Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
A new road or a secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
Searing 90, 122 Age of Steel
It hadn't even been a full season since Avamande had acquired the Cardinal Rune of Kinetics, and they still felt the need to practice with their new power. While they had made good use of it before, that much was true, but it never hurt to get as much use of a fresh magic in to get familiar with its peculiar traits. An exterior observer of the mage would have a different assumption however. Looking at them practice their magic, most would likely assume that they were actually having fun.
After all, who wouldn't enjoy flying across the sky as effortlessly as a bird? Even with their blunted emotional state, even Avamande couldn't deny that they had prioritized practicing with Lift, and had almost always decided to use the power upon themselves, and that hurtling through the air across the open skies of Karnor was not a negative experience. Perhaps, if pressed, they would even say they were enjoying themselves.
Flying across the the expanse of open country, they did make sure to expand their other senses, experiencing both the aether flux and making sure examine the spatial mapping of all around them. This was, after all, a rigorous exercise in the art of arcane forces, and absolutely not something being done for fun. They were particularly entranced by the flux, how it ran through every thing material and immaterial, from the wind flowing through their hair, to the grass on the ground, to the door hanging in mid-air, to the birds soaring above them, to deer peering through the trees.
Up here, it was as if all the horrors of the past two seasons had never occurred, and Avamande could truly bask in the glory of creation, unbothered by sorrows and po- The door hanging in mid-air?
Coming to an immediate halt, Avamande slowly turned around, staring at the speck of wood in the distance. Cautiously, they returned to it, probing it more cautiously now. It seemed, in all respects, to be exactly what their eyes told them it was. The aether flux reacted as expected of such a thing, and there were no clear spatial distortions to suggest anything untoward. It was certainly no illusion, as their hand fell upon it solidly.
By any and all standards Avamande could test, it was indeed a perfectly mundane wooden door. That was floating in the air. With no clear sign of support. Or otherwise anything magical about it all.
Needless to say, they opened it.
It opened easily, unlocked, revealing a strange - but not altogether unfamiliar - sight. A ship's cabin, modestly appointed, with a simple wooden table and chairs. Curious, they entered inside, their feet touching a solid surface as they cut the flow of magic. Avamande cautiously explored every inch of the cabin, coming to the inevitable and extremely bizarre conclusion that this was... a ship's cabin.
Confounded, they sat themselves down upon one of the chairs to think, only to discover another elf suddenly across from them.
"It seems you are the surprising one, Master Kynne. I suppose that one deserves another, however," they mused, looking at the man with their typical flat expression. If he wished them harm, then it was clear that there was nothing that could be done about, but beings such as this could certainly be entertained.
With an exertion of will, Avamande opened a portal underneath their chair, the other end on the ceiling of the cabin. An application of Kinetics then served to keep them seated there, upside down, long hair flowing down in front of their face.
"I am Avamande Val'Istar."
