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 Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:11 am
She did not seem to like him turning the discussion to her. Then again, he was asking her rather important questions in a way. The plans one drow made often were against another. It was dangerouse allowing another to know what one was planning. Mas D'aun knew that the information he was going to run off could definatly get him into deep trouble. If Quavv found out she'd likely lock him up until she became Matron, then she could properly punish him. Mas really did not like the idea of being punished. He had never once been hurt and was not looking forwards to eventually feeling the pain of a displeased female.
The force of Tri-no's exhaled breath gave him a minor hint as to how much thought she had needed to put into her words. Unlike Mas who had just let them tumble out. The tell tale signs of stress getting to ones self...you simply stopped caring just to ease up that unpleasent feeling.
"My my yes..." He slowly agreed with a slight nodding of his head. "It sounds like you might want to keep your aunt around really. With the family so pleased with her rule, it would be a very short lived victory if you dispatched her. Besides, so long as she is benefitting your House you could continue to let her do so until such a time that she might falter. Then you could use that as a way to turn the house against her. I must say though..."
Mas sat himself up properly on the beds edge now. "You have a far more difficult task set before you then I do."
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:39 am
"You're right. I'm in no position to dispose of the Matron, anyway. If necessary, I will resort to subterfuge, but I would rather not work against my own House, as I hope to lead it someday, and will have to deal with whatever problems I create. It's not so difficult, mostly. It's just a matter of patience and diplomacy." The problem was that she didn't really possess either trait in any great quantity.
With an effort Tri-no stilled her trembling hands. He was not going to betray her, and she had an idea how to make sure of that, though he might not agree to it. It was really the only way either could be certain the other would not betray them.
"I am, you might have noticed, uneasy sharing this with you. For both our safeties, would you be willing to swear to a mutual pact of secrecy, bound with magic?"
She knew how to cast that, though she had never tried it because students of magecraft were warned against casting such binding spells, because they were virtually unbreakable except by mutual agreement, and even then, the break was not always "clean." There was one instance she read about in which the mages were able to break the binding, but neither was able to utter the word "I" ever again because of some quirk in either the casting or the binding. It had amused her when she read about it, and even now it amused her. She would never want to break such a pact anyway. It would never be to her benefit to do so.
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:01 am
"The is absolutly true.... You wouldn't want to end up ruining your House just for the sake of leading it. It just doesn't make it desierable anymore." Mas D'aun may have spoken the words but he had a completely different perspective on it. If he could not lead Barrith he really would prefer it be destroied. If he could not have it no one should! Still, he was only a male, and as hard as he tried to think of a way to turn---
"Ah!?" Tri-no's magical pact suggestion caught him slightly off guard. More then a little startled, he couldn't help blinkng his blue eyes at her.
"You want to...make a magical pact...to ensure I don't...run off to this aunt of yours...or your cousin more likely...a female whom you've already warned me abut having...pursuasive skills of the kind I really am not inclined to like? No...absolutly not."
Mas D'aun lifted his hand and made a swift cutting gesture through the air.
"You've already admitted in less words that your no master of the magical arts. I'm certainly not very skilled with them yet. I am not agreeing to any sort of magical bonds made by anyone who is not at least completed with their training. There are too many things that could go wrong and I like my hair as it is."
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:15 am
Tri-no's eyes narrowed for half an instant, but the returned to their normal state. His concern was irritating, but not without merit. She would simply have to persuade him. When he mentioned his hair, she gave a genuine smile. Someone who had his priorities straight.
"It's more of an in-case sort of thing. Besides, I would be swearing the same thing, and putting my hair in exactly the same sort of danger. There's no risk inherent in forming the pact. It's breaking it that can pose problems. I can't really foresee a future in which either of us would wish to tell someone else of the other's plans. Can you?"
She began to untangle the braids she'd made in the tassels now that her fingers and hands were more steady. As she did so, she studied her fingernails, which were long, beautifully cared for, and coated with a pale violet varnish. Brizthara had been threatening to make her trim her nails, warning that they would only break when she had to start working with ingredients. Brizthara preferred to prepare her spell components for herself, rather than buy them already made up, which was hard on the hands and nails, apparently. Tri-no wondered if everyone else's mentor was as difficult as Brizthara. Probably not.
"And I find it incredibly unlikely that you would ever go to my cousin or aunt, just as I am unlikely to have many dealings with Qavvira. Even so, it is less likely my family would ask you about my plans, or vice versa. As I said, it is merely a precaution." She added teasingly, "I could get drunk, you know, and spill all your secrets."
