[Avanthal's Library] A Quiet Discussion (Coren)

[Icol de Mordi]

5th of Fall, 511 AV

The day was just barely giving into night as gently as a child falling to sleep. The cold, which was already biting, began to nip harder as the fleeting sun rode the sky downwards. For those used to the chill in Avanthal this was no great trial; just a tightening of one’s furs and one could ignore the bite. Indeed, one of the greatest feelings in the north was huddling together with others in the warmest spots in the holds, and telling the grand tales that the Vantha were wont to do. Some hurried along their work in order to finish for the day, members of the Icewatch paced the streets, and even some strolled along with a lover, enjoying the setting of the sun.

Icol de Mordi bundled himself tightly in the new fur robe he had just purchased not ten minutes ago. He had spied it on his way to the library, and simply had to have it. It was a deep shade of black- even the thick fur lining the collar was black. Within the sleeves and inner folds were a myriad of pockets, which were designed to be resistant to spills from different substances. Perfect for a practitioner such as himself, he thought.

Soon he reached his destination and hurried his way inside, stomping the snow off his shoes before he entered the entire way. He was greeted by the musky combination of candle flame and old books- a scent he loved more than most anything in the world. He stood in the doorway for a short time, his eyes closed and his senses open. When he began walking towards the stacks, some of the old men around met him with silent smiles before returning to their work in the library or whatever tome they were perusing. Icol did not bother to strike up any conversations as he knew what he was here for and precisely where it was.

He traveled through the long rows of books until he came to the section on botany. His fingers drummed along the spines of the volumes until they reached one medium sized book bound in dark leather entitled, ‘Strong in the Cold: the Plants of the North’. He had read this book before, but needed to make reference to it for an improvement upon an herbal remedy he often concocted and sold. Icol slid the book out from its brothers and tucked it under his shoulder until he set it down when he reached the front desk with the ledger upon it.

[Coren]

It was just another slow day on the job for coren, though he didn't mind to much, it gave him a lot of time to brush up his glyphing and drawing skills without the risk of anybody finding out about it he could easily lie about what they where if somebody who didn't know anything about it. Though if somebody did recognize it for what it was he probably was in trouble, unless he could convince the guy to keep his mouth shut about it. Though to be honest he highly doubted he would have much trouble with it unless the person who found out about it really hated his guts. It was widely know how anti-magic his parents where and everybody knew that he had more then enough problems with them without throwing that in the mix. Coren carefully reproduced the barrier glyp his teacher showed him, drawing a crude circle around one of the few successful focus sigil's he had drawn earlier. Not paying to much attention to making the circle absolutely perfect and just making sure that it was closed. Even though he wasn't going to put any magic in the sigil he wanted it to work right. And leaking magic wasn't something he classified under right. More under dangerous to everybody within a mile or more to the damn thing. After he had finished the circle he began putting down the strange sigil's around it, trying to remember how they looked as he did so. He did remember that it was some kind of sentence in nader canoch that was writen around it. But what did it say again? Before he could wrack his brain for anything else a man suddenly walked up and gently put down one of the books on his desk. Coren looked up form his work and grabbed the book turning it around so that he could read the title. “Strong in the Cold: the Plants of the North. Are you from the whitevine hold?” Coren asked in curiosity as he put down the name of the book in the ledger. “Also I need the rest of your name.”

[Icol de Mordi]

"My name is Icol de Mordi my friend." The scholar said with a smile. "And yes, I come from Whitevine, though I favor my father's name." It was small talk, but it was pleasant enough. Icol had been coming here long enough to know who frequented this place and who worked here, but as of late he had not had need to visit the library and thus there were bound to be new faces. He wondered how long this man had worked here.

His eyes traveled languidly around as he prepared to continue the small talk, feeling tired in the fresh night and his aging bones. He even opened his mouth in order to say something, but the thought halted when he happened to glance at the page before him. The one covered in what could only be a magical glyph. And, if his knowledge of the arts served him well, that was some sort of shielding glyph.

Magic here wasn't exactly common, but neither was it shunned. He knew of a strong reimancer that served in the Icewatch, and there were other highly important people in Avanthal that were known to practice the mystical art. Nevertheless, Icol was still surprised to find such an elaborate glyph under the supervision of a clerk in the library.

"I say, my boy." Icol said, dripping with interest. "That is a most remarkable depiction you have there." He nodded to the piece of paper before him. "Practicing the old barrier making are we?"

