[PRP] Plants, Bees, and Incense [Jeremiah/Cass]

[demon_pachabel]

Cass had found a flat surface to lay out the book, the bees, and the plant when they'd returned to the court, humming as she picked up the book again to flip to the diagram they'd been looking at previously before leaving.

The sky - always grey and somehow sad looking - stretched out above them and Cass breathed in the air deeply. It smelled better than the air in Ashdown. The only thing that would have made it better was the smell of salt - the ocean.

"Okay, so show me again what we're doing so I can follow along?"

azuredreams

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item creation mechanic
Players must roll 1d10 in each post where they attempt to create their attuned item. The d10 determines the success or failure of their attempt. Four successes are required to create the item; each post must be filled out.

roll results
1-- A success! Your item has taken a little of your desired trait into itself.
2-- A failure. You have blown up one of your less expensive reagents and caused yourself minor damage.
3-- A failure. Your item has proven resistant to one of your reagents; you will need more power or more reagent to make it work.
4-- A success! Your item has taken a little more of your desired trait into itself.
5-- A failure. Your item has cracked, and must be repaired.
6-- A failure. You have blown up one of your most expensive reagents and done yourself moderate damage. The reagent must be replaced.
7-- A success! Your item has taken a little more of your desired trait into itself.
8-- A failure. You pushed too hard, and the item rejected your attempt to imbue it with its traits.
9-- A success! Your item has taken a little more of your desired trait into itself.
10-- A failure. You didn't push hard enough, and have given yourself a headache.

 

[azuredreams]

The air in other ashdown smelled better simply because it was. Of course, it was more than that. It was also that this was the real world and the place they were meant to be. Everything was easier here, not so heavy and hard to do.

As if just by being here a weight was lifted off. It was why, despite being bruised and battered, Jeremiah seemed to be doing better. The magic was healing him without conscious thought.

He nodded at Cass and smiled, as he plucked up one of the precious gemstones that had spilled form the pouch. It was a green tourmaline, something that was known to invoke abundant health and vigor (which Jeremiah mentioned in an offhand way while he was arranging things on the table for him to work with).

"Magic works best if you know what you want to achieve, if you have a clear goal in mind. Anything really is possible, it is simply ... how long it takes you achieve it that changes." The array that was in the book was drawn under the incensor (which was in the center of it). His hands pressed to the symbol, the tourmaline in hand.

"So if I want to bolster the incensor, to give it the properties I desire, then I simply focus on that. Direct the magic, with my will, to do so." Which meant Jeremiah was focusing but for all that the array lit up and the tourmaline vibrated, nothing happened.

Instead his head pounded.

He rubbed his forehead.

"One of the problems," he said wryly, "is judging how much power to apply. If it is not too much, what you want to have happen does not occur. If it is too much ..." Jeremiah shook his head. "Don't be surprised if explosions happen. At least, miniature ones."  

[azuredreams]

"Sometimes you also have to pick the right reagent to use. Especially if the one you've tried isn't responding well." Which meant Jeremiah plucked up the bit of airy plant that had been given to them. This time he laced it along the incensor, interweaving it so that there was a constant breeze blowing about it.

With his hands pressed to the array this time, he closed his eyes. When they cracked back open there was a noticeable shift in the glow of his eyes. The reflective aspect was not at all there for the moment and replaced with a luminous quality.

"Focus on wanting to give the item the attributes, having it take the traits you want," his voice was low as he spoke, "and guide the magic into doing what you want. A strong will is capable of anything."

The mossy vine began to change, it's form becoming transparent and then wispy like air itself. Eventually it seemed to sink right into the incensor and the color of it changed to match the color of the plant it had absorbed.

It was now a faint greenish-blue and a fresh breeze could be felt blowing through it.  

[azuredreams]

"Including the bees is a good idea because they produce honey which has a lot of properties." Which was not limited to but did include vitality; a key aspect they were looking for. "We are, essentially, giving them a little home."

Jeremiah squinted a moment at the bees. "I'll take half? You can work with the rest and include them." So he was bringing them close, murmuring softly as he did so. As if it would help calm them and, not so strangely, it did. The bees were not quite actual bees, it looked like, but instead little sparks of light and air that took bee shape.

At least, that was what his eyes told him when he really looked at them. This time instead of pressing his hands to the symbol under the incensor, he used his magic to whisper to the bees and encourage them to flit and fly above his hand. His other hand he pressed to the incensor and focused on it, on willing the little bees to become part of it, to recognize it as a home.

It seemed to work because instead of flying around his hand, they were darting too and fro around the incensor. Some flew into through and out of it, adding strength to the breeze and disappeared, no longer visible at all. Never mind the faint scent of what he could only describe as spring that was circulating in the air now. The strange bees glittered and Jeremiah looked to Cass with a grin. "So now we just have to get the rest of their friends with them. Strengthened the air aspect and ensure that this will promote vitality."

Then he offered a hand for Cass to take, his faith in her was there as he squeezed and let go. "Besides, I can actually help guide you if you need it." The fingers of his other hand wriggled. "With my magic."

demon_pachabel

and then cass adds MORE BEES that can actually be seen and everyone wonders DID YOU GUYS STICK A BEEHIVE IN THAT THING. (maybe they did, MAYBE THEY DID.)

 

[demon_pachabel]

Cass actually felt a little intimidated, watching Jeremiah start off their task. He had more experience than she did, and she lingered and loomed, watching with interest and a strange tinge of nervousness. Stones and everything else didn't mean anything to her, but the results were...well, they were progress.

