[Wright Memorial Library] Brat (Evalin)

[Wrenmae]

Summer 72, 512 AV "What are we doing in this boring place anyways?" A predictable response from his familiar, the talking ulcer lining his stomach. Murdock was tempted not to answer the little parasite, passing his hand just above the titles as he ran his palm across their spines. Books on Summoning, he answered at last, Consider it a how-to guide to learning about your world. "My world?" Zan scoffed, "I'll tell you about my world. The whole place is a waste of time. Terrible conditions, wars, I mean...sorta wars. Let's say that the dark side doesn't get along with we superior light facers, and that's about as much as you'd ever need to know about Fyrden." Charming, Murdock sighed, barely paying attention, Luckily, I won't be taking the copy written by a Sarawanki, more someone who's an expert. "Expert? More than the guy who used to live there?" Your views are notoriously biased. "Name one time." Now. "You're a petcher, you know that? A petching vagik" There, there, Murdock communicated with a smirk, Let's not get bent out of shape... He laughed, couldn't help it, doubled over in laughter, drawing the stares of the students and teachers alike, a scathing glare from the librarian. Swallowing his glee, he straightened, the blue of his uniform convincing the curious to turn their gaze away pointedly. Shaking his head, he continued looking. "Mature. Real mature." If you're not going to do anything useful, feel free to enjoy the many benefits of my pointed ignoring. "Better book over there on the table by that girl," Zan muttered, "I saw it when we passed. A little fleshling was looking at it, but I think she's asking that librarian to borrow it." Murdock turned on his heel, watching the diminuative girl flagging down a librarian to ask a question. The large book on Summoning lay open on the table, barley touched. Frankly, the mage was boggled such a little child was able to fathom all that knowledge...and a little curious why she was wandering alone in the library. She certainly didn't appear the correct age. In any case, she couldn't possibly be really using the book, so as she turned back to the table, the Librarian ducking down an aisle of books to lecture a student about the virtues of ordering things back correctly, the Waveguard picked up the book from the table, brazenly smiled at her, and walked to a different seat, setting the tome down on the table. "She looked mad." Probably hungry, Shroud dismissed, Or can't find her parents. "You fleshlings are useless." Opinions, Zan, and let's try to be polite. Flipping open the first few pages, he began to read, perusing the subject matter looking for a point to grab on. There were details on several astral coordinates in this book, along with some descriptions of possible inhabitants. Raising an eyebrow, the mage read on, both hands on the book, firmly claiming it as his own. His attention on the small nuit had completely vanished, dismissing her as a lesser creature with little more than a shrug and taking the book she'd just begun to study. To Murdock, it didn't matter. What business did a child have learning summoning anyways? Conjuring up a friend?

[Evalin]

"Listen now, I am in need of this tome, and I must have it this evening." Evalin rubbed her eyes. The Librarian, just as everyone else, treated her as if she were a child, "Better your hearing and pay attention, for I shall not repeat myself thrice. I have come specifically for this book. It holds something dear to me, and I would like to borrow it from this facility." Damnable woman, does she not listen? How difficult a task is it to offer assistance to one in need of her skills? This thought was left to drift as the librarian swiftly turned to go about her business, seemingly not taking the child seriously, despite the words spoken. Gritting her teeth, Evalin turned in a huff, her too big cloak whipping around and her staff in hand, Must everything be so difficult? A chill brushed against her mind, She saw what is present before her, not what was hidden beneath. Your mind strays too far from your current situation... Before she could respond Evalin saw the man come by, sweeping the book up in one hand while offering a contemptible smile. For a moment Evalin was shocked and dumbfounded. Her mouth open and closed a couple times, and she made to speak but nothing came out. Her mind fluttered, the gears clicking in place as she realized what had just happened, "Hey!" She exclaimed, how unlike her this was, but now after so many days of being thrown about and treated as if she were a child the witch had reached the limits of her patience, "By what measure of the mind comes this idea of yours? What foolish part of your brain thinks to take from me that which is rightfully mine?" The man's demeanor did not change, his position did not faulter. Was he... Ignoring my words...? All things that held her back now shattered to a thousand pieces, I will be damned if I allow a child to do as he pleases with what is mine! She moved, faster than one would think a child could, faster than most adults to stand at Wren's side. Grasping his arm she looked up with cold eyes filled with hate and loathing, rapping her staff upon the floor as she hissed, "Ignore me not oh thief of knowledge, for an untended flame shall ignite and burn all around it. Listen well, the book you hold belongs to me. Those words you read are mine and mine alone..." Though this was a rather simple volume on Summoning, possessing only the more well known facts about various worlds and its inhabitants, Evalin took great pride in it for this was, in fact, her very first contribution to the library of Zeltiva. Though it might mean nothing to the man, upon the inside cover there was scribbled a name for all to see: Evalin...

