Summoning: Full Circle - Jygust 30th MT

[Morg]

One fine Sierran morningtide, Morgan found himself ascending the spiral steps to Professor Octava's office.

He was feeling comparatively cheerful. Comparatively, because the last few weeks had dragged him down somewhat. Plotting, scheming, following up lines of investigation, ultimately getting nowhere. His resolve to find the Liber was starting to bite back.

His studies, on the other hand, had rarely been as fruitful as they had over the last three months. His apprenticeship to Octava had evolved since his first days. Rather than spending time in formal lessons, his duties as an apprentice increasingly seemed to involve practical tasks - learning by doing. Especially after the University's unexpected move to Sierra he'd found himself spending most of his time helping to reinstate the breached network of wards around the complex. There was a lot of University, so it was tiring work, but rewarding too. In particular, he'd learned how to construct wards that were powered sustainably by the sun and the skies rather than relying on the initial influx of Aetheric energy alone, which was a big step forward. No matter how much power was used to create them or what material was used to store them, ordinary wards would eventually lose their potency as the energy drained out of them over time. With the new technique he had access to something more permanent, albeit more difficult and time-consuming to create. At other times he'd be grinding chalk dust for use in temporary warding circles, or preparing other materials for use in summonings. Less interesting, although no less essential for his trade.

And on the summoning side of things there was Meriklar's treatise, which had excited him no end. He longed to summon a powerful elemental of Knowledge - with that bound, I can't even begin to imagine the information that would be at my fingertips! - although he was still cautious. Morgan hadn't yet learned the weaves of binding, and nor had he summoned a spirit on his own, although he was hopefully about to remedy that.

Arriving in Octava's meticulously clean corridor, he knocked gently on the warding professor's redwood door.

[Tristam]

Clean. It was perhaps the first word one would use to describe the room. If possible, it was even cleaner than the hallway behind, which was no small accomplishment considering how many plants had been spread along the large room.

A great desk sat on the left side of the room viewed from the doorway, with a few tomes and parchments obviously carefully placed. The wall were covered by bookcases filled with books, which had been first divided in to categories and then organized alphabetically. There were few large sheets hanging on the walls, with images of strange forms drawn to them and texts illustrating parts of them.

But the plants, they dominated the room. There were flowers, ferns, large leaved plants and even two small trees in the corners. Vines crept around the largest bookcase, a large green one tying together with a smaller yellow one. Fragrances of several kinds could be smelled even at the door, sweetening the air and reminding one of a very different place than a scholars room.

"Come in!" Octava called out. Octava's office had always doubled as a solarium but since coming to Sierra the plants have truly taken over his office. The air was filled of the heady scents of the many strains of orchid that Octava was breeding. Once Morgan passed the jungle, he emerged into the clearing around Octava's desk and bookshelves.

Octava was currently seated in an overstuffed chair to one side of his desk. It was a recent addition since coming to Sierra. He has been catching catnaps there more and more often lately. In fact, it looked like Morgan had just woken him from one but his ready smile showed that Octava did not mind.

"Morgan my boy!" He rose clapped Morgan on the shoulder in greeting. "I thought you were still in Citadel running hither and yon for Peckerton." Octava made a beckoning motion with his hand and his tray from the dining hall appeared on his desk. "Hmmm. Looks like fish and fruit salad again. At least they remembered my tea. Will you have a cup?" He offered as he motioned Morgan to sit down.

[Morg]

Morgan smiled as he brushed past a few fronds and made his way into the plant-loving professor's inner sanctum. He didn't exactly count Octava as a friend - theirs was still a relationship of student to teacher in Morgan's mind - but he had a great deal of respect and affection for the man, and he liked to think that the feeling was mutual. He'd quite quickly come to the conclusion that, like most of the professors at the University of Magick, Octava was as batty as a fruitcake. The difference was that, unlike some, the professor of warding was also rigorous, reliable and extremely sharp.

As one has to be when one is involved in a business as dangerous as summoning, Morgan mused, thinking back to something Octava had said the first time they'd met:

"There are three kinds of people in our profession. Those who get off from the feeling of entrapping something that powerful. Those who respect the beings they are warding and their power. And those who fear them. I'm one of the last ones, despite how long I have been doing this, as has everyone whose ever lived long enough doing this. That fear you feel, never forget it and it might one day be the thing which saves you."

Morgan nodded eagerly in response to the professor's offer of tea. "Yes please." It was early in the morningtide, after all. He took a seat. "Nothing new seems to have come up at the moment," he replied cheerfully. As far as he knew, negotiations in the Citadel over who really held the land rights to Sierra and the University were making little progress. "As a result I can get back to what I'm actually here to study. Do you have anything specific in mind for me?" He smiled. "If not, I have an idea for where a bound elemental might come in handy."

