Repensum est Canicula (Master Mysticism cont'd||GD Aesha)
End of Autumn, Era XIII
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Hsin Zhou could cite hundreds of perfectly logical reasons for approaching the Master Mystic of the Arcane Rainbow Towers. While hardly on par with the august halls of Vers, the Towers possessed a commendable reputation as a venue with a heavy emphasis on personal experimentation. Perhaps not quite to the level of Vortex, but sometimes legitimacy trumped freedom. The Kemite doubted that any academy in the Allerian Empire tolerated the unfortunate (and certainly unintentional) demise of several dozen subjects in the pursuit of a higher mystical truth. However, as compelling as the academic credentials, they were not exactly the reason the Kemite chose to journey to Nexus Prime. Teachers came and went. Good teachers in particular could be found amongst the crumbling ruins. By the same token, bad teachers walked the halls of cold, white marble. Already the master possessed significant knowledge of the forefront of his chosen sphere. With enough time and practice, the young man was confident that he could unravel the deep, dark, and particularly scary depths of mystical knowledge. It was simply more efficient to find a mentor and, moreover, a willing body of (paid) test subjects. Talent was indispensable, but time was invaluable. But enough beating around the bush. Quite simply, the diminutive Kemite going by the name ‘Hsin Zhou’ (for the moment anyways) had a far simpler reason for choosing to approach Master Thaddeus Dircombe.
He simply enjoyed the ambience.
There was nothing like a rightfully authoritarian governor embroiled in the brutal Game of Hills to put a Mystic in the mood to exercise their craft. Lawful wrath coexisted with murderous passion. Strength mixed inseparable with the weakness of the human condition. It was all very exciting.
The proper letters and arrangements had, of course been made in advance. Why waste time when eternity itself was breathing down your neck?
Secrets :
In the heart of the city, rising tall over the wide streets of Nexus Prime, reside three towers of unmistakeable beauty. They are set on several acres of well tended lawns and gardens and rise high into the clouds, piercing them with their elegance and power.
Silvery strands connect each tower to the next, gossamer walkways that link each building as a whole. They span at great heights and thus cast no shadow upon the ground far below, so high and fragile they appear to be. The towers themselves, made from granite and layered in a crystal that sparkles with all the known colours of Alleria (and perhaps some that aren't), blaze beneath the midday sun, a myriad of ever-sparkling colors that lights up the sky itself.
These are the great Rainbow Towers where arcana is taught and studied, learned and mastered. Here, some of the greatest masters of their kind gather and teach those seeking the Gift, or Curse as some may call it. To nurture and develop their fields of study is their united goal, so that their power lives on in the knowledge of fine minds throughout the Empire long after their physical forms turn to dust.
Admittance to the ranks of the accepted was a stringent process, and receptionists were renowned for their uncanny (and even maddeningly frustrating) ability to weed out the prize few from the rest of the candidates that passed through the Tower halls. This was made all the more unnerving by the fact that the Towers went through receptionists faster then one could give money to a dwarf. One would disappear and another would simply take his or her place, and with each new face, a new set of requirements popped up, a new test of wills that was to be bested before one could gain entry.
The latest installment of clerks at the front desk was the youthful looking woman sitting behind the beautiful dark wood desk, her head buried in some obscure tome of knowledge. Stacks of paper were littered across the writing surface, along with a scattering of inkwells containing feathered quills.
Looking up hastily from her book, the ebon hair that had been dangling freely over shoulders fell into her face, obscuring her features and partially hiding her dark, wide eyes from view. Quickly adjusting her robes and pushing her hair back over slender shoulders, her thin pink lips broke out into a girlish smile at apparent embarrassment for being so unprofessional. Clearing her throat, she sat up straight and give a slight nod to the new entries. Her eyes seemed red around the edges, as if she had been crying lately.
Compared with the native strain of humanity, Hsin stood at a significant disadvantage compared to even a normally sized resident. Five feet two inches of muscle and bone slipped quickly from the crowded, chaotic streets into the relative calm of the Tower’s lobby. Upon his general retirement, the Kemite had returned to his traditional preference of clothing. A simple grey trench coat protected his short frame from the growing autumn chill. Clack slacks, perfectly shined black boots, and a pair of black gloves completed the rather somber and melancholy outfit. Hsin Zhou was quite the utilitarian. Black went with everything (particularly more black), and moreover covered up the odd unfortunate stain inflicted during the normal scheme of things. His long, soft hair was fastened on the nape of his neck with a pair silver pins. The flesh of his face was conformed into a perfectly peaceful, though somewhat vacant, expression. ”Serale,” spoke the young Kemite as he approached the student on duty. ”I believe I have an appointment with Master Dircombe.”
