• Closed • [The Imperial Arcane Academy] A Spark of Inspiration

[Lorogh]

1st of Ymiden 722

The battle with the Magma Beast went well. More than well for Lorogh and his fellow soldiers. Every private present on the field, without much ceremony, had been awarded their bronze wrist chains of the Stalwart. And into the bargain, Victor had agreed to teach Lorogh some magic! It was a good few days since the battle, which saw Lorogh volunteering to participate in the investigation to the nature of the beast and its various physical components. Was it truly a beast, or some form of construct? The fact that Transmutation magic could be used upon its outer layer of armor seemed to suggest the latter, from what Lorogh understood of Transmutation, from what little Victor had told him of it. It didn't work on organic beings, and yet it had worked on the beast's armor.

So at least in part, it was a construct. But to what extent hadn't yet been discovered. This was an exciting opportunity for Lorogh and Victor, and they were eager to get underway with it. Or well, Lorogh was. He couldn't very well speak for Victor!

But there were things that needed to be attended to, before Lorogh could ever take a look at the beast. Victor had extended the offer of initiation into magic. Lorogh accepted! Transmutation seemed a very useful magic, and one that Lorogh couldn't very well pass up.

So after arranging for a space to conduct as safe an initiation nas possible, the Arcane Academy had furnished them with a meditation room for that purpose. Lorogh had done some reading up on what was entailed in the Transmutation initiation, from the tomes that were present on the subject in this establishment's library. He'd found that it could be quite painful. The mentor seemed to gather a large portion of their ether, and then transmute it to the initiate's soul in a ether bolt of sorts. Lorogh never imagined when he agreed to initiation that he'd be on the receiving end of that devastating attack that had taken down the Magma Beast. But then, here they were.

Lorogh trusted Victor, though, and took his word for it that one could survive the initiation.

So the two sat alone in the meditation chamber, Lorogh sitting cross legged in front of him, wearing his dress uniform, complete with bronze wrist chains.

"I'm ready Warlock Victor! Let's get this done, and underway so we can take a gander at the Magma Beast!"

[Victor Amielle]

He had missed travelling the world and going on adventures, Victor decided as he made his way to the Imperial Arcane Academy, and he was infinitely glad that the Syns had sent him to the Eternal Empire. The fight against the Magma Beast had been exciting, and besides that, it had raised a few interesting questions: Why had his corrosive ether missiles been able to harm it? Was it only partially alive? And would he be able to learn new qualities from it? He truly appreciated the fact that the Imperial Arcane Academy had allowed researchers from outside its wall to join them and take a look.

There was also another thing that he was looking forward to. Lorogh, the cadouri engineer that had impressed him with his creativity and his enthusiasm during the battle against the Magma Beast, had asked him if he would be willing to initiate him into Transmutation. After he had given the matter some thought, he had agreed. He was happy to get another initiate, especially after his first initiate had disappeared from his life, although there were of course a few aspects of magic in general and the initiation in particular that were less than pleasant.

He decided to push his worries in that regard aside rather than letting them get the better of him though.

There were a lot of things that fascinated Victor about the Eternal Empire, but its fashion, if you could actually call it such, was not among them. He liked the long coats though, so he wore a long, dark grey coat with intricate embroidery, made of a light material because it was already getting quite warm, over his grey and dark red suit (of high quality, but practical and suitable for adventuring and similar activities).

A smile appeared on his face when he entered the meditation room that they had been allowed to use for the initiation and saw that Lorogh was already there. He immediately walked over to him order to greet him and shake his hand (which required him to bend down a little because Lorogh was shorter than him) before he sat down opposite of him.

“I’m glad that you are so enthusiastic!” he told him before his tone of voice became much more serious. “There are a few things I’d like to discuss with you before we begin though. I’ve initiated twice before. My first initiate was a lord from the now fallen kingdom of Rynmere. My second initiate was Balthazar Black, a man that has risen to considerable fame in recent seasons, or so I’ve heard. Both of them survived – obviously in Balthazar’s case, since his death would definitely not go unnoticed - but not everybody does. Are you aware of the risks, and how exactly the initiation works?” he wanted to know.

“The second thing that you need to know is that magic changes you. Sometimes it changes you more and sometimes less, but it never leaves you unaffected”, he continued, abruptly took off his coat and rolled up his left sleeve so that Lorogh could see the markings on his arm. “Those mutations are irreversible. I also seem to have acquired some form of synesthesia. It doesn’t bother me – there are people who have it and don’t get magic in exchange – but I thought I’d mention it as an example of mutations that are not just physical”, he said and furrowed his brow a little.

He wondered if he should also point out that he had never initiated a cadouri before and didn’t know how they handled magic, but all kinds of people were capable of becoming mages. That Lorogh was small and had fur likely didn’t make much of a difference for the spark. Besides, the battle against the Magma Beast had proven that the cadouri was durable.

“Also let me know if you have any questions about Transmutation, please”, he told Loroth and smiled slightly. “We have time, and an initiation isn’t something that should be rushed. And tell me if I’m ever being unclear. I’ve always been more of a battlemage and a researcher than a proper educator, and thus my qualities as a teacher are a bit … lacking”, he said. He paused slightly as if he weren’t sure how exactly to word things and smirked a little before he changed his position slightly and placed his hands on his knees, as if he were trying to meditate and achieve a state of relaxation.

At the same time, he looked at Lorogh expectantly.