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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 7, 2007 3:13:31 GMT -5
Past the chasm and into the air itself, yes.
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 7, 2007 22:57:27 GMT -5
Once Mace is out of the hole, he'll try and drift to an area of firm dirt and become solid again. He'll look at the hole and sigh audiobly. "Jeeze...what is it she wanted me to do again?" He seems to have forgotten after having nearly fallen to his death.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 8, 2007 6:38:54 GMT -5
This trying fails, and Mace quickly finds the ground rising to meet him, then eats dirt.
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 8, 2007 11:53:38 GMT -5
"Oof!" He just lies there for a moment, groaning in both minor pain and annoyance. He doesn't remember what Relzka wanted him to do with the dirt anyway, what did she want him to do? Create three spires of dirt and then scale them? See how much he could push off the side of the mountain?
"WHAT!?" He cries out, getting up and yelling at the sky. After a few minutes of this, he settles down and looks at the dirt, and starts pushing it again, working around the chasm. This time just using his usual strength.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 8, 2007 16:51:56 GMT -5
Relzka applauds. "Cheating in a difficult way to notice... nice."
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 8, 2007 17:43:40 GMT -5
Mace looks over at her and scratches his dirty hair with his dirty hands and sighs. "I'd rather not die, thank you. I apologise."
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 8, 2007 20:49:36 GMT -5
"Don't. If you don't know when to break the rules, you don't deserve to alter nature."
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 8, 2007 21:08:13 GMT -5
Mace just looks at her for a few moments and then turns back to the dirt. "So what is it you want me to do with the dirt anyway? besides just pushing it around, I mean."
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 9, 2007 16:08:32 GMT -5
"Master it."
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 9, 2007 18:37:28 GMT -5
"Master it? You said I can't use magic."
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 10, 2007 22:05:43 GMT -5
"Exactly."
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 11, 2007 17:07:42 GMT -5
Mace stares at the dirt and wonders if she wants him to find a sort of natural connection to the earth, more than just pushing it with his hands. He sets his hands on a dirt mound, examining it with all his human senses. The earthy scent, the grains and particles in the dirt, the sound of the worms underneath, feeling how smooth and almost slimy it feels under his hands. He starts molding it, working with the soft and hard spots, pushing it where it feels best.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 12, 2007 3:45:53 GMT -5
He slowly begins to move the earth. While he shapes it, Relzka's mocking voice can be heard over his shoulder. "I don't WANT you to do anything but what I tell you. You're simple-minded enough, tricks will fall on deaf ears with you."
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 12, 2007 10:36:09 GMT -5
"What do you want old woman!? A shovel? You want me to get a shovel? Or do you want me to yell it into submission!?" Mace jabs a finger at the mound of dirt and yells, "I command you to be mastered! You will do what I say and shape into a dirt pillar." He turns around to face her again. "IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT!?"
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 12, 2007 14:23:53 GMT -5
Relzka sighs. "I thought you might be mature enough for this. Apparently, you are not. Nothing in this world responds to the commands of those without the certainty of self. This exercise is pointless."
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 12, 2007 17:49:54 GMT -5
Mace, hearing someone basically call him immature, suddenly slumps and sighs. "I apologise. I just don't know what you mean by 'master it.' Mastering, to me, is using magic, or psionics, or some other form of energy I can use to manipulate the elements. I need more of a hint than just 'master it.'" Mace thinks for a moment on her words and looks at the dirt.
"Certainty of self? You mean I have to actually believe I can control this in order to master it?" Mace isn't sure if he got this right, but he tries not to make his irritation with himself obvious again.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 12, 2007 23:22:31 GMT -5
"What can I tell you? The mastery will make itself obvious. Keep doing this."
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 13, 2007 0:24:00 GMT -5
Mace shrugs and starts pushing dirt again, doing what he was before with the 'One With One's Dirty Self' thing and letting it go from there.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 13, 2007 1:43:06 GMT -5
Mace pushes and pushes. As he pushes, he finds himself becoming more and more familiar with the dirt, the richness of it.
