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Bright Journey	It's a quiet night for once in a pair of young sorceress' busy schedules. What with the Tournament, planning for a little excursion out to Raksi's domain, and all the attendant nonsense going on, sometimes it feels like it's hard to just stop and catch a breath. Fortunately, that's what Bright Journey has finally managed to do. With a quick (and Infallible) invitation to just a few...shall we say -initiated- people, including Tiziri, Bright expressed a desire to chat, collaborate, and have a little fun doing absolutely nothing stressful aside from showing off and perhaps learning a bit in the meantime. It's no accident that Bright has set up their little rendezvous out of line of sight of the city itself, on a grassy plain that promises to perhaps not blow up anything anyone would want to avoid destroying. Sorcery is like that sometimes! She's brought absolutely nothing in the way of furniture or food, just herself, all smiles. But, hey, they're sorceresses. They'll manage.
Tiziri	And now it is time to gather and make one's way. Tiziri, and Tiziris, all make their way out. Best to stay kind of close... though a few of them trail off to help cover the path in case anyone tries to follow, she's thorough it seems! Despite... other means of protecting, best to keep secrets! So when Tiziri arrives, it is accompanied by three others, all are in almost identical robes, rather all concealing, the only thing making them stand out the state of their spears. Each seems unique, one is old and almost rickety looking. Another something straight from the Realm legion stocks. Another an interesting, shiny new one from the North. The final a local one, complete with red tassle to catch the blood. It is the one with the old spear from far away that makes her way forward, removing her veil to show her face. the others fanning out.
Bright Journey	Honestly, there's not all -that- much here to greet Tiziri in this large, generous clearing. There's a few trees about, but this is no forest. Probably just as well, to be honest. There's a large fallen log, though, and it's on here that Bright Journey is sitting. Her legs are crossed and she's relaxed, reading a small book. She looks up with a brilliant smile when she sees Tiziri (and company!) approach. "Ah! Hey, there...over here!" She waves, but that doesn't stop her from getting up, brushing down her skirt, and going to greet Tiziri, or at least the one in the lead. "Hey...you can relax, you know. I've already taken a look around a couple times now, and while I did have to scare off a pair of austrechs, things have mostly been quiet. And I hope you don't think I plan to do anything to you! "Anyway, I was kind of hoping we could get together just to talk sorcery. I did invite a couple others, but I admit I'm not expecting anyone other than us right now. No stress, no urgent deadlines or running around." She chuckles. "I hope!"
Tiziri	"Always best to be careful." Tiziri says in response as she makes her way up and the other continue to make their way... wherever! "They are me, we are." She grins weirdly and giggles a bit. "So no one should get here without our knowledge, at leat from that direction. I really do want to prevent any spies, given things from the tournament and also, well, just in case. I can admit I am a bit paranoid. I might be confident in my ability to stop most that would pursue, it does not mean to exert the effort." She giggles abit more. "So, what is going on?"
Bright Journey	"Well!" Bright grins cheekily and stretches. "Honestly, I was hoping for the opportunity to get to talk to you, as well as a few other people...just get together, collaborate, share spells...especially that last one! I know a fair few but it's taken me some time to realize every time I learn a spell I think is unique, or at least rare, we get to talking and I find out Amethyst or Rishi already know it. So I'm hoping to talk and maybe learn--and hopefully teach!--a few things that aren't actually...well, I say 'common' as if Celestial Circle Sorcerers are common at all. But sometimes it's nice to flex our skill a bit, you know? And when we're done with that I was thinking maybe inviting you in my Ivory Orchid Pavilion for dinner before heading back. Or your Pavilion if you feel the need, I'm not picky. While I enjoyed Rishi's party to some extent, sometimes I feel the need to actually make some progress, too."
Tiziri	Tiziri giggles a little bit, an almost ferally impish grin coming to her face. "In this case, you are probably talking to the right person. The apprentice of the preeminent Sorceress of the Silver Pact. A student who has read the Book of Three Circles." She keeps grinning, it's almost cheshire cat like. "I will admit, I have yet to encounter anything done with sorcery that truly has surprised me. Rishi thinks she is innovative, yet she is a shadow to those of the past. I do not mean that as an insult, I concede. Merely that so much has been forgotten by most."
