The Order of Magick - Role Play

Jake seemed to have something else on his mind, and he did. He was just kinda staring in Kal's general direction, but not really paying attention. It was so obvious you could even see it on his face that something was bothering him, but the problem was not even Jake knew what it was. Was it a scent he picked up, no, there was just his own, Kal's and Nate's, with Raven's cupcakes, and Thanes' scent very faint in the distance....

"What is so different then?" Jake thought to himself. Jake thought back to Nate's comment about Raven and her cupcakes the night before. "That's it I bet." The way he acted the night before, it was kinda rude. His comments about Kal and refereeing our fight, and Raven and her cupcakes... It didn't sit right with him. He normally got along alright with everybody but today something wasn't right.

Jake spoke finally noticing Nate, "Huh? Oh, nothing. I was just sitting with Kal. I'm-umm, I'm going to get find Thane so we get ready to leave, but good morning."

Jake walked off to go find Thane, telling Kal where he was going first. "No." He thought, "It wasn't Nate's actions last night.... All well perhaps it's best to forget about it before I get too hung up on it." Jake continued walking until he finally met Thane, at the end of the scent trail.

"Hey man. You should think about coming back soon, I think we are about to leave."

Kal completely ignored everything around him as he continued his practice. He felt bad for Jake for not responding, but at the same time, he knew this was more important. He registered that Jake had gone to fetch Thane, meaning they should get ready to move out. He began the final part of his training, for lack of a better term.
Kal let go of his cane, letting it float in front of him. The spectral weapons dissipated, and he opened his eyes. He needed to see for this part. A purple light shone from the cane, then rose out of it, forming into something that was equal parts solid, liquid and gas.
Raw arcane energy was a volatile magick in its base form. Many wizards used it in conjunction with other kinds of magick. Everyone knew the arcane missile spell, but beyond that it was mostly an unknown branch or sorcery, and therefore dangerous to use on its own. The Masters always warned young wizards not to meddle with it until they were old enough, and even then, only under constant supervision. Kal, in his confidence (or arrogance, if he cared to admit it), saw this as a challenge. He dedicated the final years of his tutelage to understanding the subtly and versatility of arcane energy to the point that, come graduation, no one knew it like he did. It was part of the reason stiffs like Belmont had slandered his work, but even Kal had to admit that his papers had only scratched the surface. This pulsating purple mass floating before him still held mysterious he did not yet understand. This didn't stop him, in fact, it only fuelled his desire to keep experimenting.
Kal flexed his fingers, getting a feel of the arcane energy. He didn't dare touch it directly. Instead, he moved his fingers just outside the edge of the mass, observing its responses. Once he had looked for long enough, he grasped at it with his will. Using gentle, controlled hand motions he divided the arcane into halves, then quarters, then eighths. he mixed and matched the divided pieces, swirled them slowly around each other without letting them touch. It was like watching a weird light show, with the arcane energy dancing around, and Kal's hands pulling the strings. Every now and then Kal would mutter something under his breath, verbal countermeasures against the minute, virtually invisible mistakes he was making with his hand motions.
After a minute, sweat was beginning to form on the wizard's face. It was time to stop. He couldn't let perspiration distract him. Any slip up now would be deadly. With the same care he took to summon the arcane mass, he dismissed it, letting sink back into his cane, which then fell to the ground. Standing up, Kal announced loudly "We leave in five minutes. Let's make preparations." Following his own advice, he retrieved his cane and walked over his his tent. In less than a minutes, everything was packed away, and Kal was ready.

The tavern was dark, the faint glow of the lanterns illuminating the room a bit, though only a flickering glow. The people inside were drunk and unruly, save for a sole individual in the darkest corner in the back, his dark robes shrouding as much of his appearance as possible. He sat with a pipe in his hand, occasionally taking a draw from behind his hood as he listened to the conversations around him, trying to pick up on some useful bit of information.

The man exhaled a puff of smoke, bending his will around the smoke to form it into a small dragon, flowing in a circle before it dissipated entirely. He smirked, then took a drink from the flagon in front of him and lowered his hood, revealing a mane of long, tangled black hair. He sighed, resigning himself to the idea that there would be nothing useful learned this night, and he would, rather, spend the rest of the evening relaxing, rather than working in futility.

