[Flashback] Mad Science (Minerva)

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Autumn 5, 511 AV The ravosala glided through the canal. It was about noon. The sky was a deep, endless blue, and sunlight illuminated the tall, elegant buildings that stood left and right of the water. Even though it was autumn, it was warm. Rhysol’s blessing assured that the citizens of Ravok never had to suffer snow and cold like the rest of the world. The red haired man that lounged in the back of the ravosala had taken his coat off and pulled the sleeves of his shirt up. A folder containing several papers was in his lap, notes on his studies of Kelvic – a very fascinating subject – and an encryption system he had been working on, based on the Ancient Language. Since he had returned from his studies in Zeltiva the season before he had been trying to decide what he wanted to do with his life. Dividing his time between several different subjects didn’t seem to be a good idea, especially if he wanted to excel at what he was doing – and he fully intended to excel. Mediocrity just wouldn’t do. He leafed through his folder, furrowing his brow as he considered the things he was reading. In the meantime the ravosala passed by a few villas and a shop or two and finally approached a bridge. Just before it was about to pass under the bridge, he raised his head. His gaze fell on a small cafe directly next to the bridge, and he suddenly realized that he was thirsty. „Stop!“ he told the ravosalaman, one of the numerous slaves owned by House Nitrozian. „I need to take care of something. Wait for me!“ He exited the ravosala without bothering to explain where he was going or how long he would be gone. The ravosalaman was a slave after all. It wasn’t necessary to explain one’s action to a slave. He was forced to wait. Just as Valerius was about to enter the cafe, somebody exited it, and a moment later his precious notes were on the ground.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Minerva had never been to the 'floating city' before, but she was intensely curious about it. She wondered above all else, was it REALLY floating? Or were the buildings just built on support struts that reached down to the bottom of the lake? She was curious to find out. She had been wandering the city all day, taking notes and sketching crude diagrams of some of the more interesting buildings. She was especially interested in any pillars or support structures, taking down the most detailed drawings of them she could. She had even gone so far as to take measurements of some of the buildings so she could draw her sketches to scale. Unfortunately, she wasn't getting what she needed. The upper structures of the buildings couldn't tell her the whole story. She had to look at the parts underwater. She had just finished a detailed (albeit amateurish) sketch of the architecture of a building that looked like a cafe of some sort, when she decided she needed to get wet. She tucked away her drawings in her backpack, and set them safely nearby, then moved to the edge of the walkway. She sat down, turned around so that her back was facing the canal, and got a grip on a wooden post at the canal's edge. Then, taking a deep breath, she leaned backwards and dunked her head underwater. The water wasn't too clear, but with a bit of careful shifting in her position so she could twist her head around towards the building, she was able to get a look at the underside. Of course, while she was studying the support structures, she was unaware of the little boat heading her way. She very nearly lost her head to the passing boat, if not for the fact that its owner called for an unplanned shop. The boat stopped just short of colliding with her, and when she turned her head back the other way, she let out a bubbly shout when she saw how close it was. Pulling herself back out of the water with a bit of difficulty, she pushed her wet red hair back out of her face and shook a fist at the boat driver. "Watch where ya sailin', ya dumb ox!" she shouted. Some people! She climbed back to her feet in time to see the stranger's papers scattered all over the ground. Curious what they were, and without a word of consolation for the man's predicament or an offer of help, she dried her hands on her pants and crouched down, picking up a few of the sheets. She held the pages carefully away from her, so her dripping hair and soaked upper torso wouldn't get the pages wet. The notes on the ancient tongue were especially interesting to her, since she had studied that language in fair detail. She wondered what these notes were about...

[Valerius Nitrozian]

