A new city, the search for knowledge begins

[Wren Forgewright]

The caravan lurched as it came to a sudden halt in the middle of the dirt track, dust clouds hung in the air which the wagons that passed before had flung up in the air.
Wren sneezed as he looked out onto the road, impatient with all this travelling he wanted to know what the holdup was. As the dust finally settled he could see the great walls of Zeltiva reaching up to the sky buttressed on either side by the rocky walls of the mountain passage they had traversed to reach the city. It had been the same view for days, foothills, hills, rolling mountains and then just more mountains, and more mountains. It was such a relief to finally be approaching his destination.
It was an altogether clear day, a few ragged clouds spotted the sky but the sun shone radiantly through without interruption, Wren searched the walls for any sign of what lay in the city ahead, the walls were fairly slipshod in fashion, they had been erected out of a simple necessity and they had simply been rebuilt upon the foundations of some pre-valterrian wall. This being said they looked sound and well constructed if a little rushed. To be honest it wouldnt matter if it were a 3 foot high wooden barricade, this location was easily defendable with a mere handful of soldiers. The craggy rock walls on either side look to be riddled with sniper perches and little tunnels back into the rockface, wether these were remenants of another time or still in use was yet to be seen.

Wren sighed and settled back into the hay of the cart in which he had been riding, it was a large caravan and it could take the rest of the afternoon before all the mercenaries had their weapons checked in through the guard house and all the caravans had been thoroughly checked, mustered and all the supplies they were carrying had been unloaded - reloaded and the wagons shuffled through the gate. These were trying times though, and such measures were deemed mandatory in most cities.

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Wren shivered in the back of the cart, he had dozed off and was in the midst of some sort of day-dream filled with nightmarish creatures and forces, suddenly he startled out of his dream though, it was the cracking of the whips as the teamsters marshalled their animals and urged them back into motion. Wren was gratefull as he shook the dazed expression from his eyes and focused back on his surroundings just in time to watch as the cart passed under the gatehouse and into the city proper.

The cobbled streets proved to be much less acommodating than the dirt road they had travelled previously, the dirt roads to this particular entrance to the city were scarcely travelled and thus potholes were few and far between so it was actually a fairly smooth ride. The cobbled streets of the city on the other hand were by nature uneven and unforgiving causing the carts to rumble around kicking up a hell of a ruckus.

Wren realised it was time to take his leave, vaulting over the side of the cart to land akwardly, almost rolling his ankle on the curb. The cart could hardly be said to be going fast so to anyone watching Wren made the jump look alot harder than it actually was but Wren quickly gained his feet and shuffled off into a nearby alley way. Best he be out of sight as soon as possible, he had promised payment of 3 gm on arrival in Zeltiva but Wren would happily spend that gold on new books and learning rather than a boring cart ride. Although if asked several hours ago he probably would have given his soul to just be in Zeltiva already.
Wren had no doubt that he would not be missed at any rate, the cart master would be far too busy at the local establishments with the generous pay from brining the town its much needed supplies. Wren thought about how foolish the honour and chivalry system was, the cartmaster just wouldnt consider that someone could take the free ride into town and then bolt when he got there. How naieve these country folk were Wren thought as he slipped into the shadows of the alleyway and dissapeared from sight.

[Wren Forgewright]

Wren wandered further into the city untill the wagons were well out of earshot and then stopped to gain his bearings. Pulling out the crumpled page of a book he had ripped out, he reached into his inner pocked and pulled out his magnifying glass, giving the map a quick once over. Glancing first at the map then up and down the street, then the map, then the street again, eventually after some minutes of this Wren wandered off in the direction of the great University of Zeltiva Library.

Determination now in his stride, he surged forwards, in a half jog ignoring the pain it caused his weak body he was so close now, so damn close.

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The great Library was not infact a very old bulding but had been planned out thoroughly and was truly a masterpiece of modern architecture, great collumns held up the vaulted ceiling all made of stone, fairly rare to see so much stonework in other cities, but here surrounded by mountains it was no supprise they had taken advantage of their surroundings to re-build these essential institutions.
The steps leading to the entrance were just the final touch in the grandoise that just took the breath away, stone balustrades on either side of the stairs gracefully leaning inwards, funelling you through the great solid oak doors.
Wren hardly noticed, he had eyes only for what lay inside, shelf after shelf of novels, poems and other varying forms of literature. Such an incridible source of knowledge, he must become accustomed with their cataloguing system if he was to find what he was after.
Ignoring the staff member who worked there, Wren went straight to the first bookshelf and started browsing the spines of all the books, Leather bound tomes, hardbacks, paperbacks, with a range of decorations from garish coloured pictures to simple yet elegant golden font and bindings they had it all. Wren carefully reached into his robes and pulled out his magnifying glass, making sure noone saw what he was doing and began sorting through the books, searching for any information at all that could lead him to greater powers.
Wren already knew ALOT about reimancy, leeching and malediction but it was more advanced techniques and practical uses for reimancy, also he had learned of a specific style of reimancy which never reached the transformation stage, leaving their res intact they maintain complete control over their res and with training could manipulate their res over fairly long distances. Since other reimancers could not manipulate your own res it was almost undefendable.
Wren needed to start with the basics and form a solid core for his abilities, then he would be able to utilise the knowledge he had learned from Erichs study. Wren was also searching for something that he had referenced in one of Erichs more advanced lorebooks, A story about some sort of highly advanced proceedure where you could somewhat reduce the side effects of leeching by channeling the poison from leeching through a mysterious artifact. The lorebook was from before the Valterrian and even then had claimed that the artifact was most likely a hoax, but if there was any sort of truth behind that claim then Wren wanted that item!
There was no use dwelling on such things now though, Wren had much work to do and MANY books to sort through before he could even begin his quest for the mysterious artifact but subconciously Wrens mind was hard at work devising plans and machinations for the future.