She did like to drink, but she was not prone to alcoholic excesses. She hated waking up with a hangover. There was no magic in the world which could cure hangovers, Brizthara said. They just delayed them and they would accumulate until one day you found yourself incapacitated with the mother of all hangovers. Probably a day you can't afford to be incapacitated.
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:35 am
"No...no...Absolutly utterly no Tri-no." Mas D'aun continued to insist. His fluttery hand gestures had ceased. In part Mas D'aun feared magical gease or bonding of any type. Even though it was just a 'precaution' against something 'never likely to happen' did not make him any easier. Even if it was that she would be taking it too.
Besides...Mas D'aun was not familar with those types of spells yet. For all he knew she could be casting a completely different spell on him and he wouldn't know it until she was done. Yes, even the feminine boy that he was had minor paranoia about placeing his pretty self into the hands of another.
"Given the likely hood of all this not happening I am inclined to feel that there is no need to take the chance at all in casting such a spell." And for that matter Mas D'aun could always find it interesting or important in the future to relay this discussion to another. Even if it were ages beyond mattering, if he had a son such talk might hold some sort of merit for him...or something...
Mas D'aun flipped a finger into the air, and waved it wildly at Tri-no as she teased him about a drinking slip up.
"Ah! No no. You'll not fool me with that little ploy Tri-no. Your even less likely to get drunk then I. You'd be more likely to slip upon that tongue of yours your own problems before a once time encounter with me. Your dislike of your cousin and resentment of your Aunt would be the first things past those pretty lips! My answer remains No."
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:40 pm
Tri-no sighed, wondering what Shri would have done if she'd met with this sort of stubborn reluctance. The matter wouldn't have come up. Shri would have the person in Mas' position wound so tightly he would perform acts of self-mutilation before betraying her trust. Goddess, how she hated her cousin. Everything came so easily to her because she was willing to use her beauty to barter for what she wanted. Well, things would change. If the opportunity arose, Tri-no would be only to happy to perform acts of mutilation on Shrisin. Let her try to sleep her way into and out of everything with a face like a drider's scrotum.
"Mutilation is a distinctly pleasing possibility," she mused. Then she realized what that must sound like to Mas and hastened to clarify: "I mean for my cousin. Should the opportunity arise, it would be very satisfying to destroy her good looks. Without them, I doubt anyone would take much notice of her."
"I can see I've managed to argue you out of seeing the necessity for such a precaution. Very well. But if my 'pretty lips' do happen to slip, I shall endeavor to spill your secrets first, just to spite you." She pursed the portion of her anatomy under discussion in a half-pouting moue.
"Should we turn to more pleasant topics, then? Have you any suggestions?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:20 pm
Tri-no had a unpleasent look on her face. It was one of those maliscious day dream looks where you just knew they were thinking about something very painful. Or worse. Mas D'aun felt a flicker of panic as he sat waiting for her to speak again after his very stubborn refusal.
A male refusing a female, and of a House no less...that was not excatly a wise thing for him to have done, and he felt a sense of unease. If she insisted, would he be able to continue telling her no? She had not gotten very aggressive with him though..she seemed more intent on pursuading him then inflicting pain upon him to get what she wanted.
"Mutilation!?" Oh yes! Mas D'aun did indeed think she had been talking about him for a moment. His hands clapped to his cheeks with wild eyed shock. So help him if she stood up right now he'd bolt! Her immediate assurance that he was not the one she had been speaking of was not quite as calming as she might have thought. Mutilation was a serious matter!
"Well then if you must you must. A woman must be allowed a little spite now and then neh?" Mas lightly replied as he dropped his hands from his cheeks. "Yes, I agree, a more pleasent topic would be appreciated..." But what?
"So...Who does your nails? I can see from overe here that they are just lovely...."
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:49 pm
Judging by Mas' reaction, she had upset him a great deal with her accidentally vocalized thoughts. She couldn't quite see why. Surely mutilation was used as punishment here, too. House Baen'duis believed in using mutilation for a variety of purposes. Of course, they performed most of this using whips or other similar weapons, and most of the time it was entirely consentual, but occasionally it was used to punish as well. That was when nasty scars were left in visible places. That was what she meant by mutilation. She supposed Mas was imagining the more severe forms practiced by others, which left people without body parts or with festering sores or something. She'd never cared for things which festered.
When Mas brought up her nails she sighed in a light puff of air and her eyes glanced briefly upward, almost like she was rolling them, but not quite. Was that really the best he could come up with? Well, she could discuss her nails if he felt more comfortable doing so. He was clearly uncomfortable with mutilation. It wasn't a pleasant topic, though, so she pushed it from her mind to concentrate on the topic he'd proposed, which almost made her sigh again.
