strength..." he instructed gently. As she was eating, he smiled, and then said, "That dream you have is yours alone, to choose to tell whomever you want, or no one at all. I'd prefer you not to tell me, for it should be a secret, as all bards are generally tought. But i think it should be your choice of whom you trust to tell the dream to..." As he finished speaking about the dream, he took a bite of bread, and poured himself some wine.

Taking a few sips, he cocked his head a bit at her, and then said, "So tell me, what do you know of Arcana, any termonology? anything you might have read before coming here? The first thing i'm going to teach you is how to Meditate and enter a state called Clara. It is in this state that you will do all of your arcanic work, and it is in this state that you should be able to produce songs that no mear minstrel would ever be able to accomplish in his lifetime. These songs will be able to give people great courage, soothe them in their times of need, or cause enemies to fall into terrible depths of despair..." After a few moments, allowing her to take in all that he said, he continued on.

"To meditate is to pull yourself away from all of your physical senses, to detach yourself from the reality of the material planes. As an Initiate, it will be quite difficult to achieve the state of mind known as Clara much less sustain it for very long. But if you manage to, you will see the world in a whole other light. There will be three main essenses that you will be working with. These are called Ara and Vis. Ara is the essense around you, the most abundant essence in the astral planes. And Vis is your essense, as well as every other living creature's essense. We shall discuss the third essense later, when it is time for that... Do you have any questions thus far?" he asked, hoping he had not given her to much to swallow, as she was most likely still weak from the unbinding...

[Lyssoryl]

Lyssoryl looked a bit stunned, but took a slice of bread and spread it with a soft cheese. She blew out a puff of air, directing it upward with her lower lip so that it cause a lock of her hair to jump. “Goodness!” She said. “Even if I wanted to tell my dream, I should have to think on it for a while before I could tell it properly. As yet I’m not even sure how confused I am.” She considered a moment. “Hey! Does that means it worked and I am unbound?! Hurray!” She gave her teacher a quick hug, though she was feeling quite weak and her hands shook visibly.


"So tell me, what do you know of Arcana, any termonology? anything you might have read before coming here?

“I’ve heard descriptions but I am not certain of my terminology. As I understand it, the Bard goes into a trance while he or she plays, and they pull essence from the Astral plane to do their bidding, which they work into an arcane song.”

Lyssoryl watched him talk with rapt attention, although he could tell she was still dazed. Her delicate eyebrows knit with the effort of concentration.

Do you have any questions thus far?"

Lyssoryl considered what she’d heard as she poured herself wine. "Are Ara and Vis fundamentally different sorts of essence, or are they the same with the difference being that Vis already belongs to someone? Also, how do your recommend I moderate the wine I’m drinking? I must admit that I do not hold a large amount of spirits well, owing to being small. Do I aim for enough to relax me but not so much that my thoughts get fuzzy, or are fuzzy thoughts an aid to the process?" She was visibly recovering from her unbinding now and she sat up straighter in her chair.

[Fish Stick]

The bard looked at her, and then said, "Vis is our essense, or the essense of life. As we grow in the ranks of Arcana, we gradually gain more Vis. Ara is the essense around us, the essense of the Astral Planes." He smiled, and then continued. "As for the wine, just drink a wee bit of it to relax you, and help soothe yourself form the pains of the unbinding..." After they ate a bit more, and drank some wine to relax her, he then asked, "Do you think you're ready to try meditating now? Or do you wish to wait til tomorrow to work on your first skill?" It would be up to her in the end, for she could wait till she was better rested, unless she wished to make an attempt at meditating today, in which case, she could do so right after she answered yes...

[Lyssoryl]

"Do you think you're ready to try meditating now? Or do you wish to wait til tomorrow to work on your first skill?"

Lyssoryl replied "Goodness! I can hardly stop now! How would I sleep tonight knowing I am so close to stepping into a miraculous new world?" She brought her feet up to a cross-legged position on the chair, which was plenty large enough to accomodate such a small person in that position. Her eyes fluttered for a second, then closed. Her breathing slowed and became even.

Inwardly, Lyssoryl began to concentrate. Her brain felt like it had been blown up like a pig's bladder, and the corridors of thought that she had always enjoyed wandering now had a strange new quality to them. But she soon began to grow frustrated at not finding her way to Clara. She focused with more and more intensity, but the correct path eluded her. She let out a large sigh. Perhaps tomorrow would be a better idea afterall. And in that second when she eased up, suddenly she felt something! It was as if her soul were gently strummed like the string of a harp. She let the feeling play through her for a long delicious moment, then slowly opened her eyes, unsure if she would see the classroom or something entirely else.

[Fish Stick]

As she entered her Clara, it was an amazing sight indeed, although, only she could envision what she saw. Her mentor and teacher watched as she did this, and then smiled a bit. She only managed to sustain it for about twenty seconds, and then she fell out of her Clara, returning to the Material Plane. "Next time, to reach it easier, and sustain it better, don't focus so much, just try to let yourself go from your mind and body. Let go of everything, and leave all of your worldly thoughts behind. This is be safest route to one's Clara..." he said. "Now, I believe it would be beneficial for you to go home and rest now. And when you come back tomorrow, we shall take it a step further, okay?" As he finished, he allowed her to go, helping her down from the chair, and sending her on her way to rest up for the entirity of the day. Her mind needed it.

