1st of Zi'Da, Arc 721
"Who is Lord Karnos Vuda?"
The benefit to being a captive to an open-ended exploration and interview, was that one was often afforded the opportunity to ask as many questions as they liked. In fact, under most circumstances it was encouraged. Yet as Rakvald asked this of Morgue, the warrior mage seemed to recoil beneath his cowl. He didn't show any emotion at the mention, but Rakvald could sense without being adept in Empathy or any form of psychological discipline that it was a sore subject for those of the Forbidden Post. Perhaps the mages, most of all.
"Lord Karnos Vuda, he is a powerful mage, once master of this fortress. He has left us to our devices for too long. Now the Fractive influences burn out of control without him to harvest and harness it."
Rakvald nodded, grateful for that much out of the laconic mage that held him captive. It'd been decided that before seeing the Brocksmith, Rakvald would be put to the test regarding his transmutational magics. It was surprising the dossier that the people of this strange place seemed to have of Rakvald, and yet they couldn't even garner news of one of their own, the presumptive man who held the power in the Post. It was surely a puzzle, and one that Rakvald found fascinating. The mages of this place seemed to long for Vuda's return, just as Rakvald had once sought Zarik Venora, like a lost puppy.
But now the pup was grown up, and Rakvald was no fledgling to the magic that his mentor had imparted to him. And he was only beginning to learn those that he'd neglected.
In front of Rakvald, lay a set of objects. Ingots of several base metals. There was lead, iron, steel, cobalt, and embersteel. Beside these, on the circular dish, were nels of each denomination, even that of onyx. Rakvald of course had plenty of wealth and means to spare, and so was able to pay to have these materials delivered from whence they were available to the Post. Morgue had insisted upon their study, as Rakvald sat cross-legged before the palate.
"Where in the world is Lord Karnos Vuda?" Rakvald asked, as he probed first the lead, as it seemed appropriate. It was one of the base metals, heavy yet soft and pliant like puddy. He pushed the ether into every inch and grain of that metal, exploring its properties. Its benefits, its merits, its flaws were all laid bare to him as his gilded ether flowed into the metal ingot.
Morgue didn't answer Rakvald's question, but asked for one of his own, "Do you have any news of the outside world, of Etzos, or the Rhakros war?"
Rakvald shook his head, as he reached down to grasp the lead ingot. As he held it in his hand, up to eye level, he altered it slightly, giving it the added heft of embersteel. He began focusing on denaturing the material on the plane of Idalos. As he did so, it began to glow with the shine of his golden etheric signature. Pinks and golden glow ran throughout the ingot, until it floated up off of his hand. Here, it was merely a thing of imagination now, not unlike when Rakvald used governing in the Dreamscape, when that ability had been available. Yet he could only enscribe qualities that he knew of. As he was quite new at this process, he considered altering it to the heft and weight of embersteel, and the luster of gold.
He laid a generous coat of paint upon the ingot, splashing it throughout with the golden color and then the weight of embersteel proportionate to its dimensions.
Finally, he finished the process by reintroducing the ingot back into material reality. It shone gold, and with small veins and flaws nonethelesss that delineated the difficulty of the alteration process. It was a start, anyway. Rakvald was pleased with this small progress, and something in him called to the luster of the gold in that lead ingot.
"According to my texts on Transmutation magic..." Morgue began, "That ingot will remain in our material reality for a maximum of six days, relative to your skill in transmutation. Hardly a replacement for gold, if that was your intention. But impressive feat, nonetheless."
Rakvald looked up at Morgue, "Is there any way to keep it from disintegrating? Anything in your books?"
Morgue gave this some thought, and shrugged. "Greater skill always leads to lasting effects in magic, as far as I know. Hone magic, for instance... The most powerful Runewrights can make their enhancements and curses last for days as opposed to breaks. Of course, there are often methods to extend magic, that involve either channeling more ether into the spell or subject of the spell, or else the use of wells..."
"Wells, the things you want me to dive into the ocean for?" Rakvald snorted. It sounded preposterous, as he'd never heard of wells or this ensorcelling business. But apparently it was quite the rage in some mage circles. Not that Rakvald got around in those circles ever.
"Aye. It will be dangerous, and that is why you must be prepared. Especially when it comes to controlling your magic, namely putting a lid on it. You must not use magic while within the Fracture. Doing so will invite grave peril."
Rakvald shrugged. Grave peril sounded a lot more fun than poking his face into a book, as Morgue seemed to enjoy. But to each their own.
Rakvald took up the onyx nel next, and began pouring more ether into it. The golden glow formed an outline on the black nel. Here, he observed its purity and composition, what made it so dark and opaque, and so precious. It's purity of form and material was without doubt what made it so valuable, Rakvald surmised. But this in itself was not a Quality of transmutation, not as far as he knew. But the opacity of onyx, its dark shade, that was.
It was this that he wished to identify, and take on board as he examined the nel, denaturing it as it began glowing a golden color, floating above his palm as he examined its material structure in detail. There were few imperfections within that material, it was solid throughout and pure. But he thought he could extract some of the opacity of its material for later implementation on other objects.
He didn't go through with the process of alteration here, but merely allowed the nel to return and snap back to reality. This done, he set it aside, and looked back up at Morgue.
"You say that ensorcelling is quite dangerous, and prone to explosions?" Rakvald asked, then continued, "Bring me a pane of glass if you will. I have an idea, and would like to try something."
Morgue nodded, and snapped his fingers at one of his prospective apprentiices, who went off to search for a glass or piece of glass.
While he was gone, Rakvald took up the embersteel, and began focusing in the same way on that material. The flecks of rusty orange color in the metal gave it an attractive quality, no doubt the source of its name 'Embersteel'. But more importantly, it was highly durable. If only one could purge its heft while keeping its durability, and then adding the transparency of glass. Rakvald could make a set of nearly indestructible goggles for the purposes of ensorcelling, as he apparently would need.
The ingot of embersteel began to glow gold and orange, shimmering until every grain of metal disappeared from the material reality of Idalos. Rakvald examined its durability, the bonds of its material structure from the vantage point of its etheric signature. It was a fairly simple thing, on examining it, but Rakvald felt with some experience in smithing he could understand the material properties even further. This is what excited him about his 'stay' in the Forbidden Post. It was a good opportunity to advance his magic.
He examined the bonds that formed the embersteel's durability thoroughly, pouring the ether through every grain and gram of the metal. Until he felt he'd absorbed the knowledge of that quality, and thus relinquished his etheric grasp over the metal. It rematerialized in Idalos within moments, landing in his palm with a satisfying weight. Rakvlad smiled at the ingot, and then placed it back on the palate in front of him.
Soon enough, he'd have a piece of glass to examine. Rakvald never thought he'd enjoy a formal learning session, but this was indeed something he could get used to.
