RP:A Xalious Test

From HollowWiki

This is a Mage's Guild RP.


Xalious Tree

Svilfon is sitting cross-legged before the Xalious Tree. His face is a mass of bruises from his fight with the dragon yesterday, and though his Xalious-wood wand sits before him on the ground, there is about him an air of readiness... he is more like a coiled snake ready to strike than a resting peaceful animal. And there he remains, eyes shut, thoughts far away; meditating on many plans he knows will soon come to fruition.


Satoshi is not far from the wizard, whether he's aware of it or not. Midway up the Xalious Tree and perched upon one of its wide branches is the kit, half concealed by the golden veined leaves. She isn't attempting to hide, nor is she actively trying to reveal herself. She is simply present, meditating in the comfort of the Mage Tree--as much for her own well-being as to satiate the quiet curiosity of the tiny couatl coiled around Satoshi's neck.


Lithoniel wanders in, her eyes drawn to the great tree and the odd looking man sitting before. "My apologies." she says upon her intrusions, "I did not mean to interrupt." The elf misses the ice queen sequestered in the tree.


Svilfon was well aware of Satoshi perched high in that tree, but he hadn't spoken to her or offered greeting to the lovely Emielle. He was content to simply meditate, knowing she'd make herself known if she wanted to speak. Words still are not needed between those two students of magic. Yet when Lithoniel's voice breaks his concentration, the wizard opens a single eye and looks at the elf. For a long moment he is silent, before he pulls himself to his feet with a grunt of pain; tortured muscles not too happy to be moving again. "I take it you are Lithoniel Xiloscient " The words are not a question. "I am Svilfon, Wizard of Frostmaw, Magister Templi of the Mage's Guild, Wingleader of the Eyrie." He offers a tip of his hat and a crooked grin. "You wish to be tested for our fine guild... are you prepared for such? As I said during our brief correspondence, such tests are wrought in fire and blood... and not all survive." The words are spoken in tones that contradict their seriousness. The wizard might as well be discussing the weather. Yet he watches very closely for the reply she would give; perhaps the test has already begun.


Satoshi's vulpine ears are all that move upon the kit, perking forward and swiveling to the side at the sound of voices below. So it's time for a test, is it? The ghost of a smile tugs at the corners of Satoshi's lips although she's yet to open her eyes and look down toward the potential combatants. Perhaps, she is waiting for the stranger's answer, before the magus is willing to break her focus to pay attention. Emielle doesn't carry the same views, but then the couatl also isn't meditating like her caretaker. A tiny, cerulean serpent's head peeks out from the front folds of Satoshi's coat, and turns a beady black eye on the duo below, keen and watchful in her silence.


Lithoniel inclines her head gracefully to the man, "I am she," she concedes, "and it is a pleasure to meet you Magister Templi." The woman smiles, showing no fear or hesitation, "I am prepared sir, tests the likes of which you speak are a mere concern when the rewards will be what they are." Her gaze never wavers, "I will risk my life to have a chance to learn magics that will allow me to protect others and make a difference."


SVilfon nods his head to the words spoken. "Noble, I'm sure. Though, understand that the guild is beyond such things as nobility and honour. We are merely a school for the study of the arcane. What you do with the powers you gain, the knowledge you learn or the tools you are given... that is your choice. There are no alliances within the guild, nor is there posturing for power. The only thing that matters is you do not betray the guild itself... the consequences of that is death." He offers another tip of his hat as his words fade, before he speaks again in a calm voice. "Let us then see what you can do, shall we?" Without bothering to wait for an answer the wizard's voice shifts into an archaic language long forgotten by all but the most studious of mages (and wizards). The tones are soft; they weave through the air like an eldritch dancer, twisting amongst themselves as they rise into a crescendo of sound that seems to mix perfectly with the occasional rustle of leaves from the Xalious Tree. After a long moment the wizard's voice fades and he raises a hand and points it at Lithoniel. From the tips of his strangely delicate fingers, a necessasity of his craft, comes forth a torrent of electrical energy. It twists and turns as it snakes through the air, cracking with a sound like thunder as it makes its way towards Lithoniel. Its strength is great, though not lethal; but being caught for too long in the deluge of arcane lightning would most certainly be rather painful...


