rogueinladysclothing | Scholarly meeting [Tagging Viatorus]

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Scholarly meeting [Tagging Viatorus]

On the border of the Parklands and the Commercial District of the Nexus stands a grand library. Its tall, arched entry way and high vaulted ceilings remind one of a church rather than a library. Inside, though, the walls of each of the three floors are stacked high with books, their ranks broken only by the large, stained glass windows. Rows upon rows of bookshelves across the floors offer even more volumes to those who set foot inside the library. A true scholar's delight.

For Amelia, though, the rows of books mean little. Without direction of where to start, it would mean little for her to delve into the complexities of new technologies or the rich histories of the many worlds from which the books come. She'll start in on them, someday, when she knows the best place to begin.

In a small alcove off the main entryway, there stands half a dozen polished wooden tables with matching high backed chairs with plush cushions. It is one of several, all of which have varying decor and furniture, but this one inspires the feel of the European Renaissance. Rich tapestries hang on the walls and a suit of armor holding a tall battle axe stands in the corner. The room makes Amelia feel more at ease, especially when she finds Viatorus Durant sitting at one of the tables with several large volumes spread out in front of him.

Although her entrance would cause no great alarm to him, she stops in the doorway and shuffles her feet noisily. No visible weapons hang from her belt, though the discerning eye would notice the two daggers still laced into her boots. She smiles in Viatorus' direction as she leans against the doorway. "Hard at work?"

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She pulls the chair out from the table a bit and turns it to face him before taking a seat in it. He can tell she's settling in. The gesture is a universal one for telling someone about something very important to them.

"My world - a place called Kairn - feels so small compared to this place. There are three countries: Etras, Coretica, and Ketesh. The city I live in, Masarra, is a port city in Etras. Etras and Coretica are rather large and powerful allied countries ruled by a monarchy, while Ketesh is a relatively small island nation. They're all... mostly peaceful, but something's been going on between Ketesh and Coretica. Something... that doesn't make sense. Ketesh is small and not nearly as powerful as Coretica, but they're winning battles, sinking ships without cause. It's..." She shakes her head. "Sorry, it's not important right now." There's a shadow across her face as she speaks of it. It's obviously disconcerting to her. She won't allow him a chance to ask more, though, before continuing.

"Humans, elves, dwarves, and a race called 'dragonborn' - men and women with scales for skin, tails, and the ability to spit fire - make up the peoples of Kairn. There's racism across much of the world, but in Masarra, everyone is free to do as they choose. Hell, two of my friends are successful blacksmiths and make some of the best weapons I've ever owned, and one is a dwarf and the other a dragonborn. I wouldn't trade the work they've done for me for anything." That thought gets a bit of a smile.

"Our most advanced weapons are the cannons we mount on walls or the occasional ship. Sea faring vessels have seen the most improvements in the past few generations and people still make their way across the land on horseback when they need to travel great distances. Medicine is limited to healers who work with herbs and plants and, very occasionally, a bit of alchemy. I'm afraid I don't know much about it, though. I know how to patch myself up, but that's as far as my medical knowledge goes."

Her gaze falls to the floor for a moment before moving back to his. "And then there's magic. I've heard tales, of the great wars in which wizards determined they didn't want to be pawns of the ruling class anymore. After the wars, they hid themselves away, and no one has seen one since." She looks away slightly. "At least, that's what I've been told. But some of the things I've seen... I can't be sure."

Although she wants to continue, she stops. She's certain Viatorus has questions by now and wants him to ask before she overloads him with information.

While she gets herself comfortable, he pulls over a notebook and a pen. Even when he watches her, his hand moves, constantly taking notes. Looking back over them he notes that she's covered most of the key markers of civilisation, which is convenient. He wants to ask desperately about magic, but there's a lot of other things to cover.

He flicks through the pages he's already used to try and figure out what gaps he should know about. "What about science? Do you have scientists? And religion? How important is religion? Does each race have different rulers in each country?"

"What do you mean 'science?'" It's such a broad question that she's a little in the dark. "No one in my world has the title of 'scientist.' In fact, I'm not sure the term exists in my world."

She tackles the political question next. "Each country has a ruler. Everyone within that country recognizes that person as the highest legal authority, be they human or something else." That one's easy.

