RP:What Makes a Clockwork Mage Tick?
Frostmaw Arena
Satoshi sits with her back propped against the archway of the arena's entrance, a book open on her lap. With the daily matches finished for the night, Satoshi has come to the colosseum for some peace and quiet, and chosen her current spot after feeling drawn to both the bloody aura of the arena and the natural serenity of the blossom field just beyond. Thus, the magus sits upon the threshold of both, taking her ease between the shadows and the lights.
Ezekiel found the oddest of places to sit and rest. Sometimes, they weren't entirely within his control, he just collapsed wherever his exhausted body was. Other times, he just sought the most peaceful and secluded of areas to hide. A local favorite was the Colosseum for obvious reasons. After the test with Satoshi and Kovl, he found himself wandering automatically to the place where this all started. He had the tome in his left hand, and a pocket watch in his right. After glancing at the hands on the watch, he seemed content enough to continue, almost like it were telling him it were safe. It wasn't until he made past the scent of night blossoms that he ran into Satoshi. He felt a chill run down his spine for a moment, he hadn't expected anyone to be here, let alone her. "Satoshi?"
Satoshi looks up from her book, face curious but otherwise not surprised in appearance. "Rabbit," she returns by way of greeting. A moment later, as if it's an afterthought, Satoshi adds, "No lesson this evening. I require rest after my encounter with the wizard. He told me of your actions in his lesson." Satoshi lifts her right arm then to reveal a sleeve torn into ribbons and burnt along the edges, with the flesh beneath bearing similar marks. It almost looks like the magus had been slashed by claws of fire. Strangely no evidence of blood is on cloth or flesh, however. "He gave me these." The way Satoshi says this suggests Svilfon had been in a rage at Ezekiel's actions, and taken it out on the foxkin.
Ezekiel was pessimistic and paranoid enough as it was, he didn't need the suggestion of his actions being taken out on others. He felt bad enough about leaving the wizard suspended in the air like he did. He kept his thoughts and assumptions about this to himself, though. "W-why? Did he attack?" Suddenly, rest and meditation were pushed to the bag of his mind. With every new day and every new encounter he had with these people, he doubted the longevity of his life. Ezekiel's grip on the tome tightened, he glanced past her towards the arena. It was alive and rich with energy tonight.
Satoshi retains a cold expression for a moment longer before it melts into a lopsided grin. As her arm drops back to where it was resting before, the magus gives a shake of her head. "Don't look so eager to bolt, Rabbit. He attacked me, but it was not over any disagreement or actions of your own. We were simply testing out a spell he'd shown me~. He doesn't disapprove of your methods in his lesson, either. Believe me, you would know. Or you would be a pile of ashes, it depends -how much- he disapproves, in that regard." Satoshi's joking words trail off as she catches Ezekiel's glance. Following it, she looks toward the arena, an eyebrow raised. "Does it still call to you? ..Oh, that's right! You said you had questions for me, non?"
Ezekiel studied her for a moment longer, looking for any deception in those words. His own features didn't alter much, but his shoulders did lower in relief. To the arena he'd glance back and sigh, "More than you know. Being within close proximity of the thing can be over barring sometimes." He shrugged and took a few steps inside leaving his back to her; probably not the brightest choice, but she did say no lessons tonight. Gullible as he was, he believed her. "That's right, I did. Questions mostly about the pixie, and Svilfon. About how I essentially cast my magic, versus how theirs was cast." He split the book open and held it out before him while staring at a random page. "What determines how a spell is cast? The pixie, he whispered words in a language I couldn't understand. And Svilfon.. I saw movement in the wands and in his hands, or the staff you used. Is how I pull the essence from the book wrong?"
Satoshi looks from the book to Ezekiel and back, face unreadable. He's asking questions she's been mulling over since the test with Kovl. Although the last part of his question causes Satoshi to look up at him in surprise. "Wrong? Hellfire no. Different, certainly, but if you can make the spell work, that is not wrong. Arcane magic will not react at all, otherwise. Most mages require triggers for their spells. The pixie, like most, used verbal means to select, hone, and channel his spell. Svilfon uses verbal means too, as well as hand gestures. It depends what the spell calls for, in most cases. My staff, his wand, spellbooks, they are all augments to spells. A sort of... hm." What's an analogy Ezekiel can relate to...? Aha! Clockwork! "Grease in the wheels. It helps significantly, tu sais? To cast without words or gestures is usually only managed by masters. I can execute some of my spells by sheer will, for example. There are other cases, however, of untrained mages casting without triggers. Their magic is wild and unpredictable, often on the brink of ripping the caster apart if it. Sometimes they learn to control it and become mages, and some of them become sorcerors or warlocks with the innate ability to cast freely. We all use arcane magic, simply through different means. I can't say which case applies to you yet, though. You're an unusual one. And damned interesting."
Ezekiel had turned to face her during the explanation and in the meantime closed his book. He understood what she described, but it didn't quite make sense. "I build machines. Small contraptions of gears and wire, gadgets of simple intent, or even complex variety. If one piece is out of place, too big or small.. even not tightened correctly, the entire contraption will not work. Very black and white, cut and dry." He reached for the mechanical ball of scrap that was his ferret and held it in the flat of his palm. It cracked open, peeked out and eventually unraveled. It was placed on his shoulder and left for the time being. "Doing whatever I can using whatever means I can to simply make a spell work.. is foreign to me. I'm so use to precise consistency, the detailed uniformity of a machine. To.. 'wing it' as some say, is new." He started to make his way into the arena while continuously glancing back, as if hoping she'd follow. "My second question was.. how is it you know which spell to select? Or how do you learn one in the first place? In the past couple weeks, I've seen so many. I've managed to discover only one."
