Fenna smoothed her skirt down as she wandered through the Flora Gardens, There weren't a ton of people around, which for a change is what she was hoping for. Normally she'd be trying to catch the attentions of any and everyone she met, but today something was different. She hadn't had much luck making friends, which she didn't understand, and in terms of school work, she was just coasting. Nothing had caught her fancy yet, but that wasn't abnormal. She didn't know what she wanted to do yet. It was a big enough decision just choosing Circle magic in Magical Theory class. A choice she still didn't fully feel comfortable with. She needed distraction, and that is really why she came here. Besides, the warmth and humidity of this place made her feel more secure. She paused in a shady area and carefully sat down, drawing her small bag upon her lap. It was peaceful here, and perhaps she should at least attempt something educational. She pulled out her notebook and started trying to remember some of what her Professors had taught her thus far. In the end, she ended up doing more doodling than note taking however. When she realized that she wasn't really working, she flipped through her pages of doodles with a sour face. "This sucks. I can't even doodle anything creative." she pouted, tossing her notebook away to her right, nearly hitting a pretty Choleric One in the process.
Danna nearly jumped out her skin as a notebook landed with a plop into the grass beside her. She saw the put out Sanguine a moment later, and shifting on her knees put down her shears and wiped her hands off on her cloth. "Hello there..." Danna began in a friendly tone. The girl looked upset, and Danna's natural motherly instinct took over. If there was anything she could do, she was more than willing to try.
Fenna straightened suddenly. She was embarrassed that she nearly hit the Choleric woman, but she hid that fact quickly and replaced it with her normal facade of haughty nonchalance. "Hello." She answered in a short tone, later softening slightly when she realized the woman wasn't angry with her, hence no need to defend herself. "Sorry I almost hit you. I didn't know anyone was there." She stood smoothing her clothing again and gathered her things together into her bag, then made her way over to Danna to retrieve her notebook. She still was upset, and it peaked through now and then no matter how hard she tried to wall it away. "My name is Fenna, and you are?"
"No worries," Danna replied amiably, glancing back at the Windflower she was trimming. "I was keeping pretty quiet. It doesn't please the Windflowers to make a huge racket when taking Samples, so I try to be as unobtrusive as I can." Danna looked back to the other girl, her eyes soft and laughed a little sheepishly. "Oh, how clumsy of me! My name is Danna, a pleasure to meet you Fenna..." Danna held out her hand to her in greeting.
Fenna stood there looking at Danna's hand for a split second before embracing it lightly. "The Windflowers care about noise?" she asked, puzzled and somewhat curious but she shook it off. "I mean, I didn't know they could hear." She stooped down to retrieve her notebook as it lay flopped open to a sketch of the flora across the way from where she was sitting. It wasn't the best drawing, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. It was just lacking something. "I came here for some quiet myself, but it didn't seem to help." She sighed, then a look of mild panic washed over her features for a second. "Not that you ruined it or anything. I just mean I still cant focus and all I ended up doing was doodling poorly."
Danna smiled kindly and shrugged thoughtfully. "I don't think they can hear so much as the vibrations of the voice affect them, sort of like Bardic magic." She stepped away from the flowers a little and chuckled softly at Fenna's words. "Are you a student of Art, then?"
Danna's kindness and demeanor seemed to be putting Fenna more at ease, and more of her frustration was starting to show through. "I'm not really much of a student at all. Nothing I try is coming as easily to me as it should. I've only taken a few classes so far and none have really took root. Except maybe Animal Care, but that's so easy everyone gets it right away." Fenna realized then that Danna asked about Art because of her doodles and blushed slightly. "But no, not an Art student either. I just doodle things from time to time when my mind wanders. I haven't even had Art class yet though I am looking forward to it."
Danna watched her with a respectful quiet. She had a manner of inviting people to talk even though she never openly asked them to. As Fenna voiced her worries, Danna reached out to touch her shoulder gently. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. You're still a Zero, so there's plenty of time to find your niche and flourish. Just keep an open mind, and try to let your heart tell you where you need to be." Danna gave her shoulder a consoling pat. "As for Art, even if you aren't much of an artist, the Professora is ever so sweet. I'm sure you'll do well. Art was one of my favourite classes." Danna laughed shyly. "Which is good, really, because I need it for my job."
Fenna nodded slowly. Danna was right, unfortunately, there was still plenty of time to find a niche. Though she was impatient and didn't like admitting to anyone, including herself, that she wasn't naturally good at anything she set her mind to doing. Still, a small mischevious grin spread across her face. A thought had dawned on her. A plan if you will. "You must know quite a bit about Art if it was one of your favorites." She implied with a sugar sweet smile now and a touch of her normal lilt in her voice. "I don't think I can wait until Art class. Could you teach me something? Pleeeease?" She gave her best puppy dog look as she tried to get Danna to do what she wished.