"At home in Llurth Dreir there's a very spoiled male who puts on all sorts of airs, but has a very good eye for color and detail. His name is Irvos, and he doees wonderful things with hair and nails. He was the one who recommended my current style and coloration. I got it done in celebration of my mage's staff."
The tips of her hair did, after all, match the amethyst dust which had been made into a focus on the head of her staff. They spelled out her name in the runic language of magecraft, and also had an anti-theft spell worked into them. She had been particularly impressed with the craftsmanship there. It was a more interesting topic to her than her nails.
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 11:17 am
The topic had just...been a easy one to switch to. It was one of the first things that had flitted into mas D'auns mind and so...there it was...a utterly irrevelent topic change. Still, he was pleased that they had begun to speak of different things.
"Hmmm. It sounds like he at least has a skill you can put to your own use when you wish it." Mas commented in accordance to the male.
"I do like your hair. It is very eye catching." Wow...this conversation was so..shallow. Mas felt a flickering moment of dissappointment in himself. He would have much to re-think about himself later...
"I have not yet recieved my own staff yet. I have been considering what sort I would like though... Though I think the mage school I decide to join will greatly influence the style and funcuality of my own staff. Yours is...rather impressive. What sort of spells do you have attuned to it? I've been thinking of a sort of 'Return' or 'Fetch' spell should I be disarmed."
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:31 am
"For a fee, certainly," Tri-no acknowledged. "Irvos has quite the ego. But he's worth it. Though I'm not sure 'eye-catching' is exactly the look I was going for."
She was relieved when he latched onto the new topic of mages' staffs. She enjoyed talking about shallower topics when it was relevent to the situation, but sometimes she simply didn't, for reasons inexplicable. It probably had something to do with the lingering feelings of unease which came from having discussed even some of her plans for dealing with Shri. It was harder to devote as much of her mind and thoughts to a discussion about hair and nails than it was to make herself mind a conversation about more serious matters.
"Honestly, my mistress allows me to carry the staff, but that's all I'm supposed to do with it. It was given to me with a form of anti-theft spell, but I had nothing to do with that. I've been wishing the person who crafted it had specified which spell, exactly, she used, since that effects my choice of spells for attunement."
She'd been taught that some spells didn't react very well when applied to the same object. She'd asked Brizthara to tell her what spell was already on the staff, but Brizthara had decided to make it a learning opportunity for her and told her to figure it out for herself. In her limited spare time, Tri-no had been testing it, and had so far determined that the anti-theft spell didn't actually keep people from taking it from her. Of course, she knew they were trying to, and that could be a factor in the spell's components. After all, if you know a thing's going to be taken and you've told someone to try to take it, is it really theft?
"Those both sound like very practical spells. I'm fairly certain disarmament doesn't count as theft, so I'll have to think about attuning some variant on those spells, as well." She fingered the amethyst workings on her staff fondly. She was vain enough to like that they spelled her name. "I wouldn't mind having some sort of transport spell either, should I need to make an expedited exit."
She'd not really devoted a great deal of thought to the matter, being absorbed with the requisite discovery of what spell it already had in or on it. She was fairly certained the anti-theft spell wasn't an attuned spell, but one which had been laid on the staff. There was some distinction, but that was of minimal help.
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 3:09 pm
Mas D'aun felt just a few flickers of jealousy. Though in truth it was more admiration. Though Tri-no seemed to be near to his own level of wizardry, or perhaps a level above, she already seemed to have far more then mas could hope for at this point. She got to leave and wander the cities, such a freedom! And her staff...even if she had not fully attuned it yet or knew all of it's secrets, it was far more then what he had!
"I am glad you agree with me. I'm concerned that if I rely too much on my staff that losing it would be a great disadvantage. A transport spell would be immensely useful...as well as a shielding spell do you think? There are just so many different spells that a wizard could make such great use of. It's hard to choose just one or two in the begning." Mas tilted his head slightly as he mulled over his hopeful options.
"Now I've started to think on it... I think I have a rather interesting idea for my staff. I wonder if it is possible to crystalize Beholder eyes? If I could use those as focus' for the magic of the staff it's possible I could have a multitude of useful spells at my call...Hnnn. But it would be terribly unsettling to weild and would clue others in about the nature of the staff..."
