[Flashback] What Would You Do For Knowledge? [Hadrian]

[Hatter]

Early Spring, Midnight Somewhere In the Zeltivan Old Quarter. While the students knew of a new professor, none had ever laid eyes on the man. One Zephyrus Shadowrunner, a known entity of the University, had returned to Zeltiva that very spring. While his presence was masked in an air of mystery the renown adventurer sent out a challenge to the magic oriented students, a simple, coded message with a cryptic message. With the right Cryptographic know-how anyone could stumble their way through the lettering, ending with the runic writing exploding into a puff of nothingness, forever lost for no other eyes to witness. "North of the quarter where the ancients Wept I await with hands outstretched. Come quick, be swift, for only the moon at its height shall reveal my secrets." While any student of a sound mind could easily determine the Old Quarter as the place in question, but the puzzle remained one to discover. The night was cool, crisp, with a clear sky above and a bright, full moon that shed its light upon the city of Zeltiva like a guiding star. While there was no way to determine just where in the Old Quarter the message meant, there was no need. Any student who showed up on time would find themselves with yet another direction, brief glyphs that flashed directions for any quick enough to find them. The magical guidance lead only a few to the center of the Old Quarter where nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The ancient architecture stood its splendorous testament against time, silhouetted under the pale light of the moon like a ghost in the darkness. Those who remained were a shoddy assortment, a young, human female by the name of Zelina - a pretty girl, from a rich family in Syliras, she specialized in Glyping and Alchemy, the evidence of which were spread all about her person. She was short and sported thin, curled hair, the cause of which was no doubt related to her work. The second individual was a young man of an arrogant nature, his attitude equal to the Reimancy he seemed to practice without regard for anyone's safety. His features lacked proper hygiene and his hair was red like fire - no doubt in the possession of an Inartan bloodline. Neither spoke more than they had to, especially now that they involved themselves so deeply in the next stage of the 'test'. The last participant, of course, was Hadrian. The group stood in an empty street-like corridor of ancient design. To their flanks there were several common buildings, some archives, important documents house in their depths. A statue stood in the center, bereft of arms - perhaps worn from age - the carving was that of a forlorn maiden. The street itself was barren of a few cobbles and there appeared to be no more hints, no more glyphs to guide the way. Where, then, could Zephyrus possibly be?

[Hadrian]

Hadrian was, perhaps, the least likely to find the Drykas professor. He was mediocre with personal magic; the things he saw with auristic vision remained more often than not a mystery to him, his glyphing was elegant yet he lacked spells to implant in a scroll; he was still disappointed that his initiation into reimancy had produced water rather than fire. The only thing at which he truly excelled was magecrafting, but that was a long and arduous discipline of world magic to master. Most of the students with flashier magics looked down their noses at him. After all, they could make things happen. All he could do was sketch diagrams of his far-fetched ideas and spend time in laboratories where he accomplished little -- his dreams far outmatched his abilities at this point. After looking around, Hadrian strode up to the armless statue. The moon's zenith was coming soon and they had little time. The man's pavilion -- Shadowrunner -- made him wonder if he would be revealed from a shadow when the moon's light was cast at just the right angle. Perhaps he was even hiding behind the armless statue with his arms outstretched for all the young enchanter-in-training knew. Regardless, he wanted to be closest to the statue when the time came, the better to be the first one to find Zephyrus Shadowrunner, to find and reach him, when he revealed himself. In the meantime, he climbed onto the base of the statue like a retarded spider, all long limbs and no coordination. Then, standing and accidentally holding the stone maiden's breast for support, he looked out to see what the blind statue saw from her spot there. He was banking on the other two disdaining and ignoring him, though he supposed they had as good a chance of solving the riddle as he did. Here at the university, he was no longer the most intelligent person around. It was both exciting and dismaying. "Where are you?" he murmured under his breath.

