[Brightshadows Sorcery Academy Library|Junzo|Private] Turning Over a New Chapter

Thalia Timandre · February 9, 2008, 04:01 AM

Timestamp: First Cycle of Cyrxatum, Summer of Era II of the Celestine Mandate, Era XIV Post Fractum.

Thalia was quick to answer her teacher’s request. A letter arrived at the current residence of Master Mizushin Junzo, hand-delivered by Honoria the maid. The maid-of-all-work handed over the envelope, curtsied and left immediately. On the envelope was written crisp black and bold letters. The master will recognise right away the neat and cultured handwriting of his prodigious student, even though it lacked the elegant wax seal of her house.

Quote:

Unto Sir Mizushin Junzo,
Grand District, Daltina

Does Miss Thalia of House Timandre,
Brightshadows Sorcery Academy, Brightshadows District, Daltina,
Send her greetings and salutations.

Second Brightening of Cyrxatum, Summer of Era II of the Celestine Mandate, Era XIV Post Fractum.

Inside the envelope was a single cream-tinted paper, perfumed and folded neatly. The words on the paper were written in script, tidy calligraphy, hinting the noble bearing of the writer.

Secrets :

Mizushin Junzo · February 9, 2008, 11:59 AM

Mizushin received his student's letter quite promptly and thanked the maid-of-all-work, Honoria. He asked her to stay to wait for his response which would not take long to compose. The thelyri noted the slight bit of stiffness that accompanied her reply, apparently she still found him rather too foreign to her tastes. But he could as much change her opinions for her as he could fly...without the aid of arcana, at any rate.

Secrets :

He sealed the message, then handed it to Honoria. He gave her a polite smile, which likely did little to settle any unease she felt, but he didn't mind the little bit of effort it took for that. "Here, please give this to your mistress." As an afterthought, the thelyri slipped a few crowns along with the letter. "And a little something for your trouble." He nodded at her as he gave the maid the letter and coin before sending her on her way.

Thalia Timandre · February 9, 2008, 03:25 PM

The least tasking activity to the young elementalism initiate was not really everyone would consider ‘light’. She had been spending many candlemarks at the library, poring over the tomes on Arcana and the elemental planes. The regulars would see her here every brightening, in a private study area all by herself, three desks heaped with books and scrolls. They often whispered among themselves, regarding this mysterious girl with curious eyes, a girl who seemed so hungry for knowledge that she would likely devour the books before her if she could. She was often the first to enter the library aside the librarian and always the last to leave. People often wondered if she had any friend at Brightshadows, at all.

But Thalia Timandre did not come here to make friends; she was not interested in the social life of her half-witted schoolmates who took the opportunity of learning arcana for granted. She was here to study, here to learn the art by heart! Each page she turned made her feel she was growing in power, each word her eyes came upon was a beauty in its own right.

The study room was furnished simply, with plain desks and chairs, and a multipurpose table in the middle. This afternoon, Thalia sat alone in this room, dressed in the red robes of an initiate elementalist, her nose buried in a book on arcanomechanics. The other books she had just finished – eight of them – were piled neatly on the desk. It would almost seem improbable for anybody to read all of those in one seating, but to Thalia, this has become quite customary. Contrary to what she had written on the letter, she was not merely catching up on her studies, she was done with everything Miss Teriah Silco had required her to do. She was only making up for the squandered years of being denied such a vast source of arcane knowledge.

Suddenly, Thalia felt her eyes heavy with sleep. She realised she has not slept for three darkenings already, though she struggled to stay awake still. There was no time for sleep. Sleep had always been her stubborn enemy, an utter waster of time. But the letters on her books began to appear wobbly, until her vision started to darken. Finally, sleep claimed the young maiden. Her head nestled into an open book, her long black hair fell all over her back and shoulders like a velvet mantle.

Mizushin Junzo · February 10, 2008, 03:57 AM

The thelyri had managed without much trouble to get through to the Student Library, though he had attracted a few odd looks while passing through the academy's halls and grounds, likely due to his rather distinctive looks. Mizushin had encountered a rather wide array of reactions to his appearance, ranging from jaded indifference to abject shock. His forehead creased slightly as he thought on this, for he could not distinctly recall those times clearly, but he was certain they had happened.

He pushed the thoughts away, for they'd been getting more common as of late. Emotions and odd feelings of deja vu, it felt familiar and yet he could not quite perceive where they came from all too clearly. Things that dwelt in memory, he knew. But was his memory not impeccable? Mizushin let such thoughts fade away for now, he was here after all to meet his student. Student, mmm? He found the term amusing, as he realized that he had actually taught little to her. Perhaps the term of patron or sponsor was more appropriate at this juncture, he considered.

