Closed From One to Another

[Mienskil Ostovik]

37th of Winter, 512 AV The Great Library When Mienskil had first heard of the library, his initial instinct was to run straight to it and sit down with half the books. Back in Zeltiva, they were his primary source of information that he needed, all the people too busy or too unfamiliar with him to help. So of course the human requested to be taken there at once, being between projects and having some free time, and though he had to out up with a follower golem the librry was worth it. Walking through the dusty rows of shelves, Mienskil looked from book to book excitedly. In Zeltiva, he had studied at the university and had access to a lot of pre-valterrian books, but that place was nothing compared to this archive. His understanding of Nader-Canoch had been sufficient for most tomes back in the ancient city in which he was born, but here he felt completely inadequate, like a newborn entering the adult section of the library, such was his skill level compared to that of the books that surrounded them. He was not usually one for sentiment or anything of the sort, but even he had to spend at least a few brief chimes running his hand along the spines of the ancient dusty books. He'd come here seeking knowledge, but when he arrived he was so surprised that his quest was nearly forgotten. At the moment there wasn't anything in particular he was looking for, so the golems served no purpose to him for now. Just for a short while, he relished in the feeling of the future, of knowing that he had access to so much knowledge and merely required the ability to read it. Stopping at one book at random, Mienskil curiously tried to read the title, tilting his head to read it better. Something in webbing and something. If he was to stay here, he would really have to work on his Nader-Canoch. Putting it back, he saw one of those funny-shaped Catalog Golems and walked over to it. "Excuse me," he said aloud, but the the contraption did not react. "Um, I'm looking for some books on magecrafting, could you lead me to some?" Still no response. Mienskil scratched his head curiously. Was it of faulty design perhaps?

[Thomas Cosa]

"It won't help you," Thomas called out, standing across from the strange pulser, "Or even me, for that matter," he added, his voice bitter. "They," he gestured towards the catalog golem, "Ignore anything with a pulse," he scoffed, jaw locking slightly as he glared at the mechanical creation. "I haven't figured out how they identify us, as living, but when I do," Thomas paused, smiling, "I don't think they'll be ignoring me for much longer, anyway. If it comes down to it, I'll be animating my own," he shrugged, his gaze moving back towards the new pulser.

"I'm Thomas," he extended his left hand, covered by a leather glove. "I'm assuming your new to the isle? I can take you to magecrafting, follow me," he smiled, heading deeper into the ever expanding library.

OOCBleh. Short post.

[Mienskil Ostovik]

Another voice drew Mienskil's attention from the golem, and the Magecrafter turned to face another man. He looked a bit sickly and slightly undernourished, but his skin still had a bit of color and his sunken eyes looked to be of sleep rather than stagnation. Snapping his eyes shut and open revealed the swirling words and snaking symbols surrounding the man, and the absence of the cold and death that floated around most other wizards showed that this man was very much alive. Quickly he squeezed his eyes shut to cut off the djed flow, redirecting his attention to what was actually being said. Ignoring everything with a pulse? Whatever for? That would make it terribly inconvenient for research and study. Though he suspected that, on an island of the dead, the living weren't commonly accomodated. It didn't appear that the island made much room for the living, and the Archwizard said when he first arrived that pulser - the living - were only recently taken in as things other than slaves. He'd have to take this up with Mashaen next time they met, if at all, for if he was to be working and mximum afficiency then he would need whatever knowledge he could get his hands on. Not that he intended to confront the wizard about it, but if theybcould work something out that'd be excellent. So was his train of thought at least. The Magecrafter smiled and took the glaved hand in his own frail one. "Mienskil," he introduced himself. So an animator? Mienskil knew little about the craft apart from what it did, but that was enough. Already his mind was wandering to what their crafts coulsd accomplish combined, a reinforced weapon given life or a modified construct made to move. If possible, he would like to talk to this man Thomas about what they could do. Especially since they were both alive. "Indeed, I'm the newest Magecrafter on the island, working out of lab 37B. It's a little empty at the moment, but I'm working. Thanks for offering to help, I appreciate it." Mind running faster than his legs, Mienskil followed Thomas through the library and past the golems that ignored them so dutifully. "Tell me, are you interested im collaborating at all?" Mienskil asked, thinking of the projects that he could create.

