The Bard Circle

Pio got a message with an invitation... opens the scroll and reads eagerly. It's been a while since she last went back to Sylvhara.... smiles pleased..

The Bard Circle Will Gather Today (10/14/12) in Beautiful Sylvhara at 1:00 PM pm SLT.
Please come and present your poems or stories or just come enjoy the readings
and the serene surroundings of a magical forest.

Everyone is welcome.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sylvhara%20Tari/130/173/22

Odil Lumiere: Next we will hear from ShadowDancer
Cerine Swordthain watches the Regent blush
Odil Lumiere: he dreams a lot
Aiden (herb.bricklin) brushes leaves from his hair
Odil Lumiere: Shadow if you please
Pionia Destiny: smiles.. glad she's not too late and can still enjoy some good stories.
ShadowDancer (bob.horton): thank you Lady Odil, yes I dream
Pionia Destiny: sits comfortably looking at the audience.. recognizing some old friends..
Ǿυεεŋ  Čөмεŧ (comet.quijote): smiles

ShadowDancer

ShadowDancer (bob.horton): Conversation with a Special Owl

All day long I am thinking about my last dream, the dream of falling out of the sky and how an owl saved me from death. I have to see this owl again, I have to learn about him, talk with him ask him the questions that burn in my gut. Long treks to places I think I might find it do not yield any result. Where does a great bird like that live? What does it do? What does it want with me?
After long day of searching I am weary and hungry. I think I missed what they call a pay day and have no coin in my purse. All I have is an apple. I eat that and look for a hospitable bush to spend the night under. I find an abandoned camp site, the embers are still alive, I fan them to life and warm my cold body at someone else's fire. I stare into the flames for a long time as sleep eludes me and listen to the night sounds of the forest. Finally I sleep... Soundlessly great wings glide though the air, the forest sounds cease as if all creatures know that something significant is taking place. I watch the shadow of the owl but I cannot see it yet. "Greetings from one Shadow to another", - I think.

Me:"Greetings Owl, are you one who saved me?"
Owl: "I am not only that owl I AM THE OWL!"
I look on him with surprise and wonder.
Owl: "It is time for you to fall into the shadow and visit your ancestors, connect with them, learn about them. About their traditions, joys and sorrows".
Me: "How? I do not remember anything about my family I was taken too early for memories".
Owl: "You will find a way", - says the owl.
When I wake up I am even more confused than before and hungry too, I set out to find food.

End

Spica Inventor: nice story

Cerine Swordthain

Cerine Swordthain: The Wine of Creation

She lounges sleepily in the depths of her mother's cave. Deep blue eyes watch the spiraling dance of flame and ash as slender fingers caress the intricately-carved metal goblet. The aroma of a strong red wine wafts past her nostrils as she breathes with her unseen brethren and the Rhythm that connects them all. Closing her eyes against the light of the leaping flames; time fractures and dissipates as she knew it would...the sound of the fire's crackle becoming a roar in her sensitive ears before all goes blessedly silent. Only darkness now...has she forgotten to breathe? The fragile body gasps and pulls at the surrounding air as blood seeps gently from her nose. The metal goblet whose attention she had sought minutes before, was now in danger of spilling it's fluid onto the exquisitely-woven carpet that lay as a barrier against the chill of the damp cave. She listens as silence reigns in the Pathways. A frisson of fear runs through her...silence held it's place but not here...not in the glen that was her own.

She sits upon the Spring grass she cannot smell and wraps her arms tightly around her knees. Ebony curls lift on an unheard breeze as sapphire eyes survey the edges of her place within the Rhythm. The movement she often sensed outside her own branch in the Pathway was eerily still. "The calm before the storm." She thinks as her eyes shift from the tightly-woven bushes to the Cedar trees lining the edges. She feels for her connection with this place and sighs as she is reassured of it's place in her mind as she even now rested in it's flow.  She laughs suddenly...the sharp sound refusing to echo in the dead quiet. Words run through her thoughts...a lesson from long ago and pertinent even now...

"You will be subject to wild swings of self-indulgent behavior- much of which will frighten and confuse those around you. I went through this, but in the holds of Mori Tarma away from prying eyes. You cannot stop it...only try to contain it to avoid rousing too much interest or objection."

