Well, this certainly supports my theory from yesterday about you fleeing to an Enclave. I guess the deer are inching closer, and you're realising that you're going to have to kill them, thus breaking cover and revealing your assassin training?
Inching closer Lord Derby found himself surrounded by a dense, oily yellow smoke. He was sure his feet were still planted firmly on the floor, but when he raised his hand in front of his face and moved it away, he couldn't see it for the smoke after 10cm. The smoke tasted slightly acrid, like the black of burnt toast after someone's tried to cover it up by buttering it and smelled like burning hay, but it didn't seem to be poisoning or choking him. "Samual? Tomasz?" His voice sounded oddly loud in his ears, as if he was in a much smaller room than he was expecting, but when he put his arms out to his sides, and them around him in a hemisphere from his waist up, he met no resistance. The smoke roiled away from him, but fresh smoke curled into place, and nothing was revealed.
Elizabeth broke the silence again. "Labdaris," she said. "Arthur let me know you'd learned about him," said Lord Vileburn. "I expect you're angry." "He's alive, it seems," said Elizabeth. "Which I am coming to terms with, though I don't understand why he was allowed to flee. What bothers me most at the moment is that the whole story seemed riddled with inconsistencies." Memnith gazed out at the band of stars across the sky again and said nothing. "It seems like there are things he discovered that he never passed on to his students, but we know about. That makes no sense." Elizabeth's tone was starting to become hectoring, and she started to pace. "His research has obvious benefits, but the cost of it is astronomical. How could he be allowed to do that? That also makes no sense -- you don't spend all your money on a new purse!" She kicked a rock and it skittered across the barren plain making little ticking sounds. "He did horrible things, but has not been held responsible for his crimes. There are places where I might expect that, but not here. Not in England." She waved a finger in Lord Vileburn's direction. "Not where we're supposed to be civilised."
"The problem," said Lord Vileburn at last, "is that you're lacking context." "That's what Arthur said!" "And he's right. I can't explain it all now, but I'll start, and you shall come to my office tomorrow and I'll give you a couple of hours in my library. That will help contextualise, I think. But, Liz, this is not something that rationalises well away." "What on earth do you mean?" "To start with your questions: Labdaris's students don't know some of things we know because they haven't continued his research." Elizabeth looked at Lord Vileburn as though he'd grown an extra head. "But that's stupid," she said. "Why wouldn't they continue his research? He's there to guide them." "He was allowed to leave because it was felt that the punishment he'd already received was sufficient," said Lord Vileburn. "Labdaris, if you met him today, is a far cry from the genius who invented chained magic. The scars where the brain surgery was carried out are sadly very visible." "Brain surgery?" Elizabeth kicked several more rocks, shuffling around a tight circle. "You mean... there was a trial?" "A secret trial, by his peers. The kind of things the Lords Martial call a Court Martial, which is acceptable, but which people call a witch-hunt when we try holding a Court Magical. And don't get me started on the issues they have with Courts Theological." "Wait, what do you mean, we continued his research?" "And to your third question, the price of something can be astronomical seen from one perspective, and quite reasonable when seen from another. Spending all your money on a purse than never empties is quite possibly an investment." "Oh dear gods," said Elizabeth.
3 comments:
Well, this certainly supports my theory from yesterday about you fleeing to an Enclave. I guess the deer are inching closer, and you're realising that you're going to have to kill them, thus breaking cover and revealing your assassin training?
Inching closer
Lord Derby found himself surrounded by a dense, oily yellow smoke. He was sure his feet were still planted firmly on the floor, but when he raised his hand in front of his face and moved it away, he couldn't see it for the smoke after 10cm. The smoke tasted slightly acrid, like the black of burnt toast after someone's tried to cover it up by buttering it and smelled like burning hay, but it didn't seem to be poisoning or choking him.
"Samual? Tomasz?"
His voice sounded oddly loud in his ears, as if he was in a much smaller room than he was expecting, but when he put his arms out to his sides, and them around him in a hemisphere from his waist up, he met no resistance. The smoke roiled away from him, but fresh smoke curled into place, and nothing was revealed.
Elizabeth broke the silence again. "Labdaris," she said.
"Arthur let me know you'd learned about him," said Lord Vileburn. "I expect you're angry."
"He's alive, it seems," said Elizabeth. "Which I am coming to terms with, though I don't understand why he was allowed to flee. What bothers me most at the moment is that the whole story seemed riddled with inconsistencies."
Memnith gazed out at the band of stars across the sky again and said nothing.
"It seems like there are things he discovered that he never passed on to his students, but we know about. That makes no sense." Elizabeth's tone was starting to become hectoring, and she started to pace. "His research has obvious benefits, but the cost of it is astronomical. How could he be allowed to do that? That also makes no sense -- you don't spend all your money on a new purse!"
She kicked a rock and it skittered across the barren plain making little ticking sounds.
"He did horrible things, but has not been held responsible for his crimes. There are places where I might expect that, but not here. Not in England." She waved a finger in Lord Vileburn's direction. "Not where we're supposed to be civilised."
"The problem," said Lord Vileburn at last, "is that you're lacking context."
"That's what Arthur said!"
"And he's right. I can't explain it all now, but I'll start, and you shall come to my office tomorrow and I'll give you a couple of hours in my library. That will help contextualise, I think. But, Liz, this is not something that rationalises well away."
"What on earth do you mean?"
"To start with your questions: Labdaris's students don't know some of things we know because they haven't continued his research."
Elizabeth looked at Lord Vileburn as though he'd grown an extra head. "But that's stupid," she said. "Why wouldn't they continue his research? He's there to guide them."
"He was allowed to leave because it was felt that the punishment he'd already received was sufficient," said Lord Vileburn. "Labdaris, if you met him today, is a far cry from the genius who invented chained magic. The scars where the brain surgery was carried out are sadly very visible."
"Brain surgery?" Elizabeth kicked several more rocks, shuffling around a tight circle. "You mean... there was a trial?"
"A secret trial, by his peers. The kind of things the Lords Martial call a Court Martial, which is acceptable, but which people call a witch-hunt when we try holding a Court Magical. And don't get me started on the issues they have with Courts Theological."
"Wait, what do you mean, we continued his research?"
"And to your third question, the price of something can be astronomical seen from one perspective, and quite reasonable when seen from another. Spending all your money on a purse than never empties is quite possibly an investment."
"Oh dear gods," said Elizabeth.
Greg - heh. Well, I hope you'll take some comfort in knowing that I'm inching closer to explaining this prompt...
I like it when you get to the explainy bits. And I like the way you explain things in your tale. So, just for the record, I liked this. A lot :)
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