Aether Quotes

She'd survived the outside. She'd survived the Aether and cannibals and wolves. She knew how to love now, and how to let go. Whatever came next, she would survive it, too

I guard the light-bringer, And protect the dark-giver. I live for the world-starte, And die for the shadow-ender. My blood, I offer freely. My Threads, I offer wholly. My eternal soul belongs to no one else. Claim my Aether. Guide my blade. From now until the end.

But if there was a heaven this is what it would have felt like. Touching the aether with my bare hands I could never have anticipated this, not from him.

She trusted him. She had claimed his Aether, and she would guide his blade.

Lady Maccon stopped suddenly. Her husband got four long strides ahead before he realized she had paused. She was starring thoughtfully up into the aether, twirling the deadly parasol about her head. "I have just remembered something," Alexia said when he returned to her side. "Oh, that explains everything. How foolish of me to think you could walk and remember at the same time.

You must remember that the common criminal will always join the armed forces for, if nothing else, regular meals and expert training in the use of guns.

Come on, Paisley. What's the worst that could happen?" Aria meant it as a joke,but her voice sounded too high so she tacked on a laugh. That came out sounding mildly hysterical. "What could happen in a damaged dome?" Paisley counted on her slender fingers. "Our skin could rot off. We could get locked out. An Aether storm could turn us into human bacon. Then the cannibals could eat us for breakfast.

Its substance was known to me. The crawling infinity of colours, the chaos of textures that went into each strand of that eternally complex tapestry…each one resonated under the step of the dancing mad god, vibrating and sending little echoes of bravery, or hunger, or architecture, or argument, or cabbage or murder or concrete across the aether. The weft of starlings’ motivations connected to the thick, sticky strand of a young thief’s laugh. The fibres stretched taut and glued themselves solidly to a third line, its silk made from the angles of seven flying buttresses to a cathedral roof. The plait disappeared into the enormity of possible spaces. Every intention, interaction, motivation, every colour, every body, every action and reaction, every piece of physical reality and the thoughts that it engendered, every connection made, every nuanced moment of history and potentiality, every toothache and flagstone, every emotion and birth and banknote, every possible thing ever is woven into that limitless, sprawling web. It is without beginning or end. It is complex to a degree that humbles the mind. It is a work of such beauty that my soul wept... ..I have danced with the spider. I have cut a caper with the dancing mad god.

The girl stood in the center of the large four-poster bed. She wore a nightgown and robe that Cordelia had generously, and unknowingly, donated. Anything of Emily’s would have been far too short and too small. Her honey-colored hair fell over her shoulders in messy waves and her similarly colored eyes were almost black with wildness, her pupils unnaturally dilated. Fear. He felt it roll off her in great waves. It shimmered around her in a rich red aura Griff knew he alone could see, as it was viewable only on the Aetheric plane. She was afraid of them and, like a trapped animal, her answer to fear was to fight rather than flee. Interesting. She was certainly a sight to behold. Normally she was probably quite pretty, but right now she was…she was… She was bloody magnificent. That’s what she was. Except for the blood, of course.

Chaos comes before all principles of order & entropy, it's neither a god nor a maggot, its idiotic desires encompass & define every possible choreography, all meaningless aethers & phlogistons: its masks are crystallizations of its own facelessness, like clouds.

Each Well was linked to one of the five elements: Aether, Earth, Water, Wind, or Fire.

...The drunk and the maimed both are dragged forward out of the arena like a boneless Christ, one man under each arm, feet dragging, eyes on the aether.

On Maturity "You bring people down so that you can rise up, you obviously do not know how to soar." – To the people who point their fingers to others so to hide their deficiencies

One does not know yet whether Christ was God or the Devil - Buddha is more reassuring.

And oft I harked into the night of the Land; but there was nowhere any sound, or disturbing of the aether, to trouble me.

In the aether I appear in fiery forms, And in the aer I sit in a silvery chariot; earth reigns in my black brood of puppies.

When one begins to philosophize one must be first a Spinozist. The soul must bathe itself in the aether of this single substance, in which everything one has held dear is submerged.

Oh please don’t tell me this whole thing was just Old Man Caruthers digging for diamonds and trying to throw people off the scent,” Aether sighed. “If we unmask a Scooby Doo villain after all that destruction I’m going to be so pissed.

Tapping into the aether, well, it was like coming home at the end of the day and finally being able to take a bra off. It was that good.

And New York is the most beautiful city in the world? It is not far from it. No urban nights are like the night there. I have looked down across the city from high windows. It is then that the great buildings lose reality and take on their magical powers. They are immaterial; that is to say, one sees but the lighted windows. Squares after squares of flame, set and cut into the Aether. Here is our poetry, for we have pulled down the stars to our will.

By the time I began my study of physics in the early 1970s, the idea of unifying gravity with the other forces was as dead as the idea of continuous matter. It was a lesson in the foolishness of once great thinkers. Ernst Mach didn’t believe in atoms, James Clerk Maxwell believed in the aether, and Albert Einstein searched for a unified-field theory. Life is tough.

The deepest shade of twilight did not send him from his favourite plane-tree. He loved the soothing hour, when the last tints of light die away; when the stars, one by one, tremble through aether, and are reflected on the dark mirror of the waters; that hour, which, of all others, inspires the mind with pensive tenderness, and often elevates it to sublime contemplation. When the moon shed her soft rays among the foliage, he still lingered, and his pastoral supper of cream and fruits was often spread beneath it. Then, on the stillness of night, came the song of the nightingale, breathing sweetness, and awakening melancholy.

The Aether flowed, corded and angry, giving the night a blue, marbled glow. After the storm, the calm skies had only held for a day. Now there was little difference between day and night anymore. Days were darkened by clouds and the blue cast of Aether. Nights were brightened by the same. They flowed together, the edges blurring into an endless day. An ever night.

It's a pivotal, it's a seminal, religious day when you get to both hear and feel your destiny at the same moment, Jim. I got to notice what I'm sure you've noticed long ago, I know, I know you've seen me brought home on occasions, dragged in the door, under what's called the Influence, son, helped in by cabbies at night, I've seen your long shadow grotesquely backlit at the top of the house's stairs I helped pay for, boy: how the drunk and the maimed both are dragged forward out of the arena like a boneless Christ, one man under each arm, feet dragging, eyes on the aether.

Our lifelines will meet only when the aether sees fit. That may not be often. It can never to always.

Time has come to reconsider the existence of aether in space due to recent developments in science on existence of dark energy in space.

Stars swelled to dawns, and dawns burst into fountains of gold, carmine, and purple, and still the dreamer fell. Cries rent the aether as ribbons of light beat back the fiends from outside.

so it was just me and the tea kettle, screaming to ourselves at midnight.

Stoics held that material objects alone existed; but immanent in the material universe was a spiritual force which acted through them, manifesting itself under many forms, as fire, aether, spirit, soul, reason, the ruling principle.

There is in certain ancient things a trace Of some dim essence -- More than form or weight; A tenuous aether, indeterminate, Yet linked with all the laws of time and space. A faint, veiled sign of continuities That outward eyes can never quite descry; Of locked dimensions harboring years gone by, And out of reach except for hidden keys.

Women are crazy, men are just stupid. And the only reason that women are crazy is because men are stupid.

There was grief, and so there always would be. But the gray fog was gone. I felt distant and very clear, like a hawk born upon the highest aether.

A young girl’s stroke has breathed us life upon this luscious, grassy meadow. Unbound we float in the aether, protecting the sanctuary of life below. To grow, this world needs nurturing only Lady Solary’s warmth can provide. Yet light flickers briefly then fades, like a struck match failing to ignite.