Bright Journey	Bright simply nods, her expression sober for a moment. "I've thought about that a lot lately, actually. Every time I read a book of sorcery or history, or just remember glimpses of my past...it's impossible to forget everything we've lost. Make no mistake, though...I'm not trying to learn more sorcery just for fun, though I think it's amazing fun! I always feel like, no matter how good I am or how hard I work, there's always room for improvement. As for Rishi..." Bright sighs. Rishi is -amazingly- brilliant in her field. I know something of medicine but I don't expect to ever be her equal there. But there's definite blind spots outside her bailiwick." Bright pauses and looks thoughtful for a moment. "Speaking of improvement, I know you studied under Raksi. We discussed that when we were taking about going to meet her. But what, may I ask, is the Book of Three Circles? I'm not sure I've ever even heard of such a thing, but just from the name, it sounds quite central to the study of sorcery."
Tiziri	The spearwoman listens quietly to all of this, hiding any emotions with that cheshire grin and almost awkward looking tilt of her head. "It is not a book of Sorcery." Tiziri explains. "It is... The Book of Sorcery." She places a heavy emphasis on each word. Her expression growing more serious and her head straightening. "Every spell, every single spell, ever written is in it. It may well add anything created retroactively, or maybe they aren't original to begin with. Even my Shahan-ya does not know, and she has been studying it since the Usurpation. It is a true wonder, and to study it is to learn a lot. As I said, I have yet to be surprised by a spell, in theory, I know almost all of them. In practice, it takes some meditation. Some study."
Bright Journey	Bright listens to Tiziri carefully, her eyebrows raiding at the mention of what the Book of Three Circles truly is. "That...that is amazing. Just a chance to even peek at the book--heck, to just learn the -names- of the spells alone would be a treasure of knowledge." She sighs, a wryly deprecating expression on her face. "And yet, as much as I'd love to ask about it, I had better not. Learning sorcery is thrilling to me, but it's...a means to an end. Not my real purpose, you know? I have other, much more important things to ask her, and those will already take every erg of goodwill from her to get. Perhaps later. If there is a later."
Tiziri	"For me? It's learning." Tiziri explains. "Learning is just a journey of the mind. As I read new spells, or learn a new Martial art? It's all just a new thing to me. A journey. Just like going over the horizon or into a new set of ruins of is a journey as well. It's absolutely amazing." she is grinning in a different way now, it's not impish. It's manic, and mirthful. Her eyes practically sparkling. "And yes, it is amazing. It's a... it's a wonder of the old age. A wonder of times before. Mahalanka itself is, in a way no other ruins have yet managed. Sure, everything has wonders of its own, but there? Yeah..."
Bright Journey	Bright gets a fond, warm smile on her face, clearly responding to Tiziri's excitement. "That sounds lovely! Believe me, I love learning, too...otherwise I would not have branched out from what I call social sorcery into book learning, when I finally cracked the Celestial Circle. Both are valuable to me, and one is better at understanding the present, the other the past...but both are about understanding through raw knowledge. Not the same thing, but one leads to the other I've found, in sorcery as in life. I admit, while I -have- delved into ruins--it's how I found my past life's bow and armor, among other things--it's not something I go and seek out for its own sake. I find myself doing so mainly to help my friends these days. I definitely love the idea of taking back what we lost from the First Age, though. Itt took me a long time to really understand how far we've fallen since then. How little we know, what wonders didn't survive into the Shogunate, let alone the modern day." Bright gets a conspiratorial little grin. "Which reminds me! I did say something about collaborating, didn't I? We could have just shot the breeze anywhere. Here, though, I'm not afraid to summon a Magma Kraken without burning down my -house-. Do you happen to know that one?"
Tiziri	"For... some? The wonders have, well, diminished. But never left entirely." Tiziri says thoughtfully. "I can say I see how amazing things probably were. I cannot say I see how to make them again, or anything comparable." She purses her lips. "It's sad. We live in age of decay. Of dust. Yet can we make it more?" She tilts her head inquisitively. Then she gets a more sober expression. "And yes, I can. As well as sing the Cantata of Empty Voices." She explains. "I admit to a lot of selfish spells. Things that see to my comfort, or to survival. That is one. I am prepared for war." She states. "I am prepared to destroy all before me, to help bring our victory. I will have my Empire, my realm. I will see my goals happen, and I do not care if a Legion or Two stands in my path." She sounds more resolved now.
