William Enskraft - History is Written

[Thot]

William H.Enskraft | Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 1 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10

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Considering the parallel between Powerup and his Father, William could see Nepungan's point about wasting time very easily. He had reservations about Ariadne and Powerup getting along poorly, since they had seemed to manage well enough, but from a general point of view, he still got it and did not press the issue.

At the end of their session, when she handed him a book catering to his request, he positively beamed. That was the most he could ask for, and his Mentor was providing as best she could. "(English) Thank you, thank you very much ! I will take all due precaution while moving forward, please rest assured. (/English)".

And already he knew that this evening would be a long one, because he would want an overview before going in the details, and that meant covering the book in its entirety. Not the first time, not the last, he thought with a broad smile.

 

OOCWhat I would like most then is for William to try and experiment a little bit of Magic on his own, and see what gives.

It is part of what an aspiring Mage like him would do, imho, and I am curious as to what may happen. Perhaps nothing for now, and that would be fine too, but let's roll the dices :)

Also, nice touch on the book in German !

Then, XP-wise, William only has 13 XP to spend, whereas Prime 2 would be 14 XP for him, being a Mastigos. Soon indeed, but not quite there yet.

[Anthr4xus]

The next day was cold and clear. William did not have any classes to attend, and Nepungan had mentioned that she was going to be busy most of the day with mundane issues. This meant that today would be an excellent opportunity to focus on practicing his will working and some self-guided study. His first cup of coffee this morning tasted particularly good and rich and the morning sun glimmer across the windows and rooftops of Columbia most attractively.

[Thot]

  William H.Enskraft | Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 1 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10

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Given the circumstances of the previous day, it was extremely relaxing to wake up surrounded by familiar sounds, to drink the usual coffee in the everyday cup and to see around oneself only boring, mundane objects.

It also made focusing easier, once the mind had cleared itself from the distraction of a life-or-death situation.

William was setting himself two goals for today. For this morning, to get a hang on the Primer handed by Nepungan. To be able to navigate it, to understand its structure, and the topics it broached. Then for the afternoon, to focus on the area that interested him the most at this time, the Aura, and conclude with a first practical attempt.

With his mind organized and set, the young Mastigos started reading the parts of interest for him, to be able to locate those relevant to the matter at hand, and discard the rest for now. Having now realized how dangerous magic may be, he was especially careful to look out for warnings or safeguards before attempting any genuine Willworking. Came noon, he knew that Prime covered Magic Items, the fabric of Spells and much more. A couple more hours, and he would be ready for more...

 

[Anthr4xus]

The primer was obviously handwritten and several decades old. The margins were marked here in there with cribbed handwritten notes in a variety of hands, particularly towards the back. The main text was somewhat dry, but the original author had a certain flair for description and metaphor that helped made the text at least tolerable.

Prime is the light that burns without heat, the energy that defies description. It is the power that courses through all things in material existence and which serves as the skeleton on which all willworkers hang their magic. Prime is an Arcanum of mystic power, named for the prima materia, the Supernal substance. Thus, it is often practiced by those who would seek to possess mastery over the subtle and otherwise largely unquantifiable substance that serves as mages’ medium. The Arcanum of Prime deals with the essence of magic itself. It interacts with the Fallen World via the various forms of pure magic to be found there: Mana, Hallows, and the enchantment of objects, resonance, and tass.

Awakened who concentrate on Prime tend to be passionate, though they are often driven to loftier ends than the majority of people: self-mastery, understanding of Creation and enlightenment. These sorts usually have an intense drive to understand the “whys” and “wherefores” of reality. Some have their curiosity satisfied merely by learning answers to their questions, while others capitalize on knowledge to control what they understand now. Many Prime willworkers have a particular lust for life, an energy that impels them to be ever active, moving forward toward some objective (which need not be easily quantifiable).

Ruling Realm: The Aether

The gross/subtle pair of Forces/Prime provides the ruling Arcana for the realm of the Aether, the celestial space where the heavenly fire burns. Prime is the ephemeral expression of the pair.

 

[Thot]

 William H.Enskraft | Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 1 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10

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Studying the primer helped William to put concepts into shape, and words onto fleeting impressions. Those were definite improvements on the fumbling he was still experiencing with Willworking. No surprise he had been used by many another Mage before. A particular chapter held special interest to him, the one that theorized that the Mage's Aura was actually Mana leaking through their body, or perhaps Mana made visible through the prism of the Mage's soul.. Anyway, it offered several potential Imago for a spell to subdue this trait and William wanted to waste no time attempting it.

