Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

Date: 31st of Ymiden, Arc 719
Weapons: None
Buffs: N/A

“Right,” Marken said once he was finished lecturing Prae about responsible behavior while airborne, “last lesson for the day, before you give me a damn heart attack.”


Prae nodded, suitably chastened, and settled back into a seated position.


“Do you know what the most vital thing is in any sort of combat situation?” Marken asked, settling into his chair with a wince.


Prae narrowed his eyes at his mentor, trying to figure out which of the many possible answers the human wanted. “Good reflexes and a solid battle plan?”


“Well, you’re not wrong, I suppose." Marken chuckled. "But what do you need to formulate such a plan? What is the one thing a fighter can never do without?”


Praetorum mulled on that for a long moment. “Information?” He tried finally.


Marken smiled. “Exactly. Information.”


<Here he goes.> Sap grumbled, sensing an incoming lecture. Praetorum didn't bother to hush it, nor to hide his amusement at the comment.


“Information—“ Marken began, unaware of the diri’s complaints— “can make or break a fight. Attunement is not typically thought of as a combat focused magic, which it isn’t. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its uses in a battle. Obviously, as you’ve already learned, Attunement can give you some information about your opponent, and you’ll only find more ways to do that as you advance in the magic. But Attunement can help in the opposite direction too, so to speak. It can help you hide information about your frequency from others, giving you an edge there. An enemy blinded—metaphorically, not physically—is an enemy already defeated.”


He paused to take a breath, and Prae interrupted him before he could continue. “Wouldn’t that only be useful against other attuners, though, if it’s just hiding my frequency? It’s not like anyone else can hear it.”


Marken grinned at that. “Ah, that’s a common thought; that only attuners can hear frequencies.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Have you ever wondered, lad, how the immortals find people to mark?”


Praetorum startled at the sudden change in subject, frowning. “No... I haven’t. Surely you’re not suggesting...”


“I am. Now, bear in mind that this is only the theory of an unmarked old mage, but I suspect the immortals have some other sense similar to attuning, and they are constantly dousing for their own domains, which is how they always seem to see if you’re doing something that involves those. After all, they can’t be watching everyone all the time. Yet they always seem to be able to find someone who has demonstrated the values that they share, even in those who have never shown such tendencies before. Ergo, it must be these values, these domains that they are watching, not individual mortals. At least, until they are marked, I assume.”


Prae’s tail twitched anxiously as he considered this. Marken continued on. “Well, again, this is all complete conjecture on my part, and I could be completely wrong. Fates know I've never had the chance to ask an immortal about it. What we do know for certain though, is that some immortal marks can gather information from a person, and this technique can block them from doing so. Rumor has it that a revealed attuner can hide from the immortals themselves, though again, this is just rumor. I’ve never met or known anyone who has met a revealed attuner before, so it might just be nonsense.”


<Make it stooop Prae> Sap whined.


“To return to you original question, no, not exactly. It’s true that it will mostly be attuners who will be affected by this, although that’s quite useful in and of itself— Attunement is quite a common magic, especially among.... certain circles—you never know when an opponent might have some ability that could be hampered by the use of Static, so I recommend using it liberally. Better safe than sorry, after all. “


Marken pauses expectantly, and Prae nodded, a little dazed by the deluge of information he’d been swept up in.


“Use static before staring a fight, just in case. Got it.” He mumbled.


Marken chuckled at his clear confusion. “I’m sorry, you must forgive an old man his tendency to ramble. Let’s have a demonstration; focus on my frequency, if you will.”


Prae nodded, and reached mentally for the song still stored in the back of his mind. Marken’s steady beat sang in him, clear as a Saun night.


Then, as he listened, it began to warp, bass and drums and horns all melting into a single, utterly incomprehensible note. Every time he tried to isolate a note from it, it would dissolve in his mind, the entire frequency turning into nonsense.


He could not even make out the notes he already knew in this mess; trying to get any information from this was hopeless.


He turned his attention to his own frequency then, trying to figure out how to replicate that effect. It was one thing to listen to a frequency, but how on Idolas was he supposed to change it?

Date: 31st of Ymiden
Weapons: None
Buffs: N/A

Frowning in concentration, Praetorum considered his frequency. He wanted it scrambled, wanted it changed... But how could you change something that you couldn't touch? A mortal could not change the words in a book just by reading it, or the tune of a song just by listening. This was magic, certainly, but until now he'd been thinking of it as one that only received, and he wasn't sure how this fit into his understanding of this new spark. 



He was getting frustrated, he realized as a huff escaped him. Closing his eyes, Prae breathed in deeply, centering himself before he got too annoyed to think properly. And in his mind, in his song, a note changed. Prae's brow furrowed slightly, and he reached for that note, cradling it in his mind, examining it as it sang in his spark. 



It was a note of Tranquility, his spark whispered to him. He held it there, memorizing its sound and feel, trying to set it in his mind as a thing as tangible as his own tail. 



Then, once he thought he had a good handle on it, he pulled. 



There was a moment of resistance, and Prae took hold of more of his frequency, gently tugging at it. And then, in his mind, he felt it shift, the sound of his own frequency warping and twisting into something dissonant and inscrutable. Slightly alarmed, Praetorum let go, not wanting to accidentally hurt himself, and his frequency sprang back into shape like nothing had happened. 



"There you go." Prae blinked, looking down at the mentor he'd briefly forgotten was there. Marken leaned over to pat his knee. "You'll want to keep it up for longer, of course, but now you get the general idea." 



"It feels... strange." Prae admitted. "I didn't think Attunement could...." Prae hesitated, uncertain how to explain. "Could... change? Things?"


Marken, fortunately, seemed to understand. "You didn't think attunement could change something as fundamental as your frequency?" Prae nodded, and the human rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "It can't really. Not in the way I suspect you're thinking. Think of frequencies like... you know how when a fish surfaces, it makes ripples in the water? Attunement interacts entirely with those ripples, not the fish itself. When you scramble a frequency, you're just changing how it... appears to everyone else, I suppose is the easiest way to explain it. Nothing about your body or soul is affected by Static."


Praetorum nodded slowly, slightly relieved. But Marken wasn't finished. "Actually, you aren't just limited to scrambling your own frequency, you know. You can affect any active frequency in the same way, although personally, I find it easiest, and most useful to just use Static on myself."


"You can scramble other people's frequencies?" Prae asked incredulously. Something about the idea seemed faintly bizarre to him, though of course, this was magic; he really should know by now not to be surprised by anything. 



"Like I said, ripples. You can alter one wave with another, and frequencies are no different. Don't ask me to teach you that right now; I think we've both had quite enough for one day." Marken got to his feet slowly, and placed a hand on Prae's shoulder. "Get some rest, lad. Tomorrow, you're going to help give these rusty old bones a work out. "