(IC) Lost In Dreams [Peter]

[ericthered]

There is another match coming. The armored toad vanishes when one of the men waves his hand. He makes a near-identical copy of it in the smoke as the referee or who-ever it is counts down from ten. The guy who made the rat-thing makes his creature again, but this time its bigger and heavier ... and it leaks magic a lot faster.

The fight looks similar, but this time the furry creature is trying to flip the other one. An early hit on the toad makes it start loosing magic more quickly. After some more circling, another hit is scored, this time piercing the toad's armor. The toad begins unraveling into the familiar smoke. The rat-thing backs off to let it disintegrate. It finally falls apart into the smoke it was made from.

And just in time. The rat wasn't staying together very well either. Money wasn't done changing hands before the furry animal joined its predecessors and vanished.

There was one more fight, similar to the last one. The toad attacked head on, and both creatures were hit. The superior construction of the toad won out again, and it stayed in one piece for a good five seconds longer than its foe.

Then everyone kind of split up and went their own way.

[the_matrix_walker]

Approaching the 'toad' crafter at the fireside, Peter flashes his disarming smile and says

"That's really awesome... Is it hard to learn to bring the smoke to life like that?"

He wafts his hands over the smoke and imagines breathing life into it... He imagines this must be how the blue monkey thing came into being, but that would be a much bigger job.

[ericthered]

The man looks surprised to see Peter, but admiration and a smile can go a long way...

"Its hard to get as good as I am. Takes a lot of practice. The basics aren't too hard, I'd wager, but I've been doing it for a long time."

[the_matrix_walker]

Peter pantomimes what he remembers of the man's motions over the smoke... "Oh yeah? Think you could give me a lesson?"

'it's kind of like Pokemon....' Peter muses to himself...

while he talks to the man, he keeps trying to get a handle on the camp routines... it might be a good idea to slip into one of the jobs and look busy... He decides if anything comes up before then, he'll claim to be the dog handler's assistant, and that he doesn't know where the dog handler is. He's gotten Goliath to track before, so that could work...

[ericthered]

"Yeah! have you ever tried before? No. Ok, that makes sense, You're English. The art is called smoke-pulling. It can be used to form life, but that's tricky. Its actually easiest to start with bread. There's less to mess up that way..."

"So what's the simplest object you can think of?"

"Some of the masters will talk about a lot of theory, but you actually don't really need to know it. Its about practice, and internal strength. And control of your mind. The hands are the part everyone sees, but envisioning what you want is the most important. That and the internal muscle to do it."


OCC: Reaction roll coming up.. 12+4 = 16

[the_matrix_walker]

"The simplest? I dunno, a rock? I'm good at picturing stuff, I'll bet I can do this!" Peter lets his confidence get the better of him and boasts...

[ericthered]

"Ok, a rock. lets make it a perfectly round rock. A rock ball. Don't make it too big. Make it the perfect size to throw. Close your eyes, and picture this rock in your head. What color is it? Is it speckled? No, don't tell me, just think. Know that fact. lift the rock in your hand. how heavy is it? how rough is it? it doesn't matter how rough it is, as long as you know what it is."

"Do you know what it is? good! I'll show you some hand movements, we'll stick the rock in your head again, and then we'll have you -- what word? Karana a shadow of it out of smoke.

[the_matrix_walker]

"karana" he repeats as Peter attempts to mimic the gestures and really Feel and Know the rock, it's contours and textures, its weight and cool moisture pressing on the flesh of his hand....

[ericthered]

Peter watches the hand movements, and copies them, attempts to make his rock. He finishes his movements, and a rock drops into his hand, formed from solid smoke. Its smoking and dissolving quite quickly, but for the moment, he has a rock.

[the_matrix_walker]

"Haha! I did it!" Peter exclaims with some pride. He watches it leak away he tries pouring some more effort into it and keeping it together.

"So, with the critters, do you have to think about muscles and organs and stuff? Rocks are pretty much the same all the way through... but animals sure aren't."