She had asked him how long this would go on...he had merely smiled, his blue eyes crinkling with a true humor and replied, "A thousand years I will give you, Cerine. A day more than that and I shall take measures to curtail your behavior by whatever means necessary." His voice held a promised threat...completely at odds with the timeline given for surely she would have matured far sooner than a millenia?

Self-indulgent for most was self-explanatory but for the Sereg....deadly...as evidenced by her recent behavior. She'd played the pieces upon the board with a clarity she should not have and yet...so much of the future was murky...pieces moved in a given moment with no guarantee what the next would bring.: And what most would have called spoilt behavior was in fact her testing the boundaries...manipulating...and questioning, always questioning. Who was she to decide another's fate?

Her head snaps up as color bleeds into the dense twilight bringing with it the rushing of thoughts and voices she associated with her brothers. The muted melody of their Chords vibrates within her, causing an instant reaction and the ringing of her own. She holds her breath as they suddenly still...assassins.... all perched listening and waiting. How she hated it when they all turned to her! Growling softly she stifles her own Chord into silence and waits until they continue on with their inner speech in the Pathways of the Sereg'wethrin. Slender fingers relax their hold on the goblet whose flight to the rug below is muffled as metal meets silken fibers and wine stains them blood red. A delicate body slips to the floor in a crumpled heap....

"Centuries of creation
Fashioned and transformed
A mystical ultimate organism that holds expectancy of union with the divine
No surprise that what seems to be insurmountable barriers are merely stopping points gaining our attention
Without bread or wine or altar the sun sets its host of fire upon the trembling chalice of earth
The shades of this fair season reflect in the lake of vineyards
The wine of creation
Blood Red and Real"

Poem by Ondine Ninetails
Cerine Swordthain: ~end~ for now

Odil Lumiere: Please read you poem
Sequoyah (vlosh.troncon): of course
Odil Lumiere: please*

Sequoyah (vlosh.troncon)

Sequoyah (vlosh.troncon): Ode to the Bards Circle Tree
What a delight to behold this tree
In its predetermined cycles,
Undisturbed by human greed
And worshipped by poets and lovers alike.
Take your mind back to first creatures
Who built homes from trees like this
And removed many just like this.

They burnt them for fuel. How tragic.
And how fortunate is this one
Surviving for hundreds of years
In the soil fueled in turn
By fallen decomposing neighbors,
In the unending cycles of life,
worshipped by those who appreciate it's magisty.
We can learn from trees.
Unlike other creatures,trees use discretion in choosing the company they keep.
Hardwoods don't do well in conifer soil,
Hemlocks not with beech.
This grand tree chooses us, we do not choose it.
It chooses poets and lovers to protect.
Thank it for it's protection.
The Ent

Odil Lumiere: applauds and it is a true Ent poem too
ShadowDancer (bob.horton): appplauds the Ent
Ǿυεεŋ  Čөмεŧ (comet.quijote): applauds
Cerine Swordthain claps
Aiden (herb.bricklin): thank you migthy tree
Zoskia (zoskia): that was winderful
Malakyte Thorne applauds

galadriel Silverspar applaud
Ǿυεεŋ  Čөмεŧ (comet.quijote): smiles
Spica Inventor: :-) nice poem sequoyah :-)
Doyle Slen (beastmcstien): shakes his leaves

Odil Lumiere: I was ging to read a story today but we are out of time
Sequoyah (vlosh.troncon) smiles at some, winces at others
Odil Lumiere: I will just read a short poem too
Ǿυεεŋ  Čөмεŧ (comet.quijote): pretty good for wood
Malakyte Thorne: heheh

Odil Lumiere

Odil Lumiere: Dark Moon Nights
by Odil Lumiere

While the moon is hiding
And the winds are still
A lone owl is gliding
Over the empty hill
Only the distant stars are gazing
Coolly upon the land
The milky way is blazing
Like a silver band

The sea is moans it secret sorrows
With relentless beat
And little waves are sobbing
Among the reed
While it is dark you can hear
Small foot steps in the grass
All the creatures that hide in the daytime
Come out at least

Faint mist embraces the hills like smoke
Among them ghosts so restless
Shreds of old memories smote
With pain endless

Only the Moon remembers
What once was such delight
The cooling embers
Tell me I lost you heart

