I was surprised to find that I was far more tired than I thought and it was gone 8:30 before I regained consciousness this morning. I'd barely rung the service bell when there was a knock at my door and a maid arrived with coffee, orange juice, and hot croissants. I ordered a full breakfast to go with that as I was also hungry. Breakfast arrived, along with Random, when I was in the bath 10 minutes later. He wanted an update on yesterday's proceedings. I asked him why he didn't just send a message like everyone else or wait for me to come find him. When he didn't have a real answer I told him that if he did it again then I'd ensure that Vialle had a very good reason for making his life hell. There was a moments hesitation where he was tempted to call my bluff. Then he remembered what had happened last time he'd done so and returned to the subject of yesterday's proceedings.
He left about 15 minutes later leaving me to finish my breakfast and bath in peace.Having dressed and repacked my pack, expecting another extended stay somewhere I withdrew Llewella's trump from the deck and initiated a call. She took a few minutes to answer, then said that she'd see me in a hour, Amber time, at the villa, but I was to leave both my sword and trump deck behind. When I inquired why she said because the sword was a trump source and the deck had a trump signature and both would distract me. I felt somewhat naked without either and picked up my Championship blade as a replacement before trumping to the villa. Llewella was already there this time and told me to leave the villa trump on the table. Having done so I felt her draw up the pattern. There was then the vaguest sensation of change and the trump was no longer there, but then we weren't in exactly the same villa, but one in a different shadow.
Llewella allowed me half an hour to stow my things whilst she made tea and coffee and considered my art test pieces from Neravaine. Satisfied my sketching was up to par we began. Now when you have a trump in your hand its easy to sense them. Now I was required to locate not a card but a raw intangible power; a bit like learning to mentally focus until you can sense your own body and tap it's inherent power or that of the surroundings. It had taken me 10 years of training and practice to do that and I hoped it wasn't going to take that long with Trump.
According to Llewella today has been a good start but I'm not so sure. All I know is, it was not only bloody frustrating but hugely tiring, at least mentally.
It's been a long three and a half days but I've finally managed to sense something, if only for a fleeting second or two, at last. According to Llewella I've taken the first step, now all I need to do is practice until I can turn that fleeting sensation into a solid construct, metaphorically not literally. She said she'd come and check how I was doing in 3 days time or there abouts.
Today has been a day of staggering frustration, which of course in itself caused more frustration. In the end I gave up early. If I'd been in Neravaine I'd have gone riding and swimming, but here I've got no horse and haven't set foot beyond the pool on the terrace. If I'm here for any time this is going to be a problem as I'm going to need food and provisions.
Today has been better. I haven't managed to do more than hold the sensation of Trump for more than a second or two; if I were to liken it to anything it's like trying to pick up buttered eel with steel chopsticks, without being allowed to stick the chopstick into the eel. I made the decision to venture out today and I think this helped in the end. The villa is actually set fairly high up on a south facing slope. The trees that surround the terrace and pool hide both it from the estate and the estate from it. There are stables with horses, and grooms, gardeners, an extensive kitchen garden, and about 5 miles away a small town. Perhaps tomorrow I will explore further.
No visit from Llewella today but I've managed to feel something tangible for the first time, even if I've only been able to sustain it for barely a second or two. A least I can say that its becoming marginally easier to acquire the sensation in the first place.
I had it today, it was there, for a whole five seconds I had it; then I lost it again. I stuck at if for twelve hours then gave up. Maybe I'll find it again tomorrow, but whatever happens I'm going to have to go into town and locate some supplies.
Okay, so its actually the early hours of the 15th but who's counting. Llewella left an hour ago, and I'm now relaxed enough to sit still and write my journal entry for yesterday.
I started the day by walking down to the stables, saddling a horse then riding into town. I remembered along the way to acquire enough coin to see me through several months shopping, well you never know when you might need a little extra cash. Anyway for the rest of the journey I just let my mind wander and there it was just sitting there like some shining monster. We regarded one another for a few seconds then it was gone. What ever it was it was some form of trump construct, of that I was certain.
The town was a quaint affair, a few small shops, a butchers, bakers and cake shop, delicatessen, green grocer, and a homeopath. They served me without problems being well enough aware of who I was. One even let slip they'd expected me to go into town the day before. Most of what I ordered would be delivered on the following day, and I took just enough bread, meat, and vegetables to see me through until then.
