49th of Autumn, 510 AV. The Great Library of Sahova. Row upon row of texts stretched around Nimvahlis, the collection was vast. Enough ink entrap his mind for half an eternity, and the solitude to do so undisturbed. Most of the magicians, it seemed, simply took their books back to their laboratory. The Ethaefal had never been to the library before, and he walked through its confines with his head tilted up to gaze at the towering shelves. Silence permeated the area like a thick fog, cloying the senses with its stark reproach of all things lively; it was almost like a cemetery. Yet where a graveyard would store bodies of ages past, this lost center of learning stored the knowledge of ages long past. For several hours Nim meandered the library, serenely taking in the silence and the structure. Though he could not read Nader Canoch, he managed to identify many areas of the library by flipping through books or examining resources. Often times diagrams, maps, and the occasional book in a tongue he could read were enough to identify the various categories. A big astronomical clock identified a corner dedicated to astronomy and its coordinates, several blackboards with complex arrangements of circles showed him where to find summoning resources, and so on. But what Nimvahlis finally stopped on was the section devoted to all things plant based. While there were no interesting exhibits or resources, many of the texts had diagrams of plants and their innards. He idly drifted amongst the shelves, picking out books. He gathered a small pile, eventually amassing five different texts to peruse. An excited air buzzed through Nim, for it was not often he had access to such a vast array of information. He desired to harness each mote of knowledge, incorporating it into his mind to expand his knowledge of the sacred. Only two books were to be found in a dialect he could read, one a text on the Ekytolian plant named Mirage and the other a translation of an Alahean book on poisonous fungi. The other three were in Nader-Canoch, forcing the Ethaefal to rely on the diagrams to gain any information. Placing his books on a smooth hardwood table, Nimvahlis sat down and flipped open the various Nader-Canoch books. He flipped to random pages, examining the drawings before slowly speaking out each word on the page. The ancient tongue was awkward and blocky to him, but the Ethaefal continued immersing himself in the text nevertheless. Words carry intent, their design is just as important as their meaning. It did not matter that he could not understand the phrases, the first step to being able to link himself to the great resources here was to acquaint his brain with the words. As the chimes rolled by he began to get used to the sounds, and though the pronunciation could well be incorrect, the words started to roll off his tongue more smoothly. So there he sat, bent over the three books, pouring his soul into the task of understanding. His silken voice was the only sound in the library, almost swallowed by the surrounding stillness. |