He checked in his notebook for appropriate Words of Power to complement his trial, and rehearsed the act of casting a spell, each step he had to perform to achieve the desired result.

Once it was firmly in his mind, William didn't just rehearse the casting, he strengthened his Will, and through the focus of his Soul, he channeled the laws of the other Planes, according to which a Mage such as he wouldn't have a distinct Aura from anyone else.

 

[Anthr4xus]

Holding the intention firmly in his mind, William, no.... Pekaku, felt something moving in and about himself, something ephemeral yet powerful seemed to change. At the edges of his vision a flickering Nimbus of power seemed to appear and then slowly collapse in towards him. He had only a moment to note it's distinct pattern. In some ways it vaguely reminded him of the similar Nimbus he had seen around Nepungan when she had created the teleportation door, yet even in only the second or so that he could see it, he could tell that it was unique to him. His.

It was difficult to see his own Aura normally, likely some kind of natural psychological editing. But even so, as his will manifested around him, he could tell that his Aura had been diminished, akin to hiding his light under a bushel basket. He could tell that his desire was manifest to some degree, although he realized that he may not be able to tell the full effect of this particular magic on himself, at least not from this first exposure.

[Thot]

 William H.Enskraft aka Pekaku | Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 1 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10

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William had not really expected a flashy transformation but it was still a bit underwhelming to have to rely on personal sensations to know whether he had successfully performed the magic he wanted or not. Still, he felt as if it had been successful, as if his Aura was more demure, so to say.

He would have to duplicate it later and ask for Nepungan's confirmation then. In the meantime, he would have to try again. Practice made perfect, after all. It was very encouraging though, and the young Mastigos resumed in earnest reading the Primer, especially the parts of interest to him of course. From time to time he stopped studying the book and tried to gauge his situation instead, to measure the duration of this spell he had used.

If at some point he got the feeling it had faded away, he would reread the chapter related to Auras, retrace the steps to firmly establish the pattern of this casting in his mind, and do it again. Success or failure, in all cases he would try to learn from it. He still had a long way to go, after all.

 

[Anthr4xus]

After a time he could feel whatever change he had been able to wrought in his aura gradually fade away. Though indistinct and hard to perceive for himself, he can now catch the edge of his aura in his own sight, which he had not been able to do under the influence of his spell. The word still struck him oddly as an action he could take. Now the question was simply what he would do with it.

[Thot]

 William H.Enskraft aka Pekaku | Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 1 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10

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Even though it had been only comparatively short, William was still very pleased to notice the difference in his aura, as it meant he had actually managed to willfully alter it the first time, dimming it back to what it had been before his Awakening.

Now he had to add practice and reliability to it, but he knew he was started in the right way.

The Primer also mentioned Rotes, and if William wanted reliability, he knew he would have to turn that way eventually.

For the time being though, the young Warlock was content with focused practice on this very specific spell of Aura Transformation and the benefit of anonymity in the eyes of the Awakened.

Any spare time he could spend on it until his next lesson with Nepungan, he would focus on that spell and nothing else. Of course, Fate was alluring as well, but only by making resolute choices could he achieve his goals.

 

[Anthr4xus]

William spent much of the weekend working on the Aura Transformation spell. He could already tell that repetition of the fingering patterns and atlantean phrasings were making things flow quicker and more reliably. There was certainly something to the concept of Rotes. He could now fairly regularly mask his aura without even flaring his Nimbus, a critical step to being able to do so subtly. How long the effect lasted seemed fairly variable but almost always lasted for at least ten to fifteen minutes. One time, while he was testing taking a quick walk while maintaining concentration, he ran into Nathan. They had chit-chatted for a while about things.

William got somewhat sidetracked by the realization that his time spent with Nepungan had already impacted what little social life he had maintained before. There had been a couple of lectures that he definitely would have gone too previously, but his new focus of study had sucked away too much time. By the time William was able to exit the conversation and head back to his room he realized that the transformation had held for nearly forty-five minutes.

His brother had texted a couple of times about getting together, and Stormi had sent out a scheduling request for rebooking the Ai Fiori dinner.

