Vell'dryn Rydralle's Journal

[lonnarin]

Met Gel'larion the other day, quite an amiable fellow!  As it turns out, he heard that I was looking for him and actually sought ME out.  For a few hours aat the Hlint goblin camp we dicussed how to rethink the arcane archer training I have done thus far.  "Envision a link in the Al'Noth connecting the arrow to the target" he instructed.  Still trying to get that hang of that part, but I'm noticing my accuracy increase.  I suppose it is somewhat like how thesoul is tethered to the bindstone, or how a ship is tied to a dock on which it is mooring.  This whole time I have been trying to push the arrow to the target faster and stronger.  Instead, I should focus on *pulling* the arrow to the target.  Very interesting difference to note.

We did a bit of target practice, he using my wee halfling friend Alton's locks of hair and myself using a tree.  I could not, in all safety, use a living being as a test subject.  Perhaps when I am better skilled, but I would be mortified if my skills resulted in the loss of a friend's eye.  When we arched, I could swear I could feel a stronger bit of focus that before.  Studying his archery patterns, I'm not entirely certain if it was a trick of the light or my own imagination, but I think I could almost sense thise tethering line between he and the target that we was talking about.

"what you need to do is work on your awareness" he told me.  I admit, I am an easily distracted guy, even for an elf!  I must take what he has told me and use it in my previous exercises.  I rush too much, keep trying to force the powers within.  Instead, I should try to open up more, absorb the world around me, look, listen, feel the flight of the arrow and try to attune it to this mgical link between myself and th target.  In a sense, it is muc like throwing a life preserver to a man overboard and reeling him in with the line.  I think bow fishing would be an excellent bit of training to add to my regimen.  Not only does one have to aim for their target, but they also need to make certain the line is taught straight and that the slippery fish does not wriggle in another direction.

I'm adding a series of meditations to my pre-training warm-up, mostly focusing on establishing links between myself and mundane objects.  Take that tree over there.  True, I see the tree, I can feel the tree.  I can even taste its piny goodness.  But to KNOW the tree, and to be linked to it, that is the key.  To increase the bond between archer and target, it's must like paving a road between two cities and travelling along that road.  Hmmm, how to be close to the tree?

*several minutes after, Vell'dryn is interrupted by Ogar laughing his dwarfy butt off.  Lips pressed to sapling, Vell blushes and laughs it off*

[lonnarin]

I'm feeling it now, the arrow and I are one.  "See through the arrows eyes" as I like to put it.  Just the right amount of song, focus and mindset and the "zone" locks in.  And when I am in that zone, no target is safe!  Harrowing in on that focal point of energy where the target resides, I ignite the beacon within it to guide the arrow true.  Much as Gel'larion and I discussed, it is much like a lightning rod will draw the bolt of lightning.  Just before you feel that mage's lightning bolt strike you, you feel the hairs on the back stand on end and a sharp rush along the spine.  Then the arc of energy travels between the two points, connecting them to great an energy exchange.  Much in this same way, manipulating the Al'Noth can make the arrow travel as an arc between two beacons.

Confirming this theory, I've noticed that many of my shots have begun to "bend" along their path, more towards their goal than the wind or trajectory would normally allow.  I can set up trick shots, igniting multiple points from A to B to C in succession with limited results.  But they are results nonetheless!  The bite of the arrow striking these ingited beacons seems to spark with an added discharge from the Al'Noth.  Not painfully so, but noticeably.  If I could somehow tweak that discharge just a bit, the disruption might bring some added punch to my shots.

More than just battle effectiveness, the technique has certainly added to some flair to my moves.  Toying with the magical resonance of the path along the trajectory, I can make the arrows "sing" or more like whistle in tune to whatever song I'm playing.  Making that big long bowstring slap about like a bass guitar or twang like a halfling jaw harp for deep beats is simple.  For percussions you have the thick ogrish skull of the enemy, any number of hollow logs or tree trunks available, the sky is the limit to what kind of sound you want to produce.  I particularly like the cymbal clash of a tower shield... it's not a "wasted shot" if it sounds good!  The whistling of the arrow is like a chorus, whip them out in different arcs and the wind in which they travel can come alive with the Al'Noth, just as any flute or pipes.

Archery is an art in itself.  Beyond the music behind it, the mastering of skills or any other metaphysical mumbo jumbo.  There is an intrinsic beauty in how each arrow flies and the way in which it lands.  In the tensing of the arm and the tightness of the string, the long but quick fluid motion in which the arrow is set and notched and aimed.  And then there is exhibition archery!  Trick Shots, rapid shots, ally oops, barrages, ricochets!  The artful showcasing of the talent often is magical performance enough to ignite the Al'noth and tread the path towards the beacon.  Of course for added effect, a good snappy one-liner followed by a backflipping tumble or two certainly cannot hurt.  Anything for my adoring fans!

[lonnarin]

Had a fine time at a bard-party in Center last ight, free pie for all and song and tales galore.  Hosting the event I believe was Andrew, one of the bards I was told to seek out.  A nice fellow, he entertained the crowd with skillful use of the violin and his inredibly risque lyrics.  Even Xeenies would blush at some ofthe verses he was spinning.  Also in attendance was Karn, the friendly bard Imentioned earlier.  His specialty was the tamborine, an intument often neglected by most for its simplistic nature.  There is a style to the tamborine, to use it properly one must truly make it dance.  It is just as visual as it is auditory.

I chipped in entertaining the crowd with buffoonery, juggling and acrobatics.  Magical illusions as well, making my head apear to b detached, juggling my own arm; these things are only made possible with the Al'Noth.  Though who really stole the show was Sehky with his arcane fireworks display.  So skillful he is in manipulating the Al'Noth with his bow, that the fireworks on his arrows could take the forms he willed them to be.  Landscapes, creatures, shapes, it seemed as if he was limited by imagination alone in these endeavors.  I studied with fervor adding to my magical theory notes as much as I could observe of his works.  Unfortunately my arcane archery display was far less glorious, mising all the notes of the xylapohone I hung up and slipping over into a fall.  Luckily as a jester, the crowd gathered assumed it was all part of the show.  One of the benefits of laughing at oneself, it lessens the sting when others laugh at you.