Bright Journey	Bright slowly nods. "I...well, you're right. I am many things, but the fact is I'm not an artificer. I've never really felt that need to -create- on the same scale as I feel the need to know, and to be loved. I think of that as the kind of thing other people are better at. Like Amethyst and her beloved alchemy." With a tilt of her head, Bright looks curiously at Tiziri. "Hmm. I might have run across the name of that spell at some point, but I confess I don't remember much about it. What does it do?" Bright grins and shrugs. "Well, see, I don't necessarily look at spells as selfish or selfless, I have to admit. Sorcerers are a selfish lot, though, I suppose. We do need to take care of ourselves, and many sorcerers don't have my archery, or your martial arts, to fall back on. I'm not sure how many spells I've read about that help other people, but I can't imagine there's all that many."
Tiziri	"It's honestly the most horrifying spell I know. The Magma Kraken? That's impressive. Yet The Cantata? It..." She lets out a weird sort of sigh. "It's the sort of spell that brought armies to heel in the past. I have never used it, I only know what it can do. Because of it? I know the Wyld Hunt needs to fear me." She sounds far too sober in how she says that. "It is something I know for when I decide to go to the Caul and begin The Pilgrimage. I will do it, and no Legion will stop me." She states firmly. "I think it is important to remember we are weapons. It is not that Sorcery is selfish, that we are selfish. It's that those who made us had a reason. A very specific one." Tiziri says just as soberly. "We are not to help, we were made to destroy. We are swords of a sort. Those made to defend Creation from all that might see it burn. We were not made to help. at least not any more than we were made to help each other be weapons. Whetstones to hone each other. Smiths to forge away the chips. Thus, the magics? Of course they don't. A sword is a sword, we are not Scyhtes, made to harvest and just happening to reap as weapons." There's a truly cynical edge to it. "That said? We are still us. We were chosen for our capacity be those weapons, yet we are still us. I am still an Explorer. A Traveller. A Poet. A lover of foods and booze." She giggles. "But we are otherwise what we are."
Bright Journey	Bright honestly looks sober as well as she listens carefully. Intently. She's studying Tiziri's face and absorbing every word with deliberate care. "Armies to heel," Bright murmurs. And yet I sort of skimmed over it. I admit I forget the details, but I feel I overlooked it due to some sort of downside. Mind you, I already have ways of making large groups of people fear me." She gets a quirky grin. "Or love me. Or anything in between, honestly, and that includes influencing them -or- killing them. Don't mistake me, though--just because I'm nice doesn't mean I don't recognize the need to fight sometimes. We're struggling right now to make sure the world doesn't find out about us, but even if this thing with the Nine Sheaves works out fine...someone will piece it together someday. I won't be found wanting either." Bright tilts her head at the mention of weapons. "Huh. You know, I -do- remember reading something about the Exalted having been created to fight the Gods' battles for them against the Primordials. I assume that's what you mean by weapons? I...hrm. How to say this." She pauses a moment, her expression focused. "We were created one way, all right, fine. But why should we let that limit us? Define us? We have free will and a powerful set of tools, do we not? It's on -us- to take what the ancient Gods made of us and turn all that power into something -productive-. Sometimes that's destroying that which is wrong. And sometimes it is protecting that which is right. Weapons are used for both, after all. And even if we wanted to do something other than be weapons, what of it? There is nothing--nothing at all--that shackles us to our original purpose. If sorcery doesn't do what we want it to do, then it's within our power to turn it in a new direction. Maybe someday I will create -new- spells. Something to bring a people together. Give them something to believe in." She grins faintly. "Something to fight -for-, not just against. Come to think of it, isn't that what we call a -nation-? I wonder if there's a way to...I don't know, spread a convincing tale on a wide, -wide- scale. Talk to people and get them to see things your way on a town. A city." "A Direction." Bright Journey pauses, her expression sober and thoughtful as the implications swirl in her mind.
Tiziri	"Maybe." Tiziri says softly, looking at Bright Journey carefully. "But, I worry that is exactly what our predecessors thought too." She states almost softly. "They failed. They... were far beyond us. Yes, we know what they did. We can see it." A pause, "At least ruins of it. We can also see the results. And hear the stories of those who have known both." she takes a deep breath. "There is a reason the Silver Pact has not done more, I fear. Some is the lack of the gold to gild it. But I think some is indeed our Elders knew the past. Saw it fail." She looks down towards the ground, "So instead we are now exactly..." a special emphasis on the word exactly. "...what we were made to be, and do what were made to do. Rule, to a point. But espeically to defend. As I said, we are swords. Not axes, not scythes. Not the tools that can be a weapon. We are weapons. We can create wonders, amazing ones. Yet they are still in the pursuit of that goal. Just as a sword can be an amazing work of art, and used to entertain! It is still sword."
