Breath and Shadow [Closed]

[Hilana Chenzira]

The girl was paying close attention to her surroundings. Her eyes roamed the plants and what wildlife they saw that didn’t pay any attention to them, and while more than once she paused to look at something, she was not about to dig up any of these plants right then. Another day, if she acquired Traversion and was able to return, when her Semblance was stronger and she was able to handle more with her presently-limited abilities in Scrivening and Alchemy. Hilana froze immediately at Sentinel Qaevyx’s word and touch on her shoulder, mid-step, and did not move as the salamander surfaced. Well, it was cute, and Hilana found herself smiling at it. It was beautiful in its own way, but any proper Solunarian did love their reptiles. But when it went on its way, the girl carefully lowered her booted foot once more.

She studied the map. The way it shone was fascinating to her, and Hilana wondered if there was something at play with the Volumen, but what it told her was close enough for now. There were enough signatures around here, and the terrain was less than ideal, for them to just stop and stay where they were. The tree line seemed safer - a perch and shelter could be found in that, especially considering that strange, cloud-like marking on the map. Furthermore, if the terrain was to be believed, meadows were easier and swifter to get through than marshland. While her escort was a Traverser, Hilana didn’t want to overdo it or cause this outing to be an abject failure if they had to leave before she could accomplish what she wanted.

“There’s a number of markings on here that I think are depicting aetheric signatures,” Hilana told the Platinum Vigilia what was on the map, indicating them with her finger to point them out. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “This one up here is much larger and it is moving, which is not very normal.” Had it not been for that big cloud-like indicator, the Vastiana may have put her map away again, but kept it out and on hand while she charted their course. She would rather avoid those suspicious patches around them in order to get to the treeline and stay as far away as possible from whatever that was. Still, her head was on a swivel, her large eyes keeping a weather eye out for anything that might need an extra look with Semblance.

[Pharaoh]

“So it would appear.” The elder Vigilia conceded as her pale eyes regarded the map.

“Given the state of the plane at present, I would be disinclined to approach an unknown variable. Lacking context, it is safest to assume this is a byproduct of the Void’s incursion into the realm.” With that warning bade, she would continue to follow along the course Hilana trod.

There was energy here that felt as though it straddled the line between spirit and lifeform. They would feel such energy approaching them, indeed coming from the direction of that clouded area- perhaps fleeing it.

By and by, they would reach the tree line and muddy boots would fall on solid ground. Trudging gave way to trekking, as they entered a forest peppered with little glowing flowers that cast long shadows inhabited by bird and bat-like beings, skittering insects and furry woodland critters with dark grey fur and glowing blue eyes that turned invisible to the natural when they turned askance of the observer.

Qævyx continued to grant Hilana the leave to lead, seeing no immediate need to divert their course for safety’s sake. They were still some distance from that foreboding fog depicted on the eldritch map.

[Hilana Chenzira]

“Understood, Vigilia,” Hilana nodded at her warning. Truth be told, the Vastiana just wanted to get them out of the muck to where it would be easier and faster for them to move, if they had to. Seeing as there were enough signatures showing on the Volumen where they were… better to move. With luck, they could stay quiet, they could stay undetected, and whatever that big mess was, they did not have to trifle with it. Never trouble trouble until trouble troubles you, as one of her guardians used to warn her. Even if the girl did have a tendency to find herself in the thick of things when she was not supposed to.

It was funny how things worked out. Had she kept her head down and her mouth shut, perhaps she wouldn’t have been here. Or perhaps she would have, as the Founders would have guided her to this course as They saw fit. She was not one to understand Their plans, but she was one to help enact them.

Once they were on solid land and reaching the comfort of the trees, Hilana smiled at the flowers, her eyes bright with excitement. The creatures, around, below, and overhead... this was wonder itself. Those pleased her, and as much as she wanted to stop and look… it was not the time. Another day, if the Void retreated from these realms. But now that they reached some coverage and relative safety of the treeline, the girl considered her options before Sembling one of the trees to try and see if there was anything dangerous within it. If not, she settled down against it, her rucksack to the bark, her Volumen on her lap, keeping it open and between her ring and pinkie fingers of both hands to secure it so that Qaevyx could keep an eye on that unusual fog-like aura if she so desired. Her legs were crossed, her thumbs touching her index fingers, palms up, and Hilana breathed and began to meditate.

