Desperate Times

Vinthus bade farewell to Letitia, and raised a hand in response to her wave. Her presence seemed to anchor him to reality; he wasn't sure if it was her connection with death or something else, but he was vaguely disappointed to see her go. Now, that was something he hadn't felt for quite some time: she definitely had an effect on him, on some level.

Turning back to Rogdush, he shook his head, "There's no need for any convincing, I have no use for the strongholds of wars long ceased. If we survive this threat you and your clan are welcome to salvage what remains you can from the towers. But for now, let us focus on the matter at hand." He squinted into the distance, deep in focussed thought for the first time in centuries. "How many are there in your clan with an affinity for magic?" He looked back at the Orc as he asked his question, "And how willing would they be to learn a few things from one such as me?" A thought had suddenly occurred to him, though he would require more casters.
 
Rogdush waved at Letitia as well, before turning towards Vinthus to answer him. "I thank you for this. It means a lot to my people." He bowed his head slightly towards the necromancer. "None. Not magic, strictly speaking, at least. Though we have several priests, who all uses the Spirit's powers. I suppose at least some of us can learn a thing or two. And I do think more than me are willing to learn from you, in such times."
 
Chand was now left to ride the wolf Letitia had left him on. Chand took hold of the reigns, not quite like riding a horse but he understood the same basics. Chand watched as she had to leave so sudden... Chand gave an expression of blankness, but in truth he was quite disappointed. Chand had planned to keep with her, in hopes she would be more freely to tell her what is going on, other than the simple basics. Chand glanced at the Necromancer and Orc that was in front of him. Chand had no choice than to go with them, it was them or the wastelands. He still had no clue or plan of what to do once he got to the city. Indecisive of fighting along side them or mending his own buisness once at the town, if they take kindness to half breeds/humans.
 
Vinthus nodded, he had expected they would have priests of some description, "Your shaman priests should be able to pick up some simple things relatively easily. Even though what they're used to isn't quite magic per se, they'll have an understanding of energies deeper than that of your average man. Even so, I'll try not to show them so much as to overwhelm them. As for you, would you like to stop for a short while and see if you can pick up a few things now?" As if to entice the Orc, Vinthus' staff shimmered slightly in its holster and Soulskinner gave a little snort, then a quiet whinny.
 
"I suppose it could be useful." He replied, slowing down his wolf. "As long as it doesn't take too much time. The sooner we get home, the sooner you can start your trapping and such. But the Legion is at least a week away, I believe they said. Unless they suddenly increased their speed, of course."
 
Vinthus considered the Orc's words before concluding, "We should be able to spare a few hours." He began to make his way towards a wooded area off to their right and signalled for the Orc to follow as he explained, "You'll need a vessel to channel the energy. It's not completely necessary but will make it much simpler. I don't have time to fashion you a full staff, so a wand will have to do for now. What type of wood would you prefer? It looks like you have a choice of oak, willow, ash, elm or alder." His mood seemed to lighten a little at the prospect of having a student. Even Soulskinner seemed a little less imposing as they approached the wood.
 
Rogdush followed the necromancer towards the wood. "I'd prefer one not of wood, as it's not a very sturdy material, but I suppose I'll take one of oak then." He wondered a bit why he'd need something to channel the magic though. He and the other priests were always trained to use their hands to channel the Spirits power. He figured it had to do with the magic was a completely different kind of power to the ones he was used to.
 
"Wooden vessels are the easiest to manipulate, as well as to use, so it will have to do you for now. If you take a liking to your tuition and if we both survive this then I'll continue to teach you, and fashion you a vessel more to your liking." As they reached the wood, Vinthus dismounted and began inspecting various Oak trees, running his hand along the trunks and tapping them with the tip of his staff before moving to the next. Soulskinner trotted along obediently at his side as he moved.

