Initial examination - Travus - 26th TT

Tristam · Post by **Tristam** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 4:24 am

The ball of light led Travus through the winding stone halls of the University. Each closed door hinted at a new mystery within but they must wait for another day for his glowing guide forced a swift pace. Eventually it stopped before a door made of hardwood that was slightly yellowed with age. A brass tag on the wall beside it read:

B. Redgrave, Mentor & Student Administrator, Faculty of Theoretical Elementalism

The door was slightly ajar allowing Travus a view of the room beyond. A tall thin man dressed in maroon robes sat at a desk literally buried under paperwork. If asked, the mentor would have maintained he had a system to it - would even have attempted to prove this, although the proof itself, logically, would also have made sense only to himself. As could be expected, his office mirrored the desk: there were piles of books everywhere, and if there was any sort of order to the books in his bookcase, it had probably been invented somewhere in the Eastern Empire. In fact, there was something systematically disorganized to the office, and the only thing that gave it away as part of a place of the learned was the strong, vibrant smell of old books and paper.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 12:21 am

(OOC: Sorry I haven't replied in so long. I just moved IRL and still have no internet. Apparently Cox hates money.)
IC:Travus approached the door of this Redgrave with a smile still upon his face. If a man were to ask Travus how he felt now, Travus would be unable to express the deep joy and exhiliration he felt. He was accomplishing something he had worked for, had gone through difficult times for, and now, it was at hand. He gave a small, almost inaudible chuckle, and quickly silenced himself and put a slightly more serious look on his face.
'Don't want him thinking I'm a nutcase,' Travus thought privately.
Travus went to knock on the door, and found it slightly ajar. It pushed open as he knocked, and he peeked his head in to look at this 'Student Administrator.'
The first thought that came to Travus' head was, "Ye gods, what a messy desk." This desk literally had piles on top of piles on top of a desk. Travus swore he could hear the desk groaning out in pain underneath all the papers. Travus wondered briefly if it was possible that a small animal was trapped underneath the mountains of paper, and found himself seriously considering the possibility. The next thought in Travus head was, "Hey, maybe I shouldn't stand here like a great stupid prat staring at this man's desk, especially since he quite possibly holds my future in his hands."
With this thought, Travus entered the room and introduced himself.
"Good day, sir. I am Travus Senardi, and the man at the front directed me to your office," Travus said, stopping in front of the man's desk. Travus awaited patiently for the (slightly disorganised man's) reply.

Tristam · Post by **Tristam** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:18 pm

The man reluctantly lifted his head from the pair of scrolls he was studying to regard Travus. "Well of course he did. That is his job after all. Granted I'd rather he'd send me an expert in ancient Nipponese but that isn't his job you see." He dropped the scrolls back to his desk and focused more fully on Travus.

"I'll take that." He commented and reached out a hand towards the scroll the registrar had given Travus. Of its own volition the scroll left Travus's grasp and floated into that of the professor. He unrolled it and began to read.

"I'm Professor Redgrave. Let me just see what the registrar has to say about you and then we'll begin the examination. Have a seat by the way." His voice came from behind the scroll. His hand gestured vaguely at several chairs around the room. All of them held at least half a dozen books either stacked or splayed open.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 10:58 pm

Travus looked for a open chair, but quickly noticed that not only was this man's desk covered in paper, his chairs were, too. 'Quite a bit messy, Travus thought silently. He quickly placed some of the papers and books on the floor next to the chair and had a seat, patiently waiting for the man to start.

Tristam · Post by **Tristam** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:59 am

"Well now I know a little bit about you." Redgrave looked up from the scroll and then down at the moved books and papers sitting to Travus's side. "You extrapolate from given instructions and while you respect my things you do not fear me enough to let it prevent you from doing what you need. The registrar always sends me things like name and background." Redgrave waved the scroll away in dismissal.

"All right young fellow. First hurdle. Either you have the gift for magic or you don't. And if you don't no amount of training will help." Redgrave pointed at a large wax candle on his desk and it flared into life.

"To learn magic is to learn to look into another world, the world of the Aether. You will see the energies of the world laid out before you but what exactly you will see I cannot tell you. It is individual to each practioner of the Art. But you will know fire from water and air from earth. I myself see that candleflame as a thin line of red that I can tie in knots. Others see shapes, or gems, or plants. Knew a fellow once that swore he saw them as squirrels chittering secrets he couldn't understand. The key to seeing this is to focus. Close your eyes. Take deep calming breathes. Reach out with your senses. Know yourself. Feel yourself at one with your body and the world around you. Then open your eyes, stare at the candleflame, and look beyond it into the Aether."

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:10 pm

Travus gave a small chuckle after the professor explained what he wanted. He had thought this examination would be questions about motivation, behavior, but, as far as he could tell, the University didn't care. All they wanted to know was if Travus could do magic. To be honest, Travus couldn't wait to find out himself.
He closed his eyes, and took some deep breaths. He was quite wound up, and it would take a bit to settle himself. He reached for that rock of stability inside him, calming himself. He started thinking to himself, the way his heart steadily beat, the way he felt a small, almost unnoticable breeze in the room, his lungs filling with air, then exhaling. Blam. There it was. Travus was sure that if he looked at the candle flame now, he would see what he was supposed to. How did he know? He just did, and that was all right.
He opened his eyes. Travus felt that he didn't so much look at the candle as through it. What he saw surprised him. He was half-hoping for squirrels, as that would amuse him endlessly, but this was far more encouraging. What he saw was clay, red clay, where the flame should be. It danced much like a flame, but it was clay! Travus gave a small smile. He felt as though he could mold it with ease, but not with his hands. He stared at it for a burn or two, almost reaching out to it with his hands ('That not right,' something inside him said, and he listened), and then turned his attention to the air around him. It was yellow, but it was not clay...or was it? Maybe it was clay that had been hardened a bit, but he couldn't tell. He would ask the professor.
At the thought of the professor, Travus snapped back to reality. The 'clay' was gone, but it was almost as if he could feel it there, behind the veil of reality, waiting for him to come back. He knew that as soon as he got a room, he would try to experiment with that fire clay.
Travus described what he saw to the professor, the excitement in his voice palpable. He described the qualities of the flame clay, and then he described the air clay, making sure to note that it seemed harder than the fire. He finished with a question.
"Professor, why did the air clay seem harder? Shouldn't they all be the same?" He waited patiently for an answer.