[Coren]

Coren nodded as the man told him his name, writing down that icol de mordi loaned the book 'strong in the cold:plants of the north' on the ledger. “Nice to meet you, you can call me Coren. From the Skyglow hold. I'm guessing your a half vantha aren't you?” The hooded young man said in a curious tone tone as he handed back the book to the older man. Looking back up from his work. Taking full advantage of the fact that the older man tried to strike up a conversation to take his mind of his work. “I never met one before though, not many normal humans take the trip to avanthal. And if they do they usually don't stay here long enough to get a child here. Your family history should probably be quite an interesting story.” Coren said in a cheerful tone. As soon as Icol expressed interest in his drawings however. Coren tensed up slightly for a few moments, before he forced himself to relax and look the man into the face. Happy for the fact that most of his face was hidden underneath the hood of his winter-robe and the facemask he was wearing. “Excuse me? Practicing the old barrier? Those are just some dumb doodles to keep myself occupied during the dull parts of my job to be honest.” Coren said in the most sincere tone he could manage.

[Icol de Mordi]

"I wouldn't dream of regaling you with my family's history." He said with a polite smile and a wave of his hand. "No no, I don't tell it nearly as well as my mother does. She's the full vantha as opposed to my father, as you have cleverly guessed."

The young man paused, and seemed to be somewhat apprehensive. The air tinged slightly with tension, though Icol could not guess at why. Perhaps it was just the awkwardness that small talk normally expunged, he thought.

The old scholar decided to take a chance. He knew that his drawings were magical in nature, and even if this man did not want his secret to be known Icol realized that if he were an untrained mage then he could possibly be a threat to himself or others. He continued to press the subject.

"Nonsense young man." He said in a stern tone. "I may be going blind, but those circles you drew are hardly some dumb doodles. Now if you're drawing these without realizing their purpose, you are quite the prodigy indeed!"

[Coren]

As soon as the older man in front of him raised his voice and began ripping his flimsy excuse appart in a stern tone and began attracting a few amused or confused stares from a few other patrons he stood up and interruppted the older man mid sentence. “Mister de mordi, please keep in mind that this still is a library and that loudness is distracting the other people here.” he said in the most calm voice he could muster, though icol would most likely be able to hear a hint of tension in his voice. “If you really have something to say about my doodles we can go somewhere else where we can talk without disturbing the others for a while.” He looked straight into the older man's eyes. Hoping that he would take him up on that offer, he didn't just want to let him go without convincing him to keep his mouth shut about it. Since he seemed one of the few people who actually recognized what he was doing and probably didn't know he rather kept it under wraps. “Jack could take over for a short while when I'm gone. So it wouldn't be a problem for the other people here." He tried to keep his voice as level as he could

[Icol de Mordi]

It became quickly evident that the young man felt a certain
apprehension about the idle practicing of his magic. He held an almost paranoid air about him as they spoke, but Icol felt it prudent to oblige him in his secrecy. After all, how many were there here in Avanthal to discuss a scholarly view of magic? It could be a great opportunity, if Icol only stepped gingerly about it.

He lowered his voice as the boy bid him, smirking somewhat. "By all means, lead the way."

They made it into one of the backrooms in which the library employees conducted their duties without disturbing the visitors, and Icol closed the door behind them. "My boy, magic is not something to be ashamed of." He said bluntly. He had never been one for dancing around a subject after all. "Now that we seem to be out of earshot, would you tell me why you seem to be intent on denying knowledge of your gifts?"

[Coren]

Coren just shook his head at icol's statement that magic wasn't something to be ashamed of as soon as they where somewhere in the back of the library. “Look, easy for you to say. But my parents got a whole different view on that.” He said, keeping a firm eye on the door, ready to stop talking at all if somebody would come inside. “If they even hear a rumor I might be practicing anything even related to magic there are going to be some serious problems at home.” he looked straight at the man, most of his facial expressions where hidden beneath his leather facemask covering the bottom of his face, but his eyes made it clear that he was completely serious about this. “So I would appreciate that you would keep your mouth shut about the fact I practice magic. You would save me a lot of trouble.” He carefully kept an eye on the older man as he waited on his answer.

[Cheshire]

Character: Icol de Mordi Experience: Observation +1, Investigation +1, Interrogation +2 Character: Coren Experience: Glyphing +1, Drawing +1, Interrogation +1 Additional Note: This looks like a great start. It's too bad you couldn't finish! PM me with concerns.