He seemed to have found a tree that met his approval, as he held his staff perpendicular to it and traced a small rectangle slowly through the air, the onyx leaving a faint purple glow in its wake. The translucent shape floated in the direction of the tree and sank into the bark. For a moment nothing happened but soon enough the glow returned to the surface, enveloping a cylindrical piece of wood. The bark of the tree remained unblemished as though nothing had happened, showing no sign that the piece had been taken from its heart. The purple light dissipated as Vinthus reached out and took the piece of oak, holding it in his left hand whilst pressing the onyx of his staff to one end of it with his right. After a few moments a new, colourless light began to radiate from the wood and Vinthus held it out for Rogdush to take, "Relax your mind and pour yourself into it." He didn't expand on what Rogdush needed to do, simply leaving him to do whatever felt right. He watched with bated breath, never having seen a melding other than his own, curious of how it may differ.
 
Rogdush cautiously grabbed the end of the piece of wood. He had seen human mages with staffs, and he always wondered why they needed these sticks with them. He tried following Vinthus' instructions, and relaxed. He had no idea what he meant with pouring himself into it though, which meant that he stood there, holding the piece of wood, staring at it, trying to pour himself into it, somehow.
As nothing happened, he tried his own "magic tricks" to do it. He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating. As he opened them again, they caught on fire, and he grunted slightly of the effort. Suddenly, the point he was staring at burst into flames, covering the top of the piece of wood. He blinked a couple of times, as the fire in his eyes went out, and asked "That wasn't what was supposed to happen, was it?"
 
Chand parked his Wolf to the side of a tree awaiting the two. Chand felt himself observe in caution as the necromancer gave Rogdush options of wood for a wand. This reminded him of the wizards that did dueling before his father, out of pure entertainment and sport. But now, the magic hear is used for something more serious. Chand glanced around his surroundings, it looked familiar to his kingdom's environment, the only difference being there are more trees here. Chand gazed coily back at the two. The Orc was staring at his wand, supposedly trying to focus energy... Obviously being not use to this and failing. This made Chand grin internally to his blank barrier.
 
Vinthus watched Rogdush' fervent display intently and smiled a little at his question, "No, that was exactly what should have happened. For you, at least. My melding went quite differently... Here." He took the wand from the Orc's grasp and tapped it lightly with the end of his staff. Instantly, slender lines adorned the wood, creating intricate patterns and shining a deep red. "This is your imprint. Any time magic is used it leaves a mark, and this wand has now been permanently infused with your aura, meaning that you can channel energy through it for efficiency and even amplification." He passed Rogdush back the wand, which stopped glowing, but the patterns were still visible as darker lines in the oak. "Now. Are you ready to try something new?"
 
Rogdush held the wand, studying the patterns for a moment. "Well, I suppose now is as good time as ever. Hopefully I will actually remember to use it when the time comes..." He waved the wand a bit, attempting to do something like he'd seen seen before, done by the mages of the humans, though nothing happened.
 
Chand still watches quietly as the Necromancer had declared the wand imprinted him. His eyes flickered with fixation of the magic they were processing... Chand knew he could learn the magic as well, if, the man was willing to teach him... But, Chand knows stepping up for his task so soon wasn't likely since the Orc was under his guidance as of now. Deep in Chand's mind he was already plotting... Fighting for them would give him good recognition and possibly a good peer among them... A nice way to roll around and tweak what he can from them, to get a sense of paths he could take. The one path he knows for certain is to stick with them until they are of no use.

Chand walked the wolf closer to the two, making his appearance out of the shadows with interest.
 
Name: Cecil
Gender: Male
</SPAN>Age: 28
Species: Human
</SPAN>Family: Farther, alive, Elliot Gildare. Mother, deceased, Rosemary Gildare. No siblings, no family of his own, doesn't partially want a family either.</SPAN>
Personality: Mostly calm and collected coming of as a bit cold with lack of personal interest in others problems though will become very aggressive if someone tries to enslave rape or kill others, on the other hand will probably try to not get involved in a simple dispute or mugging.</SPAN>
History: Cecil grew up in a poor village, plagued by bandits and slavers, his mother dying at birth his farther forced him to work the farm at a young age to help ends meet, unfortunately Cecil was too young to work for long and didn't bring enough money in. In a moment of greed his farther sold him to slavers, from there on he saw the worst of every spices and was disgusted by everyone in general, it was only when sold as a slave to work once again on a farm did he find how natural he was with a scythe, after the owners after a drunk night forgot to lock him up, he snuck in to the work shed taking his scythe using it to kill his masters and free the other slaves. From there on he made it his mission to kill all slavers and learn to use mind magic to know who if anyone could be trusted, hearing about the demons wishing to kill and enslave everyone has made them Cecil's most hated enemy and will do anything to stop them. </SPAN>
Current circumstance: Trying to find a way to stop the legions of demons before they can enslave the whole of Skyfall</SPAN>
 