She trusted her guide and paedagoga to know if they needed to move. She trusted Domina Divina in the gift that she had bestowed upon her at Kaladon. She trusted herself and her practice of her Craft. Hilana closed her eyes, and let go of the external. She let go of work, of home, of her family and friends, and she focused on the Shadows. Like she did with the spirits of earth, air, water, and fire at home, she offered a delicate tendril of her aether to the shadows. To get, you had to give.

All shadows are darkness, but not all darkness is shadow. They are neither good nor bad, but neutral. Shadow is created when light is created, and both are equal and in tandem with each other. Two tones of contrast. Like His Divine Radiance and Her Argent Luminescence... where there was one, there was the other. And while many focused on the light... what of the peace and calmness that came in the shadows? Overlooked. Besieged by its nature, because darkness devours and the light steals... but at the end of the day... what were people but breath and shadow? The Elementalist sought to open herself to the Shadows that were everywhere around them in this breathtaking twilight world, to awaken herself to their whispers. I am Matsi Chenzira Hilana... And I am here. I am a part of you, and you are a part of me. You always have been. I just couldn't hear you then. But I have come, and I hope to listen to you now.

[Pharaoh]

The tree that Hilana chose to lean against seemed safe enough, and proved to be so in sooth when she placed her weight against its dark bark. As the Vastiana settled herself, the Re'hyæan Sentinel climbed a taller tree to seek a higher vantage from which to view their surroundings.

There was a palpable and a visible shift in the air around Hilana as she extended ætheric energy. Glowing things receded, and darker things drew nearer. The luminescent plants, spirits and insects seemed to take a form... they became the borders of a silhouette. The form was vaguely humanoid, but amorphous and ever shifting. It was a frame without a picture. There was nothing to look at between the faint light of its borders, and yet that nothingness was where the æther was drawn... and it was from there that the whisper would be heard:

"Child of the Desert, yours is a land that pays respect to Shadow. Where we are fewer, we might be more precious. Under the bone bleaching blaze of a desert sun, we might offer succour to the weary traveller. We might stave off murderous thirst long enough to see it slaked. Your forebears built a whole city under the blanket of our cool comfort... and you named that city for us: The Umbrium. The City of Shadow." There was a pause,

"This artefact behind which you often hide is infused with our essence. Have you come to return it to the shadowy shores from whence it derived?" The penumbra shifted, producing an appendage that seemed to reach toward the mask, but halting before making contact.

[Hilana Chenzira]

As she had developed her skills in Elementalism, fine-tuning that aetheric control had been stressed by both of her teachers. It was something she had practiced regularly while making friends with the elemental spirits and learning to negotiate and work with them, to help develop her connection with them so that they might respond more readily, that they might come to her before she asked them. It was symbiotic: their assistance was always rewarded by the Vastiana, and even now, they were generally more than happy to warn her of things she might have missed or give her a boost here and there. She had hoped that this could be one such time. Giving to get.

As the darkness gathered to accept her offering and she heard a voice, Hilana’s eyes opened, taking in the shadowy form with curiosity and fascination. But the shade’s whispers resonated with her. Her people often used sunshades when traveling on their camels and mounts, with cloth or hides or canvas; and unless Hilana was practicing racing in the racing saddle, her traveling saddle for Hayima’el had a colourful shade that could be attached to it. In the heat of Searing, it was more common than not to bed down during the day and rest in shade and continue at night. The shadow’s embrace was a welcome blessing in Solunarium, not just because of Varvara, but for the respite that the denizens of the kingdom received with it.

