Re: [Couronne] Connections V (Solo)
Posted: Thu May 28, 2020 7:24 pm
City: Amoren
Location: The Cathedral
Time: Morning
52nd of Glade, 120 AV
Reima ducked behind a statue of the Pontefix, pressing her back against the cold stone as she held her breath. She could hear the sound of footsteps as they passed by, the swish of robes followed by the annoying voice of a Tribune, "It's the 6th one in three days. Where have all of them gone?"
The footsteps stopped and Reima tried to press her body closer into the little nook she now hid in. One hand clasped over her mouth, eyes closed, the other holding a small statue clutched tightly to her chest. The footsteps stopped and another voice answered, this one a woman, "Well we did have a lot of visitors yesterday. Maybe some of them took one as a relic for their home?"
Reima nodded her head, praising the woman for her inscrutable logic. It happened from time to time, the followers of Ulendeaism were known to be zealots, and when one left a religious figure unguarded it wasn't unheard of for it to be swiped to be placed on the mantle of someone's fireplace.
"Maybe..." The first voice sound unconvinced. He sighed and the Fae heard him resume his steps, "There has been an unusual number of Brilan servants at services lately. And yesterday even Lord Maltesia made an appearance. It is rare for him to show in person."
"Really? It isn't unusual for the Veir to come to service, but a Vassal of Brilan is a rarity..."
"It is, and I even heard that..."
The voices grew softer as their footsteps carried them farther away. Finally, Reima released the breath she had been holding, resting her head back against the stone as she sighed in relief. Looking down at the little figure in her hand. It depicted Gevurah, Achra of Judgement. Ironic, the fae knew, for she doubted the Achra himself would be overly forgiving for what she was doing. Yet still... What had to be done as it were. Closing her eyes Reima sought out her node map, finding the position she was looking for she felt the warmth spread from her chest as she was connected with the node. Then, with a sudden tug she blinked from her location, rolling backward slightly as she suddenly lost her balance.
Reima stood, dusting off her butt and setting the figure on the table with 8 others. Three were the ones she normally utilized, each a small representation of the eye of Ulen. The rest depicted 1 of the Archa, though she was still missing 3. Perhaps she would try and collect those next? There was something about having a complete set that truly appealed to Reima. For a moment the fae looked at her collection, a sense of pride at having collected them without being seen. The room she was in was not one that people traditionally went to either. As she had been instructed Reima had been cleaning the areas of the Cathedra that gone relatively unnoticed for years. Long dark passages, small spaces that were hard to get to, and even some hidden passages that few knew of. This room was one such place. She had found it rather by accident. While cleaning in the west wing, behind an old statue there was a battered old tapestry that had been around for decades. While she was attempting to beat the dust out of it she slipped and fell into a short passageway behind the tapestry, and that passage lead her to this room which was closed with a broken lock.
The room itself was nothing special. It looked like it was mostly used for storage. Several old chests and cabinets were scattered against the walls and rolled up rugs leaned against broken statues and faded bits of art. The fae, curious as she was, had already checked the containers and found them full of old robes and sheets that looked more like moth food than wearable garments. After that Reima had decided to commandeer this space for her own purposes. The small room at the inn was growing just a bit too cramped for what she was trying to accomplish.
The fae's attention returned to the figures on the table, and she touched each one in turn. So far she knew that the aether network let her link multiple anchors together, manipulate their properties, copy and deconstruct the anchors themselves, and a variety of other smaller tasks. Today what Reima wanted to find out was exactly how far she could go with the concept. So far she had worked using only a single gateway connected to a handful of anchors. Could she control more? With those thoughts in mind, she began placing the figures around the room. Three she placed in a triangle in the back left of the room. For each of those, she generated a base anchor, wrapping them in power and tasking them with the very basics required to connect with her aether network. She gave each a single parameter for the shield. One defined the shape of the shield as a triangle, one defined its tasking to reflect light, and finally one told it to turn left or right based on command. This process she repeated the 3 remaining Achra figures which she placed in the back right of the room. After giving them their base tasking she set one to define the shape of a square, one to task the shield to reflect light as well, and the last would make the shield tilt up and down.
The three figures that remained were all the eye of Ulen, and these Reima took special care with. Two she knew what to do with, as it was what she had done many times before. She created two gateways, but for each, she envisioned a room with four windows. At three she created a tether, and each window could be closed and the connection sealed off if she needed it to be. At the fourth window, she prepared something different. Like with the edge anchors she created a hook where a tether could be tied, and the window was left was given a mechanism that would allow it to open only when that tether was attached. The command to open the connection of the gateway would require a connection to another anchor be established, and the command given to allow access to whatever connections the gateway had. When this step was completed each gateway was placed near a cluster of 3 edge anchors, and Reima took up the 9th and last figure.
Frowning slightly Reima mentally reviewed what she needed from this Anchor. As it stood the two gateway anchors would provide the connections to the Edge Anchors where the shield parameters lay. What she needed now was for this anchor to allow her access to those gateways, and through them to the edges of her aether network. It seemed simple but would require a more intricate vision. Relaxing back into a chair Reima held the figure in two hands, closing her eyes and letting the chill of her magic fill her body and soul. She let her mind slip into the stream as it began to wrap the figure, and she slowly constructed the vision this tasking would take on. An image of a marble room cam into place, a raised dais at its center. The room was barren, white as snow with no doors or windows. Rising on either side of the dais were two crystal podiums, each thrumming with power as she imaged it. If she were to put herself mentally there she would imagine she could touch both podiums with one hand without having to move her position at all. A line of light connected the podium to another crystal embedded in the wall. The space she environed existed in the bubble that was the anchor, and the outside of that bubble at the point where those crystals in the wall have located a tether was found. This tether was different, however, as it would only be generated when Reima connected with the Control Anchor as she was now. She could alter the specific parameters of the Tether, giving it different levels of control over what it connected with. For now, the Fae focused and imagined those tethers not as cords but golden chains, absolute in their authority over what it connected with. She took up these chains and sought out the Gateways that were nearby. She set each of them in place with the image of a spike being pounded into stone. The gateways shook, responding to the authority Reima had assigned to the connection, and the connection to their inner workings was opened to her.
When she focused Reima could feel both gateways like she was looking at them from above, though it felt a bit disorienting when she attempted to work their tethers at the same time. Instead, she focused on one at a time, attaching their tethers and establishing the connection to their Edge anchors before continuing. When all was in place Reima pulled her mind back, settling into the Control Anchor in her hand. She could feel Each Gateway and its connections like they were her two hands, each edge anchor like a finger to her mind. The image seemed to settle something in her soul, and a tension she held suddenly fell away as she relaxed into the network further. The Controler acted like a seat for her focus to settle, and through it she could control and manipulate various parts of her network.
First, she closed off the connections in the right gateway, and focused her full attention on the network on her left. Her eyes opened and, with a mental command and a pulse of magic a shield spring to life, triangular that reflected the light toward where she sat. Like moving a finger she made the shield turn left and then right, shining the light of the later on the table in different directions. Nodding Reima closed off the connections on the left gateway, focusing now on the right. The connections were opened, and with the pulse of power, a 2nd shield was created. This one was square, and once more she tilted the shield up and down and watched as it reflected the light up and down.
With a sigh the fae opened both connections, mentally commanding the shields to dissolve before sitting back and holding the Control Anchor in front of her eyes. This was the start she knew. A smile touched her lips and she sat forward, setting the figure on the table directly in front of her. An unreadable expression came across her features as the fae rested a hand on her cheek. What would come next would be interesting. She understood the basics of what was possible. Could she expand it from here?
