Umbral Caverns
Netzach's footsteps echoed into the umbral caverns. He followed the resonant frequency of his spark using Dowsing to find his master.
"And so the hunter returns with his spoils."
Came an old croaking voice, followed by sarcastic clapping
Netzach turned to find the sneering, wrinkled face of his master, sitting on a throne made entirely of bones.
"I did what you asked, master." Netzach announcer, unfazed by the poor reception.
This sort of thing came with dealing with Hod.
"Yes, yes. Hand it over here" Hod said, holding out a wrinkled hand with a ravenous, manic look in his eyes, as if he'd rip Netzach apart if he dallied much longer, not out of anger, but sheer impatient excitement. Like an overzealous hound ripping apart furniture, just because his owner came home.
Netzach passed the smooth teardrop-shaped crystal to Hod. One would hardly believe it was ripped out of a pigs guts.
"Ah yes... very interesting."
"What is?" Netzach furrowed his brow, never being one to enjoy being the last in a room to know something.
"A windstar. A Well. Something only found inside of a Fracture. Very important to Necromancers, yet found entirely in the guts of a pig. Ill have to discreetly send some of my thralls to get me some more".
Hod looked over at Netzach, taking his silence as confusion.
"Fractures are-"
"Holes in reality that connect our world to the next, where Ether comes from. I know."
Hod frowned, having lost his chance to boast his knowledge in the form of a lecture.
Netzach smiled, that trip to the library certainly was worth it. Thank you, Rakvald
"I've been studying"
"I can see that" Hod said, not hiding his displeasure.
"Well, saves me the time to explain. Its long and boring anyway."
Hod coped with a snide remark.
"The real fun part is refining Wells into tools that can hold magic"
He paused.
"I dont suppose you picked up how to refine wells too?"
Hod asked pointedly.
Netzach shook his head.
"I have heard about that though. Regalia, right? I didnt know you knew how to make those too."
"Ah. Hahaha!" Hod chortled and clapped his hands together, as though something Netzach had said was profoundly stupid.
"That is because we Necromancers often have better uses for wells."
Hod stood up with a grunt from his throne, and shuffled over to a table in the corner, digging into a pile of 'acquired' loot.
"Aha!" The old necromancer exclaimed. "I got this from a merchant wagon I happened to encounter a while back"
He waved in a general direction of some husks in the corner.
One of them was clearly well dressed, probably the poor merchant who all this stuff belonged to.
Hos tossed a satchel over to Netzach, who caught it rather clumsily.
"What is this?..." Netzach opened the bag.
A set of tools he couldn't make out. Hooked pointy bits, blunt choppy bits, and a set of mallets (the only thing he could identify).
"A fine set of ensorceller's tools! Be grateful." Hod laughed, waving a finger at him.
Netzach picked out one of the tools and gave it a look over.
"Here" Hod said "A quick demonstration of ensorcelling, with the Windstar provided courtesy of my dear sweet apprentice" he leaned over and grabbed the pack, gesturing with it toward Netzach as he spoke.
He turned around and began fiddling with the pack.
"The first step, is to clean the well. Last thing we need is a piece of grit or dust pushed into the surface of the well when we tap it. Unless you want your bloody hand blown off when you use it! Haha!"
Hod took out a silken cloth from the pack and wiped the well thoroughly.
"Now, pay attention with your Attunement. This will be real important!"
Netzach nodded and squinted, Attuning to the frequency of the Well.
"Wells have, as you'll see, tiny spots of ether in them called pressure points. We can unknot these points and release the ether to increase and balance the internal etheric forces."
He picked up a curved spikey tool, with a singular sharp prong. Then he gently tapped against the surface of the well.
Netzach could see the knots of ether dotting the well. As Hod worked away these points, rivulets of ether spilled forth and swirled within the well.
"There we go" Hod put down the tool with a slight clatter.
"Now, the ether has left the outer surface of the well, allowing us to carve and shape it. I'll be making a... hmm... let me... yes I think I will"
Hod pulled another tool, a straight tool with a singular sharo spike. One end was flattened, reminiscent of a chisel.
