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 Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 11:57 pm
"All of the Artificers died," said Julius, eyeing her from beneath his blindfold. "As did the teachers and students of the other schools. If Artifice is truly your desire, then I will tell you what I know of the school, but I can only recommend the path, not force you upon it."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:55 am
"Oh. I... see. The history of the feien dying out is worse than I thought then, isn't it?" Irisa commented sadly.
When it was stated that the feien were a dying race, that was definately no exageration. But now Irisa's curiousity was piqued even more. Julius seemed to have a very wide air of wisdom, and obviously had a lot more experience and knowledge than Irisa (and probably even anyone Irisa knew) did, but he seemed insistent on Irisa making her own choice. And for that, Irisa would have to know all the options available.
"I trust your judgement, and rediscovering the lost knowledge could be a very significant step towards reviving the magic of the feien, but I do not know what the other paths are like." Irisa replied curiously. "How many and what types of schools of magic are there? I'm... very sorry. Much of this is new to me but discovering that feien magic extends beyond what I've ever imagined makes me want to find out so much more, especially before I finally choose a single path down it."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:03 pm
Julius gave the tiniest nod of approval. "There are five schools in all, but for myself, I only know well of two, and my own school of Summoning would not suit you. Summoning requires greater charisma than I sense you to possess at this time. In addition to this and Artifice, there exist also Enhancement, Mentalism, and Abjuration. Not Abjuration for you, I don't think. But you could potentially be a good Enhancer or Mentalist."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:14 pm
Hmm... Irisa was able to at least guess at the purpose of some of those schools, judging by their names. Summoning was obvious, and enhancement did not seem too difficult to realize what it was. Abjuration... well, that one was a bit more difficult to pin, although if it was anything like the literal definition of abjure, Julius was probably right that it wasn't for her.
"Enhancement... is that the art of imbuing magic into existing items?" Irisa asked curiously. She pondered for a bit. "I'm not completely clear on mentalism, either. Could you please explain to me what it entails?"
Truthfully, the spellbook scroll in the shop mentioned an ability to enhance charms with good luck (or... something like that. Irisa had never observed the actual ability in action) but she didn't recall any abilities that were psychic in nature, so while she was still learning towards artifice, the curiosity of what mentalism was intrigued her.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:25 pm
Julius nearly sighed. As calmly as he was able, he informed her, "ARTIFICING is the art of creating magic items. Thus artificers are the craftsmen of the feien world." It was all he could do to keep himself from disappearing, so sudden and thorough was his ire. But he remained calm and kept his face devoid of emotion.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:43 pm
Meep. Well, she obviously was completely off about enhancement. It must have been for enhancing something else besides items. Other feien, people, or something, but not items. She wished she had made that logical deduction five seconds ago.
"I'm sorry." Irisa quickly apologized. "I didn't realize the full scope of artificing in comparison to enhancement when... I really should have. My apologies. Please forgive me."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:50 pm
Julius seemed to not notice this admission and simply continued along as if reciting from some pre-rehearsed script. "Enhancers are those whose magic is invested in their own bodies. You may be familiar with the spells Growth, Regeneration, and Giant Strength. These are all Enhancer-type spells, but Enhancers can do far more than merely change their size or increase their strength. They are capable of amazing physical manipulation, and at the highest levels, even transformation. You would have to focus most on your physical attributes to pursue Enhancement, and seek information on it from someone other than I. At present, your physical state would not be entirely conducive to that sort of pursuit."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:01 pm
Ah, so that was what enhancement was referring to? Well, Irisa definately learned never to make assumptions from here on.
"How... intriguing." Irisa remarked, before glancing at her hands. "Although I can now see why artificing would be a better path for me. If I may, what is mentalism?"
Irisa's knowledge of mental abilities from the spellbook seemed to mainly enhance elemental casting in a lot of ways. It made her extremely curious as to what this school could be. Something psychic, perhaps? She believed that mentalism in the literal sense of the word involved mindreading, but she wasn't going to make the same mistake of even merely implying an assumption twice.