Satoshi does indeed follow, after tucking a ribbon into her book to mark the page. "Generally, spells function the same way. Very precise. One word, one -syllable- out of place or mispronounced, the entire thing can backfire in your face. Believe me, it isn't pretty. A spell's words, gestures, or components are its recipe, if you don't have them all together in the right, exact order, it doesn't tend to work. But there are no absolutes in the world. You get rare cases that defy the normal boundaries and orders. Like you. It makes teaching you tricky, as the usual steps a mage takes to learn don't work the same way for you." Which is to say, Satoshi is experimenting and Ezekiel is the mana-battery guinea pig. "As far as knowing what to select... Hah. That depends on the mage. Some understand a spell's function upon first reading it. Others require hours of study to grasp the fundementals of it. A rare few seem to know certain spells intuitively, or through unusual sources. Sentient spellbooks or weapons, contracts with various entities, cursed objects, any and more could potential grant a mage additional know-how. You magic will guide you there. It's why I'm trying to find a way to connect you to your core. I think once you're probably in link with your supply of magic, you'll be able to pick up spells as you choose, rather than when your magic chooses." Satoshi shrugs, not sure how much help her words are. The world is full of magic and is wildly, impossibly diverse. No two cases are the same.
Ezekiel feel the hum of energy gathered under the arena. Like walking by a power plant.. the air around felt ready to crack. "So for now, I just wait? I mean.. I wanted to find books, or a list.. instructions, something akin to a recipe. I was hoping I could study the spell and practice it on my off time, but that hasn't worked for me yet. It's when I'm put under stressful encounters, as you suggested, a random phenomena occur." The ferret crawled to the other shoulder and dove off into the snow below, sinking the moment it hit. It could smell the broken metal of an abandon sword; this was food. "That spell I cast with Svilfon, I had no control. I just happened. I suppose I'm simply asking how to better control the outcome. Heh. Wouldn't that be easy?" He actually managed a soft chuckle, for what it was worth.
Satoshi watches the ferret burrow away into the snow. Or more actually, senses, through her ties to the frozen element. She can feel the mechanical creature move about as if his metal paws were traipsing over her own flesh. It'd be an odd sensation if she hadn't long gotten used to since bonding with Frostmaw some time ago. Satoshi catches Ezekiel's laugh and brings herself back to the conversation with a chuckle of her own. "Really, that depends on how it's happening. What went through your mind each of those times? What were you wanting? Feeling? If your mind was giving any directive that led to those results, the link might already be forging itself bit by bit."
Ezekiel hadn't really thought about that. "I.. just wanted to keep him still so I could take the pouch." He shrugged, fighting to remember everything that went through his mind those last two trials. "As for Kovl.. I just wanted to keep him at bay? Didn't work out so well." A short sword started to slide across the arena floor, dragging and plowing a bit of snow with it. Upon further inspection, it wasn't sliding across the floor on its own, it was being drug by the tunneling ferret; strong little guy. "I think it's just because I want to mimic what I've seen. The fire, the ice, the butterflies that set the battery off that night. All the magic I've seen, I think I'm to eager to learn. I've set my expectations high? Perhaps?" He might not have been doing what they were, but he had his own brand in the works. He just needed to recognize that.
Satoshi keeps one ear cocked toward Ezekiel, a sign that she's listening to him even as she follows the sword's progress through the snow, a step behind it. At the clockwork mage's remark, she waves a hand in a dismissive way. "Hardly high expectations. I told ya, you've got a considerable amount of potential boiling just beneath the surface. We just have to find a way to release it. Believe me, I can feel it." Turning then, Satoshi points a finger at her whiskers, which are constantly standing on end when she's near Ezekiel. "These little beauties are attuned to the ebb and flow of magic, I can feel when a spell near me is being cast, or if there's a mana reserve. The stronger it is, the more they react. And dear Rabbit, around you they're as sharp as needles. You know what... how about this? I'm not going to tell you when your next lesson is, but I'm going to recommend you study that book. Find a spell or two, no more, you think might be of use against me. Commit them to memory. Think about them, dissect them, learn their every letter. And when your lesson comes, we'll see if you can't bring those spells into existence like you did before. Only this time, instead of a reaction based on wild whim and muscle memory, we're going to try to control what your magic manifests for you."
Ezekiel looked at her whiskers for a moment and thought about how he could see traces of residual magic, weak and strong. The best way to describe it was looking at a map on the weather channel, the way temperatures and pressure showed in different colors and different waves. This was how Ezekiel saw the world around, when magical energy was present. Right now, this arena and the mage before him were a light show of effects; like an LSD trip gone wrong. As for her comment about learning a spell or two from the book, he didn't argue. He couldn't actually read anything in the book, let alone understand it, but still he'd try. "Alright. I.. I can do that." He scooped up the ferret and shook it till the sword fell from its teeth, the very tip was missing. "Thank you very much, for helping me better understand. I'm.. I'm sorry, but I can't stay here for long. I'm sure you understand?" The energy in the air was giving him anxieties, generally stressing him out. "I suppose I'll see you.. whenever?"
Satoshi nods in understanding as she straightens up, no longer having a sword-eating ferret to tail. As Ezekiel leaves, she salutes him. "Whenever's the idea~."
Ezekiel offers a genuine smile before saluting back With that he turns to leave.