Private Tales A new world

[Raigryn Vayd]

Once they had finished their pies - and with the promise of writing to come - they headed back to where they had started the day. The archery range was as quiet as it had been earlier. Crossbow men were at the gates now, preparing for the orc horde.

He couldn't go outside to fetch stones, but some of the dwarves used slingshots. That meant there was a nice supply of smooth, weighted stones to borrow from.

"Some say the current practise of avarice came from jealous empaths. They wanted a form of magic that was more...flashy. Closer to old elven."

Raigryn stood before Fife. He wore his usual expression for recalling old stories. Most Empathy isn't so visual. Avarice allows you to summon constructs formed of energy. Normally to strike at people. It's not a nice aspect. But you can form a barrier."

Waving his hand in front of his chest he left a circle of green in the air. It was a translucent, roughly edged shape of jade green. Raigryn poked it with his finger. There were no sparks or magic. It was as if he had painted the air itself.

"It's the same as every other form of empathy. You tap into the aspect, you mentally tie it to the effect you want to have on the world. Want to try?"

 

[Fife]

The range was as sparsely occupied as before when they returned. Fife was eager to pick up something new with her magic. It had been a while since he had taught her a new Aspect and, while Joy and Tranquility were useful and easy to find and implement, Avarice was exciting.

Listening carefully, she gave him a wary look when he picked up the stone. She had not forgotten their first lessons. Raigryn seemed to take the concept of "hands-on learning" a bit too literally, but damn, did it motivate her to get things right. Fife maintained enough dignity not to actually step away from him, but her eyes were plainly moving between his and the stone.

When he created an example, however, she stepped closer to touch it. It was like a piece of green glass suspended in the air. She pressed on it gently but it would not budge. He had used something like this before, when he'd barred the window the night she had attempted to rob him.

Raigryn asked if she wanted to try, and she offered him a tentative smile and a nod. He had been monitoring what Aspects she collected, and she had used up everything she'd had the other day. Hopefully that veil wouldn't bar her Empathy after a couple of days' rest and a bit of normalcy. Stubborn to a fault, she would try, at the very least.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"I'm not going to throw stones at you by the way," he laughed. "One of these slingshot stones could crack your head!"

He bounced one in his hand, testing its weight. A flick of the wrist and it went bouncing off the barrier. There was a small crack left in the jade streak that held itself in the air. It was anchored to the fabric of magic itself, untouched by gravity. Cracks slowly spread out and then it crumbled and faded from existence.

"Let's get the basics down and we'll see how quickly you can make a stable form. For now don't tap too deep. Don't find a strong item from your past where you felt jealousy. Pick something mild to help you reach into your aspect. Juggle that emotion and connect it to what you want. These kinds of abilities are all about affecting the world, so you really have to link the feeling with a mental image of what you want to happen. Just picture something the same size as I just made. Imagine something the same in front of you as you reach for your Avarice."

 

[Fife]

Relieved that he wasn't throwing rocks at her to test her, the tension eased out of Fife's shoulders. She watched him test his own barrier, the jade cracking then crumbling and disappearing after a few more moments. It was an easy enough task: recall a moment of mild jealousy and imagine it manifesting into a material thing. Fife nodded. He made it sound so simple and, like the other lessons, she was sure it would come more naturally once she figured it.

But she had to figure out how to do it first.

Drawing a deep breath, she swept out the thoughts from her mind and tried to think of a moment she'd felt even mildly jealous. Fife had lived a practical life; wanting things she couldn't have would have delivered her to trouble's doorstep in the pursuit of those things, so she had purged it from her mind early on. She'd strived for basic things, like clothing, food, and a safe place to sleep through the night.

Yet, as she thought deeper, she found things long since abandoned and forgotten. She'd been jealous other children holding the hands of their parents. She'd been jealous of laughter. She'd been jealous of people going into their homes on cold nights who didn't think twice about whether or not they'd freeze. But he'd said something small, so she shied away from those ugly things. Something small, something small...

Fife gave Raigryn a sheepish look. She felt a bit frustrated at how long it was taking to think of anything, and she sighed deeply.

Unable to think of anything else, she picked the lesser of the awful things she'd already thought of. Recalling the jealousy of people with safe, cozy homes, she pushed out every other thought. Focusing on the empty air in front of her, she reached through her mind the same way she'd reach for Tranquility or Joy, but instead of the pools of emotions siphoned from others, she drew upon her own feelings.

Reaching and imagining the feeling forming a circle of Avarice in front of her where she passed her hands over nothing, but no shield formed. After several failed attempts, she had to take a short pause to tamp down her rising frustration. Fife rubbed her face and, taking one more breath, tried again.

This time, a measly green stripe about the size of her hand formed in the air. The "shield" (if it could be called that) was wavy and more of a streak than a circle, and as delicate as a thin layer of ice. Sighing with relief, Fife didn't smile but she looked up at Raigryn. It wasn't good, but she'd done something. She had certainly done much better with her other lessons.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"And that, I think will do for today," he said. Raigryn offered him a proud smile. After having watched in absolute silence his voice seemed to travel far in the large hall.

"Drawing on those darker aspects is not something to do lightly. Avarice can creep up on you, just as the emotion does for everyone. Better to be safe than end up sticking a knife in someone's back for their shiny purse tomorrow.

"That did actually happy, but that was a serious misuse of Empathy."

Raigryn didn't touch the stones but gave the streak a hard poke. A few parts were actually thicker and more firmly bound, but the majority cracked and faded away.

"You can wield this aspect as a weapon," he explained. "I'm quite a few ways. The simplest is shards like this launched at an enemy." Raigryn turned towards Fife, his smile was gone.

"I tell you this because I trust you not to try without me, yes?"

 

[Fife]

He seemed proud, but Fife couldn't imagine why. She felt a bit like a garbage heap, living in that thought of jealousy for minutes upon minutes and trying to focus on the feeling. His warning was unnecessary, but she nodded. Avarice might become useful with more practice but, for now, it felt awful.

Raigryn poked at her little shield and it crumbled, and she sighed. Though, Fife raised her finger to poke at the few firmer bits that remained before they, too, fell away into nothing. She'd made something, she tried to reassure herself.

But when he turned to her, any trace of his proud humor was gone. Fife nodded her head obediently, her eyes lifted toward his. She understood that her Aspects were dangerous. She understood that her Empathy, in general, could be considered dangerous -- to others as much to herself. He had stressed the importance of her discretion early on and, having now felt the numb weight of overexertion, she'd had all the cautioning she would need on the matter.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Good!" he replied. She might have been less happy with her progress, but he certainly was. Frequent and short lessons were the best way in his opinion and Fife had made a strong start.

"It is not all bad to be using them though," he said more softly. "Think of it like this: you're taking something that could have had dire consequences and putting it to good use. When you take someone's anger or jealousy you remove it from the world. Then it becomes whatever you make of it. In a way using the darker aspects is a way that Empathy has a positive effect on the world.

"Sometimes I wonder if we had never taken the positive aspects whether there would be more of us around still."

Having started as a quiet word to reassure Fife, his voice had trailed off into a distinctly melancholy note.