The Universal Language [Finn]

[Hilana Chenzira]

65 Frost, Year 123

[Closed - Finn]

Hilana had been thinking about Finn's previously-mentioned interest in Scrivening, and she knew she needed to work on it as well, so she had offered him an after-dinner study session. That wasn't something Arvaelyn could take umbrage with, not that he usually did with the Vastiana. It wasn't like she was taking him out of the Kingdom to chase a long-forgotten artifact that was possibly being hidden by malevolent spirits and risking his arms... well. She'd already done that, and the Crown Prince of the Dragons hadn't been very pleased with her for it. She'd spent the last year, nearly, making up for it.

Or trying to.

But Athalia was happy to help with the Scrivening lectures and guidance, too, such as the two needed. She had been learning classically before things had changed for her and she had found herself in the Void, and since she had come out of it in Spring, she had spent a lot of time refreshing herself and studying, discussing theories and pictographs not only with Lykos, but Decius and other Sentinels who stuck an interest in the Cold Room project. Hilana's ability to get books, or at least lists of them from various teachers and instructors in a city like this, was everything Lia could use, and she was certainly had taken advantage of it.

But tea had been made and it was steeping, and a large platter of mixed goodies was on the table. Just in case Finn might be hungry, or she could otherwise tempt him. Tiaz was lounging on a stand, and Fiya was settled on Hilana's shoulders. Athalia had picked out her favourite of the textbooks with regards to Scrivening for the two to work with, and plenty of paper, brushes, and ink had been set up. The cozy kitchen was inviting and warm, between the scents of plants, herbs, food, spice, drink, and women.

To herself, she wondered how many more visits there would be in this comforting kitchen. She was going to have to move soon, she knew, to give herself and Lia more space. Since Lia had been cleared to move from the Citadel, well, it was just good that Hilana was out and about so much. But this many snakes, even if Finn had personally guaranteed they'd not bother her, gave Athalia the heebie-jeebies.

[Finn]

Having been given permission long ago, Finn vaulted directly into Hilana's home. Even her coterie of animals no longer seemed surprised by his abrupt arrivals; that was just how the Finn Human arrived. Animals (including people) could get used to almost anything.

"Salve!" he sing-songed, moving into the kitchen. He hadn't had time to change out of his Sentinel blacks, but he had managed to pick up a few textbooks of his own from the libraries of the Custodes Deorum in case they might be helpful for their efforts. With a smile, he also presented a small sack of chocolate-covered almonds his father had made for Hilana. There was a low-key war of hospitality and gifts going on between Finn's family and Hilana, which was already becoming a good-natured joke at the Prædium Sorokys.

Finn set his books down and took an empty seat, offering a hand to one of her venomous lovelies who wanted to slither up his arm and hang upon his neck like scaled jewelry to soak up his native warmth. With his hood down, the sisters could see fine filigree silverwork that fit carefully within the curves of his ears and around. The elves often embellished their ears so; his mother, trying her hand at more delicate work in her retirement, apparently wanted her son to feel as beautiful and worthy of admiration as any elf.

The unhooded Sentinel was still unsure about Athalia. At first, there was the barrier of her Voidborn nature and his role at the Citadel between them. There was no animosity, but he wouldn't yet call her a friend; not as he did Hilana. Perhaps that would change with time. It seemed as though she was going to remain close to Hilana from now on.

"How are you both doing today?"

[Hilana Chenzira]

“Salve, Finn,” Hilana greeted him, turning to face him with her usual bright smile. She would claim a hug from him and accept the chocolate-covered almonds, grinning broadly. “Gratias, those look so good. Please thank Mabon for me.” Hilana had a basket already fixed for Finn to take back to his parents - the hospitality war would continue, it seemed. It was not unusual for the Vastiana to show up with a box of treats or sweets and teas early in the morning, or bread or some produce. Finn had told her that they were interested in her culture; so it was not unusual for her to drop off melopita or prickly pear syrup or cactus paddles.