Netzach watched as his master pulled out a mallet and gently tapped the tool into the well, occasionally stopping to blow away the dust collecting in the groove.
"Aha!" Hod held up the well, now with a hole all the eay through it on the tapered end.
"For those of us who arent jewellers or blacksmiths, our ensorcelled regalia must take on simple forms. This, for example, has a simple hole through it to be worn as a necklace."
Hod held the well up to his eye, making eye contact through the well, peering past the hole in its side.
"Now for the finishing touch!"
Hod turned around briskly again, picking up two curled prongs in each hand, carefully laying the well on a cushion made of the silken cloth he wiped it with.
"We must now tap simultaneously at the well, to unknot the pressure points deeper within. It has to be balanced, too many pressure points unknotted and it may explode, too few and it might not be as potent as it could be. Its game of measured risk in a way."
Tap, Tap
Netzach could see the ether pooling up inside the well, the knots breaking free one by one. He felt the pressure increasing as ths note of Ether sang louder and louder.
He could easily imagine how the well could shatter and explode if one wasn't careful.
Netzach took a few steps backward, just in case.
Hod tapped a few more times, then paused for a second, letting the ether settle. The well rocked slightly from its internal pressure.
"Aaaaand, there we are. A refined well, made to order"
Hod grinned as he gripped the well squarely in the palm of his hand.
Netzach felt a surge of ether flow into it, then as Hod brought it down infront of him, a jet of wind blossomed out, causing Netzach to raise his hands to block the buffet of air.
Magic.
"Certainly not the most impressive of wells, the windstar, but consider it your payment for your hard work, my apprentice"
Hod smirked and tossed the well at Netzach, who stumbled to catch it out of the air.
"How did you... do that?" Netzach said, his fingers gripping the glassy texture of the Well.
"It is just like any magic, taking the same meditative focus. Except instead of flowing your ether through a spark, you allow it to flow into the well. Just send it toward the Well, and the moment it latches on, the Windstar will do the rest."
Netzach looked up from the well in his hands towards Hod, nodding after a brief pause.
Just flow the ether into the well. Alright.
He closed his eyes and imagined the ether pushing towards his fingers
He felt his own ether like a tingling fluid, somehow simultaneously cold and warm at the same time.
There seemed to be resistance to his will, and the closer the ether got to his fingertips, the harder it became to push it onward.
But the moment the ether reached his fingertips, he felt a jerk and a pull on the thread of ether running along his arm as the Well greedily begin to devour it, a sensation not too dissimilar to his own Sparks.
Immediately a jet of air whistled forth from the Well.
"Woah!" He let it go on for a bit, shifting where the jet flowed with his will, before willing it to shut off. It felt oddly similar to manifesting and dissipating miasma with his Sap ability.
"Haha! Behold! Now you have the mystical power to blow out birthday candles from accross the room!" Hod said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"No, but in all seriousness. Us necromancers have better uses for wells. Especially pathetic ones like this windstar."
He added, mumbling something about trying to kill someone with a gust of wind.
He paused for a second, eyeing Netzach. His eyes fixed in a sort of Trance. Netzach didnt need Attunement to feel his master peering into his soul. Possibly measuring his advancment in magic.
Hod snapped back to awareness, nodding, apparently satisfied with whatever he saw.
"It looks like you're ready for a few more lessons in your Disciplines. We'll stop here for today, apprentice. Take some time to play around with the Well, and burn what I taught you into memory. Next time, it will be your turn to make refine a well."
Hod turned and walked off, leaving Netzach to his own devices.
Netzach looked down at the Well in his hand.
It really did feel just like using a spark. He pondered what that meant for the nature of magic. He recalled his encounter with Rakvald, a very powerful and knowledgable mage, who had taught him many things of the nature of magic. Even he seemed perplexed about the interrelation between Souls, Sparks, Fractures and Wells.