The student on duty looked slightly flustered as Hsin approached the desk. She had previously been buried in what looked like an avalanche of paperwork. It was certainly an... interesting filing system. To make matters worse the poor girl had a smudge of deep black ink along her cheekbone, completely unbeknownst to her. She gave Hsin a vague smile, but didn't say anything for a moment or two whilst she paused to organise her things. It looked as if she was having a busy day - her hair had once been tied up into a ponytail but about a third of it had escaped its shackle and was wisping around her face.
"Um..."
She peered at the kemite for a moment, as if trying to remember what it was she had just been told.
"Oh! M... Master Dircombe?"
Scrabbling frantically through her parchments she finally manage to uncover a thin leatherbound appointment book. Unfortunately the finding of said book caused half her papers to slide right of the desk and land at Hsin's feet.
"Sorry, sorry... let me just... sorry."
The girl spent an industrial couple of minutes cleaning up the mess before sitting back down in her sit and opening up the book.
As administrative delays went, the frazzled and self conscious clerk failed to even remotely irritate the stoic Kemite. The Imperial Government attracted an unending stream of delays and distractions even while performing the most simple of tasks. Suffice to say some spilled paperwork and an inexperienced clerk was the least of his current concerns. His black eyes narrowed ever so slightly as the mystic suddenly contemplated his eminent encounter with a fellow master. Mièmèngmèi manifested instantly on his right ring finger and catapulted the young man into clara. His supple mind drew upon the power of the psionic plane and crafted a field of dissonant mana into a simple, initiate level Spell Nullify. Any ill-advised attempts to skim his mind would short the field and warn the Kemite.
Quite unfortunately, the Kemite had forgotten the similarly weak spell projecting a façade of normality over his eyes. The soft, dark eyes were suddenly replaced by a far more frightening sight. Deep black pupils tinged with orange and red flame, surrounded by scarred and burned flesh. All gazing implacably at the poor clerk.
”Hsin Zhou.” The words were spoken in an utterly nonchalant tone of voice.
The clerk was clearly not the most observant of girls, though admittedly she was busy sorting through all the paperwork she had so recently placed at Hsin's feet, trying to get it into a semblance of order to pay any attention to what Hsin was doing at that moment in time. Mièmèngmèi she noticed not, Spell Nullify she noticed not, the horribly state of Hsin's true eyes she noticed not.
"Hsin Zhou... hmm... Hsin... oh! Oh yes, Master Dircombe told me he was expecting you. You are to go right up to his study."
She looked up with a merry smile on her face, pleased that she had both been able to remember what she had been told and had managed to carry out the orders without anything to disasterous going wrong.
Unfortunately, the smile froze and contorted into a mask of something resembling horror when she regarded the transmogrified eyes of the kemite standing before her. She blinked. Her bottom lips trembled profusely, and her eyes got that glazed look that indicating a person was just about to cry. Indeed, a tear trickled down her cheek, and she let out a small, pathetic sounding wail.
“Thank you.” Education was a naturally expensive proposition; arcane education doubly so. The very structure of the discipline empowered elite of instructors ensconced in Ivory Towers. Where, arguably, they practiced their craft utterly disconnected from the rest of the Allerian Empire. Hsin recalled with some difficulty his own scrounging and saving for the privilege of learning Mysticism with a distracted and impatient Master. It was not exactly the highlight of his misspent youth. “Could you tell me how to get to…”[/b]
Hsin’s black eyes perceived the clerks sudden change in expression, but it took another long moment for his mental facilities to fully interpret her suddenly changed expression. So his illusionary disguise had come undone in an apparent case of the mystic outsmarting himself. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, giving the clerk a moment to compose herself. His voice was utterly unchanged from before the unfortunate accident: soft and utterly reasonable. ”I’ve never visited the Towers before. Could you tell me where Master Dircombe’s study is?”
The clerk had obviously taken no notice at all of Hsin's half-formed question, and was probably oblivious to the fact that the kemite had spoken at all, so fixed were her eyes on the horrible appearence of his own. It was terrible, yet she could not stop looking, even though the tears streamed forth from her own, somewhat prettier orbs of sight.