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 13, 2007 16:21:59 GMT -5
(I left without answering some of your questions last night, so here are the answers:
The cantomancers and magi were at war because cantomancy was the magic of the slaves, the blacksmiths, and artisans. The nobles wouldn't reduce themselves to doing grunt work in order to learn the magic, so they developed their own: Mathematical magic. They're so in-tuned with numbers and equations that they have developed telekinetic and various other powers. The magi, knowing their rule would be over if the cantomancers united to fend off the nobles' armies, destroyed all traces of cantomancy. But the cantomantic community, now without anyone who could be considered a true cantomancer, was reduced to simple blacksmiths with the ability to maybe 'hear' the glass or metal or crystal, and work it according to the material's whispers. Then cantomancers were found, like Tirzah and Boaz and two others, who started the cantomancer line up at its highest caliber again.
To answer "What is Infinity," the place magi seek to go to, you need to understand Threshold. The magi believe everything starts from one and is one day destined to return to one eventually. They believe everything revolves around math, like how certain plants grow leaves in prime numbers only. So they created Threshold, which is geometrically perfect (calculations and definitions are unknown as to why the pyramid is considered 'perfect') and is able to act as an interdimensional breach to Infinity, where Nyzame came from.
Infinity is just darkness with creatures of incredible power dwelling within. Nyzame, once released from its dimension, came into Tirzah's and started turning everything except water and air to stone. Little pyramids as tall as your ankle sprouted up everywhere with little obsidian eyes that could watch everything. Anyone caught when Nyzame extends its boundries is turned into walking stone creatures, and the magi who were practicing their magic before Nyzame came were turned into obsidian creatures with crabarms made of obsidian.
Threshold was defeated by Boaz entering into the Infinity Chamber in the center of Threshold with gold glass that shines blood red when the light comes overhead through the glass cap sealed with blood. He fought Nyzame in Infinity and was stuck there until Tirzah used the song of Frogs to free him. The song of frogs is just a song Boaz's mother used to play before his father, the greatest cantomancer ever to live, died. He turned magi to make up for his lose, but found out his father was a cantomancer so he turned good. He had both types of magic, the best in each, and was the only one able to fight Nyzame.
Any other questions?)
Mace, even though becoming familiar with the dirt, needs to find a way to gain strength to push more dirt at a time. He starts looking for rocks, taking breaks every once and awhile from pushing the dirt to find a reasonably heavy rock he can lift with one arm, lift that for a bit, than move on to one slighty bigger, than keep on moving up in weight until he finds one that he can lift, but with difficulty, and continue to lift it until it becomes easier, than move on.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 16, 2007 23:13:50 GMT -5
OOG: Infinity would be more than just darkness, it'd be a transcendental plane, but that helps quite a bit. Mace's combination of cantomancy and Magi power could be quite powerful if he could find some kind of unifying principle between them... He seems to be trying to get de facto Tyrant training...
Relzka's smile seems to broaden.
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 17, 2007 0:18:28 GMT -5
( Well, given how Tyrant uses geometry to deflect attacks, and given earth magic is usually defensive (crystals and mirrors are great), Mace can make angular, reflective barriers and make some interesting architecture. Blacksmiths and architects use math for angles and measurements, so that's somewhat of a unified use for each. Geometry plays a part in everything in nature, and that's what the magi believe. Boaz even uses an example in the book that describes how leaves on a plant sprout in multiples/prime numbers of one or something like that...
I think the principle is 'life,' as in nature, since cantomancy is directly affecting earthly materials while math just dictates different parts like leaf growth and other such things. I'm not sure if that's a strong enough principle, but Mace should consider getting another math trainer.)