He was not the first mage to ponder these questions, nor the most experienced or powerful. He wondered if eventually he, or anyone, would find the answer.
"And so the hunter returns with his spoils."
Came an old croaking voice, followed by sarcastic clapping
Netzach turned to find the sneering, wrinkled face of his master, sitting on a throne made entirely of bones.
"I did what you asked, master." Netzach announcer, unfazed by the poor reception.
This sort of thing came with dealing with Hod.
"Yes, yes. Hand it over here" Hod said, holding out a wrinkled hand with a ravenous, manic look in his eyes, as if he'd rip Netzach apart if he dallied much longer, not out of anger, but sheer impatient excitement. Like an overzealous hound ripping apart furniture, just because his owner came home.
Netzach passed the smooth teardrop-shaped crystal to Hod. One would hardly believe it was ripped out of a pigs guts.
"Ah yes... very interesting."
"What is?" Netzach furrowed his brow, never being one to enjoy being the last in a room to know something.
"A windstar. A Well. Something only found inside of a Fracture. Very important to Necromancers, yet found entirely in the guts of a pig. Ill have to discreetly send some of my thralls to get me some more".
Hod looked over at Netzach, taking his silence as confusion.
"Fractures are-"
"Holes in reality that connect our world to the next, where Ether comes from. I know."
Hod frowned, having lost his chance to boast his knowledge in the form of a lecture.
Netzach smiled, that trip to the library certainly was worth it. Thank you, Rakvald
"I've been studying"
"I can see that" Hod said, not hiding his displeasure.
"Well, saves me the time to explain. Its long and boring anyway."
Hod coped with a snide remark.
"The real fun part is refining Wells into tools that can hold magic"
He paused.
"I dont suppose you picked up how to refine wells too?"
Hod asked pointedly.
Netzach shook his head.
"I have heard about that though. Regalia, right? I didnt know you knew how to make those too."
"Ah. Hahaha!" Hod chortled and clapped his hands together, as though something Netzach had said was profoundly stupid.
"That is because we Necromancers often have better uses for wells."
Hod stood up with a grunt from his throne, and shuffled over to a table in the corner, digging into a pile of 'acquired' loot.
"Aha!" The old necromancer exclaimed. "I got this from a merchant wagon I happened to encounter a while back"
He waved in a general direction of some husks in the corner.
One of them was clearly well dressed, probably the poor merchant who all this stuff belonged to.
Hos tossed a satchel over to Netzach, who caught it rather clumsily.
"What is this?..." Netzach opened the bag.
A set of tools he couldn't make out. Hooked pointy bits, blunt choppy bits, and a set of mallets (the only thing he could identify).
"A fine set of ensorceller's tools! Be grateful." Hod laughed, waving a finger at him.
Netzach picked out one of the tools and gave it a look over.
"Here" Hod said "A quick demonstration of ensorcelling, with the Windstar provided courtesy of my dear sweet apprentice" he leaned over and grabbed the pack, gesturing with it toward Netzach as he spoke.
He turned around and began fiddling with the pack.
"The first step, is to clean the well. Last thing we need is a piece of grit or dust pushed into the surface of the well when we tap it. Unless you want your bloody hand blown off when you use it! Haha!"
Hod took out a silken cloth from the pack and wiped the well thoroughly.
"Now, pay attention with your Attunement. This will be real important!"
Netzach nodded and squinted, Attuning to the frequency of the Well.
"Wells have, as you'll see, tiny spots of ether in them called pressure points. We can unknot these points and release the ether to increase and balance the internal etheric forces."
He picked up a curved spikey tool, with a singular sharp prong. Then he gently tapped against the surface of the well.
Netzach could see the knots of ether dotting the well. As Hod worked away these points, rivulets of ether spilled forth and swirled within the well.
"There we go" Hod put down the tool with a slight clatter.
"Now, the ether has left the outer surface of the well, allowing us to carve and shape it. I'll be making a... hmm... let me... yes I think I will"
Hod pulled another tool, a straight tool with a singular sharo spike. One end was flattened, reminiscent of a chisel.
