The Secret Language (Solo)

[Wing]

Timestamp: Summer 18, 511 AV Wing walked along the inner petals. She was still new to the city and found it to be a fascinating place. It was nothing like the colony she had grown up in. The Spires was a place of learning and knowledge, and most importantly of acceptance. Wing had a thirst for knowledge and adventure both, and when she spotted the building filled with books her heart nearly skipped a beat. Wing walked inside and looked around with a sense of awe. Never before had she seen so many books before. Most of the ones she had seen had been in the Master's tent, or occasionally possession of a fresh slave. She knew how to read, but had rarely had opportunity to practice her skill. Browsing the various shelves she saw that many of the books were in common, though some were in languages she was not familiar with. Wing had learned to read common from the slaves in Din, and from the Master, but could read no other language. Picking up one of the books she read it's cover, An Account of the Circumnavigation of Mizahar. Wing quickly put the book down. I don't even know what that means, she thought to herself as she picked up the next book, Just Stay Home: A Travel Journal. She flipped it open to a random page and read: "Day 112: Today I encountered a beetle large as my hand and colored the most brilliant blue. I excitedly showed this miracle of nature to our Myrian guide, who promptly picked it up and bit into it." Wing snapped the book shut and replaced it on the shelf. She continued to browse for some time, nodding to the Jamoura attendant who was watching her closely, and eventually she came across an interesting looking book. 'The Secret Language of the World.' Wing picked up the book, intrigued, and flipped it open to a random page. Like most of the books in the building it was written on greenish leaflike pages in black ink. "..can be used to determine the exact path an object will take when a certain amount of force is applied at a specific point on the object and..." "Sounds important," she muttered to herself, "And smart." Wing turned to the Jamoura and held up the book. "How much for this one?" "That book?" The Jamoura asked as he stood and took the book from the Zith, looking it over. "Well, it is rather common in some parts of the world, and is not incredibly advanced.. Let's say ten mizas." The Jamoura handed the book back to Wing before asking, "Did you need anything else. Perhaps some paper And writing utensils for taking notes?" Wing nodded and the Jamoura retrieved the items, telling her the price of each. Okay, she thought to herself, That's 10 gold mizas for the book.. Five sheets of paper at four silver rimmed each.. So that's, Wing counted out the total on her fingers, Twenty silvers... Which should be two gold mizas I think. So twelve.. Yeah, that sounds right. One vial of black ink for another two gold mizas, so fourteen, and then the quill which is only five coppers... So that's fourteen gold rimmed mizas and five copper.. But all I have is gold, so fifteen. And he should give me back five coppers and nine silvers of I remember everything right.. Yeah, that's right. Wing reached into her satchel, which was heavily weighed down by the mizas she had acquired in her travels, and fished out fifteen of them. She was glad to be rid of them, but realized that with her change she would still be getting back fifteen coins... So really she was still carrying the same weight. And now she had a book, ink, paper and quill to add to that weight. Sighing a bit, Wing took her change and items, thanked the Jamoura, and exited the building.

[Wing]

Wing returned to her room at Grath's Rest a short while later. After rinsing herself off in the cool waters of the wash barrel, which was sized for a jamoura so for her it was more of a bath tub, Wing settled down on the ground and leaned up against the wall. Reaching into her satchel she opened it up and pulled out the book she had purchased earlier, The Secret Language of the World, and opened it to the first page. Right in the center was a quote, which read thus: There is a hidden language that governs everything around us, a language we all know but few truly understand. Hidden in numbers, it can explain everything to those who listen. ~Ramisis Numbers, Wing thought to herself, How can numbers explain anything? Wing turned to the next page and read on. Mathematics Mathematics is the science of quantity and relationships between quantities. Using math anything and everything can be explained, from how the wind blows to how the gods themselves can create life. All can be explained with math. But to master such knowledge, one must first master the basics. The next several pages explained the basics of math, things Wing already knew, from addition and subtraction to more complicated things like multiplication and division. Wing stopped on one such page, reading over a simple word problem. "If you have one bucket that holds two gallons of water, and another bucket that holds five gallons, how many buckets do you have?" Wing thought for a moment, at first thinking seven. But wait... It had asked how many buckets, not gallons. The answer was two! "Too easy," Wing muttered and flipped ahead to more advanced things.

