Tael

I've done a ton of magical teaching RP and have been looking for about the same thing for some time now LOL Currently, I'm changing some stuff in the coming of the next map regarding my main persona, but I'd be down to fill in the gap you need! We can talk about it on Discord if you are interested: taeltantanus

Tomes upon Tomes On the setting Aevosian sun "And unto you, my dearest son - though not of my blood, but of my thought - I bestow that which was entrusted to me, more precious than breath itself: a name. My name. The name my father bore, and his father before him: Tomes. Guard it within your breast, and let no shadow steal it away." So spoke Edmond Hyperboreos, my caretaker, the only father I ever knew. His words remain etched upon me as though spoken but yesterday, when I was still a wide-eyed neophyte, ignorant of the pungent truths of our world, yet dazzled by the secret gardens blooming between its cruelties. I remember the candlelight dancing upon the pages of his tomes, the smell of parchment and ink mingling with the faint smoke of the hearth. I was young enough then to believe the world vast, eternal, and kind. How little I understood of how swiftly such certainties could wither. His voice, and the memory of those who took me in when he fell, were the last shapes I clung to as my body hardened into stillness. I recall their faces blurred by grief, their hands reaching, their words breaking against my silence. I thought only of him, of them, as Focus Crystal crept into marrow. That name… it was never merely a word. It was a covenant, a hidden creed whose weight was felt more than spoken. It was my pride - my burden - that I could not pass to another before flesh betrayed me. My frame rots, crystallizes, splinters beneath the strain of the one passion that defined me: the Unknown, the abyssal song of the Void. What gave me motion now unravels me. And still, even in decay, I listened for it, the faint hum between heartbeats, the whisper in silence. And yet, there lingers a fear greater than the void’s maw: to vanish without echo. Forgotten. That the name, Tomes, should be buried and unmourned, its sound extinguished. To be erased not in body but in remembrance - that is the truest death. So I fought - against time, against decay, against inevitability - always reaching for one more device, one more untried path. None endured… save perhaps what cannot be tested, the last thought that slips beyond words. So I leave what remains to those who walked beside me. Aserath and Walter, who first brought me, scarcely more than a boy, to that strange tavern in Old Lurin, where Nepir sat in his timeless wisdom - I charge you to seek my testament. It lies where my beginning lies also, amidst the scattered pages and fractured stones. There you will find the remnants of a life not neatly bound, but scattered - tomes upon tomes, each no more than fragments of a greater whole, yet in there you will find whispers of the person I once was, and the farewell I saved for they who stayed. This is not a farewell. Call it instead a pause, a silence between words. Let not grief bind you, for names are not so easily lost, and some doors, once opened, are never wholly closed. Even in stillness, there are echoes. Even in silence, a breath may linger. Wait still, for we may meet in another life. Though I still draw breath, in no small part due to Nepir's efforts, I talk to you like this as I know the path I must walk... Tomes as he was will end, and aught else shall bloom in my stead Amidst the scattered tomes, letters upon letters were found, each with a name signed on it that would be sent to the specific people as soon as they were found. These go unopened, no information leaked, no words disclosed. [This information is not to be metagamed] To Aserath Hemasteron, the Twinned Flame To Maelyrra Hemasteron, the Twinned Spark To Walter Blanc, the Traiteur Raven To Medea Blanc, Lady Hare To Nepir Rosalis, the Ivory Sage To Iolas, the Wise Bookeeper To Alf Vuiller, the Caring Heartless To Charms, the Progidious Ancient To Buttons, the Bladesinger To Celie Ardava, the Curious Artificer