Whenever you feel down, remember it is always daylight somewhere on this rock we call Earth. Whenever you are belittled by a human, remember that she or he does not represent the whole for the Earth is way bigger than any puny creature you may encounter.

When he gently tipped his forehead onto mine, I grew still. This close, I saw every detail of his face. The bow of his lips, cut as if with the tip of a knife. The eclipses of his eyes. “Let the aether bear witness,” he said. “I will never keep from you what you should know.” I closed my eyes. “I will never conspire against you, nor betray you by word or thought or deed. I will never, by choice, abandon you to your enemies, nor forsake you in adversity.” The cord shivered. I could feel the heat of fever in my breath, caught in the space between us. “In body and spirit, I am bound to this oath.” He clasped my hand to his chest. “Seo í mo mhóid shollúinte.

The myth of quantum consciousness sits well with many whose egos have made it impossible for them to accept the insignificant place science perceives for humanity, as modern instruments probe the farthest reaches of space and time. ... quantum consciousness has about as much substance as the aether from which it is composed. Early in this century, quantum mechanics and Einstein’s relativity destroyed the notion of a holistic universe that had seemed within the realm of possibility in the century just past. First, Einstein did away with the aether, shattering the doctrine that we all move about inside a universal, cosmic fluid whose excitations connect us simultaneously to one another and to the rest of the universe. Second, Einstein and other physicists proved that matter and light were composed of particles, wiping away the notion of universal continuity. Atomic theory and quantum mechanics demonstrated that everything, even space and time, exists in discrete bits – quanta. To turn this around and say that twentieth century physics initiated some new holistic view of the universe is a complete misrepresentation of what actually took place. ... The myth of quantum consciousness should take its place along with gods, unicorns, and dragons as yet another product of the fantasies of people unwilling to accept what science, reason, and their own eyes tell them about the world.

SOCRATES. Silence, old man, give heed to the prayers.... Oh! most mighty king, the boundless air, that keepest the earth suspended in space, thou bright Aether and ye venerable goddesses, the Clouds, who carry in your loins the thunder and the lightning, arise, ye sovereign powers and manifest yourselves in the celestial spheres to the eyes of the sage.

Little men, stuck in little positions of little authority, are always the worst.

You are,” he whispered. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Arken. It devastates me. You know that, don’t you?

Just as we were misled into untenable ideas of the aether through trusting to an analogy with the material ocean, so we have been misled into untenable ideas of the attributes of the microscopic elements of world-structure through trusting to analogy with gross particles.

Anaxagoras is said to have predicted that if the heavenly bodies should be loosened by some slip or shake, one of them might be torn away, and might plunge and fall down to earth; and he said that none of the stars was in its original position; for being of stone, and heavy, their shining light is caused by friction with the revolving aether, and they are forced along in fixed orbits by the whirling impulse which gave them their circular motion, and this was what prevented them from falling to our earth in the first place, when cold and heavy bodies were separated from universal matter.

When we encounter unexpected obstacles in finding out something which we wish to know, there are two possible courses to take. It may be that the right course is to treat the obstacle as a spur to further efforts; but there is a second possibility - that we have been trying to find something which does not exist. You will remember that that was how the relativity theory accounted for the apparent concealment of our velocity through the aether.

Miss Gregory took nearly everything. Her clothes. New girls don't have the privilege of wearing their own clothes. Her books. Socrates, Plato, Shakespeare? Much too stimulating. No wonder you have Ideas. Certainly, you don't wish to become a bluestocking!

Platonic,” I reminded him. “What? You can give platonic handjobs. I’ve given plenty of them.” I resisted the urge to ask for details. “In your dreams, Vistarii.

Stalking is my love language.” “We might want to get you seeing someone for that…

If and when infatuation passes on and you still have infatuation for the same person then you may have love. - On Love

If you don't know what you want avoid what you don't want, that in itself is a good start.

aether now, so there must have been improvements to the prototype if

What are we really perceiving in trances? When we are watching a person cross a cobble-stone road and enter a tavern in the 16th Century, we are following the thread of life, the Akashic Records. Akasha is the Sanskrit word for "sky, atmosphere" or "aether". Just as a camera can catch a moment in time on film, or a video captures movement and action, so is it with the akasha … we leave traces in time and space, in the aethers. Consciously or not, when perceiving past lives we are looking back into time, and finding the records on the akasha. Time. And Space.

 His weakness shall o'ercome Satanic strength,   And all the world, and mass of sinful flesh;   That all the Angels and aethereal Powers—   They now, and men hereafter—may discern   From what consummate virtue I have chose   This perfet man, by merit called my Son,   To earn salvation for the sons of men."     So spake the Eternal Father, and all Heaven   Admiring stood a space;

But now day breaks! I waited and saw it come, And what I saw, the hallowed, my word shall convey, For she, she herself, who is older than the ages And higher than the gods of Orient and Occident, Nature has now awoken amid the clang of arms, And from high Aether down to the low abyss, According to fixed law, begotten, as in the past, on holy Chaos, Delight, the all-creative, Delights in self-renewal.

The Stoic system of physics was materialism with an infusion of pantheism. In contradiction to Plato's view that the Ideas, or Prototypes, of phenomena alone really exist, the Stoics held that material objects alone existed; but immanent in the material universe was a spiritual force which acted through them, manifesting itself under many forms, as fire, aether, spirit, soul, reason, the ruling principle.

postremo pereunt imbres, ubi eos pater aether in gremium matris terrai praecipitavit; at nitidae surgunt fruges ramique virescunt arboribus, crescunt ipsae fetuque gravantur. hinc alitur porro nostrum genus atque ferarum, hinc laetas urbes pueris florere videmus frondiferasque novis avibus canere undique silvas, hinc fessae pecudes pinguis per pabula laeta corpora deponunt et candens lacteus umor uberibus manat distentis, hinc nova proles artubus infirmis teneras lasciva per herbas ludit lacte mero mentes perculsa novellas. haud igitur penitus pereunt quaecumque videntur, quando alit ex alio reficit natura nec ullam rem gigni patitur nisi morte adiuta aliena.

At first I thought the answer was quantum tunneling. But the key was the aether unit, which as you know exists in both time and space. All material and non-material existence is, of course, made up of this primary quantum unit.

...great eager mists flock to heaven laden with lore, and oceanward eyes on the rocks see only a mystic whiteness, as if the cliff’s rim were the rim of all earth, and the solemn bells of buoys tolled free in the aether of faery.

Call it what you like: The Upper Sky, the Unmade, even the Empyrean. Men have given it so many names over the course of history. But those names don't really matter, in the end. It's the unchanging matter. A place without qualities. Neither hot nor cold, wet nor dry. The aether remains while all else shifts and fades...The aether is the opposite of creation. It's always there, invisible but burning bright. It's the pale web that holds the universe together.

Playing in the field of mathematics is like playing in the aether, and sometimes you get taken through all manner of twists and turns, you may as well be walking in parallel to the rest of the world, or in another dimension in space.

In the world of physics we watch a shadowgraph performance of the drama of familiar life. The shadow of my elbow rests on the shadow table as the shadow ink flows over the shadow paper. It is all symbolic, and as a symbol the physicist leaves it. Then comes the alchemist Mind who transmutes the symbols. The sparsely spread nuclei of electric force become a tangible solid; their restless agitation becomes the warmth of summer; the octave of aethereal vibrations becomes a gorgeous rainbow. Nor does the alchemy stop here. In the transmuted world new significances arise which are scarcely to be traced in the world of symbols; so that it becomes a world of beauty and purpose - and, alas, suffering and evil.