Satoshi, between her own knowledge of the arcane languages and possession of a nose and whiskers keenly attuned to lightning's presence, is not herself caught unawares by the flood of electricity Svilfon sends forth at Lithoniel. Even at a distance and not on the receiving end of the spell, the foxkin can't help but shudder, and fold her ears back in displeasure at that element's presence. She would not trade places with the mage being tested, for anything. It's at this point the ice magus opens her eyes and shifts her amber-flecked gaze downward to better watch events unfold, naturally curious to see how the stranger manages against Svilfon's fierce tests.


Lithoniel listens to the wizards words and nods in understanding, that was all well and good with her. As the wizard began his incantaion she began one of her own. Not recognizing the spell being cast she goes for a general shield spell, yet as soon as the lightning sparks she changes the timbre of her voice and the inflections she placed on certain words. A shimmering blue aura springs into existence around the woman, secure in her defences, her speciality, she speaks the final word the blue aura becomes swirling water. With not even a second to spare the lightning strikes the watery shield. The liquid acts as a channel for the lighting the majority of the lighting's strength absorbed by the swirling vortex. Lithoniel had slightly underestimated the man though and a but of Svilfon's attack does manage to penetrate, striking the female and almost forcing her into her own electrically charged shield. With an arcane command and frantic wave of her hand she sends the now electrified water back at the wizard, the rushing wave seeking to surround and capture until the lightning had fully played out.


Svilfon watches the woman cast her shield and cannot help but flash a crooked smile. He liked it. She had potential. The shifting waters that she uses is an especially nice touch and were he not focused on the battle at hand, he'd perhaps have offered applause for the cunning defence. Yet such things are a luxury he cannot spare; these tests are lethal, and clearly not just for the one being tested. The electrical water that rushes towards him is met with instantaneous response; the wizard simply enacts his teleportation magic and vanishes from before the tree. He appears again behind Lithoniel, but what matters more is what's left in his wake. A huge ball of fire has erupted into life, the combustible aftermath of Svil's version of teleporting, and when that meets the water it turns the attack into a massive cloud of steam that shoots down small bolts of thunder which burn the grass beneath the tree. The wizard wastes no time in beginning to chant again, his words a simple spell that requires little energy. He causes a wave of force to appear behind the burning steam, capturing it before it can dissipate and with a motion of his hands he sends it quickly hurling towards himself... or rather, at the elf mage standing between attack and attacker, where the wizard hopes perhaps she is shocked again before being horribly burned by the steam...


Satoshi, much like Svilfon, is tempted to applaud the stranger's means of defense, the cryomancer naturally having an appreciation for the use of waters to counter lightning. She resists, however, so as not to disturb either combatant. Tests under pressure of distraction are best saved for a later time, after all.


Lithoniel isn't surprised that the mage dodged the attack, he was a ranking member after all, the ball of fire and lightning however does catch her off guard. Still on the defensive, which is where the woman felt most comfortable she speaks a simple incantation and a wall of wind, with a forceful shout the strength of her wind increases. causing the steam to part around her creating a protected pocket in the middle of the burning maelstrom. The lightning is her main concern with the heat of the swirling steam fighting at her concentration the mage says a quick word and causes her body to become intangible, like the wind itself, just long enough for her counter, but those few seconds between spells is enough for her to get struck by one of the bolts. Though she is intangible her body is locked up by the electricity that had coursed through her. With a surge of willpower she hurls her pain and anger at herself towards the mage in the form of a swirling tornado, capturing some of the steam he had created, she turns her thoughts to shaping the wind to be razor sharp, hoping to cut as well as sear the wizard.


Svilfon watches the tornado come towards himself with a dark look on his usually jovial face. Aeromancy was always tricky to defend, but the wizard is cunning; he had a plan. He begins to speak in a loud voice, fighting against the roar of the coming wind. His words are a spell he learned from the Sublime Master himself – he was on the receiving end of it and knew how devastating it could be. And so he speaks those words loudly, even as the tornado catches up to where he stands. His bruised body is caught within the winds; his skin becomes shredded, though no blood pours from the wounds. The heat of the steam sears his lacerations closed before his vitae can be stolen, yet even still the pain is horrific. But he ignores it; his well-trained mind focused on the last part of his spell. His arms struggle against the winds, but he manages to write upon the air the required symbol, before he drops himself down into a ball and holds his hands across his head. What is formed around the fighting pair, stopping just as it reaches the Xalious Tree as to not harm Emielle, is a scintillating sphere of light. It sucks at the air with vicious velocity, turning where the two mage's battle into what will soon be a gigantic vacuum. The wizard is a vampire, so he doesn't need air to live.. but robbing the elf of breath isn't his true intent. She was intangible now, mere air... he was interested to see what would happen when her 'body' is torn in a thousand different directions by the powerful force of his spell...