[Wrenmae]

Something....something. What was it? Brought from his reverie of turning pages, a wheedling sound rolled up from beneath him. For a moment, he was perplexed, what was he hearing? Circles, summoning, and worlds warred in his head against what he finally decided was a child's voice...but the tone was all wrong.

Nothing of the sweet innocence most children were born to, but there was a cold and methodical wisdom. It sounded almost comically alien. Glancing down, he finally noticed the little girl tugging at his arm. A bemused smile touched his lips as she spoke again. Her tone was nothing short of antiquated, her words as dusty as the book he held.

Surely she was taught such stilted words from a parent or some highborn scholar. Such a little shyke! She'd no sooner finished speaking than the Waveguard's hand came down on her head, tousling her hair and standing well out of her reach, bringing the book with him.

"Well now," He mocked, "What an exceptionally adorable child. Who taught you to speak, little girl?" Closing the book and tucking it under the crook of an arm, he pushed past her down the rows and corridors of stacked covers. She would almost certainly follow, and so he spoke to her, between turning corners and wandering this way and that around the library floor.

"Children shouldn't read such stories, best stick to adventures and princesses."

"Such a cute expression, certainly if you can wrest the book from me than I'll let you have it."

"Did your parents give you your stick? Shame, shame. You might hurt yourself if you aren't careful."

[Evalin]

Evalin's frown deepened the more the man speak, and as she followed him down the corridor of books thoughts of torture and fire brewed deep within her mind... yet she held her wants and desires in check, if only barely...

Foolish men need not be held to understand true reasoning... She thought to herself, Then... what might I do instead?

A chilled voice echoed within her mind, pressing against her consciousness to whisper, When one finds herself admits the wolves and they treater her a cub, tis best to play the part of the cub... A simple answer, yet not what Evalin was hoping for...

With a sigh she nodded once, the sound of her staff on the floor echoing in the near silence of the library as she trailed the man, Be damned you, for your words ring of more truths that I care to admit... Very well. Let us play this game shall we?

Moving forward, faster than a child should, Evalin caught up with Wrenmae and matched his pace. Looking up at him she spoke, though not with the harshness it held just moments before, "Children also shouldn't talk to strangers, but my mother and father died a long time ago. It is just me now." She smiled up at Wrenmae in what she hoped was an innocent expression, but then again it had been ages since she had tried to truly smile...

Lifting her staff so that it no longer clacked on the floor the girl would skip a few steps before speaking, her eyes firmly planted on the tiles that she was hopping between as she spoke, "My name is Evalin, whats yours?"

OOCOh this will be fun XD

[Wrenmae]

Shroud paused between the mouth of a new row and turned back to the child. All of that haughty superiority and old tongue had vanished, replaced by the air of petulant superiority. The girl skipped between tiles of the library, leaping, as though to lily pads spread across a placid pond.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, the whole of Wren, personalities included, resonated with the abandoned. Orphans were the cursed of Mizahar. In a world torn apart by the tantrums of gods, it was dangerous for anyone to be alone. Personally, he remembered wandering through the Kalea mountains, pushing against the blizzards as though they were real things. What would have happened to him if he hadn't been taken in?

The Summoning book felt heavy in his arms, far heavier than he had initially remembered.

Choking back a visible sigh, the Waveguard glared down at the child.

"A child with a desire to learn magic...enamored by tales of madness and perdition, or do you simply want power?"

He knelt, coming to eye level with her. So far, he had not yet relinquished the book. Summoning was an art he had pursued since Zan had been granted him years ago and now a piece of that cog was beneath one arm. But this child, she dared to challenge him so brazenly, she dared to follow, dared to argue.

She reminded him of a younger self, dashing from cover to cover in the shifting Alvadan landscape. A thief too strong to be weak, a child who had to be brave, lest he be eaten by the jackals.

