39.5 Above the River

General Summary

All of us are hurled headlong into intensive study while staying with Rainbow. Liliales extends his illusion capabilities into dreams, Qing Chen learns about how different languages capture concepts differently, and Kaide works on balancing her own elementalism and expanding her gem circle nets into Grand Arrays. Having been told that Rainbow is the most adept elementalist I will ever find, I imbed myself in a course of study about the elements, though dragon elemental magic is very different from what I have studied so far. Dragon elementalists consider the world in eight elements and blend them with one another and other arcane magic to produce different effects.   From the eight elements: Earth, metal, wood, fire, river, thunder, wind, and lake, I select metal, fire, and thunder to study. Over the course of our time here I can expect to master several properties of each element, though I focus my study mostly on metal.  

Properties of metal

• Sharpness - the property of the edge of a blade, but really recognizing that anything can be sharpened
• Enduring - the ability to hold shape, withstand blows and weather the effects of time
• Myriad Forms - from easily shaped soft metals to things that are sturdy and cast from iron, the permutations of metal are endless - this is wrapped up in the concept of infinity and variation, it isn't transformation / shaping magic
• Conductivity - metal magic is good at forming paths for all manner of energy to flow - heat, electricity, magic, but also in the construction of true conduits (pipes for water, pipes for teleportation gates, same thing)
• Strength of Origin - the ability to deform and return to true. Springs and basically anything that flexes under load before returning to it's original shape but also connected to the concepts of emotional resiliency
• "In my hands - anything is a blade" within reason, anything thin can be treated as a blade to deal sword or dasher damage as appropriate
• "Endurance of Iron" - something can be made to survive onslaught significantly reducing damage taken
• "Myriad Forms Endless Purpose" - the form of a thing need not reflect its nature (ooohhh, profound) - more simply, in the creation of magic things, its usually necessary for things to reflect what they do - your tasting spoon, Kaide's cartography pen. This is freedom from that - cartographer's butterfly cloak broach, thimble of fireball (silly, but illustrative)
• "Energy Bridge" - with metal as a conductor, you can move energy around, for example, if you had a metal shield you could use it to absorb a spell that hit it and channel that energy elsewhere
• "Origin Returning" - if you fortify something before its damaged, you can return it to that state after it's damaged... easy to say, hard to do and limited (much like like a sword will deform and return to true but there are limits). Can't restore things that are already damaged, but can help in damage recove

  Studying thunder (the penetration and lingering properties) is both easier and hard because of my connection to Lyssa. I feel her in the things I learn, and it makes it hard to focus whenever I concentrate on lightning. Rainbow shows me a kind of lightning I hadn’t considered before, which is green and takes on a life of its own as I guide it.    

Properties of thunder

• Light (the bright flash)
• Sound (the crash and boom)
• Speed (from point to point)
• Penetration (the ability to pierce through anything between the sky and earth)
• Lingering (the things that last long after the bolt has fallen

  Types of lightening

• White - Pure, fast, loud - the most basic form of lightning with all the things
• Black - corrosive, its destructive prowess can destroy magic itself, meshes well with lingering.
• Red - overwhelming power but unsafe for the wielder, it will hurt your enemies more than it hurts you but it's not without cost.
• Purple - Supremely penetrating, damages not only the flesh but can also damage the mind, soul, or core essence of a thing.
• Green - Lightning come to life, it spreads, bounces from thing to thing and can either be precisely guided or given a life of its own

  The study of fire is hard for other reasons - separating my understanding of the element from its place within my customary four elements model is difficult. From the study of fire, I choose to focus on the nurturing and flowing properties.  

Properties of fire

• Nurturing - gentle flame that warms the egg, for dragons, this is closely tied to incubating and is extra sacred.
• Purifying - has synergy with Metal and medicinal magics, flame that removes impurities.
• Mesmerizing - the property of fire that draws in the mind to stare deep into the flame, also houses the dangerous beauty of fire.
• Destruction - the fire that destroys and consumes, also related to the emotions of rage and anguish.
• Flow - Fire as an engine of state change, the transformation of water into steam, of rock into magma, the furnace to temper steel.

  Outside of studying, Rainbow is somewhat awkward until Trillium helps them fit into the family. It is charming to watch the quirky dragon learn how to care about their new apprentice’s family and figure out how we all fit together. The family has now woven in and doubled back on itself to near-comedic levels, with me being both Rainbow’s little sister’s student and their apprentice’s aunt and head of household.   Over a month, we settle into a routine of independent study with open office hours that reminds me so strongly of graduate studies. It becomes more and more clear that Trillium was once immersed in dragon culture as she starts speaking the language and asking questions of Rainbow that are clearly informed by some pre-existing awareness of dragon customs.   She recalls more of her past and why she was in the mountains in the first place. She had gone to look for an abandoned dragon clan in the Barrier (the Demon Dragon Clan, surely) that Shrouded Petrichor thought might be persuaded to assist in the war if they joined the Empire. Of our family, Trillium was the only person strong enough to make the journey but weak enough that the Barrier might not entrap her.   At first she got an understandably negative reaction from the clan, but she stayed to learn about their own challenges and eventually she formed real friendships and relationships there. Looking back, she thinks that if she were to try again now, they might agree to help. Unfortunately she has no memory of where the clan was.  