A diet of rations etched his figure, and the sea air and sun peeled back a layer of his essence...It's as if he's passed through some cloud of aether, and he's come back to us with the outer reaches of the universe still clinging to him.

E tenebris tantis tam clarum extollere lumen qui primus potuisti inlustrans commoda vitae, te sequor, o Graiae gentis decus, inque tuis nunc ficta pedum pono pressis vestigia signis, non ita certandi cupidus quam propter amorem quod te imitari aveo; quid enim contendat hirundo cycnis, aut quid nam tremulis facere artubus haedi consimile in cursu possint et fortis equi vis? tu, pater, es rerum inventor, tu patria nobis suppeditas praecepta, tuisque ex, inclute, chartis, floriferis ut apes in saltibus omnia libant, omnia nos itidem depascimur aurea dicta, aurea, perpetua semper dignissima vita. nam simul ac ratio tua coepit vociferari naturam rerum divina mente coorta diffugiunt animi terrores, moenia mundi discedunt. totum video per inane geri res. apparet divum numen sedesque quietae, quas neque concutiunt venti nec nubila nimbis aspergunt neque nix acri concreta pruina cana cadens violat semper[que] innubilus aether integit et large diffuso lumine ridet: omnia suppeditat porro natura neque ulla res animi pacem delibat tempore in ullo.

Dark-matter ignorance differs fundamentally from aether ignorance. The aether was a placeholder for our incomplete understanding, whereas the existence of dark matter derives not from mere presumption but from the observed effects of its gravity on visible matter. We’re not inventing dark matter out of thin space; instead, we deduce its existence from observational facts. Dark matter is just as real as the many exoplanets discovered in orbit around stars other than the Sun, discovered solely through their gravitational influence on their host stars and not from direct measurement of their light.

I'm a hoyden, my mother works, I enjoy fixing things and playing in the dirt." Her words got faster as if they might fade away into nothing if she didn't get them out quick enough. "You're from a respectable family and now I find out you're a prince, and you know how that always ends in the stories-" His warm lips met hers. (...)He gazed into her eyes with an intensity that made her soul burn. "Those are just stories, Noli. This is real." Then he kissed her again.

Actually, no. I was standing in for Rorick, another branch captain, as a favor,” I explained. “Why? Any of the freshlings catch your eye?” She snorted, pausing a moment to pick up a quartzy-looking pebble off the side of the road and held it up to the sun. “Ah, no—of course not,” I supplied. “The woman is clearly more interested in rocks.

Aether is the substance that lies beyond the universe, and beyond everything. It is an ancient term for the molecules that exist past the upper regions of space, and serve as the medium for the transmission of light waves and radiant energy. Past space and time, past all matter and antimatter, past everything is the aether. Beyond the aether is....

And she continued to steal scones for him. Definitely courting behavior. Only Percy didn't know how to really do it. (Peahen, he eventually decided, was not a good name for one's beloved. He'd have to do better. What did the ancients use? Time to research.) Percy understood the mechanics of courting, of course. One ought to write a lady sonnets, send her flowers, and purchase the dd trinket or two. But the only flowers aboard the Custard were the potted sunflowers to help cleanse the aether of malignant humours. They ought not to be cut and presented to doctors. Besides, Percy had never understood the notion of gifting the dead sexual organs of a plant to females. It seemed oddly threatening.

Cubic emotion formed octahedrons in empty space.

Love may sometimes be a gift, but you have to earn it to keep it. - Love Wrapped in The Present

Humanity can never achieve perfection, but it can be beautiful, herein lies our consolation. - On Our Destiny

It is hard to fake decency. I observed. - On Decency

A brilliant scientist once said that the people we interact with in life play different roles depending on what splinter of reality we exist upon.

Some part of her wanted to be that woman, the woman responsible for the pain and longing in his eyes.

This tall dark stoic soldier was unaware of the charisma he possessed. Honor and loyalty were more important than happiness. Duty and pride more valuable than gold.

If faith is the belief in things not proven, and hope is the desire for fortunate outcomes, then I have seen both of these evaporate, and at the same time FULFILLED!

The Devil marks the start, She must fall to set the chart. Seek within thy Empress heart, for in his blood he is the part. With this Mark and the heirs unfrozen, the Court will claim their promotion. Now sides of fate must be chosen, for the bonds of peace are unwoven. Seek the one who paid the price, change the name, she won’t play nice. Release the son, betray the vice, deep in the Lore they’ll feel his bite. When the Angel of Tides rings his drum, beware the time has finally come. One for glory, one must succumb, in Heaven’s shine or Evil’s thumb. Raise arms together, make your stand, gather thy army to guard your land. Last, summon thy magic to Power’s hand, unleash Aether’s Spirit upon command. Earth’s final war to settle the brawl, a long fated fight you cannot stall. But we do not yield, we will not fall, for Coven or Lilith to rule us all.

They lived in a sun-faded trailer on what felt like the edge of the world, where the sky pressed so close that it seemed possible to reach out and touch it. But it also seemed possible to suffocate from it weighing down on them.

And Seth . . . I didn’t even know what was up with Seth, who he was going to be when he woke up. The Seth who made horrible mistakes but wanted to do better? The Seth who’d stood in the bedroom, vulnerable and nearly broken as he apologized? Or the Seth who had leveled all of us, including Atlas? He hadn’t just tapped into my aether. He’d gotten all of us, something none of us had known he could do, and deep down, I honestly didn’t believe Seth had even realized he could do that until he’d done it.

Implantation of this extremely dangerous ‘element’ (biochip) will be accomplished by injection into the human organism in order to slowly mutate its structure. Using some ‘imperative need’ as pretext, they will convince the nations to accept it, even by masquerading it into something different from what it will actually be. This will be the marking of the beast (injection, puncture, scratching or ‘engraving’ of the skin, incision etc.) as John calls it in the Apocalypse {Tr. n.: In the original Greek version the word χάραγμα [charagma] is used, which is more appropriately translated as ‘carving’, ‘incision’, etc.}. This will be the gravest trap for man, because, if he accepts it, he will be subjected to the (voluntary or involuntary) transmutation of his astro-aetheric bodies into an energy ‘net/grid’ which will irrevocably entrap his Soul in this world of devastation, stopping it from escaping to higher territories. Then, not even the knowledge of Truth (Epignosis) will be enough to set him free.

On this dawn my word is here, in Aether’s hand it will read clear. Seek the words from centuries before, or ask kings and angels if need more. Schemes and truths must be awoken, words of war, fates have been spoken. Fear thee not, ‘tis not too soon, thy final battle lies in many a moon. To best the dark that comes to call, knowledge will serve to defeat them all. Take thy rest to soothe thy scars, for when I’ll call watch the stars. But fasten thy rope of will and deed, for changes are swift in speed.

No, I didn't thank them, but I forgot with you. I still see you as V, as my best friend, not some prince, even an exiled one. It still sounds so strange." "I only want to be V when I'm with you. Though I have to say," his eyes met hers as a smile played on his soft, kissable lips. "I'd like to a be a little more than your best friend." Taking her hand, he kissed her palm, a slow, lingering kiss that left her gasping for breath even though his lips were nowhere near hers. "What?" The word caught in her throat. "Did you dream of me, Noli?" His lips brushed her ear. "I dreamt of you." "I did. They were..." Her toes curled at the memory of her dreams, those kisses. "Pleasant." "Pleasant? I seem to remember them being far more then merely pleasant." His green eyes danced in amusement.

