Handfasting sidethread - Talking to a mage

[Elvin Motricé]

The Adhiel stood quietly to the side, looking for Simon Ginneke. He had still much to discuss with the mage and now was as good a time as ever. He sighed: "Too bad I don't get paid for everything I do. I have a feeling I'll be needing the money soon..."

When he spotted the mage, he approached him, waiting from a respectable distance until the master mage had time for him.

[Grey Wolf]

Simon was deep in conversation with Chacellor Anzillo, his expression one of genuine surprise, just a hint of cncern showing the the crease of his forehead. Hector was in the process of explaining something, and Simon kept on nodding to the other man, seemingly agreeing with what was being said, but then launched into a tirade of his own, waving his hand in a rather excited manner as he tried to get the point across. The conversation looked friendly if somewhat heated.

[Elvin Motricé]

Elvin stayed at a respectable distance, doing his best not to overhear the conversation. He needed Ginneke's support and didn't want to provoke his ire by overhearing something he wasn't intended to hear. Yet there was some hesitation, part of him truly wanted to hear what was being said. The more the Professor knew about the going-ons, the better he could anticipate.

The silver-haired Adhiel decided to use a more passive trick to gauge the seriousness of the situation. The last half year he had been experimenting with a talent that he had started developing after he first encountered Elaine. The sorcerer focussed on the two men, watching their auras to see the underlying emotions behind the conversation. As it wasn't a magical trick but a power of the mind the mage doubted that anyone could detect it.

[Grey Wolf]

The pair looked like they were nowhere close to ending their conversation, giving Elvin plenty of time to finish his spell-like manipulation, the subtle nature of it not attracting any obvious attention. Hector's aura wavered only briefly, the man's calm behavior coloring it a soft green, his smile gentle and understanding, but Simon's arguments did not seem to be able to sway him. The Thaumaturgist's was obviously agitated, his aura flickering between red and occasionally getting a faint blueish tinge, which gave it a purple outline as it mixed with the prevailing red.

[Elvin Motricé]

Elvin did not know the Chancellor by face, surely he was familiar with the man's name but not with his countenance, otherwise he might have thought twice when he finally stepped forward to the two men. "Excuse me, my lords," the Professor politely interjected, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important?"

[Grey Wolf]

Elvin approached just in time to see Simon throw his arms up in frustration and snort at the other man. "We are not done yet. I won't let you do something so stupid just like that. Not without a damn good reason." Chancellor merely smiled and shrugged, turning to face the newly arrived mage. "You are not interrupting anything. I merely informed my friend of a decision I have made and he disagrees. Nothing more. Now, how can we help you?" The man seemed genuinely relaxed and even happy in a way, which obviously irritated Imperial Thaumaturgist to a degree. "I assume you are Simon's acquaintance since I do not believe we have ever met."

[Elvin Motricé]

The Thaumataurgist's behavior alarmed Elvin slightly, usually when people were irritated it was not a good idea to ask them for something, especially when you were unknown.

Ignoring his uneasiness he made a small bow: "An acquaintance in writing. I am Professor Motricé of the University of Magic. I've tried to contact Lord Ginneke several times in the past months but I haven't been able to get a hold of him and when I saw his lordship here, I thought it might be an interesting oopportunityto talk to him."

[Grey Wolf]

Hector Anzillo arched his brows, and chuckled, his cheerful manner a sharp counterpoint to Simon's grumpy mood. "Well, in that case, Master Motrice I will simply introduce myself and bid you two gentlemen farewell. Hector Anzillo, at your service." He grinned, bowed swiftly, and then bid his farewell to Simon in a more serious manner. "My friend, we shall talk again. I don't think there is anything that can convince me to change my mind, but stranger things have happened." Then as the grin returned he added. "And please, no magick tricks." This made even the glum Simon smile and soon Elvin and the Imperial Thaumaturgist were left alone. "Well then, you have me all to yourself. What it is you need from me?"

[Elvin Motricé]

Elvin smiled, slightly embaressed by the man's jest. A few flickers after Hector had walked away did the Adhiel realize who he was "One of the most powerful men in the Empire... That says something about Ulder's and Elaine's standing..."

The Professor was ungently reminded about the matter on hand by Simon's blunt question. He liked the Thaumataurgist's straightforwardness and decided to cut to the case himself. "What do you know about the incident at Pan's Temple?"

[Grey Wolf]

Simon's eyes narrowed at Elvin's words, Thaumaturgist remaining silent for several flickers and then motioning towards the passage away from the beach. "Such things are best discussed in private I think." He fell silent once more, and the few burns of walk through the narrow ravine that led from the beach up into the island, Elvin was given a chance to observe the human magus, the thin man obviously full of energy and a tad nervous. His fingers for one never stopped moving, eyes even more alive then fingers, constantly glancing this way and that, though there seemed to be no pattern in what could draw the man's attention. Guests were already slowly filtering away, but Simon led the adhiel Mentor away from the crowd and along the narrow path leading up onto the cliffs.

A few more burns passed before Simon stopped, seating himself upon a flat rock and sighed. "Pan's Temple, is it?" He regarded the younger looking adhiel for a flicker and nodded as if coming to a decision. "I know a bit, but you have to realize I can not know all that takes place in this city. There was supposedly some sort of Netheric taint at that place, and some students, with you as their help, managed to neutralize it. A book I believe was the source of problems. Other than that I fear you shall have to tell me more before I can proceed."