Netzach watched as his master pulled out a mallet and gently tapped the tool into the well, occasionally stopping to blow away the dust collecting in the groove.
"Aha!" Hod held up the well, now with a hole all the eay through it on the tapered end.
"For those of us who arent jewellers or blacksmiths, our ensorcelled regalia must take on simple forms. This, for example, has a simple hole through it to be worn as a necklace."
Hod held the well up to his eye, making eye contact through the well, peering past the hole in its side.
"Now for the finishing touch!"
Hod turned around briskly again, picking up two curled prongs in each hand, carefully laying the well on a cushion made of the silken cloth he wiped it with.
"We must now tap simultaneously at the well, to unknot the pressure points deeper within. It has to be balanced, too many pressure points unknotted and it may explode, too few and it might not be as potent as it could be. Its game of measured risk in a way."
Tap, Tap
Netzach could see the ether pooling up inside the well, the knots breaking free one by one. He felt the pressure increasing as ths note of Ether sang louder and louder.
He could easily imagine how the well could shatter and explode if one wasn't careful.
Netzach took a few steps backward, just in case.
Hod tapped a few more times, then paused for a second, letting the ether settle. The well rocked slightly from its internal pressure.
"Aaaaand, there we are. A refined well, made to order"
Hod grinned as he gripped the well squarely in the palm of his hand.
Netzach felt a surge of ether flow into it, then as Hod brought it down infront of him, a jet of wind blossomed out, causing Netzach to raise his hands to block the buffet of air.
Magic.
"Certainly not the most impressive of wells, the windstar, but consider it your payment for your hard work, my apprentice"
Hod smirked and tossed the well at Netzach, who stumbled to catch it out of the air.
"How did you... do that?" Netzach said, his fingers gripping the glassy texture of the Well.
"It is just like any magic, taking the same meditative focus. Except instead of flowing your ether through a spark, you allow it to flow into the well. Just send it toward the Well, and the moment it latches on, the Windstar will do the rest."
Netzach looked up from the well in his hands towards Hod, nodding after a brief pause.
Just flow the ether into the well. Alright.
He closed his eyes and imagined the ether pushing towards his fingers
He felt his own ether like a tingling fluid, somehow simultaneously cold and warm at the same time.
There seemed to be resistance to his will, and the closer the ether got to his fingertips, the harder it became to push it onward.
But the moment the ether reached his fingertips, he felt a jerk and a pull on the thread of ether running along his arm as the Well greedily begin to devour it, a sensation not too dissimilar to his own Sparks.
Immediately a jet of air whistled forth from the Well.
"Woah!" He let it go on for a bit, shifting where the jet flowed with his will, before willing it to shut off. It felt oddly similar to manifesting and dissipating miasma with his Sap ability.
"Haha! Behold! Now you have the mystical power to blow out birthday candles from accross the room!" Hod said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"No, but in all seriousness. Us necromancers have better uses for wells. Especially pathetic ones like this windstar."
He added, mumbling something about trying to kill someone with a gust of wind.
He paused for a second, eyeing Netzach. His eyes fixed in a sort of Trance. Netzach didnt need Attunement to feel his master peering into his soul. Possibly measuring his advancment in magic.
Hod snapped back to awareness, nodding, apparently satisfied with whatever he saw.
"It looks like you're ready for a few more lessons in your Disciplines. We'll stop here for today, apprentice. Take some time to play around with the Well, and burn what I taught you into memory. Next time, it will be your turn to make refine a well."
Hod turned and walked off, leaving Netzach to his own devices.
Netzach looked down at the Well in his hand.
It really did feel just like using a spark. He pondered what that meant for the nature of magic. He recalled his encounter with Rakvald, a very powerful and knowledgable mage, who had taught him many things of the nature of magic. Even he seemed perplexed about the interrelation between Souls, Sparks, Fractures and Wells.
He was not the first mage to ponder these questions, nor the most experienced or powerful. He wondered if eventually he, or anyone, would find the answer.