Rimehold, Yrsa Tents: Eydis (Samheen 18th)

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Twilight
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Rimehold, Yrsa Tents: Eydis (Samheen 18th)

Post by Twilight »

(Eydis from: Rimehold, Yrsa Tents: Eydis (Samheen 16th))

Samheen 18th

Eydis had spent much of the past two days in deep meditation or in discussion with Berit of what she saw there.

Green held the texture of plant fibers and their energy as well, where red was warm and sticky, and represented the vital and yet often dark energy of blood. Both, of course, were life energies, but they were opposites, even as the colours were. Eydis also found that in death, these colours quickly turned to black, yet another kind of energy.

Earth energy had the texture of sand and Eydis found this in the yellow strands that were part of the land. They hid from her at first, but, once she had found them, the young woman discovered that they were part of the land all around her.

The most abundant and yet by far the most illusive of the energies was that of air. Often it was the palest of lavender, as if the element of water could not be entirely removed from it, as in fact it could not.

It was exhausting, frustrating, exciting and amazing work, but Berit seemed highly impressed with her granddaughter's progress. She assured her student that it would become easier to 'see' these energy ribbons with each practice and that one day she would be able to switch to the 'inner sight', as she called it now, without more than a flicker's thought.

Today, Berit greeted her apprentice with a warm smile and indicated that Eydis should take her customary seat on the floor cushions.

"Today we will begin two new exercises. This Morningtide you will begin to learn how to grasp the energy; probably the blue to start with, as you seem to have a natural affinity to the water element. It was the one that came to you first, after all," Berit laughed. "Then, this Tradetide we will discuss the tools of rune crafting and you will begin to gather yours," she explained, taking her usual spot across from her granddaughter.
Last edited by Twilight on Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Eydis da`Yrsa

Post by Eydis da`Yrsa »

Removing her coat, she took her seat on the cushions across from Berit. Eydis folded her hands in her lap, exuding her usual calm, though there was no mistaking the twinkle of anticipation in her gray eyes. Many hours had she meditated these past couple days, watching ribbons of color dance at their will across her inner sight - observing only, but never manipulating.

Her family had mixed feelings about the whole affair. Brynja was the only one who seemed unhappy with the arrangement, though she knew it was her mother's will. She thought Eydis would be far more useful helping the clan prepare for winter - but her daughter couldn't exactly do much of that whilst sitting around with her eyes closed, could she? Eydis's younger sister Freida rather enjoyed not having her sister around as much to boss her, and little Dagmar's only objection was that Eydis couldn't play with him as often any more. Eydis's father was openly supportive, and for that she was grateful, for there were few members of the nine Clans who's judgement she valued more.

"Then I suppose we have no time to lose," she smiled, remembering how quickly time flew during the first lesson. Taking a few slow breaths, Eydis closed her eyes and reached for the inner sight.
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Post by Guest »

"Like saxifrage blooms in the spring."

The soothing voice of her grandmother sounded as if it came from afar as Eydis reached within herself for a stillness of mind. It was easier now. Already, the deep, quiet concentration came to Eydis more quickly than it had done two days ago. What had earlier been hints and brief inklings of colour and bands, was now more tangible, not escaping once she put her senses upon them. Almost, just almost could she feel them, not merely perceive them. There were the familiar blue, the purple...

"You described the purple so in the beginning, Eydis. Like saxifrage blooms in the spring. They come early in their beauty, the saxifrages. Then, as the spring takes hold, comes the moss campion, outshining the fading saxifrage. Can you see them, Eydis, feel their caress? The caress of the purpled campions." Slowly, ever so slowly, the purple manifested in bands over the vast, empty, expanses of her mind. "Then try to reach for it, Eydis. Feel the campions rustle as you pass your hand through their natural bed."
Eydis da`Yrsa

Post by Eydis da`Yrsa »

"If I believe it is campion, is that then what I will feel?" Rather dubiously, she raised her arm, stretched it out before her, mimicking the motion in her mind.

