Closed A Portrait of the Raven as a Young Man (Arvan)

[Castor Riley]

Day 14, Spring of 513 AV Around 10th Bell Castor took another sip of the steamy Kelp Tea. Delicious. He had arrived at the Quill's rest about half a bell earlier and had settled into his familiar nook. He had spent so many days researching and writing in that very spot, that it truly felt like his spot - something which caused a peculiar sense of possessiveness whenever it happened to be occupied. Today had not been one of those days however, and Castor looked out onto the familiar landscape of the bay. He had a blank book and his quill and ink with him, but he had no intention of writing; instead, he wanted to draw. Mr Sol had told him that in order to write properly about world magics, many diagrams and symbols had to be drawn, so he felt he should begin to develop this untouched skill. He inked the quill and looked around for something to draw. First, he tried his hand at the landscape outside the window. He tried to draw a straight line, to represent the horizon where water and sky seemed to meld. "Tried" being the key word. It came out all squiggly and decidedly not straight. He turned the page and tried again. Another failure. He thought for a second, then ripped one of the pages out, then used the book's back as a ruler and drew the line. Finally, a success, though it felt like cheating. He drew the sun next, an (almost) spherical shape in the sky, with little lines around it to indicate beams of light escaping. Some looping lines indicated the presence of clouds. A line that appeared to be wearing a triangular dress was actually a tree. He observed his work and felt a bit ashamed at the childish level of it. Hopefully, he wouldn't need to be too artful to fulfil the purposes of his research for the eccentric employer. Even after these failures, Castor still felt in the mood to try his hand at some more drawing. This time he wanted to try a human model. All he required was the right subject. He looked around, surreptitiously examining the faces of the people in the Quill's Rest.

[Arvan]

Arvan sat firmly at his chair and stared at the glass window. Outside there he could take a beautiful glimpse at the scenery of the bay. It was another perfect day at summer, perfect clear weather without any damp cloud at the sky, perfect brewed tea that should refresh his mind, perfect spot to took a glance to a perfect horizon. He couldn't find what was wrong with all of that, because absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, the only thing that seems to be wrong was himself. He should admit that his first fortnight at the university wasn't good at all. Everybody seems to leave him miles behind. Both Craft and Magical Theory he didn't make it well, he oftem if not always dissapoints the professors. He did study of course. Hours at the library with Tsaba and sometimes with Dirk, he even borrowed some of the boldest tome he ever seen to study at his dorm. It has been more than a week ago since the last time he tronsformed into his raven form, and it was truly torturing him. He missed the fresh air, the rising air current that push him to fly at the unlimited sky, and the zephyr. He need a break, but he also couldn't skip his classes or he will never get to go anywhere. No he can't let that happen.

He took out a blank paper, a note, pen and ink vial. Dirk was the one who suggest him this place. Quil's Rest. He said that it was always a condusive place to write, to read, and to pure minds. Indeed, the oldman has a dire opinion about this shop. Away upper the hill, the shop guaranteed a calm and peaceful air. Arvan took a deep breath and started to think. He decided to gave himself a certain kind of test. He would take certain keyword from his note and write down its description at his paper. It such an easy test for many people but Arvan felt that it was one of his greatest problem. A lot of times he has the picture about something at his head but he can't write or say it easily. He run his finger into pages of his notes and ended up hitting the most common term at one of his subject. Djed.

A source that define every single entity in world. Cannot be created or destroyed. Yet one could transform their Djed to manifest magic. The backbone

It was easy enough for him. The fact his professor always underlined Djed as an important thing to understand, plus the tomes from the library and guidance from Tsaba very help him. Why didn't he try anything harder? Once again he run his finger through his notes and to find another one. The second one was Overgiving. He started to write down its description carefully without even noticing that a stranger was actually eyeing him from the corner of the shop.

