| Players: | Benjamin, Nimue |
|---|---|
| Date of IC Effect: | March 23, 2008 |
| Location: | Library, Mage Academy |
| Synopsis: | Benjamin and Nimue discuss how glyphs are invented — or discovered, as the case might be. |
If there ever were a heaven-on-earth for bibliophiles, this might well be it. The Academy's library is not a single room, but a series of interconnected chambers. In each one, virtually every wall is covered by shelves — old shelves and new, with ornate moldings or simply plain wood, stained dark and light and every shade in between. The ceilings are high, wooden rafters supporting a layer of stone; the floors are in some places covered with wood, in others paved by slate, and in all cases decorated with an assortment of woven rugs.
The rooms easily accessed by mage, student, and stranger are those containing new books and new copies of old texts. The books are arranged by subject, each one carefully indexed and catalogued. These can be read in the library, or borrowed by students and mages alike; they need only be signed out with one of the library assistants or the head librarian. The old and rare books, and those so old they predate bookbinding, are tucked away in the most remote of the library rooms, under lock, key, and warding-spell; it takes special dispensation to get anywhere near those.
The Academy is never really still. Not on a weekend, not during the evening. Just having a collection of children around will do that - much less a gaggle of mages, no matter their ages. Still, the library gives a fair approximation of quiet and contemplative isolation, especially during the later evening. Nimue presently has one of the rooms to herself; she's seated at a table, an open tome at her left hand, a piece of parchment, inkwell, and pen to her right. Perhaps due to the solitude, perhaps not, but the young woman is sufficiently at-ease to have lowered her hood, even if she has not seen fit to remove her cloak; the glyphs tattooed on her face are clearly visible, but the rest of her skin is hidden from view.
Making his way through the library is the small form of Benjamin. The boy's lips are currently curled up into a little grin. The child's gaze drawn to many of the books which may be found in this room now. Soft footsteps carry him deeper and deeper throughout the library until he enters into the same room of the woman, "Oh! I thought I was alone."
Distracted from her book by the boy's voice, Nimue looks up abruptly. "Don't worry about it," the mage replies, offering the boy a small smile. "Much of this is here for student use, too." His presence seems to remind her of something, and she suddenly looks down at her chest. Seeing only the gray cloak, the young woman sets her pen down and fishes her identifying medallion back out from where it had settled beneath the concealing garment. The seemingly blank crystal disk once more in place, she returns her attention to Benjamin. "What are you looking for?"
For a moment the boy remains silent, "Huh?" he moves closer to the woman now pointing towards the blank Crytal, "That is really pretty. Does it have a lot of glyphs on it ma'am?"
Nimue smiles at the boy, trying not to be self-conscious of the glyphic patterns on her face. At least he isn't asking about them… yet. "Most students come to the library to look something up," she explains. "I was curious of what brought you here." The woman looks to her medallion again, and shakes her head. "Just rank-glyphs, my identification as a mage," she replies. The one class of glyph every such medallion can be counted on to possess. "I don't have anything else to add to that."
There is a soft oh, "It looks really cool." he giggles, "When I am a mage can I have some on my face too?" he grins, "Maybe one so I don't have to comb my hair." he nods his head quickly, "Oh the book! I was looking for one about the eastern docks. Has there ever been a fire that burned the docks?"
Nimue chuckles softly at the boy. "Quite a few people get glyphs tattooed, but not with any actual power," she replies. Sidestepping any specifics about her own. "I don't think you can get them to save you time on personal hygiene." She gives Benjamin a curious look as he explains his research subject. "Studying the dock glyphs? Usually it's older students that take those on," Nimue remarks. Pushing her chair back from the table, she rises, tapping gloved fingers thoughtfully against her chin. "Let me see if I can remember where Jessamine's study is shelved…"
"Yes ma'am. I want to know everything about them." his voice sounds a little down for a moment, "Not even a powerful mage can well use a glyph each day to do something that simple?" he sighs softly, "But I thought they could do anything?"