Odil Lumiere: end

Spica Inventor: claps
ShadowDancer (bob.horton): applauds
galadriel Silverspar smiles and claps
Cerine Swordthain applauds
Aiden (herb.bricklin): applauds
Doyle Slen (beastmcstien): appluads, well done loremaster
Frogie Foxdale: claps
Sequoyah (vlosh.troncon) shakes his leaves
Zoskia (zoskia) looks at Odil for a moment, then smiles softly
Ǿυεεŋ  Čөмεŧ (comet.quijote): smiles
Spica Inventor: one of sequoyahs pine cones hit me on the head
Malakyte Thorne applauds
Odil Lumiere: Thank you all for coming, your presence makes this Bard Circle what it is, a delightful time,
Sequoyah (vlosh.troncon): That was no accident, Spica!
Sequoyah (vlosh.troncon): Thanks for organizing this Odil!
Odil Lumiere: I hope to see you all again next week
Spica Inventor: i know hehe
Malakyte Thorne: Thank you Lady Odil
Cerine Swordthain: Thank you Odil!
Spica Inventor: thanx odil :-)
galadriel Silverspar: Thank you Odil
Odil Lumiere: It is my pleasure and I am so proud of all the talented persons we have here
Ǿυεεŋ  Čөмεŧ (comet.quijote): Thank you Lady odil
Ǿυεεŋ  Čөмεŧ (comet.quijote): Thank you everyone
Odil Lumiere: Thank you for coming queen Comet
Sequoyah (vlosh.troncon) tries to stand up but realizes he is already standing

*********************************
Roleplayers: Spica Inventor, ShadowDancer (bob.horton), galadriel Silverspar, Cerine Swordthain, Aiden (herb.bricklin), Doyle Slen (beastmcstien), Frogie Foxdale, Sequoyah (vlosh.troncon), Zoskia (zoskia), Ǿυεεŋ  Čөмεŧ (comet.quijote), Malakyte Thorne, Odil Lumiere, Pionia Destiny

Casting spells: Vocabulary

Here, we have some examples of the use of the language to cast spells with Wands and Staves..

Casting lightning
She waved the wand in a tighter motion and invoked the proper wording with a confident articulation. A bolt of lightning shot out across the still water of the creek. Sparks and smoke filled the air, and a tree limp dropped to the ground.

Vibrancy illusion
She waved her hand through the air and chanted, drawing a glimmer of light into being. With the energy manifested, she wrote her name across the air. Each letter remained for a few moments before fading from sight.

More examples on how to describe wand spells:

* Her hand flicked from side to side, and she spoke the incantation, a prismatic light sparkled from her wand, and she drew flowers at the tops of the weeds and ferns beside her.

* Flickering her wrist, casting a spray of light at him, staining his clothes for a few seconds before fading away..

* She swished her wand at him and spoke the words, flinging a pink wave of energy.

* She casts another cone of light and changing her clothes to a sky blue color.

* She casts her spells wider and faster, coloring his clothes a mixture of pink and purple, the spell sent a warm rush through his body as it passed around him.

* With a quick motion, she cast, sticking him in the face with an imaginary flower.

* With a flick of the wrist and incantation muttered, a blast of energy strikes the boy and send him to the ground.

* She places a book in front of you. It's leather bound with stamped impressions of runes and glyphs burned into the cover.

* She spoke an incantation and waves the wand, closing her eyes as sparkles of purple flames licked the air nearby. She raised the wand to the sky when she finished the words, then trust it in the direction of the horses at the head of the wagon. With a crackling sound, the pure energy shot through the air and the smell of jasmine filled the air. The horses reared and snorted while glittering light surrounded them. As fast as they had appeared, the candescent waves disspated, and the horses resumed their stirring.

Spells with a rod

* Ismerelda produced a rod made of intertwined shiny metals which seemed to have been bent in a spiral by the hands of a giant. A fiery red stone was set into the top of the scepter. The appearance of the rod of great craftsmanship and ornamentation. She spoke a phrase of magic words and made a swaying motion with her casting hand. Glints of white luminescence dripped from the end of the rod like a font of shimmering light.

* She brought forth her rod and flung it towards him with the utterance of an incantation he didn't recognize. Erupting from the tip of the scepter, a ball of energy flew across the room, then exploded with a flash when it struck an invisible barrier in front of him.

More on wands and staffs... Taken from Wikipedia..

