Right, I'm going to try and wrap this story up in the next two weeks so that I can do something a little more Christmassy around Christmas (theme week kind of thing), so let's see how it goes....
The scholar "Oh wow," said Jimmy. He had pulled a large wooden box out of somewhere and thrown open the lid. "Knives!" Ben looked into the box and even from this distance I could his expression change as his eyes widened. "Beautiful," he said. He reached in, and his hand flinched away. "And sharp too. That's remarkable. We're taking them, though... not sure we need the fancy box." "Agreed," said Jimmy, and they started looking for something to wrap the blades in to make them easier to carry. I walked over. "If you've got enough," I said, "it's time we moved on. I want to be back in full daylight, so there are no surprises. Plus... it looks like there's a second Eldorado, without any creatures in it." "What?!" They weren't quite synchronised, but it was close enough that it was like one of them spoke and had a weird echo. I held up the document folder. "Someone, a scholar of some kind, seems to have spent a lot of time in here figuring out what was going on. I guess they found some of the same stuff we did and got curious too. They think the creatures were a slave race at first that broke free, and that the gates we read about were actual physical things. And also not, but I haven't understood that yet." "Interesting," said Ben slowly. "Another city like this?" "Unplundered, I think," I said. "Now that's interesting," said Ben, looking cheerful. "Got a map?" I checked the papers. "Sort of," I said. "It's hand-drawn again." "The last one got us here fine," said Jimmy. "I'm game." "We still have to get out of here in one piece," I said. "You guys ready to leave or is there anything else you want to look for?" They looked around, and I sensed their anguish: if we left without looking at everything who knew what we were leaving behind that we might have wanted. But we also needed to leave and prepare to get out of this city and away from the creatures, and that was the balancing force that eventually tipped the scale. "Let's go," said Ben. We were on edge as we left the building and started back. All of us were constantly looking around, alert for any movement or signs of attack, and as we walked past the factory building I found myself scrutinising the outside of it just in case the creature had somehow survived our bullets and had come crawling out for more. But the streets stayed quiet, and as we reached our little den on the third floor at last, the sun was just starting to slide behind the mountains overhead.
Ellaria wished that Sally's proposal presentation had been assigned to a smaller room. She would just be presenting to this inter-departmental committee of three or four, with her academic advisor and resource liaison shadowing the back, there was no reason for it to be in one of the larger lecture halls. But Ellaria knew full well why it was—it was fully a power play. There were very few in the school's hierarchy who were outright malicious, but the wizards had a tendency to regard anything new with suspicion, and took every measure to put themselves in a safer position—even if that meant situating a halfling doctoral student at the front of a rather large lecture hall.
As the three of them came into the hall, they paused when they saw the seats occupied by nearly a dozen administrators and high faculty. Prof. Igorin started to grumble but Sally hushed her before Ellaria could, and she smiled. "It's alright, Professor," Sally assured her. "I just need a table." "Would one of you gentlemen be so kind as to find a sturdy table?" Ellaria called to the room at large. The wizards muttered among themselves, but seeing that neither student, professor, nor librarian was yielding, one got up, flicked his wrist, and called a solid wood table and a single chair into being.
"Thank you most kindly," said Sally cheerfully, then glanced back to Ellaria and Igorin. They both nodded and went to take seats at the back of the hall, while Sally climbed up onto the chair, then onto the table. This seemed to surprise some of the wizards, but they settled down as Sally began her presentation. […]
[…] Arcane zoiology was a niche subject area, even for Zenith. With each other's help Sally and Ellaria were able to unearth a great deal of material to prepare Sally's proposal. But as far as most of the Academy was concerned, it didn't matter how people influenced magical tradition—all that mattered was the magic itself. But none of that deterred Ms. Sarah Bree Pepperdine—she had come to Zenith to study the influence of oral traditions on various magical communities, and was determined to do just that. And so, slowly pacing this table of a stage, she unfolded the tale of her proposal to a much larger crowd than promised, her voice clear and warm, her eyes aglitter with her passion for her study. Ellaria was quite proud of her, to her own delight.
As Sally came to the end of her prepared remarks she adjusted her glasses. "Any questions?"
"Why yes, Miss Sarah," came a soft, aloof drawl from the center of the group as its owner stood—Dean Usorine Lekore, even from behind Ellaria would recognize that condescension anywhere.
"Miss Pepperdine, if you please."
The dean paused. "Yes. Yes, Miss Pepperdine. This is all very nice, and clearly much work went into this. But if I may, what is the good of all this?"
The other wizards murmured in concurring curiosity. "Oh, that bugger–" hissed Prof. Igorin under her breath. But Ellaria gestured for her to stay seated, even as she herself grit her teeth.
But Sally merely smiled sweetly. "A question indeed, Master Dean." There was an impish lilt Ellaria thought she heard. "I would think that an effort talk about you and your cohort would be of great appeal and import—wouldn't you?"
All of the murmuring stopped. The dean, for once, was slow to words. "I… suppose so."
"Is it not important to take account of just how vast the sea of arcane experience is here at Zenith, and detail from whence those inlets of experience have come? That's what this effort is—to tell that story, but to also quantify just how important its unique and shared elements are. It's what all arcane zoiology seeks to do, to describe how magic and its practitioners live together, make each other greater." There were some nods and mutterings of approval. "I hope that answers your question, Master Dean." Sally still smiled, but kept her gaze fixed squarely on Dean Lekore. Finally he relented and sat back down. Ellaria nodded in approval. "Any other questions?"
5 comments:
Right, I'm going to try and wrap this story up in the next two weeks so that I can do something a little more Christmassy around Christmas (theme week kind of thing), so let's see how it goes....