As he stood, he downed his flagon, placing a single silver piece on the bar as he walked outside, breaking into a dead sprint toward the forest nearby. I've been cooped up in that tavern for too long. I need to enjoy the open air a bit, clear my mind. After a moment, fatigue set in, and he slowed himself to a casual stroll, stopping in the center of a clearing to sit upon a tree stump and rest. Perhaps by morning, I will have my wits about me again, and can continue my search. I'm certain the answers I seek are somehow tied to this recent surge in the sightings of monsters nearby. I'm not sure how... But I fully intend to find out. And with that thought, he allowed himself to drop into a mild meditative state, freeing his mind to everything around him as he awaited morning's first light, when he would begin his search again.

((Sorry, know we're on morning time, but I figured I'd try to place this with the night before so I could jump back in more quickly when I wake up later. Consider this the one time I'll break consistency of time.))

With his bow at the ready, Thane had his eye on a falcon circling above the open space he was in. To anyone not used to his magicks, one would assume that the bow Thane was taking aim with was empty. However, when he pulled back on the string, a glowing, white arrow appeared and was notched on the bow.

Adjusting just a little higher for a perfect shot, Thane let go of the magick arrow. It sunk straight into the birds belly. But instead of the bird falling to the ground- as it would if a regular arrow pierced it- it suddenly stopped where it flew. It's wings were still outstretched as if it were flying but it was frozen in place.

There was no ice to speak of because that was not Thane's magicks. He held no power of ice like his friend and travel companion Raven. His magicks dealt with the motion and movement of things. As demonstrated with the bird above, he could stop almost anything from moving to appear frozen in time.

In contrast to that, Thane could also speed up an objects or person's movement to the point where they began to move too fast that they violently explode or catch fire. Thane had no idea of this aspect of his power until Master Foren trained him further in the use of his abilities once he got over the aversion of even having magicks.

He shook the thought out of his head as he didn't want to go down memory lane and once again raised his bow toward the bird. He drew the string, another magic arrow appeared and he shot it at the falcon. As the bird unfroze, Thane heard the rustling of sticks and leaves in the midst of the trees.

He studied for this journey well back at the castle to make sure that they did not cross into and wild beast or violent creatures territory before they needed to. In fact, Gant was almost on a linear path from Castle Edlraza; and even then, the small detours led nowhere dangerous. As he pulled back on his bow- a bright, white arrow at the ready- he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

Seeing the wolf-wizard come from out of the trees gave Thane more relief than he cared to admit. He had faced a goblin back when he was young and first discovered his abilities. He did not want to fac one again, even though he was sure he could handle it.

"The wolf-wizard," he called as he lowered his guard. "You were about to be splattered all over the trees had you not verbally made yourself known. It is unwise to catch a practising wizard off guard. But let us make our way back to camp before we are both left in the lurched."

He walked back toward camp and patted Jake on the shoulder. "Please don't surprise me when I have my bow drawn. Things can get very...messy that way."

Jake had laughed while walking back with Thane.

"I will rememeber to make myself known more quickly, but don't think your the first person to point a bow at me, magick bow or not, still not the first!" Jake laughted even though it wasn't much of a joke.

Jake had plently of stories when he was growing up, but the short laugh Jake and Thane had shared had made him feel as if he had someone that didn't think of him as a freak. Someone he could be himself around even though Jake probably trusted Thane then his instincts allowed, but he felt as if he could trust Thane.

Jake threw his arm around Thane. "Come on sharpshooter, let us hurry back, but tonight I need to speak to you preferably after everyone has fallen asleep."

Nate went back to camp as he thought about the many spells out there many more powerful than his there could be dark magick that ones who posses them could be called monsters but aren't. There could be someone that could control a group of people with a single word. Nate continued thinking as he put the know packed back pack on his back. "Even if there is 99% chance I won't survive I will still fight because that's just the way I am," Nate said looking to the sky blocking the sun raise with his hand.

Thane nodded to Jake. He knew not what the wolf-wizard wanted to talk about with him. Especially because they did not know each other that well. But seeing as they were on a journey together, it was probably a good idea for everyone to at least get a long and open up a little around each other.