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 4:11 am
Julius's fingers twitched ever so slightly. "Mentalists are the exact opposite of Enhancers. They are masters of the mind. They can separate their spirit from their being, project themselves across great distances, and influence the minds of others. Your mind has potential in this area, but no greater potential than you have for Enhancement. And again, if you wish to pursue Mentalism, you will have to seek information elsewhere. Alas, you may only pursue one avenue, and while I cannot choose for you, my recommendation for Artifice still stands. If your heart tells you otherwise, then I can only say to listen to it."
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 3:34 pm
Irisa paid great attention to Julius' words. This was all so much. She wished she had brought her pen and paper so she could write down everything. ...but then again, writing down everything in front of Julius would be quite rude anyways, she supposed, so she simply made sure to commit all the details to memory as much as she could.
"I see." Irisa remarked. "Hmm... I have to admit that neither mentalistm nor enhancement appeal to me as much as artificing does. While I can see the potential of both, artificing sounds like I could truly create great lasting things for the feien, which appeals to me. The decision is made more sound by how it's what I am most naturally suited towards."
That would be it, wouldn't it? If she succeeded, Irisa could create all sorts of great items to help the feien, or maybe to even help restore magic to the world, while recovering to the feien a lost school of magic at the same time. She actually felt excited (well, excited for her, which to her was a lot)!
She was admittingly curious about the details of abjuration, but to string Julius along with such a question about that when he already said it wasn't very suited for her and when even without him describing it in detail, she had a feeling it wasn't for her either, would be rude. As it was, she was more than ready to inform him of her choice now. She did make a note to ask him about abjuration after that subject was out of the way, though.
With that, the young feien gave a nod, before smiling a bit. "Thank you for your wisdom and advice, Julius. I would indeed like to pursue the school of artificing. How or where should I begin to recover the knowledge?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 10:05 pm
"There exists a set of tablets onto which have been inscribed the teachings of the School of Artifice. Perhaps you may be able to unlock these skills with the tablets. I know little of the school except that it was built into the ground, a veritable warren of tunnels, and the entrance is in a Roman crypt marked with the letters R, X, F, and C. You might find more information in the city of Rome, or perhaps the Vatican's libraries. Several Artificer works are said to reside in the Vatican's great collections for their magical and therefore presumably holy origins." Julius stopped and looked at Irisa expectantly.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:40 pm
Irisa paid careful attention to Julius' words.
"I understand. I shall do whatever it takes to get to Rome and get to work on finding these tablets, immediately, then." The young feien replied by nodding affirmatively when he was done, before asking a bit more curiously, "Is there anything else you might know that may aid me in this quest or that I might need to know?"
Indeed, Irisa didn't know if the Artificer works would be readily identifiable or not, or if they are available to the public or locked away in the government's vaults. Or any slew of possible obstacles that she may not have even imagined yet, come to think of it. If these obstacles existed, it would be good to obtain as much information about them as possible before beginning.
Actually, come to think of it, even any special way or shortcut to Rome would be of great assistance. Travelling to Rome definately exceeded Irisa's small amount of experience she had so far with travel. Still, one couldn't accomplish great things if one wasn't up to doing great tasks. The question was a matter of how to accomplish them. Irisa supposed that if worse came to worse, then she would simply have to find her own way around it.
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Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 7:44 am
For all Irisa's musing came only one chilling response: "No. There is nothing. If you have no other business, then I shall bid you good day."
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Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 9:45 am
"I see. Thank you again, Julius." Irisa bowed. "I'll do whatever it takes to recover the Artifice school of magic. I will be on my way after speaking with one of the portal controllers to open the way back home."
Irisa had decided that she had taken up enough of Julius' time. She imagined that someday, another feien would come to find out about Abjuration, anyways. That was out of her hands. What she had to worry about right now was her own part in the grand scheme of things. A part which brought a lot to worry about, but if there was a will, there was a way.
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Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 11:55 am
"May good fortune follow you on your journey, and your path be one of Righteousness." With that, Julius faded from view as easily as steam dissipating into the air.
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