Day 518
Late in the morning I attend my second meeting with a council member. Norrick has not been available and so I can only leave the gift of paint at his studio for him.
Risi the Gold has spruced up Vander's old tower and it now feels like it houses an important wizard, covered in banners and well guarded. Ricken has not actually told me her field of study and I'm immensely curious to feel a mixture of arcane and fate magic in the space. It makes sense - apprentices are all busily drawing star charts and Vander himself had quite the observatory. Where the telescope once stood is now a silver-bottomed pool lined with crystal foci, which draw my attention immediately. They're clearly human-made but reminiscent of Osyr magic; clearly Risi has learned something interesting from living in this city.
Conversation with her is smooth and lubricated with sparkling white wine - she is grateful for my help in finding Vander's killers, speaks highly of her teacher and his respect for elves and the Garden. She tells me about the Osyr magic she is studying and remarks on how difficult it is to hold the sheer volume of magic they channelled.
The gazing pool is something used to view whatever the stars look down upon. Vander had worked on using a focusing item to scry upon someone's past and future using the power of stars which exist at a fundamentally different point in time to us. In her studies she is using the pool more for far-seeing, though she admits she can only hold it for half a second and it takes seven apprentices to hold everything together. I have to bite back a smile at the thought of a 1:8 Osyr:human ratio in terms of strength and capability.
She's an engaging conversationalist with some strong opinions on her work and magic, protesting that what they are doing is not mysticism but simply mathematics.
But why do we divide magic into the arcane and the mystic? Places of power resonate for both wizards and mystics. And though humans rely so heavily on their imaginings of their bloodline I know that not everyone is so strictly tied to a single bloodline - they have more potential than a single school of magic.
And like Shelor, she has a keen eye for my motivations. She has noticed my scheduled visits with Shelor, herself, and Wyn; my presence in the library and how the archivists have taken note; and knows that all of the elves view me as someone very important. At this point in our relationship Shelor had the advance awareness to ask what my precise title means. Risi becomes the first person aside from Lyssa to have 'Imperator' explained to her as we move on from magic to politics.
Risi views the city as safe and cosmopolitan, welcoming of elves and likely interested in cultural exchange and friendly relations with the Outlands. But Deldrin is still just a city-state and has not figured out how to be cohesive enough to function as anything larger. In whatever dealings she has on the council she promises to speak highly of me and the elves under my care.
Eventually I have to bid her goodbye and rush to my next appointment with Wyn the Azure in a scholarly café nearby. The elderly councilman sweeps in wearing almost comedic layers of azure blue robes and a wide-brimmed conical hat - the picture of wizardry. It is something that immediately makes me wary of his attitude and I am right to feel this way.
Kaide introduces herself as something of a relic, someone who knows Deldrin from the time long before any humans were here. She describes the flow of magic and points out how the city might benefit from structural changes that would let the old magic flow again. Wyn seems curmudgeonly, a little suspicious of her motivations and wonders aloud if she intends to reclaim Deldrin and wake the slumbering race. Wyn claims that he has felt sleeping magic deep in the lake within crystalline structures that still support life
She and I exchange a pointed look at this - the idea of slumbering Osyr elsewhere in the city...he asks that we consult the council before making any changes beneath the waves.
It is difficult for us both to stay focused as she continues explaining pathways around the city and how they draw energy from anchors in the surrounding land, which Wyn scoffs at, condescending to Kaide as a "young lady" as she tells him that the magic of Deldrin is spread far around the island itself.
I have been largely silent up until now but I snap at him, asking how old he is. He is 75, the youngster. After a few pointed words about my age, Kaide's age, and the arrogance of elderly humans he softens a bit and accepts the reprimand, commenting that we must find him such a foolish apprentice to be acting this way. For the next two hours he listens attentively to Kaide's thoughts and explanations and finally remarks that it almost seems like humans were not meant to have magic, being so poorly suited to it compared to trolls, dwarves, elves, even fae. It is such an insightful remark from a human that I feel a slight twinge of regret when he asks if he might be able to apprentice to one of us one day and we have to decline. Perhaps another time we could guest lecture at his own institute of learning but of course we do not have time for more students.
When the meeting is finally over Kaide and I are itching to plunge into the lake.
Comments