"How is't so?" Eydis imagined herself brushing fingers across a mat of the delicate mountain blooms. "How much of this is real, and how much of it, illusion?"
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Post by Guest »

As Eydis reached out, both physically and in her mind, the vague sense of soft pressure immediately overcame her. A pressure about break through a breach to flow into her. The flowers just escaped her again and again as if a wind brushed their petals away from her touch.

"It is no wonder you ask, dear Eydis," said Berit and gave her granddaughter a warm smile. "You see, energy, though in its core quality it is the same always, is perceived differently by everyone who seeks to touch it. Colours, bands of colours, is where many start, but it is not necessarily the image you will give energy. It as a matter of giving energy a face that you are comfortable with so that it will be easier to grasp and hold it. Some use the ribbons of colours, some use flowers mirroring the colours that come naturally to the sources of energy, some use the image of northern lights on the heavens, some may utilize special words they envision, some the different songs of the birds. There are innumerable opportunities."

Then, as Eydis began to feel the distant signs of fatigue, she finally felt the rustle of soft petals against her fingers. "So what is real and what is illusion?" If Eydis looked, she might see her grandmother's eyes turn inwards and her old lips curve in a small smile. "In its essence, energy is real, but only the strongest runecrafters can perceive that energy in its original form. Then you must look beyond the face you have given energy, whatever that image - perhaps illusion? might be." And it was as if Eydis had only to open herself to let the essence of the campions come through her.

"You need not yet decide what in what form energy will appear to you. Perhaps it will come naturally, perhaps you are in actuality left little choice. Is it the moss campion you see now, my dear? It is only one way of the thousand and more masks that energy wears. Can you feel it? Try slowly to let it enter. Open yourself to its embrace."
Eydis da`Yrsa

Post by Eydis da`Yrsa »

...only the strongest runecrafters can perceive that energy in its original form.

The thought that her perception of magic was based upon her mind's own deception, was troubling - for, above all things, Yrsa women valued truth. To break down illusions that clouded the eye and the mind, to see past the shedding skin, and into the core.

Yet, now that it was mentioned, she could not deny feeling the velvet of the campion's petals tickling the underside of her fingers. The amorophous colors took on pattern and meaning, recognizable shape - and there was only the barrier within herself that prevented the energy from entering from one shell into another.

The young woman emptied her mind of all misgivings. Her hand turned gently, palm-up, scooping beneath the mat of campions her mind's eye had molded, forming a bridge for the energy to cross.
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Post by Guest »

At first there was only the soft rustle of the campions. Nothing happened. The moss campions fluttered gently in a breeze Eydis never felt the caress of. The pressure, even if only waiting to be unleashed, lay as still as the petals of the mat of flowers. But somehow it was not in the sepals and stalks that the barrier lay. As Eydis concentrated, she felt droplets of perspiration press forward from the skin of her forehead.

"To me," came the soothing voice of Berit, her grandmother, "it is a waterfall. In the winter it freezes. But then, in the spring, at first come smalls trickles of water... then more, and more. And so I feel the energy flow through me, like the water falling, enveloping, and overpowering the ice."

Eydis could feel the energy in the flowers - or in the image. It was urging on her, but still would not, it seemed, enter, however deep into meditation she fell. As she turned her hand and scooped beneath them she could sense their ardour just waiting to be released on her. But like a drop of water lingering on the tip of an icicle and not letting go to fall down, so did the energy linger, pressing on the undefined bridge, but unable to pass over.

Again came the soft voice Berit. "Give it an image, dear Eydis. A picture. Something you know. May the petals be taken by the wind to fly through you? Do the campions finally spring into full bloom? Make the energy your own, in your own depiction."
Eydis da`Yrsa

Post by Eydis da`Yrsa »

Briefly, the girl opened her eyes. Though moved by her kinswoman's description of the magical energy, she could not resist a rather bemused protest. "Really, grandmother. You know I have no poetic talent."

But she delved back into her meditation, determined to succeed.

There she was again, beneath blue skies, upon the bare, bald crown of a stone crag. A veritable plague of campions efflorescing happily at her feet, soft mats, towering ankle-high. The wind blew and blew, but fluttering petals only undulated coyly, secure in their ground-clinging, mounded forms.

The energy was before her - so close! There was only the matter of harvesting it. Well, if it will not come to me, she observed pragmatically, I shall just have to take matters into my own hands.

