The Foundation [Solo]
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 11:04 pm
The Foundation 
[Closed - Solo]
Meditation. It was, as always, one of the most important skills when it came to utilizing magic. It was, as her mother had termed it before, a cleaning of the mind. Being able to achieve clarity and focus was vital to one’s success, not only with arcane matters, but in reading a situation and interacting with others. Meetings might be the battlefield on which she would have to fight; but the time would come when she would need to be fully capable of shouldering the mantle of wonders that Hytori monarchs had carried for untold generations. Princess Vomira fully intended one of her children to take up the throne eventually, and all of them needed to be taught and trained to the best of their ability. While there were a number of subjects she and King Ailuin might defer to the knowledge and wisdom of others when it came to the education and instruction of their children, this was certainly not one of them. She had been taught personally by her father, and she would teach her children herself. The Val’Melua were a clan of secrets, and many were never shared with outsiders.
She opened the door for her daughter. The open, airy room was bright from the large windows that gave even the smaller child a good view of the world around and below. It overlooked the water, and the sound of waves lapping the shore was audible from the large windows. The little elfyn with her colourful dress scarpered on in towards the large glass openings, standing on tiptoes to have a look out and see what there was to see. She didn’t have her usual cloud of tulle on today, but instead had been dressed in linen skirts that displayed artfully painted patterns. Vomira had made sure that the day’s offerings of outfits would be appropriate for her activities today, and while she may have rode on her unicorn or visited orchestras or markets in eye-catching outfits that defied conventional tradition, this dress and others like it had been there for the girl to chose from. She made the overall selection unless there was something important, and then she chose it, but for the most part, she did allow Akantha to have a certain level of autonomy. She was an opinionated child about what she was wearing, and she wanted to encourage that. “Look at the water!” She looked down at crystal-clear cerulean waters that gleamed in the sunlight. They could see the foamy white caps of the waves as they crested towards the shores.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Vomira smiled at her child. Akantha was the one with hair like her own, and she selected a pillow from the stack near the wall. “Come and sit with me, daughter,” she gracefully took a seat on the large cushion on the floor. That brought the inquisitive elfyn child back to her, and like her mother, she selected a pillow though it was considerably bigger than she needed it to be. She positioned it beside Vomira’s and copied the way she was sitting on it, smoothing out her skirts as her legs folded up under her. “Wonderful. Are you comfortable, Akantha? I would like you to try to find a way to sit where you are relaxed, but close to how I am sitting.”
The child wriggled a bit, shifting her balance on the plump cushion before settling down once again. She sat cross-legged, though her legs were not on top of each other, but in front of one another in front of her. The plumpness of the cushion lent well towards this seat. “Like that?” She wanted to know, her head tilting as she observed Vomira.
“Like that,” her mother agreed. “Pay attention to your posture, sweetheart, so that you are not slouching. While we try to relax, meditation doesn’t necessarily mean being a pile, it involves discipline. And while you could lay down, I know that you have it in you to do it properly, just as I do and your father does, and your aunts and uncles.” Encouraged, the child sought to emulate her mother, drawing in her core and moving her shoulders back. "A proper seat for meditation involves three principles - alignment, relaxation, and stillness. The alignment is of your head, neck, and back - you want to keep them straight, without leaning forward. Your shoulders cannot hunch, that's right," she nodded. "Good girl."
Akantha smiled at her at that, but she did not wiggle. “The next principle is relaxation. Relaxation of your body, of the muscles. Let the muscles in your face, in your shoulders, in your arms, and in your legs all relax. No need to be tense, no need to be stiff. Soft, sweet one. And when you are relaxed in the body, you can relax and let go of your thoughts, Akantha. Let them drift away. Focus on your breath… breathing in, and breathing out,” her voice was soft, and the little Princess did her best to follow along. She knew not to fidget, but that was hard, and her brow knitted. She smoothed her skirt over her knees, and Vomira watched her with a faint smile.
She picked up the mallet of a singing bowl and moved it along the inside, producing an ethereal melody. Akantha’s head tilted. “There is so much magnificence near the ocean,” her mother’s voice was soft, melodious, and soothing. “Waves are coming in, waves are coming in, there is so much magnificence, near the ocean.” It was simple, a longer mantra, but it gave her daughter something to grasp onto while she was focusing on emptying out the distractions so that she could focus on meditating.
To be fully aware and open and calm and still was a lot to ask of a child, but with patience and time, it would become second nature. The softly-sung mantra did seem to do the job, however, as the young Princess’s face stilled. Everything was soft there, relaxed, and she listened. To her mother’s words, to the waves. She breathed in with the waves, and out with the tides. One ear twitched at bird song, and Vomira was amused to see it. “Acknowledge it, and put it away, dear heart,” she encouraged her. “It is a distraction, and you will have many of those to deal with… but let it go.” She gave her a few moments before the bowl sang its empyreal notes again. “There is so much magnificence, near the ocean. Waves are coming in. Waves are coming in. There is so much magnificence, near the ocean.”
