45th of Vhalar 722
Rakvald furrowed his brow, as he pored over the arcane tome for about the hundredth time. Not for the first time, he found himself wishing he had a proper magic mentor, who could've told him about all of these techniques, rather than leaving their discovery to chance. As it was, the mage was tremendously lucky for the tome to have fallen right into his lap, and now he could begin his learning in earnest, even as he reached apotheosis and mastery of no less than two magics. In many ways he still felt a novice, at least in terms of his exploration. He very much felt like he was only scratching the surface of what was possible through his magical talents.
He read over the passage, about Totem Guardians, from a section regarding Becoming in the early pages of the book. His eyes beheld the samples and diagrams with incredulity. The ritual for formation of these 'guardians' seemed simple enough. Not much doing, or in the way of reagents. One only needed to coax the totem to grow to full form. However, the tome warned that it would cost a great deal in terms of ether. Almost as much as he had to spend in a day.
Nevertheless, the promise of creating a little buddy from his totem was too intoxicating to ignore. But which totem to use?
Add to that,
Renfreud
had summoned him to the Painted Swine, to meet with some friends he'd made during his 'exile' from Rakvald's abode. There was much going on today, it seemed, and thought Rakvald didn't wish to disappoint or stand his apprentice up, this new power that he'd only just learned about intoxicated him with the sheer possibilities.He read the page aloud, a part that seemed important, "At mastery of the art of Becoming, the mage may manifest no more than two totem guardians at once..." So he read on, and went silent after that. So he would have to be picky about which totem he bestowed sentience onto. The more he read about magic and his arcane abilities from this book, the more godlike his potential seemed. He could only imagine what would happen when he finally took the final plunge, and revealed into one of his arcane disciplines.
So without waiting another moment, for Renfreud waited for him at the tavern, Rakvald brought out the marble of ossified bone and blood and flesh from his palm. It was assimilated, so bringing it back out the depths of his flesh was a simple matter. He held the marble. This was his first gestalt, that of a Lotharro and Mer. He'd sacrificed the integrity of his self-totem upon that gestalt, through which he lost an important part of himself. His self-totem.
It seemed fitting then, that this would be the first totem to grow into a full-fledged guardian. It was formidable, too, with useful abilities. He considered it only a few moments,, before deciding that this was his course. He laid the marble within a set of velvet robes, so that it would manifest fully clothed. Then, he sat cross-legged before the totem, and concentrated, beginning to channel the ether needed for the manifestation.
