PM to join [Wright Memorial Library] Brass Tacks [Tallis]

[Calen]

* CALEN * 7th of Summer 513 AV 11th Bell, 32nd Chime Calen frowned, turning this way and that in attempt to find where exactly that foul odor was coming from. When it became evident to him that nothing in the immediate vicinity was rotting he grabbed a handful of his own collar and lifted it to his nose, inhaling with audible intensity. Immediately, Calen gagged and began to tug at his shirt, desperate to remove the putrid garment. When he finally found himself bare chested within his room, Calen looked about for something else to wear as it was obvious that wearing the shirt he had worn yesterday, was not an option. Sighing, Calen began to search for something else to adorn his upper body. Never having been one for such mundane tasks as 'laundry' Calen had always entrusted the care and cleaning of his clothing to his mother, who seemed to have an odd knack for such chores. However, as the spring had changed into summer and Calen had made the decision to be more 'independent' he chose to handle such things by himself. Unfortunately, Calen frequently forgot to handle such things, and as such, he now found himself desperately searching for something to wear. As he stumbled upon, what his nose told him was a clean shirt, Calen made a mental note to do his laundry either tomorrow or the day after. Making sure to grab his backpack, which he had actually prepared almost a quarter of a bell earlier, Calen paused on his way out only to lock his door. Mulling over the unforeseen difficulties that attempting to be 'his own man' had brought him, Calen paid little to no mind as he walked the streets of Zeltiva. Had it been Fall or, gods forbid, Winter, Calen would've felt uncomfortably cold wearing the simple white shirt and wool pants that he was. However, it was not Fall, or Winter or even spring. No. It was Summer. And, better yet, it was an absolutely gorgeous day in early summer, no less. Coming to the realization that it was indeed a beautiful day, Calen allowed his thoughts to turn from his troubles and onto his surroundings. All about him, there were people. There were young people, old people, angry people, happy people, loud people and quiet people. There were people of all different shapes and sizes. "The city is alive" Calen thought to himself as he walked past a group of young people, he considered them young despite the fact that they must have been the same age, who could be nothing but students. Chuckling as he caught wind of one of them curse at another, Calen shook his head, obviously amused by their antics. There seemed to be something about the sunlight, the light breeze and the odd sense of...camaraderie that Calen felt within Zeltiva that always seemed to lighten Calen's mood. "Best damn city in the world" Calen muttered as he stepped past a pair of giggling beauties, both of whom soon burst into full blown shrieks of laughter as they caught wind of his comment. After a few moments, Calen found himself stepping into the Wright Memorial Library. Choosing to save himself a fair bit of searching, Calen approached a member of staff who appeared to be doing some sort of inventory at a desk. Donning what he hoped assumed was a polite smile he began to lay out some requests to the junior member of staff; she was obviously not the head librarian as she was around Calen's age. "If its not took much trouble, could you offer some directions to books on Syliran Wildlife, Herbology and something on general survival whilst outside of civilization?" Without missing a beat, the young lady extracted a small piece of paper and began to scribble on it, utilizing the same pen she had been using for her work earlier. When the girl inquired if 'that would be all', Calen paused, but only for a moment. He was soon making a request he had been planning to postpone until AFTER he had managed to secure some alone time. "Actually, no. Could you also give me some directions to any books on the practice of self defense or unarmed combat?" The girl set to work writing down some directions to those as well. A chime or two later, Calen was sitting at a table, organizing the plethora of books on a myriad of subjects that he had managed to collect thanks to the girl's directions. They really had been rather useful. Now all he had to do was wait for Tallis.

[Tallis]

12th Bell : 5th Chime As was his usual custom, Tallis entered the Wright Memorial Library around noon, preparing for another afternoon of studying. Head Librarian Lisaelis was nowhere to be seen at her usual post at the front desk, leading him to the conclusion that she must have been tending to the needs of another patron. Regardless, he would find the books he was looking for. After all, he had already familiarized himself with the shelves he frequented. He picked out a tome on Auristics, a publication by the University itself, and headed to his usual seat at the back of the library. The library was large, and few people chose to walk so far into its depths to find a seat. They were more content with choosing a desk closer to where they had picked up their books. Tallis, on the other hand, preferred the seclusion of the inner corner desks, especially so when he felt like testing the magical theories he was reading. Passing the final bookshelf and approaching his usual desk, Tallis was surprised to see none other than Calen. Ever since their last conversation, the other mage had secluded himself and this was the first time Tallis had seen him again. He appeared to be surrounded by a large selection of books, ranging from wilderness survival to the martial arts. The young man was currently immersed in a book about unarmed combat. Taking the seat opposite Calen, Tallis cleared his throat and, skipping the formalities, proceeded to ask: “Why are you here?” It was rather obvious that the young man was here to read, but what Tallis truly wanted to know was why Calen was at the library reading up on so many topics in his spot. And he had to admit, he was sort of interested in what he had been getting up to in the time that they hadn’t seen each other.

