Closed [The Bharani Library] A Meeting of Mages

[Veldrys]

Spring 30, 516 AV

Up to the moment that he had first entered the Bharani Library, Veldrys had thought that the Cribellum in Kalinor was the greatest library in all of Mizahar. Symenestra that had returned from their Gleanings had written their knowledge down for ages, and even visitors from the surface and surrogates had contributed to the countless books that were stored there. Now he knew that the Cribellum was but a pale shadow of the Bharani Library though, small by any standard, and much of the information found within was unfortunately tainted by the Symenestras‘ often biased view.

Since he had discovered the library, he had spent two or three bells there every evening, usually after Dusk Rest, when he was done with his work at the Catholicon. The magical wings were still closed to him – he hadn’t registered with the Wizard Registry yet – but magic was not his focus anyway at the moment, although there had been a time when he had studied it extensively with the members of the Orphine Web, one of the few in Kalinor that practiced magic.

On the 30th of Spring he had picked an old volume that dealt with the history of the Kalea Region. He hoped to find information on how the Symenestra race had changed since the Valterrian there, since they had been forced to leave the jungles of Falyndar and perhaps discover a means to save them, but so far he had not been lucky. Still, he would not give up.

During the day he spent so much time sitting, at the hospital or at home where he prayed to the god that had marked him, that he did not want to do that now. Instead he walked through the library, the book in his hands. Moving helped him concentrate for some reason. So that he would not attract any more attention than he already did because of his race, the Symenestra was dressed in the style of Lhavit, in layers of white, red and gold and a cloak that was trimmed with sable fur.

As he slowly walked through the library, past countless shelves with books that dealt with hundreds of different topics and down countless halways, he willed his hands that ended in black claws to change with the use of djed, to resemble human hands that were less likely to damage the vulnerable pages of the old book more closely. It was a small transformation that would only take a few moments, and it was painless, as all transformations were.

There had been a time when he had regularly changed his entire body, when he had pretended to be human in order to forget the plight of his people for a moment, but he didn’t do that as often anymore, out of fear that he would lose himself and because the escape was only temporary anyway, nothing but an illusion. Even if he became human, his people would continue to suffer.

[Thomas Cosa]

It had been four days since he'd ripped reality apart.

He sighed, breathing away his paranoia, his growing anxiety as best he could. He sat, buried among books with topics that ranged from old Alahea to listings of wizards who practiced openly around Lhavit. Stranger, his mechanical helper, scuttled along the shelves somewhere in the library, on strict orders to bring back anything that listed magic, or better, titles that hinted at the pinpricks of nothingness that seemed to follow Thomas everywhere.

He would at least find a name, he promised himself. Something he could work with; he daren't hope for a manual, or journal, but a name? That was something plausible.

Thomas flipped lazily through a shoddy translation of the Treval Code, his eyes dancing from one page to another looking for trigger words: hole, black hole, emptiness, void, tear in reality, nothing. He thumbed pages that seemed interesting, for later perusal. For all the wizard he pretended to be, he'd never bothered to read the whole text. Short paragraphs, yes, but Thomas had never cared much for the philosophy of magic, the more practical uses and experiments were always more attractive to him.

Defeated, he closed the book, pushing it off to the side, moments before his head collapsed on his hands. He breathed deeply, his only tactic to stave off the growing panic. Had this happened on Sahova he would have had resources, Cid, Mashaen even, to guide him. Laria had panicked as easily as he had, and promised to help to find the cause, but he hadn't heard from the Ephyarian since the first portal opened. And what other risks came with this new magic? Were they doors, as he suspected? What did they open to, and more importantly, could anything get through them?

"Alses might know," he realized, remebering the Syna damned Ethaefal. Thomas hadn't yet grown so desperate to demean himself to beg her for help, but should things grown dire...

The cold snap of magic shivered down his spine, breaking his thought and rising a spell of his own in reaction. Auristics had only refined his own magical sense, and there were very few who could cast without him at least knowing something was happening. His spell rose from nothing, the world saturated with new colors as it took flight, ghosting through the library in the general direction of the mystery spell. It caught something, a bright warm thing that danced and changed like Celeste's aura did, a candle light of life and magic that signaled where he needed to go.

He stalked the library in search, and with magic, found the source.

