Three Wizards in a Room (Eadfrid, Kuvarakh)

[Kuvarakh]

"Yes, of course, sir, I-..." Kuvarakh paused, grimacing slightly at the thought of Eridanus' rolling his eyes over being called 'sir' yet again. He turned back to Eadfrid, "I, for one, have always understood that the transmutive blending of the incinerating, and, perhaps more importantly, 'atmosphere consuming' quality of fire, with the...how should I describe...'energy polarizing' nature of air, could result in lightning." He looked again at Eridanus, "This was actually what I thought you wanted demonstrated when you referred to a 'fire/air mixed element transmutation', but perhaps a show of lightning is best left for the out-of-doors. In the meantime, I DID have a test in mind that may serve."

He stood up, with two sheets of parchment in his hand. He went to the far corner of the room, placed two bricks side-by-side and put the sheets, stacked flush, on the bricks. He turned back to Eafrid. "What I want to see is the ability to divide your focus at the same time as you work both elements simultaneously. I want to see you lift the top sheet a foot or so above the lower one, and hold it suspended, while at the same time, incinerating the paper beneath without igniting the one above. Air and fire, control and aggression, all at once." He gave Eadfrid a pointed look, "And for the added sense of pressure, The top sheet is your application."

He returned to his seat, leaning closely to Eridanus, whispering, "It isn't really, of course, but he doesn't know that."

[Eadfrid]

Eadfrid tried to stop himself gaping at the revelation. "M..my application?" he asked, in a newly found shaky voice. Kuvarakh was right. That was most definitely added pressure. If his application was incinerated, would he be allowed to write a new one, or was it one chance only in this guild? Judging by the serious faces held by the two leaders, Edafrid assumed it was the latter. Being very careful, he let out some more air, and attempted to guide it underneath the two sheets, and at the same time, put some fire in his other hand. He kept blasting air at the sheets, until the top one lifted slightly. Now it was time to apply more control to the situation. He slowly lifted the hand that was controlling the air, and at the same time, the sheet lifted slowly up into the space. At the same time, he touched the bottom sheet of paper with his fire hand. It slowly began to burn up, and the smoke rose up and touched the floating sheet. The task was certainly getting to Eadfrid, and he could feel himself growing more tired by the minute. He had to fight to keep his eyes open. "Is it done?" he asked. "It's making me more tired by the minute."

[Kuvarakh]

"If you feel yourself on the verge of overgiving, it will be expected for you to cease your efforts. We would not impose any sanction on a member for putting safety first." Kuvarakh walked to where he had placed the sheets of parchment, the top one now floating off on a draft to a spot a few feet away. There was a corner of the bottom sheet left unburned, but he ignored it as he retrieved the "application" from the spot where it came to rest.

He walked back to sit beside Eridanus and handed him the sheet, "Just one small mark, probably from smoke more than heat." He turned his gaze back to Eadfrid. "Just out of curiosity, HAVE you ever formed lightning? I'm not, of course, asking you to do it now, I'm just thinking that, if you haven't, it's something to consider.

"Well, I think that went very well. Unless Eridanus has more to offer, I believe that satisfies the demonstrative portion of the interview, which brings us to the logistical portion. The matter of whether you have employment, a place to stay, past debts still unsettled. Such things as these, as well as the understanding that there are dues we will all be contributing to a general house fund. I should probably let Eridanus give you those details."

He held both hands out, palms upturned, gesturing, as he looked from one to the other, that either of them should feel free to offer whatever comments they felt inclined to make.

[Eridanus]

"I would have expected lightning of course. Perhaps my words were too technical or academic-specific. He might be self-trained or traditionally trained, and not the product of an extensive academic/scientific system, for him to misunderstand my words," Eridanus shrugged quietly to his companion.

The room was silent as the two guild members watched the display silently. At that moment, Eridanus tapped into his pool of djed, zooming in on the reimancer's aura carefully as he inspected the formations of magical activity within his body, as well as at the area around the demonstration.

He watched as the magical light flared up, and he funneled more djed to further deduce more information from the aura of the expressed res. After several moments of indepth inspection, he finally concluded that the man was indeed seriously focusing his energy and concentration on maintaining that spell, and he was satisfied by the attempt, tuning down his Auristics.

"That is enough," He added to Kuvarakh's mention of overgiving.

Accepting the paper from the nuit, he nodded at the explanation, placing it back in one of the drawers on the table. After awaiting the answer to Kuvarakh's question regarding the formation of lightning, he would continue to speak.

"Yes. In order to guarantee exclusion of opportunities for personal profit with guild motives, there are several conditions our members must fulfill. Namely, a respectable and stable profession, decent accommodation and standards of living, your financial history and security, and whatnot. We expect full disclosure, for we are a public organization that is ultimately accountable to the public of Alvadas and the Government as long as we depend on their goodwill to survive."

Spreading his hands forward in a gesture of openness, he added, "Please take a sit, and feel free to speak. We keep all member information strictly confidential."

[Eadfrid]

"I know what you mean. And no, not in my lifetime yet." Eadfrid said, inclining his head slightly. "I will consider learning how to do so, just as a personal note." At Eridanus' request, he took a seat, and began to explain the more logistical side of his life. "I don't exactly have a profession. I've been on the road since last Winter, so job opportunities have been few and far between. The same goes for accomodation and living. When I get the opportunity, I've been staying in inns. Although unless something has happened, I'm due to inherit a farm on the outskirts of Nyka from my father. It was there that I learned magic." he added, smiling to himself. "As for debts, all my bills have been paid. No debts remain for me."