Tiaz was intent on climbing up on Finn, which was just about as quick as the lazy python ever moved. He would certainly claim Finn's arms and shoulders and torso, leaving the cozy branch that occupied space on the the table to slither up on the Sentinel. He may not have grown up with snakes, but when one was around Hilana, there was endless amounts of them, even with her venomous beauties secured away from Athalia. "What can we get you to drink? Tea? Mead? Juice? Something stronger?" Hilana wasn't likely to get him even tipsy before he vaulted home to his beloved, but she would like for him to be entertained while they tackled the subject of Scrivening. The universal language, after all, of every arcane craft. The beginning, the basics, something that could enhance and amplify, or stand on its own.

"Salve, Finn," Athalia had to stop herself from using his titles of Sentinel or Magnatus. This was informal, and he was no longer hooded or veiled. She did want to make friends with him; she knew that he was very important to Hilana. The problem was, he'd also had the (mis)fortunes of meeting her elder sisters such as they were in Tertium. This Lia was quite different from Athalia, in personality if not appearance. And Hilana, before she had come back with Lia and Lykos in Glade... had had zero interest or desire to really be around her family. "Your adornments are beautiful. Were they made with Elementalism?" Hilana's elder sister wanted to know, smiling. Such perfectly done lines were surely done with metal attunement and the weaving of aether - each curve and point and spiral was smooth and equal, to the point where it surely could not have been done by hand. Hilana motioned for Athalia to have a seat, and she would get Finn his drink before taking a seat as well. "Have you any experience in Scrivening?"

[Finn]

"I will," he promised, laughing at her readied response to his father's gifts. "Ah... tea, yes. Oh... strong tea, perhaps?" Whether she would bring tea with spirits or kombucha or the like, he would take it. Thankfully, their studies were unlikely to end in the building burning down if they made a mistake. He hadn't practiced Traversion while in the slightest bit tipsy.

"Oh." His hand came up to touch his ear and its embellishment. He laughed again. "They are so comfortable I forget they are there. But no... My mother is a blacksmith, and one of the perks of her son marrying up is that she doesn't have to work anymore. So she has been at the forge doing more delicate work, which she always enjoyed but had only the rare occasion to do. I have mentioned that Arvælyn would initiate her at her request and... I could request help getting her to the plane of metals to attune, well, she is thinking about it. She also complains she's too old to survive magical initiation."

Finn wrinkled his nose. He didn't think she was too old, and the idea of aging was troubling for many reasons, few of them vanity.

"If you like them, I will make sure to bring some next time. It will give them a temporary edge over your sister in the war of hospitality and gifts." He grinned. Then, "I have a theoretical knowledge of most magic now that I am a sentinel, but no real experience creating them or deciphering them. Which... I'm no sembler, so I don't know how much I would be able to decipher since, well, from what I remember, my pictograph for music might be entirely different from yours. And both valid."

His eyebrows rose, seeking validation of his reply since he assumed they knew more than he did. He idly petted Tiaz in ways the python had previously enjoyed.

[Hilana Chenzira]

Strong tea it was. Hilana elected to combine her hibiscus iced tea with cherry mead, knowing that the tart flavourings of the hibiscus and lemon would complement the sweet fruity cherry liquor, and in nearly equal measures, it would give a lovely kick. Hilana had been told more than once that she came on like a cocktail - tasted like sugar, but delivered a kick in the head. She wouldn't mind if this blend did the same. Tall glasses with ice were filled with the mixture, and set before them on the table while Finn explained about the source of his adornments.

"My compliments to your mother," Lia was admiring, her dark eyes on the ornamental ears. "To do that by hand... and for them to be as equal and complementary to the fit as they are, as perfect as they are, all without magic... that is a talent to be proud of." At Finn's offer, though, she smiled and bowed her head to him. "It would not be appropriate for my sister or myself to wear such things. You are at a different level entirely, due to your marriage to His Exalted Highness, your status as a Sentinel, and your connections with Houses Sol'Zalkyrion and Phaedryn-Sol'Avaerys. For us as Vastii... it may offend those of Re'hyaean blood, and that could cause problems." She was apologetic - she quite liked the jewellery, but it would be decidedly dangerous for the Vastii to wear. She considered his points about his mother, murmuring a Gratias to her sister for the drink and sipping it before blinking at it. Well, Finn wanted strong... "Perhaps one of your in-laws could do an arcane assessment on her?" she suggested. "If they would clear her, then there are many supports available to get through the aftermath of the initiation. No one is ever too old to learn new tricks, and she would have the finest tutors in the Umbrium on hand."

