Closed two out of a little.

[Eridanus]

Day 2, Fall of 512 AV
Early Evening
Syliran Campsite, enroute from Zeltivan to Sunberth

The flames from the nearby campfire crackled, illuminating the features of a studious ethaefal as he studied what seemed to be a relatively new book. On closer inspection it was mostly empty, except for a page or two where words and pictures appeared to be handwritten. The ink still looked fresh and not decayed from years of disrepair, similar to the sprightly condition of the book.

Eridanus sat on a log, his Artist's toolkit sprawled out beside him with the necessary graphite pencils half taken out from their compartments, a hand pausing above an empty page as he scrounged up his face in concentration.

Taking one hand out, he began to focus, his brows furrowed as if he was in pain. He was not physically so of course, but mentally for this was not the first attempt already. As he exhaled, tiny spools of res formed into a crude, polygonal ball before his ring finger on his right hand that he extended partially in front of him. Though tiny, the magical substance glowed in the purest of white, its existence declaring itself to be the physical manifestation of moonbeams.

With a hiss, the mage moved his finger fractionally as he mentally commanded the ball to move, but it only moved a few inches before it dissolved into nothingness. No flames, no spark, no combustion, no explosion. Only a soft fizzle and the intense silence of failure and disappointment.

The celestial being sighed, wiping a sweat from his brow as he did so, pausing to stare at the blank page on his book, as if intent on finding an answer to his predicament from it somehow.

[Jason Alexander]

A calm breeze blew through the camp as Jason walked through the rows of tents looking for a fire to sit and read by. Passing the first fire to find it surrounded by many knights, joking and talking so loudly that the whole camp could hear their voices. He continued onward through the camp. Looking around for another fire but all in viewing distance were stacked full of Knights, Squires, and other members of their company. Sighing at the sight of the sixth fire that only had one other person sitting around it, he paused for a moment to see what the man was doing. By the looks things he is reading some book. As the young mage started forward, he watched the other male hold up his hand and within what seemed like a few seconds. He brought what appeared to be res from the surrounding air to his finger. As it was held there, Jason watched the res glow bight as the moon above and then disappears.

“You know within the city, something like that could get you in trouble my friend.” Jason stated coming out of the darkness to not scare the other man. Walking to the other side of the fire area sitting down. “I hope this spot isn’t taken?” he stated as he set his bag down on the ground. “ All the other fires are taken by knights and squires and not the best places to read in the quiet.” He continued. Reaching over to his bag that he placed on the ground and removed the book he was reading earlier in the day. Opening it back to his place he continued to read from where he left off.

[Eridanus]

A man came out of the shadows, warning Eridanus of the dangers of revealing magic within the city. The scholar chuckled, knowing all too well of the magic-hating population of Sunberth. He had spent a season there after all, exactly one year ago this season, and to be honest he hated the place. The filth, the crime, the needless anarchy and waste of lives. He would not even have came near this city if he wanted to, only doing so because of the needs of this great quest.

However, this man's intentions were good, and for that the scholar bit back a smart retort, instead nodding in appreciation. "There's a reason why I continue to stay in this campsite, outside of that damnable city," The ethaefal replied fluently, raising his horned head to look at the approaching man. "No it's not taken. Feel free to take a seat if you wish."

Everyone in this camp were bound by the same quest, and with that bond he did not feel the particular need to hide his arcane interests. There was no need to announce them, but there was no need to take special effort in hiding them as well. Still, the man seemed rather calm at this display of magic, which he could either chalk him to be a Zeltivan, mage or a Syliran Knight who was familiar with such abilities. Wizard distrust still exist, and few people would want to willingly side beside a mage just to read a book unless they were familiar with it.

"Any experience in it?" Eridanus remarked casually, glancing at the newcomer with mild curiosity.

[Jason Alexander]

“Any experience in it?” the horned man asked, as he glanced toward the younger mage. Smiling and closing his eyes forcing his life force outside of his body. Holding up his hand he pushed all of his res to his hand and forced it apart into three different balls of floating res. Snapping his finger he drew fire from the big fire before him to each of the balls of res only lighting the outside of each balls. Slowly twisting his hand in a circular motion, each of the balls began to spin in a circle around his hand. With every twist of his hand the balls of fire went faster and faster until they were on a blur. Then with a flick of his wrist Jason sent the balls of fire right back into the center of the white hot flames before him, releasing his control on the res and allowing them to join with the fire. “I would say I have a bit of experience with some of the magical arts that exist within our world. But my knowledge in my own option is very limited and restricted to only a few different disciplines of magic.” Stated the young fire mage. “I normally wouldn’t be so open with my use of magic nor even my understanding of it. But you have already proven you’re a magic user. So reporting me to someone once this campaign is over would do you no good as I would just return the favor.” He continued on.