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh nodded, but there was still a question in his expression, "Well, it's good that there are no debts following you. But, this farm you mention...I assume you mean you stand to inherit it 'upon your father's death'. No offense, but since I assume you haven't taken it upon yourself to schedule this event, it doesn't really help you here and now. And then there's the matter of what you're planning to do with it when you DO inherit. But I guess that's no immediate concern.

"Have you visited the Sanity Center? It is the only building that Lord Ionu does not throw into the mix when he rearranges the city. It's pretty much the first building you see when you enter through the Maw. It's a little building, covered in moss, with a large red sign on it about 'Welcome to the Housing...Organization...or Orientation...Sanity Center', or some such thing. At any rate, this is where one goes to arrange rooming and employment, permanent or temporary. Naturally, we will allow a grace period to give you time to obtain these things."

He leaned forward in his chair with a grin. "And it may help if you let Miss Serenity, at the center, know that you will not need help finding the place. It may be coincidence, it may not, but she seems to have noticeably more success finding placements of both kinds for those that do not add to her workload by requiring directions in such a city as this. If you have doubts, let me know, I will help you find it if you need it."

[Eridanus]

Eridanus raised a brow, not sure if he was supposed to feel chastised or amused. "Scheduled, Kuvarakh? Really?" Shaking his head to himself with a wry smile, he turned to Eadfrid.

"Indeed, we allow for a grace period, especially for on in your case since you have been travelling. No worries, an inn is fine, we just don't expect our members to sleep in the streets like homeless people. Remember that as a member of the guild you bear our reputation on your sleeve. Conduct yourself appropriately, for your actions reflect on our guild."

Shuffling papers on the table, he glanced at the reimancer's application to make sure that he was not missing anything out.

"We expect you to find a job as per Kuvarakh's suggestion if you do decide to join us. However," The vantha leaned forward on the desk, his fingers steepled against his chin. "Why us? Why do you join us, what do you seek and what can you contribute? I'm not talking about mere prowess or ability with reimancy. What else do you think played a factor? Why did you decide to stop travelling to join us?"

[Eadfrid]

Yes, those ideas had crossed Eadfrid's mind more than once. What he was going to do with the farm, not killing his father. "Oh, no, I wouldn't want to kill him. Not my father." Then came the matter of getting a job. Now that he gave it more thought, he had never given getting a job more serious thought. It was definitely a flaw he would want to fix. "The sanity center? I'll make a note to visit as soon as I possibly can." Then another question came to the table. Why did he want to join? The answer had eluded him for a long time, but now that he was presented with the question by one of the leaders of the guild, he had one. "I simply want to do some good before I die. The more I travel, the more I feel that I am going nowhere. I seek a purpose to my life. After all, I was put here for some reason, and I have magic, so I want to use that for the good of the realm." He nodded slightly again.

[Kuvarakh]

"Commendable." Kuvarakh stated with a nod.

In truth, it was a classic, predictable, all-purpose response. But he didn't know what he would have said that would have been much different. He had been driven across most of Mizahar by an obsession. And though he had meant to come here, the fact that the gods chose to relieve him of his obsession while he WAS here, was only chance. Then the sign, the feather, the meeting, the sense of like minds coming together. If he had been in Zeltiva instead, he'd have never been able to account for WHY.

He imagined it was the same for Eadfrid, only fate, and he was willing to accept that, rather than dig for some deeper purpose. What Eadfrid decided to do with the farm, when that issue came to fore, would be a stronger indication of loyalty or devotion than anything he could say right now. Eadfrid was at a crossroads and he had sought out direction in the form of a partnership.

He felt that a good sign, since his own experiences told him that power-wielders only sought partners when they sought minions to command. Though clearly able, this man before them was certainly not of "World Conqueror" capability. And as far as the future went, any one of them might be suspected of hidden agendas. Such was the view of the majority of the world's population.

Of course, it could all be a ploy. He could be an infiltrator for some black cadre of evil madmen bent on selling Mizahar, part and parcel, into the void. He looked over at Eridanus, curious as to whether his auristics could detect lies and deceptive intent. He had to rely on hypnotism, which served much better to alter perception, not encourage its disclosure.

Nonetheless, he expanded a wave of djed in Eadfrid's direction, letting himself sense the uncertainty and anxiety the man held in check as he awaited their decision. He slid a thought into the man's subconscious. Nothing brazen, like 'CONFESS', just a subtle suggestion that Eridanus would sense any dishonesty. He felt the man's anxiety take on this extra dimension and let his djed go lax again as he asked what he thought would be a subtly revealing question if there was any ill intent.

"So, Eadfrid, your answer is reasonable, but I was still curious, please be honest, did you seek us out to join? Or were you simply here when you made this decision and we were handy?"

[Eridanus]

Eridanus could feel a slight itch under his skin, and he felt an involuntary need to jerk his head towards Kuvarakh. His proficiency in Auristics was competent enough for him to understand the gist of what was happening, and he shot a silent question in the form of a raised eyebrow at the nuit.

He had been carefully observing the reimancer as he spoke, but he felt no need to delve into Auristics, for his ability to discern lies and truth from simple body language was top-notch. It was his meticulous eye for detail that prevented most from lying to him, and he felt that Eadfrid had been telling the truth.

However, it did not exclude his affiliation with darker forces, for partial truth did not mean total truth. Therefore, he silently applauded Kuvarakh's next question, for it would seek to reveal what they needed to know.

"Yes, do tell," He murmured, as he rested his head on his knuckle in a deceptively relaxed manner, while the color of his gaze darkened to a deep gold as he studied the human's response.