Danna blinked in surprise. The shift in mood was a good thing, she hoped, perhaps the girl was feeling better? Still, tutoring... Danna looked around. She wasn't the msot confident in her abilities to teach, but she might as well try. "I don't know if I'm any good at teaching, but I can try to help." Danna replied with a heart-felt smile. She retrieved her sketchbook from her satchel on the grass and opened up to a couple of her sketches for Golems and Hybrids. "Where should we start?" She asked the younger girl, not knowing how much or little she already knew.
The self-satisfied grin on Fenna's face was a mile wide, just like it always was when things she wanted to happen did happen. Greedily she looked down at Danna's sketchbook and marveled at the sketchs of the golems and hybrids. She knew loosely what they were, but not how to design them or anything. It looked like Danna knew though. "Start with those. I thought Golems and Hybrids were part of Animal Care, not Art." She faked not knowing that it was the design that was in the art domain. "Those are really neat looking. You have a lot of talent." A little flattery usually helps too.
Danna smiled and nodded. "You are quite right, they are part og Animal care - if you own one. You need to know how to care for them and control them when they're out of their Technorings. But someone has to make them." Danna pressed a splayed hand to her own chest and nodded again. "That's what I do for a living. I design and make them. Obviously I have to work with the parametres people set for them, but in the end they come out looking like the art designs I make prior to incubation." She smiled and pointed to the design for Radical. "For something like this, the colours are important, as well as the shapes used. Black is for protection, so since he's a Defender type, I thought it important to make him as protective as possible. But this sort of art can be used directly in casting magic too, you know. This is only one very specific application."
Fenna nodded as Danna spoke. The initial thrill of getting Danna to tutor her was fading as the act of learning was trying to root itself in her brain. She hadn't tuned out so far, which was a good thing. Pointing to the sketch of Radical with one delicate finger, she traced the green lines on the golem. "And the green? Does it represent something too?" It had never really occured to her that color would have any sort of effect on anything aside from being pleasing to the eye. This concept was intriguing to her, so she pushed a little further without fully waiting for Danna's response. "And other colors. like red or gold or orange? What do they do?" Coincidentally, the colors she asked about were very Sanguine.
"Well, the green in Radical's case represents his poison. He's a very radioactive Golem on the offensive. But yes, each colour has a specific set of properties. Let's see... Red stands for warding off monsters, but also can be used for vitality, passion, life and fire. Orange stands for fruition, an autumn colour that melds earth and fire together, tapering the spark of fire with the stability of earth, melding it into a productive result. Yellow stands for friendship and alliance, but it can also frepresent cowardice, weakness and meekness of spirit. As you've likely noticed, each colour has many uses, so the combination and intention that goes into their use on the artist's part refines them." Danna returned her glance to the girl's face to see if she was taking this all in.
"So black is for protection, green for poison, red for fire and passion," Fenna smiled at the implications red could have. "orange for productivity? and yellow for cowardice and friendship?" The last two color's she didn't fully comprehend so they sounded like questions. "How come several of the colors seem to have completely opposite effects? And does the artist choose the effect or do all effects happen regardless?" There seemed to be more to this Art stuff than she initially realized, but it managed to do something several of the other classes hadn't. It caught he attention and got her thinking. Even if most of her thoughts were about how to use color to her immediate advantage.
"Well, the artist selects which properties to use of the colour. That's why some paintings you might have seen in the abstract style that are made with a lot of warm fiery colours - like red and orange, for instance, make you feel warm and full of love, while others using the same spectrum make you feel agitated or angry. That's the artist's intent and expression showing through the colours." Danna paused, not knowing how to explain it better. "Some practices, like Circle Magic, for instance, enable one to manipulate the opposing meanings of a single colour through Inducing shapes... But I'm not much of an expert in that area, I've never tried to do it myself."
"Circle magic? That uses Art too? I thought it was all Mathematics and Astronomy." Fenna visibly perked as suddenly she didn't feel as worried about choosing Circle magic as the one to pursue. She still didn't feel like she'd be great at it, but if Art was involved maybe she'd bo okay. "Alright, so effects can be tailored depending on what you're hoping to convey. That's useful to know. So, getting back to golems and such, not only do you have to tailor the look to match their intended purpose, but their pallette of colors as well? Both working together to make the golem the best it can be."
Danna nodded with a smile. "You don't -need- to, but as far as I'm concerned, it makes a better end product. If one is going to go to the trouble of incubating a living thing, you owe it to them to make them the best they can be, right?" She tucked a chunk of hair over her shoulder unconsciously.