As the two wizards made their way back to camp, Thane saw that everyone was ready to go. The only thing that was still out was Thane's satchel. As he walked past some party members, they gave him a little grief, which he was able to either ignore or shoot a sarcastic remark at. Seeing Kal and Raven, Jew grabbed his belongings on his way over to them and loudly stated to the rest of the group, "Let's move out. I don't want to deal with a bunch of wizards with their undergarments in a bunch." He

Raven raised a brow at Thane, he always tried to be funny but failed most of the time, it was cute in a way but also awkward. The ice wizard shrugged and shouldered her satchel then skipped over to the side of Thane. "So when we get the village will do we have to check in with someone or are we going to be able to roam around before we have to leave?" she asked looking up to the taller wizard. Raven hadn't left the castle since she was dropped off there when she was a young girl so it was a bit exciting seeing a village of just normal non-wizard people.

Thane shrugged. "I have no idea. Kal is the leader." He leaned in closer to Raven's ear. "You know how boring his speeches are. Almost immediately, my mind begins to wonder when he starts one." He straightened his poster as he spoke normally again. "But I fear that something... less than fun will happen once we reach Gant. We are wizards and trouble has a tendency to find our kind."

Jake asked Raven in a kind but questionitive tone, "You haven't gotten very many out-of-castle missions, have you? I mean it doesn't matter if you have or not, because i would rather have you with us then without. Its just... They made those stone walls for a reason... Not many non-wizards like OUR kind"

The way Jake had said our seemed to say he had a story to tell. The amount of hatred that was put onto the word 'our' was almost crazy, but sadly the statement had been true. Non-wizards did not like wizards, or at least not Jake's kind of Transformation Wizardry.

"Enough," Kal said in a mild tone. "The stables of Gant and Eldraza are friendly, and that is good news for us. Once we secure horses there will be no need to stay. Let us not worry about anything else until we actually get there." The sun was getting higher. It was well past time they left. Finally packed and ready, the party set off once more.
((sorry guys. I'll make a more progressive post when I have more time. Goodnight 😉 ))

The way to Gant was pretty straightforward. The scenery was beautiful, the path was clear and everyone was getting along for the most part. Thane knew they were walking for quite sometime because the sun was setting off in the distance. Seeing as he was the navigator of this trip, he was leading the group.

"We are about an hours walk from Gant, companions. If we push forward, we can make it there before the sun sets completely." He smiled as he turn back around. It had been two days since they left the comfort of Castle Eldraza and the only thing that happened was Jake and Nate almost killing each other in the sparring match. Thane knew better than to start to think things were easy but if he were being honest with himself, they were.

There were more trees on the road as they got closer to Gant. Noticing how deathly silent it became as the contingent walked through the trees, Thane began to get an uneasy feeling. Overshadowing an already darkening sky, some wizard casted a guiding light spell which called forth a bright, glowing orb of light that lead its summoner to their desired destination.

Thane could feel the tension of the group of wizards. He was not the only one who felt something was amiss. This was confirmed when they reached a giant spider web blocking their path.

"Well, this is strange," Thane uttered. He studied well before he left the castle. There should have been nothing of note between Eldraza and Gant. The guiding light was hovering just past the spider web. "It would be wise to stay on guard," Thane said as he walked up towards the web.

As he was about to reach out to the web, he heard a clicking above him. Looking up, he saw 8 glowing red eyes staring back down at him. He jumped back as the eyes fell towards him. When he looked back at the eyes, the guiding light illuminated what he already knew.

Standing in front of the group of wizards was the most biggest spider Thane had seen. He only studied about the large arachnids at the castle. And even then, there were no pictures of them. His studies also stated that giant spiders stayed further south where it was always warm.

He saw its pincers and the venom dripping off of its sharp teeth. It also had spikes covering the top portion of it 8 legs. It looked like a beast of war. But more than that, it looked hungry. This was most disconcerting to Thane. Especially because he had a potent fear of regular spiders.

"S-somebody, k-k-kill that thing," he managed to stammer.