"That's a very cute attempt," Thomas started, his eyes lingering on the change hand before he met the stranger's gaze, "And very considerate, all things considered. I mean, I can't imagine your people were designed for handling books -- those claws aren't made for reading, after all," he stated pointedly, his head cocked slightly to the side as his magic rushed the man in a cascade, revealing a grey-green aura that was only starting to stink of magic. Perhaps, he thought, this creature can help me.

[Veldrys]

„It seemed inconsiderate to do more than this“, Veldrys replied as he heard Thomas’ words and turned around. His voice was calm and gentle, with just the hint of a foreign accent. He didn’t sound as if he were annoyed at all, even though Thomas had likely meant to offend. Since he had drunk from the Sharai Spring, there were very few things that bothered him, and his mind felt much clearer because of it. It was easier for him to concentrate when his emotions didn’t run rampant.

„To practice excessive amounts of magic in the middle of the library.“ He closed the book, not without regret – it had been interesting, despite the lack of new information on his race’s past, - and stopped fueling the transformation with his djed, thus undoing it. Thomas could see that the Symenestra’s comparatively human fingers began to elongate, and soft nails turned into sharp, black claws once more, as if his entire body were elastic, malleable, like clay. “Such things are best done at home or in a laboratory, not in a place where people want to be able to read their books in peace.”

“You know very little about my race then”, he remarked and finally raised his gaze to meet the human’s eyes. The man was perhaps a few years younger than him and almost as thin as he was with pale skin that rarely seemed to see the sunlight and dark hair. For a moment Veldrys could not help but wonder if he had Symenestra blood without being aware of it. He had met halfbloods that had not looked too different from him.

“Almost all of my people can read and write. We are collectors of knowledge, but there are some things that human hands and human bodies are better suited for. It is why I have decided to learn this particular brand of magic, among other things.”

When he had begun to study Morphing and to a lesser extent Glyphing he had done so in the hope that he would be able to save the women of his race by magically changing them. He had been naïve, perhaps, clueless in the ways of the world and in regards to magic. So far it had not worked, but he still hadn’t given the search for a cure up. But that was none of this stranger’s business.

“What do you know about such attempts and their cuteness or the lack thereof though?”

[Thomas Cosa]

Thomas frowned; the spider's aura was determinedly complacent, cool and calm against the pin and needles that was his own casting. It was almost like watching meditation, each pulse he spelled echoed back with nothing. The aura was more hue than color, a shimmering blue veil that sounded with the coarse electric rythym of personal magic and the dancing chorus of divine.

"I wouldn't say it was inconsiderate," his eyes lingered on the hand as it grew and thinned, obvious in his curiosity. He'd met better morphers, there was no doubt, but magic was captivating to him because it was magic. "You'll find the people here almost stupidly tolerant of magic. I doubt they'd complain much for such a small spell, and even a larger one, as long as you don't ruin the books," Thomas shrugged, his coal eyes meeting Veldrys' striking amethysts. His body was subconsciously defensive, his arms crossed and body facing forward, his tone was, as always, aloof and condescending. "And of course, being you, I'm sure they'd find something else to complain about."

He smiled, his eyes suddenly eager. This one, despite the vulgarity of his existence alone, could perhaps be interesting. What Veldyrs assumed to be a simple exchange of information had sounded very much like a threat to Thomas. '...but there are some things that human hands and human bodies are better suited for...'.

"Oh, but obviously. Only human women, no? I spent time in Kalinor, unfortunately, and while I felt very much safe, I wouldn't be able to say the same for my race's female counterpart, could I?" He replied, a soft smile easing the harshness of his words. "I wonder how the people here have reacted to you? Is that why you play with magic?" Thomas asked, his voice falling heavy on 'play', emphasize the word as an obvious insult. His aura wasn't stained like his own, didn't reek of the desperation and need for magic. And he had the nerve to check him? "I've seen more than you, certainly. I wonder if you've heard of Sahova? Alahea, perhaps? Gods know what knowledge your kind scrounge up from your kept prisoners," he scoffed, satisfied to belittle and condescend.

The spider had caught his attention easily enough, but whether that was good or bad, Thomas hadn't decided yet.