Homer's Hymn to the Sun Published by Mrs. Shelley, "Poetical Works", 1839, 2nd edition; dated 1818. Offspring of Jove, Calliope, once more To the bright Sun, thy hymn of music pour; Whom to the child of star-clad Heaven and Earth Euryphaessa, large-eyed nymph, brought forth; Euryphaessa, the famed sister fair Of great Hyperion, who to him did bear A race of loveliest children; the young Morn, Whose arms are like twin roses newly born, The fair-haired Moon, and the immortal Sun, Who borne by heavenly steeds his race doth run Unconquerably, illuming the abodes Of mortal Men and the eternal Gods. Fiercely look forth his awe-inspiring eyes, Beneath his golden helmet, whence arise And are shot forth afar, clear beams of light; His countenance, with radiant glory bright, Beneath his graceful locks far shines around, And the light vest with which his limbs are bound, Of woof aethereal delicately twined, Glows in the stream of the uplifting wind. His rapid steeds soon bear him to the West; Where their steep flight his hands divine arrest, And the fleet car with yoke of gold, which he Sends from bright Heaven beneath the shadowy sea

Soc. For, in fact, these alone are goddesses; and all the rest is nonsense. Strep. But come, by the Earth, is not Jupiter, the Olympian, a god? Soc. What Jupiter? Do not trifle. There is no Jupiter. Strep. What do you say? Who rains then? For first of all explain this to me. Soc. These to be sure. I will teach you it by powerful evidence. Come, where have you ever seen him raining at any time without Clouds? And yet he ought to rain in fine weather, and these be absent. Strep. By Apollo, of a truth you have rightly confirmed this by your present argument. And yet, before this, I really thought that Jupiter caused the rain. But tell me who is it that thunders. This makes me tremble. Soc. These, as they roll, thunder. Strep. In what way? you all-daring man! Soc. When they are full of much water, and are compelled to be borne along, being necessarily precipitated when full of rain, then they fall heavily upon each other and burst and clap. Strep. Who is it that compels them to borne along? Is it not Jupiter? Soc. By no means, but aethereal Vortex. Strep. Vortex? It had escaped my notice that Jupiter did not exist, and that Vortex now reigned in his stead.

remember how we used to play" in the upper atmosphere in the vertical climb in the sky above the clouds remember how we used to play in the nautical dusk along the radians of midheaven… out there amid the scattered wavelengths within the aerosols of a meteorological meadow we tread upon the aether side by side the ampere and the joule the whisper and the gleam borne along effervescent freeways remember how we came to rest inside the amethyst auditorium of a storm there - suspended in an echo-plex of thunder you drew me close and I tasted the voltage of your skin the radiometry of your eyes the amphetamine of your lips the flushed cushion of your tongue

Go down, then, lovely sun, for but little they Regarded you, nor holly one, knew your worth, Since without toil you rose, and quiet, Over a people for ever toiling. To me, however, kindly you rise and set, O Glorious light, and brightly my eyes respond, For godly, silent reverence I Learned when Diotima soothed my frenzy. O how I listened, Heaven's own messenger, To you, my teacher! Love! How to the golden day These eyes transfused with thanks looked up from Gazing at you. And at once more living The brooks began to murmur, more lovingly The blossoms of dark Earth breathed their scent at me And through the silver clouds a smiling Aether bowed down to bestow his blessing.

Nature virtually tosses into a honeycomb an animal which is footless and wingless; then she gives it feet and wings, adorns it with all kinds of variegated and beautiful colors and so produces a bee, wise producer of heavenly honey; and from mute and lifeless eggs she shapes many species of winged, walking and water-dwelling animals, using (as some say) the sacred arts of the vast aether. We are mortal and utterly trivial, unable to see clearly either great or small matters and in the dark about most of the things which happen to us; so we could not possibly make any reliable claim about the mighty powers of the immortals, whether as regards halcyons or as regards nightingales.

The problems of simultaneity do not apply to sound as they do to light because sound is propagated through some material medium, usually air. The sound wave that reaches you when a friend is talking is the motion of molecules in the air. Light, however, travels in a vacuum. There are restrictions on how molecules of air can move which do not apply to a vacuum. Light from the Sun reaches us across the intervening empty space, but no matter how carefully we listen, we do not hear the crackle of sunspots or the thunder of the solar flares. It was once thought, in the days before relativity, that light did propagate through a special medium that permeated all of space, called “the luminiferous aether.” But the famous Michelson-Morley experiment demonstrated that such an aether does not exist.

Each electron wants the whole of three-dimensional space for its waves; so Schrodinger generously allows three dimensions for each of them. For two electrons he requires a six-dimensional sub-aether. He then successfully applies his method on the same lines as before. I think you will see now that Schrodinger has given us what seemed to be a comprehensible physical picture only to snatch it away again. His sub-aether does not exist in physical space; it is in a 'configuration space' imagined by the mathematician for the purpose of solving his problems, and imagined afresh with different numbers of dimensions according to the problem proposed. It was only an accident that in the earliest problems considered the configuration space had a close correspondence with physical space, suggesting some degree of objective reality of the waves. Schrodinger's wave mechanics is not a physical theory but a dodge - and a very good dodge too.

A quest of old must be taken, to seek the page now forsaken. If these words don’t find thee well, take the tunnel where Seelie dwell. By his hand time can be taken, her journey back must now awaken. But for this quest she walks alone, the Tower seeks the frozen throne. To play with rules that can’t be broken, for only one can claim the spoken. Cross the dark between the lines, roll the dice to read the signs. Seek the one who paid the price, change the name, she won’t play nice. But first a soul to seek in dire need, relieve the hole then take his lead. The road you walk is bleak and grim, when in doubt head back to him. But before thee go a ruse to make, by heir and Aether a perfect fake. Will of magic, strength in deed, to replace in kind for which you need. Once thee find the page in question, the Tower makes the last impression. So take her bag that holds it all, trust thy heart for what to haul. Upon thy arm my word shall come, to find the page crumb by crumb.

To start with, we know that in every part, in all directions and on either side, above and below and throughout all space,------1480 there is no limit, as I have explained,------[1050] and facts themselves announce it on their own— the nature of deep space is very clear. Since infinite space lies empty on all sides and seeds in countless numbers fly around through the deep universe in various ways, driven by eternal motion, we must not, in any way, now think it probable that only this one sphere of earth and sky have been created, that beyond us here------1490 all those many particles of matter do nothing at all, especially since earth was made by nature. Seeds of things themselves, jostling freely here and there in various ways and forced to random, confused collisions,------[1060] produced nothing—then finally those ones suddenly united which could become, every time, the beginnings of great things, land, sea, sky, the race of living beings. And so, to repeat myself, you must grant------1500 that there are other aggregates of matter similar to this in other places, which aether clutches in its keen embrace.