Let us see, where was the room? Ah...

The doorway to the private room caught his sight, lit by torches and the few fading rays of the late afternoon light that managed to trickle into the library. Thalia it seemed was a new fixture of the place, based on the reaction of the library clerk he'd questioned earlier. She certainly had not proven too hard to find, though her form was somewhat partly hidden by the mass of books and texts on the tables around her.

The sight of the array of knowledge before him brought a momentary smile to his lips, as he recalled his frequent visits to the various libraries around the Empire as he'd traveled, picking up bits and pieces of local history and information. Here, the young human girl devoted herself to the task even more fervently than he did. But he supposed such was the way of the younger lived races. Knowledge devoured like the way a fire burns, whilst for he and his kind, it was to be savored and tasted with a somewhat more graceful nature, like the tides washing at the shores.

Although, he frowned once more, his own manner was more like the heat of man rather than the curious but still comparably patient way of the thelyri. His was more expressive of the way of a raging storm, it seemed. But no matter, let us see what Thalia has been up to. He walked around the desk carefully, catching sight of her sleeping on her study table. A bubble of amusement floated up from him as he took in the scene.

Mizushin tapped his lips contemplatively as he wondered how best to awaken his student to his presence, or if to awaken her at all. The teleri decided to move another chair nearby, just across her, and pulled up a book that she appeared to have been reading. He could wait for a short while and peruse the tomes she had been looking at while she slumbered; Junzo would awaken her after he'd finished reading through them quickly, if she did not wake before that, his fingers smoothly dancing over the pages as he flipped through the literature on arcana.

Thalia Timandre · February 11, 2008, 03:27 PM

Thalia slept soundly like a little child. Her head rested easily on an open book. She looked rather delicate and vulnerable, devoid of the firmness and the certainty that she usually kept when awake. She was afraid of looking weak before others, always keeping a strong front, always maintaining a visage of steadfastness to keep her sisters feel secured, and always trying to look tough that she may scare away those who mean harm to her sisters. Only a few ever saw her in such a vulnerable position.

In her sleep, the young lady sometimes whispered the names of her triplet sisters; sometimes she would frown in irritation and complain to Honoria that the steak was overcooked and the scones tasted bitter. There was a time when she looked truly frightened, as if the black-clad assassins who had attacked her household a few months ago stood right in front of her, and there was a time when she just simply smiled.

A genuine smile from Thalia was rare, and only her sisters could stir such a smile easily from her. Master Junzo had seen it at least once when he accompanied her to register at the Academy. What could the young lady have been dreaming of?

The smile died abruptly, replaced by a haughty scowl, and suddenly, the master would feel his shins under the table being kicked at rather harshly by his student, and then his face would be greeted by a rather large leather-bound book with a loud thump. “Unhand my skirts, you foul-mannered dog!” Thalia exclaimed with her eyes still closed, one hand holding the book she used to strike Junzo’s face with.

“Unhand me or…” then her arms quickly fell limp across the desk and she was silent again, breathing deeply in slumber. It would seem that the girl was capable of violence even during sleep.

Half a candlemark had passed already when Thalia began to shift restlessly on the desk, slowly waking up. She lifted her head up to see who sat across her, but her vision was still blurred. She straightened up on her chair, and began rubbing her eyes. “I’m very sorry, Kyle,” she said, mentioning the name of the librarian. “Is it closing time? I’ve slept too long again, haven’t I?” Her voice sounded weak and very tired.

“I've had you waiting agai—“ Thalia lifted her eyes and suddenly stopped when recognition took place. “Oh!”

She quickly rose and curtsied twice. “Master Junzo! I am sorry I have fallen asleep!” Her face mildly reddened for it was an utter breach of etiquette. “Might I inquire as to how long you have waited?”

Mizushin Junzo · February 11, 2008, 04:57 PM

The thelyri might have seen the whole set of emotions on Thalia's face, he certainly could tell at least that she was dreaming quite strongly, what with the murmurs that seemed to escape her lips. But for the most part, he found himself quite interested in the works he was reading. It seemed to him that the study of arcana was a never-ceasing process, with new theories and ideas coming out all the time. There were those that used increasing more complex processes, and others that sought to work for the simplification of the base-levels of magical mastery.

It was all rather fascinating, considering he had learned a little of the Imperial craft himself. Although one might consider the study of druidism less regimented and structured, it was nonetheless an Imperial school of arcana. It was all rather absorbing and intellectually stimulating.

