Closed Light Reading (Annalisa)

[Erekez]

25th Day Of Summer, 513 AV The Memorial Library was always striving to expand its collection of knowledge, receiving boxes every so often containing books, journals, scriptures, and every other type of literary medium from generous donors of all sorts. Their ages and subjects were as varied as the numbers they came in. From one book on the Knights of Syliras from a student who no longer needed it, to a crate of mismatched covers and free-floating pages from books detailing events just after the Valterrian dragged out from some guy's cupboard. Poor bugger probably didn't know he had them, let alone how valuable they are. With the influx today, Erekez had been called to help sort the new load out. As it turned it, there were some books amongst them that had been bought in to replace old ones from the Djed Storm that had been too badly damaged to restore. The title had been taken, along with the original author, and requests had been sent out to find another copy to replace the one lost. It was costly, but Lisaelis didn't like losing anything she had within the library. Journals were a different matter. A journal was a record of one individual's thoughts, experiences and knowledge. It wasn't a book intended to have copies made from it. Most, much to Lisaelis's dismay, remained one of a kind unless a copy was made almost instantly of being received by any scribe. So the library had lost some of its journals, and the knowledge with them. The crate was old, coated by a defence of splinters along the face and sides from dry rot and splitting. The leather gloves Erekez wore made a good second skin, protecting his hands from any harm as he attempted to pry the lid off. The wood held onto the nails for dear life, as if it were alive. The initial problem wasn't finding the right gauge of strength to pull the lid off and not catapult the crate over you. It was trying to get a good grip on the lid to begin. Perfect-fit lids were the worst. Erekez would need to work his nails under the lid and try and work his fingertips underneath after. It didn't always work. Losing half your nail on each finger wasn't fun by any means, but it came with the job. The lid came off in two halves, as the first half splintered away from the second, showering wood slivers and dust everywhere. The second half came off easier, now there was a ledge to grab. As the dust settled after the second try, Erekez carefully took out the books one at a time, reading the titles over to get an idea of where they may end up in the library. Restricted or Unrestricted, and what section. He piled them up in groups around the crate, feeling his hand brush against something as coarse as sand as he reached back in. Bringing it out, Erekez looked at it with a puzzled expression. The book was as dry as stone, and the pages were splayed out in all directions, as if it had been set down that way. They would almost crumble at his touch. This wasn't something Erekez felt confident handling. Neither did he want to get the blame if something went wrong with it. "Lisaelis!" The elderly woman appeared shortly after his call. "I've found quite an old book. Not sure how old though. Thought you might want to take a look at it." As she took a hold of the book, she closed her eyes, using her own Lykata to search through the contributions. She was quiet for a couple of seconds before Erekez flinched as she suddenly gasped, a smile quickly forming on her face. "I have to find a Shielder!" The excitement in her voice was clear. "This is a pre-Valterrian book! A chance like this doesn't come very often. We need to keep it safe." Erekez couldn't get a word in before she was off on her own little quest. He couldn't blame her. It was a rare find. And you found it in a rotting crate. Returning to the crate, one more book caught Erekez's eye. One that he would be interested in: Familiars of Mizahar This book wasn't as old as the one Lisaelis now held, and he still had some of the sketches that Fianza had given him, though she had taken quite a lot of them back. Mostly the ones he had done little research on and, in her own words, wouldn't need to research fully if he was only going to learn Familiary, and not Summoning. Time for a break then.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna was rather tired today, though considering her exertions the previous night that wasn't exactly surprising. Her stint of scroll creation had been rather exhausting, by all rights she should be in bed now that she had delivered the scrolls to the Wave Guard. Her hair was slightly frayed and her eyes possessed a bloodshot quality about them that spoke of stress and exhaustion in equal parts. All in all the young professor looked very much worse for wear from her task last night. However a recent discovery in her research had come to a head, thus here she was in the library searching the shelves of the restricted section. The tired young woman strained her grey eyes to view the spines of the books correctly, looking for the one that had brought her here. It wasn't a large tome and in fact was rather plain looking, such was the way of things. The secrets behind its pages were anything but ordinary, in fact they were very much extraordinary. The held knowledge of a world beyond this one, a dimension of emptiness: The Void. She had heard rumors of the discipline, hearsay and whispers mostly with no concrete evidence behind it. Thus, her curiosity sparked she scanned the shelves for knowledge regarding it, her insatiable hunger for knowledge of all things magical driving her onward even through fatigue and weariness. Some might call this obsession but she knew better, those who thought such things were fools with no vision. Only through sheer bloody minded determination could one hope to achieve their dreams, Anna knew the cold despair of normality and now that she had tasted power she wanted more. After a few more minutes of scanning over the section she finally found what she sought, "Emptiness Eternal" a small tome smashed between two applied reimancy tomes. She completely disregarded the other books and pulled her prize from its place before setting off in search of a place to sit. The young professor strode through the library with purpose in her steps, searching for a suitable place to conduct her studies. After a little time she settled on a table near the fringes of the restricted section, sighing slightly as she sat down. Slowly and carefully she opened the book, bringing out a piece of parchment and an ink stick for notes. Finally, her supplies ready she began to focus on the tome before her with a frightening hunger in her eyes. The first bit of important information she came across was the nature of the void itself. Anna didn't really have the foggiest of ideas what the Void was, she had assumed it was simply a pocket dimension someplace but according to this book it was much more than that. "Emptiness, nothingness, eternity unending, The Void is all of these thing and it is also none of them. The Void is a cold finality, a place that knows no end or beginning. Its only inhabitants are refuse and things best left forgotten to drift endlessly forever." The young wizard was quick to take notes, her weariness vanishing before the brunt of her hunger. -The Void is massive beyond comprehension, possibly infinite. -It was apparently used as a dumping ground for trash and dangerous entities. -Perhaps possible storage uses? Anna thought on this bit of information, from what she read so far Voiding indeed seemed quite powerful but she had to wonder the cost of that power. She eagerly returned to the passages, searching for answers in the pages of the tome.