[Castor Riley]

One particular face startled and intrigued Castor. On the far side of the Rest, a man sat, studying some book or other. He had black hair and was slightly tan. His most striking feature by far, however, was his left eye; it was milky white, in stark contrast to his black right one. Intrigued by this unique feature, Castor decided to attempt a sketch of the man's face. Lifting the book slightly, while trying to not appear too obvious in his intentions, he began his rough sketch. As with his previous work, it tended towards the childish, but he had to keep trying if he ever wanted to get better. That and he'd need a teacher or an instructional tome, but he'd get around to that in due time, he was sure. He drew an ovoid shape, meant to represent the man's face. Some parallel lines along the top tried to appear as hair and failed, miserably. The lips he drew were very unflattering and nothing like the original's ones. The nose, of course, was a simple, slanted 'L' shape. And Castor was fine with all that, but he really wanted to get the eyes at least partially right. He carefully made the ovoid slits, denoting their location. They actually looked pretty good so far. He tried to make the irises properly, and though he managed to get the right one's relatively right (as in relatively circular) and filled it in, he couldn't figure out what to do with the left one. Leaving the schism blank didn't seem right, but, with the distance between them, he couldn't really discern any details to help him figure it out. He cringed inwardly at the thought of showing the man the portrait he'd drawn up, if one could even call it that. If anyone showed him a portrait of himself that had been drawn with equally little skill, he'd assume he was being made fun of. So he ripped the page out and crumpled it. He didn't want to give up on the idea of getting that left eye right though, so he decided to approach the man. He got up from his table and walked over to the white-eyed man's one. He noticed that his books were all magic-related notes, and kept that in mind. "Excuse me, sir, I have a rather strange request, that I hope you won't mind," he began. "Would it be all right if I sat with you and drew your eyes? I think they're a fascinating feature, and I doubt there are many that have such as yours," he added, feeling that the question on its own might be misconstrued as insulting. Still, he could only hope, he supposed, that the man wouldn't take offense regardless.

[Arvan]

Overgiving was also an easy one. Of course everyone who dared to learn magical disciples would first consider the risk. Only idiots that would be dragged without any amount of knowledge about this. Indeed his professor did mention the risk at the first time they met. They get warned that magic didn't worth for cowards. They that chose the path of magic was also damned to walked on their own curse. Arvan get it well. It was just like a double-sided blade. If you use it carelessly, you would end up hurting yourself. More difficult one? He asked on himself. He run for 'Personal Magic' but it didn't seem to fit, he need a specific one. He opened his note run through pages before succumbed to a little patterned writing at the edge of the paper. Sure enough that it wasn't his writing. Such a clean, decorated and small writing could only be possessed by someone that skillful at writing. Stopped for awhile he read the word "Res". He didn't know what it means but he sure enough that he ever found the word at the tomes. It was obviously refer to something related to magic because it style, somehow very ancient and strange just like Djed.

Before he got a chance to get puzzled about what did the word means, a man suddenly sat down in front of him. Just like him, the man was also holding book and writing tools.

"Excuse me, sir, I have a rather strange request, that I hope you won't mind," he began. "Would it be all right if I sat with you and drew your eyes? I think they're a fascinating feature, and I doubt there are many that have such as yours,"

He couldn't see anything that more puzzled him than this strange request. He bended his eyes slightly and turned at the man rather sharply. Did he just making fun of him? That was easy enough for someone to guess that his left eye was blind, plus the way Arvan see at things might indicate that. The man in front of him waiting uneasily before Arvan decided that the man's carefulness to ask the request didn't contain any means to make fun of him. He need someone to accompany him anyway. May be the man could also help him study? Judging by the mans appearance, he could tell that he wasn't a sailor. That only means that he must be an academic from the university.

"I don't think that my eyes would be an interesting object to sketch about. But yeah sure it is alright"

[Castor Riley]

Castor saw the man's initial, suspicious reaction and felt certain his ridiculous request would earn him his first bar fight; and in the Quill's Rest, no less! It would have been a story to tell, that was sure. But, no, the man settled down, giving him permission, and Castor breathed an inward sigh of relief. He was not a fighter, after all. "Yeah, maybe I'm just a bit weird." he said, scratching his head awkwardly, as he laid his stuff on the table, and took a seat across from the man. "I'm Castor, by the way" he said, offering his hand to the stranger for a handshake. He then opened his book again and took his quill in his hand, poising it above the paper, as he decided how to begin. He felt it would be awkward if he just sat there, staring at the man in silence, so he started some small talk. "So, what brings you to the Quill's Rest?" he asked. "It's usually frequented by either students or artists. Which are you?" He rather hoped he would say the latter, but knew that the magic notes on the table were a dead giveaway for which. Still, he waited patiently for his reply, while he drew the first careful curve of the man's right eye.