Magic wands commonly feature in works of fantasy fiction as spell-casting tools. Few other common denominators exist, so the capabilities of wands vary wildly. Note that wands fill basically the same role as wizards' staffs, though staffs generally convey a more 'serious' image; a fairy godmother would often use a wand, possibly with a star or some form of decoration on the end, while Gandalf would most likely not (however, in The Hobbit, he is said to use a wand, referring to his staff, to fight the goblins of the Misty Mountains and their Wargs). Gandalf's name is Northern Mannish (one of Tolkien's invented languages, similar to North Germanic languages) for "Elf of the Wand", a reference to the staff he carries. In dramatic fiction, wands can serve as weapons in magical duels. Personal Wands are common in the fictional world of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter, as necessary tools to channel out each character's magic; it is the wand which chooses its owner. A wand is also present in the Children of the Red King series in the possession of Charlie Bone as well as the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft where caster classes such as the mage and warlock use wands offensively.

Circle of Sorcerers: Ismerelda's Teachings

Ismerelda's Teachings on magic

These are the notes of Laedron Telpist, an apprentice of mage...

The first rule of magic is that all effects are temporary. The spell's effect remains, so long as you continue concentrating. The wave of magic can affect the things it comes in contact with while it is in existence. Therefore, a lightning bolt can break a tree in half. You could drown an enemy in magically created water so long as he passes before the water is dispelled. Magic is just as much about figuring out solutions as concentrating to make it happen. Magical fire can set other things aflame. It's not because the magic remains, but because it has affected something else in the world that is material.

There are several types of magic. These are known as aspects to sorcerers. They each deal with a particular part or effect of magic. The first and most popular is energetics. Being the study and conjuration of raw energy from nothingness, almost every offensive spell is a part of this aspect, but there are some practical uses, too.

Next comes the transfiguration aspect. This style of magic is done to change some feature of something. A weaker transfiguration might be changing a copper coin into a gold one for a short period of time, while a major use would be transforming a person into a rabbit.

After transfiguration, you have alteration. That is the magic of illusions and shadows. It's easier to project an image of something than to conjure up the sum of its parts. Instead of making a man from nothing, you make his image. Alterations cannot interact with things since they are simply apparitions.

The final aspect is a rather new practice which can be difficult to master. It is called Captivation. It is the art of the silver tongue. I can be used to persuade or manipulate others. While requiring a great deal of concentration, it involves speaking at the same time. These two actions working simultaneously can be troublesome to achieve, and even the masters find it nearly impossible to control anyone for any considerable length of time. It can aid you in communicating with those who don't speak our common tongue, though. Birds, for instance. They can be told simple directions, many sorcerers use the smarter creatures for mundane tasks. A carrier pigeon, for example.

There are others aspects, but they are very specialized  and they are branches of these four aspects. Each sorcerer might also develop his own incantations, making our game both interesting and dangerous.

The most important spell a sorcerer can ever know is the invocation of dispelling. Many mages begin their training by learning simple offensive spells or changing water into milk.

Alteration magic deals with illusions. In order to make a mirage, you must be familiar with what you are trying to mimic. The more complex the apparition, the harder it will be to maintain  Even though an illusionary image cannot interact with the material world, it can still be convincing. It's also easier to create than the actual thing. Whereas making a real human is a daunting task, summoning the mere image of one is often plenty to accomplish the effect.

Captivation magic can be used to exert control over another, its common practical use is to communicate with others, its common practical use is to communicate with others who do not share your tongue. And animals. The incantation is spoken, and  you must concentrate the words into its base emotions and thoughts, conveying them to the recipient in their rawest form. That's why we can communicate with animals in this way, although they may not always understand our meaning. Advance beings are capable of higher thought and feelings.

To influence another in this method yo must concentrate while bringing out the thoughts you want to portray. Then, you must stregthen these thoughts to draw them to act the way you want. it's not a method of commanding them outright; you use your powers to sway thwm one way or another.

Let's us supposed that you are angry with me, an I would prefer you to be cordial. I would then speak the incantation to bring about the spell and feed positive thoughts of myself directly to your mind . especially those which I feel would be the most effective.

Taken from : The Circle of Sorcerers. By Brian Kittrel

When Laedron Telpist's sorcery training is interrupted by a knock on the door, what once seemed a proper profession must now be hidden. In a world where priests and mages vie for the limitless power of the elements and a new Grand Vicar has sworn death to all sorcerers, Laedron is tossed into a nightmare which would see his destruction at every turn.