Lithoniel feels her body being stretched as her tornado dissipates. The female has a small moment of panic...yet the small second is enough and she is pulled in multiple directions, like smoke on the wind. Calming she speaks the spell to undo her intangibility. Her body reforming takes more energy than usual and she knows that she's almost depleted, coming back into being several feet up the elf turns as if diving into a pool of water and speaks a quick spell. Gracefully she slides into the ground as if it were water. The elf is lost from sight but her spell is not yet finished. The ground under Svilfon's feet would erupt as the woman is launched out of the earth like an arrow from a bow. The ground exploding outwards and the woman once more flying into the air only to fall back again, relying on her elven agility she throws herself into a roll to absorb the shock though she still jars her right shoulder severely and is left gasping for breath that will not come.


Svilfon feels the ground beneath him shifting. One of his family was a terramancer and he knew what was to come. Yet he doesn't attempt to move. He just curls into that ball and relaxes himself. As the earth beneath him erupts he is sent flying through the air. He passes through the bounds of his spell and strikes hard against the Xalious tree. A grunt is heard as he slides down the archaic wood before he ponders just briefly leaving the elf in the middle of the sphere; he was sore enough to, certainly. But this was just a test and so with a wave of his hand and a spoken word the spell shatters. The air rushes in quickly, coming together in a thunderous sound that rattles the wizard's few remaining teeth, before he pulls himself up to his feet. He walks over the Lithoniel, limping and groaning as he does, until he stands before her. Only then does he speak. "Lithoniel Xiloscient, you are now an Entered Apprentice of the Mage's Guild. You are not my personal apprentice, but more an apprentice to the entire guild. You are welcome in our tower, though do not attempt to gain access to the levels set aside for the highest ranking members. Welcome, Lithoniel. You have passed." He ends his words with a tip of his hat.


Lithoniel struggles to her feet and bows low, "Thank you Magister Templi." she says softly still trying to catch her breath. The woman straightens up completely and takes a couple of weak wobbly steps, her energy exhausted by her magical display.


Satoshi applauds, the sound slow and piercing after the tumultuous aftermath of the battle. "Welcome indeed, shield-weaver~," the magus hails from above, her voice while soft, chilly, and dulcet, carries easily across the distance as if borne by northern winds.


Svilfon turns and offers Satoshi a small smile, before he looks again at Lithoniel. "You may go rest in the Mage's Guild if you desire. You will be safe there until you feel strong enough to move again." Absently the wizard lifts his hand up to his face, and winces as it comes away bloody. "The road you walk upon is a hard one, the paths that lead to power are dangerous and many. But you stand now amongst those who will help to guide you, lead you, and perhaps even learn from you." He wanted to know that spell fo the shield, most definitely; that was for another day, however. "Remember the rules of the Guild. And once again, Lithoniel, welcome." The wizard ends his words with a brief bow, before turning and looking again at Satoshi. "I am starting to understand why I'm the one who does these tests." He touches his face again; the reason obvious.


Satoshi quips, "Because when they're facing me, they all throw fire and lightning, as if I've never encountered and defeated such elements before~. No ingenuity. It gets a tad boring." And, of course, the vain kit would murder anyone that injured her face in the same manner Svilfon's has been.


Svilfon quips back just as fast, "If only they were smart enough to throw grime and dirt. Quickest way to make you run." He grins again, clearly seeing through her vanity.


Lithoniel nods to Satoshi, Thank you, my lady. Turning she begins to walk away, well limp away, Thank you both, I look forward to learning from you. With that the elven woman exits the area to go find some rest.


Satoshi watches Lithoniel depart, before she comments to Svilfon in half-serious tones, "I'm thinking I should commission you a mask of true steel. Or diamond. Something really, really durable, to spare your poor face any further abuse. At this rate, it's going to abandon you, rather than put up with your games~."


Satoshi watches Lithoniel depart, before she comments to Svilfon in half-serious tones, "I'm thinking I should commission you a mask of true steel. Or diamond. Something really, really durable, to spare your poor face any further abuse. At this rate, it's going to abandon you, rather than put up with your games~."


