You decide to leave Ralph's absence be - it's none of your business, after all, and you're really rather tired after all the things you've been through today. A little while later, you startle awake as you think you hear some far-off commotion, but no one else seems to notice it, and you go back to sleep.
You are abruptly woken up in the morning when
Akar wakes you all up very early in the morning, when the sky is only just starting to brighten again, silently leading you all to the sparring ground. All the Vernexes are gone, but what is clearly their handiwork isn't - Ralph's torn up corpse is lying on the ground near the center of the sparring grounds. Several students puke, and nearly everyone goes pale - except for you, that is. A human corpse isn't nearly as gross as a slig corpse, and you already had your suspicions of what happened to Ralph based on last night.. your classmates aren't nearly as stoic, however.
"This is what happens when you don't follow the rules, when you aren't cautious, when you underestimate the dangers of Shaping and Creation-handling - Ralph snuck out at night, and he got a bit too close to the Vernexes, without me around to protect him.. and this is what happened to him. Remember it, and learn from it. Nothing less than complete caution and competence is required to survive as a Shaper."Despite your lack of empathy for Ralph, you take a moment to make sure you remember this. You'd never do something so stupid as to sneak out at night and run into some Vernexes, of course, but
Akar still gives sound advice - something like this could happen to any Shaper, if they let slip their guard for even a moment.
After letting you all contemplate and/or grieve Ralph's death for a few minutes,
Akar takes you all to the magic chambers, and
Sage Bridget leads the class through some simple spell-casting, building off of the little fire-manipulation spell she taught you earlier, and by the end of the class, all of you can control and manipulate fire to a greater degree than before.
Bridget then goes on to elucidate the class on the differences between using Essence and Energy.
"Essence is, obviously and undeniably, far superior to Energy - however, even when you are fully fledged Shapers, you would all do well not to completely disregard Energy. Essence, for all its power, is volatile and at times unreliable, compared to Energy, not to mention rarer. Energy is literally everywhere - wherever you go, you can make use of the world's ambient Energy. Essence must be made - thus, it is wise for a Shaper to know how to use Energy just as well as Essence, for if you run out of Essence, making use of Energy is your only option in combat situations, unless you're a capable melee combatant. Energy is also simply generally useful for wards and other long-lasting, stationary spells - a semi-permanent spell powered by Essence has to continuously be given more Essence to maintain it, whereas with Energy, it is possible to set up your spell such that it replenishes itself using ambient Energy."After the lecture,
Bridget dismisses the class, and
Akar takes you all to the library. This time, you look into the "corrupted Essence"
Rawal spoke of, as well as incidents of rogue Shapers. It seems no one has really written any books on either subject - the Shapers like to bury their mistakes, even amongst themselves, with the exception of instilling caution in new Shapers - but Mind Tavros manages to find you a pile of reports on such incidents. They are sparse and vague, but you can still form a general idea of how Shapers deal with renegades from them.. most Shaper's reasons for going rogue are simply cited as madness, but you very much doubt that's the only reason a Shaper goes rogue, and it seems that they are usually eliminated by an Agent, and then a small group of Shapers is assigned to clean up whatever mess they've left behind. In the case of renegades an Agent can't easily reach, or that have already built up a significant force of Creations and done significant environmental harm, such as the renegade who's responsible for the creation of the Dera Reaches, that's where Guardians come in. Guardians are sent to lead forces of Creations in precise military campaigns meant to destroy the renegade, regardless of the cost, and then to secure the area while the Shaper council assesses the damage and tries to determine what can be done to rehabilitate the region. Obviously, considering the Dera Reaches, sometimes they aren't able to do much. In general, the incident reports on renegade Shapers seem to describe two extremes of renegade behavior - apparently, they tend to either be recluses hiding in hidden laboratories in the middle of nowhere, harboring subversive and rebellious thoughts and performing forbidden experiments, or complete madmen, forsaking all Shaper law and wreaking as much havoc as they can before being brought down. The first type crops up surprisingly often - the majority of these reports deal with that kind of renegade. The second type is much rarer, and ten times as worse - the Shapers are always vigilant to make sure no-one creates a new Dera Reaches.