The steps had long since surrendered to moss and memory, their stone bones cracked and swallowed by creeping vines much like his own. Tomes settled at the foot of his old home’s ruin - a place untended for over fifty years, now soft with wild grass and tangled roots. That war had come and gone long ago, stealing his innocence, fire, and youth. The earth here no longer held warmth, only quiet reclamation by time and nature. His fingers, worn and calloused from the passing ages that were unkind to him, trembled now slightly as he unfolded the letter. The paper smelled faintly of ash and dust. He read the words carefully, each one stirring something deep and steady inside him. "Old friend..." By the time he reached "Goodbye, Tomes,” the breath left him softly. He wasn’t certain when - perhaps at “creatures like me,” or when Lunaris thanked him for never demanding more than what she could give. The letter curled gently in his grasp, as if seeking to shield him from the weight of loss once more. He leaned back against the cracked stone, the silence of the overgrown ruin pressing around him. He thought of the days long before - when he was young and eager, learning the delicate art of magic from his adoptive brother, fumbling through fire and earth, chasing light in a darkening world. That fire had dimmed with the war, leaving scars that never fully healed. Lunaris was not of that war. She had come later - fierce and unyielding - a comrade against a different darkness. Together they had faced adversity in battle, shadows clawing at life. But more than that, she showed him strength he had never thought he possessed: a strength beyond his frail frame, beyond the sparks of magecraft that had once defined him that had once left him on the eve of that war. With one of her strength by his side, Tomes felt inspired - Perhaps he could finally take back his life - take back himself. But now... She's gone. The light she’d kindled in him unknowingly flickered uncertainly, and the wounds of uncertainty and strength he’d started stitching together threatened to unravel. He would have to yet again abandon a comrade behind, this time, one that showed him his inner strength, beyond all talents and arts. From now on, the path to catch that inner strength would be traced by his lonesome once again. “Of course you’d say thank you,” he murmured, voice steady but low. “Even now.” He looked skyward. No signs. No omens. Just clouds, indifferent and gray, as if it mocked his lone anguish. After all, time does not stop, nor does it mourn, the world itself cares not for the individual. But in the stillness, there was a peace he did not have to grant. A peace Lunaris could not find in life, but perhaps, at last, had found in death. And despite the world’s aforementioned carelessness, he allowed himself a single, quiet hope. Farewell in Peace.

The wind bit softer that morning, though the cold was no kinder. 'Tomes', the ages magus, stood beneath the arch of the old marble hall that he had been on so many times before, pipe in hand, its smoke curling in slow spirals that vanished into still air. His staff tapped once on the threshold, then fell silent, as though the place itself asked for quiet. Everything felt slower now. The corridors, once brimming with heated discourse, now hummed only with the faint memory of thought. Dust motes danced in the beams of pale light, moving with a sluggish grace - as if even time was reluctant to continue. He glanced toward the seat by the gate, where Nepir Rosalis had so often stood, one hand raised, eyes far away, mind always chasing stars the rest of them barely glimpsed. The Ivory Sage, 'Tomes' called him. Drapped in a suit, always weary-eyed, always certain of the next question and often times, even the answer. But now that suit hung folded in dust. The stars were silent. The questions echoed with no voice to receive them anymore. Tomes adjusted his old hat, the one too worn to be grand, but too storied to discard. He had worn it beside Rosalis once, shoulder to shoulder in countless debates. Now, it sat heavy on his head. He pulled his cloak tighter, not from cold, but to guard the quiet ache blooming in his chest. And by The Founder did ache... He had known this day would come - they all had. But knowing and bearing were distant cousins. There would be time for mourning. Time for gathering. Time for decision. But first… there must be words. He sat beneath the flickering candle light of his office, parchment before him. The ink trembled just slightly at the tip of his quill as he dipped it. And then he began to write.

The old magus "Tomes" sat among several missives, his smoking pipe hanging loosely from his lips as he flicked through the pages of the Magic Commission. He furrowed his brow - though a short smile crept across his now wisened features. "Only in the annals of divine comedy could a church light the pyres of ignorance, only to later scribble out scripture on tolerance. Their council swings between zealotry and wisdom like a pendulum cursed to strike brilliance only by accident." With a puff of smoke, he tucked the Magic Commission away, letting it vanish somewhere unseen, and resumed leafing through other missives - each carefully collected by his ever-dutiful axolotl doll.