[Tristam]

Octava sniffed with disapproval as he handed Morgan a steaming teacup. "A extra broom in the closet is something that might 'come in handy'." He chided. "Before you summon any being of power you should have a very specific purpose and be sure that you could not do it with less effort some other way." Octava spooned up a very precise amount of honey and drizzled it into his tea. "However, I feel sure that you have taken such into consideration before coming to me."

"So what are your plans, Morgan?" Octava asked as he sat back into his chair. "As it happens, I could use your assistance on a project of mine. Perhaps we could help each other." Octava offered.

[Morg]

Morgan winced internally. Professor Octava could be sharp in more ways than one, and although he liked flowers it seemed he was still no big fan of flowery turns of phrase. Still, at least he gives me credit for taking it into consideration. Shows we've been working together for the best part of a yahren. "Of course. After all you've taught me, I'm not about to withhold my help," he replied simply. Within reason, of course. But I've never known him to step outside of reason.

Settling into his chair and warming his long fingers around the teacup, Morgan took on a more serious aspect. "My plan was to do with the flooded tunnels under the University," he elaborated. "We've seen animal tracks leading out from them, so it's probable that there is some connection down there with the jungle outside, which doesn't bode well. It occurred to me that a water elemental would be invaluable in investigating the deeper regions of what's down there, if we could assure its compliance either through bargaining or binding. The only alternative I can think of is a water-breathing enchantment, which would probably be of limited duration and would also require someone willing to swim a long way into unexplored territory."

He waited to hear Octava's opinion, eyes resting on the professor as he took a first sip of the still-steaming tea. And then of course there was Octava's own project. The professor hadn't disappointed Morgan in the past, and so the younger man was intrigued to see what he had in mind.

[Tristam]

Octava took a long sip of his tea before replying. "Forgive me for what will seem like a digression, but I thing the story illustrates the point nicely." He smiled. "I had an apprentice several yahren back named Sara and she was obsessed with the idea of having a bound animal companion, a familiar if you like. That is not, strictly speaking, a matter of summoning but was close enough to it that I could assist her and in time she called for and bound to her a raven that told her his name was Midnight." Octava chuckled. "She was quite nonplussed that her name would not be used."

"Anyway, one day she was looking for someone in the courtyard of the University and sent Midnight aloft to search for him. He did not come back for two marks and when he did, Sara got a running commentary on where the best nesting areas were and all the shiny things he was able to grab and stash. It took nearly another half mark to suss out that he had found Sara's friend two marks ago but was distracted by a flashing pin in a lady's hair." Octava chuckled again.

"If you summoned your average water elemental, Morgan, and sent it into the tunnels, you would receive reams of information on salinity and current flow and all the things of importance to water kind. Only very careful and pointed questioning would illicit details of other living things and exact directions." Octava pointed out.

"So your problem and Sara's are the same, how do you improve the information you get from your bound servant?" Octava fell silent and watched Morgan expectantly over the rim of his teacup.

[Morg]

It was a problem that had vaguely bothered Morgan in the past, although he'd never been able to put his finger on it as such. The storm spirit he'd fought against had been able to converse, but there was no guarantee that any given elemental would be able to voice its thoughts, at least not in any language he understood. And when it did speak, it had to say something of value.

It took him a long time to order his thoughts enough to speak. Morgan didn't usually blurt things out. "I can think of two possibilities," he said eventually. "You could take the servant and train it. Spend a long time making sure it knows exactly what your wishes are and how to fulfil them. Condition its behaviour with rewards and punishments. But..." He pursed his lips. "I suppose the problem is that it has the potential to take a very long time, and even after yahren of training the servant still might not be entirely reliable. A water elemental is a water elemental, after all." Morgan was now thinking in terms of his own case. "Still, it has to be important to ask the right questions. If Sara had asked Midnight to come back immediately after locating her friend, she might have had better results. Possibly."

"On the other hand, you could guide the servant in some way," he mused further. "Use a weave that enables you to take control of it, or to cohabit its physical form. Even seeing through its eyes would be an improvement." He wasn't sure how much of an improvement it would actually be. He was quite certain that elementals, and most animals, saw the world in a very different way to humans. What he really needed was an elemental with his own eyes, and a magickal light source, on the front of it. With some way of ensuring that his eyes came back intact, because he liked his eyes. It was a tough problem indeed. "I don't know much about that sort of weave, though. It could be dangerous." As if there's a type of magick that isn't.

