36th of Frost, Year 119
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"Taelian, tell me -- what do you know of magic?" Eloise asked. She held her hands before her, clasped together, as her gaze remained lowered seemingly towards the ground. Her eyes were curtained by her long, black lashes.
"I don't know. Not much, really. I know of aether, of Runes, of... pictography a bit -- the distinction between World and Personal. I know some of the types; Summoning, Sigilic Pyromancy, Necromancy, ah..."
"Let me stop you there, Ebon Knight," she interjected. "Divide them between two; Necromancy is a World Magic. And furthermore, Sigilic Pyromancy is incredibly rare; it is not a part of mainstream magical discourse. Until recently, it was actually considered a Lost Magic, if you weren't aware."
"Lost Magic?" he asked.
"Yes," Eloise replied. "An art that is not known to us anymore; though information on it may be documented, it is not something that known mages bear and certainly not operate. There may be rare exceptions, though clearly these 'exceptions' tend to be unfounded mysteries. Until Aldrin, Sigilic Pyromancy was thought to have been eradicated by the Clockwork Empire, and then the Dranoch after them."
He blinked. It was a lot of information to swallow; he had never been told these things. A... lost magic. He considered Sigilic Pyromancy to be the domain of Aldrin, in a way -- while he had heard of the Ald'norai practicing pyromancies, thus the name 'Ashen Elves', he had thought the magic had originated within the generation. He supposed that was ignorance.
"Taelian -- what do you know of aether?" she questioned.
"It, ah, comes from the... Aetherium?" he answered, though it seemed more like a question. Eloise nodded. "It--it connects to the soul, somehow. Through... with, the Rune? Or; once it touches the soul, the Rune channels it... something, something like that. I don't know -- it's sort of different with Sigilic Pyromancy. Everything is through the Beacon; it's so simple, instinctive. I don't get how it's so... different," he remarked.
"That's because it is not different," the half-blood woman replied. "The Beacon is the soul; it is merely that the Black Sigil, once specifically activated as the rune of Sigilic Pyromancy, overlays it with a sort of outer casing that makes it what it is. Sigilic Pyromancy is fascinating in that it directly interacts with the soul very early on, and continues to interact with the soul thereafter. But fundamentally, the Black Sigil is a Rune, the Black Sigil channels aether -- from the Aetherium, yes -- and tempers it with the Beacon, forging fire from the soul itself. The Beacon enables the generation of this fire, and infuses it with the properties that make it 'Shrivenflame', as you well know. Do you understand thus far?" she asked.
"Yes, I think I do," he stated nervously.
"Good, then," the woman replied. "Come, Taelian. Look into the Window I am to create. I will show you Melitene -- and tell you a story of the rigor necessary of a mage. If you are to join the ranks of the arcane elite, you must be prepared for all manner of adversity. I warn you; these memories of mine are not kind in imagery. But I will tell them, all the same."
