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earthenkin) wrote2015-01-15 03:00 am
earthenkin) wrote2015-01-15 03:00 am
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Memory 01
The testing. (Age 5.)
You are no more than five when the Clan summons you to be examined for your magical ability. While everyone in your clan has magic of some sort, there are many different levels of power. Although you are very young, you already grasp what you think are the simple facts of the world:
- There are two types of magic: creation magic, or those that build; and defensive magic, or those that destroy.
- It is better to have a lot of magic than barely any at all.
Your mother dresses you in the nicest clothes she can find in the household; a Clansmeet was a special occasion, and although you weren't the only young person being summoned today, it was important to respect the tradition that it represented. Your father even called in a favor to borrow a cart for the three of you, so that your good clothes wouldn't become stained by the mud on the dirt roads you'd travel to get there.
When you arrive at the Clansmeet, your parents drag you along between tall buildings made of stone and strong, twining vines -- nothing like the mud and partial stone house on your farm. The earthen clan's central town was much bigger than anything you'd seen before, and the Clan building in particular. Once inside, your parents seat you in the center of a large room with the other children here for the examination process, before taking a seat on the edge of the widening circle.
The actual ceremony is very long and boring for a five year old -- it involves a lot of speeches, and you don't understand a whole lot of it. You just want to find out how much magic you have and go home. Finally -- finally! -- they call your name and you rise from the group of children to stand before the Elders of the clan. You are then handed a staff that is significantly taller than you are. It is smooth, with no defining features. You struggle to hold onto it, but manage to keep it upright as the most senior Elder goes on and on about the process and the tradition of handing a staff to a young initiate into the clan, how the smoothness represents the unfinished future and the lack of a past, et cetera. You still don't understand a lot of it, so you just try to look as solemn as possible as he drones on, because you know that this is absolutely important to understand someday. Your clan comes before everything.
When he finishes, he instructs you to channel your power into the earth -- using the staff as a conduit, almost like a lightning rod -- and direct it towards the Elders. This will allow them to sense how much magic and of what type that you possess in raw form. You are so excited that you do exactly what they ask immediately, practically jamming your power into the excited earth at your feet and sending it streaking towards the Elders.
You hear a thud and an alarmed murmur from the crowd and wonder if that was supposed to happen. When they finally tell you to stop, you feel exhausted, and immediately sit down on your behind with a thump, the staff falling over beside you. You notice that several of the Elders are sitting on the ground too, their chairs overturned by what looks like a small localized earthquake beneath their feet. Murmurs of "most unusual" and "did you see that?" are flying around your head, but you are so tired that your parents immediately run over and pick you up, your father carrying you in his strong arms out of the Clansmeet, to await the results in privacy, away from staring eyes.
Effects:
- Oop my bad that earthquake was me
- recognition that the staff in the memory is the one she'll have when she wakes up!
+1000 respect for tradition and rules
+500 affection for parents and authority figures
+100 I am probably actually a badass
The testing. (Age 5.)
You are no more than five when the Clan summons you to be examined for your magical ability. While everyone in your clan has magic of some sort, there are many different levels of power. Although you are very young, you already grasp what you think are the simple facts of the world:
- There are two types of magic: creation magic, or those that build; and defensive magic, or those that destroy.
- It is better to have a lot of magic than barely any at all.
Your mother dresses you in the nicest clothes she can find in the household; a Clansmeet was a special occasion, and although you weren't the only young person being summoned today, it was important to respect the tradition that it represented. Your father even called in a favor to borrow a cart for the three of you, so that your good clothes wouldn't become stained by the mud on the dirt roads you'd travel to get there.
When you arrive at the Clansmeet, your parents drag you along between tall buildings made of stone and strong, twining vines -- nothing like the mud and partial stone house on your farm. The earthen clan's central town was much bigger than anything you'd seen before, and the Clan building in particular. Once inside, your parents seat you in the center of a large room with the other children here for the examination process, before taking a seat on the edge of the widening circle.
The actual ceremony is very long and boring for a five year old -- it involves a lot of speeches, and you don't understand a whole lot of it. You just want to find out how much magic you have and go home. Finally -- finally! -- they call your name and you rise from the group of children to stand before the Elders of the clan. You are then handed a staff that is significantly taller than you are. It is smooth, with no defining features. You struggle to hold onto it, but manage to keep it upright as the most senior Elder goes on and on about the process and the tradition of handing a staff to a young initiate into the clan, how the smoothness represents the unfinished future and the lack of a past, et cetera. You still don't understand a lot of it, so you just try to look as solemn as possible as he drones on, because you know that this is absolutely important to understand someday. Your clan comes before everything.
When he finishes, he instructs you to channel your power into the earth -- using the staff as a conduit, almost like a lightning rod -- and direct it towards the Elders. This will allow them to sense how much magic and of what type that you possess in raw form. You are so excited that you do exactly what they ask immediately, practically jamming your power into the excited earth at your feet and sending it streaking towards the Elders.
You hear a thud and an alarmed murmur from the crowd and wonder if that was supposed to happen. When they finally tell you to stop, you feel exhausted, and immediately sit down on your behind with a thump, the staff falling over beside you. You notice that several of the Elders are sitting on the ground too, their chairs overturned by what looks like a small localized earthquake beneath their feet. Murmurs of "most unusual" and "did you see that?" are flying around your head, but you are so tired that your parents immediately run over and pick you up, your father carrying you in his strong arms out of the Clansmeet, to await the results in privacy, away from staring eyes.
Effects:
- Oop my bad that earthquake was me
- recognition that the staff in the memory is the one she'll have when she wakes up!
+1000 respect for tradition and rules
+500 affection for parents and authority figures
+100 I am probably actually a badass