Completed Book Work (Castor)

[Tsaba]

Tsaba nodded in understanding -- she remembered living among people who feared magic. She remembered being a person who feared magic. She hadn't expected the university to show any consideration for such views, but what Castor said about keeping it accessible made sense, even if it did seem a rather expensive way to go about things. She made a mental note of what he said of Lisaelis, but she was already distracted by the prospect of reading. At his mention of a study group, however, she perked up. He had been incredibly useful so far...

"That sounds excellent. I will endeavour to contribute information of my own." Not that she had much to tell him. She could talk about Sahova, she guessed... maybe give some practical feedback on Auristics... "Is tonight convenient for you? I can be here when you finish your librarian duties." She pointed to the nearest visible table. "I will sit there, reading these books for the indefinite future. If tonight is convenient, I will not be hard to find; if not, then we should make a time." She remembered to smile. "And thank you again for your help."

[Castor Riley]

The prospect of a study group with a Nuit might have chilled him the day before, yet Castor was finding it to be entirely enticing. Such a widely differing perspective on magic, and really the world in general, was something that he always appreciated when found. "I'll look forward to it! My shift ends in about three bells, but since my research is in my dorm room, let's say we meet in 4 bells' time, where you suggested?" Seeing her smile was a sight that was unexpected, if welcome. He resolved not to allow the preconceptions that were so popularly disseminated to color his perception, wherever possible in future. "It was no problem at all," he responded, in kind, with a smile.

[Tsaba]

Tsaba nodded. "I will see you then. Good luck for the rest of your shift." Without further ado, she headed to the table she'd indicated, laid out her note-taking materials, and pulled a grey woolen glove over her left hand to protect the pages of the books. It'd need to be pretty delicate paper to suffer from mere contact with skin, especially since her body was still very fresh, but it was a habit she'd gotten into when handling the delicate older book on Sahova and there was no reason to break it now. She selected Introduction to Auristics and began to read, only looking up to take occasional notes and paying no further attention to the young librarian. He would come to her when he was ready.

Not that she was ungrateful for his help. Studying together seemed like an excellent idea. It just wouldn't be relevant for another four bells.

[Castor Riley]

He thanked her quickly and walked off towards the main corridor, in search any other visitors in need of assistance. He felt that it would be an interesting session. -------------------- Around 3 1/2 Bells later Castor rushed a bit as he carried his backpack, containing his research notes for the projects he'd done. He wondered whether they would be of use to the Nuit woman, as well as whether she would be able to offer him the sort of insights he desired. He entered through the doors of the Wright Memorial Library for the second time that day and headed straight for the pre-discussed meeting point. He turned the corner and looked around for the Nuit, hoping she wouldn't have left after all.

[Tsaba]

For three and a half bells (although she herself had very little concept of how much time was passing), Tsaba moved very little. Her notes grew, and it became clear that the few pieces of vellum she'd brought to Zeltiva wouldn't last very long. Introduction to Auristics was an interesting read; much of it was below her level and yet some of what the authors clearly treated as trivial knowledge was revolutionary to her. She'd learned auristics for a specific purpose and it was becoming clear that her education in the matter had been quite narrow.

She glanced up at the sound of somebody approaching. (Introduction to Auristics had claimed that 'Auristics is by nature an extension of the senses, and those with a keener sensory perception of the world will find it a more natural art', so she was trying to be open to the sounds around her as she worked.) Remembering that humans liked such things, she greeted Castor with a smile. "You were right, this book is an excellent starting point." She pushed the other books to one side, making room for him at the table. "How did your duties go?" Small talk. She was going to master human communication again if it killed her. Again.