The scholar
"Oh wow," said Jimmy. He had pulled a large wooden box out of somewhere and thrown open the lid. "Knives!"
Ben looked into the box and even from this distance I could his expression change as his eyes widened. "Beautiful," he said. He reached in, and his hand flinched away. "And sharp too. That's remarkable. We're taking them, though... not sure we need the fancy box."
"Agreed," said Jimmy, and they started looking for something to wrap the blades in to make them easier to carry.
I walked over. "If you've got enough," I said, "it's time we moved on. I want to be back in full daylight, so there are no surprises. Plus... it looks like there's a second Eldorado, without any creatures in it."
"What?!" They weren't quite synchronised, but it was close enough that it was like one of them spoke and had a weird echo. I held up the document folder. "Someone, a scholar of some kind, seems to have spent a lot of time in here figuring out what was going on. I guess they found some of the same stuff we did and got curious too. They think the creatures were a slave race at first that broke free, and that the gates we read about were actual physical things. And also not, but I haven't understood that yet."
"Interesting," said Ben slowly. "Another city like this?"
"Unplundered, I think," I said.
"Now that's interesting," said Ben, looking cheerful. "Got a map?"
I checked the papers. "Sort of," I said. "It's hand-drawn again."
"The last one got us here fine," said Jimmy. "I'm game."
"We still have to get out of here in one piece," I said. "You guys ready to leave or is there anything else you want to look for?"
They looked around, and I sensed their anguish: if we left without looking at everything who knew what we were leaving behind that we might have wanted. But we also needed to leave and prepare to get out of this city and away from the creatures, and that was the balancing force that eventually tipped the scale.
"Let's go," said Ben.
We were on edge as we left the building and started back. All of us were constantly looking around, alert for any movement or signs of attack, and as we walked past the factory building I found myself scrutinising the outside of it just in case the creature had somehow survived our bullets and had come crawling out for more. But the streets stayed quiet, and as we reached our little den on the third floor at last, the sun was just starting to slide behind the mountains overhead.
Greg - sounds like a plan! I suppose I should come up with some sort of Christmas theme week then...
I'm glad they've made it back to (relative) safety before nightfall. I'm sure they're looking forward to departing in the morning.
Assuming they make it to morning.
Ellaria wished that Sally's proposal presentation had been assigned to a smaller room. She would just be presenting to this inter-departmental committee of three or four, with her academic advisor and resource liaison shadowing the back, there was no reason for it to be in one of the larger lecture halls. But Ellaria knew full well why it was—it was fully a power play. There were very few in the school's hierarchy who were outright malicious, but the wizards had a tendency to regard anything new with suspicion, and took every measure to put themselves in a safer position—even if that meant situating a halfling doctoral student at the front of a rather large lecture hall.
As the three of them came into the hall, they paused when they saw the seats occupied by nearly a dozen administrators and high faculty. Prof. Igorin started to grumble but Sally hushed her before Ellaria could, and she smiled. "It's alright, Professor," Sally assured her. "I just need a table."
"Would one of you gentlemen be so kind as to find a sturdy table?" Ellaria called to the room at large. The wizards muttered among themselves, but seeing that neither student, professor, nor librarian was yielding, one got up, flicked his wrist, and called a solid wood table and a single chair into being.
"Thank you most kindly," said Sally cheerfully, then glanced back to Ellaria and Igorin. They both nodded and went to take seats at the back of the hall, while Sally climbed up onto the chair, then onto the table. This seemed to surprise some of the wizards, but they settled down as Sally began her presentation. […]
[…] Arcane zoiology was a niche subject area, even for Zenith. With each other's help Sally and Ellaria were able to unearth a great deal of material to prepare Sally's proposal. But as far as most of the Academy was concerned, it didn't matter how people influenced magical tradition—all that mattered was the magic itself.
But none of that deterred Ms. Sarah Bree Pepperdine—she had come to Zenith to study the influence of oral traditions on various magical communities, and was determined to do just that. And so, slowly pacing this table of a stage, she unfolded the tale of her proposal to a much larger crowd than promised, her voice clear and warm, her eyes aglitter with her passion for her study.
Ellaria was quite proud of her, to her own delight.
As Sally came to the end of her prepared remarks she adjusted her glasses. "Any questions?"
"Why yes, Miss Sarah," came a soft, aloof drawl from the center of the group as its owner stood—Dean Usorine Lekore, even from behind Ellaria would recognize that condescension anywhere.
"Miss Pepperdine, if you please."
The dean paused. "Yes. Yes, Miss Pepperdine. This is all very nice, and clearly much work went into this. But if I may, what is the good of all this?"
The other wizards murmured in concurring curiosity. "Oh, that bugger–" hissed Prof. Igorin under her breath. But Ellaria gestured for her to stay seated, even as she herself grit her teeth.
But Sally merely smiled sweetly. "A question indeed, Master Dean." There was an impish lilt Ellaria thought she heard. "I would think that an effort talk about you and your cohort would be of great appeal and import—wouldn't you?"
All of the murmuring stopped. The dean, for once, was slow to words. "I… suppose so."
"Is it not important to take account of just how vast the sea of arcane experience is here at Zenith, and detail from whence those inlets of experience have come? That's what this effort is—to tell that story, but to also quantify just how important its unique and shared elements are. It's what all arcane zoiology seeks to do, to describe how magic and its practitioners live together, make each other greater."
There were some nods and mutterings of approval. "I hope that answers your question, Master Dean." Sally still smiled, but kept her gaze fixed squarely on Dean Lekore. Finally he relented and sat back down.
Ellaria nodded in approval.
"Any other questions?"
g2 - fascinating stuff. I would happily read more of this :)
I hope you've been keeping well and it's nice, as always, to see your writing make an appearance here.
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