She remembered how the healers did it - how they extracted antidote, or poison, from wild things that grew on the rocks. Eydis bent, and grasping firmly, she gouged the delicate flowers from their mossy beds - a whole fistful of them. Then, she squeezed - her palm became the mortar, her fingers, the pestle, and between them, she crushed the campions until they burst and bled. So it was in her mind, a stream of lavender spilled forth from the pulp, which her free hand caught, and by it was stained a brilliant purple.
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Post by Guest »

Berit chuckled softly at Eydis' comment. "It needs not be poetic, my dear, as long as the depiction makes sense to you. Something you are familiar with, something you know." Her grandmother's voice was soothing in its soft resonance. Almost lulling. "An uncle of mine, now long gone, utilized walrus tusks as..."

But the voice faded. Eydis could not tell whether Berit had trailed off or if her auditory surroundings were shut off. For as she re-entered her mind in the picture of the stone crag, and her hands gathered the campions from their soft bed, the press and the urge grew as it had once before. But this time it was even closer. The drop of water at the tip of the icicle hung onto its source by only such a fragment it seemed deemed to fall had only the sun cast its beams on the ice for the split of a flicker. Perspiration pressed on from the pores of Eydis' forehead. Something tasted salt.

Gathering the campions from their soft bed, the young woman immediately felt a brief tingling pass over her. Then, as the flowers burst in her grip and the lavender spilled forth, there was a sudden, immediate change. The drop fell from the icicle. It was like dipping in a pool of ice, but it was only refreshing. Eydis felt the bleeding of the flowers flow through her mind. Until now she had only sensed it, only perceived it. Now it was within her ... the energy ... she was one with it as her hand was stained in both the deepest and the lightest of purple. The energy was with her.

Eydis knew little of whether a flicker or half a mark had passed when she distantly heard a familiar voice. "Now, now, dear Eydis. Enough for now. Let it go." Suddenly her body felt a dozen times heavier than it should. Her head felt ready to fall down on her chest.
Eydis da`Yrsa

Post by Eydis da`Yrsa »

Eydis didn't really know exactly what she was expecting, but she certainly wasn't prepared for the giddiness that swept over her when the energy entered her. It was all she could do to keep from giggling aloud. She felt light and airy, as if a puff of the arctic wind would blow her away. Whether it was an effect of the magic as a whole, or a peculiarity unique to the particular energy she was harnessing, Eydis could not tell. The girl held on to it, feeling the sprightly stuff dance through her body, jump like lightning between her fingers.

"Now, now, dear Eydis. Enough for now. Let it go."

How? The brief, anxious thought pierced her concentration, but before she knew it, all had blinked out of existence - the campions, the rocky peak, the stain upon her hand. Eydis was hurdled back to the close warmth of her grandmother's tent. Empty, with only a vague, tingling sensation left over from the channeling, that grew fainter with each pulse.

The girl swayed, feeling as if she'd just downed seven bottles of Ajira's strongest brew. The room spun, and her hand shot out to catch herself before she could topple sideways onto the carpet. She had never been so weary, yet the flush of triumph was on her cheek. She had done it! Hadn't she?

And then came the all-too familiar headache.

"Uhhgg..." Eydis managed to grumble.
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Post by Guest »

The waft of a warm, slightly bitter-sweet aroma filled Eydis' nostrils. She would recognize it as belonging to the tea Berit had served her granddaughter during the first day of lessons. Berit's arm wrapped around her shoulders tenderly, and she was raised up to lean her back against a small ball of furs arranged by the older woman.

"Easy, my little girl," murmured grandmother Berit. With her knuckled hands, Berit patted Eydis' left hand and smiled warmly. The cup from which the aroma of tea emanated was offered the younger of the two Yrsa women in the tent. "You just calm down, Eydis." There was a significant trace of pride on her granddaughter's behalf in that soothing voice. "Drink this and rest; I will tell you more. Of runecraft."

Streaks of pale sunlight penetrated the tent from outside, carrying word of the crisp beauty of the day here in the north. A gentle breeze had the tent walls undulate idly. But inside, among cushions and fur, it was comfortably warm.