Where the bloody hell is my wife?” Godric yelled into the aether. As if in response, a footman came up the stairs and handed Cedric a slip of paper. Dumbfounded, Cedric opened it and read it aloud. My Dear Gentlemen, We await you in the dining room. Please do not join us until you have decided upon a course of action regarding the threat to Lord Sheridan. We will be more than delighted to offer our opinions on the matter, but in truth, we suspect you do not wish to hear our thoughts. It is a failing of the male species, and we shan’t hold it against you. In the future, however, it would be advisable not to lock us in a room. We simply cannot resist a challenge, something you should have learned by now. Intelligent women are not to be trifled with. Fondest Regards, ~ The Society of Rebellious Ladies ~ “Fondest regards?” Lucien scoffed. A puzzled Jonathan added, “Society of Rebellious Ladies?” “Lord help us!” Ashton groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. “They’ve named themselves.” “I’ll wager a hundred pounds that Emily’s behind this. Having a laugh at our expense,” Charles said in all seriousness. “Let’s go and see how rebellious they are when we’re done with them.” Cedric rolled up the sleeves of his white lawn shirt as he and the others stalked down the stairs to the dining room. They found it empty. The footman reappeared and Cedric wondered if perhaps the man had never left. At the servant’s polite cough he handed Cedric a second note. “Another damn note? What are they playing at?” He practically tore the paper in half while opening it. Again he read it aloud. Did you honestly believe we’d display our cunning in so simple a fashion? Surely you underestimated us. It is quite unfair of you to assume we could not baffle you for at least a few minutes. Perhaps you should look for us in the place where we ought to have been and not the place you put us. Best Wishes, ~ The Society of Rebellious Ladies ~ “I am going to kill her,” Cedric said. It didn’t seem to matter which of the three rebellious ladies he meant. The League of Rogues headed back to the drawing room. Cedric flung the door open. Emily was sitting before the fire, an embroidery frame raised as she pricked the cloth with a fine pointed needle. Audrey was perusing one of her many fashion magazines, eyes fixed on the illustrated plates, oblivious to any disruption. Horatia had positioned herself on the window seat near a candle, so she could read her novel. Even at this distance Lucien could see the title, Lady Eustace and the Merry Marquess, the novel he’d purchased for her last Christmas. For some reason, the idea she would mock him with his own gift was damned funny. He had the sudden urge to laugh, especially when he saw a soft blush work its way up through her. He’d picked that particular book just to shock her, knowing it was quite explicit in parts since he’d read it himself the previous year. “Ahem,” Cedric cleared his throat. Three sets of feminine eyes fixed on him, each reflecting only mild curiosity. Emily smiled. "Oh there you are.

In the beginning of the new year, the Olympian Comet will cross the sky and the wall will grow thin. Five representing each part of the world will work together to restore the balance, the power of the Aether igniting them. The Journey will lead them East on the path to the Shadows, which will serve as their guide. -Written on June 2, 1692 by Abigail Goode in Kinsley, Massachusetts

In the beginning of the new year, the Olympian comet will cross the sky and the wall will grow thin. Five representing each part of the world will work together to restore the balance, the power of the Aether igniting them. The Journey will lead them East on the path to the Shadows, which will serve as their guide.

His home was a wondrous palace, wrought of light and sound, where every room had a mysterious tale to tell and strange aethers roamed the tall, echoing corridors.

MAGIC SKILLS. Fire: 0 (25%) (Base). Air: 0 (75%) (Base). Water: 0 (75%) (Base). Earth: 0 (25%) (Base). Chthonic: 0 (0%) (Base). Empyrean: 0 (100%) (Base). Chaos: 0 (75%) (Base). Order: 0 (25%) (Base). Life: 0 (75%) (Base). Death: 0 (25%) (Base). Thought: 0 (75%) (Base). Aether: 0 (25%) (Base). Soul: 0 (50%) (Base).

This seemed to calm Isaac down, though he did not apologize for having thought the worst about Daniel. He said something along the lines of: “Heavenly radiance fills the aether, its rays parallel and straight and, so long as nothing is there to interrupt them, invisible. The secrets of God’s creation are all told by those rays, but told in a language we do not understand, or even hear—the direction from which they shine, the spectrum of colors concealed within the light, these are all characters in a cryptogram. The gnomon—look at our shadows on the Green! We are the gnomon. We interrupt that light and we are warmed and illuminated by it. By stopping the light, we destroy part of the message without understanding it. We cast a shadow, a hole in the light, a ray of darkness that is shaped like ourselves—some might say that it contains no information save the profile of our own forms—but they are wrong. By recording the stretching and skewing of our shadows, we can attain part of the knowledge hidden in the cryptogram. All we need to make the necessary observations is a fixed regular surface—a plane—against which to cast the shadow. Descartes gave us the plane.

He watched her far too intently. “And what if I don’t?

In a sudden shift of mood, Mallow leaned her head into Ophiera’s outstretched fingers. Surprised by her warm, soft fur, Ophiera dug her fingernails into the thick coat, scratching as she went. The creature’s purrs resumed, amplified, and Ophiera smiled in response.

Without warning, he felt a rough hand weave through his hair. Yanked back, the cool skin of his shoulder met another’s, warmer and soft. His moment of fear transformed to a thrill. Her warm breath brushed against his ear as her bosom pushed against his back.

Am I allowed to open my eyes now, Warden?” “No.

Here we are,” Myronor said with a smile. He swung the door open and stepped inside.

Kaikora wore her bronzed, ombre dreadlocks loose with the sea-salt-saturated ends falling between her wide shoulders. She stood unusually tall, broad, and scantily clad; a half-naked giant of rippled muscles etched with dark tattoos. The wavelike designs crossed her torso and arms in seaweed-green swirls that ebbed and flowed with her musculature. On her neck, she wore a yoke of gnarled rope and sea glass, the only article of clothing above her waist. It barely covered her chest, exposing her ample torso to the elements. On her wide, curved hips hung a low loincloth crafted from nacreous scales that reflected the sunlight like the surf.

He wished he had confessed more. He wished he had told her of his mother and the mess she created. He wished he had told her his true intentions for becoming the next Ambassador

As yellow transformed to white, caught aflame by her runic arm, the ashes fell to the ground.

No one even hit you and yet your face is absolutely ghastly.

A hesitancy lingered on Kaikora’s stern features. She looked to Ophiera with gray eyes of implication before addressing the pair.

Am I nothing?!

Fate

And when she ended her story, she laid down for sleep without any further comments.

What exactly had she done?

As was her way, Ophiera sank herself into a cycle of frustration and guilt.

Allow me,” Myronor said. Before she could protest, he had stuck two fingers between the rope and her waist, tugging her toward him.

When I wake to consider the vaporous aether of our universe, everything feels as though contained within an impenetrably dark infinitely expanding bubble through which the empty space overtaken is sacrificially loaned unto a mockery of its antithesis, across waning dales where the dead retire, to be reclaimed by this cosmic tide, recycled, reincarnated into further being, a self-renewing system of cacophonous consignment inuring one maniacal God His baseless funereal watch, an elementary decree whose advantage succeeds into everlasting fire.

Choices can become tribulation, a powerful curse and in rare cases of mutation, the cure.

What I’m trying to get at is that even in a harsh environment like this, life can find a way to thrive- so long as it has the means to do so. A food source is one of the most critical. The sunlings don’t just derive nourishment from sunlight, they also get it from the Aether, as well— one of the only known species to do that directly. No matter where you go, you’ll find something on the bottom of the food chain, and it will always be the most common lifeform around.

He pulled me tighter against himself, as if he could protect me from all the ugliness in the world with just his embrace. I

Most beautiful thing in the world, watching you come apart at the seams.

The only time she had ever been kissed was by force, at the Cloister of all places.

He stared up at Ophiera and for once, she wore the devilish grin.

He pressed his lips softly against her neck. The sensation was overwhelming, with warm breath and soft skin on hers.

A sudden and sharp pain in her abdomen interrupted her chant.

Yet this ichor had allowed the tusk to pierce her plate and wound her as never before. This alone shocked her far more than any amount of blood lost.

She thought it was after their last spar…the one where he claimed something more than victory from her.

the action held no warmth either.

his ankle,

That was how it worked. The Aether, the force of all creation, responded to the unconscious belief of humanity, albeit slowly. And so, magic had dragged Stefan down through the centuries from something a little more personable than a zombie, to an aristocratic member of the undead, to a swooshy-haired Twilight teen heart throb. He was still pretty salty about the whole deal.

Paradise is murder.