OOC: Just so you know in the future, you will be attempting to do things. I'll let you know the outcome of your actions, whether they succeed or not. This way it shall keep you from bunnying, and help you're character to learn there can be consequences and rewards to their actions

[Lyssoryl]

Lyssoryl accepted his help down from the chair with gratitude- she was still a bit wobbly from all her experiences.

"Thank you ever so much for teaching me!" She said. "I believe I shall now go sleep like a stupified log until tomorrow. But just tell me what time we should meet again and I shall be there."

With that, she tottered off to her room for a nap.

[Fish Stick]

As she left the class her teacher said, "Be here by the 11th candlemark tomorrow..."

[Lyssoryl]

Lyssoryl arrived early the next brightening, eager to be at her studies. She was wearing a new dress that she had just purchased at the Essentials Shoppe, a peasant dress done in deep red and white with a lace up bodice which showed off her figure to its best advantage without looking especially obvious about it. She was eager to make a good impression on the man who held such control over her destiny.

As she waited for her teacher, she quietly sang a song which had appeared in her head the previous evening as she was drifting in that pleasant void beyond lucidity but before sleep . Although obviously untrained, her voice was a pleasing soft soprano.

The song went:

When Lightnings crash among the waves
And Thunder makes his sound
Richard Mortis has gone away
And is no where to be found

When sunbeams dance in golden glades
And all the world is bright.
Richard Mortis has hid away
And is always out of sight.

Richard Mortis! Richard Mortis!
A friend both straight and true.
When you're nowhere to be found
He'll be there for you.

But now we sing in taverns dark
Amid the ales light
And Mixie Nuts is all the friend
We have need of tonight.

For first we eat and then we drink
And then we fall asleep
But Mixie Nuts has got the stuff
To make us gladly weep.

Mixie Nuts! Mixie Nuts!
A salty friend, but true.
Oh let me hold you in my arms
and sing the long night through.

[Fish Stick]

"Interesting piece..." he said as he entered the room. "But the piece you shall be learning today is called the Anthem of Aelyria... When I unbound you, i imparted all of the songs you shall learn into your mind, so that they might come more naturally. The first thing i wish for you to do, is to return to your Clara, and then attempt to work with the energies around you, the Ara. i want you to move that towards your Vis to start forming an arcalysis reaction. Once that has been completed, i shall instruct you on your next step..."

He awaited till she completed that step, and then said, "Now i want you to use a technique we calle Focusing and focus upon the Plane of Music. As you do this, i want you to try to Channel our essense down into the Arcalysis reaction to create the necessary Mana for the spell we are going to sing..." He then awaited her to finish that step before continuing with the actual spell casting...

[Lyssoryl]

Lyssoryl blushed a crimson red when she was caught singing. "There is music caught in the creases of my brain, and sometimes I just try to air it out."

"The first thing i wish for you to do, is to return to your Clara, and then attempt to work with the energies around you, the Ara. i want you to move that towards your Vis to start forming an arcalysis reaction. Once that has been completed, i shall instruct you on your next step..."

It took Lyssoryl a bit of time to return to Clara. At first, she tried too hard not to try hard, and got nowhere. After a bit of experimentation, she learned that if she contemplated musical notes, or the songs of birds, it got her pointed in the right direction. She let peace wash over her spirit, and felt herself slipping into the now somewhat familiar state.

Reaching out with her mind, she gently caressed the Ara. She was not entirely sure how one might produce an arcalysis reaction, and did not want anything to happen too quickly for her to study. At the same time, she did not want to dawdle, as last night she'd only been able to sustain Clara for twenty seconds. Forcing herself to move with more assurance, she began to mold the Ara to her astral being.

"Now i want you to use a technique we calle Focusing and focus upon the Plane of Music. As you do this, i want you to try to Channel our essense down into the Arcalysis reaction to create the necessary Mana for the spell we are going to sing..."

Lyssoryl inhaled and let her breath out slowly. Focusing intently on the Arcalysis reaction, she caused the essences to mix. The mana it produced had a distinctly different psychic flavor, and she marveled at it's form.

[Fish Stick]

As Lyssoryl entered her Clara, and created an arcalysis reaction, she felt her mind rise higher into the Astral Plane. She was then able to channel the essense into the reaction, and create the Mana needed for the song. "Now that you have created your mana, you can sing the Anthem of Aelyria... this song will increase combat haste and efficiency... Sing the song for us, and let the music flow forth from your soul. As you sing, the Mana will flow through your being, and out into everyone that can hear the song..." he said, smiling, and then awaiting her performance...

OOC: There are no words for this song, as with any of the bard songs, so you can just RP them singing it without writing out the lyrics...