It was all rather rudely interrupted with a book to the face.

The thelyri had been reading when Thalia suddenly rose, which caught his attention certainly, and her clearly audible words about some person apparently manhandling her. The sudden swipe to his face caught him off-guard, and nearly planted itself fully on his cheeks, but he managed somehow to jerk his head back a bit. There was a bit of a burn mark on his face from where the book scraped past his skin, however.

The act was both sobering and amusing, if one had been an observer perhaps. To the thelyri it was more of the former, rubbing his cheek with a bit of sensitivity as he glared for a moment at his once-again sleeping student. "Hrm..." his eyes narrowed slightly, a crease crossing his forehead as he made sure to put a little extra distance between him and the fiery young lady. Her return to consciousness and her words, touched with the slur of the newly awakened to his ears, was greeted with his own crisp reply.

"You have been sleeping, yes." He said clearly, though not loudly, his tone flat and neutral. He could not angered for what she did, they were merely expressions of a sleeping child after all. Anger at such petty things were unbecoming and quite useless. There were more important things to tend to. "But I am not Kyle.' He added simply, waiting for her thoughts to process.

He took no satisfaction from her embarassment and sudden formality in her greetings, simply staying in his seat. "Perhaps half a candlemark, or so." He raised a hand and gestured to her seat. "Do sit. I can see you've been driving yourself hard enough to fall asleep in the library. Such determination is commendable, I suppose." Mizushin cocked his head to the side slightly. "Tell me, Miss Timandre, have you gotten much rest lately? I find myself curious as to what it is you've been doing since your enrollment here at the academy." His eyes, dark as the ocean depths with the shadow of a pale moon shining on it, turned to her.

Thalia Timandre · February 13, 2008, 04:08 AM

Thalia sank into another deep bow before seating herself. She smoothed the creases on her skirts, and neatly arranged the books on the desk. She nodded sagely when he said he could see that she was driving herself hard. “So I hear from my idler schoolmates. I may be driving myself too hard, or it may perchance be construed that others take too lightly a chance so rare,” she said dryly. Thalia didn’t think highly of the other students at the Academy, believing that they were squandering time, and wasting precious opportunities that Brightshadows offered. There was so much to learn, so little time. One lifetime was not even enough.

She looked into his eyes; the black sclera and silver irises still unnerved her somewhat but she was getting familiar with them already. “I trust you know I do not get ample rest, sir, but what does it matter? I have not the lifespan of your kind, so I have not the leisure to loll about flippantly. As you can see,” she stared at her books, “this is what I’ve been doing, aside the usual lesson proper with a master of the elemental magicks, of course.”

Mizushin Junzo · February 13, 2008, 10:58 AM

Mizushin closed the book in his hand as she spoke to him, listening with to her words with an amusement that managed to gradually sweep away the momentary irritation incurred by her unexpected assault. The thought came to mind how she might have done if she'd undergone physical training as well. Perhaps that might be a suggestion for another time, there are so many things one could do, after all. At least such were his thought as applied to himself.

"The dedication of one's self to study and learning is indeed admirable, I have no thoughts to the contrary." He had a fair background of studying on his own as well, as often curiosity found its way to him, and he had been in one of the largest literary collections in Aelyria Prime itself. It had been among the more relaxing times of his life in the Empire. But quite ironically, just as he had those thoughts, did he hear the rest of Thalia's words. It was true for the most part of course, but Mizushin found himself curious. He had never truly studied the aspect of race and racial perspectives, assuming his own among his kind was good enough.

But he'd had to acknowledge that the Empire was vastly different, and had a slew of races that frankly did not exist in the Bellenic Sea. Although there were a great many common features, the nuances of personalities and social orders were as varying as the eddies in a river. It was this that he had in mind when with scarcely any emotional anger at all, indeed it was more of an academic curiosity, he asked her, "Does it seem to you then that me and my kind loll about flippantly?"

Thalia Timandre · February 15, 2008, 10:08 AM

“No, no, not at all, Master Junzo,” Thalia said in a partly stifled laugh. Her thoughts drifted to the half-elf she met yesterday who tugged at her skirts like a mischievous little child. This half-elf, though he looked as young as she was, had probably lived longer than her father did, yet he retained this boyish attitude common among adolescent human males.

The wry smile on her face abruptly disappeared, only to be replaced by a contemplative frown. “But you see, had I been gifted the lifespan of your kind and retained my devotion to learning, I could only wonder what I could become,” her eyes twinkled, “my mind a vessel of wisdom and knowledge of a hundred years.”