The ride back to the villa was uneventful, and almost as boring as the ride into town. I let my mine wander again as I munched through an iced pastry whirl, and successfully managed to lock a trump source into a tangible form for 5 seconds.
Having been able to hold a tangible trump thread for 5 seconds whilst riding I decide to see if I could hold it for 15 seconds by concentrating. The first few times I did it easily but as the day wore on it became harder and harder to do and by late afternoon I was forced to take a nap, although it lasted longer than I intended.
It was dark when I awoke and I could hear
somebody moving about in the kitchen. I reached for my sword, then
remembered I'd left it in my bedroom. Cautiously I made my way across
the room. As I reached the doorway I could see it was Llewella, she was
tiding up the remains of my late lunch.
"So you're awake then."
"Sort of. I must have fallen asleep. How long have you been here?"
"Nearly an hour. I was going to wake you shortly if you didn't come
round. How long can you hold the power tap for."
"Continuously I'm not sure. I've been exercising tapping the source for
15 seconds then releasing it. I've been doing that for most of the day,
but it was getting harder and harder to hold as the day went on. I
barely managed 5 seconds the last time."
"You're making progress then, and you appear to be pushing yourself. I
want to to try and get to 10 minutes over the next 5 days, then an hour
over the following 5 days, then two whilst riding a horse in the five
after that. Now show me what you can do." I went form a tap, and my
head exploded. Llewella caught me as I collapsed. "Sit there for ten
minutes and don't try to do anything, other than drink the drink I put
there for you. When you can think straight I'll explain what happened
and show you how to stop it happening." She sat me down, put the drink
in my hand, and helped me take a few sips. It helped subdue the
shaking. She then took a trump card out of her pocket and put it on the
table, poured herself a coffee, then sat and waited whilst I drank the
drink she'd prepared.
"Recovered?"
"I wouldn't say that. What happened? It either has something to do with
that trump or whatever it was that was watching me this morning."
It was now her turn to splutter and spill her drink. "Yes it does have
something to do with the trump but what do you mean about something
watching you?"
"Well as I was riding into town this morning I wasn't really paying
attention to what was going on, just practicing sensing for trump
sources, and there it was, some form of trump entity. It sort of
watched me for a few seconds and then vanished."
"Can you describe it better than that?" "Well I suppose it felt
something like a giant spinning gyroscope in a spherical cage although
it did remind me a little of the model I'd seen of Babbage's Difference
Engine."
For the first time every I heard Llewella swear. "This is really
serious. I think you encountered Ghostwheel, the construct your brother
built. We'll just have to hope that it didn't recognize you and has no
interest in coming back to investigate. Otherwise I'm afraid we're
going to have to stop your training and you'll have to stop using trump
until things resolve themselves."
"Is that really necessary?"
"If it was Ghostwheel then it might not be enough. To be honest your
brother lost control of it sometime ago and it's now pursuing some
agenda of its own, and we haven't got a clue how to deal with it."
"Well I suppose I'd better hope it doesn't come looking, but what I'd
like to know is why didn't you warn me about the trump?"
"Ah. Yes. A necessary part of the learning process I'm afraid. Unless
to know what can go wrong you can't guard against it. You should be
thankful I only brought one card and not a whole deck or worse still
your sword. You're going to have to learn how to draw trump power
whilst having both on your person or you're not going to be able to
draw trumps. Now I'm going to need to show you how to do this so no
shields and no fighting otherwise it's going to be a long night."
Today has been pretty much back to square one. Its been like trying to identify who's sitting behind the spotlight in a darkened room with the spotlight directly in your face. In the end I resorted to moving the trump to the opposite end of the house and working on the terrace. At least this way the light wasn't so bright and I did actually achieve something.
I've had a much better day today. The trump is still at the other end of the house but I'm starting to get the hang of the screen and I've managed to hold a power tap for just over a minute.
Progress has been good today. I can now work with the trump about 20 feet away and hold a power tap for about 2 minutes. I can't see me making Llewella's 10 minute barrier in two days, especially as I'd like to be able to be able to make and hold a tap whilst carrying a trump by then.
Llewella's been visiting again, which means I'm going to have to go into town in the morning for fresh supplies. She also brought with her a full deck, which means I'm now back two steps. I had managed 3 minutes with the single card about 3 feet away but I failed completely once the deck arrived.