Other Books written by Daniel Schinhofen: Binding Words: Morrigan's Bidding Life Bonds Hearthglen Forged Bonds Flame of War Aether’s Revival: Aether's Blessing Aether's Guard Luck’s Voice: Suited for Luck Cashing In Apocalypse Gates Author’s Cut: Rapture Valley of Death Gearing Up Elven Accord Downtime and Death Can of Worms Unexpected Dev-elopments Alpha World: (Completed.) Gamer for Life Forming the Company Alpha Company Playing for Keeps Fractured Spirit The Path to Peace Darkhand Gamer For Love Last Horizon: (Completed.) Last Horizon Omnibus NPC’s Lives: (Hiatus) Tales from the Dead Man Inn Resurrection Quest: (Hiatus) Greenways Goblins

the common mundane folk, those sheep who are all too willing and ready to believe and to act without asking pertinent questions before they do so.

Einstein rejected the aether just as Newton rejected the plenum. But in its place, we are left with the electromagnetic field, which also pervades all of space. All indications are that, in fact, the whole universe has a steady, low level of electromagnetic radiation pulsing through it, known as the Cosmic Microwave Background.86 So in a sense, we have left the aether behind but replaced it with a different kind of “aetherial substance” that also pervades all of space, at least in our universe.

Recycled fireball,” I said. “Very 2021.

Ithanian

Naturally, someone created a flying car.

I'm not fucking sweet!" "No, you're like the flames of a fire. Bright, beautiful, and deadly. To anyone but me.

The future belongs to the daughters of defiance

The future belongs to the daughters of defiance.

If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life, it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker. This isn’t because the other artist stole your idea, but because the idea’s time has come. In this great unfolding, ideas and thoughts, themes and songs and other works of art exist in the aether and ripen on schedule, ready to find expression in the physical world. As artists, it is our job to draw down this information, transmute it, and share it. We are all translators for messages the universe is broadcasting. The best artists tend to be the ones with the most sensitive antennae to draw in the energy resonating at a particular moment. Many great artists first develop sensitive antennae not to create art but to protect themselves. They have to protect themselves because everything hurts more. They feel everything more deeply.

Five words were engraved on the top. They were written in Greek, but my mind automatically translated them: fire, water, air, and earth. In the center was the Greek word for spirit, or Aether.

Even if this display just cost the academy a lot of vela.

Die entsetzliche Consequenz des Darwinismus, den ich übrigens für wahr halte. Alle unsre Verehrung bezieht sich auf Qualitäten, die wir für ewig halten: moralisch, künstlerisch, religiös usw. Mit den Instinkten kommt man keinen Schritt weiter, um die Zweckmäßigkeit zu erklären. Denn eben diese Instinkte sind bereits das Erzeugniß endlos lang fortgesetzter Prozesse. Der Wille objektivirt sich nicht adäquat, wie Schopenhauer sagt: so scheint es, wenn man von den vollendetsten Formen ausgeht. Auch dieser Wille ist ein höchst complicirter Letzter in der Natur. Nerven vorausgesetzt. Und selbst die Schwerkraft: ist doch kein einfaches Phänomen, sondern wieder Wirkung von einer Sonnensystembewegung, von Aether usw. Und der mechanische Stoß ist auch etwas Complicirtes. Der Weltaether als Urstoff.

Affects target bodies weighing up to 1,000 lbs.

You belong with me. In the Elysian Fields with Aether or the depths of Tartarus with Kaohs—you will always be mine. Always.

WE are—we know not what;—light-sparkles floating in the aether of Deity!

thinking.

If someone or a group of people is running around killing others because of how much aether is in their blood, then I feel like they’ve forfeited their right to live out their lives in a jail cell somewhere.” Everyone, including Alexander, turned and stared at Josie. “What?” she said. “I’m not saying people aren’t capable of changing, but once you murder someone? Yeah. No.” “That’s bloodthirstly,” I said to her. “And it really turns me on.” “Gods,” Alex moaned. “We didn’t need to know that, Seth.

Charity is a temporary solution. It is a bridge and you don’t live on a bridge, you pass through it.” – On Charity

There are two primary essences in this universe: dark and light. Our souls are the containers of this essence, which gives us the true spark of life. Even though the aether in the air around us and in the ley lines beneath us roars with this lifeblood, there is something about the soul that transforms it into rarified form. As aether, we use it to wield magic. As part of a soul, it is something quite different.

The past is like that. When it finally taps you on the shoulder, it’s never the thing you thought it to be.

Anna radiated nothing more than happiness, and the guileless mystery of being what she was, which is something few of us can manage.

And so I played, and they held their breath, as they heard the beauty of the music, so like a human voice, yet so beyond it. I drew the bow across the strings. The first notes of the Bach Sarabande sounded in the room and I felt the sound waves travel through me, through the body and guts of my cello, through the endpin and into the wood of the floorboards and through the feet of the audience and up through their skeletons to their hearts and into their brains and the music reached their brains and their hearts at the same time - for sound travels according to the laws of physics, and I saw the light behind their eyes catch fire and heard them intake breath as they felt the rush of the music take over their bodies, aethereal and corporeal combined.

breezed past me towards the cockpit. “I’ll drive.” “Why you?” Wait, shut up, Penny. You’ve got a goose-egg on your forehead and your heart aches. You don’t want to drive! Fortunately, Claire had her answer ready. “Artificially enhanced super reflexes, I’ve been watching Remmy, and I play more flight simulators than you do.” Relieved to be relieved of duty, I sank down in a chair and closed my eyes. The ship lurched, pulling me down for a second, but that meant we were airborne. Or spaceborne. I only felt a gentle tug to one side as we accelerated. Claire was getting the hang of the system. I peeked enough to see the wall towards the back of the ship brighten. Evidence for my theory that Remmy used the push of aetheric rotors to disguise the pull of engine thrust. “Any guesses how I find Europa station?” Claire called out.

Why is the speed of light always the same? Because it’s the absolute frame of reference, because it’s the aether and the speed of light is always the same in the aether.

Einstein completely failed to address the elephant in the room, namely that light – from its own perspective – isn’t in any inertial reference frame. We can therefore legitimately say that it obeys entirely different laws of physics – those of non-locality (singularities) rather than locality (spacetime) – and, in fact, actually the laws of pure mathematics. Light is the non-inertial container for all inertial reference frames, and ensures that they are all part of an absolute system, not a relative system. It imposes a principle of absolutism, not a principle of relativism!

When Maxwell’s equations didn’t pick out any aether or any physical medium whatsoever for light it was because there is no physical medium! Light isn’t in the physical world. It’s exactly what isn’t physical.

Gordon

Pure love and possibility, aka Hygge, moves plasmic aetheric space into the fire, air, water, earth, and metal elements in an evolving cycle.

Awww Aether responded, that would explain the under tones of condemned souls

Aether Connection (A): Create a connection of Aether with another being. As the creator of the connection, you will have more control over the amount and quality of the Aether sent. Effectiveness of the connection will depend on the willingness of the recipient, and the synchronicity between two individuals. Individuals can reject the connection. Efficacy of connection and possible size of the connection improves with Skill Level.

Sometimes it takes a few tries to get a message across when people are stupid.

