Midwinter Greetings (Adrian & Lucinda )

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"Morgg is the one place they have been seen more than once, but they are exceedingly rare and probably roost in the most distant, least accessible locales. Trying to capture one is sort of a wasted effort since they can dissolve to ash and reform." he says with a small shrug. The fiery chickens were frustrating especially when they were actually needed for a more impactful research.

Adrain nods when Lucinda sits and when she is settled in he begins to answer he questions.

"A glyph is a conduit made of arcane energy that serves as a more effective way to manipulate mana into the desired shape. It is a technique I invented when I started here as a much better way to spellcast. Prior to the adoption of glyphs, a mage would have to take the mana directly into their body and manually manipulate every aspect of a spell from element to range to form to power, and it was considerably less reliable and also increased the risk of Mana Corruption substantially.

With a glpyh, a mage merely has to enable a feed of mana into a glyph once they manifest it and continue to feed it mana until the desired effect is released. The glyph makes it more static so there is no chance of a misfire. There are still mages who prefer to use the old method, I don't use glyphs for most shadow spells or minor spells of other elements simply because they are very easy and quick for me.

Caster's Sorrow is a physical form of unstable mana, normally it is an ambient energy around at all times, but certain circumstances cause it to accumulate into a physical form which is harmful to touch. We have to very carefully remove it using certain tools and spells and that is one of the main ways the Arch helps with the other kingdoms since often their mages aren't trained in that technique." he says, pausing and then chuckling at Lucinda's frustration.

"It's quite alright Lucinda, at least you are willing to learn those basics now." Adrain says, then noting Aria's quiet and Lucinda's moment of ponderence.

"Are you two thinking about something? Aria you usually never stay quiet for that long and Lucinda you look like you want to ask something."

At this point, the elemental comes through the door with a tray that is somewhat wobbly as the nature of being a being made of air makes things a little awkward carrying physical objects. It places the tray on a table, then dissolving with a small burst of wind filling the room to go back to whence it came. The drinks ordered are hot and ready on a fine china.

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Aria just chuckled, the birds were poofy when they wanted to be. If only she could poof half as well. Other than her chuckle she was fairly quiet throughout the entire conversation. More content to listen and observe. She looked over at Adrian when he made a comment about her being silent for so long.

”It’s been nine years since you’ve really last spoken to me at length; perhaps some of my habits have changed.”

Aria murmured a quiet thanks as the element came in with the drink; taking it off the tray and handing one to Lucinda. Aria took a few sips of her hot chocolate; a content look on her face. It was interesting that Adrian remembered when she as younger she almost never shut up. It was like she compacted the lost time of years of hardly speaking to any one into a few short years.

”I use glyphs occasionally; really only time I use them is for more permanent spells that are supposed to last a long period of time. For example.”

Aria held up one hand and pulled down her sleeve to reveal the black tattoo of the dagger on her forearm. The black ink that was on her skin suddenly slide up into her palm and a dagger formed in her hand. She held up the black dagger with runes that were etched into the black metal.

”The runes that are etched into the metal here contain the spell; I don’t have to think of the spell to activated it; in a quick situation which allows me to use my concentration on other spells if need be.”

The dagger slid back into her skin and resumed its spot on her forearm.

”Old school magic would be like this.”

A flame appeared in Arias hand; and then split into three which spun around in her hand.

”I activate a spell and its form is only limited to my imagination, and concentration.”

The three flames multiplied into six then twelve; all swirling around her hand. There was a popping sound as sparks suddenly popped from the flame. With a loud crack each flame turned into a colorful butter fly that fluttered around the room. Small bits of lights falling from their wings like dust.

”A skilled magic user can transition into one element of manna to another; and when the user tires or wishes it.”

The butterfly’s came and fluttered in front of Aria and she waved a hand through them; each disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

”They end it. Glyphs; they end with a preset amount, which like Adrian said makes it much safer and more efficient. With old school you do run the risk of your magic running away without you.”

Aria smiled at Lucinda; she didn’t know she had such an interest in magic. Aria tried not to use much of it while she was in the castle. In fact Aria usually wasn’t one for displays such as the one she just did; last large batch of magic she really showed was during the Midsummer ball. Half the castle staff avoided her after that. Aria scratched her nose thinking about the CS shards.

”There was a large batch of CS under the city; during the execution before you arrived Lucinda a large batch of it was exposed. CS can be….very unstable. Explosions can easily result if they come into direct contact with a strong element. It can be stabilized by having a strong element channeled by manna next to it and held there until the crystal stabilizes. I believe diamond was given credit for stabilizing the CS Shards during the execution. He took over what I was doing with the fire before I had passed out from blood loss. A good thing to; with the amount of CS shards that was around the lower city probably would not be around if they hadn’t been stabilized when they were. But that is why they are so dangerous.”

During the event Aria had taken control of the fire that had been started and made a large cyclone over the pit. The massive spinning inferno was held away from the CS shards but close enough to begin to stabilize them. It was while she was doing this that Kail had aimed to kill her; she continued to hold the spell even after the spike had lodged itself into her shoulder. Though after a short while she began to lose her hold on the fire; a difficult element to control. She would have very much failed that day if Diamond hadn’t been as observant as he was and taken over her spell.

[Lucinda Noru]

The princess looked surprised when Adrain informed her that phoenix’s could only be found on Morgg. “It sounds like they’re not worth the effort to try and track down, if you ask me,” she said, frowning. Everyone knew the legend behind the mountain. People said Helena had a monster trapped there and lived there herself. Considering,the recent attack on the city, the subject made her nervous. It wasn’t her city but still, it was scary.

Lucinda listened carefully as Adrain and Aria attempted to explain mana and glyphs to her. When the elemental came, she accepted her cup of cocoa from Aria, who picked up both. The princess sipped on it quietly as she watched Aria’s demonstrations with fascination. Her eyes widened in surprise as Aria pulled a dagger from her skin! After a moment, Lucinda rather looked as if she wanted to poke it to make sure it was real. It was a lot to take in at once but she tried to keep up.

The concept of glyphs was pretty easy to understand, both of her impromptu teachers doing quite a good job with their explanations. The two methods seemed to have their own sets of pros and cons. “It sounds like glyphs are fairly useful and much safer. Though, I can see how being able to manipulate mana without them could also have its advantages. Do students more often use glyphs or a combination of both?,” she said, curious as to which method would be preferred for someone new to the craft. “How does one make glyphs? Are there already previously made or designated glyphs for certain spells?” she continued, almost thinking about loud at this point. She smiled briefly as Adrain chuckled at her frustration.

As the subject shifted slightly to the CS explanation, Lucinda frowned, a brief flash of fear in her eyes acknowledging that she well understood the dangers being discussed. “That’s awful! I wasn’t here for the incident at the gallows, I only heard about it afterwards. People downplay what happened exactly and I certainly didn’t hear about the lower city almost exploding due to CS contamination,” she said, looking very worried. “Magic sounds like it has a lot of dangers. I can see why some people would wonder if it’s even worth it to use. But at the same time, it does so much good and has so much potential. I suppose all good things do have their limits, though,” she said, thoughtfully.

When Adrain noted the women’s silence, Lucinda smiled. “It’s nothing really. I was wondering though, as Headmaster, do you stay here all the time?” she asked, curiously. After her question, she settled into the couch, sipping her cocoa and making an ‘aaahh’ of satisfaction as the warm beverage hit the spot.