“Had you not given this a thought? Humans and elves have long been rivaling each other in many spheres of learning, yet humans live only for short a time... so short that many races say that our lives are as fleeting as a dream. Now, it is within reason to think that elves, having the capacity to live for hundreds of years, should have already had the wisdom, the sciences and magicks far greater than those of humankind. Does this seem the case to you?” Her look was inquisitive. She realised the impulsiveness of her question, as she began to arrange her thoughts, somewhat groggy from the brief sleep. She wondered if her frank observations somehow pricked the thelyri’s racial pride.

Mizushin Junzo · February 15, 2008, 01:26 PM

Mizushin listened to the young human before him with growing attention. Had her choice of topic been anything else, it would not have caught his interest as much. For while he had been aware of the differences between elves and other races, he had never been pressed to consider their differences. This was uncharted water for him, waters which he had been aware of, but had not explored.

The teleri realized that this was a point of comparison to the elves of the Empire, not the Thelyri. Not that Thalia knew about Trelore and the Bellenic Sea, but the points she raised were applicable to him as much as they were to his land-bound cousins. Mizushin rested easily on his seat, considering her words carefully before he began his response, "You put forth quite a few questions."

The conversation hinted to him of an exercise of intellect, something he had not engaged in often. It was something he found appealing. "If I am to answer them, I must ask you to define what you mean by wisdom and science." The thelyri rested his hand easily on the cover of a book as he waited for response.

Thalia Timandre · February 17, 2008, 03:11 PM

“Wisdom and science,” Thalia repeated quietly and slowly. Her eyes drifted towards the thelyri’s hand which rested easily on the cover of the book. He seemed to be trying to challenge her intellect, but the young know-it-all was up for such challenges. She raised her face slowly, and stared directly into his eyes.

“Science,” she began with a confident voice, “comes from the Ancient Aelyrian word scientia, which means knowledge. It is knowledge achieved through study and practice, knowledge covering the general truths on how the world works; knowledge that could be applied for the betterment of people’s lives. Alchemy, herbalism, golemcrafting, arithmetic, medicine—all of these are fruits of research and thorough scientific study. There is little doubt that humans have contributed much to the science lore. Our geniuses fatten books in the libraries, yet their progresses are oft hindered by their mortality,” she leaned forward. “It is not the same thing for elves, however. Elves can live for centuries and pursue their studies for more than a hundred of years, far longer than humans could, but have they discovered the secret formula for an elixir of immortality? Have they already the knowledge to make a drug that will cure sadness and solitude? Have they already machinated complex contraptions that will bring flood and drought or famine to an end?” Thalia’s voice was stern, and her eyes never blinked while she spoke.

“Now wisdom,” she began to smile, “is a subject I am ashamed to admit that I am not truly familiar with. Wisdom and intelligence have overlapping definitions. I see a wise person as someone who could predict consequences, who would act to lessen nuisance and would make the most out of a situation for the common good. Now, elves live for so long that their experiences should have already accumulated over centuries, making them wisest people in all of Telath. Do you think this is the case?” she asked. She took an empty scroll from her scroll case and smoothed it flat on the table, and then she dipped the tip of a red quill into an ink bottle.

Mizushin Junzo · February 18, 2008, 08:42 AM

The light that appeared in her eyes was hardly missed by Junzo. It only took moments before her reply began to spill forth, no doubt well-reasoned and thought through by her standards. Her answers were quite bookish, he noted. Not that bookish was bad at all, but he was well aware that the world around them didn't always operate in so easily defined manners. The pride she had in her race was clearly obvious, and was not wholly unfounded of course.

Her words were so confident and challenging that he could not help but feel amused by it. Her logic seemed so assured that it almost seemed a shame to question it, but question it he would. Mizushin simply nodded as she spoke, thinking carefully over her words as she finished. A palpable amount of time, to Thalia at any rate, passed before he breathed in and formed his reply.

"You are indeed well-educated, Miss Timandre." Mizushin nodded at this point. "And it is true that mankind has been a driving force for much development in the Empire. Humanity is a race that quickly builds upon the discoveries of others or their predecessors. But while this drive to discover is in itself positive, do you not think of the reason why mankind pushes itself so hard, so recklessly to develop new things?" He opens his hands. "Wisdom, you say is someone who can predict things. But is this not merely attainable by calculation and foresight? You say someone who would act to lessen nuisance. But by what standard? To make most of something for the common good. In what way, what manner, what purpose and what perspective?"