Day 625

After a full month has passed, Rainbow comes to speak with me late at night, as they sometimes do. This time they have Trillium’s draconic bloodline in mind and are seeking my perspective on how it might be established, using some blood from them or another dragon as a foundation.   Rainbow, of course, is a bloodline of colour, light, earth, and crystal. But Trillium’s family is all darkness and fire and Rainbow’s blood would likely not be the right choice for her. Rainbow could reach out to dragons of fire, darkness, or perhaps river depending on what I think might suit her best…though the final decision is hers, of course.   Though the Great River has given her such peace and comfort in her life, I don’t think it’s suitable as a bloodline. A philosophy is one that ought to be chosen over and over again, not absorbed into oneself and integrated.   I pull instantly towards darkness. I can’t help but think that if I take on No Moon’s legacy, I would like to share blood with her as dragons, especially since we don’t as elves. It feels right for our little flower of three petals.  

Day 626

The next day, Rainbow escorts Liliales and me out on a field trip to the so-called ‘Blood Mist Forest’ nearby. The trees are wreathed in a twisted, primal magic that Rainbow tells us inhibits higher thinking and reasoning. Anyone who stays there for longer than a day or two will find their reasoning eroded, though the effect is not permanent unless one spends truly prolonged time there. Within the forest are many plants that thrive in blood and are valuable, though not sacred.   The forest will be dangerous, of course, and Rainbow tells us to try using only our recently-acquired magics to overcome any issues unless we are we land truly threatened. We have two days to explore before they come to collect us again, leaving us with a token to pass through the protective ward and another to help us find our way out again.   Throughout our trip through the forest we encounter many enraged and bloodthirsty animals, which we dispatch with relative ease using my metal magic and Liliales’ dreams.   We collect several berries which induce an acute rage, and some bundles of flowers that exude at threatening aura despite being completely benign. Throughout several encounters with wildlife, we also collect a set of bear claws and some wolf fangs, all of which have curious elemental properties.   We camp beneath several creatively-fashioned wards and illusions, all constructed from our new magics. Where I would normally use arcane methods, I find myself stretching with metal and lightning to support Liliales’ defensive illusions.  

Day 627

On the second day we find ourselves walking in circles throughout a patch of sharp, sword-edged ferns that defend a well-tended pathway through the undergrowth. We try for several attempts to escape from whatever illusory trap is creating the effect, but eventually I am fed up with the idea of having to encounter another person in this monstrous forest. Somehow it feels really unconscionable to attack another person under the effects of this place. It is easy enough to eat away at the illusion with a combination of lightning and thunder penetration, leaving us able to escape.   But before we can leave the area, an elderly humanoid man with an incredibly threatening aura and a red eye in the centre of his forehead appears, furious that we have destroyed his illusion. As he stands and demands repayment in the form of an arm, my mind races to decide just how dangerous he is and whether encountering another sapient entity counts as a good enough reason to use more peaceable magic than my newfound elementalism.   As I try to reason with him, he sends a wave of air hurtling towards us like a sword and I make up my mind fast. It is not difficult to shadow step, collect his blood, and send him into a deep sleep using the penetrating thunder magic in combination with my pre-existing abilities. I hope that Rainbow thinks this counts!   Not wanting to leave him defenceless in the forest, we carry him back along his pathway and are shocked to find that he came from an entire villa hidden within the forest. I stand watch while Liliales investigates and finds that there is likely also a woman living here. Sure enough, a young woman calls out a greeting to her grand uncle as she rounds the corner of the villa wall. She also has the third eye, and is clad in dark robes with red embroidered cranes on it.   In the tense moments that follow, I explain that her grand uncle is just sleeping, that we have no intention of harming them, and ask whether they are crane folk? I also mention that we are guests of the sage on the mountain, and she drops to her knees at this.   As we gather all of our wits and settle down, I learn that she was initially terrified of our fae appearance because the usual fae who she sees are ‘fae of hatred and despair from the grove on the Southern slope’. Temira’s grove, I imagine. She introduces herself as Zehi, a little princess of the Three-Eyed Black Crane Clan, and tells us that the illusions around their villa are meant to protect her.   Later, over dinner, she tells us that the pursuit of swordsmanship is integral to her clan and leadership is decided through sword play. Her father is currently the leader but the clan regularly rotates between three families. Her eldest brother is the most talented of their generation but he is wounded, and she is the next hope for their family since her other two brothers are not as skilled. Her mother is thus concerned that others will try to kill her to prevent her from competing for the clan’s leadership when it is time. Liliales, bless his heart, asks what it’s like being a princess, and the two of them have quite a conversation about being above conflict.  

Cranes fly above the river.

  She and her grand uncle stay in the forest to temper themselves and their will against the influence of the forest. To my great amusement, she points out that her uncle is perfectly reasonable and what we encountered was just his grumpiness.   Late into the evening we spar and exchange styles of swordplay - hers is unlike anything I have encountered before. I hope she will return with us the next day to meet Trillium!