Personally, I don't like her.

I didn't ask your opinion.

No one ever does. I have to rely on timing.

Rely on something else.

Make me.

Mature.

Like the miniature fleshbag? Am I the ONLY one who sees she has what looks like a well made staff?

An Heirloom, perhaps.

Right. Of course. Heirloom. I'm just the stupid familiar. Carry on, oh master negotiator, oh lord of mystery. Don't let me stop you.

I never do.

And that's why we get petched up in the first place.


"What do you want of me, child? You must have caretakers. No small creature like yourself can survive on Zeltivan's streets off charity alone."

[Evalin]

In truth Evalin was surprised her ploy had worked. Within her mind she turned over the events as they had transpired thus far, My, perhaps this body has its advantages... though they are well veiled by nuisances and annoyance...

Evalin blinked at the man's sudden questions, tilting her head and searching within her for the answer. How would a child answer? What would they say? What would they not say?

Be damned, tis more difficult to convene innocent ignorance than one would think possible.

Tsenrika stirred against her mind, Ignorance is not a show of innocence, and children might be far more sinister than they first appear...

Tilting her head and furrowing her brow in what she hopped was an inquisitive expression, Evalin spoke slowly, as if each word took time to bring to the surface, "I do not know about power, but I do want to meet someone one day. Father always said to envision your goal, and do whatever it takes to achieve it." At the mention of "Father" the girl could not help the image of the man cloaked in shadows, that man known as Rayage. How strange that she could no longer see the face of her true father, and that man's had come to replace her vision with his own figure.

She smiled once more, the expression taking more concentration that Evalin expected as she tried to work these unused facial muscles into action. Turning then she would skip a few more tiles down before facing Wrenmae once, resting the butt of her staff on the ground and leaning against it, "I have no caretaker, but I do not think I need one. I have done fine on my own for a long time." A forced giggle that pained Evalin to the core of her being. If she could still blush with humiliation she might have at this point. Her hand raised and a single tiny finger indicated the book that the man held in his arm, "What I want is that book. I have not looking at the pictures."

[Wrenmae]

Shroud scowled, rising away from her. He would have walked away. In any other situation, he should have. Somehow, though, he felt bound to remain here in forced conversation with the child. Running a hand through his hair, he let his discontent break from him in an explosive sigh.

"I will grant you the time to look over my shoulder," He said at last, frowning, "But you will read or scan the pages at my pace, not yours. I want no interruptions from you, not a single peep."

Turning from her sharply, he made his way over to a table and sat, laying the book out on the table. The art of Summoning had long since been one he'd sought to pull into mastery. Now that his hypnotic power was at its peak, or at least, what felt like its peak, he had the commanding presence to demand services of those otherworldly creatures. Of course, as with most world magic, the circle was utilized as the prime crux of the magical art. In the first part of the book he'd read that Mizahar could tap into other 'planets' like other MIzahars through the use of coordinates. These long strings of numbers were vital to the summoning process. Without them, one dialed only into nothing, and recieved nothing in return.

Personally, I see no point in this.

Unambitious?

Nah. I mean, why would you want to revisit my plane anyways? Everyone who's anyone keeps trying to get out.

Research and opportunity. I doubt your world is the only one out there.

I'm betting they want in this world about as much as I did, and you're just gonna start kicking down doors.

Don't I always?

Remind me when it's time to break you out of trouble.

Oh, you'll know.

But I'm not sure you will.

Laughing to himself, shaking his head, the hypnotist opened the book again and leafed through the introduction. There was a foreword there, written by some dried up sorceress named Evalin or something, but he chose to ignore it. Forewords, by and large, were wasted prattling of a mind long gone. If he ever chose to write a book, he would put no such things on the front pages.

"Plenty of geometric circles to look at," he said to the girl, "But you don't look like a summoning type to me."

He paused in his perusal of the book, remembering a certain teacher long ago, in Alvadas.

"What do you know of the magical arts?"

[Evalin]

Walking close behind the man Evalin was forced to surpress a frown in favor of a more... ignorant expression. Working her features into what she hoped was blissful unawareness Evalin was quick to follow Wrenmae to where he sat, scrambling up onto a chair near him as he opened the pages of the book. Absently she noted her name etched in the forward, How long ago that was now... I wonder what I might say to mine past self after all this time? What did I used to hold dear? Have I truly changed that much?

