warforged | Practice makes perfect, or something like that...

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Practice makes perfect, or something like that...

Who: Geddoe and Jacques
What: Geddoe offered to help Jacques learn to use his newfound Dragonsworn magic; Jacques takes him up on that offer
Where: Out in the woods somewhere
When: early July
Warnings: none

*he'd told Jacques he'd do what he could to help him learn to use his new abilities, and so when Jacques had indicated he was ready to try, Geddoe made sure he made it to the appointed meeting place in plenty of time. It wouldn't do to make a comrade from home wait, after all*

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[Nod.]

What have you tried so far?

...picturing it. It's easier to make plants grow when you know they're there. ...clouds or mist...are different to work with.

Hmm...

*considering that for a moment*

You don't have much experience with using runes, do you?

Not a lot...

[The one he had made use of didn't seem as abstract to him as the notion of using an elemental rune.]

*that's what he thought, which means they're pretty much working from scratch, here. he thinks about it for a few moments before replying*

Don't try to picture changing something that's already there; imagine something existing where it doesn't. You know what clouds or mist look like, so imagining it shouldn't be hard.

*points to a cluster of bushes a yard or two away from them*

Pick something to use as a target, and imagine mist appearing around it. Then, try to will it to be so. Decide before you start which effect you want it to be. These "breath" powers aren't like spells that have a rune or incantation or such to focus on, you have to create it from your own will. If you don't want anything to happen, then nothing will.

[That was the hard part, so far as Jacques was concerned. Imagining something was one thing- he did it very often, after all- but actually making it appear was something entirely different.

...still, Geddoe's suggestion made sense, earning the mercenary one of his nods.

Directing his attention to the bush, the hunter began to think, trying to envision a blue mist around the target.

He could hear his eagle landing in a tree behind them. Great, like he needed the audience.]

*glances at Hawk before turning his attention back to Jacques, noting the young man's apparent tenseness*

Don't think about whether it seems impossible or not. Just what you want to happen.

....

[Jacques hunched his shoulders slightly at that, but he forced himself to relax as he tried to focus around the bush again. Maybe it would help a little if he thought of it like when he prompted Wild Growth? But what was around that made mist?

He tried picturing it again, like a vapor of blue. Air...water? Things did get a little wet with mist, right?]

*will just let him do his thing for now... though may be very discreetly stepping back in case of a misfire*

[At least of their merc group, Jacques was the least to whine about it. It seemed a sensible thing to do, and he wasn't quite sure how it would go. That was also the reason he chose to try the blue mist first, since at least one could recover from sleep easier than the poison.

...was that a little wisp of blue just now? Jacques stared hard.

A few minutes later, he sighed quietly.]

*taking that as a sign that the current attempt has been declared a failure*

Which one were you trying?

...blue slumber mist.

*hmm....*

Try the other one once.

*if nothing else, the change in mindset should help Jacques focus again when they come back to this one*

[Jacques looked a little hesitant at that, but he nodded, turning his attention back towards the bush.

Green poison clouds...

He paused, lifting his head, looking towards the trees. If he did manage to pull something up, he didn't want the wind blowing it towards them. He waited until he could tell which direction the breeze was moving before he returned to his task at hand.]

*knows it's a risky suggestion, but Jacques was going to have to try it one way or another; at least this way the odds were in favor of him getting an idea of the right mindset to get into while there was still a high chance of nothing happening. but whatever the case, Geddoe's just watching quietly but attentively, alert just in case there is a misfire or accident*

[Clouds were easier to picture than mist since, let's be honest, Jacques probably watched clouds a lot during his unoccupied hours.

He pictured a small but billowing little tuft of green clouds over the bush, but so far, nothing seemed to come up.]

*Geddoe will wait until Jacques is done trying before saying anything*

[He was trying very hard, but when you were just standing there staring at something, it was difficult to tell.

Although he said nothing, Jacques did seem to have given up finally, his shoulders sagging as he sighed again.]

*can't say he didn't expect that... which is why he has something a little different in mind now*

Is it hard to picture?

[Jacques shook his head.]

...picturing isn't difficult. It's...whatever should happen next...

*that's about what he expected... fortunately he has another idea to try*

Then instead of picturing it, just focus on what you want to happen.

*turns so he's facing away from Jacques (and Hawk, for that matter), and holds out a hand, focusing briefly before small spear of ice forms and is launched forward, smashing into a tree trunk*

These abilities we're given seem to be innate somehow, not like other magic, so using them is more like some kind of reflex.

*nods towards the bushes Jacques had been practicing on*

Just think about making it sleep, not how you're going to do it. Close your eyes if it's easier to focus, maybe. But you have to want it to happen, as strongly as you'd want to hit your chosen target with your bow.

*it was, of course, the more reckless approach to it, since the lack of visualization would also probably mean a lack of control... but hopefully Jacques wouldn't quite realize and worry about that part yet*

[He watched the display of magic, blinking. It wasn't something he was used to seeing Geddoe do, so it was still a little surprising to see.

Instinctual, then. Jacques was silent for a moment- not like that was anything new- before he nodded. That sort of made more sense. He was able to get plants and things to grow because it was something he had (perhaps naively) come to expect.

Turning back towards that bush, Jacques, and it wasn't a beat later that a blue haze formed around it, which apparently startled the hunter since he took a sudden step back.]

*raises an eyebrow*

You weren't expecting to be able to do it?

*if anything, though, there's a hint more of satisfaction than amusement in his tone*

...I didn't think it would happen so easily.

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