Fun stuff! For Tomes

Tomes, the haggard old wizard sat upon his office when he stumbled across this missive amidst the many that his doll had collected. He adjusted his glasses as a puff of smoke vacated his lips, his smoking pipe hanging from his lips lighting up with an inhale. "And so, as certain as the Moon's ebb and flow shifts the tide of our seas, the people of Canon make their most idiotic decree in this age known... I begin to wonder if any learned live in those halls, or if they are all secular monks, who are far too afraid to set foot out of their monasteries, and so stiffle their own knowing." And so, with a flick of his clearly "Ibleesian" connected hands, a small wisp of flame consumed the paper, curling in a void born flame as he sighed.

'Tomes', the old sage, glanced at the missive, his pipe hanging loosely from his lips, hanging about at the slighest movement. Wisps of smoke curled from the corners of his mouth as he leaned back on the back of his chair, resting his weary bones. His feet were propped on an old wooden stool, and his hat sat askew, threatening to slip from his head. "Celian'or has long turned a blind eye to itself, preferring to indulge the highest, oblivious to its people. The high court indulges in pleasantries while the city starves, while its citizens are butchered like pigs. And now, we will see if it crumbles - besieged on two fronts, both economically and physically." With a flick of his fingers, a small wisp of flame danced into existence. He touched it to the parchment, watching the missive curl and blacken before returning to his duties, unbothered.

In all honesty, I feel like Voidal Magery has suffered from being the "default magic" for a long time now due to the barrier of entry for it being astronomically low, and due to this, it attracts of all kinds of crowds to it, even those who end up essentially getting it almost strictly for CRP and meta, which tends to be what I believe is one of the main reasons for the constant nerfing tweaks of the Voidal Magics in general, it stems from people genuinely abusing things and trying to find holes where there should be not to gain an edge over others. Due to this, these people often make Voidal magic seem really bland, and it becomes even more dull when ST are quite literally forced to make things tighter and tighter for those who keep finding gaps, while those who abide by the rule-set and just want to have fun with some flavourful RP using the magic tend to end up suffering from it. I do believe Voidal Magic could do with a rewrite in general, maybe raise the bar of entry of new Voidal Mages with a sort of customary trial that Master Mages give to their students to determine their worth, maybe associated with the discipline they are learning or something, and make things more openly flavourful and rich in detail while retaining some of it's combat properties as to not make it entirely useless since you'd still suffer from Voidal Poisoning and be essentially a burden in a battle without at least some even if moderate combative capabilities - I feel like this could serve to sort of, help with the bleeding Voidal Magic has currently of bland users that don't really fall into any type of real mage archetype while simultaneously addressing the sort of lack of flavour it has at the moment and maybe bringing mages back together into groups to share their theories and learnings which is always some really fun Voidal Mage interactions in general. TL;DR: Voidal Magic is kind of flavourless at the moment in my opinion, and the CRPers really are abusing it which makes ST tighten the leash on Voidal Mages a ton because they literally have to. A rewrite could help to sort of weed out people who really aren't interested in the Voidal experience and just want a random magic to mess around with while giving those who ARE interested a journey worth remembering.

Tomes peered upon the missive showed to him by Walter as he rubbed his chin "I don't believe I am terribly familiar with this individual... However, I would not mind accompanying you."

In one of the many times Tomes would pass over Celian'or, he'd take a gander at the missive as his eyes squinted at it as he seemed to catch his name being flaunted about in it. "How am I even involved in this mess..? I was never accused of anything, I just had Estinien and Buttons talk with one another." Perhaps for obvious reasons, the magus seemed atleast a bit miffed about having his name included in a missive of this type. He clicked his tongue and added "Estinien Man'hel is literally my student... I must address Buttons about this."

Tomes seemed to stagger into the clinic, conscious but in pain as he clutched onto the burn over a portion of the left side of his face, his left eye closed as he winced. Still, out of his violet serpentine right eye he peered out at the origin of the wiring of the cogs, knowing full well what that entailed. "Welcome back, Toro."