[Veldrys]

There was nothing defensive about the Symenestra’s body language. He was relaxed and not unncessarily wary of the human. The book was carefully tucked under his right arm now while his left arm hung loosely at his side. “That would be my race, wouldn’t it?” he asked, sounding maybe a hint amused as Thomas remarked that people would find something else to complain about. “Those hands, those teeth …” Without a doubt Thomas had noticed that the Symenestra’s canines were slightly elongated by now. “… the Harvest. There are a lot of things that people could possibly complain about, and rightfully so …” He shrugged his shoulders somewhat indifferently.

He could have insisted that he was nothing like them, that he would never abducted a woman and get her pregnant, but why should he talk about such things to a stranger? Besides, there had been a woman once. There was a pained look in his eyes for a moment, despite the effects of the Sharai Spring, as he remembered his bondmate Lucette. There had almost been a child once, but the child had died in the womb, and Lucette had disappeared. It had happened years ago, but the memory still hurt sometimes.

“No, not only human women”, he disagreed. “All women that can give birth to a Symenestra child. But not all Symenestra practice the Harvest. There are some that would rather die than take a woman from the surface.” His mother had been one of them. She had died giving birth to him, but that was, again, none of this human’s business. He had no interest in justifying himself. “You have been to Kalinor though? You do not strike me as the kind of man that would voluntarily seek the company of my people.”

“No, that’s not the reason. I was already a mage before I left Kalinor for the first time, and the people here … they have been a little wary of me, certainly, and rightfully so … but most of them at least tolerate me because of the work I do at the Catholicon. Some of them would not be alive today, if it weren’t for me.” If Thomas had lived in Lhavit for any length of time he would know that the Catholicon was a hospital, and he would likely be able to guess that the Symenestra before him was a doctor, as strange as it seemed.

“I have heard of Sahova, but I doubt that you have seen more than me. I witnessed the destruction of Denval. I helped solve the mystery of the Solduvan stone, received a prophecy and met a god. You may think that you know more about magic, judging by your words, but I doubt that you have seen what I have seen.” Veldrys was not a man who bragged about his accomplishments. He was simply stating facts, much unlike the human, it seemed. He saw no reason to be secretive about the things he had done or the places he had seen. “As for the knowledge we scrounge up from our so called kept prisoners, some of them part with it willingly. There are people that even come to Kalinor to exchange their knowledge with us. If you had really lived among my kind, you would know that.”

“As for your insistance that I merely play with magic. I studied with the matriarch of the Orphine Web. I would not call that playing. You on the other hand, I have yet to see you perform any kind of magic.” The words themselves could be interpreted as accusatory, but the tone of the Symenestra’s voice did not fit. Ir was still a hint too calm.

[Thomas Cosa]

Thomas commanded his magic like a whip, hurtling his spell against the delicate blue veil that covered the spider. His Auristics cut and shredded at the aura, as determinded as he was to find something, anything other than the warm blue of calm. It was unlike anything he'd seen before, a sky colored void of nothing. The aura irked him, easily hiding what he assumed to already be there, taunting his inability with a show, or lack of, that only Thomas could see. Unsettling as it was, the whole of it only made him more determinded in his efforts.

"It wasn't choice that drove me to Kalinor, and it was only happenstance that I managed to leave at all," Thomas shrugged, his eyes narrowed as his magic sharpened itself, once again preparing to dive into the infinite blue before him. There'd been a flicker of something, a sliver of indigo swimming deep inside the ocean of calm, and his magic pounced, only to come up dry and empty-handed. "A friend of mine unfortunately followed after, even though she knew she would be a target. Luckily for us, your kin aren't the most observant, or bright, apparently. We were able to escape, her womb intact,," his smile wasn't as easy as before, a slight delay between the end of his sentence and the twitch of his muscles. Thomas was focusing too much on the empty aura, question after question itching his mind. The most pressing: how was he able to remain so calm?

"Sad, then, that such Symenstra don't seem to be in the majority. If the whole of your race held such an opinion, well, they might even be considered civilized," Thomas laughed, hardly believing than any would risk their own lives for another. That was the idea behind the harvest, wasn't it? So that Kalinor's own wouldn't end up their child's first meal. "Yes, well, Lhavit is strange that way. They must really be suffering that they take a chance hiring you. What if you slide to your baser instincts? Surely they must protect your patients, somehow," he wondered aloud, once again finding fault in Lhavit's tolerance. What fools, not only to teach magic to any who wanted, but to allow such a creature into a hospital as a doctor. It was almost like the city itself had a death wish.

