☾7th Ash, 4621☽
The political game of chess, always a dangerous game of reputation, honor and psychoanalytical intellect in Daravin. Magic was heavily celebrated as a form of power, hierarchy and the political way atop the higher positions of power. It was the way to access a brutal chess game to secure their role in society. Some, known as Veir, were starting out on this journey.
In Nardothis, it appeared common for mages to be assigned a tutor, someone who had expertise in their current marks. However, for Caladrin it was difficult, the rarity of his mark proved to be a problem to find a fitting tutor for him; he was eventually assigned a masterful druid named Alaric Treyallien, although he was unsure of the skill, but he there had been rumors he assisted the Black Remedy.
He entered the lecture theatre as he noticed the desks were laid out, however it was a private meeting between the two “Ahh, About time.” He smiled as Caladrin stood over a desk with various articles upon it. A living rat, a flower and a plant pot full of soil. His eyes traced amongst the contents on the table as he stared up at his tutor, knowing the lesson he was going to be partaking in. His stepfather had taught him some of the verdant ways way before he settled for Nardothis.
“The Law of Druidic Exchange…”
Alaric raised his eyebrow in intrigue as he narrowed his eyes as he stepped towards the desk, before picking up the flower in his hands; when he heard his student mention the law. He smiled as he looked up at Caladrin “Do you know where it originates from?” He asked as he shook his head, indicating that he was unsure as he listened. “I was never aware, I just know the law” His tutor was intrigued as he circled the young Sil’Norai “Such intelligence, I think you’ll aspire to do great things…” He grinned as he went back to the middle.
“Firstly, the origins of the law originated from the goddess, Y’shendra before she was the Bleeding, she tragically became a husk of undeath, and a figure of hate. Before, she was deemed a goddess that would bestow blessings of life and fertility amongst her followers. Now, she remains hated to humanity as all the other corrupted gods.” He explained as he turned, pacing as he gave the lecture before he looked over “And now, we obey the law that was created. Y’shendra and Azunath created the laws that bound nature together. Now I must ask this simple question.” He paused.
“What is the law?”
As Caladrin listened, he placed his hand behind his back and nodded as he blinked for a moment as he made eye contact with his teacher once more as he opened his mouth to speak “It’s a simple exchange, like everything in life there comes a price, its as simple as an item for coin, except it’s the exchange of a life for a life; any form of life appears to be susceptible to this law.” He stared at the rat as he tilted his head. “For example, you can exchange something which may be useless and pestilent in nature” His eyes glowed white as if he was in concentration as he sapped the life essence from the mouse, killing it entirely.
A blue orb formed in Caladrin hand as he weaved it in shape, before planting it like a bulb in the plant pot. It appeared that a seed had already been put in place as it suddenly grew into a large chrysanthemum flower. “And then you create something beautiful, provided that you sow the seed.” He stared proudly at his creation as Alaric walks forward to inspect the flower “It is nothing more than a simple magic trick that is none of the less, a ritual of sacrifice.” He nodded to his teacher as he immediately sapped the life essence from the flower. Caladrin watched it slowly shrivel into nothingness as his teacher formed and weaved the same blue orb in his hand.
“Very good, but we did not come for magic tricks here… I want you to learn to weaponize your cultivations… You may not be able to produce giant carnivorous plants yet, but you can certainly start with a few simple forms of weaponization. Fungi…” Caladrin thought for a moment; this was a useful skill in any druid’s arsenal. Although he was confused, how on earth was he gonna weaponise mushrooms?
Alaric brought over three mushroom varieties that had gently been pitted in their plant pots. Each one with each different purpose. Caladrin thought he might have seen them before, however he did not recognise a single one, they were brand new “Here we have the Bladed Amatria, known for being deadly on those who step on it.” He inspects the biological form of the mushroom as he tilts his head, pushing on the cap to reveal a needle “If that needle enters you, it’s a painful paralytic death… However, this one is complicated for most druids to cultivate.” For a moment, he brought over the Needlebloom, a simple yet giant mushroom which looked like it had spores that breathed. The mushroom pulsed as Caladrin goes to touch it. Alaric slapped his hand away and tutted.
“You must never disturb this mushroom, it has deadly spores which if breathed in, you’ll have to see a necromancer to remove them individually. They cling and rip at the lungs; usually people survive after breathing in only a few.” He stared at Caladrin curiously, wondering if he was ready for the test. Caladrin seemed eager to learn, to improve his knowledge on magic.
“It is important that as a druid you view your surroundings, know your plants. They can be very useful if you're in need, but also be wary that cultivating in the wrong situations can also cause havoc for yourself.” He said as he threw Caladrin a book, A Guide on Flora: The Dangerous and Deadly. It hit him in his stomach as he caught it, knowing how unprepared he was, it may have been an indication to start reading and enhancing his knowledge. He turned his attention to the third mushroom on the table.
“What’s this one?”
He asked
“That one… Why is it the most powerful hallucinogenic mushroom in the world, Mentas Rivil… Don’t touch it though or you and I are gonna be raving like Krish.” He laughed as Caladrin moved his hand away from it cautiously.
“Lets begin”
Caladrin nodded as he took another plant pot full of soil from underneath his desk as his teacher nodded before placing the spawn of a needlebloom inside. He nodded as he placed two more plant pots beside him “Place on your mask under the table, you don’t want any of those spores in your lungs''
Underneath the desk was a mask. Caladrin quickly popped on the mask, ensuring his entire nose and mouth was covered, so that he does not breathe in the spores. As he remembered, the spores were often man-slayer in large amounts. Alaric proceeded to agitate the spores in the shrooms shaking it “You may begin cultivating, you must not finish until all the spores are complete, remember you’ve been given tools, use your life energy wisely” He said. Caladrin looked as the dandelion speck-like spores were in the air, some landed in the plant pot ready to grow. Alaric placed another caged small rat on the table as he raised an eyebrow.
His teacher merely chuckled as Caladrin placed himself in the zone of full concentration before he simply sapped the life energy as ounces of turquoise sparkling particles draw from the rat, it's body begins to slowly enter a state of malnutrition before diminishing in a black corpse. The glowing energy circled around Caladrin like a wisp as he caught it. The humming ball of energy turned green as rays began to disperse from it and into the plant pots.
The distribution of life energy appeared to be even as the ball of energy began to dissipate slowly with the amount of life energy drained, making the ball slowly implode from sight as Caladrin felt a green, turquoise aura around him, continuing to cultivate. It was then Caladrin began to feel a burning sensation in his hands, before it turned into pins and needles. He stopped for a moment. The aging in his hand was obviously a bad sign. He had expelled his own life energy for the usage. Alaric looked at his student in concern as he shook his head, patting him on the shoulder as he looked at his hand, noticing it had wrinkled, like Caladrin had aged a century.
“You went too far, expelling your own life energy to cultivate” He paused “Your body must know it’s limits” He said.
“Ugh, my hand, is it ok?”
“It’s normal… Rest up, we’ll continue tomorrow… Oh and one thing.”
Caladrin raised an eyebrow as he poked his finger at the mushrooms, revealing that it was all a lie.
“Those mushrooms have been extinct for centuries, there is no such thing as weaponising mushrooms...” He laughed as Caladrin blinked at the audacity to lie to him. Yet, there was always a strangeness to the teachers over in Nardothis. The Candor was perfectly played in balance here, knowledge for the attention of the other teacher.
That was the price.