[Thomas Cosa]

"Empty?" Thomas repeated, momentarily confused, "But, surely your an apprentice, no?" he asked casually, scanning the shelves for useful titles, carefully translating from the ancient tongue, "Are you looking for anything in particular?" he asked, mentally translating the various titles into common, the ancient symbols become more recognizable the longer Thomas stayed on the undead isle.

"Collaborating?" Thomas asked, watching the strange pulser with a mixture of disbelief and suspicion. "I can't say that I'm not flattered, or that I wouldn't be interested," he said, his eyes flittering around the dark library, as if he was expecting someone or something to be listening, waiting for Thomas to say the wrong thing. "But why?" he asked, bluntly, "Perhaps I have passed too much time among the dead, but I fail to understand why you would have any interest of a collaboration with me, especially considering we have just met."

[Mienskil Ostovik]

Mienskil had to tread lightly when talking about this, as Mashaen specifically asked that no one know of their arrangement and his real purpose under the Archwizard. At the same time however, he was granted full status as a wizard and skipped the apprentice phase, which was hard to explain without a connection to someone of status on the island. The Magecrafter's mind was thinking fast to come up with an answer while he bought time for as long as he could. "I'm not actually an apprentice," Mienskil answered. "At least, I'm not working under anyone. The existing Magecrafters want nothing to do with me, but I guess I was too potentially valuable to cast adrift by the other wizards so they put me in an common lab. Right now there's only my workstation, the rest is as bare as it was before, but hopefully it will fill up with clutter I create and maybe some others if they want to help." It gave the human Magecrafter some thought when Thomas asked if he was looking for anything in particular. He wasn't really, he just wanted to peruse the section himself, but now that he had a pulser animator to talk to and coordinate with hr wasn't about to ask the other man to leave. "I suppose I'll start with something about structural reinforcement, either making things lighter or sturdier or shaping things in whatever other ways. There must be a more efficient process than what I'm doing, perhaps some mental techniques that could help me direct the djed currents. Maybe something about reagents while we're here." When Thomas asked for a reason, Mienskil took a moment to organize his thoughts in a way he could speak them. "My... motivation, you could say, while I'm here is not merely to research everything I can about Magecrafting. That is indeed one of my goals, but knowledge without application is a waste. I want to use what I learn to create powerful things, a testament to my efforts that will last longer than myself. And I feel like our two fields of expertise can benefit from working together. Now all we need is an alchemist." That last part was meant to be a joke, so he grinned, but now that he said it out loud he was beginning to wonder if he could actually find one. Then he considered another question that Thomas had asked, why him in particular. "Well, it doesn't have to be you I guess," Mienskil answered, scratching his head. "Anyone from your field would work. Then again, why not you? We've only just met, but that's more than I can say for other animators, and I'd rather work with someone who will take me seriously than a wizard who will take every opportunity to prove he or she is smarter than I am. I think it's because I've got my own lab depsite being both alive and fresh off the boat, scares the shyke out of a lot of them."

[Thomas Cosa]

"Oh," Thomas replied, eyeing Mienskil supisciously, "I suppose that's understandable..." his voice tailed off, Thomas not entirely sure whether he believed the magecrafter's story. It made sense enough -- mages were a secretive bunch in general, the undead mages of Sahova, even more so. Still, Thomas couldn't help but doubt, considering the amount of freedom Mienskil had been given, especially as a new arrival.

He even had a lab. His own lab. Thomas wanted that, and he wanted to know specifically, how Mienskil had secured his own.

And he would find out, Avalis had seen to that. If it came down to it, Thomas would just yank the memory right out of Mienskil's chavi.