Hilana settled at the table with them, her fingers curling around her glass. She had no doubt Finn's mother could get through the initiation, and she could offer restoratives and teas to help with the recovery period, though surely the Phaedryns would have more and better on hand. "We did think about that. Lia uses glasses made from Auralyth to scrutinize the pictographs in order to read them, as she doesn't have Semblance at present, either. So I picked up a pair for you," she offered him a pair of glasses to put on. They did look like normal spectacles, but the glass was dragonshard. They would likely take some time to get used to, but once he was able to see and decipher what was going on, they could help him with reading the tasks of the pictographs.

Lia took her own set and put them on before pushing her sleeves towards her elbows so that they were free to work the books and brushes. "You are right, though - every Scrivener's work is different. What you might make is different to what I would make, and both of which are different to what Hilana would do. And yet... our different pictographs can all do the exact same thing. She could draw of her succulents, you could write it like a score of sheet music if you so desired, and I could design embroidery and stitching... but they can all perform the same. All that matters is how these different pictographs are tasked. And truthfully... our design could be the exact same, and yet be tasked and composed with different pictographs within it. Hilana does have a bit of an advantage with Semblance, but once you become accustomed to the Auralyth lenses, you'll have no problems with it. To add, you don't need to use the glasses while you're making your pictographs, but it is useful so that you can see it and understand it."

Hilana, as she was wont to do, made sure that the snacks and treats - pastries, fruit, cheese, cookies, and sweets - were all within Finn's reach with a plate. Lia opened the first of the Scrivening books, though, because the lesson could begin with the basics.

[Finn]

Finn considered. No servus had warned him that he was overstepping, nor had any of his in-laws, who had seen them upon him. That question was sidelined, though, after a sip of the tea, which elicited a delighted ooh from him. He smiled at Hilana, sharing a bit of his pleasure directly via a caress of melody against her symphony.

"Thank you, Athalia," he said. "I'm of a similar mind as my mother when it comes to music. I try only to use magic to augment it for a purpose lest it become a crutch. Even though I perform less, I practice just as much as ever. Although... I do feel a touch guilty for Commanding nobody to hear me doing vocal warm-ups. One has to make many an ugly or silly sound to keep the apparatus able to make lovely sounds."

He was less modest than before when it came to his talent. This wasn't arrogance, but confidence. When people complimented him--often effusively and emotionally--about his music, he could tell they were entirely sincere. Certainly, there was some gods-given talent, and he owed his parents a great deal for supporting his training, but he had put a lot of work and effort into honing his talent into skill and, dare he claim it, mastery.

"But I have made her aware of what is available to her here in Solunarium, as well as the rest of the family. If she decides to pursue it, I will make sure she does." He smiled at Hilana too, knowing she had an arsenal of tinctures and such to help prepare the body for what the soul would endure. "They keep talking about learning the desert. I told them they ought to learn Solunarium first, but eventually, I think, they will want to see the rest of the realm as well." He and Hilana had already spoken about the possibility of them traveling with her nomadic brethren for a time. It would help them acclimate to this new reality. "But then I will have to ask about propriety... Arvælyn was upset when I initiated Raithen in Traversion, so much so that I declined his side of the bargain and forsook Kinetics. I don't know if it would be overreaching to ask Arvælyn to initiate her or a snub to assume she ought not reach so high."

He had already spoken to Hilana about this too. There were pros and cons to Arvælyn being the initiator, though while he wanted his family to bond with his husband and his kin, he knew his mother would likely be more comfortable with the down-to-earth Hilana easing her holistically through the entire process. Time would tell.

"Oh, thank you..." His gratitude trailed off as he pulled the spectacles awkwardly onto his face. What seemed a blur cleared up after he blinked and his mind adapted. The auralyth lenses did not distort his vision, but added another layer, another sense, almost. At least, it was a ghost of what semblers knew. He blinked, looking between Athalia and Hilana, and then down at the text before him. "Huh."

A sort of diaphanous, glowing mist seemed to flow around the shapes of the pictographs, which he could only suppose was the aether conforming to the strictures placed upon it by them.

"Fascinating."