A curse escaped Valerius‘ lips as the man that was responsible for his current predicament hurried past him without bothering to help him collect his papers or casting as much as a glance at him. Didn’t he know who he was, that he was a member of Ravok’s most influential families? If he found the man‘s identity out, it would definitely have consequences! Nobody ignored a Nitrozian! He bent down and began the somewhat demeaning process of kneeling on the dirty ground (he would need to have his clothes cleaned right away when he came home) and picking up his precious notes. They were scattered everywhere in front of the cafe. With his head down he slowly moved towards Minerva until he was almost directly in front of her. As he saw a pair of legs he raised his head – and then, as he realized what kind of person he was facing, he made a face. The woman was dripping wet, as if she had just been taking a bath in the canal for some reason and looked a little insane, to be honest. What really bothered him though was the fact that she holding some of his notes and didn’t look as if she had any interest in returning them. The only thing that comforted him was that she likely wouldn’t be able to decipher them. Almost nobody outside of university circles knew the ancient tongue. „Thank you“, he said to her and extended his hand, waiting for her to give him his papers, as if he hadn’t realized that she wasn’t actually helping him, but busy reading – or trying to read. The tone of his voice was almost overly polite and a little cool. „You know, the canals of Ravok aren’t the best place to take a bath. You might get hit by a boat“, he informed her, unaware that that was what had nearly happened. Valerius had as always been fairly oblivious to the happenings around him. He tended to be concerned with himself first and foremost. The ravosalaman had of course seen her – and he had definitely heard her – but he had decided not to shout at her or intervene in any way. He was a slave, and had come to the decision that it was better to do exactly what he had been asked and nothing more if he wanted to stay out of trouble a long time ago. If Minerva took a closer look at the notes she was holding, she would notice that they weren’t written in the standard ancient tongue. Some of the letters seemed to have been swapped around, a few words were spelled a little oddly, and then there was the occasional sentence that wasn’t written in the ancient tongue at all, but in a completely different language (that happened to be Arumenic, the second language that Valerius had studied at university). On top of it most of the sentences didn’t seem to make any sense. On the whole it seemed as if she was looking at the writings of a madman.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

There was something... odd about the grammar on these pages. She couldn't quite place what it was, but something about the writing didn't sit right with her. She had a fair grasp of the ancient tongue, and while she wasn't fluent, she knew enough to tell that there was something strange in what she was reading. She was going over the words, mouthing them quietly to herself, and trying to decipher what she was reading when the man interrupted her. She reluctantly handed the page back to him when he reached for it, though she kept going over it in her head, her curiosity piqued. "Oy, 'ow else am I supposed ta see the architecture," she replied to his comment about bathing in the canals. "'Em struts an' stuff are underwater. Ain't like I can see 'em from up 'ere." She said it as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world. She them gestured to his notes and said, "Oy, mate, I dunno who taught ya ta write, but 'ose are full o' mistakes, 'ey are. Might wanna go back an' get some more schoolin', if'n ya wanna write in the ancient tongue. Looks like ya can't ape right, an' ya grammar needs some work." She was still going over the strange sentences in her head. It felt like a puzzle, waiting to be solved. But without a more detailed examination of them, she couldn't quite solve it. She helped him gather up the rest of the pages, skimming them over before she handed them to him. It looked like a lot of them had similar mistakes. Enough that it almost formed a pattern. She frowned, holding the last page up and studying it, forgetting entirely that it belonged to the man before her. There was something curious, indeed...

[Valerius Nitrozian]

As she handed him the page he had been reading, he inclined his head in what was a barely noticeable sign of gratitude and put it back into his folder before she could decide to snatch it again and run off with it. „You were trying to study the architecture?“ he asked and looked at her strangely. He had come to the decision that she had very definitely lost her mind. „Did it not occur to you that you could have talked to somebody in the city government rather than taking a bath? Did you see anything at all?“ The water in the canal wasn’t exactly clean with all the ravosalas that were moving through it every day, and he was pretty sure people occasionally dumped their waste into it or even pissed and vomitted into it. Taking a bath in the canal probably wasn’t very healthy, but he decided to keep that fact to himself. It was her fault if she came down with some kind of nasty disease. „The professor for the Ancient Tongue at the University of Zeltiva taught me to write“, he replied coolly. „And I am aware that the spelling and the grammar on these papers are a little unusual, but there is a point to it. You see, miss, I’m trying to develop a new language, based on the Ancient Tongue.“ He decided to keep the reason for his developing a new language to himself. The things he did for House Nitrozian were none of her business. Each time she picked up a page and looked at it, he frowned a little harder and quickly put it into his folder where it was safe from her, and then, as she held up the last page and looked at it intently, it finally occured to him what her comments meant. She knew the Ancient Tongue as well – well enough to be able to point out mistakes which was fairly unusual. „Where did you learn it?“ he wanted to know and extended his hand – a clear sign that he wanted the page back. „Did you study in Zeltiva as well? I don’t remember seeing you in any of my courses …“ She didn’t really look like a university student – or a mage – but reminded him more of somebody that had escaped from an asylum, but then again, there had been a few strange types at the university.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Talk ta the government?" she asked. "Bah! What's the point in 'at? 'Ey's jus' a bunch o' stuffed shirt pains in the arse. Ain't gonna learn nothin' useful from 'em what I can't learn jus' by lookin' 'round on my own." She reluctantly handed him the last page, then wiped her hand through her hair, flicking off some water. "It's pretty darn interestin' down 'ere," she said. "Wish I could what breathe underwater, get a even better look. The struts an' stuff down 'ere is somethin' else... wouldn't mind gettin' all the way down the bottom, seein' 'ow it all comes together." Then he said something that definitely piqued her curiosity. "University?" she asked. "Oy, what University?" She had never been away from home before recently, and didn't know a lot about, well, a lot of things. A University might be just what she needed. "What 'ey teach 'ere, eh? Anythin' good? Magic an' stuff?" She had just been kicked out of an apprenticeship for a wizard. As it was her fault that his cat was allergic to sawdust... Maybe studying in a more formal institution was just what she needed. "I done learned some o' the ancient tongue in my studies," she told him. "'ol Archimaneus, 'e said what as I gots ta learn it, if'n I were gonna be 'prenticed ta 'im. Most o' 'is books on Animation an' Magecraft what were written in 'er. I picked up 'nough what ta get by. Wouldn't mind learnin' some more..." She eyed the pages he had tucked away, wondering about them. "Whatcha wanna make ya own language fer, anywho?" she asked. "I mean, ain't like anybody else'll speak 'er, aye? What good's a language what if ain't nobody what speaks 'er?"