"Religion is a more difficult topic." She sits back in her chair and crosses her arms in front of her chest. "In Etras and Coretica, there's no real belief about something or someone guiding their actions during life. It is believed that when people die, their spirit passes into what's called the 'Eternal Dream.' If a person is a generally 'good person' during their life, they will spend eternity dreaming of wonderful things. If they're not, then they will have an eternity of nightmares. It is important for someone to lead a good life and to leave the world a better place by your actions. There are priests that study what texts and parables there are, but most people strive only to be the best they can and do not go to any services offered by priests. Wishes for a peaceful rest, however, are common at funerals and there is some small amount of ceremony around it that many people observe. Others choose to offer their wishes in private, though, and have slightly different traditions." She pauses to let him finish his notes before she continues. "The Keteshi, however, believe something else entirely, and I'm afraid I don't have any knowledge about it. I believe they have people they call shamans that are seen as religious leaders, but I don't really know what that means for them or their religion."

"Oh." That's going to be... interesting. "Science... Science is... is the study of the world by observing and experimenting and coming to logical conclusions. It... It's how most of the things that are foreign to you were discovered. In my world, at least."

That is a simple system that he suspects requires a lot of finesse and politics to function. He decides to leave asking about it until much later.

Her description of the Eternal Dream is taken in with rapt attention. For a second he even forgets to take notes. It's how he wishes the afterlife was, though he suspects it won't be anything like that on arrival. Viatorus wonders if the Eternal Dream is a dream at all, or something simply similar to one. What would it be like to dreamwalk in her world? If it was a dream, could a walker enter it? Could he leave? What would death be like for a dreamwalker there?

Somehow he manages to pull himself from his questions and try to focus on his own. Scratching the back of his head, he hums. "But the gods... There aren't deities that are active in your world?"

She thinks about that explanation for a moment before answering. "I suppose that could apply to some of the people who live in my world. Alchemists dabble with spices, herbs, oils, and other materials to make tinctures and solutions for a variety of uses, though I know very little about them beyond what ingredients many of them come... go to my family's shops for." The distinction is made only because she is reminding herself that she's not in Masarra anymore. "There are people who invent and tinker with machines all the time as well. I... have a friend who dabbles in such things. His master was a man who made many machines and small contraptions for clients and who also dabbled with explosives." The second hesitation is less easily explained, but she'll continue on before Viatorus can ask about it.

"There are no beings called 'gods' in my world. If anyone believes in them, they are not part of the main religion that the people of my world follow and they keep to themselves on the edges of society." She pauses thoughtfully, a small frown playing at her lips. "Although, perhaps that's what the Keteshi believe in? I'm afraid I don't know."

"Alchemy, yes!" He perks up as she makes the connection. "Yes! That can be a kind of science, I think. A-And people who make machines learn about science even if they don't know that's what they do."

As someone who regularly halts and hesitates as he speaks, Viatorus is unlikely to pick up on anything strange about other people doing it.

"What about supernatural beings? Ghosts? Demons? Sea monsters?"

The excitement in his voice, in his facial expressions, when he finds common ground for 'science' makes Amelia smile. For a moment, she sees someone else excitedly telling her about his latest invention while they take a break from their accounting studies. A young man with unruly dark brown hair and the most mischievous of grins looks out at her. But the moment fades quickly, as does her smile. "It seems my world has much to learn about 'science,' then."

The mention of demons earns a small shudder. "There are monsters in my world - trolls and kobolds and a few other things like that - but they live far from the more populated towns and cities. I have no idea what ghosts are and there are no sea monsters in our world, but..." She stops, her gaze falling to her hands, which she folds neatly in her lap. "I never thought magic could possibly be real until I met the... thing I fought about a year ago. A great monster, unlike any I'd ever heard described before, that erupted from a crystal covered in strange runes. A man, whose life I ended for the crimes he committed against me and mine, tied a fuse around the crystal and lit it. The monster was..."

There's another long pause before she continues, her eyes still focused on her hands. "It stood nearly 7 feet tall. Its face looked like the helmet of an armored warrior, but it was made entirely of bone and there were holes where the eyes should have been. It had the body of a strong, fit soldier, but it was covered with bone-like armor and some kind of... red, molten ooze poured out from any wounds we inflicted. And when my friends and I killed it, it erupted in a spray of more of that same ooze." She shudders, quickly wrapping her arms around herself. "If there were any word to describe such an abomination, it would be demon."

Her dramatic account holds his focus once again. The emotion behind her words and in the physical reaction the memories bring makes him feel as if he might have been there. She has his complete and utter sympathy. True, he's never been faced with something like that before, but it sounds terrible to have to fight such a creature.

Quietly he offers, "I... I've never heard of anything like that before. Maybe... maybe some kind of golem... Was that in your city? Or had you maybe stumbled into a mage's lair?"

She grips her upper arms tightly with her hands at his last question.