Kal moved forwards to grab Thane. He was already assessing the situation. The fact that a giant arachnid was so far north was strange in itself. It was highly unlikely that it was alone. Sure enough, just as Kal reached Thane, there came more clicking and rustling sounds in the growing darkness around them. "Ambush!" he yelled, grabbing hold of Thane's arm and taking a swipe with his cane. A glowing blue axe appeared and swung in a wide arc through the creature's body. It gave a loud shriek, but appeared mostly unharmed by the spectral weapon. It moved off the web towards the pair, and Kal backed off, pulling Thane with him. The spider continued its slow approach, wary of the cane Kal was holding steady. It had started to glow violet, like it had during his morning practice.

YES. This is our big chance to prove ourselves. All you need to do is summon me, and I'll take care of this, no sweat. Then we spend a few minutes basking in the adoration of your peers, then we can go for a run. Perfect.
Not a chance, Zephyr. I don't need any adoration and I certainly don't need to waste energy on some jumped-up arthropod when there are so many magickal meatheads just dying to prove how huge their 'powers' are.
Alliteration or no alliteration, it WOULD be a good opportunity to make some friends, Edward Rosetta chimed in with her lilting voice.

Edward had often marvelled at the way someone's voice could have a lilt to it when it wasn't really their voice; Zephyr and Rosetta weren't actually with him, just communicating telepathically using their soul link as per usual. Well, Edward had marvelled at it occasionally. Ehh, maybe once or twice.

But man, it could be such a pain to have those two in his head, meddling in his affairs, telling him to DO stuff. Those two were such go-getters. Why was he stuck with go-getters? He had no intentions of going anywhere, and certainly not of getting things. Not unless necessary.

Edward sighed. Why would I need any more friends? I already have you two.
We are hardly sufficient companionship for someone like you, dear. We're not always around, either - only when we make use of the link. Besides, it's hardly healthy that your only friends are spirits from other planes. And who knows what you get up to without our guidance - Honestly, dear, I wonder about --
Actually, Rosie, I agree with Eddie here. He doesn't need friends when he has us.
THANK you, Zephyr. Also, stop calling me Eddie. It's undignified, and it's too much effort to answer to more than one name.
No, no, no. What Eddie needs, is a HERD
... ... ...Excuse me?
Think about it, man. A herd is exactly the thing. You don't need to be friends with them, but think of the benefits. A herd provides shelter. It provides safety, and most importantly, provides someone to go for a run with.
Yeah, I'll pass. Sounds suspiciously like effort.
Eddie, you aren't listening. A-herd-provides-safety. That means monsters won't attack you. Which means you won't be interrupted in what you're doing. Which means...
Which means I can nap without being woken up. Perfect! But what does finding a herd have to do with wasting effort right now?
Think about it, man. A herd doesn't just carry dead weight around, it leaves it behind. You have to prove you're useful. Think of all the extra napping time, for just summoning one friend. And hey, if that friend happens to have a nice relaxing run in your plane of existence, that's just a coincidental, non-manipulative bonus, right?
Well... I suppose. Just don't use too much energy.

Edward reluctantly opened his eyes and moved off to the side. Staff-gem glowing, he etched an intricate two-meter circle in a patch of grass, glowing blue and with the required symbols of power. The circle began to pulse with magick as Edward fed his strength into it, and moments later there was an explosion of blue light, and in the circle stood a large, tan horse.

The horse reared up on two legs, neighing dramatically, and the wind around it began to shift, swirling outward from his position for a few moments before subsiding. Some of the grass around the horse had been flattened, in a swirling pattern.

Dammit, Zephyr, you show-boating mule! That was completely unnecessary! I TOLD you not to waste energy!
Zephyr snorted. Come on, Eddie. Live a little! Besides, I told YOU it's necessary to prove your worth.
Edward frowned, but said nothing further. Zephyr began charging towards the spider, wind picking up alongside him, building in strength. Several meters away from the spider, he stopped, but the wind did not. It grew into a roaring gale and crashed into the spider, knocking it into the air, legs flailing, trying to find purchase on its web, but this was not to be. The gale had continued past the spider, ripping the web to shreds and leaving silky debris over the ground. Zephyr tossed his head in satisfaction and stood still a moment. Knowing him, that damned show-off was probably waiting for applause or something. Fat chance.