[Erekez]

Flicking through the pages of the book on familiars showed it to be in a condition that wasn't far off the pre-Valterrian book. The pages weren't nearly as delicate, neither was the cover as badly damaged. The pages were still easy enough to tear if turned carelessly, but that only applied to the ones that were still attached to the spine. There were clumps of pages in the front and back of the book. It was clear that pages had fallen out, picked up in any order and thrown anywhere in the book. Throughout it all, ink had begun to fade in places, making some of the writings begin to become illegible. How long has it been in this kind of condition? And what had any of the books in that crate been put through to get this bad? The pre-Valterrian book had been the worst. No doubt because of its age combined with any form of mistreatment. There had been a few books in relatively good condition. They were readable without any problems. They'd need restoring at some point over the next few years though, that was a safe guess. All the other books ranged between the two levels of care. The familiar book had been somewhere in the middle, leaning closer to the worse side. This isn't going to be much of a break. Closing the book, Erekez placed it down on the nearest table he passed as he headed for the steps to the floor below. He'd need to get a vial of ink and a blank book again from the front desk, as well as the sketches that Fianza had left him. It was work and research in one go again, something he had been doing more often as of late. As long as he was working when he should be, and there weren't any outstanding requests for specific books to take priority, Lisaelis didn't mind Erekez restoring books of his own interest. They were going to be done eventually, and if they had greater use of being done sooner, then so be it. The woman at the front desk had come to know what Erekez was after every time he made his visits now. The ink and book were ready before he had even reached the desk. Erekez wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing that he had become so predictable. Whenever anything was said about it, the woman always meant it in good humour. No harm done, and she was just being friendly. Only the sketches were missing now. The stack didn't look much smaller when it was brought out from its safe place, even after the number Fianza had needed to take back. It was part of the reason that he had left the book behind on that desk. Carrying that book, as well as a blank one, a vial of ink, and a stack of sketches? That was an accident waiting to happen. One Erekez was determined not to have whilst he had the sketches with him. It was the reason he never let them leave the library. They weren't his and they were precious to Fianza. Any risk of anything happening to them was out of the question. With the vial of ink in his pocket, and the blank book on top of the stack, Erekez made his way back up to the restricted section and his book, only to find a woman he didn't recognise sat at the desk. Oh. Was she there before I dumped the book off?