"It wasn't a wizard's lair or anything like that. It was an abandoned tower, used long ago during times of war. The men who lead us there, who set that demon loose on us, they..." She can feel her chest tightening with the pain of the memories. Even though a year had passed, the pain is still fresh. "One of my friends... one of the people I travel with, the inventor... Those men kidnapped his master's daughter, a girl who was like a sister to him. He followed after them with the man who was his father in all but blood. When they found where they had taken the girl, my friend came back for me and the others. We rode as hard as we could, slept as little as possible to make good time. We rescued the girl, found her safe and relatively unharmed. But..." Her grip on her arms tightens even more. The fabric on her shirt is straining against her grip now, threatening to break. Her voice becomes hard, cold, dripping with hate as she continues. "But those men, those animals, they drugged and tortured this man, this person who had been my friend, and because of their abuse and our late arrival, he died. He died, and there was nothing we could do about it. I had to watch that boy I had met years before grow up suddenly as his father was murdered, his master and his family moved away, and he was left all alone, with nothing but his thirst for revenge to keep him company."

There are no tears in her eyes in spite of the pain. She's barely managing to breathe given the tightness in her chest, but it's as if she doesn't notice. It's as if this pain has become a part of ever day for her. As she continues, her voice lowers to a whisper, full of sorrow.

"And now that friend is gone and I don't know if I'll ever see him again."

If it wouldn't be terribly improper of him to lose his composure then he might have felt his eyes watering for her. It's a horror story. And she lived through it. There are no sentiments he can offer for that, no experience he could possibly compare to it. He feels rather lost, horrified for her and wanting to comfort her but having no idea how to.

His hand moves to touch her arm in some display of compassion, but he gets awkward halfway through and pulls it back again. Instead he deflates and watches her sadly. "I... I'm sorry. I really am. That... That's terrible, it's awful. No one should have to go through something like that."

It takes her a moment to bring herself to look at him. She watches the awkward movement of his hand and offers a sad smile in return. "No one should have to live with it. That's why I want to go back home. If... if my friend returns, then he may have information on the men who ordered this to be done. If we can find them, if we can stop them, then maybe no one else will have to suffer like he did."

Carefully, she holds a hand out for him. He had wanted to comfort her and she's giving him an open invitation to do so. "Thank you for listening. Other than those directly involved, no one else knows the full truth of what happened at that tower. I didn't even tell my family what happened when I let them know of my friend's death." Does he realize the weight of all of this? Less than a dozen people know about this. And she let herself be vulnerable around him. It's a dangerous thing to do, but she feels oddly safe around him.

"Such a terrible burden you feel you bear," he mutters vaguely. With her hand searching for his he's drawn to take it as he'd planned to; fingers curling around hers although they tremble slightly with the contact. An attempt to imitate comfort he'd received before by warmer, steadier hands with a firmer grip.

Viatorus fully understands the importance of such honesty, even if he understands it from a place where the key is in playing political and social games. Still, the mention that she didn't tell her family surprises him and it shows. "Why didn't you tell them? They probably would want to help, or at least support you."

The contact makes her smile - and for her cheeks to take on a slightly pink color. She's never comforted anyone like this or been comforted like this before. The sensation of his fingers around hers is... nice. A small smile tugs at her lips in spite of her best efforts to suppress it.

"Because it's my burden to bear," she answers softly. "If they know anything and the people who hold the leash of those first men were to find out, they'd be in terrible danger. I want them to live long, happy lives, to enjoy the freedoms and privileges I worked so hard to get for them. The less they know about how I got it for them, or about the things I do when I'm not working for the family business, the better." Ignorant people can't divulge secrets they don't know and can live in unadulterated bliss.

The smiling is nice. He tries to give her hand a small squeeze of encouragement, but it's weak enough to be nearly unnoticeable.

"Cruel men don't care," he says quietly, reciting a far off memory and then finding it strange to have his sister's cynical words coming from his lips. He looks away, frowning, and then glances back at her, wishing desperately that he didn't feel the need to say what he was about to say. "If cruel men want to hurt them, they won't care what they do or don't know. Maybe... maybe some of your family would want to help protect the family. Family... Family should work together."

It's noticed and appreciated, even if she doesn't appear to react to it.

"As true as that may be, I will not allow my family to know what I have done." She gently takes back her hand and places it on her knee. Her gaze moves to the suit of armor behind him and her face hardens. "All they need to know is that I am looking out for them, that everything I do is for them. My sins are mine alone to bear." Her hands are stained with the best of intentions. "If I return home to find things any other way than how I want, I will find those responsible and take care of them - personally."