An amazing start to CRP changes to keep things fresh. Personally I've never been a fan of how absolutely bare bones CRP on LotC is and has been for a while, up to fully random rolling or honour which leads to a lot of problems later down the line with people never wanting to be on the receiving end or leading to arguments happening over minor things just so they can power game their way through X, Y and Z that way. Absolutely approve of the initiative. +1

It can be done for sure! The only reason why it's strictly Voidal at the moment is because it's the magic I am most familiar with - With a little help I am more then open to change it to be more inclusive @salamanderfantasy

Pondering Orb “Come on, come all! Experience a marvel of magical engineering created by the hands of a skilled artificer! The Pondering Orb, yes! A device that allows one to do oh-so-many wonders once thought to be impossible! Buy one, take it with you and spread the word of this marvellous invention!” ❂ Explanation ❂ For ages on end, powerful wizards have had to rely on birds of flight to carry their messages to communicate with other wizards, either to share to discuss their newly found Magic theories or their knowledge in the arts, but no longer! With the invention of the Pondering Orb a magus may at last be able to communicate through more fitting means for people of their station. ❂ Creation ❂ In order to make a Pondering Orb it can be intricate but overall, it is just a few simple steps for those who dabble in the making of magical baubles and trinkets. First two separate components must be crafted separately - A Focus Crystal-based glass-like filling and a metal frame of a mana-conductive metals that needs to fit neatly around or as a support for the Crystal. The item must be neatly put together in whatever way they should be arranged, and properly connected to one another through a physical mana-conductive material, linking the two components. The item as a whole must then be charged by [1] Master Mage capable of manipulating soul or inner mana expertly or equivalent, requiring no Greater Mana Source for the process. This is also done in an attempt to have the Focus Crystal retain mana in an idle state for a long period of time so it can still receive communication attempts even if the orb is not activated. Should said reservoir of mana run out, it must be recharged through the same means. However, a Pondering Orb, despite the name “Orb”, doesn’t necessarily need to be orb-shaped and can assume any given shape and it will still count as an Pondering Orb as long as it follows the following guidelines It must be composed of the two base components. It must follow one of two sizes - Small and Large. Small Pondering Orb items are carriable and movable from their original location, while Large ones cannot. An example for a small Pondering Orb is a literal crystal ball or a crystal prism, while a Large one is something like a Mirror. Small size must not exceed 6 inches but not fall below 3, while a large one should not exceed 6 feet nor fall below 2 feet. Note that depending on the type of magic that the user charging it utilised ❂ Capabilities ❂ The Pondering Orb was made specifically to operate [2] distinct functions: Communication & Broadcasting. Both of the functions fall roughly in the same category of the reason what it was made for - To facilitate communication between magi. Firstly, in order to activate the Pondering Orb, one must have it stationed somewhere, and the caster must be connected. After that is achieved, the Pondering Orb may be operated as long as one part of the magus’ body such as a finger touches the orb’s surface - One will be able to tell when their orb is activated when it is softly enveloped by their aura for a brief moment before pulsating with their color. This first time an orb is activated by their caster, it will remember the caster by their aura, marking their name into the Orb, as if soulbinding itself to its user. After activation, the magus no longer needs to keep physical contact with the orb but must remain in at least a [1] meter proximity of the orb and with their concentration on it, or else it will disconnect and deactivate once more. After the fact, one may choose which function they wish to operate. There are [2] to operate the function of Communication, receiving or transmitting a communication request. To transmit a Communication request a magus must touch the orb while it is already activated and semantically give a command to the orb with the keyword “Summon” followed by the name of the individual they wish to communicate with. This will send a request for Communication that must be received from the other end. To do so, one simply must swipe to left or right in the vicinity of the orb if it is already activated, if not, one must first activate it in order to answer it , until the Communication request is received, the orb will emit a soft, repeated humming noise in the person connected to the orb, the object pulsating softly with light. A swiping motion to the right, will result in the call being received, while one to the left will result in the call being denied. After that, both parties can communicate between each other, though their voices will always sound distorted. There are [2] ends to Broadcast much like Communication. Broadcast may be used by keeping both hands touching the orb and closing one’s eyes and uttering the semantic command “Broadcast” to begin a broadcast to all orbs possible. When one is done, they can simply remove their grip from the orb and the broadcast will end. One may then receive a Broadcast through an orb by peering through the orb to receive this information, one will not be warned about it and the message will simply be floating about within the orb when it is activated until the mage wishes to see it. ❂ Purpose ❂ I was honestly surprised to know that a Crystal Ball as a means of communication was not a thing yet in LotC and I have been really considering doing it for a long time, so I thought to kill two birds with one stone by making that a reality for people who want to be part of the niche of the Pondering Orb Wizard while also giving the Party plugin some use since I think very little people use it these days. The objective of the Pondering Orb is for it to just be a fun thing that may get some additions later either from me or whoever wants to add small flavourful things to it that could be fun! ❂ Credits ❂ Tael - Author Nepir - Consultant on the creation process.