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:01 am
Tri-no hadn't considered that there could be dangers inherent in relying too heavily on one's staff. She had never known her mistress to use her staff for anything beyond support while walking or to discipline wayward students, but she had never supposed that there might be a reason behind it except to show off that she didn't need to use her staff. Tri-no had thought it in rather poor taste on Brizthara's part to flaunt her power and mastery that way, but it was possible that, maybe, she was being cautious, unwilling to allow her staff to become a magical crutch.
"Do you mean a shielding spell for yourself?" she asked. "To keep others' attacks from striking you? That's a sound idea, but there're still risks with that. I mean, you can't possibly shield against every possibility with just one spell, but a general shielding spell should deflect at least an attack which wasn't given some thought and/or planning."
She thought about the idea of a transport spell. That sounded incredibly useful, though her education regarding transport spells was limited. Brizthara only let her use them on small, inanimate objects, like stones, and only between places within view. Brizthara said she could work her way up to more complex structures, such as plants, and then small living animals like insects, and eventually rodents. She would not learn to transport a higher lifeform like herself for some time. Brizthara threatened years, if Tri-no didn'tstart applying herself more to her studies.
Tri-no suppressed a shudder at the thought of crystalizing Beholder eyes for a focus. It would definitely give people advance warning for what sort of a staff it was. It would also be fairly unpleasant.
"It sounds like an interesting idea. Definitely unsettling. Probably deter thieves all by itself." She smirked.
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:49 pm
"Yes. There are some spells that generate shields of different sorts. I suppose I would want it to be a shield generatedpurposefully to ward off a physical attack though. There are too many ways a magical attack can get thgough a shield and I'd hate to waste magic on a shield that may be ineffective. I think there is a shield spell that creates a type of force wall directly in front of you. I need to find it though to be sure. It won't protect my back, but it will keep a warrior from striking me while I work on a better spell to smash him...or her."
Actually, the more Mas learned about magic the more he really did find he favored it. He also found that he enjoyed discussing magical ideas with someone else.
"I am glad you approve! I think it will be a grand idea so long as I can manage to effectively utilize it. Perhaps I will do some research on it and...ah... at a later time maybe I could even...share some of my research with you?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 1:30 pm
"A good point. I find it unlikely anyone would try to assault me physically, though. There are certain advantages to being female, one of which being that no one would dare attack me so openly."
Of course, there were further problems she had with a shielding spell such as Mas had mentioned. Her House's worship practices, for instance, relied fairly heavily on physical penance. Having a staff which prevented the House priestesses from performing their Goddess-given tasks would be a bad idea. Naturally, she could leave her staff aside, but she could think of no mage who would willingly be parted from her or his staff, especially not to submit to a beating. It occasionally occurred to her that her House was not well set up for mages.
"I'd be more concerned about people coming up on me from behind, personally, but as I've said, it's unlikely any would take that tack. They'd be more likely to try a subtler form of attack, such assassination or using magic to assist them in stealth."
The idea of someone else doing research that did not require work on her part was of particular interest to Tri-no, though she certainly would not put it that way. It was a sure way to make a person feel used or taken advantage of, and no one, particularly not among the drow, liked to feel that way. She still liked the idea of him "sharing research" with her. She'd never managed to convince anyone else that would be a good arrangement. Maybe because she'd never made an attempt to do so. Brizthara would have flayed her for merely considering it. If she'd caught her at it. The understanding in all parts of the Underdark was, of course, that cheating was acceptable if one didn't get caught at it.
She tilted her head to one side as she gave the matter further thought, and then said, "I would appreciate that. My own means of research are somewhat limited."
What that meant was that Brizthara would not be pleased if she found her conducting research on that topic while not doing the work she was assigned.
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 5:59 pm
Mas preened, just a little bit. His head liftedd along with a smile. He felt rather satisfied with the way this conversation was going. Though, now as he thought upon it. he ought to be focusing more on his studied. Mas lifted a hand, and flicked his fingertips over the cover of a book.
"Well then, if I find anything interesting I'll see about sending a letter your way. Maybe as a invite to come and vist. Then we can discuss whatever it is I have in a bit more privacy and comfort."
Mas' head tilted downwards so he could eye the mess that was his notes. Of course, he had some years to go before he started practicing and expirementing, so odds are he would not have anything to share for a while yet.
Mas choose not to address the subject of females and whom would dare with what. He didn't want to get all upset when the evening had been going so well...
"I ought to return to my studies now though. I have much more reading to cover before tomorrow's lessons if i want to at least remain up to par with the rest of the class. I rather wish I could have a teacher just for myself the way you have. The benefit of being a female I guess eh?"
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