City: Amoren
Location: An Inn close to City Center
Time: Evening
47th of Glade, 120 AV
Lamplight burned bright as Reima knelt at the center of her room. Her hands rested on the small figure of the Eye of Ulen before her, eyes closed as the cold electricity of her negation magic flowed through her body. A steady calm had come over her as she gently tapped her fingers, one at a time, against the figure as the aether wrapped itself again and again around it. The anchor slowly and steadily began to tape shape, molding itself bit by bit. She held the image in mind of the room of glass, like before, though this room possessed only two windows. The vision formed and crystallized in her minds eye, and the magic in her veins responded with a snap as the Gateway was completed.
Opening her eyes the Fae stood and pressed her fists into the small of her back, leaning back slightly with a groan as she struggled to shake off the ache that had begun to settle there. The day had been a long one. 6 services, two in the cathedral and the rest at the fountain near the edge of Amoren. What that had translated to was a day filled with walking, and given her size and the number of people in the city that also meant she spent a lot of time dodging out of the way of people who paid little to no attention to anything below their line of sight. Rubbing a hand over her tired eyes Reima looked around her small room, eyes locking on two other figurines that were placed at opposite corners of the space.
Earlier that evening Reima had used those to objects to create what she termed Base Anchors. These were anchors that were something similar to placeholders. The only parameters they held were ones that allowed a connection to a gateway, and the ability to activate and later deactivate a shield. Beyond that they were similar to blank canvass that the Fae could go back and add to at a later time. Today Reima wanted to expand upon the discoveries she had made a few days prior. What she knew now was that Anchors, while connected to a gateway, could be given different parameters that when utilized together generated a single shield. That shield would do just what it was told based on the parameters given, and after deactivating the shield Reima could select which anchors she wanted to connect with and use their parameters when the next shield was activated. What this mean to the Fae was that, given enough time, she could create a space in which she could operate with a level of flexibility and freedom she had never been able to accomplish before.
A bitter smile came to her lips as she remembered her days as a guard. She excelled in what her trainer called monitoring and mitigation. Through her transposition and specific placement of Barriers she was able to give her Master insight and control over a finite area. That control, however, was tenuous. Her barriers, while effective, were simplistic. She had come to realize that her methods up until this point were akin to a child's first time learning her numbers. Certainly she could do the simplest of acts of addition and subtraction, a skill which was of course of great importance. That said the utility of this level of numeric paled in comparison to what could be accomplished with the greater concepts of trigonometry, and the even higher forms that she had been told existed beyond that. Math that could explain more than just the small changes in inventory or counting of men in a building. Negation was much the same. She had been using shields like a barbarian would a club, swinging it without thought and hoping that sheer force and power would be enough to stop her foes. Now Reima had come to know that there was another way. Her negation would not be a club, but a scalpel that would cut only as she directed.
Crouching Reima took the Gateway in her hands once more, closing her eyes as she focused on forming the visual of the room. The chilling tingle of magic filled her as she moved to the windows of her constructed gateway, opening each and grabbing the tethers of Aether. These she used to connect the Gateway to the two Base Anchors, and when the connection was in place the thrum of power in the room made her shiver and smile. Now, through the anchor in her hand she had a connection to each of the two Base Anchors at opposite positions in the room. She was not physically close to them, however, she was still connected to them like she would be if they were held in her very hands. With that being the case...
The Fae chose one of the Anchors and sent her senses across the magical bridge until she could imagine herself floating within it. It was like stepping into an empty room with a single opening back to the Gateway. She could feel the emptiness, just as she did when she would task an anchor for a particular purpose. So she began this process. She imagined what she wanted the anchor to become, a simple shield. She defined its shape in her mind, triangular that would repel light from it. This had become her go to while working with the concepts of the Aether Network. It was a simple one, and it gave something visible that she could test and see with her physical eyes when done. The emptiness of the anchor began to fill then, magic and intent flowing into it as the parameters were set in place. When she activated it the anchor would form a triangular shield that faced toward the center of the room, reflecting the lantern light toward her. The mental space trembled, and then settled as the tasking was accepted.
Retreating back to the Gateway Reima allowed herself a moment to rest and collect her thoughts. The next step was something she had done many times before, but this time she would do it while within her own Network. First she extended her consciousness until she could feel both anchors at the end of their connections. Through that sense she imagined herself holding the two anchors in the palms of her etheric hands. She brought the two close, a spark of will causing a strand of aether to pull away from the finished anchor and connect to the still untasked one. Finally with a thought the parameters were copied, sailing through the connection and filling the 2nd anchor until it was a mirror of the first. The connection then was broken and Reima withdrew from the connection, settling back inside of the gateway as she opened her eyes.
One hand raised to the anchor on her left, a command sent down that connection to activate. A shimmering triangular shield appeared. crackling blue at the edges as the red-orange light of the lamp was reflected toward her. Nodding Reima then looked toward the anchor on her right and repeated this mental command. An identical shield appeared there, shining the light of the lantern down on the fae at the center of the room.
Triumph filled Reima's heart, and with a wave she collapsed both shields and the lights around her returned to normal. She could sense that both anchors had been depleted, the one on the left more so than the right as it was used as the template for the latter. She still held the connection with the gateway, an with some curiosity she sent a trickle of power into the gateway and directed it toward the anchor on the left. IT was faint at first, and slower than if she had been touching it directly, but she could sense the anchor slowly beginning to repair and form up once more.
A sudden wave of tiredness washed over the Fae and she was forced to cut the flow of power. Still, it was as she had hoped. If the anchors were a part of the network she could utilize her magic to modify and manipulate them like she would any single anchor.
This will work. Reima thought as she sat back on her rear, pressing her face into her hands, It is imperfect, but this is it. I just have to flesh out the pieces...
Looking up Reima stared at the figure at her feat. The methods were still crude. Was she limited to just one gateway? How extensive could she make the network? How much control could she really have over its different parts?
"It isn't enough." The words came unbidden, but she knew them to be true, "The more anchors there are, the more difficult it will be to control. The mental leaps it would require to control a vast network... And keeping track of the power?" She bit her lip, "I need a way to control the connections that don't require my conscious effort... And a way to keep the anchors active and powered even when I am not there to funnel power."
The more she thought the more her mind began to real and she once again pressed her face into her heads. Shaking her head she set it aside for now. Tonight was a success. She shouldn't rush it. That was what caused all of this in the first place.