[Elvin Motricé]

Elvin nodded approvingly when Simon lead him from the weddingsite to a more private area. The magus' behavior was amusing though not unknown to the Adhiel, several persons at the University showed similar behavior. The Professor himself was known to have fits like this himself, usually when he was in the middle of an interesting thought process...

The sorcerer waited for Simon to be seated before he himself took a seat on a rock. He smiled in response to the Thaumataurgist's answer: "You know more than others and I'm almost jealous by the accuracy of your sources," he shifted his weight slightly to sit more comfortable and continued, "It is true that a book was the cause of all the malice. A volume of the Libre Maleficarius... I think you know about that particular set of books?" The mage didn't wait for Ginneke's answer, assuming that the Imperial Thaumataurgist would know about one of the greatest dangers of the dark arts, "With effort I managed to seal the book and I removed it from the Temple. I read some of it and I saw how it was made," an involuntary shudder ran down the Adhiel's spine, "Such evil... It was thanks to the book that we knew how to kill the Changer. After that daemon's defeat I judged that the book had to be destroyed. It's too dangerous, it subtly influences the mind and in the hands of a dark magus it would be a terrible power. Yet the book we destroyed wasn't a volume of the Libre but a perfect copy... Only in the moment of destruction did I realize that the original had been replaced..."

[Grey Wolf]

There was not a word coming out of Simon's lips as Elvin spoke, the Thaumaturgist nodding here and there, managing even to smile at the praise of his sources, keeping their identity secret for now. He did frown a little at the mention of book being destroyed, but remained quiet. "I would say you have a problem then. Aside that you sought to destroy a book that could give us insight in the intricacies of dark magick and perhaps its weaknesses, but you lost it before it could be destroyed. The fact that it was replaced with a copy tells us that it was someone powerful and obviously devious." He hummed and examined his fingernails as if he was utterly calm. "I would suggest you think of who knew you had the book, and more importantly who knew what you were planning to do with it. The culprit is likely amongst those or people close to them. I doubt the mages of the University spoke much of the evil tome about to be destroyed to others. So, who had access to the Libre before it was destroyed, and who spent time there are the questions you ought to ask yourself. Also....." He shook his head and waved a hand. "No, too dangerous. Forget that last bit."

[Elvin Motricé]

"That book was the downfall of Pan's Temple. It's influence is too terrible and knowing that there are dark mages in the University I didn't dare to leave it out of my sight for too long. I copied all those parts that I could read or open. Others might require sacrifices that I'm not willing to make, nor would I let someone else make them. There's a thin line between practising the dark arts and trying to study them to do good," the Professor interjected when Simon made his remark about destroying the book, "How does the old saying go? The greatest evil can be born from the intent to do good?"

Elvin sighed as he listened to Simon's conclusions: "Yes, I know that someone from those who knew about it are most likely to have stolen it. I have someone investigating it for me. They'ld be too suspicious about me to let me come close. Although I hate using people, sometimes events leave me little choice."

The silver-haired Adhiel looked at the Thaumataurgist: "Also...? Please, lord Ginneke, let me be the judge about what is too dangerous. There are some risks worth taking and I haven't survived in my trade for this long by taking unnecessary chances."

[Grey Wolf]

It was obvious Simon did not quite agree with Elvin's words, his frown barely noticeable but there as the adhiel mage spoke of the dangers the book posed. "Seems to me that the good you sought produced more evil than had you studied the book. You had it in your grasp and you could have studied it, but now you not only no longer can study it, but you do not have it at all, and you do not even know who has it. But....." He raised a hand to cut off any argument from Elvin, chewing his lower lip for a tense flicker. "Be being a bastard and telling you how you were wrong won't help us in this moment, since you know as well as I that you screwed up. What we need to do now is to find the book and get it from whomever has it. And that brings us to the too dangerous bit. What I wanted to propose was a way to locate the book once more. But to do that we will need to find someone who carries at least a bit of its taint upon him or herself. And then to see if we can use the taint of the book to locate the tome itself. Something even I have never done before and that I dread attempting. If it gets out of control the taint could break free and take over the subject. And that could be bad as you well know."

[Elvin Motricé]

The Thaumataurgist had a point, Elvin conceded, he had screwed up and rather badly. The Adhiel pondered Simon's proposal and nodded: "Yes, I know what you mean. The last one to get in contact with the book for a long period of time was me. I don't know if that is enough for you to work with? There's a sound argument for the choice. I have fought the taint of the book before and know it well and I'm probably the person with the most extensive mental training from those who came in contact with the book."

[Grey Wolf]

The Imperial Thaumaturgist remained silent for several flickers, his eyes flicking this way and that almost nervously as he seemed to be calculating something in the privacy of his own mind. "I'll need a few days to prepare everything. Come see me on 26th or 27th and we shall try to weave the spell and try to locate the book through its taint. In the meantime I suggest you practice your mental shields and spell defenses. I suspect you might need those when the time comes. Any other questions?"

[Elvin Motricé]

"The 26th or 27th, it shall be. I have to travel to the Western Kingdom through the portals tonight. There's a promise I have to keep," Elvin told Ginneke. He made a small bow for the Thaumataurgist: "No, there are no questions. I know what I'm supposed to do. See you seen, my lord."

[Grey Wolf]

~Fin~

[Vanadius]

Skilled and archived