[IC] A Knight's Scholar

[lydyn]

Her eyes wandered slowly up to the skylight, snow white clouds lazily drifting by as if there wasn't a care in the world, the library full of silence and solitude. Not many people visited the library on a whole, leaving it as a quiet workplace for the Sylph, though it sometimes reminded her how dull her life had become. Gianna leaned back forward, her gaze falling on a document she was being paid to copy and sighed. She was fine doing this as a living - it gave her plenty of time to read and study all the books in the library, but at times it was just boring to copy words - she imagined that almost anyone would agree. She supposed she just wished that something more exciting would come along or more accurately, something more meaningful would pop into her life. She wanted to do something that meant something so she could be proud of herself, at least more proud than being a decent scribe.

Brushing her black hair back with her hands, she went about scribing more, figuring it was almost best to get it done as soon as possible so she had time to read. Her fairy-like wings fluttered slightly to shake herself, to make herself a bit more alert than before, in hopes she could get the task done. There wasn't much to Gianna's life as it was, besides her off time in which she'd tried and explore the ruins and cave systems around the capital city. Even then, she hadn't be able to find anything extraordinary about any of them besides a few odd bits and pieces of ancient texts that had been long forgotten.

Gianna paused for another brief moment, reflecting on something that had occurred some time ago. The thought of exploring forgotten sites always reminded her of her magic, at least these days it did. She knew magic was not of the norm among the populace as a whole and even while people marveled or feared those with magics, Gianna in a way still felt unique - she knew her type of magic was not so common place within the magi circles. After all, most people put up emotions that related to danger or wanting to help their fellow when magic flared, giving most magic users some sort of offensive or defensive magic. Gianna on the other hand, had simply been extremely frustrated at not knowing what something meant... and felt determined to figure it out when her magic flared. Magic that related to knowledge - not much offense or defense in that, was there?

Shaking it off, Gianna sighed and just hunched back over her work, letting her wings drop slowly into a more relaxed position...

[Twhirtley]

Captain Theren watched the young Sylph woman work from his place hidden in the shadows of a particularly dark corner. He'd been watching her for many days now. He was convinced that she was a mage of some sort, but he hadn't quite been able to figure it out. And he knew this because he constantly watched her with his own ability. By focusing his magic into his eyes, he could see that magic actually existed in every person. But most didn't know it existed, and of those that did, very few knew how to control it. This woman did seem to know how to use magic, but for the life of him, he could not determine the results. He had seen her magic well up in her head, mingle and change... somehow, then get pushed out through her hands into various objects, before coming back, yet again changed.

This made her quite interesting to him. His own magic was known to a select few of his superiors, and they put him in charge of a new, special company. It was not near the standard company size of 125 people, but it could be one day. The few knights whose magic had been discovered had been put into this company, roughly ten strong currently. She was trained as a scribe, so she could certainly be of use. The main problem though, was that she wasn't a Knight. And it looked like it would take a couple of years at least to make her physically strong enough to be a proper knight.

But the knights did occasionally employ civilian specialists. Perhaps that would interest her. The amount of sighing and gloominess she'd expressed lately made him think that she was bored with her lot in life, and he couldn't blame her. Knights had more paperwork than any other employer, and most dreaded it. He knew he did. He'd even heard that Kalim in Silent Rise had once tried to cripple a messenger that was bringing him a stack of backlogged paperwork. Crazy Katzheer.

Deciding enough was enough, Theren flicked off his magic empowered vision, now seeing the less vivid colors of the mundane world. His footsteps were completely silent, not from magic, but years of practice, as he moved behind her. His breath silent and held, he leaned down just as she relaxed her wings, his face just behind her ear. Smiling, as he prepared his body to move quite rapidly out of a reactive attack. Whispering lightly, "A woman as smart as you should do more than copying others' work."

He quickly skipped back, expecting some sort of flail or startle, looking at her with his crimson eyes. He was not in the Ebonsteel armor, for he left that at home, preferring dark leathers. His captain sash on wrapped around his left arm was bright crimson, and a pair of swords hung from both hips, though peacetied. Theren knew they were alone, so he decided to be blunt, "I want to know what your magic does. I know you can use it, so don't bother lying."

