It had been over a season since the attack of the undead in Sweetsong. By then, Kisaik's arm had grown to its full measure, entirely healed now albeit somewhat shinier with its fracture scars showing freshly on regenerated limbs. But perhaps that was because of the newness of the limb. Kisaik didn't want to worry about his vitality and health declining with each use of his ability, but he couldn't help but wonder if he'd shaved a few decades off of his existence by the results of that fight. It wasn't the first time he'd lost that arm either. In the Heart of the World, he'd met opponents who were equally formidable.
But that was not for dwelling on. Right now, Kisaik had a worry about a necromancer on the loose, and needed methods of doing damage from a distance instead of up close. The undead were relentless and merciless in their attacks. They thought nothing of personal injury or little licks of slices and slashes, they just kept going as long as their frame was intact. Kisaik wasn't prepared to deal with the welled undead, although Ashan had gifted him methods of severing their link with the necromancer. He needed an ace up his sleeve, so to speak. Something more than just slashy swords to fight them. Something he could use to shatter the wells from a distance perhaps.
But for now, he'd settle for a little pee-shooter to practice his ability to aim a wand.
So he was visiting Ce'nija, one of the clan mothers of Sweetstone. Already, a sprout had been growing in her hair, which was sprouting into a beautiful chrysanthemum. Kisaik didn't know who the father was, but didn't pry either. It was a concern, but really none of his business, and he could trust Ce'nija would have things well in hand with regards to the eventual sprout.
"Hullo, Ce'nija. I was hoping you could guide me through a little bit of magic making..." Kisaik said, brightly, already carrying a sturdy little branch he'd picked up off the ground. It was quite a bit bigger than him, and sturdy, as he dragged it toward her work area outside of her tent beneath the Sweetstone tree.
Ce'nija looked up from her cleaning of a few small pebbles. They didn't appear to be wells. "You're polishing pebbles?" He asked, pointing toward the small assortment of stones.
She smiled at him, "Yes, it's always important to sharpen the skills for tumbling rocks. There's a lot one can learn from tumbling pebbles that translates to scattering well dust, or even just polishing the wells pre-refinement."
Kisaik nodded slowly, but then sidled in, and plopped his territe well down in front of her. "It's already refined, did so myself at Saoire's school!"
Ce'nija looked at it, to him, and back to the well. She squinted her eyes as she held it to the light, and frowned. "Looks like a few motes of pressure points remain, or wormed their way in since... I'm sure you did a good job the first time, but sometimes wells form pressure points if you leave them alone to smog for a while. Even ones that have been refined with... slightly less skill that an expert."
The tunawa knight nodded, very conscious that she was tip-toeing around trying not to be critical of his work. However there was no need for that. "Ce'nija, I'm here as a humble student, please if there's something I could do better, don't be afraid to let me know!"
The tribe-mother nodded, and set aside the territe. "Would you like to observe me move the pressure point on out from the well?"
He nodded, and waited for her to get ready to show him. She waved him closer, to observe as she tapped the pressure points with a small wooden stick, that was more of a very very tiny mallet. Quite well-made, probably from someone in the village.
Kisaik watched her, and kept his eyes on the mote of concentrated ether. How he'd failed to notice it before was beyond him, perhaps teasing it out made its existence all the more evident? Either way, she was slowly coaxing it toward the surface. Once it was near to the surface, she was careful to sand down the facet down, to remove the pressure point.
"There," She said, after a bit of work and sanding down the territe well. "Not a bad bit of work, like I said, but it's hard to find every pressure point as a new learner to ensorcelling. That's why it's adviseable to get some experience cleaning and working pressure points before trying your hand at ensorcelling and well-craft itself."
She nodded, and then proceeded to set the territe aside. Kisaik explained what he wanted to make, a snapshot wand that used the power of territe to store a snapshot technique, in order to shoot sharpened rocks and other objects into portals, that could work their way around corners and other obstacles.
She nodded, and spoke, "I can help you there. But it's largely up to you, as the mage imbuing the spell." Ce'nija sighed, "I'm no mage myself, but I have much experience working the matter that coalesces around ether. I know it's instability and volatility points well. I can ensure we do this safely."
So saying, she stood by as Kisaik invoked the power of chaos stored in his bark, to bring about a heroic rush of skill. With that skill, he began working the sturdy little branch that he'd brought, made of the same Ojogbon wood of the Sweetstone tree. It was silvery in color, with a gnarled texture.
He shaped it with care, always minding Vega's advice that one shouldn't take too much away from the material, as one could take away but not put it back on.... at least not yet, Kisaik had reminded her, assuring her that most things were possible with alchemy..
In the end, he had an attractive and ornately gnarled and twisted wand of silvery wood, it's handle gently curved downward in a pistol grip. Now it was time for the final step, setting the well in the socket at the base of the wand's pistol-grip. Ce'nija watched on as he took the small territe well, and infused it with the same intention of ether that he used to form a snapshot. He focused on the center of the gem.
Trills passed, during which he continued to channel more ether, and began feeling knackered despite the fact that it was only a minor spell of Rupturing he was imbuing into the wand. Eventually, however, the well reacted, and became set in the wooden wand as its ether reached out to the material surrounding it, as if bonding and becoming just another part of it.
This done, Kisaik felt a sickness from the curse of the dark bark, even as the moment of his heroic skill subsided. He felt very tired, but excited to try it out.
Ce'nija stood by, and looked at the object he'd crafted. The wand was about as long as his forearm, maybe a inch or two longer. He could probably hold it with either a crossbow or pistol grip. But the handle was quite comfortable for a one-handed grasp.
"Well! Shall we test it?" Kisaik asked of her. And when she shrugged, he smiled. He headed out toward a row of pots that had been set up by Alaiwa, who'd been informed of Kisaik's plan to devise a new ranged weapon.
He surprised him, when all Kisaik emerged from Ce'nija's hut from was just a longish wand of silvery ojogbon wood. "That?" Alaiwa asked. The knight nodded to his friend.
"Stand aside Alaiwa, it's time to test this thing!" Kisaik wasn't totally confident in his ability to shoot, as his marksmanship left something to be desired, but with the help of a portal he thought he could properly align the shot.
So, waving the wand, with a sharpened flint arrowhead at the tip, fixed on a notch that was carved for that purpose, he activated the wand, willing it to fire crosswise across the small vessels. Surely enough, the arrowhead cut through a ingress, the egress forming at the side of the vessels. The first one was knocked aside, but the force wasn't quite enough from the arrowhead to pierce or break the vessel, and so it ricocheted harmlessly to the ground.
"Hmmm, maybe a safer place to practice? Later, for now I feel I must rest..." Kisaik sighed. And with that, he retired to Ce'nija's hut, where Aida would see to his exhaustion.
OOC Note
Kisaik is using his dark bark ability to improve his skills by 2 levels, namely his woodworking skill to craft a masterwork wand for the purposes of the craft.
He'll want one that grabs stuff from a distance. Yup. A teleport wand! You should set-up shop!