I took a single trump with me when I rode into town this morning in the hope that I'd be able to make the next step and create a power tap whilst carrying a trump. Unfortunately I didn't succeed but got close. I think I'm going to divide by day into attempting this and then attempting to work with the deck. I'm hoping that once I crack one the other will not be far behind. On a brighter note the fresh pastries did cheer me up after my failures. I even had the desire to put an hour in in the pool and try some wall walking, although again I didn't succeed in with that. I feel I'm a little closer to my goal though.
Today I think I cracked it, managing to create a tap both carrying a trump and in the vicinity of the deck. I started the day by going riding taking a single card with me. I suppose I'd been out about an hour when I achieved the creation of the tap for the first time, although it took me another hour before I could do it reliably. Buoyed by the success I returned to the villa and tried again failing the first few times. In many ways keeping the card on me seemed to help me block the deck. Once I could again reliably create the tap I returned the card to the deck and tried again. Again I failed first time but eventually succeeded, although I still can't do it whilst holding the deck - the light is still too bright as it were. I do think however its now just a matter of time and practice.
More progress today. With a single trump I can now hold a tap for about 8 minutes and with a whole deck about a minute, which is at least better than yesterday. Having made the break through with the whole deck I shall now concentrate with this alone.
Llewella was right about the strength of my sword. I'd fallen asleep again by the time she arrived, having spent the day pushing a five minute limit with the deck. I did try with the sword but I was just too tired to construct a viable screen against its power. She was a little disappointed that I hadn't got further and until I can hit the two hour mark whilst riding a horse I can't start the next phase of my training. I'm to call her when I can do this.
I think the next few days are just going to be a hard slog. I'm not trying to push the limit drastically and am back to dividing my time although I'm dividing it 10 and 2, 10 hours riding with the pack and two hours battling the sword. I can now comfortably do 5 minutes with the pack repeatedly, 8 minutes intermittently, and 11 minutes if I really push it. I can also form a tap at about 100 feet from the sword for a couple of minutes but any closer and I can't do it.
Another visit to town today for more supplies. I'm up to 7 minutes with the pack, 12 if I push it and down to 70 feet with the sword.
Pack time is now up to 10 minutes, 18 at a push, and I'm down to 35 feet from the sword.
Pack time is now up to 14 minutes, 24 at a push, and I'm down to 20 feet from the sword.
Pack time is now up to 19 minutes, 27 at a push, and I'm down to 10 feet from the sword.
Pack time is now up to 25 minutes, 35 at a push, and I'm down to 5 feet from the sword.
Pack time is now up to 30 minutes, 42 at a push, and I'm down to arms reach from the sword.
Another supply run today. Pack time is now up to 35 minutes and not only was I able to push an hour with the pack but I managed 2 minutes whilst holding the sword. Since I can now make a tap whilst holding the sword I'm going to now split my time 50/50 as fighting the sword is going to provide more benefit than just holding the tap on its own.
Llewella made an early morning visit this morning, getting me out of bed so she could see my progress. I deliberately left the sword and deck in my room, and managed to hold the tap for 55 minutes. If I continue to make good progress then she's probably going to start the next phase of my training in days, local time. As I'm keeping records I managed 40 minutes with the pack and a sustained 3 minutes with the sword.
The work with the sword is now starting to pay off as I'm now finding it much easier to bypass the interference caused by the pack. Pack time is now up to 50 minutes sustained, and sword time up to 4 minutes sustained.
Pack time is now up to 60 minutes sustained, and sword time up to 6 minutes sustained.
I changed the training regime today and worked just with the sword managing to push things to 9 minutes. I'm going to try 10 tomorrow and then see how long I can hold a tap with the pack after 8 hours working with the sword.
I forgot yesterday I need to go into town today. I left my sword at home and managed to ride the whole way into town whilst holding the tap, which takes about and hour at a trot. I repeated the exercise on the way home and was pleased by the result. I then spent the afternoon pushing the sword to 15 minutes, resulting in another impromptu eveing nap.
I worked at the new regime today pushing 15 minutes with the sword for 8 hours. Switching to the deck only I was able to hold the tap for 75 minutes, a little disappointing after the successes of yesterday and the day before.
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| Supporting Cast - Cordelia | The Keep of the Thirteenth Hour |