Memory 5: Journey
Sep. 15th, 2011 10:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baddecisiondzurIt's late winter and Tazendra is about a millennium old (read: a couple of years before present, not enough time for her to tell how much). Tazendra, Piro, Kytraan, Zerkia, Mica and Lar are riding out on a journey -- clearly a long one, given the amount of stuff they're bringing. Zerika also does not have the Orb at this point. They are starting from Dzur Mountain (read a large solitary mound of rock that looks like a sitting cat).
Zerika insists on riding at the front, so Tazendra naturally assumes her job is to ride next to Her Majesty. Canon doesn't say if they talk, or what they talk about. Tazendra can and will talk your ear off if you let her, though, even if she's just rambling or telling stories, so that probably happened, even if she doesn't remember much of what they spoke on.
Dzur Mountain is big enough that they still can see it when they make camp for the night. Tazendra lights the fire (via magic) and Mica and Lar reheat dinner. Okay, it doesn't say that, but it's a pretty good inference that if Tazendra and Mica are traveling together, he's being a good servant and doing the cooking. Tazendra mentions that Sethra Lavode taught her how to set a magical perimeter, even without using the Orb. So she does so, and everyone sleeps instead of posting a watch.
What Tazendra Gains:
-- Chronologically, she can probably figure that this comes before her last memory, but not years before. Everyone present in both looks the same, but no Orb, no bandits, and no Khaavren, Aerich and Pel.
-- Major gain: spells for setting fires and triggering alarms. I don't actually know what Tazendra's perimeter spell would do if triggered (read: was it just an alarm or was it an explosion -- she used a firebrand to aid in casting, so it might explode and/or start a fire).
-- 'You know, maybe I should have learned to cook, since Mica isn't here to cook for me. Eh, maybe I should have just asked the Judges to let me keep my servant. But they'd probably put him on another team, just to spite me... '
It also occurs to me that this was the most involved spellcasting Tazendra has done in her memories. The other two cases were quick reactions, but it takes actual controlled motion and chanting to get the effects in this memory. OTOH, this is the first time she remembers casting outside of combat -- and in one fight, she had the Orb. So I can imagine a lot of non-attack Elder Sorcery is making sure nothing blows up in your face. Attack Elder Sorcery has a little leeway if you don't care what happens to your opponent as long as it stays contained. Granted, the first time Tazendra uses Orb 2.0, her spell blows up in her face thanks to the gods souping it up, but IIRC, one of the benefits of the Orb is the whole 'idiots less likely to reduce landmarks to raw chaos' thing. (Idiot sorcerers don't last long, but they can at least kill themselves without risking the world.)
Or else she just knew that none of the assembled (besides Mica, and he doesn't count) had seen true magic because of the lack of the Orb, so she was showing off. Which is always a possibility for Tazendra.
But actually getting some of the theory will probably help her refine things. Once she gets a power source, of course.
Zerika insists on riding at the front, so Tazendra naturally assumes her job is to ride next to Her Majesty. Canon doesn't say if they talk, or what they talk about. Tazendra can and will talk your ear off if you let her, though, even if she's just rambling or telling stories, so that probably happened, even if she doesn't remember much of what they spoke on.
Dzur Mountain is big enough that they still can see it when they make camp for the night. Tazendra lights the fire (via magic) and Mica and Lar reheat dinner. Okay, it doesn't say that, but it's a pretty good inference that if Tazendra and Mica are traveling together, he's being a good servant and doing the cooking. Tazendra mentions that Sethra Lavode taught her how to set a magical perimeter, even without using the Orb. So she does so, and everyone sleeps instead of posting a watch.
What Tazendra Gains:
-- Chronologically, she can probably figure that this comes before her last memory, but not years before. Everyone present in both looks the same, but no Orb, no bandits, and no Khaavren, Aerich and Pel.
-- Major gain: spells for setting fires and triggering alarms. I don't actually know what Tazendra's perimeter spell would do if triggered (read: was it just an alarm or was it an explosion -- she used a firebrand to aid in casting, so it might explode and/or start a fire).
-- 'You know, maybe I should have learned to cook, since Mica isn't here to cook for me. Eh, maybe I should have just asked the Judges to let me keep my servant. But they'd probably put him on another team, just to spite me... '
It also occurs to me that this was the most involved spellcasting Tazendra has done in her memories. The other two cases were quick reactions, but it takes actual controlled motion and chanting to get the effects in this memory. OTOH, this is the first time she remembers casting outside of combat -- and in one fight, she had the Orb. So I can imagine a lot of non-attack Elder Sorcery is making sure nothing blows up in your face. Attack Elder Sorcery has a little leeway if you don't care what happens to your opponent as long as it stays contained. Granted, the first time Tazendra uses Orb 2.0, her spell blows up in her face thanks to the gods souping it up, but IIRC, one of the benefits of the Orb is the whole 'idiots less likely to reduce landmarks to raw chaos' thing. (Idiot sorcerers don't last long, but they can at least kill themselves without risking the world.)
Or else she just knew that none of the assembled (besides Mica, and he doesn't count) had seen true magic because of the lack of the Orb, so she was showing off. Which is always a possibility for Tazendra.
But actually getting some of the theory will probably help her refine things. Once she gets a power source, of course.