Mother guided daughter, encouraging her over the next hour. She explained to her the principle of stillness - of being unmoving, unshakable, and stable. Balanced. It was a one-sided conversation, if one could even call it that, as she could use her Semblance to monitor for any interruptions to Akantha’s focus and energy before the child did. This way, she was prepared to smooth and soothe in order to help her along. There was no need to use Mesmer on her child like those try-hards across the Crystal Sea, not with a child of Sol’Eilran and Val’Melua blood. She was exceptional, and she would be perfect. She knew what was expected of her, and she would be its equal, or greater. This foundation that they were building now would serve her well in whatever disciplines she took up. Dreamwalking, of course. Semblance, surely. Beyond that, it was entirely up to Akantha. But meditation would prepare her for those receiving those Runes, to accept those Disciplines, and help her focus when it came to practicing the world magics that caught her eye.
“Let us end our practice here for today,” Vomira was smiling when Akantha opened her eyes. She extended her hands to her child, and Akantha left her pillow and closed the distance between them as the Val’Melua Seer folded her arms around her and drew her into her lap.
“When we are still, when we are open, that best allows us to sense the world around us, Akantha,” Vomira’s words were barely a whisper, and yet, they were so clear to her firstborn, tucked in against her as she was, though her big blue eyes were on her mother, and the way the sunlight that streamed through the open window made her hair look like spun gold. “It helps us recognize changes and sense things that the dull or ignorant will miss no matter much they look for it. Meditation may not seem important, but when we offer our prayers to the Gods, do we often hear Their answers?”
The elfyn considered the question, thinking about it. Some of her dreams were delightfully wild, but whether that was due to her Royal Father, Adamantos, Thiovan, or even Aedrin, she did not know. She liked to think so. Hytori had once walked amongst the Gods as the children of Raella, after all. “No,” she admitted. “Sometimes they are very clear, but not regularly.” That she knew from her lessons on religion.
“That is correct, my daughter. Prayer may be asking the Gods for things, but meditation helps to clear the mind to be open to Their responses.” Vomira smiled down at her. That would likely give her daughter a little more incentive to focus on it - she was always up for stories of the divine Pantheon, no matter how-mundane seeming or fantastical. They could sit together for a while before it was time to get up, as they had other matters pressing upon them today.
Searing 5, 104th Year, A.o.S.
[Closed - Solo]
Meditation. It was, as always, one of the most important skills when it came to utilizing magic. It was, as her mother had termed it before, a cleaning of the mind. Being able to achieve clarity and focus was vital to one’s success, not only with arcane matters, but in reading a situation and interacting with others. Meetings might be the battlefield on which she would have to fight; but the time would come when she would need to be fully capable of shouldering the mantle of wonders that Hytori monarchs had carried for untold generations. Princess Vomira fully intended one of her children to take up the throne eventually, and all of them needed to be taught and trained to the best of their ability. While there were a number of subjects she and King Ailuin might defer to the knowledge and wisdom of others when it came to the education and instruction of their children, this was certainly not one of them. She had been taught personally by her father, and she would teach her children herself. The Val’Melua were a clan of secrets, and many were never shared with outsiders.
She opened the door for her daughter. The open, airy room was bright from the large windows that gave even the smaller child a good view of the world around and below. It overlooked the water, and the sound of waves lapping the shore was audible from the large windows. The little elfyn with her colourful dress scarpered on in towards the large glass openings, standing on tiptoes to have a look out and see what there was to see. She didn’t have her usual cloud of tulle on today, but instead had been dressed in linen skirts that displayed artfully painted patterns. Vomira had made sure that the day’s offerings of outfits would be appropriate for her activities today, and while she may have rode on her unicorn or visited orchestras or markets in eye-catching outfits that defied conventional tradition, this dress and others like it had been there for the girl to chose from. She made the overall selection unless there was something important, and then she chose it, but for the most part, she did allow Akantha to have a certain level of autonomy. She was an opinionated child about what she was wearing, and she wanted to encourage that. “Look at the water!” She looked down at crystal-clear cerulean waters that gleamed in the sunlight. They could see the foamy white caps of the waves as they crested towards the shores.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Vomira smiled at her child. Akantha was the one with hair like her own, and she selected a pillow from the stack near the wall. “Come and sit with me, daughter,” she gracefully took a seat on the large cushion on the floor. That brought the inquisitive elfyn child back to her, and like her mother, she selected a pillow though it was considerably bigger than she needed it to be. She positioned it beside Vomira’s and copied the way she was sitting on it, smoothing out her skirts as her legs folded up under her. “Wonderful. Are you comfortable, Akantha? I would like you to try to find a way to sit where you are relaxed, but close to how I am sitting.”