Nimue looks down at Benjamin. "In theory, yes. But glyphs are like words - and you can only do what you know how to say." She starts off across the room, working her way along the shelves. "You have words for things - skin, hair - and words for actions - cut, stretch, move - and words for qualities or characteristics - wet, dry, brown, black. There's glyphs for those, too. But some of them aren't known yet. Glyphs also get picky about how you put them together - some don't mix well, and some have to be tweaked before they can go in a sentence."
"But.." he shakes his head slowly, "How are new words learned then?" he shakes his head slowly, "Or in the case of the ones on the dock ma'am.. how can we learn what they meant so we can make them once more?"
"Well, for /real/ words, people really just make them up," Nimue replies, tone slightly distracted as she pauses by a shelf, running her fingers over the spines of its books. "But you can't make up a new glyph and have it do what you what. Glyphs have to be discovered - or rediscovered, in the case of some of those." She pulls one of the books down, and turns back to face Benjamin. "Figuring out what old glyphs mean is like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. You have to find the glyphs you know that it resembles, because it will have a similar meaning to theirs. The context you find it in also helps."
"But there must be a way to make a brand new glyph right ma'am? I mean if not… well who made all the glyphs in the first place? How did people learn how to become the first mages?" Benjamin watches her curiously now.
Nimue nods slowly. "Glyphs are like… like keys to a lock," she replies. "If you have a lock you want to open, you need the right key. Sometimes people do make the right key for a lock, the right glyph for an effect they couldn't do before. But they can't just make up something that seems right; it has to /be/ right." She offers the boy a smile, and a helpless shrug. "No one knows how mages got started. There aren't any books that old."
Benjamin considers this for several moments, "Then… perhaps the old mages well they were more in tune with things? Able to well.. simply sense which ones were right and wrong?"
Nimue can only shrug. "Who can say?" Certainly not she. Instead, the woman offers the boy the book she's pulled down. "This book was written by a student a few decades ago. They were interested in the docks, too. It should be a good place for you to start."
Benjamin takes the offered book giving a quick wave of his free hand, "Thank you very much ma'am" his nose wrinkles up for a moment, "Hmmm… does he well.. does he still attend here? Perhaps I could speak with him as well."
"She," Nimue corrects gently. "No. She predated my time here by quite a bit. I don't think she's alive now, but you could go dig in the registers to find out for sure, or where she went." The young woman nods towards the book. "You might want to see if that's of any use to you first."
Benjamin nods his head quickly, "Oh I am going to read it first ma'am. So I can know a lot more about it." he twists his lips, "But well if she is really old and moved away well.. I mean she must be what 200 if she is older then you. She can hardly walk and come back here."
Nimue blinks at the boy, then laughs. "200? No one lives that long. But you might have the time period about right; I don't remember exactly." She tilts her head. "I never did catch your name. I'm Nimue."
Benjamin ohs softly, "Sorry I am Benjamin na'Zivia." he nods his head quickly, "I just had my birthday I'm 10 now. I'm going to be a great mage and get a necklace like yours someday and well, will the Academy give me some glyph like yours then? Special ones cause I'm a mage cause yours look really cool and then I will have some cool robes and some cool glyphs and everyone will know I am a great mage like you."
Nimue chuckles softly, although the smile she gives the boy is a thin one. "You'll get your own medallion, yes. For everything else, you're on your own."
Benjamin ohs softly, "Oh does that mean your in charge of everything?" his eyes widen, "I am sorry ma'am I did not know I did not mean to bother you I mean.. well sorry ma'am and it was Tim's fault my chores was done late he put a frog in my pants."
Now, Nimue just blinks at Benjamin. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean," she replies. "I'm certainly not in charge, as you should know well enough - didn't you meet Galen at some point? Or does he not speak at the induction anymore?"
Or more likely due to his age Benny simply doesn't think of things such as who is in charge very long, "I well… kinda forgot.. I mean I was so busy with classes and learning a bunch of stuff."
Nimue grins at the boy. "That you are," she agrees. "I expect I should let you get back to that." She gives Benjamin a nod. "Good luck with your research."
Benjamin quickly nods his head waving towards her once more before hurrying along. Once more he trips over his robes before picking himself up. Book in hand once more he begins to walk at a slower pace from the library.
<< Mar 21: Just a Little Bit...
Apr 13: Trouble in Northreach >>
