Build A Better You

[westfallcorndog]

A lovely fall day (but aren’t they all, in their own way?) finds plaid-shirted Harrowheart on a bench in the Parklands. His legs sprawl out in front of him, his arms loop around the back of the bench, and his hands – detached and floating magically just above his lap – are laced at the fingers, anchored together in the air. Despite the space he perhaps rudely takes up, he’s mindfully left room next to himself for at least one other person should they decide to join him. He’s noticed in the Nexus that when people talk, other people have a tendency to arrive, and so he pays no mind to how many or how few people are around.

“It’s Hallow’s End where I come from,” he says. “It’s a Fall festival. Used to be about the harvest, and I’m from a farmin’ land, so that was always good for me... But now it’s about a little more. During Hallow’s End some folks on my world freed themselves from an evil king who held ‘em under a spell that made ‘em lose control of their minds. Now folks all over my world celebrate Hallow’s End as a time to reflect on who they are, who they want to be, and where they came from. We think about what’s holdin’ us back in the present from achievin’ our dreams. We remember times when we weren’t allowed to be ourselves and say goodbye to grudges from our past so we can move on and be free from negativity. Guess you could say it’s a holiday about tearin’ yourself down and buildin’ yourself back up a little better.”

He shrugs, and with a welcoming smile asks, “So? What’s somethin’ you once needed or still need to free yourself from so you can live the life you want?"

Comments

[ixis]

"Hah! Paladins. Yes. I'm quite familiar. So you're the acid opposite of one? That makes sense, if you can beckon shadows like you'd shown me. And that makes you infinitely more endearing right off the bat." While that could be construed as a red flag, who actually likes paladins? Paladins don't even like other paladins. Naugus is just in-line with the universe here.

"And ice powers! Vale's bones, why haven't you shown those yet? Come now, let's see it." The wizard straightens up and adjusts his hold on his staff, waving the worgen onward to demonstration!

[westfallcorndog]

Harrow's ears swivel around and flatten against his mane. He paws bashfully at his fluffy cheeks. "Shoot," he growls shyly. "Now you're goin' and flatterin' me, and after all I said about you earlier? Man, I just wanna say I didn't really mean you're a two-bit shaman. Your crystal thing's real cool. If it don't offend you I'd really love to take that leaf home and give it to my boyfriend. Guy likes makin' jewelry, I bet he'll be real charmed."

Then, having said that, he takes a few steps backwards to give himself a two yard distance from Ixis. He raises one hand into the air and the other he swings in circles, whirling like a windmill. A breeze not unlike the one on which Ixis rode in starts up around him, but more than an autumn's gust this air is brutally cold. What little water was in the air freezes into shards of ice and flakes of snow that swirl around him, whipping up his fur.

The winter winds subside the moment he lowers his hands. His ears flick back and forth, torn between listening closely and expressing some small amount of guilt. "It ain't as fun to watch when there ain't no one around to freeze. The point of it's to get folks trapped up in the winds. Confuses 'em, tears up their skin, freezes their feet to the ground. Sometimes their whole bodies get frozen."

Finally his ears settle flat against his mane. "Probably ain't right to talk about violence like that in a good place like this."

[ixis]

Regarding the leaf, Naugus waves it off. "Of course, of course, by all means. I can always provide more, if need be. Childsplay, turning small objects such as that. Done with barely a thought!"

Once the demonstration begin, Naugus watches with interest. But then shudders when the chill starts to settle in. And then it grows even more oppressive than just a chill; it's downright freezing. Enough that a fresh shudder is more than just a reaction to the cold; the mage turns to ice in a creeping, cracking formation starting from his horn and ending at his tail with a final flick. There. You can't be cold if you ARE cold.

"Impressive all the same," he responds, his voice somehow more hollow, creaking, like ice being stepped on or shifting. "Quite the chill brought on in short order. What else?"

[westfallcorndog]

Ixis turning to ice at first gives Harrowheart a start. Did his spell do that?! Luckily, no. Ixis transformed himself all on his own, but that's a feat all its own and he has to pay the man is due respect. Curiously he runs the back of his furred paw over the ice that once was Ixis's cheek. No romo.

"You're pure ice. And shadow before... and your crystals... So you're an alchemist, aren't you? You transmute one thing to another! Even yourself..."

Consider him fully impressed!

"That's a hard act to follow," he admits with a self-conscious laugh. "Let's see..."

While he can't transform his whole being to ice, he does his best to demonstrate his closes approximation: a full-body covering of thick ice that's capable of moving as he does. Unfortunately the spell doesn't last long, and he hurries to try something else. He claps his hands together and when he pulls them apart chains of ice begin to form. The chain grows as long as he can spread his arms, which is considerable given his worgen wingspan. When he's through with the casting he delicately drapes the chain boa over Ixis's shoulders and fights a smile.

"Very fashionable," he says quietly. "Sorry I'm no ice master. Shadow's what I'm really made for, and none of the spells that might wow ya are made for showin' off in friendly ways."

[ixis]

Ugh, he's being touched. He flinches back from the contact, raising his crab claw to rebuff any further attempts of that nature. Even if he doesn't feel as much when he's turned to ice, the notion is displeasing.

"Alchemy? Perhaps. Ixian magic has been compared to it in the past. Perhaps its forging was based in it once upon a time. As it is very much transforming one to the other; they're all connected, all threaded together, one bleeding into the other rather than being absolutes that stand alone. Very few seem to glean that."

The further demonstrations are watched with interest, the ice encasement even getting an approving nod from the mage. When he's gifted with the ice chain, Naugus plucks it up in that claw of his, looking it over.

"Intricate work for something summoned so swiftly. Not bad at all, boy. Not bad at all." Pulling the chain from his neck and observing it, he appears to cast another spell with little more than a thought, the chain pulling in on itself, forming into a solid orb of ice. It then gets a high toss up into the air, where it bursts into flames and vanishes into smoke. Naugus grins, his teeth like pointy icicles.

[westfallcorndog]

Amazing! Harrow watches with perked ears and wide eyes. He playfully cuffs Naugus's shoulder, gentle and mindful of his icy form.

"Man, you really got some spells under your belt! What do you do on your world that you know all this, 'specially considerin' you know more than everyone else. Are you the archmage on your planet? Shoot, I shoulda had better manners! I don't think I even asked your name, man!"

After all this time Harrow finally offers a paw to shake. He introduces himself with a smile. "I'm Harrowheart. And you are?..."

[ixis]

Now that all the ice has been dealt with, Naugus clicks his fingers and he melts back into a form of flesh and blood.

"I used to be the royal mage for the largest and most diverse Mobian kingdom. I did it for nearly three generations of kings no less. No one is a greater mage than I; I can assure you of that." Good thing Verity isn't around to call him on that light bluff. There's one guy who's greater, but we don't talk about him, the pachydermic pest.

The hand is taken and shaken firmly! "Ixis Naugus, sorcerer supreme and master of the elements! A pleasure, I'm sure."