"Right. I know I'd want my Golem to be the best it could be. So what about it's appearance? How do you tailor that to it's intended purpose? And what are the basic types of golem purpose anyways?" The questions were coming quickly to Fenna's mind as, for once, a subject started to really click with her.
"Well, as for design," Danna paused again, collecting her thoughts. "Think about it like you would an Empyrean, Academics are quick, and their builds are light and slender... So, for a quicker golem, you'd like design it to be long and thin to increase its speed. For the kinesthetics, they're thick and muscly, so for a strong, more stable golem you'd design it with thicker limbs and a heavier over all look and build, like radical. He's huge!" Danna grinned, clearly loving her Golem very much. "As for the Golem's types: Duellists, which are designed for fighting - either in duels with Empyreans, or against enemies; Defenders, like Radical, who are made to protect specific targets and keep them safe in the face of all manner of danger; and Labourers, which help Empyreans with their jobs or difficult tasks that they themselves would have a hard time doing, such as excavation, or neutralizing failed potions." Danna smiled, thinking of Golems and gave a happy little sigh. This was more familiar territory for her, and her passion for her work glowed through.
Fenna actually thought about what Danna was telling her, and more so, she understood it for the most part. She allowed herself to wonder what it would look like to make a golem for herself. She knew she didn't have the skill to do so right now, but that didn't stop her from daydreaming about it. She didn't know if it would be lithe and fast, or big and menacing to protect her. I guess it depended what purpose she was building it for and what abilities it would have, like Radical's poisonousness. "Question. You said Radical was poisonous, and I know some golems have unique abilities. What determines the abilities? Is it a design and color thing or what?"
"Actually, that is depends entirely on what sort of Golem Shard you use. The design is the manifestation of the Shard's potential - like a seed," she offered helpfully. "The seed is going to grow, based on what parametres you feed the incubator, it causes certain aspects of the Shard's potential to grow into something tangible. Radical's Golem Shard was Fallout Energy, hence the poisonous radiation he can produce."
"Golem shard?" Fenna actually hadn't heard about golem shards before and had assumed that golems were just made based on the designers whim. I seemed that there was a tangible element she hadn't thought about. "A golem shard is like a seed? Where do you get them? Do they grow somewhere Zeroes can't get to?"
"Well, some shops sell them. For instance, I have a few... Nova Flare, Viola Chord, Pristine Piety, Lace Shadow, to name a few. They...don't so much grow as manifest in random objects and places. They are like a crystalized form of the impressions and ideas people have had about the objects the spring out of from antiquity to now. Their potential is nearly boundless!" Danna gave a little flick with her hands that in a more boisterous person would like have been a full fling of her arms over her head.
Fenna cringed at her own ignorance regarding golem shards. She had taken the seed comment too literally it seemed and now she was a little embarrassed. "Sorry for the dumb questions, I'm just trying to understand. I feel like a fool." She turned away slightly, hiding her momentary feeling of shame, though Danna's passion for the subject brought her back around in no time. "Wow. Are they expensive?"
"Everyone needs to learn somehow. It's nothing to feel foolish about." Danna replied kindly. "Well, that depends... They range from 3 to 8 Sol in my shop, but some people find them on their own. They can literally spring up anywhere." Danna gave her an encouraging nod and shrugged. "I found a few of mine here in the Flora Gardens, in fact."
"Really?" Fenna couldn't help but scan the area for potential golem shards, but the problem was she wouldn't know one if she saw it. "And they can look like anything right? So how do you know what's a shard and what's a rock for instance? Do they glow or pulsate or something?" Another thought came to mind then. "Can someone -make- a golem shard?"
"I don't know about anyone -making- a Shard. I certainly haven't heard of anyone doing it. But as for what they look like, they all have a bit of energy to them... Like what you feel in Rhetoric class, for instance. Depending on the element of the thing they spring from, they can glow, but they can also feel unnaturally cold, or hot, or slippery, or be liquid when they should be hard. Things like that." Danna smiled. "Here, I'll show you a couple examples." And she reached into her satchel and produced three small boxes with latched tops. The first she opened to reveal a small gem-looking thing that was black as coal in the centre but pulsed and flickers with like like a burning ember and gave off incredible heat. "This is Solar Flare's Shard." The second box she opened had a lumpish, misshapen green ball, like moss. The edges of it writhed towards the light as soon as she opened it and she quickly shut the box again. "That was Garden Terrace." She explained, as if appologizing. "And this third is Fear Emblem..." She opened the box and peered at it with a brave but unsure expression. This one seemed at first an empty box, and then -something- began to pour out of it, a wispy shape that began to form into the fears of those who looked upon it, personalized int he vision of each viewer. For Danna it appeared as bodily harm to Astaroth, the blood welling up from his woods as she stared on helplessly. She closed her eyes and steadied herself, knowing that it was but a figment and that Fenna couldn't see the mirage.