On the topic of corrupted Essence, you can find nothing.
Tavros can only tell you that it is an advanced topic, that you will learn later. What you can infer from common sense about it, though, is that if Essence is a semi-living biological magical power source, created through an arcane and top secret alchemical process, then corrupted Essence must be, well, corrupted somehow - a different method of creation? In any case, it seems you won't be able to find out more about it for now.
You also check out a tome on poisons - apparently Shapers don't tend to consider texts like that dangerous enough to classify or conceal, considering how much more dangerous misused Shaping is, and how potent a Shaper's healing abilities are. Still, you find it immensely ironic - you don't care how good a Shaper is at healing, if you were determined to poison one, they'd die before they knew what was happening to them. It's never wise to overlook the subtle stuff just because you have access to flashier things like Shaping..
Craumpalin is still going over the basics today in alchemy, so you just read under your desk while he drones on, learning more about poisoning. You wonder how you can augment poisoning with Shaping.. is it possible to Shape up new types of poison? Shaping is all about manipulating and creating life-forms, after all, and poison is an organic substance..
Alchemy ends, and
Akar takes you all back to the dorms. Your study group agrees not to resume going out to the Shaping Chambers at night for a while - you get the feeling
Akar will be monitoring the dorms more closely for a while - it wouldn't do to have two deaths in a row, after all.
In the morning,
Zackary wakes all of you up, and begins to speak.
"As you might have heard, Ithlum College is a true Shaper research facility, as well as a school, and we develop new types of Creations here."You notice he hunches over a bit more than usual as he mentions Creation development.
"Well, today is your chance to get some first-hand experience when it comes to the kind of experiments we perform here. Today we'll be observing the testing of a new type of Creation we are attempting to develop - the Kerran. A predatory pack-creature. Follow me."Zackary leads you all into one of the large buildings excluded from your tour. Inside, it would seem to be a Creation testing facility. Set in the floor of this hall are large stone pits, gates set into their walls, presumably to let Creations in and out, and each pit is capped with a thick layer of enchanted glass, powerful runes shimmering on the surface of these glass plates. Various robed researchers gather around the edges of these testing pits, taking notes and observing. Along the walls are rows and rows of Turrets - essentially large, stationary and autonomous batons, made solely for defensive purposes. Should any experimental Creation manage to get out of a pit somehow, they would be met with a barrage of corrosive thorns. A Servile or two wanders the hall, attending to the needs of the researchers and feeding the turrets.
Zackary leads you all to the pit nearest to the door you entered through - you see eight pits in all, stretching down the hall. This makes you realize that a significant portion of Ithlum, or maybe even most of it, is located underground - all the better to collapse it entirely should things go to hell, perhaps?
You gather around the pit, and
Zackary goes to the pit’s control station - a stone counter within which is held a Creation connected to various mechanical apparatuses, through whom these devices can be controlled. He twists a few of the organic, wooden knobs projecting out of the counter, and one of the gates below lowers, and a large battle Creation is let in, one of the variety you saw following
Akar.
http://imgur.com/a/0SMIyThe gate rises and seals shut behind it as it enters, and scuttles aimlessly around the pit.
Zackary manipulates the controls again. Another gate, opposite the side the beetle-thing entered through, opens, and through it enters a new type of Creation you have not yet seen before.
http://imgur.com/a/YIMzb“That beetle-like creature is a Therkuss. The raptors are the Kerrans. The Therkuss is a Creation renowned for its toughness and durability, as well as its sheer viciousness and hostility - it takes a Shaper of Guardian Akar’s skill to keep one in line. In order to test a new battle Creation, we generally pit it against another, already established battle Creation whose capabilities are already well known. In this case, we are pitting a pack of Kerrans against this Therkuss, as we intend Kerrans to be a reliable and loyal form of pack Creation, to guard and patrol areas and prevail in battle through teamwork and numbers.”As he speaks, the Kerrans move in on and surround the Therkuss swiftly, as it snaps at them and warns them away.