[lydyn]

Theren had been right to dash backwards because as soon as he had finished his sentence, she nearly jumped up in surprise, her wings flaring just slightly as she did so. Though she hadn't gained enough height to truly sit up, she did turn in her chair a bit after the scare to see who the stranger was. After hearing a demand of her magic, her eyes narrowed just slightly and only briefly as she took the moment to examine her questioner. She had lived in Ebonfort long enough, certainly, to catch the colors and uniform marking him as one of the knight captains which in of itself caused a slight curiosity in the Sylph. The more important matter though was how he knew of her abilities, but there was really only one conclusion that sprung to her mind, only one way to know something about something so subtle as her own magic. "Aurism..." she replied out loud.

Without giving pause, she stood up and pushed her chair in, closing her eyes and sighing. "It's really the only way you could've known... but are you here to arrest me?" Opening her eyes and gauging his reaction, she shook her head and leaned the small of her back against the chair, folding her hands onto her thighs. "No, you would have already then. So it's either you want something or you're really that curious." At this point, a light, but friendly smile painted her lips. "I wish I had a name for it, but there isn't any information about it that I've come across... anyways," she continued, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes, "I can decipher coded messages and read the memories of objects, normally within the last.. thirty days? Probably not the most useful magic to exist."

Gianna had come across most of the known magics in her studies of things unusual, but the more subtle magics had always been harder to record and document, especially since the 'Death of Magic.' However things such as summoning, familiary, elementlism, shielding - those were all easily found in some text or another because of their obvious effects on the outside world. She only came across Aurism in the sense of authors writing of men and women being able to 'sense' magic or otherwise 'perceive things others cannot.' Gianna had been quite sure of herself that had she not been given the sudden boon of whatever magic she had, Aurism was likely the next ability Fate would've granted her. That alone had made Gianna interested in the captain, curious how it felt to see the world in a different light - whether it was painted in new colors or perhaps the world just brighten or darkened just a tad.

[Twhirtley]

Interesting, most interesting.

She immediately put together how he knew. Knowing the name of a magic was rare enough, as most people didn't bother to visit the library, as that was the only real source of magic histories. Logical and researched. Definitely a plus. But when she suggested that he might be there to arrest her, his nasally laugh snorted out, listening as she continued with her deductive reasoning.

And then she surprised him. Not useful? That sounded so much more useful than many other magicks they'd discovered so far. Every object in existence would be a form of a spy, and couldn't lie or need coerced. His face was twisted into a wicked, self serving grin.

"You're rather clever, if a bit... naive."

In a fast, smooth motion he drew a single sword and pointed it at her, waiting just a moment to see her reaction. Then he flipped it over and caught the blade, offering her the hilt. It was a well balanced, steel longsword, hand hilt, encrusted with rubies. "I wish to test your magic. Tell me everything you can about this sword." He smirked, wondering what she would see. The sword had been with him for the last ten days, right after he punched it through the ribs of the nobleman who first owned it. The man had been caught buggering children and chose trial by combat. It didn't take much effort on Theren's part to disarm him and end his sick, miserable life.

But Captain Theren knew nothing of the blade from before that duel. He was curious, and while not the perfect experiment, would definitely satisfy his curiosity. He wondered if the sword had a name. Some swordsmen greater than he would swear all weapons had innate names, and even genders, and only when you mastered it could you discover them. Was it true? Would the sword speak to this girl? Or would it lock her out because she wasn't worthy?

[lydyn]

'Naive?' she thought to herself, but it was instantly interrupted by the point of the blade in her face, causing her to yelp slightly in surprise. When he flipped it over however, she gave him a slight glare, sure that he was enjoying this - toying with her. Taking a deep breath, she slipped both of her hands around the hilt and prepared her body for the weight of the sword. She knew well enough that she probably couldn't swing the thing in real combat, so when she took it, she mustered all her balance just to let the tip slowly fall to the wooden floor. Again, she caught his eye before looking at the blade and focusing all of her attention into it.

It took a few moments for the magic to slide down her arms into the blade, swirling around before crawling back up to her mind and instantly the woman relaxed, offering the blade back to the captain. However, even though it seemed it worked, Gianna did not reply right away. Finally, "I may not be one for violence.. but I'm glad you stopped him. He.. had at least a dozen children before you caught him." She sounded genuinely concerned before sighing. "I just hope they're all right. It's a little fuzzy after a thirty days though and most of that was..." She rolled her eyes in the pause. "The children or he was waving it around as if he was actually worth something.. eh, but..."