At last, I can read!!

As the wandering magus and retired Minister of Knowledge of Vikela answered his daily correspondence, he came across strewn missives about the pavements of Celian'or, his current refuge and with risen brow did he read through it's contents. The further he went through it the more his expression of confusion dissolved into one of uncertainty and melancholy but yet... maybe of hope, too. Tomes clutched onto his head with some level of distress, for while that was an outcome he had foreseen, the dawning of that reality was of some pain to him - After all, a great deal of his contacts and friends resided there, though still his purple slit eyes shed no tears. "...I won't pretend that Vikela was a perfect land. It did not have the strongest army nor the greatest artisans, and mistakes were made aplenty over it's vast history, but if there is one thing that Vikela has above all nations is it's love, pride and compassion. While I was a part of it's leadership for but a short time of maybe a decade it was an experience I will not soon forget as I met many companions in those lands. Scatter, spread, confound those honorless warmongers who would chase you to the ends of Aevos time and time again, and let your still indomitable wings carry you to ever greater heights. For Vikela we soared indeed, may we all meet again if fate wills it." And so did Tomes let go of the message, a grin of relief upon seeing the signature of "The halfling", being assured that he was at least alive.

The now-vagrant magus Tomes noticed a panicked rustle from within his large backpack, where Izsick, the living doll, had been carefully placed, the head of the creature popping out of it in a panicked frenzy. The man looked at it, his brows furrowed shadowing his exhausted and empty eyes as he took a glance at Aserath after. In a somber, almost lifeless tone, the man uttered in the midst of their travels. "...If Timothy is injured in anyway, it is yet another reason to my stance." The maddened wizard scowled in frustration, giving one last thought of all the recent events happening around him, before heading on horseback to Dunwen, home to Timothy.

Tomes heard clearly the words of his teacher, looking too onto a copy of the missive that he had come across. He stood across a pit of flames, his tired eyes reflecting the enduring fire-pit of Faelheim. His face reflected little emotion, only a gentle yet hearth-felt sigh leaving his mouth in clear disappointment "Well, this might as well be a public declaration from Lurin's rooftops to let all of Aevos know that they will not honour their pacts or treaties. Should they see the grip of a situation getting tighter and tighter, they will be the first to make up lies and excuse themselves out of conflict." The man, who still held the missive on his hand close to his eyes so he could scan it, proceeded to adjust his glasses, throwing the missive onto the flames, watching it burn and feed the flames "First bigotry, then cowardice and now... at last, dishonesty, dishonorableness. I only hope the nations of Aevos, from the farthest east to the west know that Lurin's word is about as valuable as a drunken old beggar's"

'Tomes' looked upon the missive and with the bridge of his nose pinched, he sighed deeply, slouching forward. His face betrayed anything but comfort at the idea of warriors and fighters storming into the city, disrupting it's harmonic peace and quiet. "I suppose The Queendom will be louder for a few moons..." However... A small smirk seemed to be maintained across his face, perhaps due to the fact that this might be a good chance to get to know other cultures and languages, from the residents of said places themselves, flocking to Vikela.

+1

MC Name: marelamentorum RP Name: Edmond Chaephyra ID: 84211