Looking back down to his book and continued to read from where he left off. The only sounds for the next few moments was the fire crackling and the occasional page turning from Jason. After the few moments of silent, he spoke up once more “Now if I may ask, your magic was very interesting. I never notice your magic take any form of the elements I have ever seen. As well, not to be rude but what are you. I have traveled throughout much of the world, but haven’t seen anything like you. You look human but yet you have horns growing out of your head?” The dark headed man asked in complete curiosity, while he continued to read his book.

[Eridanus]

The scholar's eyes widened in interest as he watched the man begin his display of magic. His skin tingled briefly just before he recognized res to be produced, and he quickly plunged into his pool of djed, tuning his vision to that of the arcane world as he scrutinized the mage and his display.

Brilliant colors assaulted his vision when he turned his attention to the aura of the res, bringing with it all sorts of information that began to overwhelm his mind. Despite his curiosity, he forced his attention more to the attributes of the res production, and he marveled at the implied skill of manipulation the man had. Of course, this was also noticeable in the physical display that showed his familiarity with res manipulation, but the data drawn from the aura reading was much more comprehensive.

The light that burned from within the man's soul was similarly bright. Larger than that of any normal person, it burned with the same intensity as those of mages, and slightly more that was indicative of those who practised personal magic. Yet, magical readings of his aura indicated more than just that. A corner of his soul flared with a different type of brilliance, though it was darker and more muted than the portion that was currently shining in synchrony with the mage's magical display.

Tuning off the supply of djed gradually, Eridanus clapped his hands with relish at the end of the demonstration, remarking, "Excellent display my friend. Of course, the same applies to me. I hardly feel the need to keep such secrets when we would have to fling spells to save each other's lives on the battlefield, don't you think?"

"It's fire just like yours, stranger!" The scholar exclaimed in surprise. "It's just that... well, I lack your proficiency so it probably seems strange to you. But rest assured that it's meant to be fire, though it's not working as well as I intended."

"With regards to your question, I am not surprised. I am an Ethaefal, torn out of my rightful place besides Leth in the divine realms by the tragedy that is the Valterrian, and now I am forced to spend my time in the mundane world. Why Leth has not deigned to retrieve me is beyond my understanding," He said this with a tone of finality to show that he was not willing to discuss this further. It was a touchy subject for him generally, and he was not comfortable showing the depths of his heart to a stranger.

"Where's my manners, I am known as Eridanus. What about you, human? Perhaps if you don't mind you can instruct me on my failed method of producing flames. What say you?"

[Jason Alexander]

“Well met son of Leth. I am Jason Alexander, son of Marcus and Bethany Alexander. Born within the walls of Slyrias but I haven’t spent much time there in the past few years. I have been traveling to gain firsthand knowledge for my research.” The mage stated introducing himself to Erianus continuing on with answering the fallen creature “As for your request, I believe I may be able to help you one mage to another. But my question to you is, what knowledge do I get in return for my service?” Jason asked the Son of the Moon with a face of blank emotion. As he waited for an answer, he looked back to his book marking his spot carefully and closing the book placing it back in his bag. “As well Sir Eridanus, if you wish for me to teach you and I find your offer to what you can teach me acceptable. I will need to see where your skills and training within the art of reimancy is.” The human mage informed the Ethaefal. Looking into the fire, the flames seemed to bounce around within the eyes of the young mage sitting on the log as he waited for the reply of the horned creature.

[Eridanus]

He requests a trade?

Eridanus blinked once in confusion, then he realized the general mercenary nature of wizards. He had been asking the question in an off-handed way as a general tip, and had not had the intention to formally announce a 'trade between mages', as they say.

"I suppose... knowing what I know? To be honest I am almost a complete beginner in Reimancy, Jason Alexander of Syliras," The scholar replied. Pointing to his almost empty book, he said, "As you can see, this is my prized spellbook. Or it would be, if I had actually have enough spells of sufficient utility in them."