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna was giddy and it showed, this tome was everything she was hoping it would be and then some. She was learning more about the nature of the Void and its place in the greater scheme of things than she had ever dared to dream. The potential it held was nearly limitless for those that could realize it, the potential applications of actually using the Void were staggering. Anna's thirst was only increased as she looked over every letter, her knowledge increased with every word absorbed. She looked over the next few lines, they dealt with actually creating portals to the Void, though the knowledge of how exactly one learned to make the portals was still eluding her. Anna had no doubt the she could find the information, even if it was not located in this very tome. The Library held much information here in the restricted section, the answer was out there no doubt. "Portals to the Void are created by emptying space and quickly expanding and nurturing that emptiness. Eventually it will grow is size and strength as Djed is fed to it. Unlike reimancy, one must constantly maintain the portal or it will shrink and eventually dissipate. As a general rule, the greater the portal is in size the more Djed will be needed to maintain it. This is just taking into account a portal without Push or Pull of course. A portal can possess a Pull or a Push to it, meaning it has an attractive force or a repulsive force to it. It is highly advisable to give them a certain direction, as Omni directional portals can be dangerous to the caster as much as to the target. Push or Pull will also add to the amount of Djed needed to maintain the portal. Anna was already scribbling away on her parchment fervently, the world around her losing importance. She needed to record this information for future reference. -A Portal to the Void is created by creating empting out matter from a certain small point. -Portals can possess a Push or a Pull that will add a repulsive force or an attractive force respectively. -Djed is required to maintain portals, it must be steadily fed to keep it strong. Push and Pull add to the Djed needed. Portals should be given a single direction. Multi directional portals can be dangerous. Anna was about to return to flipping through the pages of the tome when she noted a man standing nearby. She gave him a look that wasn't exactly friendly but it wasn't overly hostile either. It spoke more of annoyance than anything else. Annoyance at this perceived intrusion into her study on the Void. "Can I assist you sir?" She asked, a little more tersely than necessary.

[Erekez]

"Not with anything in particular." Erekez matched the woman's tone in his reply. He didn't feel he had done anything that had warranted any kind of hostility from her so far. He'd only just arrived. "Feel free to get back to whatever you were doing originally." Gently placing the sketches on the desk, next to the tattered book, Erekez looked about the library hoping to find somewhere else. As it turned out, with the new shipment of books, a call for scribes to come in and start documenting and restoring had already been been answered. Each desk Erekez could immediately see already had a number of people around them, whether employee, student or otherwise. It was possible that the woman herself was the reason this table was empty besides her. So she would've been there before you dumped the book on it. Additionally, he now had a book that was about as frail as a Leecher and a stack of sketches that were just waiting to get him in to trouble. Erekez didn't really want to move either of them, but it seemed as though he wasn't really welcome at this desk either. Then again, he only had to weigh out the two choices. Risk upsetting Lisaelis and Fianza, both of whom had almost instant access to him, or sit with an irritable stranger for a few bells in silence, at best, who he was unlikely to see again. The choice is obvious. "Would it be too much of a problem if I worked at this desk?"

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna noted his tone but focused on his words and did indeed return to her reading, poring through the pages for scraps of information that she deemed useful. Namely she was now looking for initiation into Voiding, for ways to actually learn how to bridge the dimension of emptiness with this one. It was not easy and she had to wade through supplementary information to find what she sought, occasionally scribbling down a note or two. When she finally thought she had reached what she was looking for, the man spoke again drawing an irritated look from Anna.

