72nd of Fall, 518 A.V. 11th Bell
For some time, it had been nagging at him. The strange words that he could not understand yet was able to recognize. Had it only occurred once he would have been able to let it pass as a curiosity that never got answered. However, it had occurred a few times this Fall. Discovering books so old that they had been written in the ancient language. Kynier’s understanding of the language was only a single step above the average laymen. The teachings that he had received from Glyphing gave him a little insight but not enough to formulate or decipher Nader-canoch in its written form.
The mage was walking through Baroque Bay; dressed in a dark sapphire cotton shirt with his dark green vest overtop. The hood of his black Mohair wool cloak was pulled over his head to keep the drizzling rain out of his eyes. Concealed beneath the cloak were his two cold iron short swords, each possessing their own magical effects. At his back was a dagger strapped to his belt, as well as an assassin’s dagger tucked into the side of his dark high boot. He was walking with a purpose through the puddle laden streets towards the Library in Stumble Alley. Eye fixated on the path before him.
As he approached the border between Baroque Bay and Stumble Alley, two men stepped into the street to stand in front of the mage. Kynier stopped and flicked his eyes between the two of them. Neither were familiar faces, nor did they look friendly. Beneath his cloak, he rested his hands on the hilts of his weapons. For the two men had blocked his path very deliberately. When they procured their daggers in a menacing manner, Kynier was not surprised in the least. In fact, he was amused. It had been some time since random thugs had attempted to rob him at knife-point.
“Hand over your silver and gold, and everyone gets to walk away.” One of them said with a gruff voice. Kynier started to chuckle slightly. “What’s so funny?” one of the thugs demanded. After a moment, Kynier’s mirth faded enough to speak.
“Do I really look like ‘gold on legs’ to you fellas?” He allowed the question to linger in the mist filled air. “If so, I apologize for being so misleading,” Kynier’s voice took on a hard edge as he finished speaking. He drew both of his cold iron blades at once. One foot stepped forward and the same arm held out the short sword, while the other hovered in front of his chest to let the other blade tilt over the bicep of the forward arm as a guard. “Walk away now,” he growled, “and everyone will get to walk away.”
The two men exchanged a glance. Both their eyes were wide as the realization of their mistake became apparent. Kynier walked alone but was not as helpless as he sometimes appeared to be. The two men turned and started to run. The mage shook his head as he watched the two of them flee. After returning the weapons back to their sheaths, he started on his way again. Kynier hoped that would be the last occurrence of that for a long while. He looked himself over once, curious if his attire indicated that he may be worth the trouble of stealing from. None of his clothes were opulent, nor were they made from very fine material, except for the cloak of course.
Perhaps the two men were simply desperate and chose the first individual they saw. And that they hoped that being outnumbered would have scared him into submitting his gold. Unfortunately, most of the fights he had been in where when he was outnumbered, or simply faced a more capable adversary. The mage was thankful that for once, the fight had been avoided. Unlike before, there were things that he sought to get done and found himself with less and less time to try and accomplish them. It led him to pick his battles more carefully, because recovering from one had become more of an inconvenience than anything else.
Weaving through the labyrinth of streets and alleys, Kynier found himself at the Library, just across the street from the not easy to notice entrance to his employer’s “shop”. Kynier stepped inside and lowered the hood of his cloak. As always, it was very quiet at the Library. Most of Sunberth underestimated the value of an education and focused more on the ability to fight each other. The mage did not frequent the Library often because it was smaller than those he had seen in other cities. The books were of limited selection. But despite that, it was the only place he was likely to find what it was that he was looking for.
Kynier started wandering round the Library and examining the spines of the books on the shelves. While he was still not entirely familiar with the building’s organization of their books, it felt easier than roaming around trying to find Remmy. There were times that he never saw her at all in the library after spending what must have been bells looking for her. As easy as it would have been to just shout her name throughout the quiet structure, it would have been inappropriate and unwelcomed. There was a peace and stillness in the Library that the mage had not really found anywhere else in the city. And that was something he did not want to disturb. So, he quietly roamed around, searching for something to help him understand the ancient tongue better.
NaNo Post: 935
Boxcode credit goes to Nellie!