"Well, I don't know what a Solduvan Stone is or a Denval, or why that would be important," Thomas started, his mouth warming with a smile while his eyes grew colder, "But I believe I know a bit more about prophecy than you," he waved the back of his left his, the black lily gifted from Avalis shimmering, "And since I have one of these, I've obviously met a god, and impressed one to boot," Thomas hummed, like he was thinking. His spell caught no golden blossoms of pride, just the eternal calm that fixated the Symenstra's aura. Perhaps he was only saying facts, which interested the wizard to a degree. Why bother at all if he wasn't hoping to be seen as the better? The more accomplished? "So I've met you two for four, there. But, I've survived Sahova and lived and learned from the only remnants of the Alhaean empire. I would wager that puts us at least on pair, considering again, I haven't heard of the Orphine Web. Something to do with Kalinor, though, with a name like that," he paused, playfully tapping a finger against his lower lip in mock thought, "Again, nothing here on the mainland would ever compare with what you'd find in Sahova. We can argue that all you want, but unless you produce something substantial, I don't think I'll ever consider us equals. Or where you trying to impress me?" He asked, wondering where Stranger was in all this. Had the golem found a book yet?

"And my magic isn't to be practiced willy-nilly. It's a whole thing. Like a ritual, I guess, if I had to strip it down to something you might understand," he started, a question of slight interest popping into his mind. "Why are you here, anyway? This isn't exactly an aisle for light reading."

[Veldrys]

OOCI had a little trouble writing this post. I hope it’s not too bad. I also reread one of my old threads and thought incorporating it in my RP in Lhavit would be interesting!

“I’m happy for you both”, he remarked as Thomas told him that his friend and he had managed to escape Kalinor, but that was all he said on that matter. What else should he have told the man? Should he have insisted that his people were bright and observant and that Thomas and his friend had just been lucky? He had no interest in trying to defend them again. It would have been a futile attempt anyway, considering that Thomas barely saw Symenestra as civilized. There was just one thing that he felt the need to point out because the insult had finally been too great to ignore it: “I think I can control my instincts. I wonder why you think that I would jump every woman that crosses my path and force myself on her. Do you have such trouble controlling yourself?”

People always assumed of others what they secretly had a problem with themselves, he thought. He certainly had not tried to have his way with one of his patients so far and would never do such a thing. It was wrong, a crime. There had not been a woman in his life since Lucette, and if he had any choice in that matter he would never fall in love again. This human though seemed to be the kind that did not always have his baser instincts under control.

“Denval was a city in Kalea”, he explained, showing nearly infinite patience as he did so. For a man who claimed to know so much about magic and to have seen so much, Thomas was certainly uneducated. “It is strange that you live in this region and are yet so unaware. It was destroyed during the last great djed storm only a couple of years ago. The Solduvan Stone was an artifact, created by a Konti seer before the Valterrian, an artifact that reflects the dual nature of the Ethaefal that created Lhavit.”

“You spoke about learning from the only remnants of the Alahean Empire in Sahova”, he continued as he looked at the mark of the goddess on Thomas’ hand, unimpressed. Once upon a time he had received several of her marks. “but I was there when I last walked the world of Mizahar as a mortal. I saw the Empire with my own eyes. I was a seer once, blessed like you were. I foresaw the end of the world at the hands of the Firebringer. I know more about prophecies and wielded more magic than you will ever have at your disposal. Even in my current form I bear the mark of a god.” He rolled up his sleeve so that Thomas could see the mark of Silakrov.

He had initially not wanted to reveal that information, but there was something about the human that almost irked him, that sense of superiority, that arrogance that was obvious to him even though he was no aurist in his current incarnation and would likely never be. He was not really trying to impress him though, again he was only stating facts, neither exaggerating nor trying to make himself seem less than what he was, although he did not say that certain aspects of his past existence eluded him. He was quite unlike Thomas who was so proud and had in truth accomplished so very little and was so blind.

