Tarot and Mages - and Val brings gifts.
Sunday, 9 March 2014 23:00![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
littlesilvertipI got back late last night, and slept like crap. Woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, and went back to Uktena territory to work on the mage problem a bit more. I nodded off just when I started to make some real progress on it; when I woke up, I forgot some of the things I figured out. Typical.
After some chores, I went back to the lake to watch the bison some more (I really, really want to kill that cow). Val came by as a bird, and visited me. She brought some gifts - a device used by the mage that Unfinished-Business killed, and some coca. Oooooh, yes. So happy about that. I think I have enough to last me a few months now, before I need to bargain again. I should cook up some willow ash and wort, so I can use it like iqmiq. The mage device is interesting, too, but more about that in a moment.
Memory wanted to ask questions about the mage (I've decided I'll call him Brown-Robes-Eats-Tails), like what I'd given him as a gift back. I was vague - if Tail-Eater wants to tell her about it, that's up to him. She dropped it there (I think she realized I wasn't going to be the one to tell her), but then started wondering where I'd learnt so much about Mages, so fast. I was vague. Very vague. My tribe would literally kill me for divulging it. I would kill me for divulging it. But I could tell her some of the truth - that as much as Tail-Eater had been studying me when I did things, I'd been watching him. Memory wanted to know more about what I learned, and I told her some of the generalities about Tail-Eater.
I started telling her more particular things - like how I don't know about his motives, and I don't like that he looked at me like that. Memory didn't seem to believe me that he did that, and told me he thinks of the wolf people like family. I'm not convinced. She'd mentioned that she'd talked to him earlier, and I came up.
Oh crap. I should have counted on this. Ravens like to... squawk. Memory is no exception. Now she might tell him I don't entirely trust him, or don't like him looking at me like that. This would be... bad for our working relationship.
She started taking off, but I stopped her to ask about the fortune reading kin. She'd said that used her before, but what she told Memory wasn't very impressive (but the questions weren't hard ones). She also said that she can read signs and omens too; this is interesting. I've asked her to keep an eye for signs and omens about my future.
We talked about the reading she'd done, to help Memory keep an eye out for omens, and the part she seemed most interested in was me breeding. It has got to be because it's spring. Everyone has breeding on the mind. She thinks I'm worried that the spirits are telling me to do it. First, I'm not an idiot who worships spirits and decides what to do based on their say-so. Second, I do know that the grandmother wants us to breed. That isn't my concern.
Before she left, she asked about the Talon-Slayer. I told her I didn't seal the curse, and she was relieved. She was worried I'd kill her friend. Finds Death was actually murdered, and everyone is concerned about her murderer. Apes. I think I made her understand how I feel a little, anyhow.
When she left, I took the mage device back to my tribe territory to examine. It's... interesting. She called it a focus, and I begin to see how it is. It opens up in a way (like Memory said) to fit in... something. Memory said it accepts Magical Energy, in a way. Tass. I heard that term before, and now I have a better context for it. The object's spirit had many burning urges going through it - electrical exaltation. It didn't do anything itself, just rode the wave of destructive exaltation. It was also very lovingly crafted by its maker. Such care was taken. There's no residual magic energy.
Thoughts: this allowed the mage to push their magic through it. The device contributed nothing to its magic. Mage magic requires no spirit whatsoever. But, they can do their tricks without this object. Why go through so much care to create this device? It must make it easier. Could I move a rock with my mind without moving at all; could I summon a spirit without a circle and my dance fans? Yes, but it'd be harder. Mage magic is more ephemeral than ours. Where an object used for our rituals again and again begins to have a brighter spark of spirit of its own, this doesn't have any magic about it I can smell. But it was used for magic purposes. Therefore, mage energy bleeds away faster.
This is the most productive I've been in ages. While my knowledge of spirits is so large from being Gatekeeper, this is the first time I branched out since Pup-Carrier showed me herbs to use. To think of all the gaps in my knowledge: Vampires, Little People, Ghosts (so much I never learned about them!), and more. The source is helping, but I don't want to use it too much - there's a danger from reckless use. I need... other forms of information.