[Castor Riley]

He immediately saw that she hadn't in fact left. As she heard him approach she turned and gave him a smile and complimented his suggestions. "I'm glad you enjoy it! Not everyone has the taste for theoretical research into magical disciplines. There must be dozens of stories of people that just go straight to applied magic and get into serious trouble," he said putting his backpack where Tsaba had made room for him on the table. He opened it as she asked about his duties. "They went fine. An ordinary day at work. Aside from our initial interaction," was his blushing response. "I do apologize for that; I'd never really met a person of your race before," he added by means of explanation. He took the book he'd kept all his notes on Auristics in out of the backpack and held it out to her. "Here's my notes. You should find all the necessary reference information in there to find the quotes and see them in context. I basically jotted down any quotation I felt was of particular importance or was particularly insightful, noting author, book and page for future referencing. You can borrow them and go over them at your leisure if you want," he offered. He then glanced at her own note-taking. She'd already gotten quite familiarized with Introduction to Auristics judging by the volume she'd accumulated over the course of a short three bells. He was silently impressed.

[Tsaba]

"I expect I will greatly prefer a theoretical basis," Tsaba told Castor. "The little Auristics I know were taught to me in a very... practical manner, and it is not a method that I took to well. I prefer to know, in terms of diagrams and numbers, what I am doing." At Castor's admission that he'd never met a Nuit before, she saw a chance to repay him for his help; "If you have any general questions about us, I do not mind answering them," she assured him. She was in Zeltiva to learn how humans did things; it was only fair that she pay with information in kind. It did sort of explain his earlier behaviour though, at least when he seemed to think she was very sick. She could see how somebody might make that mistake. That was "new plague"-level sick, though. She hoped she hadn't shocked him too badly.

She glanced through his notes and decided that the easiest thing to do was probably just make copies for herself. Then she could return them quickly, and still have the information handy if his exact note-taking practices turned out to be useful in her studies. His quote choices, for example, might be interesting in and of themselves, especially if she could somehow cross-reference them with what quotes appealed to other Zeltivans. She could probably do the copying overnight and be done with the notes by morning. Noticing him glance at her own notes, she moved her arm to offer him a better view; they were mostly technical trivia and side notes on avenues to explore later, with quotes being limited to word definitions.

[Castor Riley]

Castor was flooded by the million questions he could ask: How did they think? What did they feel? How did they reproduce? Did they feel pain? Love? Hatred? However he felt that his questions might be too impertinent; she was a sentient being not a lab specimen to be investigated. Instead he came up with a compromise he thought should be polite enough and give him an idea of the Nuit race: "Well, how would you describe your own race? I'm interested to see how the Nuit view themselves; I already am unfortunately aware of how others view the Nuit." Having been indirectly allowed to view her own work, Castor was very much impressed with Tsaba's perspective on Auristics. She had highlighted some aspects that he had glossed over in his own research, giving them a dimension he hadn't realized might be there. "Impressive work! Is this generally the style of research practiced on Sahova? It's a very unique perspective!"

[Tsaba]

"It's sort of how work is done in Sahova. In Sahova, I'd be in the library because I wanted specific information on something. So I'd be scanning an introductory book like this as a launching point to find other books, and there would be a lot of 'focus on this' notes, but they'd be less... broad." She tapped a finger next to where she'd written 'Auristics vs. prophecy?? Now considered dead theory; investigate'. "I'd be unlikely to care about background like that, for example, unless I was specifically investigating a divine connection to Auristics. Which I wouldn't be doing, because other people already have and it's been largely rejected, so thoroughly that even this basic intro book says so. But here, I'm trying to get a good, broad understanding of the whole art, and more importantly, of how it is developed, used and viewed. So random tangents like that will help me understand why people once thought there was a connection, even if it's meaningless now. As for Nuit..." Tsaba paused and gathered her thoughts. She would have to remember this conversation as a whole; Castor's reactions could be useful later.

"Nuit are... well, it depends on your perspective. An Animator might call a Nuit the ultimate in sophisticated golems, at least he might if he probably wasn't a Nuit himself and therefore could find such a comparison insulting. A golem contains the template of a soul; a Nuit contains a true soul. But otherwise, it is basically the same thing. A Nuit is a homeless soul that borrows the homes of other souls that are no longer needed, like... like those little crabs that live in shells they find on the beach? Unfortunately, the process that removes a sould from its home -- death -- destroys much of the internal maintenance systems, so our bodies fall apart rather more quickly than yours." By way of demonstration, she held up her right hand and pointed out the minute stitching around the middle of her little finger. She then bunched her hand into a fist; the top knuckle on the finger didn't bend. "This will never heal. I only had the finger sewed on to seal the wound better than bandages would." She put her hand down again.