"I...I... um, its... third floor fourth room!"
The latter half of her sentence was let out in a tumbled wail of words, and only at that point did she looked away, put her head down on her desk and cover it with her arms, then burst completely into tears.
It was probably unlikely that Hsin would get anymore information out of her using conventional methods. Thus is was up to the kemite to find his way up to the study of Master Dircome, but at least she had given some information to where the room lay, even if it was seriously lacking in any solid directions and guidance for navigations through the academy.
Hsin Zhou, infamously stoic Imperial Exchequer, watched helplessly as the clerk descended deeper and deeper into tears. Each fresh outburst of sobbing caused the mystic to experience a fresh stab of guilt in his gut. Her weak nerves were certainly not his fault. The possibility of inquiring for more detailed directions waltzed through the Kemite’s mind before a fresh outburst quashed any hope for reasonable communication. Anyways, the way things were going, another question would utterly destroy her sanity and leave behind a whimpering, broken doll. It was not an always undesirable outcome, but not something to inflict upon a hapless student.
The once-Exchequer took two steps toward the staircase before issuing a wordless demand to the Ring of Arcana. Perception disappeared in an instantaneous flash of color as the swirling auras of the Astral Plane overlapped his physical senses. This was the canvas upon all mages worked their craft. Hsin immersed his psyche in the swirling power of the Psionic Plane and Channeled the teeming essence deep into his physical shell. Mana crystallized as the pure energy of the Essence Planes intermingled with the chaos of the Material. The Kemite evoked the principle of Divination to imprint on the teeming mana the principle of the Reveal spell tempered by a very specific filter. Next, he Altered the spell across the entirety of the third floor of the Tower. The spell would skim over thoughts and memories until identifying an individual identifying himself as Master Dircombe before relaying his approximate location to its caster. Satisfied with his craftsmanship, the Kemite manifested the spell with a practiced expenditure of his will.
It was an old principle, and one day Hsin would go through the trouble of naming and documenting its effects. The spell was just benign enough to present as an original creation for the consumption of students and uninspired teachers. Several moments would elapse before the spell returned any indication of the Master’s presence. As he waited, Hsin prepared a Unspoken Words spell with a simple message: I am Hsin Zhou. I’ve arrived for our afternoon appointment. A successful first spell would result in the casting of the second and a quick stroll to the proper forth room of the third floor.
The Rainbow Towers were, however, somewhat infamous for their unpredictability.
The clerk took little notice of Hsin's departure, head still buried in her arms on the desk, and his footsteps, though reaching her ears probably didn't reach her mind. It was plausible that perhaps she had even forgotton what it was that she had been upset about, and now, was just merely crying for no reason inparticular.
In any case, this left Hsin to find his way around the academy by himself. It was probably unsurprising that he did it by implementing the very skill he was there to learn.
It took a while to scan all the minds of the academy until the correct one was found. Being a place of learning, it was probably teeming with students of varying degrees. The mind of one Thaddeus Dircombe was hard to pinpoint, particularly because thoughts of the teacher were more than likely flying around all over the place as students panicked about work and practice they had failed to do.
It was found eventually, however, the Hsin had had to pause on the steps of the academy for more than a moment to discern it. The message was sent. A reply came soon afterwards.
[color=orange]"Welcome, Hsin Zhou. I have been expecting you."
Nothing else was said. Clearly Master Dircombe considered any student that could not find his study on their own was no student at all.
Approximately five minutes later, Hsin found himself standing outside a simple wooden door, which was closed tightly from the rest of the academy, though it was obvious to the mysticist that the master was definitely on the other side.
Any reputable Master Mystic inevitably earned a reputation for idiosyncrasy. By this logic, the Rainbow Towers contained an unusually gifted facility of masters. The taverns and inns of Nexus Prime bustled with citizens willing to share stories of students driven into insanity or near-disasters caused by careless experimentation with the very stuff of the multiverse. Master Thaddeus himself seemed cunning enough to avoid too much notoriety, but his Tower seemed generally inclined to involve itself in mischief and trouble. As a caveat to the first principle, Hsin also found that reputable mystics presented a threat on-par with a small army of angry orcs or a small teething dragon.
This called for some caution.