"Magic holds a mysterious yet all important link with nature that cannot be severed," began Berit. "If it is, the magic will no longer function. Runes can be crafted only on natural surfaces. Surfaces that are altered by us to a certain extent will yield negative response to crafting." The older woman paused, allowing for Eydis to think through the consequences of her words. "To inscribe runes, every runecrafter needs a tool. Almost every. While this tool must be an item of nature, it can still be fashioned by the woman any way she likes it. What matters is that the tool ready upon utilizing it."

Berit gave no further explanation as of yet. Instead she leant forward towards Eydis, her face wearing the expression of a perhaps overly concerned grandmother. "Are you alright, my dear?" She laid her warm hand at Eydis' cheek.
Eydis da`Yrsa

Post by Eydis da`Yrsa »

"Yes, yes, thank you. I'll be all right," she stated, a little miffed by her own weakness, and unaccustomed to her grandmother's coddling. She didn't think it'd be so difficult, in the beginning. Eydis sipped at the tea, and listened carefully to her grandmother's words.

But in the end, something about Berit's explaination bothered her.

"I'm not sure I understand," the girl puzzled, frowning. "A tool? You mean, like a chisel? And why would changing the state of a surface cause it to yield negative responses? A piece of wood is a piece of wood no matter what shape you carve it into."
Last edited by Eydis da`Yrsa on Sat Oct 30, 2004 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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"Good, good," muttered Berit. "Have some tea." The old woman, settled back again to answer her granddaughter's question. She took a moment to respond, sitting in deep thought.

"Energy is drawn from everything around us. The ice, the wind... the saxifrages. It is all nature. Man and woman is subject to nature, Eydis. Here on the Northern Isle we have learnt that we are. The Ice Queen's hand works in harmony with nature. She can have a storm gather or let the sea freeze. Magic is also nature. The energy we learn to channel lies in the true nature." Berit paused, smiling slightly at the thought. "As everyone else, a runecrafter is subject to nature. "As such, if nature is manipulated, so is also the energy within it..."

Grandmother Berit cocked her head. "...and just that is indeed just what a runecrafter does when carving runes. Trapping flows of energy in the runes. But if that natural flow has been interfered with, altered with by other hand than the natural, it is deemed unsuitable. It is unsuitable, for in altering nature, we inevitably alter the flow of energy that is within nature as well."

The aging runecrafter stopped there, waiting to see if her child's child was following. "It is complex," she added. "There are many ways to explain it, but none of the explanations we have are perhaps entirely true. We can only gather from what we experience, and draw conclusions."
Eydis da`Yrsa

Post by Eydis da`Yrsa »

"I suppose that is all we can do," Eydis conceded, though some questions remained unanswered. She left them for now, trusting in the wisdom of her grandmother, yet knowing that even Berit did not have all of the answers. Perhaps the Ice Queen did not mean for them to have all of the answers. Hygd's Blood, the Goddess could be jealous of Her secrets.

"Then the tool must be to help us bring energy from nature into the runes. That must be why some runecasters do not need them. They themselves are enough to trap the energy in the runes."
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Post by Guest »

"Exactly, my dear." Smiling warmly, Berit slowly stood up inside the tent. "Some runecrafters, only the strongest of the strongest, may craft runes without a tool. They are often those that can, even out of objects touched by a woman or a man's hand, trap energy." In her gentle, old voice, Berit continued to describe the ring of runes above the tapestry-covered walls in the Ice Queen's Temple that Eydis had seen innumerable times.

At the top of the tapestries, approximately 12 feet up, a ring of runes surrounded the temple. Above that etched ring, a beautiful pattern of blocks, stripes and scrollwork interwoven for another eight feet or so, curved slowly overhead. A second, more intense ring of carved runes topped this. "These were carved in times long past," said Berit, "when some of our runecasters held such strength they could draw energy out of even a touched source. Now none in neither Rimehold or Grimkell have such capacity." Her olden eyes turned inwards for a moment, then she looked up and smiled. "Now, Eydis, you must find your tool. We shall speak more of it. Come on."