„I am here because I want to find out more about the way that the world used to be“, the Symenestra replied. “I want to understand, the fate of my current and former people as well as my own and find a way to correct the mistakes that were made.” There was a hint of sadness again, even more noticeable than before, a kind of hopelessness that he could do nothing against. The spring had made him calmer, but even with all of its magic it could not truly make him happy.

In his last life he had sacrificed everything he had. He had never married, never had children, and all the magic that he had wielded had killed him from within at only thirty years of age. He had thought it would be worth it. He had dedicated his whole life to that one goal, to prevent the end, but everything he had done had been in vain.

“Lhavit is a city that values knowledge above everything else, a city founded by Ethaefal who are perhaps the one race that understands my dilemma. I wish to find out what the gods want from me, nothing more. And what is your purpose here? Magic that isn’t supposed to be practiced willy-nilly, no doubt, magic that you do not think I would ever understand.”

A somewhat bitter laughter escaped his lips and he shook his head at the human's foolishness.

[Thomas Cosa]

"I doubt very much that I would have such a problem," Thomas shrugged, not bothered by the spider's suggestion, "Not that your question is entirely unfounded, considering some humans can be just as bestial as your kind," he added, a quick afterthought. It would be more than ignorant to claim the Symenstra were the only species on Mizahar capable of rape and worse, humans, as Thomas well knew, could be much more savage. "The difference, of course, between them and me, or even them and you, is an education. Some people, some things, just simply can't be civilized," he smiled almost, his lips turning too tightly, too quickly, the gesture perhaps easily confused for a smirk. Thomas could at least admit the spider was, at the very least, educated. Enough to be allowed to medically treat humans at any rate.

The wizard enjoyed his smugness, he stood too confident, imagining himself completely superior to the stranger in every which way: morally, physically, magically. His quips came easily, his tone haughty. His magic grew lazy in his delusion, lapping at the cool calm of the water, the clear-blue of the aura instead of the aggressive stabs he usually maneuvered.

And then, his delusion popped before him, his shiny bubble of imagined superiority attacked by apparent facts. The spider listed one supposed accomplishment after another, and Thomas listened, his magic riled into it's usual predatory patterns by his shock. Again, nothing disturbed the aura, no lie, no exaggeration. It was only still, only perfectly transparent, perfectly blue.

Thomas' jaw clenched as he ground his teeth, his magic causing his an obvious effort. He lashed out, in jealousy, in disbelief, in panic. How could a Symenstra, even in a past life, been loved by the same goddess? How could Avalis abandon a soul, one she had loved in a previous life, to a form such as the one he wore? As a human, Thomas could walk free and unharmed in most cities, even more as a male. Privledge wasn't invisible to him; Thomas wore his obviously, proudly, wanting to say he was better because of his birth, because of what he was, his accomplishments only making him more so.

"You've lost much then," Thomas started, his tone much more controlled and careful than before - he could tell, he knew the spider didn't hold much magic in his current life. Still, knowing even the technical of magic could prove a threat, even if he couldn't practice it. And, at least to Thomas, it made the spider worth so much more than he'd previously thought. "To once know Her blessing, and then to be made to live without it. Hopefully, your current god offers you some comfort," he grimaced, trying his best to hide his sneer. Avalis was his, and he was Hers alone amongst the pantheon. Thomas held no love for the other divines.

The wizard paused, holding the silence between them voluntarily. He'd never encountered someone who knew their past lives before, or at least, not so well.

"I practice a variety of magics, Animation being my talent first and foremost," Thomas started, offering a truth. He would be careful with how he proceeded, thinking, hoping even, the spider might have some answers as to the new magic that he carried. "Have you heard of it?" he asked, a test. Animation was at it's height pre-Valterrian, this he knew, seeing what they'd accomplished at the Citadel had only been a hint of what Alahea had accomplished before the Valterrian.

"My name is Thomas, if you cared," he offered, as casual as he could make his introduction, still caring too much to try and pretend himself aloof and disinterested in their conversation. Thomas failed as this, he knew, but his pride commanded him to at least try. "Might I know yours?"

The change in his behavior wasn't obvious, but it wasn't entirely subtle either. His gaze had changed, no longer cold with superiority. Instead, his eyes, black like coals, burned because of a sudden curiosity, predatory and harsh.