[Wing]

The first chapter of the book was devoted entirely to simple math. What kind of secret language was this? Wing was starting to regret her purchase. She already knew how to add and subtract, and even multiplying and dividing wasn't beyond her skill. Frustrated, she flipped ahead to the middle of the book and came upon this: f(x)= 2x +2 and g(x)= x^(2-4x+2), solve for f(x) = g(x) "What the petch does that mean," the Zith exclaimed out loud, "Those are letters, not numbers!?" Why were there letters in a math problem? Wing had to know, she had to understand. Turning back a few chapters she found the point where what she understood ended and what she didn't know was just beginning. The chapter was entitled, "Algebra." "Algebra is the mathematics of generalized arithmetical operations. There are various branches of algebra including quadratic, linear, vector, and matrix. Algebraic equations can be..." It was a lot of difficult stuff to understand. Apparently the letters she had seen earlier were representing numbers or something like that. One simple problem she had to figure out was this: x+3=5 Her job was to figure out what the x was. So in other words, she had to figure out what number added to three equaled five. After thinking about it for a moment the solution was simple. Five minus three was two, which meant that two plus three was five, which meant that "x" had to be two! Wow, that wasn't too bad.. I just didn't understand what the letters meant.. But I still don't think I could understand that problem from earlier. This would not do, Wing had to understand. She didn't know why, but she just couldn't accept that she didn't know how to solve the problem. She was determined that eventually she would figure it out.

[Wing]

Timestamp: Summer 19, 511 AV Wing read until she fell asleep, and when she awoke it was late at night. She had dreamed of numbers and her mind was full of numbers as she woke. According to the book all things in life could be expressed through the secret language of numbers. Wing tried to imagine how her nights sleep might be expressed. She knew that her body required a certain amount of rest to work. If she understood the book correctly, that amount could be expressed with X, where X equals her energy when fully rested. She would also need the amount of energy she had used, Y, and the amount of energy she had regained while sleeping, Z. So... That would mean that... X-Y+Z is.. T, the total amount of energy she had! Wing pulled out one of the papers she had purchased along with the ink and quill and scribbled her formula on the page. X - Y + Z = T She had no idea exactly what numbers those letters stood for, but the fact that she knew they could be represented in such a way at all clearly gave her an edge over the rest of the denizens of the Spires. Wing knew she was well on her way to understanding the secret language of math, bit first if she wanted to reach that total energy she also needed food. Hmm... Perhaps she should edit her equation later to include food... But that could wait. Wing was hungry, and so she headed downstairs for a quick bite to eat. She tried to imagine everything in numbers. She was walking a certain speed. Grath was a certain weight and height, which she knew was significant in some kind of way. There were three other patrons in the room. Wing decided she wanted to buy breakfast for all of them, to test her math skills. Before she ordered she totaled the amount up in her head. And more importantly, she did it using the secret language she was learning. Okay... So dinner, which I'll call D, is five. silver mizas. So D equals five. And the amount of people in the room, which I'll call P, is four, so P equals for. And the total, T, is unknown. So D multiplied by P equals T. Confident that her skills were sufficient to answer this problem, Wing plugged the numbers into her equation and came up with twenty silver mizas, or who gold as it was. "Dinner for everybody," she shouted as she handed Kashal the two coins, feeling very proud of herself. If only they knew what she did, they would be as happy as she was.

[Secret]

THREAD AWARDS Kashal smiled as the enthusiastic Zith purchased dinner for all of the patrons. They all smiled and tipped their heads toward the Zith woman. She had definitely made some friends today. Shortly after, Kashal delivered the omniverous meals of fruit, vegetables, and roasted insects. She watched closely as one of the older Jamoura had finished his meal, lumbered over to the Zith's table. "Pardon me miss, but I would like to thank you for the meal. It was quite the generous gesture. Might I ask as to why you are in The Spires? Perhaps you are seeking knowledge and enlightenment? For if you are, perhaps you would like to see what I do one day? I am Kherd, and I am a Deacon in the Memorium. We help keep the city running through intellectual debate, stimulating research, and many, many conversations and votes. If you like what you see, I could perhaps bring you on as an assistant, to learn more of everything we do here. Simple things, meeting other Deacons, help keep tabs on the finances I'm in charge of, run errands, that sort of thing. If you are interested, just go to the Memorium and ask for Kherd." Wing   Skills Skill Gain Notes Mathematics 4 Reading 2 Observation 1   Lores Mathematics: Algebra (Basic) Mathematics: Making Formulae Using Real Life Variables Contact: Kherd, the Deacon   Purchases Description Cost Item, Service, or Other Book: The Secret Language of the World 10gm Item Sheet Paper x5 2gm Item Vial of Black Ink 2gm Item Quill 5 cm Item Grath's Rest Dinner x4 2gm Service   Notes Very well done you received a bonus award for being such a generous Zith. If Wing is interested, then start a thread with her asking for Kherd at the Memorium.