After some chores, I went back to the lake to watch the bison some more (I really, really want to kill that cow). Val came by as a bird, and visited me. She brought some gifts - a device used by the mage that Unfinished-Business killed, and some coca. Oooooh, yes. So happy about that. I think I have enough to last me a few months now, before I need to bargain again. I should cook up some willow ash and wort, so I can use it like iqmiq. The mage device is interesting, too, but more about that in a moment.
Memory wanted to ask questions about the mage (I've decided I'll call him Brown-Robes-Eats-Tails), like what I'd given him as a gift back. I was vague - if Tail-Eater wants to tell her about it, that's up to him. She dropped it there (I think she realized I wasn't going to be the one to tell her), but then started wondering where I'd learnt so much about Mages, so fast. I was vague. Very vague. My tribe would literally kill me for divulging it. I would kill me for divulging it. But I could tell her some of the truth - that as much as Tail-Eater had been studying me when I did things, I'd been watching him. Memory wanted to know more about what I learned, and I told her some of the generalities about Tail-Eater.
I started telling her more particular things - like how I don't know about his motives, and I don't like that he looked at me like that. Memory didn't seem to believe me that he did that, and told me he thinks of the wolf people like family. I'm not convinced. She'd mentioned that she'd talked to him earlier, and I came up.
Oh crap. I should have counted on this. Ravens like to... squawk. Memory is no exception. Now she might tell him I don't entirely trust him, or don't like him looking at me like that. This would be... bad for our working relationship.
She started taking off, but I stopped her to ask about the fortune reading kin. She'd said that used her before, but what she told Memory wasn't very impressive (but the questions weren't hard ones). She also said that she can read signs and omens too; this is interesting. I've asked her to keep an eye for signs and omens about my future.
We talked about the reading she'd done, to help Memory keep an eye out for omens, and the part she seemed most interested in was me breeding. It has got to be because it's spring. Everyone has breeding on the mind. She thinks I'm worried that the spirits are telling me to do it. First, I'm not an idiot who worships spirits and decides what to do based on their say-so. Second, I do know that the grandmother wants us to breed. That isn't my concern.
Before she left, she asked about the Talon-Slayer. I told her I didn't seal the curse, and she was relieved. She was worried I'd kill her friend. Finds Death was actually murdered, and everyone is concerned about her murderer. Apes. I think I made her understand how I feel a little, anyhow.
When she left, I took the mage device back to my tribe territory to examine. It's... interesting. She called it a focus, and I begin to see how it is. It opens up in a way (like Memory said) to fit in... something. Memory said it accepts Magical Energy, in a way. Tass. I heard that term before, and now I have a better context for it. The object's spirit had many burning urges going through it - electrical exaltation. It didn't do anything itself, just rode the wave of destructive exaltation. It was also very lovingly crafted by its maker. Such care was taken. There's no residual magic energy.
Thoughts: this allowed the mage to push their magic through it. The device contributed nothing to its magic. Mage magic requires no spirit whatsoever. But, they can do their tricks without this object. Why go through so much care to create this device? It must make it easier. Could I move a rock with my mind without moving at all; could I summon a spirit without a circle and my dance fans? Yes, but it'd be harder. Mage magic is more ephemeral than ours. Where an object used for our rituals again and again begins to have a brighter spark of spirit of its own, this doesn't have any magic about it I can smell. But it was used for magic purposes. Therefore, mage energy bleeds away faster.
This is the most productive I've been in ages. While my knowledge of spirits is so large from being Gatekeeper, this is the first time I branched out since Pup-Carrier showed me herbs to use. To think of all the gaps in my knowledge: Vampires, Little People, Ghosts (so much I never learned about them!), and more. The source is helping, but I don't want to use it too much - there's a danger from reckless use. I need... other forms of information.