Svilfon snickers at Satoshi, before dropping down and resuming sitting cross-legged, finally letting his exhaustion show as the elf mage departs. "Fight a dragon yesterday, a mage today. I'm getting too old for this!" He chuckles to himself; this was the entire point of life! The day he was truly too old is the day they're building statues to remember him by. "I had wanted to speak to you, though. And hi there, Emielle." He waves his hand at the couatl, before carrying on. "To let you know something I plan before I do it. Have you time, lady icicle? Or have you others to spy on this day?"


Satoshi tries to look bored and thoughtful, a futile attempt to mask a curiosity born from the wizard's words. Emielle gives the kit a close look, sensing the playfulness in the feigning and yet uncertain if Satoshi means ill somehow in the falsehood. The couatl is, after all, a creature incapable of lies. It is a difficult matter, learning to comprehend the various forms lies can take, for good or bad. Thankfully Satoshi doesn't keep up with her playacting for long, sparing the couatl by suddenly grinning, dropping off the branch, and hopping down the tree to land with a light 'thump' beside the wizard. "I can spy for a bit longer, yes~." Impish smirk still in place, Satoshi holds up a hand aglow with azure light, and wiggles the fingers at Svilfon. "Do you want me to mend those gashes for you, while you talk~?" The wizard is the only soul that's thus far been brave enough to accept multiple healings from the magus.


Svilfon grins at Satoshi as he sees through her facade of indifference, though that grin fades as she waggles fingers in front of his face. He had been healed by her more than once; it was a chilling experience, to be sure, but he is certain at least she would be careful around his face. She owed him that much at least for all the times he's been careful around her own. Even amongst their most brutal training sessions. "If you would, lady queen." He tips his hat, before closing his eyes and beginning to speak. "There are many secrets in this land, Satoshi. Many..." He grows silent for a moment, before carrying on. "It is no coincidence that this tree grows here, or that our tower is so close... yet our archmage shows nothing but indifference for it... plus, it borders Frostmaw... I dislike how it isn't governed, and I also have want of a secret it keeps... as such, I am thinking of claiming it at my own. Though I do not doubt there may be some I must face before they accept any modicum of rule from me..." He leaves the words there, and though he spoke almost casually, he listens very carefully to any coming reply.


Satoshi , while listening to Svilfon, hums to herself, the melody soft and simple to avoid overriding his words or distracting her split thoughts. While he speaks, she heals, and Emielle watches. She begins with the deepest wounds on his face, water chill but refreshing coaxed to drip into the cuts and begin weaving them closed with liquid threads. A powdercoat of frost serves as a seal to each stitched injury, a frost born of Frostmaw and rich with the heartening scents of evergreens and fresh fallen snow. Clearly, the magus has been practicing, for she's managing to keep the worse of the ice's bite out of the process. Although, some of said bite does make itself known when Satoshi's attention wavers, captured by the wizard's proclamation and thus causing the waters swirling around her fingers to harden marginally. Briefly pulling her attention off the wounds to look at the man himself, Satoshi murmurs through her tune, "Claim what, precisely? The range in its whole? The tower? The guild?"


Svilfon feels the healing upon his face like the softest touch of a snowflake; merely brushing against his skin while it weaves shut his wounds. He would remember to compliment her; last time it hurt much more and he was left with a feeling of cold for days afterwards. That is until her attention wavers. He thought it might so was prepared for the extra touch of frost and snow that flows across his face before she speaks her soft, melodious words. "Not the entire range. There are regions best left to being owned by the mighty dragons who call them home. But the village, the ranges that border Kelay, Hobbitville," Svil had no idea what it's real name was. Hobbits creep him out. "The dwarven kingdom below, and of course the foot of Frostmaw's Mountains... You know me well enough, Satoshi queen. I do not intend to impose my will upon those who live her, or demand anything of the sort. I simply wish to ensure it is well guarded, while also having the... authority to make sure it stays that way. The guild tower will ever be the archmage's, and until that title is mine - if such title does ever fall upon me - it will remain as it does. Same with the Guild. I serve it first and foremost, lady queen... well, after Frostmaw." He grows silent again for a moment, glad those two alliances are not split. "I will not stake my claim, though, if you do not wish it. It will not effect my position in your own city, not unless you think it should... but speak the words and I'll leave this here and now and never mention it again." He opens his eyes, then, and looks at the queen.


