6th of Vhalar, Arc 713
Now came the time for the initiation. It was intense, to say the least, this great danger looming over him. He had come to fear initiations. His initiation into Necromancy had been absolutely terrifying, and had resulted in much of his skin peeling and his flesh becoming weak for several trials. He thought he'd never recover - but he did. It didn't take long, but the fear remained when the wounds had gone.
He did know, to be fair, that the fear was likely thoughtless in this situation. The man who'd initiated him was something of a failure, while Ellasin was not. He knew that. She was one of the greatest of mages, and she did not bring Alistair here to kill him. She'd come to help harness his potential. So she would. The woman had removed all of the water from the room, creating another portal to drain it into allegedly some forest. Knowing Ellasin though, she could have drained it over a children's school in some poor village.
"Before we begin, let me impart you with the knowledge of the dials." The Lich returned to the dial that she'd drowned earlier, seating herself beside the conduit in the center.
"This sundial has been here for quite some time. It was a gift from Reyard to me," she said. The woman smoothed her hand over the edges of the dial as she leaned over, revealing to Alistair her hundreds and hundreds of marks. "The sundial of Rupturing is a unique artifact. It allows for the stabilization and empowerment of Compression. Compression, if jumping truly vast distances, can require a significant deal of energy. To engage in inter-city or inter-continental travel, for example from Andaris to Nashaki, using a regular Compression jump is nigh-impossible under the vast majority of circumstances. You risk rending yourself into bits or facing severe burning consequences. The Sundial - using the conduit to supply it power - focuses and boosts the jump without increasing the cost of energy to engage in it. However, it comes with its own difficulties." She walked back over to the bookshelves from the damp circular pit that the dial was seated in.
Alistair's eyes simply followed. "The dial is difficult and expensive to build. Most build the dial with corundum, a gemstone known as mayanite infused within. The result is an ebony shaded dial not much larger than a telescope, with the circle around the dial - where the marks are drawn - being perhaps only large enough to draw the largest city names. The names and locations of the cities from the location of the dial is important. They must be quite close to exact. The dial utilizes the names, written distance from your location, and memory to create a functioning portal to this location. All of these variables augment the stability of the Compression portal, the conduit taking this information and creating a perfect gate between the dial and these locations." The woman stepped back to the dial, placing the book on the floor beside it. She turned the dial further from Augiery, further to the left until it faced a marker called "Argos".
The woman smirked, and a large portal appeared behind the dial, a blazing doorway that consumed the back area of the room.
Now came the time for the initiation. It was intense, to say the least, this great danger looming over him. He had come to fear initiations. His initiation into Necromancy had been absolutely terrifying, and had resulted in much of his skin peeling and his flesh becoming weak for several trials. He thought he'd never recover - but he did. It didn't take long, but the fear remained when the wounds had gone.
He did know, to be fair, that the fear was likely thoughtless in this situation. The man who'd initiated him was something of a failure, while Ellasin was not. He knew that. She was one of the greatest of mages, and she did not bring Alistair here to kill him. She'd come to help harness his potential. So she would. The woman had removed all of the water from the room, creating another portal to drain it into allegedly some forest. Knowing Ellasin though, she could have drained it over a children's school in some poor village.
"Before we begin, let me impart you with the knowledge of the dials." The Lich returned to the dial that she'd drowned earlier, seating herself beside the conduit in the center.
"This sundial has been here for quite some time. It was a gift from Reyard to me," she said. The woman smoothed her hand over the edges of the dial as she leaned over, revealing to Alistair her hundreds and hundreds of marks. "The sundial of Rupturing is a unique artifact. It allows for the stabilization and empowerment of Compression. Compression, if jumping truly vast distances, can require a significant deal of energy. To engage in inter-city or inter-continental travel, for example from Andaris to Nashaki, using a regular Compression jump is nigh-impossible under the vast majority of circumstances. You risk rending yourself into bits or facing severe burning consequences. The Sundial - using the conduit to supply it power - focuses and boosts the jump without increasing the cost of energy to engage in it. However, it comes with its own difficulties." She walked back over to the bookshelves from the damp circular pit that the dial was seated in.
Alistair's eyes simply followed. "The dial is difficult and expensive to build. Most build the dial with corundum, a gemstone known as mayanite infused within. The result is an ebony shaded dial not much larger than a telescope, with the circle around the dial - where the marks are drawn - being perhaps only large enough to draw the largest city names. The names and locations of the cities from the location of the dial is important. They must be quite close to exact. The dial utilizes the names, written distance from your location, and memory to create a functioning portal to this location. All of these variables augment the stability of the Compression portal, the conduit taking this information and creating a perfect gate between the dial and these locations." The woman stepped back to the dial, placing the book on the floor beside it. She turned the dial further from Augiery, further to the left until it faced a marker called "Argos".
The woman smirked, and a large portal appeared behind the dial, a blazing doorway that consumed the back area of the room.