Nepungan had also texted him, suggesting that they plan to head out to the Brooklyn Mysterium anthenaeum tomorrow morning.

[Thot]

 William H.Enskraft aka Pekaku | Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 3 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10

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William had always prided himself on his ability to focus, but his meeting with Nathan seemed to prove that he could push that even further, and very easily isolate himself. It didn't really matter to the nascent Mage, obsessed as he was with his newfound field of exploration, though. And he was paying off handsomely, he thought to himself about his aura. He had cared very little for a social life before, and cared even less about it now. Could he be caring too little ? He idly wondered whether to talk about it with Nepungan, or not, but found it irrelevant for the moment. He had his priorities straight, and social life just wasn't really a part of it. Unless it risked becoming a hindrance, like his Father. Or it could be an asset, like the funding committee.

As it was, he owed to himself to savour a dinner at Ai Fiori, and get rid of his social obligations with his family for a while. He could probably kill two birds with one stone, so he called Stormi and gave her a couple of possible dates.

Then he texted a reply to the older Mystagogue, his Mentor, Nepungan "It sounds like a very interesting field trip. Let's do it." After all, the Mysterium seemed like the kind of group in which you can have some sort of social life too...

 

[Anthr4xus]

Stormi replied with her usual bubbly enthusiasm, locking in dinner for Thursday evening. She laughingly mentioned the chance of seeing you that evening as she and Nathan were having dinner at another restaurant nearby.

Nepungan suggested meeting at the Brooklyn Central Library tomorrow morning at 10am. She hadn't explicitly stated that the Library was the Anthenaeaum, but it was a logical guess, especially given where he met Nepungan and Alcide for the first time.

Edited October 10, 2023 by Anthr4xus (see edit history)

[Thot]

 William H.Enskraft aka Pekaku | Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 3 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10

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While noting the appointment on his pad, William was grumbling. If Nathan started dating Stormi, it would probably only make his life more complicated, as his friend had incredible skills in that respect. William unashamedly hoped it wouldn't pan out between them. Certainly both of them could find other love interests, right ?

He then answered Nepungan with a short "Meet you there." and focused again on his current project, mastering his aura. He was starting to feel a bit safer, if barely, and it still needed much polishing. When the evening came, he prepared accordingly for the morrow, and stashed his books and notebooks in his backpack, so as to be ready to use them if required. On the morning, the young mystagogue made his way with a comfortable margin to spare. She wouldn't be waiting for him.

Hopefully it wouldn't be like his first field trip this time...

Edited October 10, 2023 by Thot (see edit history)

[Anthr4xus]

William caught the red line train to Brooklyn. As the train approached the Times Square station, there was a sudden burst of nearly unintelligible squawk over the PA. While native New Yorkers are more capable than most in breaking down what those announcements mean, even William was somewhat confused by the burst of sound. He had caught something about the red line being shutdown between Wall and somewhere. Pulling up his mental map of the subway system, he realized that wherever the obstruction was it meant that he would not be able to get to Brooklyn on this train.

With a group of other riders, William exited the train, planning to move over to the yellow line. Surprisingly, the platform he descended to was mostly empty, especially being here relatively shortly after 8am. Roughly a half dozen people were scattered over the platform, waiting for the train. As William was roughly halfway down the escalator to the platform he heard a yell ahead of him. A young woman, probably late twenties and dressed casually but attractive nonetheless, was on the ground about half-way along the platform, screaming. A teenage boy was running directly toward the escalators and William, a small purse clutched in one hand while his other arm pumped. The other people on the platform were similarly surprised at the sudden yell and burst of motion. A metallic shriek and gust of wind from the tunnel indicated that the next train would be pulling in any moment now.

[Thot]

 William H.Enskraft aka Pekaku | Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 3 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10

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Cursing his luck, William was glad though that he had taken the extra time to secure his timely arrival, and orderly walked toward the other. And that was of course when he fell from the frying pan into the fire...

While the young Mastigos was no hero, simply extending one's arm or leg to stop a thief was obviously something he could, and should do. He waited for the teenager to be near enough to lean forward, brace himself, and rush into the youngling to collide into him and hopefully knock him onto the ground. If that happened, his intention was merely to kick the purse out of his grasp, and let the pickpocket go, definitly not to chase him.