Fenna looked at each golem shard with wide eyed wonder. Solar Flare seemed the most energetic and combat oriented to her, which was very intriguing. Garden Terrace was a little worrying since it appeared to be trying to escape. But the one that scared her, really scared her, was Fear Emblem. The moment it started to pour from its box and form into an image of herself, except ugly scarred and laughed at by all around her, made her want to run and scream in terror. As it was, she steadied herself after only backstepping a few feet. Still, her eyes were tearing up and she was having trouble breathing normally. "Why.... why would any... anyone want Fear Emblem?" She managed to ask between fighting her sobs. Part of her already knew the answer. She was feeling the answer right now. But she still couldn't see how it would be very effective as a golem, unless it's master wasn't effected by it.
Danna watched her with obvious concern. "Because fear, when molded into form and substance, when given direction can be a most awesome and terrible weapon. I had read of masters who defeated their opponents without a single blow of contact because of this power. Still, its master would need to be ever so stalwart to be able to keep it in control and to define it into something functional." Danna closed the box and took another deep breath. "But I believe you grasp the concept of howopen they can be, how much they could become." She smiled reassuringly.
Fenna nodded somberly and took a moment to fully calm her nerves, return the few steps she'd retreated and regain some form of her normal composure. "As strong and stalwart as I like to think I am, there is no way I could handle a golem based upon Fear Emblem. And I can't see wanting to inflict that level of personal fear upon others. It's just not right." A little shred of the real Fenna was showing through the fascade. The part of her that wasn't all about Fenna, but about those around her as well. She had a kind heart, though few knew her well enough to know it. "I know we have enemies, terrible enemies, but using a weapon like that makes us no better than them. At least, that's the opinion of this naive Zero."
Danna smiled a small, wistful, deeply-seated expression and said nothing, her eyes half-hooded in the shadow of her long lashes. After a moment she quietly put the boxes away and freshened up her smile. "Well now, that's the introduction to Golems, at any rate!"
Fenna nodded once and forced a bit of a smile. "Thank you Danna." She wasn't sure what else to say to the nice, polite Choleric One. She wanted to learn more but, believe it or not, she didn't feel like pushing the matter. She didn't feel like manipulating more out of her. It was an odd concept for her, and one she'd likely not repeat any time soon, but for now, she was content. "I think I'm going to like Art class when it comes up. It might be something I could be good at, knowing now the different colours invoke different things. And of course if I ever find a golem shard, how to design and tailor it to be the bet it can be." In a moment of un-Fenna-ness, she lunged forward and kissed Danna on the cheek. "Thank you so much again."
Danna hugged the girl back, warmly and with honest feeling. "When you find your Shard, bring it to me, and I'll be sure to make you the best Golem possible!" Danna smiled broadly and lifted her satchel onto her shoulder.
Fenna smiled warmly and felt the energy coursing through her body. Her mind raced trying to figure out what type of golem she'd want, if she were to get one. "I'll do that!" She was radiating energy now, almost vibrating with it. She was excited, really excited. Then the slight crush of reality as she remembered shards don't just fall out the sky all the time. Usually they need to be bought. And they weren't cheap. "I think I need a job to afford a shard." She mumbled to herself in mild horror. She cringed, but pushed it to the back of her mind.
Danna smiled encouragingly. "I think getting a job was the best thing I did. It gets you out there, meeting people, doing a service for our great City and learning all at the same time. Why don't you check in with Lus and see what postings are available for a Zero?"
Fenna still wasn't too pleased with the idea of working, even if it did give her money. It couldn't hurt to check with Lus sometime and see if there was something that paid well and asked little in return. You never know, stranger things could happen. For now, she decided it was best to just smile and nod. "I think I'll do that... tomorrow" Or the next day, or the day after that.
Danna chuckled softly and nodded to her. "Well Fenna, good luck with your art. I've got to head back and check on my crucibles. Take care, and hopefully I'll see you around again." Danna waved and stepped back onto the path to exit the Flora Gardens.
Fenna waved goodbye to Danna sweetly, then, once the One was out of sight she started searching around for things that might be golem shards. It was a longshot she knew, but Danna did say she'd found some of hers here. You never know. It was a fruitless task of course, and she gave up after a few moments when she noticed she'd gotten a grass stain on her dress. In disgust, she stormed back to her room to change clothes... and then maybe go to the library for some more research.
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