Welcome to Gaia! ::

Alistaire led the two students into his quarters, motioning for them to take a seat in front of his desk. The corpse stench was absent today, since he had not been able to collect any bodies as of recent. It was something he would need to remedy soon. "Please, make yourselves comfortable." He said lightly as he took a seat at his own chair, sitting upright and placing his books aside so he could keep a clear line of sight. "Can I get you something? Tea, coffee?"

"One coffee, two sugars." Alistaire said to seemingly no one. A odd screech responded to the command from below the desk and the necromancer's familiar revealed itself. It was certainly not what one would expect from the man, but there it stood. A skeletal chicken. It gave another squawk before scuttling to the back of the office where the coffee machine was. "Straight to business, I admire that. Well let's begin then." He folded his hands and began to speak of what was on his mind. "I wanted to be the first to point out the obvious. You are not among friends here. As you may have seen already, there are many among the staff who actively seek your removal from the University. Even those who you might have hoped to align with, like Morgan Kirkwall, are weak fools who protest against your nature. I even fear our Dark Lady may agree with the White Guild's domination over the school. There is not one you can count among your allies here, save for me. Bringing me to my second point. I called you in here to, metaphorically, bend a knee and pledge my talents and positions to you and your House." The odd creature had managed to pour a cup of coffee and now flew it to the professor on featherless wings. After that, it took it's position back under the desk.

"Some might pledge to your cause, but I wouldn't put too much faith in the thought. With the Dark lady and Morgan teaching them, it is assured they will follow their path. They are sheep after all, and we the shepherds." Alistaire reminded as he watched the amusing sight of Slayer's familiar hissing at the remains of the bird. He wanted to make one of his usual snarky comments, but knew better than that. "Though since you mentioned the Creature in the Caves, that brings me to another point." His hand floated out and grabbed one of the titles. Leyline Theory. "I've been doing some research on the Heart, in particular how it's location relates to the apex of a particularly strong nexus of Dark Magic. If you want to free it you can't make the mistakes of those before you. Something very powerful lay in that Heart, and we'll need to ensure we can control it. I noticed you were both taking demonology. It is the art that would ensure you could learn about the various wards and seals that prevent a powerful being from bringing chaos. But with Morgan as your professor, you will not learn these things. I investigated him earlier and found his method is much more benign, and with something like the Creature it would be an abysmal failure." He stopped for a moment, letting his words sink in before continuing. "It is my advisement then, and only a humble request, that you resign Morgan's class and take Necromancy. It would ensure you had at least one professor to call ally among your classes and it would allow me to teach you the seals and wards required to undergo a feat of this magnitude without arising suspicion." Finally he was done, and waited for their response.

"We are already being watched. At the very least it would give a reason to our meetings. But again, it was merely a suggestion." Alistaire smiled, keeping his demeanor light. His words were true however, eyes had already started to follow the trio as they came and went. This room was safe, having been warded by a particularly dutiful pupil a few years back. It was nothing against the power of one of the teachers, but he would at least know if someone was attempting to scry on the words being said. "Still, it is important you learn how to protect yourself once the Creature is freed. Morgan will not answer your questions, but I will. For now, allow me to research the containment of the energy. You two should focus on breaking the Heart. We'll meet regularly to discuss progress, if that pleases you my Lady and Lord."

"All the more reason you should pay attention in your Demonology class." Alistaire responded to Pandora. "That is, assuming the Sheep can teach anything to the Shepherd." It seemed that he had settled all the matters he wished to speak out, so he rose and bowed to the two. "If you find a suitable messenger, send him to me so I may know him. Unless you two have any questions, I think we should both make our departure." He would let them go first, then he would leave later. It was humorously similar to how he left Nekoda's home and the thought made him chuckle.

Alistaire saw them off and closed the door behind them. When that was done he went back to his desk to ponder over the book on Leylines a bit more. He had already read Religions of the Shadow Isles, and found it to be a waste. Useless information about zealots praying to barbaric gods. Nothing he could use. The book on Devils was far more interesting, containing some names that could help him discern the true name of the Fallen. It would take months of research though, so it wouldn't be of too much help until he learned more of the Fallen. Pandora had helped in identifying the creature at the very least.

So now there was just Leyline Theory. It had been the best of the three so far. The natural paths of magic in the world could be manipulated to his advantage, he just needed to find them.

After a time, he closed the book and hid it in his desk with the others. He made sure to clean the place up before leaving to his next appointment. ((Exit))