"The most important factor about Nuits that is likely to affect you, as a human, is that our priorities and sense of value is very different to yours. We hardly sleep and are functionally immortal, so our time is worth less than yours. We do not eat; our only real maintenance cost is in preservatives and, possibly, shelter, so our day-to-day expenses can also be a lot less. But on the other hand, because we do not heal, minor abrasions for you that are barely worth noticing are serious problems for us. I once lost a foot to a bad pair of shoes, for instance. Of course, so long as we have access to a new body, things that you would consider major problems like the removal of a limb are, to us, temporary inconveniences, provided we do not bleed to death. The ocean air of Zeltiva and the high population of living humans is actually a serious health hazard to me; it presents a whole lot of potential infection factors that Sahova didn't. Sahova is incredibly poisonous to you, which is a blessing to us, because it prevents infection. We, of course, only need to breathe to speak; poisonous gas means nothing to us.

"Another way to view nuit, as a non-Animator, is as a sort of ghost that must always possess a host. We cannot live without a body like a true ghost can. Does that answer your question?" Her eyes met his and she added, "I would in fact be very interested to know how races on the mainland view nuit. The few humans who come to Sahova are unlikely to be a representative sample."

[Castor Riley]

Castor felt it would be incredibly impertinent of him to start taking notes as the woman spoke, so he refrained and took mental ones instead. Memorizing her words as best he could - which was rather well, if he said so himself - he bore the information in mind for a later date when he might need it, or put it into written form as a failsafe. The research technique she had explained for him made a lot of sense; it was thorough and had a lot of potential for unique observations. Considering his own under this light, he found it rather lacking, as it seemed very static. His research might be more organized and efficient, but hers allowed for the full potential of the act of researching to be exploited. He'd have to figure out a way to combine the two usefully in future, if he could. When she began to talk of the Nuit, he felt it would be of particular importance to note Tsaba's specific choices of words and examples, as her description was one derived from the unique perspective of being a member of the race in question, and thus one that he might rarely have access to. As she spoke, he listened in silent, rapt attention. When she showed him the stitching om her little finger, indicating that it had been separated from the rest of her body, he felt a bit queasy, and a slight curl of disgust touched his lips for a few chimes, unconsciously. He listened carefully as she finished her description. "You mean you don't know?" he asked, incredulously. Hearing her question, he inwardly winced and felt that he really shouldn't have touched upon the subject. However, he felt that the rapport that had been built between them demanded an honest answer to her question, just as she had responded to his. Thus he took a short steadying breath before continuing: "First of all, thank you very much for sharing your invaluable insight with me. It is even more important, as you'll realize, when considering the general perception of the Nuit. You are right in assuming the humans that visit Sahova are not representative of the population at large. In fact, they are the extreme exceptions to the rule. There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just do it quick and painless: The Nuit are feared and mistrusted among human societies. The popular misconception is that the Nuit go around murdering people to steal their bodies, or their loved ones, or something of that sort. They are the boogeymen that are used to chastise naughty children into obedience. The only races that are lower in human estimation are the Zith and Symenestra." He smiled apologetically and blushed lightly as he went on: "These views are so pervasive and ingrained in humans, that, occasionally, they cause peculiar reactions when one first meets a Nuit. I think that the lack of some proper information, available on a wide basis, is partly at fault for this; people fear what they do not understand, and for many humans, the Nuit are a terrifying mystery, entwined with the horror of death and decay." He hoped these facts did not come as too much of a shock to Tsaba, though from her expectations of golems in the library and querries about human societies, it was clear she had had little to no contact with such views.