But at the question, and the way the shadow reached towards her face where the Mask rested, that gave Hilana pause. “Forgive me, but the Mask is not mine to give away. It belongs to Domina Divina, but for as long as it pleases Her, She allows me the privilege of its use. If She sees fit, She can revoke it. She told me that I would find it useful when I needed to walk in shadow... could you perhaps tell me more about it and how it was made?” She knew that the entity addressing her might well turn and go at her denial, but perhaps they might stay. “I came to gain a deeper understanding of the essence of shadows. I would like to attune with them, to be able to treat with them when I return to my own realm. My home, like yours, is besieged by the Void... and while I know that not all darkness is shadow... perhaps this is something we can work towards fixing together.”

[Pharaoh]

The penumbral appendage recoiled at Hilana's response and drifted back toward the greater mass.

"If it is She who lent it, then we leave it to Her to enlighten you as to its origins. We are the means, not the method." The whispers were legion, albeit quiet and gently. They were the cool comfort of clouds passing over a Searing sun and blanketing all beneath them in shade.

"Besieged?" The entity repeated, its tone indecipherable as it was voiceless breath. "Do you think the Void's visitors are any less welcome than you? Both are alien, uninvited guests in our realm. Both are disruptors. Both we blithely brook. Neutral, are we, to the affairs of Earth and Abyss. Should either you or they render greater ripples to truly disturb the balance of this plane, then we shall respond. Until then, we remain impassive." The entity, bordered by light like a solar eclipse, withdrew slightly farther away from Hilana.

"As long as light and darkness share space, we are hale. Darkness and Light are reconciled. Your woes are another matter altogether. Have you come because you think us victims of the Void or allies thereof? That Voidspawn have plied shadows like portals to strike at you speaks only more to our neutrality. Attune with us, if you will. Arm and armour yourself with our boons and we will permit it, unless you aggrieve us. We have always walked with you... silent steps behind you, easily forgotten. Remember that we reflect you wherever light shines. Look to the edge where you end and we begin, and you will find what it is you seek..."

It seemed as though light was gathering behind Hilana, now, and casting a shadow of her own form that stretched far into the dark woods beyond.

[Hilana Chenzira]

They were the means, but not the method... That was something to consider. The means meant the resources to do something, while the method was the plan of action. She was going to have to inquire one day with the Sentinels if there was any recorded history about the Mask of Midnight’s Mother. She might not come up with anything: some secrets were not meant to be revealed. This was hardly a good time, either, with how busy the High Sentinel was, but there might be something in the Phaedryn family archives...

The shadows’ words about not being too troubled by the Void surprised her. In Ransera, all they did was hunt and devour, and so she had assumed that this was more of the same. But it seemed that they were not making greater ripples, as the spirits put it. That they knew what was discussed back in the Umbrium surprised her for the briefest of moments, but that was when she understood. The silent shadows were always with her. Then, and now. The only difference was that they were silent because she could not hear them.

But that would change, with their assent.

“I did not know, truthfully,” Hilana admitted. “Victims or allies. I had never seen the voidspawn utilize shadows in such a way before, so it made me curious... but I apologize for my assumptions.” As the light seemed to brighten behind her, she looked on at the way her shadow stretched. She lifted one hand from her lap, extending it, and watching the way that the shadow responded. Her gaze looked on into the woods, before coming back towards herself and looking on at where body and shadow touched. Where she ended, her shadows began. After a moment, she lowered her hand and bowed her head, resuming her meditative posture.

“When all else leaves, you remain,” the girl whispered with a small smile on her lips. “Everything that is, casts a shadow. I thank you for your guidance and your insight.” She began the attunement process, leaving her aether open for them, a steady trickling channeling that was not unlike a conversation as her essence sought that which was around her so that she could bond with it. To learn the shadows, to feel the shadows, and maybe in time, be the shadows. Her breathing was steady, her resolve set, and her focus was on the wisdom that the shadows had uttered. Where you end, we begin. Always there. Always watching. Always listening. So easily forgotten... except by those who learned their ways.

Her aether moved through the Rune on her palm, and she let herself sink into the quiet, albeit focused meditative state that she had practiced time and again in the sands of her homeland under the same Mask that she wore now. She just had to listen and feel. It would take time. It would be taxing... but it would be worth it. Nothing worth having came easy. Hilana reached out with her aether, touching it to her extended shadow, and began to weave the tendrils together to create the connection between herself and the soft, silky darkness that was this element and all that it entailed.