Kal was impressed. He new Edward by reputation: A man who seemed incredibly lazy and easily distracted. Kal knew better. Both traits were a by-product of his power to communicate with and summon creatures from another plane. But this was the first time Kal had actually seen Edward summon anything. It was the chance he was looking for.
Kal released his grip on Thane, and took hold of the glowing arcane power, which had built in size at the top of his cane. Holding it in his hand, he threw it at the teetering spider. The pulsing energy split into six parts, each hitting the underside of the spider at different points. The glow of the arcane missiles reached their peak, and exploded with magical energy, blowing the monster's legs off. It fell to the ground shrieking, then was still.

Raven had fallen a bit behind, the spell slinger was not used to so much walking and her feet were killing her. The ice mage looked ahead and noticed there was something amis, she took a deep breath before freezing the ground below then used it to slide on to quickly catch up. Raven had come just in time to see Edward summon his horse then Kal finishing off the creature.

"Gross...think it's eatable?" Raven quips, clearly joking...or was she?

Regaining his composure, Thane lifted himself off the ground and drew his bow in short order. He took aim at the great bug that was lowering itself over Edwars's head and said to Raven as he let a glowing arrow loose at the creature, "We will not know until these vile beings are felled." The arrow pierced the descending spider and instead of freezing the arachnid in place like everyone was used to seeing, it burst into flames. Thane did not use this aspect of his magicks often. Mainly because there was no need.

He spared at the castle to better learn his abilities. He didn't not fight his fellow students to win. He also did not want to end their lives. Seeing as they had a relatively short lifespan, it was frowned upon to kill a fellow wizard. Not to mention stupid as the castle required as much protection as possible.

Everyone knew of Thane's magicks and how....explosive they could be. He'd never forget the first time he caused something to explode. He was in a sparring match with a particularly troublesome wizard who was completely full of himself and had no qualms putting Thane down because of his "lady magicks."

As Thane took aim at the mouthy wizard, he was insulted by the arrogant one. When he let his arrow free and it collided with the other wizards shield, the mouthy one was blasted out of the sparring ring. Master Forren was supervising and Thane distinctly remembered the ancient man's smiled as he calmly said' "I believe that is what we refer to as 'game.'"

Now, this side of his powers- the more leathal side- was what was helping him vanquish these giant arachnids. Although, he had to concentrate more than usual seeing as he was more afraid than anything and his powers had a tendency to get wild when he was not in control of his emotions. Before he shot another arrow, he took a deep breath to steady his aim. He let the arrow sail at another spider and when the arrow met the beast right between its two main eyes, it exploded.

Raven smirked at Thane's response, "Alright but you're taking the first bite." Raven turned looking for more of the attacking spiders, she spotted a pair advancing from the rear, Raven swirled her hands in front of her and water droplets gathered in her fingers then slammed her open palm to the ground. The water droplets started to form a ring around her hand, "create: ice spike," she said in a commanding voice. A tower of ice shot from the ground and skewered the two spiders, as they began to struggle to get free frost started to spread throughout the spider's body until they stopped moving. Raven stood from her crouching position and pointed at the frozen spiders that were still impaled by her ice and pointed to them, "Shatter!" She commanded again, the spiders began to crack before they completely shattered like glass.

Jake desided it was time to 'flex his muscles' a bit see that everyone else we kkilling these incredibly huge spiders.

Jake focused his magick into his hands, "Earth Uprising" he yelled as he dug his hands into the earth only to be ending up lifting a bloder made of stone above his head.

Right before throwing it Jake liked to see how heavy it was. The amount of energy it took could tell him the size, wieght, and density of rocks. "About 135lbs... with a diameter of 18 feet... Not bad guess..." Jake said to himself, "And now lets the power!!!" Jake said as throwing the bolder crushing one spider and many legs of another.

"Hmm so this is my first encounter," Nate waited around for a few more spiders to come as he bit his thumb letting it bleed some he raised it above his head making a scale pointing sky ward. "In the name of the dragons blood I allow your power to flow and crystallize," as Nate said that the scale grew bigger in sized and glowed a crimson red. "Everyone don't move much," Nate yelled as he perfected his aim to stop it from hitting his ally's "NEEDLE RAIN," as he yelled many small needles shot from the top of the scale hitting many spiders "and finally a little combo magick ELECTRIC SHOT," he said hitting one of the spiders as it branched off using the rest of the needles to conduct the energy paralyzing some of the spiders.