[Tristam]

"Oh yes. Very dangerous," Octava nodded, "but possible." He carefully put down his teacup and picked up a fork from his tray. "You have outlined the possibilities exactly. Elementals are a little more malleable than crows. He can simply insert the kind of energies we would need to enhance our elemental servant," Octava speared a piece of melon with his fork, "or simply summon a creature with the right mixture of energies to begin with. Of course, that makes the summoning harder and the being harder to control, etc, etc." Octava popped the morsel into his mouth and chewed.

"As for merging with the elemental, the simplest way is not to." Octava began. "In return for its service, you augment the elemental with the energy of air. It then uses those energies to sustain the water breathing magicks needed to sustain you and its form can bear yours along for underwater travel. Beyond that, you need mentalist linking magicks to share the being's senses. It is not a technique I have used much but I do know the incantations. The few times I used them I sought Ventalla's help but that of course is not presently an option." Octava sighed and speared another piece of melon. "I do wish we knew what was going on in there."

[Morg]

Morgan nodded. Ventalla was not a professor he'd ever had much contact with, but he'd come across as a kind, wise and knowledgeable man. The worst part of the situation was that they didn't know whether he was in danger in there or whether he had sealed himself off for another reason entirely. In any case, he hadn't emerged for almost three months, so he had to have access to some source of food and drink...

"That sort of magick would be perfect for the task," the student reflected. Otherwise I'll have to accompany the elemental myself, which is less than ideal, since we have absolutely no idea what we might come across down there. "I take it you've looked at the wards on his door?" If the whole of the faculty had been unable to extricate Ventalla from the prison he'd constructed for himself, including a couple of specialists in warding, over a three month period, then the professor was perhaps as good as lost to them - although Morgan still harboured the arrogant belief that he himself might find the key to unravelling the wards. I'm getting good at this, after all. Perhaps I'll take a look at some point.

Morgan took a long sip of tea and then sighed. "So, that was what I had in mind," he finished. "Summoning and binding a spirit to investigate the tunnels. But what about your project? How might I be able to help with that?"

[Tristam]

"I have examined Ventalla's prison." Octava nodded. "I have every confidence that they can be brought down. The question is at what cost?" Octava drained his tea cup and poured himself a second cup. "You see, he has bound quite a lot of himself into his wardings. Wherever he found a flaw that could not be bridged by the usual mundane energies he plugged it with weaves of thought and emotion. If we use brute force to bring the wards down then quite a bit of Ventalla will go with it. The soft approach is to use those wards of thought as a conduit to Ventalla's mind and try to contact him though that is a path dangerous to Ventalla and whoever attempts the journey. However, so long as the wards remain strong we know that Ventalla still lives. Until they start to weaken, we have the luxury of delaying the decision in hope that a third option might be found."

"As to my own project," Octava smiled, "you are well aware of the debate going on in the University about linking the structure of our wards to the energies of the isle itself. Do we trade flexibility for strength? Well, I have decided that it is pointless to debate if we should do it when it is not even clear if we can do it." Octava sniffed. "To that end, it is my intention to summon the spirit of the island and see if it is amenable to such a bargain." Octava made a beckoning motion with his hand and scroll of fresh looking parchment floated over from a nearby shelf. "However, this ritual must be performed at the spiritual center of the island which may or may not be that same as the actual center of the island." Octava chuckled.

"Professor Moore tried one of his energy scryings of the island earlier this month." Octava commented as he unrolled the scroll. "It turns out that his familiarity with the isle of Citadel was more important to his success with the ritual than he thought." The scroll showed a rough outline of the isle of Sierra. The majority of the isle was covered in thick scribbles of green and white, the energies of nature and life. The area around Realt in the southeast was blank and dead by comparison. Within the jungle, there were only three spots of interest: one at the geographic center, one to far northwest and one in the east about halfway between the center and the coast. All three were colored gray. "Moore's subconscious recognized these three places as sources of power but the intense life force of the jungle prevented him from identifying the energies. Interested in some fieldwork?" Octava asked with a grin.

[Morg]

Morgan pored over the strange map with growing excitement. The spirit of the island! Now that would be a summoning worth witnessing.

Going into the jungle was, of course, a pretty unpleasant idea in itself. The thick humidity, fierce foliage and buzzing insects weren't exactly the Dortman's idea of fun. And yet he'd been into the jungle at least once every week since their arrival into Sierra, mostly to find new trinkets for Becca. At least, that was how he explained it to himself. The truth, as he now realised, was that the environment of Sierra presented both a mystery and a challenge to him: two things that Morgan often had difficulty turning down. He'd never been far, never more than a few marks' walk from the University complex, but he'd discovered a few ways to protect himself when he did venture out. Now, it seemed, was the time to put those newfound skills into practice.