[Valerius Nitrozian]

As she called those that were in charge of the city 'a bunch o‘ stuffed shirts pain in the arse', Valerius narrowed his eyes. „Don’t let anybody hear this, woman“, he warned her. „I may be willing to ignore your comment for now, but others won’t be as kind. Besides, they might be able to give you information that you otherwise won’t have access to. Plans of those buildings you seem to be so interested in for example.“ As she claimed that it was ‚intersting down ‚here‘, he looked at the canal and shook his head. „I doubt it. There’s just water, dirt, the occasional fish and a bit of wood and stone. I’ve seen more interesting things. If you went all the way to the bottom, you wouldn’t be able to see anything by the way. It’s dark at the bottom of the lake, so in addition to being able to breathe underwater you would have to have some sort of darkvision, like one of those despicable Symenestra.“ „The University of Zeltiva“, he told her. He had mentioned it before, but apparently she had memory problems and a very short attention span. „They teach a lot of different subjects there. You can learn languages, history, science – and magic of course.“ He furrowed his brow. He didn’t like the fact that she was so interested in magic at all. Magic could have disastrous consequences in the wrong hands – and hers were definitely the wrong hands. „Animation? Magecraft? How much experience do you have with those things? And what happened to this Archimaneus? Did your … apprenticeship not work out?“ If she had acted anything like that around her old mentor, that was what had probably happened. Magic required discipline. „My knowledge of the Ancient Tongue is excellent“, he claimed. „As for why I’m making my own language … I don’t want anybody to speak it. If I want to keep certain information from nosy people – such as yourself – don’t you think a language of your own would be the best solution? Only those that I have shared my notes with would be able to read my messages.“ It was then that he realized that she still hadn’t given him the last page back.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