Bright Journey	"Well, let's look at it another way." Bright sighs heavily and looks off to one side, towards the west and the beginnings of a gorgeous sunset. "I think we're talking about more similar things than I thought a few moments ago. Think of it like this: This hypothetical spell, that works to convince -thousands- of people of something? Maybe millions? That's a weapon, too, if you choose to look at it that way. It makes no difference -to the sorcery- whether you're convincing everyone to sing around campfires, denounce the Immaculate Philosophy, or stab the nearest person. In fact, now that I'm thinking of some of the implications, I'm starting to see some of what you're saying. That such a spell is a weapon isn't really in doubt. Everything--and I mean -everything--depends on where that sword is pointed." Bright sighs again, hands behind her back, squinting into the sun. "Maybe it's not the sword we should be polishing. Maybe we should be spending more time making sure it's pointed the right way."
Tiziri	"I mean," Tiziri begins, "That's really the point." She giggles suddenly, "Truly, it is. We guide the point of the weapon. Yet it is still a weapon. We, are still weapons. We were made by Gods who wished to overthrow their own creators. Justly or not, who can tell? Historically speaking, the victors wrote the story. But we were weapons. Just as the sword was only made to fight, so were we." Tiziri says honestly sounds sad at this, in a way. "It does not... cheapen us. It just gives us a purpose, and by fighting against that purpose we are little better than the sword trying to chop down a tree or reap the what."
Bright Journey	Bright pauses, half-turning so she can look Tiziri in the eye. There's a small, sad sort of smile on her face as she looks at Tiziri, considering her words. "Honestly, I think you're selling us short, aren't you?" Bright turns, looking a bit more animated as she warms to her topic. "Think of it like this. Take an Exalt who works with her hands. A crafter, an artificer...someone who does naught but that. And we've seen the type, haven't we? That crafter can make daiklaves, sure. Or lanterns, or plowshares, or horseshoes, or artifacts that do naught but entertain. There is nothing about us that -forces- us to learn to fight, Tiziri. We do so because we live in a dangerous world, and because our greatness breeds great enemies, and because we who wish to see change in the world will always meet those who wish to see the status quo. We learn to fight because we're selfish and it benefits -us-, not the Gods. You said it yourself--we're selfish. We can't be selfish and yet still be nothing more than the instruments of others. "Personally, I tend to think we are flexible, malleable tools. We're swords, and scythes, and axes, and even plowshares, or whatever else we wantt depending on the situation. We have free will and we have powers that let us do far more than merely smite primordials. You wouldn't let anyone else control you, would you?" Bright's eyes are focused intently on Tiziri's expression. "Don't let anyone tell you you can't do things your way." Bright sighs again, her expression wry. "Now, mind you, my own Second Breath was...odd...in that respect. I can't say I'm not following the will of another, because I was...well, I shouldn't get intto the details. I was inspired to bring all of the Exalted together, all of us who love Creation, to act as one to defend it. Honing and positioning a sword to parry the Fae, or the Underworld, or what have you. It -does- fit into your viewpoint. I just don't think you're giving us enough credit."
Tiziri	"When we tried to be more than Swords, the First age happened." Tiziri responds evenly, with that same sad tone still there. "Yet... so did worse. By trying to be more, we became worse. Yes, wonders were made, but those wonders were often as perverse as they were great." She adds. She takes a deep breath and looks up towards a passing cloud in the sky, just watching it for a little while. "It truly is a difficult position, but I do not want it to happen again. To become weak and be destroyed. Or to see another rebellion end us."
Bright Journey	Bright is eyeing Tiziri with a bit of concern, now. "Mmmm...I'm not sure that argument holds water, dear. First off, the First Age lasted a long, long time, did it not? It wasn't perfect--what is?--but are you so sure that it was because the Exalted of the First Age branched out from being...what? Obedient slaves to the Gods? Mindless weapons, unable to create anything? I mean, yes, the First Age collapsed eventually but I think you're painting with an -extremely- wide brush there. "That said, Tiziri, why don't we find something else to talk about? I admit, I was trying to do something fun, not stressful, and I think that's where we went now. Why don't you tell me about Cantata? In exchange, I bet I have a spell or two you might not have yet. Have you ever heard of Molten Shape of Shifting Glass?"