[Hatter]

"Where is this petching guy?" The young man spoke aloud, his tone irate. His tenor echoed against the walls of the enclosed buildings, no doubt waking anyone with a keen ear. Being caught in the old quarter so late was never a pleasant experience. "Shut up, Zan." The girl responded. They must have known each other if one were to judge by their manner. She folded her arms up under her chest and glanced about, her stare passing over Hadrian as he climbed the statue. She gave him a silly grin before continuing her perusal, confused by the whole endeavor. "I don't see anything 'outstretched'. Maybe we need to wait longer?" "Yeah. Okay. You're the smartest ever Zel!" Zan said with a sardonic glare. The two of them exchanged a look that spoke death, their personal auras clashing in a mighty battle of wills. There was definitely some history between them. Fortunately or Hadrian he was just in the right spot. As he reached the head of the statute the moon reached its zenith a dull glow could be seen beneath the lady's eyes, a glow that formed words. Where the ancient's wept indeed. The message was written in simple, plain lettering and was visible for no longer than a single chime. The two penned messages said, from left to right: "What is the difference between ten and thirty?" And. "When in doubt, follow your nose." Now what was that all about? When the words faded both Zelina and Zan were still in each others faces, arguing up a storm, one blaming the other for some strange mess of a relationship while Hadrian was left the sole observer of the message. From the statue there were three possible exits from the street, two on the flanks, the east and west, and another path that lead south where the face of the statue was directed. The northern route was blocked by a large wall, no doubt one apart of some great building. There was what might have been a window in the center, one that gave a fine view of the rest of Zeltiva; a pleasant sight if any. For now Hadrian was left with yet another riddle, simple perhaps, but with no clear meaning.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian blinked, memorizing the clues, and then sighed theatrically. He turned to look around at the various exits from that spot, trying to determine how they all fit together. He sniffed, wondering if he would smell something, or if perhaps he should go in the direction the statue was facing, where her nose pointed. "The moment's passed," he noted for the others. Indeed, Leth was still on high, but no longer quite at its zenith. Still, he sent a silent prayer to the god of the moon and of thought, hoping that he would follow the thoughts of the strange professor. With luck, these two would go for a drink of kelp beer or an angry fuck, leaving him the last student standing. At least, the effects that their auras had on each other in his indifferent auristic vision seemed to indicate passion, whether violent or otherwise... he couldn't tell. The difference between ten and thirty was twenty, it was no great strain on his mathematical abilities to calculate that off the cuff. Now if he could just figure out whether to follow his nose or the nose of the maiden. Of course, if it wasn't a smell he should follow, then his own nose would've been pointed north when he was reading the clue, but all that was there was a wall and a window... was that it? He sat down on the statue's base, affecting disappointment when really he was thinking.

[Hatter]

The two stopped their bickering. While Zan, the Reimancer, seemed annoyed, Zelina was distraught at Hadrian's words. The moment's passed? With a sigh she turned away from her partner in argument and focused the brunt of her attention on the third of the group, the one with all the information. She watched him for a time before her hands collapsed to her sides and she gave him a quizzical expression, almost as if her countenance was asking him what he knew. Before long she added words to the motions. "So, are you going to tell us?" She spoke, half annoyed, albeit her irritation was most likely caused by her male companion, that of which had his hands pointed in the general direction of Hadrian. Maybe he was up to something. There was no smell in the air; at least, none that was out of the ordinary. The warm scents of winds carried in by the ocean kept the atmosphere fresh and pleasant, any unusual odor would no doubt be washed away in the environment. The wall and window to the north appeared unspectacular, nothing usual other than the fact that there was no building that connected to the architecture. The path south, on the other hand, was a clear, marked street that lead away from the corridor, with the area itself branching off to further routes. More riddles, perhaps. The decision seemed to rest on those two questions, a number and a direction, maybe. It seemed this Shadowrunner enjoyed his ambiguity.

[Hadrian]

"The moon's passed its zenith," he informed them innocently, but when they continued to stare at him, he sighed. A definitive answer wasn't coming to him, so perhaps he needed them still. Three minds were better than one, all things considered. "Where the ancients wept," he reminded them. "Her eyes. I saw 'What is the difference between ten and thirty?' and 'when in doubt, follow your nose.' Well, the difference between ten and thirty is twenty, or else it's negative twenty... And my nose was facing north when I read the messages. Hers was facing south." He sighed again. A thought occurred to him and he looked for numbers on the buildings to either side of the northerly wall. If one was ten and the other thirty, that would be telling. Without looking at them, he asked, "Anything brilliant coming to mind?"