Watching her hard stare and careful rendering of her philosophy, Viatorus realises that he's listening to a creed. A cruel, unforgiving creed. It makes him uncomfortable. Since he was young he'd always been kept from the harsh realities of life. He'd only seen them through his sister as she turned into a fierce and cynical woman. To think that Amelia is taking on a similarly dangerous role alone doesn't sit well with him. Where is the system? Where is the back up? The reinforcements to ensure that the family survives, that it thrives, even in the face of terrible things?

He doesn't know what to say, so he pulls his hand close and stays quiet, uncertain and trying not to look disapproving.

It's not an easy topic to handle and she knows it. With a sigh, she stands and begins pacing the room slowly. It takes her a few moments to regain her bearings, to keep from lashing out at him when she has no reason to do so. Viatorus has done nothing wrong and, as upset as she might be, there's no reason to call him out for his naivete about how things work in her world.

After a few minutes of uneasy silence, she speaks softly. "Is there anything else you want to know about my world? Or do you know enough to help me figure out where to begin my research to fill in the missing pieces?"

"I... I think I know enough," he says softly, trying to organise his thoughts again. "Um... Give me a moment."

He gets up and starts making his way back and forth through the shelves, seeking out books he'd seen in passing or that sat in the right section. It's nitpicky work, looking for just the right kind of books that require just the right amount of context. He doesn't want to overload her so there are only a few books in his arms when he returns. He's still flicking through the one at the top when he sets them down.

"Uh, these... these should be helpful." He lifts the book he'd been looking through. "This seems to be someone's account of entering the Nexus and understanding everything. Some things don't make sense, but it might help you a little."

"It seems as good a place to begin as any." She shrugs and gently takes the books from his arms, her hands gently making their way between his and the books before she pulls them away from his grip and into her own. "Do you mind if I read alongside you?" It's not that she doesn't have a place to go to read them, but after speaking about such terrible things in her past, she finds she'd rather be close to someone right now.

The books cover common types of worlds linked to the Nexus (with friendly glossaries at the back), one covers the more practical basics to science, and there's a history book that is more like Viatorus' world.

Viatorus hesitates, looking at the mess he's created that overlaps other desks, and then quickly sets about tidying it up. "No. Here, let me just... tidy this a little."

She lets him finish clearing off the table before she takes a seat opposite him at the table. She begins with the book on common types of worlds linked to the Nexus, figuring it might give her more ideas as to where to go next in her research. Silence falls on the room as she begins reading at a surprisingly quick speed. It's not obvious if she's skimming or just a fast reader, but she is all but flying through the pages.

After a while, she looks up across the table at Viatorus, frowning a bit. "I'm sorry, if I came across too harshly earlier. It wasn't my intention to do so."

Reading takes him to a place of comfort. Surrounding himself with books and texts to consume grounds him. Her apology comes as a bit of a surprise, and is a little disorienting when he's midway through a detailed paragraph.

Viatorus blinks at her. How to say that what she say worries him. That it needs to be fixed, sorted, so that it's safer for her... He opts to not interfere. "Oh. It's... No. It's fine. That... That wasn't easy for you to talk about."

Despite the fact that he has a natural tendency to hesitate when he speaks, the fact that he'd holding back is not lost on her. She frowns. "No, it wasn't." She pauses, taking a moment to come up with the right words before continuing. "You were upset by something before, are still upset by it now. Don't bother denying it - the way you sit, that look in your eyes, they tell me I'm right. What is it?"

It's unusual for her to be so pushy about a topic like this when she's speaking to someone she's still getting to know, but circumstances aren't what they usually are. She's in the Nexus now, for whatever reason, and she's promised to protect him. It's best if there aren't any secrets between them.

"No," he says hastily, eyes going wide. Getting called out always throws him and he stutters over protesting and reassuring. "I-I'm not! I-I'm just reading! I'm not upset. There's dust in here, and I'm distracted!"

Terrible a liar as he is, he is not falling into the trap of telling a woman she's wrong about something when she's distressed and sad.

Surprisingly, he'd be better off doing just that. Amelia is not one who likes to be shut out - or to have something not done or said to her because she's a woman. Even if the opinion is completely opposite of hers, she wants the chance to defend herself against it. On top of that, being lied to is one of the things that pisses her off most. Poor Viatorus, he has no idea what he's gotten himself into with this one.

"You're not the worst liar I've ever met, but you're one of them." Her eyes narrow at him and her lips draw into a thin line, obvious signs of her frustration. "Why do insist on lying to me? I'm here to protect you, to keep you safe while you're in the Nexus, and if you insist on lying to me, I'm going to be worse at my job. I can't focus when I'm trying to think of all of the things you could possibly be holding back from me."

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(Sorry for the delay - I wanted to give this post my full attention to get it right)

It's no problem!

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