Gazing up to meet the human's eyes, he continued, "I plan to chronicle my advancements in Reimancy, from ignorance to mastery. This spellbook shall also be my journal, in which I record my spells and knowledge as I go on. Perhaps you may learn from it - although I doubt it at my current state - but perhaps your wisdom may imprint itself in eternity within these... (hopefully) hallowed pages."

It was with this that he appealed to the possible vanity of the human, for being a mage himself he knew that magic practitioners were commonly bound by a certain vanity to want to leave some sort of legacy behind. Doubly so for frail-lived humans who wished to imprint their names in history.

[Jason Alexander]

Listening to new reimancer speak about his lack of knowledge within the art of bending the elements. Looking to his book that he motioned to while speaking about it. Jason noticed that it was a full book of pages but as the Eth flipped through the it was apparent that the majority of the pages were blank. At the mention helping him fill it and the possibility of his name being remembered because of what happens in those pages. The younger of the two mages sighed and waited for the pale creature to finish before he spoke. “Fame, glory, my name in the history books for eternity are not things I seek for myself in this life. I wish to continue my research, gaining the knowledge I need from said research, and finish the task I set out to complete those few years ago within my life. I do this for the people of our world not for myself, does that makes sense to you master Eridanus?” Pausing for a moment after his little speech to collect his thoughts about how to proceed with his brother-in-arms about furthering his arcane knowledge. “How about this, I will help you further your knowledge starting with the basics and continuing to instruct you the best I can with my knowledge until we reach our destination. If we both survive the fighting that is bound to happen, then afterwards we I will continue my instruction. If you haven’t surpassed my skill by then that is. All of this as an act of good faith that when the time comes I need help with a question of magic or need some knowledge of magic field that you know, you will help me as I have helped you. So what say you mage of the moon?” Jason asked.

[Eridanus]

He seems intent on pursuing a Magical Trade.

The celestial being pondered the issue weightily, for a trade of such nature was a huge deal to him. He did not easily bind himself to such invitations, but the goodwill prevalent in the man's words made him reconsider the temptation of an automatic rejection.

"Your words are reasonable, mage of the flames. However, I wish to append a disclaimer clause: That I see fit to decide on the final outcome of your request. I know that it may seem unfair to you, yet I can only hope that your gesture of goodwill can also include trust in my goodwill."

Trust was such a difficult thing to gain nowadays, and it was significantly harder for wizards to gain such from another wizard. Yet, he intended it for the man's welfare and for the welfare of the world in general. Being long-lived, he tended to view the world in long-term, abstract terms rather than immediate short-term goals. What the man viewed as long-term might be what he viewed as short-term.

Still, Eridanus rarely, if ever, taught magic to another. At the most he would be willing to exchange tips to someone who already practised the discipline that he was asked to instruct in. He was quite unwilling to initiate anyone in a new discipline as he viewed it as the same as giving birth to a child. It would make him responsible for that person and that person's deeds, and it was too huge a responsibility for him to handle.

"What say you?" The horned creature added softly, fully expecting the mage to reject.

Trust was, after all, difficult to come by in these days.

[Jason Alexander]

Sitting there next to the fire watching the flames dance against the night’s darkness placing shadows throughout the area around the bonfire. Only after a few minutes after the Eth spoke and presented what in Jason’s eyes was an unfair arrangement. In Jason’s mind he was to teach the pale creature in the arts of Reimancy and give up his knowledge for free. Normally this wasn’t an issue for Jason, he is one of those people that wished to teach others so that their lives can benefit. He had done this on a few occasions, as an example with the Jamoura Greth and showing him the basics of Botany in their Jungle City the Spires. But this was a special case. Jason could sense that this immortal creature wasn’t telling him something.

Looking from the eyes of bright flames to the ever changing eyes of the dark haired mage inspecting his calm presence Jason finally spoke. "So in your words, I am to give you my knowledge. Free of charge to benefit yourself. But you can’t give me the repayment that my knowledge offers?” Looking away from Eths pale form back to the fire in between them. “Here is the thing Eridanus, Magical knowledge is rare ever since the great destruction. My particular research is something that I do not think has ever been done before in any known history. So when I ask for magical knowledge from another I can assure you it is to further my research.” Pausing to look back towards the other caster. “I will teach you master Eridanus, at the very least it may help you stay alive in the coming battle. And if it does, then maybe you will look into helping me after all.” Looking to the sky, he waited for the Eth answer to his offer.