An Arcane Scholar and a Necromancer Meet In A Cafe
Aug 28, 2022 22:16:58 GMT
Jaezred Vandree and Velania Kalugina like this
Post by Andy D on Aug 28, 2022 22:16:58 GMT
Many thanks to Ruthenia Truelove /Josh for going full wizard with me!
Ruthenia sits at a table in the cafe, her fraying leather bound journal placed onto the table in front of her as she scribes down yet another note to herself. She doesn't use her own hands for this but instead summons a skeletal Mage Hand for this purpose. Not unusual here, since the regulars at this particular cafe tend to be magically inclined. She bears a dour, almost grim expression on her face, though this is hardly unusual for her either; the closest to joyful that she tends to get is sardonic. In any case, the woman is an island; perfectly happy to be on her own.
The door to the cafe opened by itself, as a dapper looking middle-aged human man walked into the shop.
"I say. This must be the place then," said the man, as the door behind him seemingly shuts itself.
"Well. This is rather nice," the man thought to himself, "and by the look of that woman's own Mage Hand spell this must be the place. But the bloody sign out front is broken. You'd think a Wizards cafe would mend that with a simple Mend cantrip. Hmmmm. Best make sure I'm in the right place."
The dapper man, dressed in his orange suit, cream shirt, blue tie and blue-ribboned fedora cut quite the fancy image. Along with the fine clothing, the gentleman held a wizard's staff in his right hand that had crystal adornments at the top end that added more colour to his presentation. To complete the look, the man's greying trim, brown beard had blond, pointy highlights at the end of his moustache and beard. This wizard was quite the dandy.
"Hello. Excuse me Miss. I do beg your pardon. The sign out front is eligible, so I'm not sure if I've arrived where I intended to be. This is Daring Height's premier Wizarding cafe that I've heard about, is it not?"
"That is Madam or Doctor to you, good sir." Ruthenia jabbed, having yet to look up at the stranger who had just so rudely broken her concentration. She casted her hawkish grey eyes over at the gentleman and seeing him in all his finery brought back memories where she too could be more extravagant and frivolous. Her simple full length purple dress and equally simple rod with its plain orb showed that those days were no more. He was rather handsome if she did say so herself, not that it ever mattered much these days.
"Yes, I had the same issue myself, this is the place indeed. Ruthenia Truelove. And who would you happen to be?"
The finely dressed man smiled widely and offered his hand, "Archie Haltuhr, Madam. I'm a scholar of Arcane Discoveries, I focus mainly on the Potential for Human Longevity, and from time to time I like to indulge in de-li-ciiious cake."
Archie turned to look at the display of many cakes at the counter, and then quickly turned back to face Ruthenia. Archie's smile remained fixed, but with a tilt of his head he pleaded with his eyes, "I'm also terribly new here. Could I interest you in tea and cake, and join you for a conversation? The way your Mage Hand spell has manifested as a skeletal hand, I find quite interesting."
"Human longevity? Verrrry interesting..." Curiosity became interest as Ruthenia continued to eye the man.
"Well, it certainly has been a while since I've received such an invitation. I take my tea black, and if they have lemon drizzle, I'll take that too."
Archie sat down, his chair pulling itself out, and joined Ruthenia at the table. A server came by, and after a short while a pot of tea, a slice of lemon drizzle cake, and a mille feuille were brought to the table.
Between sips of tea - one served black, one with cream and sugar - and bites of sweet treats, a conversation between the two differently presented wizards began.
"As I say, I haven't been here in Daring Heights for more than a week, and if I'm not careful I won't be here on the plane of the living for much longer!" Archie explained to Ruthenia with concern in his eyes, "and I'll hardly be able to pursue Human Longevity from the grave, no. Tell me, from one wizard to another," Archie paused and sat forward in his chair, "do you think it careless of a wizard to go forth on adventures without the Mage Armour spell in one's spellbook? And that is indeed a confession?" Archie sat back ready to hear honest criticism.
"Undoubtedly." Ruthenia responded, not even missing a single beat. "It is a perennial spell in most adventuring wizards books for a reason. We can't wear armour and we don't tend to be the most durable of people. It only makes sense to fortify yourself in the eventuality that you find yourself in a combat situation, which tends to be more often than any of us would like it to be."
She sipped at her tea, marvelling at the man who didn't know what she considered to be fundamental.
"You're new to this lifestyle, aren't you?"
"Oh you cut me deeply with that question!" Archie responded dramatically." "But yes, rather," he admitted, eyes darting down ashamed, and then back up at Ruthenia. "I would assume then that you possess in your spellbook the Mage Armour spell?” Archie leaned forward to address his conversation partner better, “Doctor Ruthenia; there is a limitless supply of black tea and lemon drizzle cake on offer if you would help me out, and let me copy that spell. Oh, and don't worry about your time being eaten up. I may have embarrassed myself, and by extension my Order with my novice carelessness in battle. But, I assure you, scribing is my forte. A level One abjuration spell like Mage Armour will take me two minutes tops to scribe in my spellbook." Archie summoned his magical quill to his hand, and crossed the fingers of his other hand awaiting the reply.
"Ah, a scribe. That explains a surprising amount... It has been a while since I've met one of your sort." Ruthenia mused. "That is fine by me, but you know the rules of this game; I'll only show you mine if you show me yours. Whilst I pride myself in the practicality of the spells in my book certain events have prompted me to seek further utility. If my years have taught me anything, it is that one must be adaptable to survive, and to never do anything for free."