She took the offered hand, even if only briefly. Oh boy.

"So step 1, maybe get the rest of the bees," she looked at the ones in the container and noted mentally that they weren't actually bees, "with the rest of their people. Got it." Instead of shattering the container as had happened the last time she and the bees became friends, Cass gently opened it, allowing the insects to buzz around before reaching out, with some hesitation, towards the Incensor where the others had taken host.

Come on, join the others. It smells like them, right? You like being together, right?

Maybe what she was willing was the wrong idea, but it seemed to work well enough, the lights that buzzed around her in much more chaos than they had Jeremiah circling down her arm and into the Incensor, vanishing as the first had.

Wait. They were gone. Cass pulled her hand away and frowned. Were they GONE gone?  

[demon_pachabel]

She tried to not let the VANISHING BEES bother her, though her brow creased quite purposely as she pulled a piece of the airy plant off (sorry friend) and fussed it with her hands. This was fine, this was fine, THIS WAS FINE, this was fine. It was also the most serious her magic had to be since she'd realized it was there. Sure, Jeremiah had faith in her, but...but she had NO EXPERIENCE. In fact, she'd mostly been playing with the idea, she hadn't been...

she wasn't...

Doubt seemed to just weigh in so quickly that the regent seemed to explode - with force. While she didn't topple backwards at all, and in fact she didn't seem to be moved whatsoever, blood began to drop out of her nose and down her chin.  

[demon_pachabel]

"s**t, that was bad. Sorry, sorry," she said it more to herself than to Jeremiah as she dabbed blood from her nose and eventually wiped it down the sleeve of her very nice fancy dress. Well, she definitely was breaking dress code now.

Maybe letting a slightly-light-headed novice continue to try wasn't the best policy though. Not that it particularly stopped Cass from trying, gently pulling off another leaf from the plant for a second attempt. A second attempt that somehow went even worse than the first one.

It could have been hand-positioning, it could have been that she was somewhat bothered by a bleeding nose AND the vanishing bees, but she'd barely tried to even channel any thought when the incensor suddenly made a horrible crunching noise.

Cass recoiled both hands as a small piece broke off the front.

"Maybe I...should leave this alone..." she said quietly.  

[demon_pachabel]

"Well wait, let me just..." Cass looked through the items they had to imbue their item with, gently picking up one of the stones and seeming to eye it, then the incensor. "Nope, no..that won't..." she hummed and then picked up another one. Unlike Jeremiah who actually had half a clue what he was doing, Cass was working off one source of information: Her gut.

She took another green stone and touched it gently to the front of the incensor.

Nothing happened.

"Green doesn't do it for you?"

Cass, probably not.  

[demon_pachabel]

Cass changed the green stone for one that was a brighter orange and less transparent - she'd later discover it was Sunstone - and this time she took a moment to just take a deep breath. This was fine. Everything was fine. DEEP BREATHS. Once she'd cleared her head of the worrying thoughts (the most prominent being YOU BROKE IT), she placed one hand against the symbol beneath their item as Jeremiah had done just before her, and placed the other against the Incensor.

Accept this, accept it's energy. Let it become part of you. She focused perhaps harder on the thought than she should have, the bloody nose briefly returning, but the stone seemed to vanish from her hand. Cass removed both hands.

The incensor, where the piece had cracked off, now bore a marking made of stone, covering the wound.

Were there other changes?

"Is that it? Did I at least undo my own failure there?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah did his best to stand back, though it was only Cass's gestures and her tenacity that kept him from stepping in.

He was frowning however, even as he spoke: "Blood is actually a rather potent reagent for most spellwork."

The frown got worse, hand lifting and then falling because Cass would probably have his head if he tried to step in when she had, at least once, already succeeded. It turned to a smile when he watched as the sunstone disappeared and melded with the incensor. The crack was gone and it filled its place.

"I would say," he said with no small measure of pride, "that you did more than that." There was a near constant buzzing that sounded of bees that were heard but not seen, except for the occasional glimmer of light, and the sweet, constant breeze of fresh air. It was a sunny kind of air, the kind that spoke of summer about to turn to spring and, if he truly focused, Jeremiah thought he smelled honey.

"I think this is something we can take to Silk and be proud of," Jeremiah told her, "but after I take care of you." As Cass was bleeding and he could handle that much, as he could clean her courtly attire with a flick of his hand (which he did).

So first order of business: make sure Cass was alright.

Next order of business: head to see Silk.

"Besides, I can tell you about how I did spectacularly well when I was attempting something like this the first time." A pause. "First and last time I've gotten a paper cut that was comparable to being sliced by a knife."

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

The item really had a nice feel to it and part of Cass was disappointed that now they had to give it away, never to be seen again. Then again, it was going to be part of some paperwork that practically tethered their world together. It would always, in a way, bee there.

She watched as the blood on her dress vanished and part of her looked a little disappointed. "Well, I thought it looked rather nice on me," it really brought out the blue of her dress or whatever. Cass slowly got to her feet, nearly swaying as she did so.

"Well. I feel like I..." she paused and pulled out her phone (from where) to snap a picture of the incensor they had made together with it's sweet scent and the lingering feeling of the best time of the year. "I will want to at least be able to look at this in the future. I don't know what else. Maybe something else."

It was nice.

They'd done good.

"You....man, you've had a rough couple of weeks. You stop that. Or I'll beat up the paper too."

azuredreams