[Pharaoh]

With gratitude expressed and no further questions posed, the penumbral figure sunk down and merged into Hilana’s own shadow. For a moment her own shadow felt like an entity unto itself- somewhat familiar, somewhat alien. And then the alien bit receded as whatever she’d been speaking with withdrew to another part of its realm. Then it was just Hilana and her shadow, communing.

Hilana’s shadow did not communicate as explicitly as the entity had, once she found that thin common ground where they met and could interact. It projected sensations, if not clear, complicated notions. It didn’t project images or words into her mind. It was merely open to her attention, and she would know it always had been. She simply hadn’t thought to pursue that endeavour until now.

Now that she sought it out, it was able to share some of its observations- neutral, as the entity had suggested. It seemed to feel a kinship with the Mask of Midnight’s Mother. As it was quiet and easily forgotten, so was the mask. Perhaps the mask was even exploiting that trait of shadows to ply its power. Shadows were not invisible, they were merely unremarkable… ubiquitous and easily overlooked as a normal adornment of any landscape. They could be frightening when unexpected, but in most environments they were simply neglected.

The shadow seemed to brook no offence at how the Voidspawn had used its kin to teleport. That was unusual and not unwelcome acknowledgment, much like that which Hilana now proffered.

As Hilana went about her meditations, she would not be distracted by Qævyx, who was content to keep quiet watch- holding vigil or standing sentinel, as it were.

[Hilana Chenzira]

With the shadows sinking into and merging with her own, Hilana felt the change on an aetheric level. She looked on, blinking before threading aether through the Semblance Rune on her scalp and looking at it rather intently, trying to see what she could with brightened eyes that reflected the elements. She was trying to see and watch the process itself, but trying to understand it as a novice was perhaps something she wasn’t going to understand. Her breathing remained steady, and once the feeling settled, Hilana let her attempts at Semblance go and simply focused on the new sensations.

This was a different type of commune. The other elemental spirits that she was used to dealing with whispered in a different way. Not better, but different, and what the shadows presented her with was complex and at the same time, detailed and vivid. She focused on them, on that feeling, and let it flow. Hilana let those concepts and feelings come, and she didn’t try to question them or interrupt them. Her hands rested on her knees, the Volumen remaining here it was. Unneeded, at least, and as the time went on with her meditations, the images faded back to simply being a rather plain-looking map of their homeland.

But her fingers found the shadows around her, and she caressed them much like she might have with the feelings of the air spirits. But the air... everyone remembered. The shadows? Not so much. “Salve,” she whispered to them, “and gratias.” Some part of her wished that she had done this earlier, but Sentinel Ævril had told her that this was the only way. She wasn’t likely to have found anyone else who could make this journey, as rare as this knowledge was to other Planes and lands. But now that she knew where it was... one day... in time... she would be able to come back. One day, if she was able to get Traversion... She could come back here and sit with the shadows again when she wanted.

Attuned. She knew now that when they returned to their home... she would be able to commune with them there, and gather with them. The attention that they were so neglected... she would be sure to give them. They might tire of her, but perhaps... with them, she could understand further. She rested her head back against the bark, opening her eyes once more, looking up at the tree where the Deori Vigilia was keeping an eye out. “Vigilia? We can go home now,” she told her, getting to her feet and putting her map back in its scroll case, smiling up at Sentinel Qaevyx as she smoothed her skirts. Her rucksack settled once more, and she glanced at her shadow, smiling at her darkened reflection. Her extension, her constant companion... and now she would always be able to hear it, too.

[Talisman]

Review

Name: Hilana Chenzira

XP: 15 Points, can be used for Sembling
Injuries/Ailments: None
Loot: Attunement to the Element of Shadow

Name: Pharaoh

Mod XP: 18 Points


Notes: Hilana, after visiting the Shadowlands and completing the process of attunement there, can now utilize Shadows as an element as an Elementalist.