Thomas smiled, slightly, a pathetic attempt at apathy -- he couldn't show he was bothered by the fact he was a lowly apprentice, and Mienskil had scored full wizard recognition and a lab right of the bat, at least, not outwardly. "You understand, Nader-canoch, no?" he asked, turning towards the shelves, "These," he added, gesturing towards a pair of books, "Are about structural reinforcement, as you asked, and...," he paused, scanning the shelves for anything useful, "This one," he mentioned, pulled a large volume from the ancient book shelf, "Details various accounts and methods of magecrafting, all Sahova wizards, I'd imagine," Thomas offered the book to Mienskil, his eyes still watching the magecrafter carefully.

"True enough, I see no value in learning for the sake of learning. Application alone makes knowledge valuable," Thomas nodded, "And I do see the value in combining the two disciplines, and if it is any help," he paused, his smile widening, "I happen to know a very talented alchemist, albeit he is Nuit, so," Thomas shrugged, watching the pulser for any reaction, hoping for a negative one. Would this pulser, much like Thomas, hate the Nuit?

Perhaps, Thomas could grow to view Mienskil as an ally against the undead.

"I agree, the Nuit are too self absorbed and insecure to accomplish anything productive," Thomas smiled, liking this new pulser more and more, even if his feelings toward the Nuit were little more than annoyance. Perhaps, though, with time, he could feel as Thomas did.

"I would love to collaborate with you, Mienskil," Thomas said, a chime or two passing before he said the words, "I suppose you don't have any ideas?"

[Mienskil Ostovik]

Any clues as to what Thomas was thinking were completely ignored by Mienskil, who was busy thinking of a viable cover story for the acquisition of his lab. The only thing that made any sense was that someone important with the power to do that had given him the lab in return for something. Which was true, except it couldn't be known that it was the Archwizard himself that had been the person. Suppose it was time to start cozying up to someone of authority to divert attention. "I can read basic sentences," Mienskil answered. "Don't expect me to carry much of a conversation or start reading poetic verse, but I can grasp the fundamentals, which is all I'm after." He took the offered book graciously, reaching up to grab the other two Thomas had pointed out and stacked them in his arms. They were quite heavy, but Mienskil was new enough that his health still adequate enough to hold out from here to the Gug Andjak. He didn't know what the limits were for books, but they were only three and he doubted the secretivd Magecrafting team needed any of them. Petch, they probably wrote the bloody things. "Thanks Thomas," he said, nodding gratefully. "Remind me to make something for you sometime. Could prove interesting to see what I can do to tools." Glad to see that the other pulser agreed with him, Mienskil nodded again, more enthusiastically this time. His mind had already begun thinking about what he could craft that would be useful under animation, a weapon most likely, a simple one that could be used quickly and efficiently yet brought power to bear. When Thomas mentioned that he knew an alchemist, Mienskil damn near soared with excitement, though a dampener was put over it upon hearing he was a nuit. Well, it wasn't too bad, but all the dead here were either very nearly insane or trying to put him down as a pulser. Frowning, he responded. "Well, as long as he takes me seriously we'll get along fine. I don't like being put down simply because I can breathe." At Thomas' generalization, Mienskil shrugged. "It's mostly just around pulsers I think, but that's enough to annoy the shyke out of me. On their own they seem all productive and whatnot, which only makes it more frustrating when they shut down to tell me to petch off. Some are alright, but they're a minority. Generally their heads are too far up their rears to see what could be made if we worked together." Mienskil had said a bit more than he meant to, but it was a sore point for him. Perhaps it was a bit selfish and arrogant to think he should be working with these other wizards, but if together they could accomplish so much then why the hell shouldn't they? At least Thomas could see. "Nothing too concrete yet," Mienskil answered, setting the tomes down on a table. "I was thinking an animated ranged weapon as that could be very useful. I could craft the weapon itself to strike harder and faster, maybe make it lighter and easier to move around. Thrn if you know how, you could animate it on some kind of device to aim, maybe attach an eyepiece for it to see and aim through." The Magecrafter frowned slightly in thought. "Do you know how to make gadgets? It seem to be a companion skill to animation in a lot of cases, I just assumed you did."