[Hilana Chenzira]

Lia listened to his words, as he mentioned being of a similar mind to his mother when it came to augmenting only with magic to push it over. That was a fair point of view, and she knew Hilana felt much the same way - her sister had gotten this far without magic, and each of her crafts was a relatively recent acquisition. But what she did and had managed thus far had served her well. And after so long in the Void... Lia could understand.

Hilana didn't know if Arvaelyn had Elementalism, but at his disposal, he had endless grandmasters and teachers and family members that did have it, and they surely had the experience of bestowing a Rune upon someone. Hilana had yet to pass on her Elementalism, though it was in multiple books on how to do it, and she had come through two initiations so far. But if Finn's mum wanted this Rune... then she would be honoured to do it. "It is best to start with the city, especially above ground to prepare for travelling around the Expanse," Lia agreed. "But they have time to acclimatize themselves, and when they are ready, I'm sure they will be able to travel with the best of them. Have they started camel lessons?" her eyes twinkled as she could imagine Hilana taking Finn's family out on camels for day trips.

It struck Hilana that Finn just looked so godsforsaken cute with his Auralyth glasses. It really, really was not fair that he was that cute and that out of reach. All the same, the Vastiana wasn't suicidal, and such thoughts had to be put away. "They take a bit to get used to," she reassured him. "But you'll see it as we get into it." Hilana's aura was rather blanked out, and so was Lia's, but the snakes were not, and neither were the cats. Nor the plants. Practice would make perfect.

"So, there are five different pictographs, and these come together to form the glyph," Athalia began. "Mirrors, paths, convergences, continuums, and vortexes. By name, they're fairly self-explanatory, but how they are combined can make a world of difference. With those pictographs, there are different tools that one can use to help with their creations. Focis, specially crafted inks and sands, whatever medium you want to use. Hilana likes to practice in the sands outside, using her fingers to make her pictographs and practice them... but that is my soror for you," Lia smiled from one to the other. "All that matters is the ability to draw and to create your pictographs, and awakening them to aether by setting your intentions for them. We've got supplies here to start with, so whatever you'd like to take, by all means." They'd decided to start with mundane tools for the time being; it wasn't necessary at this level to really start with the mastercrafted instruments.

There were stacks of paper and papyrus, pencils, pens, brushes and ink. "A mirror will absorb, copy, and reflect the aether directed at it, and it does so immediately, unless you harness that with the others." Lia used a pen on the paper to make a circle the size of one of the cookies on the plate further up. As she made it, she focused her aether on it, and they could see, between the glasses and Hilana's Semblance, the way the circle went from being a plain circle to shimmering with a soft red glow. Fire, as the elder Vastian sister's aura had shown way back in the cave in Ash. "I have set this to be a mirror. So if you'll watch..." Athalia directed a little tendril of wind at the page, which came alive for Finn with his now-enhanced vision. He could see her influence of the air, and the way that the mirror reacted to it as it came in contact. The little tendril was blown back at them, stirring a bit of breeze there in their faces. "Give it a try," she encouraged the Vigil.

[Finn]

"My brother, grown and yet immature, had a drunken mishap with one. He spends more time in Æternæ Noctis than anywhere else..." He sighed, but it was fond. There was no malice in Ciarán, and his charisma got him out of the worst of his troubles--so far, anyway. "But I will mention the need to them when next they mention traveling."

That decided, he got to studying. Of course, at first, that meant listening to Athalia.

While his childhood education had been at his father's knee and eventually lessons with a local cleric, he had gone on to study at the Kalzasern Academy, and so he had learned the process of scholarly learning. When it came to magic, he was especially circumspect. The one lesson Zef had ingrained in him early was that magic was dangerous and had to be treated with respect.

He nodded, trying not to be too distracted by how things occasionally seemed to bend through the arcane spectacles. Her instruction made sense, and while he already had a few ideas how his musical mind might interpret symbols, he was holding those at bay for now, trying to keep an open mind for whatever he might discover with the sisters. Of a certainty, he would occasionally have to check in with a Vigilia scrivener to ensure that his understanding was up to snuff.