Gianna became more focused, furrowing her brows slightly, as if trying to remember something that was a long time ago. "Before.. it was.. on a plaque? Above a... fireplace? A lot of happenings.. it seems like almost a farm house of sorts? Lots of farm hands, a couple birthdays, children playing, good food, a harsh time during the cold times..." She shook her head for a moment and sighed. "Then that disgusting man came by.. and there was some blood, mostly fear.. and he took it. I can't really see much else. I can only guess it was some sort of heirloom to that family. The sword traveled maybe a day back this way? It's too foggy to tell much else." Gianna looked at the blade with a new meaning to her expression, as if the trip down memory lane now brought some importance to the random piece of metal, and truly - how could it not?

[Twhirtley]

Captain Theren nodded as he listened to the woman's history of the blade. She had definitely confirmed that her power was real, and he'd gotten to see it in action. He had to guess that it probably didn't work on people, their own innate magic keeping it out. He wondered if it would work on magical items, if any even existed. Would their innate magic keep it out? Would it fight back? Could they lie? He would find all of this out one day. But one thing was for certain, this woman would be joining his company, one way or another.

Grinning behind those crimson eyes, "Well done, Gianna, it seems your magic does find the truth. Very, very interesting, and useful." He made no move to collect his sword, knowing she was no danger with it, wondering if she might glean anymore from it. He moved around her, sitting across from her, a more somber look upon his face.

"I come to you with an offer for something... more than..." his hands spread to indicate what she was working on, "This. He didn't intend to sound insulting about her line of work, but he also didn't care as he continued, "I command a smaller company of Knights we've discovered have magic within them. We were purposefully created with the task of discovering magical people, recording their magic and its effects, recruiting them if possible, as well as dealing with problems of a magical nature, and ensure the empire is protect from magical threats. And while you are not... physically fit, just yet, to be a proper knight. However, we can employ you to help us discover more about these people and their lives, as needed, document the information, so on and so forth."

He could've easily bullied her, threatened her into joining, but he had a feeling that she longed for some excitement. She'd get a good wage, an interesting, albeit probably dangerous from time to time, life. But she would be an incredibly useful addition in their investigations, more so than a few of the others. He let her ponder his words for a bit, knowing they probably carried a heavy weight.

"So, are you interested? Because if you are, then there's a few things we will need to do, and should get started soon."

[lydyn]

The Sylph was slightly annoyed when the knight wouldn't take his blade back, instead dragging it back against her desk so she didn't have to hold it anymore, the weight getting to her arms. As the man spoke, Gianna felt interest take a hold of her, but she did catch onto the rough edge he spoke with as well. Though the first phrase seemed rude to her profession, it was hard to argue that it wasn't the most entertaining job, however he kept going causing her to focus on his words.

'A company of knights... to police magic?' she thought to herself after the small explanation. When she had given the reasoning of her magic being more useless than other, her thoughts had been on dangerous situations of fighting and protecting others. Perhaps the stories of knights when she was a child had gotten into her head, but it was also anything most people talked about - how useful or dangerous it could be to throw fire around. However if this was the goal, to document and discover new magics and items that may have awoken, she saw the reasoning of why he had gone out of his way for her aid.

She had to admit, the offer was extremely tempting and would provide her with a knowledge font into a world that had been dead for ages. She would finally be able to answers questions like, what are the magics, what they could do, how rare were certain types, how they activated, among deeper ones as the most glaring - what caused the death of it all in the first place and why was it returning now? The company didn't sound especially brutal or hellbent on violence, though she suspected with men like this leading the cause, it might be. If she could answer these questions though.. maybe she.. perhaps with her magic.. could pull away and really do something with her life.

With a deep, thoughtful sigh, she simply nodded slowly. "You've caught me." She shrugged her shoulders while moving her hands up into the air with defeat. "When do we need to start?" She smiled, but only politely, not really feeling on friendly terms with the captain just yet. She was sure it was obvious how much her curiosity drove her actions though - it wasn't hard to see.

[Twhirtley]

So it seemed she wasn't going to glean any more from the blade, which had grown too heavy for her arms. Wishful thinking he supposed. He could see the gears turning as the woman considered his offer, but he was fairly confident she'd accept. He'd used this to recruit many of his people, and so far, none had refused. Finally, he heard the sigh, and knew he'd gotten another. She then confirmed this, and he smiled at her question.