[Thomas Cosa]

"Perhaps, then, you should look into a more detailed description of the ancient tongue? A grammar book?" Thomas suggested, "Fundamentals or otherwise, magic is magic. If you misinterpret something, well, important...," Thomas shrugged, tracing a line across his neck, "Magic is magic after all. Best understand it wholly, or risk your life. Or worse."

"Gladly," He smiled, genuinely pleased by the offer. "It won't be something I'll be likely to forget, a freely gifted magecrafted item would be happily recieved," Thomas added, his mind greedily imagining all the wonderous, powerful things he could ask for, things he wanted desperately.

"Oh, he will, of that I have no doubt -- but, Master Rayage is one of the most reknowned alchemist of Sahova, or so I hear," Thomas paused, watching the magecrafter's face for any reaction, wondering if Mienskil had heard of the undead alchemist during the brief time he had spent of the undead isle.

"Exactly. They are selfish, and completely self-absorbed, even the ones recently turned," Thomas said, eager to encourage the topic, glad to meet someone so willingly speak ill of the supposed masters of Sahova. "They fail any other potential besides their own, especially ours, since we still breathe, and feel, and our hearts still beat," he continued, waving his hand dismissively, "But that is their loss, Mienskil, and it is our duty to prove them wrong."

"Gadgeteering is a companion skill to animation," Thomas paused thoughtfully, considering how to detail his own inadequacy in that department, "And truthfully, I can manage small projects, and something along the lines of a pivot should be well within my talent...," his voice dropped as he considered he had never really made a pivot before, "But should it come down to it, there are several blueprints in Lab 15 I could work off, so nothing I can't handle," he smiled, perhaps to assured of his own ability.

"Perhaps we should sketch the project first? So I have some understanding of what you're looking for?"

[Mienskil Ostovik]