[Arvan]

Arvan took his hand and replied "You can call me Arvan." He could tell from his disbelief look that he was relieved. Indeed if Castor ask wrong person, he felt sure that it would end up bad.

Arvan followed the man gentle gesture as he prepared his skecthing tools. Castor opened his books and adjusted his quill at his hand. They both sat awkwardly for a moment and Arvan decided to watch Castors work a little bit further. The man sat stiff and carefully, with such a careful that Arvan would praise, and drew a single curve. He was easily drowned into his own thought, giving live to every line curve and dot that reconstruct (apparently) one of Arvan eyes at the paper. Arvan smiled a little, not a kinds of annoyed smirk but a real smile. He admitted his courage and self confidence, but if he was a teacher and Castor was his student, he would only give 'not bad' for his sketch.

"As you could see I'm a student, I took Magical Studies this season. Which are you?" as they began the conversation, Arvan also took his quill and write the word 'Res' in his notes. He felt very sure that he ever see it at one of the magical tome but didn't sure which part. "It's my first time at the university, and I don't think I am doing it right"

[Castor Riley]

Still drawing, Castor answered Arvan's question. "Ah, I'm a student as well. I've been studying at the university since the beginning of Spring. Last season it was Literature and History, this season I'm keeping on with History and doing Magic, like you." He noticed Arvan write something in his own notebook, but he couldn't really read upside down and was trying to concentrate on his drawing. He'd finished the right eye, this time adding a small circle in the black of the iris to indicate the reflection of the light in his eyes. He thought it made the image look a little more well-drawn, even if it was basically a circle filled in with ink. As with before, the left eye posed a challenge. The eye itself was milky white, but the iris could be seen as through a thick, thick mist. He had no idea how he would express that gradation of color. Simple black ink didn't seem at all sufficient, and if there was a way to make it so, he didn't know it. He returned to the conversation then with a bit of a start as he realized the man had just said something. He paused in his drawing. "There's no right or wrong way, I think. You just have to follow your desire for knowledge. Want to learn about a subject? Research it in the library. Talk to the professor whose area of expertise it is, or even fellow students. The University has many students from different cultures, races and backgrounds, and each one has their own path towards learning." He stopped then as he realized he was beginning to sound lecturing. Inducting new students to the library got him in a frame of mind of offering information, even if it hadn't been requested, which he realized might come off badly outside of his work environment. "Sorry, I work at the library, and I sort of make that kind of speech every day," he said apologetically. "If there's anything I can help with, don't hesitate to ask. I'm not very widely knowledgeable yet, but there are at least some subjects that I have a good grasp of already." Having said this, he put quill to paper once more and started drawing the curves of Arvan's left eye; he'd figure out what to do about the iris when he got to it.

[Arvan]

Castor officially made him speechless. A man that suddenly came at him, made an awkward request, and now he gave a kind of lecture out of the blue. Arvan did want to counter as self defence, he take a quick breath and started. But as the breath come out, the words just hang there. Arvan pulled out a smile and laughed. "Yes, yes you're right. I think I just... scared... and worried. It's my first time, and I don't want to mess things up."

Arvan turned over the pages, glancing towards the group of words that didn't neatly written in lines like a good notes should be. He wrote the topics from the middle of the page, every additional information of the related topic would be written as a branch of the topic by drawing a single line. It much like a tangled bush, and coupled with his skill of writing, it was nearly impossible for someone who didn't usually see his writing to read these. However Arvan did feel more comfortable to write notes like this, it somehow feels more live and nicer and didn't reminds him of the tomes at his room. He scanned through pages and pages. For awhile it just only voices of quill that scratchs paper and paper turned softly that filled the air as the whole shop was quiet. There were many beside them, but as Castor said, people comes here in search of idea or to find a quiet place for studying. The only people that move was the owner of the shop, brewing some kelp tea that favored in a relaxing aroma.

"What about your day? How is it going for you?" Arvan asked him above his notes. His black eye still searching the page quickly. No it's not at the world magic Arvan ignored pages of Malediction and Spiritism, the only world magic disciples that he could understand -a bit, without any help. He know it was at the one of the magical disciple, but he didn't write much, mainly he only added the topic that he has understood, or some difficult explanation that he read at the tomes. Giving up, he looked up to Castor that might've been eyeing him for awhile now. "Do you know what this word mean? I don't remember where I read it" he turn his note to Castor and point the word "Res" with his finger.