Tristam · Post by **Tristam** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 1:30 am

Redgrave shook his head. "Those kind of questions are not for me to answer but for us both to discover during the course of your studies." He informed him kindly. "Each person's view of the Aether is as individual as their personality. Most likely seeing the air as harder reveals something about you. Either about your magical abilites or your preconceptions about the nature of reality." He shrugged. "Were I to speculate I would suggest that you posses an affinity for working with fire or a deficiency for working with air."

Redgrave rose from his chair and opened a drawer in his desk. He drew forth another candle and placed it next to the lit one. "Fortunately this is a speculation we can test here and now." He announced. "You can see into the Aether and that is the first step. Now we test if you can truly manipulate it as a mage must. Everything you saw in the Aether can be touched by you. I speak of this literally. You will mold this clay as much with your hands as with your will. It will not wish to be held. It will skitter away and shy from your touch but if you concentrate upon it hard you can grasp it." He assured Travus. "Grab the fire and light the second candle." He instructed.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 05, 2006 6:10 am

Travus listened to the professor's speculation, and suspected he was right. The fire just seemed to call out to him, whereas the air clay didn't. Travus was slightly amazed to find that he was already expected to bend the fire to his will, but he felt, on a deep, almost instinctual level, that he could do it. He was more than eager to try. 
Travus again closed his eyes, and slowly brought himself back to that place. No. It wasn't a place...it was a state of mind, and of body. He brought himself back into it, and noticed it came slightly easier this time. Perhaps it was just because he recently got out of it, or maybe it got easier with practice. Travus was confident he would find out soon. 
 Wham. He was there, and his eyes flew open to see the Aether.
Travus' attention was drawn immedietly to the fire. The clay seemed to yearn for him to shape it, to mold it, move it, roll it, for Pan's sake just do something with it. His mind just about screamed out at him to reach out with his thoughts, and he did. Travus gave a slight gasp when the clay moved as he willed it with just a mere thought. True, it took concentration, but not so much. He had a feeling that perhaps the air clay would have exerted much more force against his will.
Travus willed the air clay to stretch from the tip top over to the other wick. The fire clay gave some amount of resistance. Travus momentarily rested, thinking this over. It seemed his mind was not yet strong enough to simply will the flame over, but he remembered reading of great sorcerers of yahren past using gestures and words to do their awe inspiring works. He lifted his index finger, and pointed at the tip of the flame, focusing all of his mind's energy into his fingertip, and made a slow gesture to the wick. He uttered a single word of command.
"Move." And it did. The clay stretched over to the other wick, forming a slight arc, until he made a vertical slicing motion in the middle of the arc. It seperated into two seperate clay bits. Travus lowered his awareness to normal, and noted with glee that both candles were indeed lit.
"Well, he said, "There you have it, Professor." He smiled, and noticed a trickle of sweat had run down from his temple to his cheek, and he quickly wiped it away. "Seems I need a bit of practice before I get the hang of it," Travus said, and followed it with a goofy grin and a chuckle.

Tristam · Post by **Tristam** » Wed May 10, 2006 8:29 pm

"Indeed. Also I already see some bad habits that should be nipped in the bud." Redgrave murmured. "Still there is no doubt about your talent. Sorcery is in your blood and it burns with fire." He nodded with satisfaction.

"Now down to brass tacks as they say." Redgrave announced. "It is the policy of the University to train any and all who have the talent for sorcery regardless of their race, social or finanicial situation. However, the requirements for teaching sorcery are expensive and the University expects to be paid. You have the choice of paying 4 crowns up front or repay the Unveristy with service ranging from menial tasks at the beginning to magical upkeep of the University at the end. Is that acceptable to you?"

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 12, 2006 9:50 pm

Travus had expected this. Four crowns? Might as well have asked him to pay thirty. Travus would, however, gladly exchange time for education. 
"I suppose I'll have to render my services to the University," Travus said.

Tristam · Post by **Tristam** » Wed May 17, 2006 4:53 pm

Redgrave nodded. It was the usual response. Very few people that have four crowns have the desire or dilligence to go into magical studies. Oddly enough the weathy were proud to sponsor the University, but they never send their sons and daughters.

"We'll just need you to sign this standard contract." Redgrave unrolled a scroll and handed the young man a quill. "Basicaly it binds the University to teach you to the best of your abilities and in exchange you will provide service to the best of your ability. Feel free to read it over if you like." He offered. "Oh it also stipualtes that we provide you with room and board and all equipment needed for your magical studies plus a small amount of spending cash." He added.

"Once you've signed we can discuss your course of study and get you settled it your quarters in the student dormitory." Redgrave said.

Ashari · Post by **Ashari** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 4:01 am

Archived - no skills awarded since thread seems to have died.