He looks me up and down and I can tell he isn’t impressed. I smile at his reaction. “Who are you to trespass in my territory and kill one of my men?” His voice sounds cultured, like he went to some expensive college. Do they have those in Aether, I wonder idly as I step closer. “Rothgrun, isn’t it?” Like I’m not sure. “It is.” I nod. “Yeah, well, I’m the guy who’s going to kill you and your men if you don’t get out of my way.” Treflynn clears his throat behind me; Rothgrun’s eyes widen. I flick a glance down at myself; the glyphs reappear all over my body with a rush of power. “What manner of beast are you?” Rothgrun murmurs. “Right now, one that’s in a hurry.” I step over the finally dead Von and the bully backs up. “I really don’t have time for this. There’s a girl out there who needs my help and I have to get to her.” His eyes search mine. “The Protector. We have heard about you. You may pass.” I motion the others forward and he stops me. “Just you.” I chuckle, then take another step toward him. “No. All of us pass, or all of you die.” “I do not believe you can kill all of us before we kill you.” I flex my fists and let a little of that old demon charm leak into my expression. “You willing to find out? Cause I am. And I’ll start with you.

Arcane Instinct: Manipulating the magic your tools or beastly companions use is no challenge for those blessed with Arcane Instinct. You need the relevant Aether cores or the beast tamed to access their mana and attunement. You may copy a spell used against you and store it for a single use.

In the machine, hope is our only chance for survival.

My dollhouse has dimmer switches.

The unique aether elementals had the power of all four elements, and in every generation, one of their ranks was destined to rule. She alone was the destined mate of the rulers of all four kingdoms, binding them together in an unbreakable union. But slowly over time, their population had diminished and then died out altogether.

Aura…” Kai began. “You shielded me. Were going to take a bullet for me.” “And I’d do it again right now,” he said, voice rough. “Don’t, Kai. Promise me you won’t. Not ever again.” “I can’t make that promise, Pip.” My fingers tightened around the gauze. “Why the hell not?” Kai’s good hand lifted to brush the hair from my face. “Because I love you.

From the moment I held her in my arms, I knew she was our aether. It’s why I bound her magic.

I would do anything for her.

His glacier eyes burned with intensity. “I want this bond, Aura. I know you probably think I don’t. But I do. I need it. More than my next breath.

When you’re alone with your solitary obsession, each day builds upon the one before. Energy concentrates. Your passion and intensity create a planet all your own, like the one the Little Prince lived on in Saint-Exupery’s book. This planet possesses its own gravitational field, and that field draws unto itself like-minded particles from space, from the aether, from the Big Bang. I mean ideas. Ideas for scenes, for dialogue, for characters, for conflicts. This field draws phrases you have never spoken. It attracts words you never knew you knew.

Though the true aethers on other worlds have a symbiosis with people, the ones on your moons have become insatiable, aggressive, and fecund." "I'm not allowed to say that word," Tress said. "No, it means...actually, that word means something very close to what you think it means, but it's a more polite way of saying it.

I am the future

I am the future.

Dykes, kikes, spics, micks, fags, drags, gooks, spooks . . . more of us are outsiders than aren’t; and that’s what the dear young ones too often fail to understand. They think they’ve learned it all by age fifteen. Perhaps they have. But they’re not the only ones who’ve learned it.

She turned her head to look at Sierra. Sierra smiled at her, and Maggie smiled back, and that was how Maggie died. Looking at her best friend, grinning like an idiot, and dreaming of kissing her.

If you fear words will change how a person thinks, you’re not afraid of the words; you’re afraid of people thinking.

The thing is though, with every successive generation that comes along, all the new pioneers can think about and concentrate on is pushing boundaries and charging forward. No one seems to discern that if you have taken a wrong

turn somewhere along the line, then to go forward does not get you any nearer to something better. If you are on the wrong road, progress means swinging a swift and sure 180 and traveling back to the right road. Very few register that, as far as realizing mistakes have been made, that it is the person who turns back soonest who is the most progressive person.

Haunted mansions dream in the machine.

Aetheric Artist (Perk): Your understanding of the movements of the aether around you is unparalleled. You gain twice the bonus from skills which depend on your ability to shape aether (including all “Proficiency” and “Focus” skills with an aetherium requirement). Even without such skills, you have a small chance to notice spells cast within 100 meters (or more, for very large effects, such as rituals). You also receive bonuses to Improvised magic of all types.

Istari Style I (Unique Fighting Style): The user fights in close quarters, using two weapons: a sword in the main hand, and a wand or staff in the off-hand. Removes the two-handed requirements for staves when wielded in the offhand, though on-hit damage is reduced. When using a sword and wand/staff in this way, gain the benefits of the Dual Wield Perk. Increases effectiveness of Aetheric Projection, Aetheric Manipulation, and sword-related skills. Allows wands and staves to provide block rating (effectiveness based off of damage rating). Provides bonuses to the Defense skill and attempts to feint. May have other benefits as well. Restriction: Must use a sword in the main hand and a wand/staff in the off-hand. Cannot use this style while encumbered. Cannot wear armor (magically enhanced clothing is allowed). Note: Fighting Style Perks are tiered, usually ranking from I to IV. These Perks may be gained through tutelage by a Master in the style. Unique styles do not have this instructive option, instead requiring increasingly stringent requirements and deeds. “If you walk this land for three hundred lives of men, will you have enough time?

Aetheric Projection (Active Skill): Aids the user in projecting energy from a wand or focus crystal. Increases damage and accuracy with such attacks while decreasing aetherium burden; removes the associated Health cost for untrained aetherium use.

Fortune: Aetheric Insight For unlocking a type of magic during the Tutorial, you have gained +5 to your choice of Talent or Willpower and +1 to any three Secondary Skills involving magic (all prerequisites must be met)

Blades: You have gained some understanding of how to wield swords and other bladed weapons that depend on Finesse over Brawn. You will find more openings in combat while using these weapons, and you are more able to defend against opponents whose skill with this type of weapon is equal to or less than your own. Aetheric Meditation: You have learned how to expedite your aetherium regeneration through meditation and control of your Aura. Provides significant bonuses to aetherium recovery rates. May provide other bonuses as well. Critical Breakthrough! You have stumbled upon secrets or techniques normally revealed through in-depth study. Your skill level has increased accordingly. Synergy! Your Aetheric Insight affects the bonus of this skill. Aetheric Sensing: While most beings can only sense aetheric disturbances within their Aura, you have learned to extend this method of perception. Allows the practitioner to feel changes in the environment based on sentient beings or aether concentrations. This allows for the detection of nearby individuals regardless of line of sight, stealth, or visibility. You may also sense spells cast near you by detecting ripples in the aether. Your Abyssal Sight augments this skill, allowing you to detect denizens of the Darkness within its range using these methods. Synergy! Your Aetheric Insight affects the bonus of this skill. Aetheric Channeling: Where Aetheric Projection utilizes aetherium in controlled bursts, you have learned how to prolong the flow of your aetherium. Increases the ratio of damage to aetherium expenditure when using these techniques. Increased proficiency allows for greater accuracy and finer control. Synergy! Your Aetheric Insight affects the bonus of this skill. Skill Knowledge Unlocked: Arcane Chirography (Primordial), Expressive Magic. Your known skills have given you insights that may be used to learn the listed skills without a tutor, though doing so may prove to be more difficult than finding a tutor would be.

Istari Style II (Unique Fighting Style): The user fights in close quarters using two weapons- a sword in the main hand and a wand or staff (called an implement) in the off-hand and infuses aetherium into both movement and attack. When fighting with both sword and implement, sword attacks do increased damage and can strike through some magical protections. Allows use of aetheric skills during combat with various benefits. Provides bonuses to Athletics and Blades. Restriction: Must use a sword in the main hand and a wand/staff in the off hand. Cannot use this style while encumbered. Cannot wear armor (magically enhanced clothing is allowed). Note: Fighting Style perks are tiered, usually ranking from I to IV. These perks may be gained through tutelage by a Master in the style, though unique styles do not have this option, requiring increasingly stringent requirements and deeds instead. “Many that live deserve death; now you can give it to them.