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Wren worked late into the night, moving now by candlelight through the aisles of the library avoiding other scholars where he saw them and keeping to himself he continued to search through the shelves. Though now he had at least found the section with the books on reimancy he was still looking for the right books, he finally saw a few authors he recognised and settled with pulling them out from the shelves and retreating to one of the work tables scattered about the room to read up on Reimancy.
Some time through the night Wren dozed off ontop of his book and crossed over into the realm of nightmare.

It was a familiar nightmare, a dark room, a single candle burning in the corner gave enough light to see the lavish opulence all around him, rich blood red drapes covered the windows and luscious fur rugs covered the floor. The table in the middle of the room housed a variety of body parts and the man standing behind the table, looming tall and ominous in the shadow from the candle was making incisions into the flesh of what was once a beautiful young girl, her face now contorted into a mask of pure terror. Wren reached out to the candle in the corner of the room with his Res, willing it to destroy this room, willing it to save him from this scene. The candle fluttered and swayed, causing the shadows in the room to dance and jump like feindish little imps cavorting about a campfire, as they watched the scene below them unfold. A rasping voice echoed in Wrens mind, "what are you doing boy! save your res, I will need it later!" with that a tendril of pure res whiped out from Erichs hand to lash Wren across the face, Wren cowered deeper into the corner and blacked out.

[Wren Forgewright]

Wren awoke with a start, sunlight peeking in through the high, arched windows at either end of the library told him he had slept through the night and lost valuable hours of study time. Wren could hardly say he felt rejuvinated either, the nightmares really took it out of him, it was almost worth not sleeping at all specially when each time he closed his eyes he knew he would be re-visiting those nightmarish scenes from his past.
Wren was happy though, the book he found had some great methods for training the use of Res and enhancing his Reimancy. This was exactly what he needed. Reading on from where he left Wren began furiously scribbling notes on a scrap of paper laying on the table, picking himself up he shook out the cramps from sleeping in such an akward position and headed out of the library leaving several books lying open on the table behind him.

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It was another fine Zeltivan day, the sun playing hide and seek between a spattering of clouds and the songbirds out in full chorus, it was a wonder that the streets were not more crowded, as it was most of the townsfolk were down at the fish markets, picking up the freshest of todays catches from the trawlers coming back in through the heads at the crack of dawn, nets laden with fish for the markets. Up in the old quarter not many were yet stirring from their beds or if they were they were lazily preparing for yet another day and didnt notice the lone figure scurrying away from the library clutching a note in one hand and a glittering object in the other.

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Wren hurried onwards, he needed some open area to practice in, he needed to be alone too. Wren headed out past a large gated mansion into a large field there he stopped for a while to catch his breath and gather his thoughts. The field was open and empty, not a creature stirred, only the ruffling of the grass as a soft breeze rolled out across the field. This would do just nicely, a perfect place to begin his training.
Wren closed his eyes, envisioning what he was about to do and then brought forth his Res.
The Res oozed forth slowly from his fingertips and Wren let it flow, he pooled it and once he had at least and armfull he began to mould it, he felt an affinity to it, and it was responsive to him. Like an extension of his arm it raced forth and back as he moved and it created each shape before he could even think it. So it went for some time, Wren just becoming accustomed to his Res, accustomed to how it moved, looked and responded. Slowly he started dividing it into long strands, these he began to whip back and forth, at first his aim was terrible. It was one thing to roll the Res about in the air, but sudden movements caused it to become sluggish and weak. Wren persevered though, whipping the Res at a small boulder, a little to the left, he readjusted. Too far to the right, he readjusted, still a little off to the right and then he hit it. Wren was rewarded with a sound akin to that of a wet fish landing on a deck. Surely nothing to be proud of, but it was something. Wren continued these excersizes for the rest of the day and well into the afternoon. Wrens entire body was aching when he made his way back to the Library for night time, he collapsed in a dark corner, this was one place he felt somewhat safe. Then he was asleep, no dreams plagued him this night, only images of fire, the warm flames burning away all his deamons, for the first time since he was a baby he really slept.