Leaning forward Evalin sought to view the pages as the man whimsically flipped through them, carelessly overlooked such founts of wisdom and knowledge. The girl felt a twinge of resentment that the man seemed to only glance at the most important text, choosing instead to observe the diagrams which could only be understood AFTER the proper application of time to the written word, Honestly now, do the youth have not the patience to even read that which is right before them?

Perhaps thine words are far too extravagent to hold the attention of those who read them... Tsenrika mused.

Rolling her eyes at her familiar's voice Evalin thought, If that be so then such should not even bother to learn mine art, for surely they would not understand the intricate complexities of summoning if they cannot suffer a few paragraphs of intelligent rhetoric.

In her musings Evalin almost missed Wrenmae's question. Glancing up at the man her eyes returned quickly to the page before answering, "I know more than most and less than few."

She tilted her head and pointed to the page that Wrenmae held open for her, "The circles are the basis for the entire art of summoning. Depending on the type of circle and number of connecting lines the stability of the portal, as well as its size and the mages control over it can be greatly altered. Many beginners make the mistake of thinking that the more lines there are the more stable the structure, when in fact it is the opposite." She drew an imaginary diagram on the table with her finger, "In fact it is the three-lined circle which is the most stable. Three is in deep resonance with the number 6, and it forms the triangular shape within the inner circle. A circle drawn with the triangular formation can be opened wider and for longer than a normal 4-lined circle, though it is often recommended that the beginner begin with the 4-lined structure because it offers the simplest control when learning the basics."

Wise words for a child...

Evalin mentally shrugged, At the very least might this man learn something from all of this. While he might be the greatest annoyance thus far, I would rather he did not shame mine art with idiotic folly upon his first try.

[Wrenmae]

Shroud looked over the book at the girl, one eyebrow raised in careful consideration. After a moment or two of that silent exchange, he turned the book to the front, reading the foreword carefully. It took him several minutes to push through the educated dissertation before turning back again to the first chapter. It was only then that he spoke.

“You are not who you appear to be, are you.” It was not phrased as a question, simply an observation he made. “Are you a morpher? A Nuit? Some species of dwarf I am not yet familiar with? Are you-“ He stopped himself, a faint smile ghosting against his lips. “No, no, I do not think that is the object here. Your identity is not as vital as your instruction. Truthfully, I’ve found most of world magic to involve circles. Something about their shape, their continuity, their containment. Maybe the circle is sacred to the divine, perhaps there is a secret there in all magic, some leyline to a, of yet, unheard of god.”

Shaking his head, he turned the page to find examples of the circles all mapped on the thick vellum. The page after had a simple list of the ‘known’ worlds, their coordinates and step by step instructions to drawing and initiating a circle. The book recommended summoning a memosite first, a living memory stone, due to the low risk associated with such a passive creature.

“Have you summoned before?” He asked her, already nodding as if he knew the answer, “If you help me draw my first circle, I’ll not only return your book to you, I’ll pay or steal it from the library and let you take it with you.”

Another time his eyebrow swooped up, “If it is your book, you seem more interested in possessing it than letting others glean knowledge from the pages. If that deal isn’t interesting enough for you, what does a little girl who is not a little girl want in a city like Zeltiva?”

[Evalin]

Evalin's small smile lit her lips once more as she sat upon the table, "I am who I am, and nothing more." Leaning forward over the book, her hair falling across her features, "An astute observation, and you might very well be right, though I believe it is of little consequence if it were god or man whom gave circles their hidden meanings." She raised a finger, "For no matter what I might still use them for my own purposes."

Leaning back Evalin kicked her legs under the table, "I have, though with this book you should be well enough on your own." the girl shrugged, looking back over her shoulder at Wren with a wry smile, "After all, what would a little girl know of summoning that you could not figure out for yourself?"

Mind your tongue lest it be wrested from you.

Worry you not, for all is well in hand.

Pulling at her hair Evalin hopped down from the table, taking up her staff and leaning upon it as she spoke, "I am here for my own reasons, which I am sure are of little concern to you." She would pause, mulling over a thought or two before continuing, "But very well. I shall assist you with your creation of a circle, if you take for me that tome you hold in your grasp."

She cast her mind to the necklace that hung over her chest, See now, all is well is it not?

That is yet to be seen.