Mace lies on the ground, puttign rocks on his feet and pushes them into the air, lets his legs down slowly, then pushes them again. He only uses flat rock, like river rock, to set on his feet. He'll gradually add more weight as he develops his muscles.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 17, 2007 2:35:17 GMT -5
OOG: It's called Fibonacci numbers, wherein you add the previous number in the chain. 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc. I think a core problem there is a fewfold. First, mathematicians and scientists like Tyrant and apparently the magi tend to think of math or science in a sort of disembodied, 'pure' way, whereas nature uses these things functionally, or pragmatically: Leaves tend to sprout in Fibonacci sequences because it's architecturally sound. At most, ditto with the blacksmith: If s/he uses any math at all, it's pretty simple down-to-earth stuff, and more traditional blacksmiths would just use time-honored techniques with very little relation to mathematics. Cantomancy may seem to revere life, but it seems that the magi style turns away from it, though Tyrant is an elegant fusion because he is both a scientist AND a mathematician.
Relzka smacks him on the legs, making a rock drop on his chest. "No. That's BUILDING your strength. You are thinking like an elephant when I want you to think like a mole." It's somewhat hard to hear the wisdom through the loss of breath.
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 17, 2007 16:56:41 GMT -5
(That's it, Fibinacci numbers. And just for note, cantomancy isn't specifically for blacksmiths. It can be used by anyone with a need to manipulate crystals, rocks, metals, etc. Atisans, miners, etc. But alrighty, makes sense.)
"PFFT!" Mace tries to catch her words, trying to lift the rock off his chest. He tosses it aside and sits up, coughing. "Mole? A mole needs to move dirt with its claws and pushes rocks aside or move around them. Unless of course they can go right through them, though I've never heard of one going through a boulder." Mace wonders if he's going to actually -need- to go into a hole now.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 17, 2007 21:09:51 GMT -5
OOG: Most of whom don't use math either. Too busy having the black lun', eh, mate?
Relzka sighs. "Literal. Like those Magi scum."
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 17, 2007 22:14:33 GMT -5
(...eh?)
Mace looks at Relzka, wondering if he'll ever make it out of this. "Yes, very literal. But I was trained by Boaz and Nyzame themselves. I do have a bit more of an analytical mind than most. I benchpressed rocks, I've tried to 'feel' the dirt and stone, and now you're telling me I'm working like an elephant, not like the mole you want me to be. What's the difference between a mole and an elephant? Besides weight, size, and other incredibly obvious things." Mace cracks his neck a bit, feeling the dirt caking his body. "A mole doesn't use ourely brute force, it uses its claws to take a little bit at a time and shoves it aside. The elephant can just stomp on things. While elephants are smart, they don't have as fine of motor skills as the mole, I believe.
"The mole relies on its wits, and the elephant relies on braun. That's all I can come up with if I don't another clue. So I'm going to stay here and keep lifting these stones, until I can break the mountain in half. Unless you want me to pile stones on to something, I see no other use."
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 17, 2007 22:27:27 GMT -5
OOG: Miners get the black lung. Most miners hitting stuff with a big pick don't use math.
"Use the materials around you. That is what the mole does: It lives inside the dirt. Its small strength doesn't matter."
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 17, 2007 23:04:50 GMT -5
Mace blinks, kind of wondering if he'll get hit again for this, but grabs a pair of small, flat rocks, and starts shoveling dirt up and on to the mound, to add to it. To make things easier, he goes and grabs one of flatter rocks he was using to scoop dirt out and under between his legs.
He's still suspicious that she'll just say he's doing something wrong, but does this anyway, becoming a tad bit stubborn given he's tired of her antagonizing him.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Apr 18, 2007 15:49:11 GMT -5
She again smiles broadly.
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Post by Mace Parshath on Apr 18, 2007 19:48:30 GMT -5
Mace decides to have a bit of fun with his training and starts to scoop dirt into a large mound over an area that he's reasonably sure a large pile of dirt won't make the ground under it cave in. He piles as much dirt as he can and then starts carving out a tunnel, using rocks and such set against the walls and the opening to support the tunnel so it doesn't cave in on him. He takes his time though, checking everything thrice before moving on and trying to build a sort of home, small enough for a gnome, possibly. Maybe even one for the Ebony Stone People if they felt like explorign the world a bit.
Then he figured they'd get eaten and returned to the idea of a hermit-ish gnome with a levitating squirrel, or something like that.
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