Flashback [Memorial Library] Meeting with a Mage (Hadrian)

[Kel Ehmry]

"Hmmm I would have thought you would have told me right away if you were studying magic. The other would be mages I've met have don so at least" Kel said. It was true that most of the time that students would make no hesitation to let you know exactly what type of magic they were studying. If you were curious as to whether someone was a magic student, don't worry, they will tell you, over and over. Students like that were one of the reasons Kel wasn't too keen on taking a course on magic. They were annoying and Kel found their reasoning for studying magic to be shallow. One student just wants to be able to control the elements like a wizard from the stories, while another is hoping to learn hypnotism and seduce that pretty girl across the room from him. Hadrian at least seemed to be different, studying magic in anthropological terms. "Difficult eh? Well auristics seems like it would be useful to know a bit on. What do you do? Maybe you could council me on some sort of course of action" Kel suggested. While Kel was not quite new to the university, as he had enrolled in the previous fall, he was still inexperienced in the programs on magic. He was studying history after all, something that had little to do with any magic. Hadrian looked older, as if he was toward graduation. Plus, the boy had said he knew quite a bit about magic, in theory anyway.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian shrugged uncomfortably. Magic was difficult, and the culture surrounding it even more so. The fact of the matter was, he was not those other people. And if he had begun to study magic firsthand, it was to better understand the development of culture and society. "I'll be doing a magecrafting project next season as a thesis project under Professor Stonemiller," he said. "I am better with theory than practice, so I suppose I could advise you somewhat. That is, well... What sort of guidance are you after?"

[Kel Ehmry]

[b]"Magecraft? That sounds interesting to say the least. What is it?" Kel asked. He couldn't help but think of some sort of mythical sort of craftsman, making some sort of weapon, such as sword, that also has the ability to become lit with fire or something. It sparked his curiosity, although it wouldn't be practical for him to learn such a trade. He expected to be traveling a lot, and such a thing would require a laboratory of some sort. "I don't really know. Magic is a bit of a foreign idea to me. Umm, well, if I were to try and learn some magic, I think I would be inclined to learn some aurisitcs. What do you think? I feel it is a fairly useful magic in every day life, unlike voiding or something" Kel laughed as he flashed the book he had just taken from the shelf next to him.

[Hadrian]

"It's almost more science than magic," he said. "It requires endless calculations and preparations, and then it becomes a long, expensive, painstaking process to imbue items with magic. I probably find it interesting because it's more methodical than inspired, but I don't know if I'll be able to pursue it at all after graduation. The University absorbs so much of the cost, and so I do not own the items after I create them. There's also an exhaustive amount of oversight from my professors to be sure that the University's investment in my studies isn't wasted by mistake. "Auristics, well, I can see it as being very useful. Like I said, I'm not a natural with these things. It took a great deal of time, many headaches, and all just for me to be able to do what I can do now, which isn't much. I don't mean to be negative; chances are, you would take to it more easily. I like the idea of greater awareness, which is basically what it gives you. It might prove useful to you in your proposed travels, as well. "Ah, should we sit?"

[Kel Ehmry]

Kel listened to the words Hadrian used to describe magecraft. Long, expensive, painstaking. Each word didn't exactly sell the magecraft to him. It was sounding like a big waste of time and money. "Well, I suppose magecraft won't be something I look into then. Sounds like a lot of commitment, especially for someone who doesn't plan on staying settled for too long" Kel said. "But still, I do wonder what sorts of things could be made with it. A sword that freezes enemies at the touch maybe?" Kel joked. "I don't know about taking to it more easily. I have a hard enough time listening to other students try and explain it. But maybe a good teacher would set me straight. But I would still expect a headache or two just as you" Kel laughed. Kel nodded as Hadrian took his seat, and sat in the chair across from the mage. Well, Hadrian certainly didn't describe himself as such, but Kel figured he was close enough to be considered such a thing. "Well increased awareness is definitely what I would like I suppose..." Kel said as his mind began to trail off into a cloud of various thoughts.

[Hadrian]

"Yes, such a sword would not be too difficult to craft," he said after a few moments' thought. Whenever an idea or challenge came to mind, he started trying to figure out how to make it so, even if he would never actually put the plan into practice. "You should take a class with one of the professors who teach it," he advised, "or a private class. It helps to have someone guiding your meditation sometimes, so you can just focus on getting your mind where it needs to be. I'm not sure how they managed to teach me. "If your awareness gets acute enough, you won't have to rely on sight for your maps. You'll... feel it."

[Kel Ehmry]

"Well, I didn't mean for that example to be a serious suggestions" Kel laughed. "But if such a thing is in fact possible, then why not I suppose!" Kel could picture it now. A blade with almost an icy blue shimmer to it. A simple cut from it would send a chill through the victims body. Kel chuckled to himself. "Yeah I will definitely be looking for teachers in the coming season no doubt. Maybe even a private teacher. I'm sure they have their ways of teaching even the hardest heads" Kel said. "I hadn't thought of actually using auristics with cartography. It sounds like a brilliant idea to me! I like the way you think Hadrian! So you...feel it eh? Sounds handy indeed. Knowing what is around you at all times could definitely have its uses" Kel trailed off into his mind again, thinking of the various scenarios where auristics would be useful. Walking alone in the wildlands and being able to sense dangerous animals, having a greater awareness of someones intentions, and even determining ones emotions and motives. Sounds like something he ought to study

[Hadrian]

"Well," he said, "it's not actually linked to any of your normal five senses. At least based on what I've read and what Professor Oslie says. But because it's so different, we're taught to imagine that we are merely adding a layer onto another sense. For me it was sight, but most people rely on sight or touch. So you begin by seeing auras or feeling a sort of heat or tingle through your hands. "But some of the more advanced students say they can hear harmonics and such. I suppose one might even smell or taste them if they were so inclined, but the goal is to realize it's an entirely different sense, and then you don't need to see it. You just feel it." Hadrian hoped he got there someday, but he had his doubts. He was not so very good with personal magic. Planning out magecrafting projects, now, that was different. That made sense. There was math and science and other things involved that made sense.

[Kel Ehmry]

Kel simply nodded as Hadrian described the discipline, as if Kel knew what Hadrian was talking about. Truth was that Kel had no clue about any of this magic stuff, but talking to Hadrian was making him become more and more curious. Unlike other students studying forms of magic, who had occasionally given Kel a hard time for studying something "lesser" than what they were studied, Hadrian seemed much more respectable. Awkward, but respectable, which is more than what Kel could say about several other students he knew. "So, Professor Oslie? I'm guessing he is my man then for Auristics?" Kel inquired, hoping that this Professor Oslie would be the best suited to teaching someone like Kel the discipline. "It really is fascinating what we are actually capable of when djed, it is djed right, is harnessed. Anything from simple things such as seeing auras, to summoning from other worlds and opening portals to the void" Kel mused.

[Hadrian]

"She," he corrected, but not harsly. "Professor Palmyra Oslie, magical studies." She could be a little airy-fairy, he thought, but when her mind was focused, she was frighteningly insightful and intelligent. But he seemed not to have the intuition she liked best in her students; rather, she said he thought too much, got in his own way, and he just didn't know how to respond to that, let alone to fix it. "Ah, yes. Djed is everywhere, in everything. One might imagine that anything and everything is possible. Give me a long enough lever and a place to stand, and I shall move all of Mizahar." That was a quote, of course, and they were talking magic rather than science, but Hadrian rather thought it was all one thing. Everything is everything. What had he been doing again? Oh, books. He was probably boring Kel by now, so he paid close attention for signs that he was being tiresome.