Books, Thoughts and Water (Ifran)

[Eridanus]

The man's revelations were quite strange indeed. Words of an elusive troupe and theater sounded like a mystery that should only belong to mystery novels or plays. Eridanus always had the idea that the Crooked Playhouse and the regular performing troupe in it were the Inverted. It seemed that he had been proven quite wrong.

"Ionu is a strange one," the ethaefal agreed. "Have you tried searching for the Playful One's temple, then? I know it exists somewhere in this city, though I find it pretty troublesome to actually step foot in that area, and even more excruciatingly difficult to find the priest and pry some words out of him regarding Ionu."

He looked at the eypharian curiously, cocking his head to the side.

"What have you found out so far? Perhaps there may be a pattern in the seemingly random madness in the city. And perhaps there is a pattern to Ionu's activities? What do you know of the Trickster?"

[Ifran]

"I have found the Temple of Ionu," he said slowly, remember that day, the young Drykas he met who has promptly disappeared. An illusion, Sanngii? Perhaps. He wondered if Sanngii had been Ionu indwelt, whether he had somehow missed his opportunity. "Perhaps I should return soon, meditate upon the nature of illusion and reality, speak to a priest or priestess. But I have not found anything definitive. Ionu and those who write and speak of It have a talent of obfuscating, those who know anything, and also those who do not, pretending at greater knowledge and wisdom than they rightfully possess. "As to patterns," he continued, "it seems he follows no patterns, or purposefully avoids them, except when people are expecting that. Ionu lives to confound us, I think."

[Eridanus]

"Wouldn't that be a pattern then? The pattern of randomness?" The ethaefal mentioned with a hint of excitement, his eyes twinkling at the possibilities of what they could discover from their combined reasoning. "There is a pattern and purpose in everything, that much is for certain. The gods do not allow everything to go by without meddling, and in the anarchy of chaos there must lay a pattern, if one can figure out the missing dependent variables."

He was starting to get technical of course, as he would be when he was focusing more on the content rather than the understanding of his companion. This was where his formal educational background from the University of Zeltiva kicked in, instantly impressing upon his mind the rigorous scientific inquiry that all graduates possess, be they mage or not.

"I find it difficult to engage a priest in talk, however, or even find the temple. Perhaps Ionu has not deemed me worthy enough at the moment, or some other reason; it is worthy to explore it further."

They had already reached the tables, and he took a seat, offering a chair to the eypharian.

"Perhaps if you asked the priest the right questions, you might just find the right answers. The only problem now is figuring out what the right questions are," He admitted.

[Ifran]

"I do not know how helpful a policy of expect the unexpected would be in actually tracking down the Trickster," he posited rationally, sitting at the table with a dancer's ease, "but there might be something to active randomness. Perhaps Ionu will come and sit down at our table, though, for all we know." His own education had been conducted by brilliant tutors, and then his master, Taharqa, when he was singled out for the high arts. "As I, at least, have managed to reach the Temple, perhaps I should return and begin a dialogue with the priests. It cannot hurt to express an interest in the city's patron. Perhaps I could lead you there."

[Eridanus]

"Well, what I'm saying is not exactly to expect the unexpected, but actually that there might be a level of expectancy within the unexpected. It's all about the knowledge of the dependent variables and the precision of our understanding, of course," Eridanus replied, flipping open the book that he had been reading and skimming through it absentmindedly as he multitasked the conversation and reading.

"That would be an excellent favor, Ifran of the House of the North Winds. For some reason I always find a patch of thin air whenever the fancy to visit the temple strikes me. Perhaps I can clarify with the priests any deductions that can be made from this phenomenon."

[Ifran]

Ifran nodded thoughtfully, glanced over his book a bit more, then decided it was probably time to get back to the Playhouse. The city had a way of making him late to rehearsal, perhaps colluding with Fabel to give the man a reason to berate Ifran. Everyone wanted to take the haughty Eypharian down a peg, although he was taking great pains to be humble among these, a lesser people. He closed his book finally. "I must return to the Crooked Playhouse," he explained. "I always have to give myself double the time it should take to get there in case the City decides to take me the long way. But should you wish to make an excursion to the Temple, you can find me there, at the Playhouse. And you might even find another piece of the puzzle of Alvadas and Ionu there. Syna knows I can no longer see what you might see there for my long familiarity." He stood, then, book in hand. "I do hope you will come," he said, honest. "This is a mystery the which I would much like to solve. Our minds are trained differently, so perhaps they might complement each other." He bowed, an elegant thing of the sand courts and theater boards, made especially so by their aqueous environment. "Until that time, Eridanus, son of Leth."

[Eridanus]

"Ah yes," Eridanus agreed sympathetically. Usually the city helped him to reach places when he needed to, but sometimes there were days where he felt that everything was conspiring against him.

The eypharian rose and gave another formal bow, a gesture that was a mark of a noble-born aristocrat in normal settings, but in the sub-gravity of the underwater library it was an act that spoke of a well-trained body.

"I will visit you one day then, Ifran. May Ionu guide you," the ethaefal said simply as he nodded in response, signifying his acknowledgement at the farewell.

As the eypharian turned to make his way out of the library, the ethaefal would resume reading the book, his mind filled with thoughts of magic and mysteries.

[Bedlam]

Thread Completed!

Ifran

Experience:
2 Observation
2 Socialization

Lores:
Eridanus, Ethaefal

Eridanus

Experience:
2 Observation
2 Socialization

Lores:
Six-Armed Ifran

Notes:

I am sometimes neglectful. For this I am sorry.