And Eydis grandmother opened the tent flap. A gust of cold wind entered, and with it a purpled petal the young Trothgarder recognized as belonging to a moss campion. Berit didn't notice. At least she gave no sign of it if she did.
Eydis da`Yrsa

Post by Eydis da`Yrsa »

Eydis thought about the runic patterns circling the walls of the Ice Queen's temple and the hands that crafted them.

No one left who could wield such power? Eydis felt her grandmother's sadness. She wondered what happened to them, the strongest of runecasters - why the power was not passed on. What had they done wrong?

They went outside, Eydis shouldered her coat against the cold, falling in step beside Berit.

"Where are we going?" she asked, glancing up at the sky. Eydis didn't like the look of those clouds in the north. "Should I bring any equipment?"

Berit didn't reply.

"Grandmother?" the girl, repeated, turning.
Last edited by Eydis da`Yrsa on Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Elvin Motricé »

Her grandmother stopped a few feet outside the tent, taking a deep breath and stared into the distance. A cold wind rose from Gymir's Talons, the older women said that it was the Ice Queen's breath washing over their children to remind them of their place in the world.

Her grandmother stood still for a long time, a mysterious silence permeating from her. The silence lasted so long that maybe her grandmother hadn't even heard her question. As the silence deepened a soft song was carried with the wind, a strange song. Melodic voices entwined in a powerful song barely audible. It seemed to last for hours as the music washed over her, comprehension seemed so closeby... yet eluded her grasp time and time again.

When Berit finally spoke burns seemed to have gone by while in truth only a few flickers had past after the music started. As her grandmother spoke the music was shattered and the strange silence broken. "Once," her grandmother said, while looking at Gymir's Talons, "in the days when the world was young our people struggled to survive in a harsh world. Vainly we struggled against the world and its seen and unseen dangers. It was in these times that the Ice Queen looked upon us and took pity. She guided us to a new land that provided us with everything we needed. In these days She Who Is Our Mother led the most wise of our women to a place deep within the Mountains of Ice and in a cave where neither cold nor hunger troubled them they learned the art of runecraft from the goddess herself. For this great gift given to us we have sworn powerful oaths. If you wish to set out on these paths further you’ll repeat the words these old women swore before our goddess.”

Her grandmother turned with a look in her eyes Eydis’ hadn’t seen before. Infinite wisdom mixed with the cold steel of an iron will: “Do you wish to continue upon this path of ancient wisdom and take the task upon you to guard our gift, Eydis da’Yrsa, Daughter of Brynja? Will you take the words given to us and utter them with truth on your lips and in heart as to never betray the Yrsa Name or the Ice Queen’s divine command?”
Last edited by Elvin Motricé on Tue Nov 23, 2004 11:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"- and so's Mister Motricé." Becca smiled wryly. "He's probably going to go - he's not set anything on fire for a few months, so he's got to be going through withdrawal by now." ~ Becca Acerbi
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Eydis da`Yrsa

Post by Eydis da`Yrsa »

Haltingly, Eydis's eyes followed her grandmother's gaze to the Talons. She too felt the bitter north wind, but she could not feel what Berit felt, or hear what Berit heard. Not yet, while her heart was still young and blithe.

"I will," said Eydis, secure, at least in her own mind that she was telling the truth. "The Goddess's wrath is great, and her blessings, precious. I would not relenquish Her greatest gift to us, if it meant my life."
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Post by Elvin Motricé »

“Kneel,” Berit’s voice crackled with power and the sheer force behind the word struck Eydis so hard that she could do nothing else but comply. Her grandmother looked down at her kneeling down in the snow and a small proud smile played around her lips.

“Never shall I betray my word, my lips sealed with a pledge of ice. My heart strong and cold to the voices who ask me to betray what has been entrusted to me. I am the enduring fortress,” Berit intoned and looked at her granddaughter clearly expecting that she repeated the words.

“ My words are strong. My heart endures. I shall never reveal my secrets to the outsider. Nor shall I teach a man without the consent of the Council.”
"- and so's Mister Motricé." Becca smiled wryly. "He's probably going to go - he's not set anything on fire for a few months, so he's got to be going through withdrawal by now." ~ Becca Acerbi
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