“Something you must always keep in mind when developing a new Creation, students, is cost effectiveness and reliability. We do not use the Creations we use because they are the strongest or most powerful - we use them because they are cost-effective, and deemed reliable enough for their level of cost-effectiveness. With our powers, any Shaper could, with enough Essence, create an individual Creation mighty enough to raze cities and destroy armies all on its own. But what if such a Creature went rogue, broke free of said Shaper’s control? And how much Essence would such a Creature cost to create in the first place? Attempting such things is what brings catastrophe and ruin.”The Kerrans start moving in on the Therkuss, as it continues to snap at them. They are all around it, and the Therkuss, though not slow, cannot turn around with great speed. Soon the Kerrans are the ones snapping at the Therkuss, occasionally jumping back as it wheels around trying to snag one of them.
“Cost-effectiveness. Consider. You have enough Essence to create one mighty Creation, or a dozen weaker Creations. Which option do you take? A stupid person might make one mighty creature - but will not a mighty individual fall to greater numbers? You might say that quantity it its own quality, in a sense.”The Therkuss finally snags a Kerran and is about to tear it apart when the rest of the pack uses the distraction to pile onto it and begin tearing at its thick carapace. The Therkuss lets go of the Kerran it had grabbed and starts bucking and shrieking, but the Kerrans are tough to dislodge.
“This testing is a good example. Let us assign a combat effectiveness rating to these Creations. Let us say a Therkuss is a 12, and a Kerran a 3. There are 4 Kerrans in this pack, and they work well together - all together, they rate as a 28. Numbers and teamwork matter a lot. So of course they are defeating the Therkuss. But how much does each Creation cost to make, in terms of Essence? A Therkuss costs about 53 discs of Essence to create. Not cheap, but not expensive. A Kerran costs 22 discs of Essence to create. Not much Essence at all. These four Kerrans cost 88 discs of Essence total. They could probably face two Therkusses at once and still win - two Kerrans to a Therkuss, with their teamwork, is enough to beat them, although it would be close. Two Therkusses would cost 106 discs of Essence. Kerrans have the edge in cost-effectiveness, an advantage that only increases if you consider the difficulty of controlling a Therkuss - whereas Kerrans, when we’re done with them, are meant to operate without any supervision at all.”The Therkuss’s carapace has been rent open in several places, one of its legs injured at the joints. It continues to struggle stubbornly, but is clearly weakening and fatigued, injured and bleeding. The Kerrans soon finish it off, and start stripping off the Therkuss’s carapace to get at its carcass’s meat.
“My analyzation of their cost-effectiveness is a bit of an oversimplification, of course - in a tight space where the Kerrans could not dodge and maneuver, a Therkuss would prevail against a hundred Kerrans, and a Therkuss would undoubtedly be better than a pack of Kerrans at combating human foes. My point stands, however - cost-effectiveness is key, and reliability possibly more important. The Therkuss is not very reliable - it is stubborn and vicious, and more prone to turning rogue than we Shapers are comfortable with. However, it is cost effective enough to be widely used by skilled Shapers in spite of this. Therkusses make very good bodyguards and shock troops. The Kerrans will make very good patrollers and guardians of secure areas, once they are fully complete. What we try to do when developing new Creations, as Shapers, is to create Creations to fill an empty role, or to be an improvement over already existing Creations in a specific role. We Shapers have many Creations to guard areas, such as mines and pylons, but none as mobile, reliable and self-sufficient as Kerrans. They will no doubt come to be known as quite effective patrollers once we have completed them.”The gate from which the Kerrans arrived opens again, and out of it come Serviles in blue robes who usher and herd the Kerrans away from the corpse of the Therkuss, and back through the gate.
