Coming to class only to find that the plan has changed was certainly not a great start to the morning. Especially seeing as no prior warning nor explanation was given to the handful of mages who had congregated at the foot of the Twilight Tower, each as dumbfounded as the other. Among those very students was Raeyn. With the massive door slammed shut and chains locked, and Orath nowhere in sight he had little choice but to be on his way home, disappointed and furious. he wasn't paying tuition fees to stand around and waste his time when the secrets of the universe were at his very fingertips. A mental note was made in his mind to have it out with the Etheafal behind closed doors. This was unacceptable.
In spite of the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach as of late, Raeyn wasn't one to slack on his studies. he was a man of ambition. A solitary scholar who found the greatest of companionship between the pages of a thick tome and inside the alchemy lags at the Twilight Tower. Even his very own home wasn't home enough compared to the mystical places he had the privilege of calling classrooms. Alone with his craft he was at his happiest, most content, addicted. Ripped from it he was in withdrawal.
But as he turned on his heal to stride to the library, his last place of refuge from the mundanity of Lhavit life, a curious crowd peaked his interest. Of course there was always a crowd at the Basilika. The strange, skyglass construction, perched at the back of the library seemed to boast larger numbers of visitors each season but never had he ever seen it so full that crowds were gathering outside.
Surreal, like the spectators of a sports ground they were. Crowds of patrons clustered in groups, delighting in more or less pleasant conversation but it seemed words were on everybody's lips. Each of them had something to say. Some people wore robes or the latest fashions of Lhavitian summer whilst others were common folk draped in cheap jewellery in a desperate bid to look on trend. Either way the randomness of garb made the nature of this commotion utmost difficult to suss out.
Curious Raeyn pushed his way though the crowds with more than one "Excuse me" deeper into the gut of the Basilika where all this commotion originated from. There crowds seemed to thin out. Though the murmurs of chatter was still a cacophony, most spoke in hushed voices and looked towards the centre just as curiously as Raeyn did where the main, most distinguished voices boomed with opinion.
It was like duel of speech. Once he reached the inner most circle, Raeyn saw a handful of women and gentlemen yelling at each other in passionate discussion. It was this that most came for. A debate like any other more heated and eloquent than Raeyn had ever come to see in his 27 years on the mortal plane. Perhaps there was some celebrity to the figures, at least among the mages. One of them, an elderly grey wizard clad in navy robes, Raeyn recognised from lectures though his name the Inarta had never quite managed to commit to memory.
had this debate anything to do with why the Twilight Towed stood empty and closed in spite of scheduled seminars? Had something more sinister gone on in the city that he had yet to find out about? Those questions plagues Raeyn like locusts and so the young mage decided to stay and listen in a little. He had little interest in joining the debate until of course the statement had reached his ears.
"There is simply no way to keep our students safe if the very thing we teach them is more dangerous than they could ever know. Of course we can give them warnings and lessons from history but young people will never listen to their elders when the manipulation of djed is at their fingertips." A plump, potato-like woman in skirts reminiscent far more of Alvadas fashion than the more flowing and elegant fashions of Lhavit, was speaking with such emotion that one would immediately think she was speaking of her own children. Gesticulating overly with her hands, every word out of her mouth was drenched with motherlyness - the kind that disgusted Raeyn for whom magic was a cold hard fact. "Young people live to push boundaries for they have yet to be taught the hardships of life. The true hardships. And that is why if we ever consider keeping our gates open to the public and our resources available to the students, we should at least raise the age of acceptance."
"Marilla is right." nodded an impressively short man beside her. "Some of us have been enticed onto this path far younger than we could comprehend it's risks. You can see it in the scars on the hands of reimancers."
"With any knowledge come great risks! But the greatest risks lay in not knowing!" somebody from the crowd yelled so loud that in spite of them standing a good 2-3 hundred meters away, Raeyn felt like their voice was in his very ears.
In spite of the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach as of late, Raeyn wasn't one to slack on his studies. he was a man of ambition. A solitary scholar who found the greatest of companionship between the pages of a thick tome and inside the alchemy lags at the Twilight Tower. Even his very own home wasn't home enough compared to the mystical places he had the privilege of calling classrooms. Alone with his craft he was at his happiest, most content, addicted. Ripped from it he was in withdrawal.
But as he turned on his heal to stride to the library, his last place of refuge from the mundanity of Lhavit life, a curious crowd peaked his interest. Of course there was always a crowd at the Basilika. The strange, skyglass construction, perched at the back of the library seemed to boast larger numbers of visitors each season but never had he ever seen it so full that crowds were gathering outside.
Surreal, like the spectators of a sports ground they were. Crowds of patrons clustered in groups, delighting in more or less pleasant conversation but it seemed words were on everybody's lips. Each of them had something to say. Some people wore robes or the latest fashions of Lhavitian summer whilst others were common folk draped in cheap jewellery in a desperate bid to look on trend. Either way the randomness of garb made the nature of this commotion utmost difficult to suss out.
Curious Raeyn pushed his way though the crowds with more than one "Excuse me" deeper into the gut of the Basilika where all this commotion originated from. There crowds seemed to thin out. Though the murmurs of chatter was still a cacophony, most spoke in hushed voices and looked towards the centre just as curiously as Raeyn did where the main, most distinguished voices boomed with opinion.
It was like duel of speech. Once he reached the inner most circle, Raeyn saw a handful of women and gentlemen yelling at each other in passionate discussion. It was this that most came for. A debate like any other more heated and eloquent than Raeyn had ever come to see in his 27 years on the mortal plane. Perhaps there was some celebrity to the figures, at least among the mages. One of them, an elderly grey wizard clad in navy robes, Raeyn recognised from lectures though his name the Inarta had never quite managed to commit to memory.
had this debate anything to do with why the Twilight Towed stood empty and closed in spite of scheduled seminars? Had something more sinister gone on in the city that he had yet to find out about? Those questions plagues Raeyn like locusts and so the young mage decided to stay and listen in a little. He had little interest in joining the debate until of course the statement had reached his ears.
"There is simply no way to keep our students safe if the very thing we teach them is more dangerous than they could ever know. Of course we can give them warnings and lessons from history but young people will never listen to their elders when the manipulation of djed is at their fingertips." A plump, potato-like woman in skirts reminiscent far more of Alvadas fashion than the more flowing and elegant fashions of Lhavit, was speaking with such emotion that one would immediately think she was speaking of her own children. Gesticulating overly with her hands, every word out of her mouth was drenched with motherlyness - the kind that disgusted Raeyn for whom magic was a cold hard fact. "Young people live to push boundaries for they have yet to be taught the hardships of life. The true hardships. And that is why if we ever consider keeping our gates open to the public and our resources available to the students, we should at least raise the age of acceptance."
"Marilla is right." nodded an impressively short man beside her. "Some of us have been enticed onto this path far younger than we could comprehend it's risks. You can see it in the scars on the hands of reimancers."
"With any knowledge come great risks! But the greatest risks lay in not knowing!" somebody from the crowd yelled so loud that in spite of them standing a good 2-3 hundred meters away, Raeyn felt like their voice was in his very ears.