[Castor Riley]

Castor warmed a bit to the new student as he heard his worries. It hadn't been all that long since Castor himself had been new to the University and Zeltiva, and had felt like he was out of his depth in the city by the bay. He stopped concentrating so much on his drawing, pitiful as it was, and started to pay more attention to Arvan and what he was doing. He saw that he was writing in a notebook, but he couldn't decipher a word of what was being written. He wondered if it was code, or perhaps a different language, but didn't have the courage to ask another awkward question of the man; there was only so much patience one could expect from another before enough was enough. "My day?" Castor asked, surprised at the sudden question, after chimes of silence. "It's been fine. Relaxing actually. I rarely have the time to just sit back in the Rest and do just that. Almost since I got to Zeltiva, I've been juggling University and my job at the library, while also doing some paid research. I still am actually, but sometimes you just need a break." Also, he no longer felt the memory of his father constantly pressing against his mind, trying to push its way in and make him think about... it. But that sort of train of thought was exactly what he'd learnt to derail, and he quickly latched on to Arvan's next question. He looked down at where Arvan had pointed. The scratches on the paper didn't look like a word to him, and Castor was about to embarassedly admit his inability to read it, when he suddenly figured out the first letter, and the rest made sense to him after. 'Res'. The word sounded vaguely familiar, like he might have come across it somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where. He chastised himself mentally; for a person who prided himself on his memory, how could he forget a piece of information like that? He figured that it must have been something that had not been central or relevant to his studies so far, so he must not have committed it to memory. "I'm sorry, the word seems familiar to me as well, but I also can't remember where I read it," he said, his tone completely apologetic. "However, I can say that my studies so far have been exclusively in personal magics, so if I've read it before, it's likely to be related to that branch of magic." He turned his attention back to his sketch for a bit then. The left eye was still left blank. He trying to think of a way to make the peculiar sheen of the man's eye expressible with the means he had at hand, but how could he make the black ink look like that? Like a black sun seen through clouds, like a god had taken his hand and... and...... Inspiration struck then. Carefully and fully engrossed in the business of performing this act, Castor carefully let the smallest drop of ink fall in the centre of the drawing of the left eye. He then carefully rolled his thumb over the black substance, in circular motions, until the ink had been spread over the rough equivalent of the iris' size. The result: A smudged and faded iris, in the left eye. The way Castor had rolled his thumb around had left a weird pattern in the eye, but he felt that it at least captured the essence of what he had intended. He felt absurdly proud of his little drawing, though now his thumb was coated with ink. A bit embarassed, he hesitated for a few seconds, but then he turned the image towards Arvan. "What do you think?" he asked, abashedly.

[Arvan]

Arvan glad that Castor made him sure that it refer to something in personal magic disciple. Though he stil didn't know what did it refer to. At least he knew that it wasn't in the Auristics. For personal magic his note was mainly consist about auristic and shielding. Arvan decided to left the word unanswered, he need tomes and his magical books to be able to solve the puzzle.

Castors drawing get him much attention for a while. It seems like the man was puzzled to picture his left eye.That was interesting though, he tried to draw white object with normal black ink. Castor drew an orb, just like the right eye. But he didn't fill it with ink, he still recognising how to do it the best. Arvan realize that he wasn't a better drawer than Castor, indeed he need to learn it better for his crafting subject. He might learn one or two thing when watching Castor. The man let a drop of ink fell to the paper. Arvan thought it was a mistake as Castor rub the ink with his thumb. It was a pity, Castor has only succeeded to draw the right eye. Before he could said anything, Castor turn the book to him and smiled "What do you think?". Arvan gave him a puzzled look but Castor didn't stir. His eye run through the paper, a jet black orb that represent his eye was nicely done. Beside the black one, there was a round circle that now smeared with shades of ink. Then he realized that he wasn't joking at all. He just found out a way to live up the shade of his left eye.

"Rough" Arvan said honestly "But not bad" It was indeed a nice try. Arvan learned that it is good to think out of the box, he didn't always need to depend on a standard tools, creativity has more than one way to achieve.