Satoshi doesn't say anything for a long while, focusing instead on her healing while an answer brews in her mind. "I have no qualms with it, no. I don't have aspirations to bring more land under my control, nor to prevent others from doing so, as long as they do not demand I aid one side or the other. Especially if opposing sides carry allies on both. I have no interest in such things. Merely curiosity, in how you'll do it, and what you intend to do when," when, not if, " you succeed. Although..." And here, the kit gives a delicate jab of a frosted claw at one of Svilfon's sealed wounds, "I was under the impression that the town of hobbits was under the stewardship of Enchantment. Are you intending to kick open a pixies' nest, by chance?" Again, the motive behind the question is curiosity rather than worry.


Svilfon shakes his head at her final question without first responding to her others, after evading her delicate jab with a grin; he'd been punched by Buster before. He would stay away from frosty fists. "No, the land that borders Hobbitville only. The city itself... or village... or whatever you call that load of round-doored homes will remain with Thea. I have no desire to start wars, though if one is started rest assured that I will end it alone." He looks at her again. "I will not use my alliances with you to demand alliances between cities. You can rest easy on that." He flashes a smile, before lifting his hand up to his face. "Your healing is much better, lady Satoshi." He pulls back his hand and idly rubs two fingers togethers, sending the ice on his fingers down onto his lap like a small snowstorm. "As for how I'll do it..." He looks around for a moment. "That is perhaps a question better answered when we're back home." He smiles again. "As for what I'll do with it..." He shrugs. "Beyond the immediate need for.. something," It's clear he's not quite ready to speak about what the secret he wants is, "I will simply ensure it remains as it is. Free for passage and safe for our guild. I have no desires of conquest, though I will meet all conquerors with fire and death." He speaks those words loudly, perhaps sharing them with a bug if he so happens to listen. "But that is it, lady queen. It is not really for personal ambition I do this. On that you may just have to trust me."


Satoshi says simply, "Oh, I trust you." The words might not seem like much, but coming from Satoshi, they are an honest and pure assurance that she does not and cannot ever doubt the wizard and his motives. She does not easily give trust to others, after all, so those few she invests such with, are the few she'd follow to Hell's Gate and beyond. For her, they are stronger ties than the ones created by sharing a sire in Kasyr--even if the trust is built on that unwavering foundation. Nodding at these thoughts (that Emielle is partially privy to, for learning's sake), Satoshi sits back to admire her handywork with the wizard's face. While she is no master sculptor nor can she create flesh to properly heal wounds, she isn't displeased with her results. In fact, she's even gone far enough as to tweak the sealing frosts so that they capture and reflect the color of Svilfon's surrounding skin, all the better to mask the stitchings and smooth out his features. The wizard might almost be pretty, under these circumstances.


Svilfon nods his head as she speaks; the gesture as simple as the words, yet saying as much beneath it as did her own. He knew when he spoke she would trust him - they had gone through too much for it to be any other way. And though he knows she would follow him to the gates of Hell itself, he was damned sure never going to lead her there. For Hell would freeze over and we'd all have to the unmentionable things we said we would when it happened. "I am glad." As he sees her looking at her handiwork, he cannot help but smile again - hopefully not destroying the illusion of pretty by flashing the gaps in his teeth. "You did well, lady queen." He strikes a wizardly pose. "Pretty again, am I?" The question is asked with more than a hint of self-mockery and he ends it with a small snicker.


Satoshi , at the sight of those teeth gaps, thinks to herself, "I bet I could fix those with ice too." But she doesn't voice it, instead putting on a smirk in reflection of her thoughts as she says, "Pretty as a wizard can be~." Stretching out her thin serpentine neck further from the safety of Satoshi's coat, Emielle inspects Svilfon with a critical eye before she gives her own slow nod of approval.


Svilfon laughs with genuine good humour at those words, before he takes half a step forward and gently rests his hand on the side of Emielle's face. "Still as lovely as they day you hatched." He smiles at the couatl, a warm look, before the wizard takes the half step back and offers Satoshi a tip of his hat. "That is all I can hope for." He winces, then, as he stretches his back. "Though... you can test the next one. I need a long rest." With that said, he tips his hat a final time before looking over at the Mage's Tower. "I suppose I should go see if she survived the walk. You and I will chat again soon, lady icicle. Alahir itches to play with his favourite sister, also." Svil left the couatl in the safety of Frostmaw's library.


Satoshi returns Svilfon's hat tip with a salute of a still frosted hand. "Until then, wizard, try not to ruin your dashing good looks too much~."


Svilfon something about being the balance between them. Ice and Fire, Pretty and... wizardly. But it's said quietly as he trudges back to the Mage's Guild to check on Lithoniel and continue his plans.