For now, it was best to learn the basics, the rules, the better to master them and learn when and how to bend or break those rules. As such, he was already keeping notes in a simple, clear hand. He paused once more for Athalia's demonstration, then considered. Of the runes in his arsenal, Command was the only one that seemed appropriate here. While he wasn't an Elementalist, he had no idea how his Reaving would apply to this mirror and not understanding was more likely to lead to catastrophe.

So, he wove a bit of mesmerizing aether into a focused melody and sent it, silent, against the mirror, angling it as she had so she would feel the results. While he couldn't send a gust of wind, he could send the feeling of air caressing her forearm. Sometimes, he had learned, what the body felt was as real as real.

[Hilana Chenzira]

Both of the sisters knew that Finn was incredibly creative, and if they'd thought he'd need a bit of help utilizing a mirror, they'd have made him a lodestone and put something in it for him to practice with. But he did have Mesmer, and his usage of the Rune of Command was masterful. Athalia watched Finn's work through her auralyth glasses while Hilana drew her own circle with a pencil, activating it and letting it bring some coolness into the comfortable kitchen when it was reflected back at the trio sitting at the table. But there was no mistaking the feeling that Finn produced when he applied his Mesmer to the mirror, and the little hairs on Lia's arm stood up from the sensation.

"Just so," she nodded with approval. "You have a deft hand with that, you know. But you can utilize these in multiple places... on shields, for example, if you are facing a mage who might try to throw something at you. Reflect it back at them. You'd be surprised how many are not prepared to have what they just aimed at you immediately coming back at them." She's surprised Hilana on more than one occasion like that, but it was necessary to hone those instincts. She might have quietly preferred it to be unnecessary, but she also knew her sister's predilection for getting into things... and while her Sentinel paedagogus had from the very start of her Elementalism training included a focus on combat, Scrivening was a valuable asset.

Even if it was widely slept on and overlooked.

If Finn had questions, they would be answered to the best of their ability, and when he was ready, they would move on to the path. "The purpose of a path is to guide aether, and that can assist you in aiming or redirecting it in whichever way you would like it to go. Where the mirror was a circle, the path is as its name suggests... a line. The stem of a flower, the handle of a mirror... and it needn't be straight, because how many paths in this world truly are?" she smiled at that. "But it guides the aether along, and in doing so, can make it easier for a new mage to cast by focusing the energy. So with a path and a mirror, you can guide aether to the mirror along the path... or direct it from the mirror along the path to something else. Mayhaps you'd like to store it? That can be done with a vortex, but we'll get to that one."

Athalia added a line to her mirror, inscribing the path on parchment, and added the faintest whisper of warmth to the newly-drawn pictograph. Finn and Hilana could watch the aether of Lia's manipulated air as it traveled down the line and to the mirror, reflecting back at them. "Ghraybeh?" Hilana offered Finn one of the soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies on a plate. Learning was hard work, after all.

[Finn]

"Thank you," he said for the compliment. While they normally made him uncomfortable, he had found that quietly acknowledging them and moving on was the most painless way to take them.

Mesmer--or Command in Solunarium--had come easily to him, perhaps because it was couched in the language of music. This was strange to him because it required no sound, and now he could manipulate or suss symphonies without thinking of it in terms of music. Still, the way he had first learned it remained the easiest way, the path of least resistance. That sort of flowed into what they began doing with paths, as well, offering the aether a path of least resistance to follow, which was following the will of the scrivener.

The Custodes Deorum wanted him capable of binding gods and monsters with contracts, which would require equal mastery of scrivening, and that wasn't likely to happen any time soon, although he had learned to be more of a scholar during his time at the Kalzasern Academy and his instructors in the Vigilia would certainly push him.

Finn nodded along with Athalia's instruction. When Hilana offered him a tidbit, he accepted it with murmured thanks and ate it in one bite. His attention was rapt, though he did hum appreciatively at the taste. He was bulkier now than he had been when she found him swooning in the desert, and his internal engine burned through food swiftly.

No doubt this work would be different working with his own Rune than the unfamiliar Elementalism, but this was mostly theory at the moment, and nuances would come later.

"Is the vortex as... violent as it sounds? It seems as though one would want to keep magic calmly in a pool or similar. Sorry if that's a stupid question. I don't really get to experience aether in its natural form. It's already ordered when I'm working it." He glanced from sister to sister, not ashamed to admit his ignorance if it would help him cure it.