[Hatter]

None of the buildings were marked. In fact, they were both odd in number and counted nowhere near twenty. Not twenty windows or doors, what than was the purpose of the simple mathematical exercise? "Follow your nose? What is this, some kind of petching poem?" Zan said, the anger seeping into his voice. His rage slipped out like a raging waterfall; it made sense that the young man produced fire on no more than a whim. While he seemed preoccupied with his plans to set things a blaze, Zelina made her way to the statue where Hadrian still stood. Her brow was furrowed, already her thoughts bent on solving their new riddle. At least she would be some help. "Shut up, Zan." She started and flicked Hadrian and silly smile, almost as if she were apologizing for her companion. "The eyes, huh? Shadowrunner is a bit of a romantic, I think, but twenty? That could mean anything. Twenty tears, twenty..." She drifted off, eyes flicking to the various paths that lead out of the corridor. "Petching Petch! Petch. Why can't he just tell us where to go like he did with the other glyphs? That was easy, 'walk this way', 'turn left', 'blah blah blah'. What an ass." Once more the man seemed content to ramble and rave. Zelina, on the other hand, was amused. She turned around and gave Zan a silly smirk, her arms once more folding up under her breasts. "That. That might be it. What if the number is how far we have to go? Twenty minutes, twenty paces?" She glanced over her shoulder at Hadrian. "What do you think?"

[Hadrian]

"Gods, Zan, no wonder you're a reimancer... you don't have the patience or the brainpower for riddles and world magic." He scowled, but then he had never liked Zan. His fists clenched at old memories. But Zelina was being nice to him. He wasn't sure how to take that. Was she on the up and up or was she merely sidling up to him since he had been the one to find the last clues? "I don't know. All I can smell right now is Zan's ego." He jumped down to the ground and started pacing toward the window in the wall to the north, meaning to examine it further. If he didn't find anything in that direction, then perhaps his interpretation was incorrect. Halfway to the wall -- wait, would it be twenty paces to the wall? -- he wondered if there wasn't some kind of switch in the statue's nose. Well, he would check that out if this search didn't bear fruit. "Look around," he called over his shoulder, attempting to lead because he did not want to follow. If he followed, they would be in his way. "Look twenty paces to the south of the statue. Look up. Look down. Follow your nose." That was, after all, the advice Shadowrunner had given them. Hadrian simply had to be the winner of this contest, preferably on his own. He needed ever edge, accumulated every bit of knowledge and networking that came his way. He wanted to be better than the others, to be exceptional, to be noticed and lauded.

[Hatter]

"You petching little son of-" Zan's words were lost as Zelina interrupted him and berated the young man, her voice louder than one would imagine she was capable of producing. Distracted with each other yet again, Hardrian was left to his own devices, those of which proved to be fruitful. It was in fact twenty paces to the northern wall, exactly twenty. When Hadrian came to a stop another glyph flashed, this one with a diminished aura, almost as if it were intended to not be noticed. Strange. Did Shadowrunner only wish for one of them to make it? It would be easy for Hadrian to slip away, especially while the two were arguing so ferociously. The question, then, was whether or not he wanted their aid farther on. Zelina had already proved to be useful in her machinations and Zan, well. Zan could throw fire at things at least. The glyphs flashed to words, those that like the last were only available for a moment's time. They read: "Often our paths take us to new heights. Over, then under; but beware, should you take the easier path you'll never find what you seek." A wall with a window. This riddle was nowhere near as vague was those before it. The window was only eight feet off the ground. Easy to reach. For an Akalak, maybe.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian smiled to himself at the glyphed message, then glanced up. He was rather tall and the window wasn't so very far up. In glancing over his shoulder, he rolled his eyes at them. Did Shadowrunner want all who could find it or just the one? This glyph had been so... secretive, like a secret among secrets. Well, he decided he would go for it. If they missed their chance for arguing, well, that was their own fault. He didn't want Zan to profit, and while Zelina seemed nice enough, well, if she could tear herself away from the argument, they could follow him. He took several paces back toward the statue. "Here goes nothing," he muttered, then sprinted toward the wall. At the last moment he jumped, and his long limbed flail managed to catch the edge of the window. His other hand came up to double his grip as his long legs scrabbled comically against the wall for purchase. He was not heavy, but neither was he strong. It would have been easier on Zan's shoulders, but forget easy. If he was battered and bruised, but the first to find Shadowrunner, he wouldn't mind the pains of his body. With some effort, he managed to get himself into the window, though he fell in on the otherside, panting and wheezing from the strain on his scholarly physique. After a moment, he looked around. If he hadn't fallen too far, he would look back to see if the others were following or had lost track of him after all.