He circled around her desk, kicked his blade, so it flipped upwards, which he snatched out of the air and effortlessly sheathed it. "We start now. Leave your work, I'll send a squire to take care of the details with your old job. For now, come with me." The Library was the center piece of the Corcillus Quarter, the largest and most impressive building therein. Each quarter had its own landmark, though none were near as massive as the Citadel, the city's centerpiece. He had seen something earlier in the week, and hadn't yet had a chance to research it. Now was his time to do so, and she could help.

He led her through the Quarter, deciding to fill the idle time by posing a question to the woman, "So how did you discover your," stopping to look around, noting the need to be a bit more discrete, "Insightfullness?"

He continued along as he waited for her response. Around the time she finished, he stopped, looking up at a stone wall. He didn't bother using his Aurism, for he knew what he'd see. Last time he was here, he just happened to be wandering the streets, casting his gaze on everything and saw a wall of magic. He couldn't tell what the magic was doing, it looked as if it were the wall. But with his regular vision, he could make out a few irregularities.

He wondered if she would notice. The stone that made all of the buildings was the same, uniform black and dark grey stone. However, he could see two vertical lines of stone, where the stones were cut short, as if reaching a corner. Then the stones continued across the span til they reached the other vertical line. And the magic only existed between these vertical lines. At the very bottom of the wall was a few words scribbled into a brick.

"To find the way
One must simply ask
So with me you shall play
If you put your mind to the task

The question that you seek
is the first of three parts
It is not for the meek
But use your mind, not your hearts

The first is the beginning of every knight
The second is the end of every squire
And the final is found when myte makes ryte
Ask only once or face the truly dire"

Captain Theren glanced at the sylph with a grin, as he'd figured it out already. But this was for her, to earn her worth. "Thoughts?"

[lydyn]

Looking back at her desk, all she could do was shrug, namely because she had no reason not to trust them. The knights ran the city after all, so if he assured her that it would be taken care of, the knights would have little issues actually doing as much. Though it was a bit awkward to leave so suddenly without so much as a notice of leave, but it seemed this man was rather eager to get started - so much so that she had still to learn his name. However, she had been practicing a new technique.. though it was not perfected and would only reveal his name if the memories reflected it. In the end, it was just easier and a less waste of magical energy to simply wait for the man to introduce himself or have someone else say his name.

The first question was interesting and caused her to flutter her wings just slightly as she thought on it. Though she remembered it clearly, she took a moment to ponder the words to use, careful to substitute them where needed. "There was a coded message in one of the lore books... something like a riddle..." She sighed, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she remembered. "I'm normally not partial to riddles," she admitted, "my normal thoughts don't do well with vague hints, I suppose. However it was something to do with learning more about magics.. I suppose I got so frustrated with not knowing.. and nearly tossed the book.. but then I suddenly found myself understanding it. It was quite satisfying, actually."

With that, they had come upon a wall and it was easy for Gianna to tell he was observing it before looking at her asking, "Thoughts?" The Sylph gave him a curious glance before going to examine the wall for a few moments. She paced back and forth, pursing her lips before looking it from top to bottom. For a few moments, it could be said she hadn't seen much of anything and was still examining it to understand why he asked the question.

Somewhat suddenly though, "so, what's this say?" She spoke in a soft tone, as if more to herself before kneeling down and sitting on her shins as she bent over to read the inscriptions. This however did take some time, but it was obvious she was mouthing the words over and over. Eventually, however, she huffed and looked back up to the captain with some frustration. "Well, I can see the lines in the wall, meaning this is a doorway to something.. seeing as making a fake wall that lead nowhere would be silly. Either someone closeby is listening for the key words or someone has figured out how to make n illusion.. perhaps shielding?" She shrugged at that. "And the riddle.. obviously something is wrong with 'might' and 'right' as they aren't spelled correctly, but I can't figure out the purpose. Like I said.. I'm not good at riddles. However if I used my... insightfulness, as you put it, I could bypass my own weakness.."

Gianna wasn't sure how the captain would react and Gianna certainly wasn't going to ask any questions to the wall without an actual answer - she didn't quite enjoy the idea of something dire happening to her on the whim. At the same time, she wasn't sure if the captain wanted her to use her magic or if he wanted to see what she figured out on her own. Perhaps unlike most, as good as it felt to have power and magic at your fingertips, she knew enough that it was most wise to always keep it check - she was lucky enough to see the warnings in the library about overextending and she was no fool.