The child wriggled a bit, shifting her balance on the plump cushion before settling down once again. She sat cross-legged, though her legs were not on top of each other, but in front of one another in front of her. The plumpness of the cushion lent well towards this seat. “Like that?” She wanted to know, her head tilting as she observed Vomira.
“Like that,” her mother agreed. “Pay attention to your posture, sweetheart, so that you are not slouching. While we try to relax, meditation doesn’t necessarily mean being a pile, it involves discipline. And while you could lay down, I know that you have it in you to do it properly, just as I do and your father does, and your aunts and uncles.” Encouraged, the child sought to emulate her mother, drawing in her core and moving her shoulders back. "A proper seat for meditation involves three principles - alignment, relaxation, and stillness. The alignment is of your head, neck, and back - you want to keep them straight, without leaning forward. Your shoulders cannot hunch, that's right," she nodded. "Good girl."
Akantha smiled at her at that, but she did not wiggle. “The next principle is relaxation. Relaxation of your body, of the muscles. Let the muscles in your face, in your shoulders, in your arms, and in your legs all relax. No need to be tense, no need to be stiff. Soft, sweet one. And when you are relaxed in the body, you can relax and let go of your thoughts, Akantha. Let them drift away. Focus on your breath… breathing in, and breathing out,” her voice was soft, and the little Princess did her best to follow along. She knew not to fidget, but that was hard, and her brow knitted. She smoothed her skirt over her knees, and Vomira watched her with a faint smile.
She picked up the mallet of a singing bowl and moved it along the inside, producing an ethereal melody. Akantha’s head tilted. “There is so much magnificence near the ocean,” her mother’s voice was soft, melodious, and soothing. “Waves are coming in, waves are coming in, there is so much magnificence, near the ocean.” It was simple, a longer mantra, but it gave her daughter something to grasp onto while she was focusing on emptying out the distractions so that she could focus on meditating.
To be fully aware and open and calm and still was a lot to ask of a child, but with patience and time, it would become second nature. The softly-sung mantra did seem to do the job, however, as the young Princess’s face stilled. Everything was soft there, relaxed, and she listened. To her mother’s words, to the waves. She breathed in with the waves, and out with the tides. One ear twitched at bird song, and Vomira was amused to see it. “Acknowledge it, and put it away, dear heart,” she encouraged her. “It is a distraction, and you will have many of those to deal with… but let it go.” She gave her a few moments before the bowl sang its empyreal notes again. “There is so much magnificence, near the ocean. Waves are coming in. Waves are coming in. There is so much magnificence, near the ocean.”
Mother guided daughter, encouraging her over the next hour. She explained to her the principle of stillness - of being unmoving, unshakable, and stable. Balanced. It was a one-sided conversation, if one could even call it that, as she could use her Semblance to monitor for any interruptions to Akantha’s focus and energy before the child did. This way, she was prepared to smooth and soothe in order to help her along. There was no need to use Mesmer on her child like those try-hards across the Crystal Sea, not with a child of Sol’Eilran and Val’Melua blood. She was exceptional, and she would be perfect. She knew what was expected of her, and she would be its equal, or greater. This foundation that they were building now would serve her well in whatever disciplines she took up. Dreamwalking, of course. Semblance, surely. Beyond that, it was entirely up to Akantha. But meditation would prepare her for those receiving those Runes, to accept those Disciplines, and help her focus when it came to practicing the world magics that caught her eye.
“Let us end our practice here for today,” Vomira was smiling when Akantha opened her eyes. She extended her hands to her child, and Akantha left her pillow and closed the distance between them as the Val’Melua Seer folded her arms around her and drew her into her lap.
“When we are still, when we are open, that best allows us to sense the world around us, Akantha,” Vomira’s words were barely a whisper, and yet, they were so clear to her firstborn, tucked in against her as she was, though her big blue eyes were on her mother, and the way the sunlight that streamed through the open window made her hair look like spun gold. “It helps us recognize changes and sense things that the dull or ignorant will miss no matter much they look for it. Meditation may not seem important, but when we offer our prayers to the Gods, do we often hear Their answers?”
The elfyn considered the question, thinking about it. Some of her dreams were delightfully wild, but whether that was due to her Royal Father, Adamantos, Thiovan, or even Aedrin, she did not know. She liked to think so. Hytori had once walked amongst the Gods as the children of Raella, after all. “No,” she admitted. “Sometimes they are very clear, but not regularly.” That she knew from her lessons on religion.
“That is correct, my daughter. Prayer may be asking the Gods for things, but meditation helps to clear the mind to be open to Their responses.” Vomira smiled down at her. That would likely give her daughter a little more incentive to focus on it - she was always up for stories of the divine Pantheon, no matter how-mundane seeming or fantastical. They could sit together for a while before it was time to get up, as they had other matters pressing upon them today.
"There is no rose without a thorn."