[Calen]

* CALEN * Frowning down at the book, Calen raised his left hand from his lap before laying it down beside the image that had left him so surprised. Curling his fingers into a fist, Calen compared his own to the one depicted on the page that lay on his right. "Why, in the name of Laviku's liquified loincloth, is the thumb on the outside?" Calen muttered to himself. Never having been in an actual fight before, Calen's understanding of the basic weaponry apparent to all humans and similarly built species left much to be desired. So, logically enough, when he came across the illustration of a properly formed fist, he found himself thoroughly perplexed. Flipping through the pages, intent on finding a passage or paragraph explaining further on the proper formation of a fist, Calen was soon deeply engrossed in his search. So engrossed, in fact, that he completely failed to notice the other library visitor as he made his way around the bookshelf and into the scarcely populated corner that Calen had marked as his own. When that same visitor suddenly made his presence known, Calen flinched, barely suppressing his urge to curse loudly and instead simply throwing a scowl the stranger's way. For a moment, Calen failed to notice that the person was and simply scowled before looking back down to his book, but when he asked as to his purpose at the library Calen looked up and took note that it was Tallis. Choosing to address his question, and the implied one that he was sure Tallis was asking, in as simple a manner as possible Calen shrugged before saying "I'm researching things that I figure we might need to know for our trip" Calen muttered. Clearing his throat politely he continued "I happen to be sitting here because I assumed you wouldn't like to sit anywhere too crowded. That stack of books are yours, by the way". Calen concluded his explanation by gesturing absently at one of the piles. The pile he had organized for Tallis just happened to be the one that was laden with books on Sylira's plant life; Calen had never taken much interest in herbalism and he didn't intend to study it if he could avoid doing so. "Don't mean to be rude, but could you make a fist for me?" Calen asked more to see if Tallis would be capable of offering him an explanation than anything else.

[Tallis]

Listening to Calen’s reasons, Tallis decided to let him off this one time for sitting in his seat. He would simply have to arrive before Calen next time and claim it first. Absently browsing through the stack of books Calen had placed beside him, Tallis was pleasantly surprised to see that many of the titles were about Syliran plantlife. Before he had entered the College of Scholars, he had been studying medicine at the College of Applied Skills. The course on medicinal herbs was one of the few classes that Tallis had actually enjoyed and found tolerable. He was pleasantly surprised to find that a few of the plant names actually seemed familiar to him. Calen’s request seemed a bit odd to Tallis, however he could comply with it. After all, his classes in Flux had taught him some very basic concepts of fighting. One of those basics was how to make a proper fist. Doing it improperly could result in damage even without using the physical-enhancement magic. “You want to keep your thumb outside the fist, otherwise you’ll break it when you hit something.” Pointing his right palm at Calen as if pushing him away, Tallis curled his four fingers into his palm and wrapped his thumb around his curled fingers, demonstrating the proper finger orientation of a fist. “You also want the top of your fist to stay flat with your arm, otherwise you’ll hurt your wrist.” Tallis demonstrated by pointing his fist arm at Calen and using his free hand to brush across the tops of his forearm and fist, showing how the top of his fist was a flat extension of his arm. “I think that’s basically it. Tell me if your book says anything else.” Tallis was by no means an expert and could use the refresher, perhaps he would even learn something new. Calen’s efforts to learn how to physically defend himself also inspired Tallis. He resolved to either learn unarmed combat or teach himself to fight with a weapon. It would come in handy if a situation arose where magic couldn’t be used. He had become far too dependent on his powers and he simply couldn’t see any downsides to being a well-rounded fighter. Of course, for now he’d simply focus on preparing for the journey outside Zeltiva. Combat was likely to be important, but he would have to learn how to survive outside the city or else he would never make it to the next fight. Opening a “Guide to Edible Plants”, Tallis began reading. “You wouldn’t by any chance have brought papers or a notebook or two? Or maybe quills and ink? We should probably take notes on the useful stuff we learn.”