A new day has dawned. New Secondary Skills are unlocked: Blades: Your many battles have increased your effectiveness with swords and other bladed weapons. Expressive Magic Theory: You now know more about shaping aetherium with your words. Somatic Magic Theory: You have mastered an Improvised Spellform and learned more of magic in the process. Somatic Battle-Weaving: Each action you take, from the stroke of a sword to a dodge, can contribute to a Spellform in the heat of battle. Dramatic Magic Theory: Combining Somatic and Expressive magics is not easy, but you now know more of this difficult path. Aetheric Channeling: Masters of magic long ago learned the secrets of how aether changes states and moves through the Aura. You have taken steps to recreate that knowledge. Critical Breakthrough! You have progressed very far in a short time, understanding the Aura in ways many arcanologists thought lost to time. Aetheric Sensing: Through innovative use, you have advanced in this Skill without the need for a tutor. Aetheric Projection: Few wand users ever go beyond simple bolts of energy, but you recreated an entirely different weapon from raw aether. Critical Breakthrough! Frenzied use of advanced techniques has ingrained them in you, making even such advanced uses seem trivial. Skill greatly increased. Aura Mastery: You have learned how to fill your Aura with aetherium while still allowing aether to flow into you. Provides damage reduction and allows use of Somatic spellforms without an implement. Greatly increases the aetherium costs of such spells. May have other benefits as well. Korrash

Fortune: Old Magic, New Application You have successfully replicated Devotion-based magic using an aetheric paradigm. Allows you to use Druidic Magic as if it were aetheric.

Strider’s Focus: Your travels through the wilderness have increased your attunement to danger. Druidic Magic Theory: Through your astute knowledge of the aether, you have gained insight into a new type of magic. Aetheric Channeling: It might have been stupid, but it wasn’t wrong. You are now slightly less likely to kill yourself with this skill. Aetheric Sensing: Through innovative use, you have advanced in this Skill without the need for a tutor. Aura Mastery: Your knowledge of this skill has served you well, as has your understanding of how much more you have to learn. Size of Aura increased.

Ancient Master Requirements: Talent attribute two or more Tiers above lowest-Tier attribute Know three or more forms of Magic Race: Most Focus: Magic Zeal or Conviction one Tier lower than Willpower Restrictions: Must never reject an opportunity to learn a new type of magic (but see below). May not voluntarily increase Zeal or Conviction May not use or learn Divine Magic Some part of him was impressed at the depth of the class system, but that part was small indeed. Most of him was howling “get to the kewl powerz.” The knowledge slid into his mind, and he began to smile. Passive Abilities: Calculate aether-derived %RESOURCE% using an improved formula: 50+(Talent*50) Increased facility with improvised magic Decreased ability to use known spellforms Base aether to %RESOURCE% conversion ratio is 100% Basic Abilities: %RESOURCE%bolt (3 %RESOURCE% / damage, global cooldown, attack spell) Fires a bolt of %RESOURCE% energy at the target Gnostic Reflection (100 %RESOURCE%, 30s cooldown, mental trigger) Absorbs the energy of one spell targeting the caster, then targets the spell’s source with an identical spell using the caster’s parameters. Unknown magic types will not be replicated but can contribute to learning that type of magic. %RESOURCE% Metamorphosis (100 percent of current %RESOURCE%, 1/day, mental trigger) Converts all surrounding energy in a (Tier*Talent) meter radius as well as the caster’s physical form into %RESOURCE% for up to 60 seconds. During this time, damage to Health is applied to %RESOURCE%, only abilities or effects which use %RESOURCE% will function within the ability’s

Ancient Master Requirements: Talent attribute two or more Tiers above lowest-Tier attribute Know three or more forms of Magic Race: Most Focus: Magic Zeal or Conviction one Tier lower than Willpower Restrictions: Must never reject an opportunity to learn a new type of magic (but see below). May not voluntarily increase Zeal or Conviction May not use or learn Divine Magic Some part of him was impressed at the depth of the class system, but that part was small indeed. Most of him was howling “get to the kewl powerz.” The knowledge slid into his mind, and he began to smile. Passive Abilities: Calculate aether-derived %RESOURCE% using an improved formula: 50+(Talent*50) Increased facility with improvised magic Decreased ability to use known spellforms Base aether to %RESOURCE% conversion ratio is 100% Basic Abilities: %RESOURCE%bolt (3 %RESOURCE% / damage, global cooldown, attack spell) Fires a bolt of %RESOURCE% energy at the target Gnostic Reflection (100 %RESOURCE%, 30s cooldown, mental trigger) Absorbs the energy of one spell targeting the caster, then targets the spell’s source with an identical spell using the caster’s parameters. Unknown magic types will not be replicated but can contribute to learning that type of magic. %RESOURCE% Metamorphosis (100 percent of current %RESOURCE%, 1/day, mental trigger) Converts all surrounding energy in a (Tier*Talent) meter radius as well as the caster’s physical form into %RESOURCE% for up to 60 seconds. During this time, damage to Health is applied to %RESOURCE%, only abilities or effects which use %RESOURCE% will function within the ability’s area, %RESOURCE% pool is doubled, and %RESOURCE% regeneration is halted. When the effect expires, caster returns to physical form with a percentage of %RESOURCE% based on their Tier remaining.

Fortune: The World Is Your Canvas. Not satisfied with just using mana, you have learned much about how ambient events can color the aether, and, by extension, mana. You may now store basic Aspected mana.

Direct Aetheric Enhancement (3 points): Increases Prowess and Stamina by one Tier while in use. Drains Resource at a rate of 10% per second. May be taken multiple times.

Euphoria is addictive.

physicists used to think heat was a fluid; now they think it’s random motion of molecules; they used to think light was a vibration in an all-encompassing ‘aether’; now they think it can exist in the absence of any such thing. This pessimistic argument has historically been the main objection raised to realism.

The turtle wins the race. Stability > Tranquility > Ability > Mobility > Power

In addition to the seven Heavens and the infinite depths of the Abyss, numerous worlds besides our own exist in the ebb and flow of the Aether, moving and shifting in a dance as complicated as that of the stars in the night sky. Only a rare few are accessible at any given time, but once every millennium all the worlds drift together. The ancient Korellan scholars of Val Magus called this the Convergence. Tread carefully during this time. If you dare open a portal to these other realms, you will find both the extraordinary and the terrifying await you. There are even some where magic has faded to mere myth, and to tarry would leave you stranded with no way home.

Part of being a creative person is the hope that others might feel a deeper connection to themselves and the universe through your art.

Think thyself yourself." - On Self-Definition

As impactful as the sun when it comes as when it leaves." - On the value of those exceptional people we were privileged to meet and now have to say goodbye to

fiends. Turning, I saw outlined against the luminous aether of the abyss what could not be seen against the dusk of the corridor—a nightmare horde of rushing devils; hate-distorted, grotesquely panoplied, half-transparent; devils of a race no man might mistake—the crawling reptiles of the nameless city.

In the world of the OWO, people are locked in isolated little boxes called houses, watching junk on TV, eating junk, reading junk, vegetating. They are passive, submissive, weak, lazy, tired, unambitious. They haunt shopping malls like fading wraiths. Gods can never come into being in shopping malls. Gods need ambrosia and nectar, the food and drink of the deities. They need to breathe aether – the most rarefied, divine air. They need spiritual sustenance, not full shopping baskets.

A bridge between the aether and Okairos,” she murmured from behind her hand.

Gray is a hue created with swirls of white gouache and a daub of midnight pain.