Cecil was in deep thought as he flicked his weapon of choice, trying to help remove the blood that stained it edge, seeing that it wasn't enough to remove the dirty blood of the slaver he had hunted down a massacred earlier he sighed, took out a rough piece of cloth from his coat pocket and carefully started wiping it down, lovingly almost, like a mother trying to clean up a messy child.</SPAN>

When the scythe was clean enough to his satisfaction he returned to his thoughts, he knew that the demon horde was coming from the north but wasn't quiet sure what to do about it, try to find some adventures and head off on a suicide mission to kill them all? Go of solo maybe using stealth to try and find there leader and then die from all the other demons, do it that way, or he could find a nearby town with good defenses and help stop the horde from there.
</SPAN>
Looking around the forest he was in, raven black hair and light blue eyes being the only thing distinguishable as looking out, the rest of his face was covered by his equally black coat hooded coat, slowly turning around scouring the area looking for either people or wild animals not that there was much of a difference to him, he had been on this pass for awhile now lot of slavers camped near the wasteland as no one looked for them there.</SPAN>

If his map was correct he was now closing in on an Orcish settlement, if that was the case he doubted any slavers where around and he could see what the Orcs were planning to do about the invasion and choose his response accordingly, the sky was lowering and Cecil doubted he could reach the Orc town by night so started getting things ready for the night, gathering sticks together for a fire taking a few of the cheap rations he had out for a meal and gathered a pile of leaves together to make the ground slightly more comfy, lighting the makeshift bonfire and laying his scythe down nearby just in case, Cecil stated to nibble at his rations closed his eyes letting himself relax.</SPAN>
 
Vinthus actually allowed himself something which vaguely resembled a chuckle at the sight of Rogdush blindly waving the wand, "As you should know yourself, wielding a power like magic is a lot more than simply making gestures and hoping for the best... here." He flicked his staff forwards in a lightening-fast movement, and a butterfly dropped to the floor. Not dead, but stunned. "The most basic thing I can show you is simply killing. You should know, however, that whilst being simple to do, the amount of energy it takes to do is directly proportionate to the life force of whatever you're killing: so it should be used on anything other than small animals only if absolutely necessary. Even I couldn't kill a man outright without being exceptionally drained. A butterfly, on the other hand, should take next to no effort - so long as you get it right." He signalled for Rogdush to step toward the insect, which was now back in the air, though it was stationary. "Empty your mind of all thoughts except the end of it's life, and focus all your energy into that single concentrated idea, using the wand to channel the power."
 
"Killing things smaller than me is it's main use? The thing I can do with my hands anyway? Or just using the stick?" The Orc had expected a bit more from the magic, though, as he said, it was but the most basic thing. Without waiting for an answer, he tried to end the little butterfly's life. He concentrated hard on the end of the bug's life, while pointing the wand at it. The butterfly twitched, before it started flapping with its wings, as if it's life depended on it.
 
"Yes, it's almost obsolete, but as I said it's the simplest thing to begin teaching with." Vinthus watched as Rogdush pointed the wand at the butterfly, and as it began to twitch, he could see that the Orc was close. "Remember: the wand is a bridge to your goal, not the goal itself. You're going through it, not stopping at it." He was mildly surprised at how easily the Orc seemed to be adapting to the new concepts, and his mind filled with thoughts of apprenticeship, seeing plenty of potential in him.
 
"Through it, not the goal..." He compared it with the closest thing he already knew of; Channeling the power of the Spirits through his weapon. It was one of the hardest things to learn as a priest, yet channeling through this wand was supposed to be the easiest to learn with magic. "No matter" He thought, before once again emptying his mind of all but the death of the butterfly. He tried using what he knew from before with what he was trying to learn. This time, the butterfly did not twitch, but rather, it fell to the ground, motionless and dead.
 
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