Mienskil nodded sagely, though he wasn’t too concerned about it. Perhaps he wasn’t taking this as seriously as he should, but he was so eager to get back to his projects that he wasn’t slowing down to think about it. Though there was no harm in learning more that was for certain, and a better grasp of Nader-Canoch would help him read more advanced texts, which would in turn help him advance faster. “Perhaps you’re right,” Mienskil replied. “I’ve yet to come across a failed magecrafting project that went horribly wrong though. Most of the time the result is just a ruined item because too much of its djed leaked without direction, making it brittle and heavy and worthless, but I’m unsure of any accounts of it being actively harmful to the crafter besides passive degradation due to exposure of unfocused djed. Long story short: I will be sure to look out for it later.” Thomas seemed eager to get his hands on something, and Mienskil smiled. As one who spent all his time making these things and thus having no shortage of exposure to them, he often forgot how valued they were by other people. “Ideally I’ll be making things for everyone here, as it is obvious we’re not the best able to defend ourselves if attacked outright; Nuits are slow and sluggish, the pulsers here are often sickly and weak. We need a way to defend ourselves when confronted outright. But that is for later.” Upon hearing Master Rayage’s name mentioned, Mienskil’s eyebrows raised a quarter of a centimeter. “So you know Rayage as well?” he asked. “My rise to the title of wizard so quickly caught his attention and he paid me a visit a few days ago. He certainly is a great alchemist, if we work together I bet we could forge a future for Sahova unlike any other.” Indeed, with their three practices combined he saw before them a limitless number of possibilities with the resources of Sahova, defenses and golems and automata all brought to life by themselves. The island would become the safest place on Mizahar, and from there they could either become a refuge for others or make the world theirs… big dreams, big dreams. When Thomas seemed to unleash his tirade on the nuits, Mienskil only observed calmly. It was clear the other pulser had a strong dislike for the undead in general here in Sahova, probably prompted by his own speaking ill of them. While he agreed with most of what Thomas was saying, it wasn’t the nuits in general that he disliked; it was the traits that pushed them to work in isolation that drove him wild. Perhaps he could convince Thomas to help him change the nuit rather than supplant them as wizards and masters. “Prove them wrong we will,” Mienskil added, not wanting to take away from Thomas’ passion. Passion was good, unless it drove one away, and if Thomas was as energetic about his work as he was about this then that was very good indeed. “The more pulser wizards that make it, the more influence the living will have here. And of course, if we impress people like the Archwizard with our projects then that will surely prove our worth to them. So the more we make, the more we contribute, the better our lot will be. I have the freedom, you have the extended expertise, and together we can show that there is no reason to not work together.” If he could plant that idea that more projects meant more recognition – which it did – then there would be no worry about Thomas holding back. While the pulser animator never outright stated his lack of knowledge in the field of gadgetry, he made it quite clear through his choice of words that he knew a good deal less than he would have liked. No shame in that though, it’s not like there was anything else to attend to. That said, he didn’t know how busy apprentice work became. “Well, it will take me a while to magecraft the item anyway, so you have time to look at what blueprints you need to make sure the weapon works as intended and has freedom of range.” Nodding his agreement, Mienskil picked up one of the nearby quills and grabbed some loose leaf paper from a pile nearby, putting it onto the books he had stacked and setting the quill to it. “I was thinking maybe a bow would be good, or a crossbow perhaps since that has a larger surface area to work with and greater firing power.” He was no great artist, but he managed to draw a straight (sort of) line that went across the page and ended with a crescent-like shape (sort of) pointing one way. “I could reinforce the crossbow shaft and drawstring so that it has even greater firing power, as well as… teaching, I suppose, the string ad mechanism inside to move faster, allowing for faster firing and reloading. Aside from that there’s not much I can do, except maybe add a reagent for extra effect.” He then drew another line perpendicular to the first, then drew two more lines coming out at slightly gentler angles like a really badly pictured stand. “For now all we need is a simple turret, you can upgrade it to something less cumbersome if you want, but really a few supports is all we need.” He drew another, smaller line beside the one resembling the crossbow. “You could use an eyepiece to let the thing see and aim, though I’m not quite sure how you’d teach it distances. That way it will be fully automatic, targeting things it sees and firing on it, maybe using a command to start firing since we don’t want to hurt our own?” Pleased with himself, Mienskil straightened up again, smiling at his masterpiece. Then a frown creased his forehead. “I forgot about reloading the bolts,” he sighed. “Without someone there to reload it, the device is only good for one shot.”

[Thomas Cosa]

"Suppose," Thomas paused, searching the surroundings for quill and paper, "Suppose, we did something a bit more like," he started, slowly scratching ink over blank paper, "this,' he said, tongue caught between his lips.

Thomas sketched a simple circle, horizontal to bottom of the page. Below that, he added another circle, smaller, and more dimensional (as best he could manage), erasing at the many stray lines. "If we make something like a sort of pedastal, but with an adjustable base," he suggested, pointing to the circles, "Hopefully, then the automaton would be able to adjust for higher and lower shots, correct?" Thomas asked, glancing back at Mienskil for any suggestions.

"And for movement," he said, turning back towards the simplistic drawing, "Something simple, a stand with wheels,' Thomas shrugged, quickly bringing the ink-dipped quill downward from the rough sketch, ending the connection with a small rectangle, adding four seperate wheels, "Unless you would suggesting better?" he asked.

"And as for the reloading," Thomas he started, the quill's feather twitching as he drew lines uncurling from the pedastal, "Maybe if you could reinforce some kind of flexible metal, we could attach them to the automaton, and have them carry extra bolts, and reload the crossbow when needed?" he suggested, sucking on the writing utensil.

"How does that sound?"