All that considered, it didn't take him long to make up his mind. "Absolutely," he responded with a smile. "When do I begin?"

[Tristam]

"Immediately if not sooner." Octava smiled. "That is to say as soon as you have made proper preparations and decided who if anyone you would travel with. More to the point, I would know which energy signature you plan to investigate first. I am hoping to recruit other parties to explore and would not wish to have you discover each other instead of what we seek." Octava chuckled.

[Morg]

Morgan pored over the map. In principle he had no preference as to which of the three sources of energy he should visit, having never been more than a few markers away from Réalt. The one in the far northwest was unappealing in that it was the furthest away - virtually on the opposite side of the island. Although he had no idea where the forest was thicker or sparser, he got the feeling that Octava would do better to recruit someone more familiar with jungle terrain for such a long trek.

That left the one in the east and the one in the dead centre. Morgan's long index finger gravitated slowly towards the energy signature in the middle of the map. "I'll head for this one first," he stated to the professor. The spirit of the isle is presumably more likely to be there than in, say, Kislovan. Or hanging around the periphery for that matter. Although who knows? "Time and energy permitting we'll try to make it to the eastern one on the way back."

He said we because he'd already decided that this was a job for Becca. At least, heading into unexplored territory on one's own was a bad idea, and Becca was the obvious person to accompany him. The idea that she might not appreciate hacking through foliage for marks hadn't crossed his mind; he assumed she'd be as enthralled by their goal as he was. Perhaps Thorn or Motley might be interested, too. Thorn was a creature of the outdoors, and as a healer the value of his skills for the expedition were beyond doubt. Motley's abilities were less well known to him, but he knew that the stunted man was good-hearted as well as being in possession of a great natural magickal talent.

He folded his legs and leaned forward. "Does the University have anything that would help me to navigate?" As a boy he'd lived in the countryside and was vaguely familiar with orienting himself by the stars and by landmarks, but in the close confines of the jungle with its dense canopy he feared he would be at a loss. "I can probably lock on to the sources of energy once I'm close enough, but I wouldn't want to count on it for the whole trip."

Drawing parchment and a stick of charcoal from his bag, Morgan began to sketch a rough copy of the map for his own use, using the hard cover of a book he'd borrowed from the library as a work surface.

[Tristam]

"We have compasses that point to magnetic north as well as those enspelled to point your way back to the University." Octava replied. "Had Moore identified the energies we could have fashioned one to lead you to your goals but as it is it would be futile." Octava acknowledged. "You are welcome to food from the stores of course and whatever mundane equipment you should deem necessary. Use my name if they give you any trouble.

Octava nodded in approval as Morgan began to sketch his map. "All of the energy sources are located in the parts of the maps labeled, 'Here be dragons.'" Octava chuckled. "Were that true, the Dragon Hunt is clearly held in the wrong place. Still, a little knowledge is sometimes better than none. Jamail of the Explorer's Guild has a standing offer to provide us with maps as his time allows. It might be worth checking with him before you go."

[Morg]

"Thank you." Morgan nodded, noting the name Jamail down next to his map for future reference. "I'll drop in on him before setting off. I have a few ideas about others who might be useful on the trip, as well."

Finishing his sketch, he stood and examined his handiwork. The magus was certainly no cartographer, but a yahren spent scribing runic symbols on wards had improved the steadiness of his hand, and he hoped that what he'd created was a decent reflection of the map Octava had shown him. Even if that map itself was an imperfect reflection of reality.

"Unless there's anything else," he continued, finishing his tea, "I'll start preparing straight away. I will aim to leave at first light tomorrow morningtide." Yet again, study was being put aside in favour of some mission or other. But Morgan had always learned just as much by doing as by reading, and as well as being an official mission it was just too exciting to refuse.

[Brytan]

The map had come out quite adequately. It was not nigh as precise as he may have wanted it to be, that would take more time and a more skilled hand. It would probably suffice for it's intended purpose.

Octava nodded once more. "The sooner we find out what drives this island, the sooner we will be able to finish the final weaves around the University. And I don't have to tell you that it is imperative we do."

OOC: I'll presume we can wrap it up here. If there's nothing more I'll lock the thread soon for skilling/archiving.

[Morg]

(OOC: Yep, done here. Thanks for jumping in!)

[Tristam]

Thread skilled.