Hsin absent-mindedly fingered his Ring of Arcana as he considered his options. The Spell Nullify cast in the lobby of the Towers would hopefully dissuade the Master from any obvious probing. A brief expenditure of arcane will restored the simple spell cloaking his scarred eyes with the illusion of normalcy. With a quick motion, the Kemite pushed open the door and entered the office.
”A pleasant brightening to you Master Thaddeus,” offered the mystic in greeting as he stepped through the door. His voice seemed somewhat warmer now, and perhaps a hint more respectful. ”I’ve come to discuss the possibility of pursuing additional instruction in the Rainbow Towers.”
Hsin was confronted with a mage of no particular interest in the looks department. Thaddeus was pale, with dark, nearly black eyes and hair, but there was nothing to distinguish him as a prominent mage, and could have passed for any ordinary person on the street, which, for masters of mysticism, was infinitely an advantage. The one thing of interest about his person was the larger, dark, well groomed handlebar moustache that had been grown on his upper lip. The mage obviously took good care of it and was rather proud of the hairy appendage.
He was silent for a moment, as if looking through Hsin rather than at him, but the Kemite detected no magical happenings in the vicinity. Thaddeus blinked.
"Oh, er... do come in. I apologise for my distractedness. Unfortunately the students got at the roses again."
He waves Hsin into the room in a way that suggested the Kemite was nothing more than a small annoyance. Thaddeus sat down in a comfy looking chair next to a table, that contained a hastily repotted rose bush. Extrodinarily, the roses were rather odd colours - one was striped like a tiger, one spotted like a dalmatian, and another had been given an intricate swirly rainbow pattern that was really rather pretty if not a regular rose colour. Thaddeus waved a hand to the other seat in the room, which was a simple wooden affair, and obviously for the use of students who could not be trusted with such a comfy armchair as the master mysticist himself.
Hsin, I understand that you are a master level mage in nothing but technicality. I have a little task for you, should you wish to undertake it. If not I am sure there are plenty of other masters willing to take up your teaching after your... abandonment."
The tone in the master's voice made it clear there was not. Taking up the students of someone else always left a bitter aftertaste in one's mouth.
The children of Keme largely preferred to segregate themselves from their Medonian neighbors. They gathered together in cities from Imperia to Taralon in clusters of families ranging from the dozens to the hundreds. Amongst their youth, a popular form of entertainment involved mocking the curious habits of their neighbors. Hsin’s parents, for example, elevated personal cleanliness to a position just beneath godliness. Facial hair amongst the young and middle aged Kemites implied a certain slovenliness and carelessness regarding their physical appearance. An unbidden urge suddenly rose to the forefront of the Kemite’s mind. Master Thaddeus needed a shave, and an Animation would perform the task with precision and accuracy unrivaled by even the most professional barber wielding the sharpest razor in his possession. Otherwise, the older mystic seemed largely mundane. Hsin’s eyes, however, immediately focused upon the unusual collection of roses. They were beautiful; nearly as exquisite as the magical candaceroses in the gardens of the Imperial Palace.
His attention quickly returned to Master Thaddeus, the inscrutable gaze of his illusionary eyes gazing deep into the old man’s old orbs. If he expected to elicit an emotional response from Hsin, he would be sorely disappointed. Hsin, until recently, had held the unenviable position as Imperial Exchequer, arguably the most hated man in the Empire. ”Well, thank you for considering my situation,” he responded with a smile and voice laced heavy with well-honed sincerity. ”I’m usually more than willing to offer my assistance. However, I also prefer to be candid about my abilities. What manner of task do you wish I perform?
Thaddeus nodded, which sent his mustache flailing a little, though his features still looked glum, presumably over the state of his roses. He had worked out that Hsin probably wasn't going to be the most docile of students but that always made things a little more interesting, and besides, the task he needed done he really needed done, regardless of who was actuall doing it. He waved a hand, gesturing to the pots of flowers on the table in front of him.
"Do whatever you will. I do nothing think this task will make you overly... noticeable." He paused to sigh. "Just find out who did this. No need to take actions, just give me the names. I will act accordingly once I know who is responsible."
He paused, and drummed his fingers on the table for a moment, thinking about likely suspects.
"Naturally you would assume that the culprit would be a resident of the towers, but this may be the case. I would also extend your search outwards to the city if you do not find a trace of the fiend here." He glanced up at Hsin. "I hope you understand the importance of this. I cannot have people going around doing things like this, I simply cannot!"
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