“The Kerrans, as you have seen, are already quite effective. Only two issues remain to be dealt with in their development, issues of behavior. Kerrans are already quite suited to guarding an area, and are very unlikely to go rogue. However, as is often the case, some.. Unwanted quirks have sprung up in their behavior. Such is common when developing a new Creation. In the case of the Kerrans, it is their unfortunate tendency to immediately attempt to devour any fallen enemies, and their ferocious protection of anything blue. They refuse to guard anything that is not blue. Once these problems are dealt with, however, we shall submit the Kerran design to be evaluated, and hopefully they shall be accepted and their design distributed to be used by Shaper facilities across Terrestria.”Zackary suddenly spins around to face you all and claps his hands.
“Any questions?”You:
Health - 11/11
Essence - 4/4
Energy - 8/8
XP - 1/10
Inventory - Prospective Robes, A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide to the Shaping Arts
Status - Normal
Spells:
Absorb Essence - Variable Energy Cost - Replenish your Essence reserves from a nearby source of Essence
Hold Essence - 0 Energy - Your special training allows you to hold a certain amount of Essence reflexively without it destroying you from the inside out
Boost Essence - Variable Energy Cost- If you focus and have a source of Essence nearby, you can increase you can multiply your Essence reserves by 1.5, but if you lose focus or fall unconscious, the surfeit of Essence will destroy you.
Manipulate Flame - 2 Energy - Manipulate nearby flames to a small degree, or create your own tiny source of flame.
Flare - 6 Energy - Cast a tiny bolt of flame at something. Very low fire damage.
Energy Meditation - 0 Energy - If you meditate and focus on cycling Energy through yourself while doing so, you can gradually increase your Energy reserves. Not as fast as they'll grow naturally through the use of magic, but with this there is no chance of a spell backfiring, and it's something to do when you find yourself without anything else to do.
Control Creation - Variable Essence Cost - By focusing and willing your Creations to do things, you can command them without words, and compel their complete obedience. Unnecessary when a Creation can understand verbal commands, but useful to ensure obedience. If you lose control and are distracted by something, however, the Creation may slip from your control and do as it pleases, possibly even attacking you. You can safely control one small, animalistic Creation at the moment.
Shape - Variable Essence Cost - Shape a Creation who's anatomy you have memorized.
Creation Types Known:
Flynd - A palm-sized, furry humanoid, worthless except for practice.
Skitch - A small, burrowing Creation best described as like an insectoid snake, useful for espionage or scouting.
Notable Figures:
Marcus - The only person you could possibly call a friend, if that, Marcus possesses a great amount of herbal and alchemical knowledge, due to his parentage. You have also discovered that his mother seemed to prepare him to become a Shaper, and thus he has some basic knowledge of Shaper schools that might prove useful. Attends your late-night Shaping study group.
Guardian Akar - A fearsome Guardian and your new caretaker, as well as the head of security for Ithlum College.
Sage Bridget - A business-like, non-nonsense mage, and your new teacher in magic.
Shaper Rawal - The Shaper in charge of Ithlum College.
Shaper Genna - Shaper Rawal's timid assistant.
Master Craumpalin - An aging, crotchety alchemist, and your classes alchemy teacher.
Mind Tavros - The Servant Mind who directs the Serviles in charge of maintaining the library.
Shaper Zackary - A harsh, young Shaper, who doesn't seem to want to teach you, and always seems to be hunched over and in pain. Your instructor in Shaping.
Oswild - A soon-to-be Guardian you've pegged as good grunt material. Attends your late-night Shaping study group.
Katherine - An aggressive, brusque girl particularly interested in magic and spells. Attends your late-night Shaping study group.
Arianna - A withdrawn, quiet girl, always observing, and always precise and measured in her actions. Attends your late-night Shaping study group.
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Topic: You are a Shaper! (Read 10625 times)