She stared at him blankly for a moment after his unexpectedly harsh reaction. What, was this city run by a bunch of iron fisted dictators or something? Minerva wasn't going to let anyone tell her what she could and couldn't talk about. If calling the government a pain in her arse was going to get her in trouble here, she wouldn't be sticking around this city long. There was plenty more of the world out there for her to see and study. She could also add 'racist' to the list of flaws in this place, if this man's attitude towards the Symenestra was indicative of the general populace's mindset. Tock never understood prejudice... someone who was different just meant there was more to learn about them. She didn't see the point in hating someone when she could have she could have a lot more fun trying to puzzle them out. She knew very little about Ravok. She had come for the architecture alone. Her initial impressions of the people weren't very favorable, unless this stranger was the exception rather than the rule. She might not want to be here long. Now this University of Zeltiva, on the other hand... That sounded EXACTLY like what she needed! She grinned wide at the thought of it, getting downright giddy. "I knows enough what fer ta get by," she said with a shrug. "But oy, if'n 'at 'ere Uni teaches 'er up good, 'at sounds mighty shiny ta me. Ol' Archimaneus," she waved a hand dismissively, "'e didn't know 'ow ta 'andle a wee lil mess 'ere an' there. I told 'im, I did, I said, 'Ain't what my fault 'ere's cat puke everywhere. 'E's yer cat, ya clean 'er up yerself.' An' 'e says," she made impatient gestures with her hands as she spoke, then mimicked a man's nasally voice, "'Ya left all 'ose shavins 'round fer 'im ta eat, so's it's yer fault 'e done throwed up.' An' I says," she started waving her finger in Valerius' face as if he were the old wizard, "'Oy, ya dodgy ol' bastard, if'n yer such a great Animator, go make yerself a golem what can scrub the floors. I's 'ere ta learn magic, not be ya damn maid!' An' 'E says," she raised her fists in the air to mimic the old man's anger, "'I should make a golem ta kick yer ass ta the curb!' An I says, 'Go a'ead, ya slimy bugger!' An', well, 'e did..." she dropped her arms to her sides and shrugged, then scratched the back of her head. "But I figure, 'ey ain't gonna let cats inta a Uni, so I's golden!" She raised her arms in the air triumphantly, grinning wide. Then, in a completely abrupt segue, she peeked at his notes and said, "Whatcha got 'at's such a big secret what ya can't 'ave people readin' yer notes? If'n 'ey're so secret, ya shouldn't leave 'em lyin' 'round the street like 'is. Anybody can jus' stick 'eir nose in 'em," she said, doing just that.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„The University of Zeltiva is mighty shiny“, he informed her and made a face. She seemed rather uneducated and childish – which adult called things ‚mighty shiny‘? Besides that, he had finally figured out why he was still talking to her. She refused to give him the last page. While he could have made her give it back, he had been taught never to be violent towards women, even insane women. „It is the best university in the world. You should visit it sometimes. It might be good for you. There is no place quite like it anywhere else.“ As she told him about her apprenticeship with Archimaneus, he furrowed his brow. He found her manner of speech strange and a little hard to understand. Valerius never spoke in any kind of dialect. He always spoke grammatically correct, rather like a book. „Let me repeat it so that I can make sure that I haven’t misunderstood anything. Your old mentor had a cat. His cat ate the shavings that you refused to remove, and then it puked, and you refused to clean up after it.“ He shook his head. It was a rather strange story, but then she was a strange woman. Besides that, he also couldn’t help but wonder about the cat. „His cat … was there anything wrong with it? I’ve never heard of animals eating shavings, unless they had some kind of illness.“ „By the way, if you had been a little more polite, a little more obedient, you might still be apprenticed to him and learn how to make golems. And I agree. They probably won’t let cats into the university, so you’ll be safe there if you get accepted.“ As she raised her arms in the air and grinned, he arched an eyebrow, and then he smiled, but it wasn’t a particularly cheerful or honest smile. It was more like the kind of unsure smile you gave somebody that you couldn’t quite figure out. „Business for House Nitrozian“, he replied as she asked him about his secret. From the way he said it, he clearly expected her to be familiar with House Nitrozian. „I’m sure you understand that I cannot reveal the exact nature of that business to you, otherwise it wouldn’t be a secret anymore. And I didn’t leave my papers around. You have without a doubt noticed that somebody ran into me which caused me to drop them.“ „And now tell me, did you manage to learn any magic at all before Archimaneus threw you out?“ He had come to the conclusion that it was important to find that out so that he knew how much harm she could possibly cause.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Oy, 'at's what I said, innit?" she said in mild annoyance when he insisted on repeating her own words back to her. She was, of course, completely unaware that she had an accent of any kind or that he would have trouble understanding her. "An' 'ow should I know? 'E were a dumb ol' cat! 'Ey's useless, manfully animals. Dunno why anyone would keep 'em around. Gimme a dog any day, 'least 'ey can be trained what 'ow ta make 'eirselves useful, aye? Aye." "An' oy, I's very polite," she said, shaking the page in her face, completely ignorant of the fact that it was even still in her hand. "But I ain't gonna be no 'obedient.' What's 'e done what ta earn the right fer ta tell me what ta do, aye? Ain't no reason 'e's gotta be bossin' me 'round! 'Specially when it were 'IS cat, aye?" she scowled, still rather precede about the whole thing. "'Course I done learned magic," she said with hurt pride. "I's gonna be the greatest Animator inna world, I is. Ain't nothin' doin'. I'll show you, mate. I'll show everybody. Ain't gonna be nobody what can tell me what I can an' can't does. 'Specially not no stuffed shirt..." she paused, exercising awareness of her environment for the first time as she looked around, remembering what he said about not bad mouthing the government. It was certainly very different here from back home. Back home there wasn't any government to speak of, and she had liked it just fine that way. Well... there were problems, to be sure. But no problems she thought would get fixed by having anyone telling her what to do.