She waved her hand dismissively to him, a motion that spoke that she did really care and that she was far too caught up in her research to care what he did.

"Go or stay, it makes no difference to me. Just don't interrupt my research and we'll get along fabulously." Anna said, returning her focus back to her tome to search for the line she had just been on.

"To become one with the Void and to hold its power one must first contemplate the concept of emptiness. One must accept the Void and its nature into themselves to truly know it. This requires intense meditation and fasting as well as losing all concept of meaning for the world around you."

Anna started scribbling down notes, slower this time as she thought of how to clearly put what she had just read into understandable words.

-To actually initiate oneself into the discipline of Voiding they need to empty themselves of body and mind.

-Will require intense and highly rigorous meditation as well as fasting for extended periods of time.

-Unknown length of time required, could be days or weeks.

Anna sighed, struggling to wrap her head around this idea. Initiation into reimancy had been simply, painful and traumatic, but relatively simple in the grander scheme of things. Voiding seemed so much more abstract in its principles and it was quickly becoming clear that she would need to read more into the subject to truly understand it. She was advancing quickly in reimancy, now she needed to broaden her horizons even further.

[Erekez]

OOCSorry for the wait. Having a bit of a block with this character and am getting a new one started, so have been spending a bit of time doing that as well.

Other than being a little too easily annoyed, and the venom on her tongue, there weren't any other immediate problems with the woman. She was content to just work in her own world, researching whatever. The silence didn't bother Erekez, he had grown accustomed to it. If she was more than happy to leave him be, he was happy to do the same. At least he could get on and do his own work as well then. Sorting his work area out, Erekez had the blank book open in front of him with the ink and familiar book next to it. The introduction was almost pristine in its appearance. A minor annoyance that made him inwardly groan, but would become a bigger annoyance if there were more pages like this one than there were damaged ones. They may have been easier to read and copy, but it got a lot of scribes when they had to redo an entire book for the sake of a couple of pages that were borderline unreadable. Then again, with the number of pages falling out, it might prove to be even. The quill scratched across the paper in the book as he wrote, going over the introduction, discovering the six most common familiars found in Mizahar, with their sketches from Fianza's pile out in front of him. The water-blob Sarawanki, the gas-cloud Avavali, the liquid-metal Pascid, the ice-orb Irylid, the stone-statue Kirt, and the shadow-nexus Gordios. Split into two groups, from the Lightface and Darkface of Fyrden. Each with their own unique personality, as well as their own unique set of problems. The book expressed the same dangers as Fianza did from the beginning. A familiar was as dangerous to its master as it was useful. Bonding with it didn't mean you were safe from it. "Erekez!" He looked over the balcony to the floor below. Another scribe stood there waving a book up at him. "You busy?" "A bit." "We've had requests through again. The pre-Valterrian book got some of the wizards asking about the magic texts we got in. They want to see if they can find anything about magic before the Valterrian. Unlikely, but because you found that one, he have to make sure if the others are pre or post. Fancy taking this one?" Erekez thought for a bit. He couldn't pass his book of as a magic book. It was magic related, but wasn't on magic itself. If the requests were coming through, he'd have to, otherwise they'd pile up. "Sure, what's it called?" The scribe read the cover. "101 uses of the Void: Master of Nothing." he read through some of the first page. "Discover current known uses such as anchors and teleporting, get creative and discover your own." Erekez tidied up his current workspace, pushing it all to one side to have room after he retrieved the Voiding book.

[Abstract]

Anna

Skills

+ Writing - 1


Lores

+ Voiding: Trash/Storage Uses
+ Voiding: Basics of Creating a Portal
+ Voiding: How to Initiate yourself

Other:



Notes

Erekez, if you update your ledger for Seasonal Expences, just PM me and I'll give you your grade. Otherwise, not much to give here. You still got some pretty valuable info though Anna! I would say good luck on the voiding... but I already graded the initiation thread, so... have fun instead?

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this grade, please PM me and we can work it out!