From the home shores in western Sorbia, through the Cael'Brilland heartlands, and even across the seas to the great city of Azura, Laedron finds himself embracing old friends, consorting with unlikely allies, and confronting potent enemies. As he struggles to train himself in spellcraft, Laedron must face that he lives in a time when the utterance of a simple spell could be the signature on his death warrant.

About Runes and Rune Language for Mages

About runes and rune language

Runes are the written equivalent of the ancient first magical language known as rune-tongue. In written it was similar to languages like Chinese an Egyptian in that there were thousands of characters, each having meaning of a word, thing, place, or object.  Mages believe it to be a form of the original, primeval language and mastery of it is necessary for performing magic.

The runes and rune-words hold no magic power in and of themselves, but when spoken by someone who could sense the magical energy of the land and use their mind to focus that energy, the words of rune-tongue transformed that energy into magical action. It is like a request between the earth and the mage, the rune-words making the appeal clear.

What complicate things for mages is the fact that rune-words and written runes can not be learned like English, they had to be soul-remembered, brought back to the conscious mind from ether of the collective magical mind of the universe itself. What this means for mages is that they do not necessarily remember rune-words or symbols the same way. Since the same rune-word spoken by two mages could sound different or be written differently, All written runes have similar look. Even if they are unique. Most creatures write runes the same way.

Casting fire to open a Dragon's Lair

To open the passage to the dragon's lair. Pionia has to conjure a rune of fire that serves as the key to unlock the magical door closing the lair. Getting her eternal companion, her fire wand, draws the rune of open on the ground. Drawing energy from the magic in the place, it is known that dragons have magic of their own and they dwell in caves in magical locations. Pionia shakes her hands a bit taking a deep breath, raising her hands out before her chest and, holding them with the palms facing a slab of rock that disguises the entrance to where the dragon sleeps.  "Ogni" she says and a small ball of flame appears before her hands. She repeats the word, chanting it softly, as the ball of fire moves to the center of the rock face and begins to grow.

The mage continues to chant, the words getting louder, the fireball sinking down to the rock and engulfing it in flames. Pionia began to add words to the chant and the flames twist and grow in size until the blaze reaches up twenty feet into the sky. Pio begins to shake as she chants. Her eyes are ablaze with the power of the magic as she shouts the fire into being. Her hands weaving through the air as she struggles to control the colossal conflagration confronting her. As she chants, the fire begins to bend and twist in synchronization with the movements of her hands. The flames curve and coil, shifting like living creatures across the face of the granite slab, until they finally took the form of the rune for open that Pio had drawn in the dirt minutes before.

A rumble like thunder fills the air as the ground begins to quake and the giant outcropping of rock begins to move. The wedge of granite still slid forward, moving all as one piece up the side of the mountain. Pionia shakes herself and releases the magical energy of the fire, the flames winking out as she does, draining the energy back to the land. Pio closes her eyes, breathing softly, her body feels  light as a feather, letting the energy runs out of her hands.

Casting a glow-wand

Pionia pulls out a small crystal cylinder from her pouch, saying "Kesha-Tomm", speaking the rune-word for light and focusing a small amount of magical energy from the land into the crystal. The glow-wand responds by emitting bright, blue-white light.

Adapted from: The dark Shadow of Spring. The young Sorcerers Guild. By G.L. Breedon

More on runes:

Runes are an oracle from which one seeks advice. They work best if you detail your current circumstances and then ask a specific question. Rune readings are sometimes obscure. They hint toward answers, but you have to figure out the details. This is when the rune casters intuition becomes paramount. Some times the Runes "sing" to me, and their meaning becomes instantly clear.

Runic divination or "rune casting" is not "fortunetelling" in the sense that one actually sees the future. Instead, runes give one a means of analyzing the path that one is on and a likely outcome. The future is not fixed. It changes with everything one does. If one does not like the prediction, one can always change paths.

Since ancient times, runes have been used for divination and magic, in addition to writing. The word "rune" actually means mystery, secret or whisper. Each rune has esoteric meanings and properties associated with it, beyond its mundane meaning and phonetic value. Each translates into a word or a phrase signifying concepts important to the early peoples who used them, representing the forces of nature and mind. Each rune has a story attached to it, a relationship to a Norse God.

* Ancient Runes
* Runes (wikipedia)
* Runes the alphabet of mistery