Ruthenia shut the ratty journal on the table and put it in her bag, before withdrawing another book, this one almost impossibly pristine and almost certainly enchanted in some way. While it was otherwise a plain leather bound tome the lack of imperfections made it seem almost unnatural. She placed it on the table.
"Don't be alarmed at the other spells in there; I assure you they are all important for my own area of research."
"Oh but of course you may peruse my own spell book and copy what takes your fancy. It's only fair. Here!" Archie both took Ruthenia’s spellbook, and magically opened his satchel and handed over his spellbook, opened up at the index page, "look I've taken the time to index my spells alphabetically and by spell level, and even school."
The pages of Ruthenia's spellbook turned for Archie at his command, "oh my! Look at that spell. Fascinating! And what is your area of research, doctor? You've had to listen to me prattle on, I haven't learnt anything about you. Do, enlighten me please? And I assure you; as I scribe, I am very much paying attention to you."
Ruthenia handed Archie back his spellbook, "you can finish perusing it in a couple of minutes, I promise," Archie said as reassurance.
The arcane scribe held his magical quill in his right hand, and as if by its own direction, the quill glided across an empty page of his own light brown leather spellbook, filling it with ink of all colours, as he scribed. Red where warnings were necessary, blue for somatic and verbal components, green for the material components, purple for the school of magic. And all this at an alarming speed, and the magical ink changing colour at will.
In two minutes, Archie had copied, and copied very well the Mage Armour spell.
"What do you think of my notation?" Archie asked, turning his spellbook back towards Ruthenia, pleased with himself, "it takes time to rearrange my spells so they are in alphabetical order, but when you have a magical quill with limitless ink and the power to erase; it's relatively easy to do." When Ruthenia turned the page, she noticed that the Mage Armour spell Archie had just copied into his own inscription was not on the latest page of the book, where he began scribing; it was where it belonged in alphabetical order of spells in the book.
"Impressive, I must say this is the first time I have witnessed a scribe's art in practice and I must say, I am jealous. I'd spend far less time on my notes if I had a quill like that. And your notation is almost textbook, in the best possible way. I daresay that even the most novice of mages could manage to perform these spells if this was their guide."
Ruthenia's spells were scribed purely in black ink and read more like a series of essays, detailing the forces that were being manipulated, expected outcomes and even detailed specific use cases. These were accompanied by diagrams and a formula system of sorts devised by Ruthenia describing the base components of each spell.
"Given that it was almost trivial for you to decode my spells you will have already worked out my school of study. I am indeed a necromancer and I am working on the problem of healing magic, and particularly resurrection. Have you ever considered how clerics are able to manage such effects with ease and yet there is a clear lack of progress on our part? Why is it that the only spell in common circulation that lets us heal comes at the cost of great damage to ourselves? Why is it that we cannot resurrect people? This is my main preoccupation."
Archie had turned the pages of Ruthenia's spellbook so that it was now open on her inscription of the Find Familiar spell. But he paused, first to ask if he could copy more, and also to consider what he had just heard. Archie tilted his head, clasped his hands together, and in a soft voice he exclaimed, "a fascinating area of study, yes."
"You know, I would say our areas of research overlap. I am interested in prolonging human life, and resurrection would accomplish that with a bit of a pause in the process. The curative spells if continuously applied would surely rid the world of several manners of common death to our kind. It is certainly in the public interest to unravel the mysteries of the life-preserving side of necromancy. I have consulted with a cleric colleague, friend in fact. Unfortunately, it would seem divine intervention from a favourable deity is the missing ingredient us wizards would struggle to replicate. For my own part, I wonder if only the True Polymorph spell will give me the longevity I seek; by magically changing myself to a Half-Elf, or even further, an Elf."
Archie lent back in his chair, pursed his lips, cradled his fingers and looked back at Ruthenia. "Might I ask what drives you in your research, doctor? And, if you don't mind, I've spotted several other spells in your delightful spellbook I wish to scribe..."
"By all means." She gestured at the book, allowing him to continue.
"Polymorphing yourself seems a rather extreme option, however it is viable. Cloning is also a viable strategy, though both the magic and infrastructure necessary is difficult to acquire. I fear that anything else would require far more nefarious acts. Notably all of these require wizards of considerable power, far more than you or I alone can muster presently, judged by the levels of spells in our spellbook. Hardly options for the common man."
Her expression soured at the mention of clerics, more than the lemon drizzle could ever be held responsible for.
"Yes, yes, divine intervention, that old beast... I have my own theories concerning that, but it's all rather pie-in-the-sky thinking at the moment, nothing I can do at present about that. At some point though, we must find a way to forcibly gain access to the divine suite of powers, or at least work out how to replicate them. You know, this is the most civilised conversation I've had about the matter in a while, it's a breath of fresh air to be honest."
“I’m delighted you think so." Archie agreed. I love my two closest friends, but neither is the scholarly type let alone a wizard, and to think our area of specialist interest is so similar. Yes, I’ve been most pleased with your company, doctor. And you’ve been most generous with your spellbook.” As Archie finished saying that, he had also finished copying the Find Familiar spell. “I feel I made the right decision coming here today, and I do hope that I’ll be able to share more; tea, cake and conversation with you in the future - I plan on advancing my skills in the arcane, and it would be lovely if I could share my progress with someone who could fully appreciate the achievements. For example, it should not be long before I have mastered manifesting a spectral mind for my spell booky-wook, from which I can cast spells at a distance. Perhaps reducing my future reliance on the Mage Armour spell.”
"Yes well, ranged casting can help but consider putting more physical bodies in front of you too. You already are, I can tell. Don't think I didn't notice Summon Undead in there. It is indeed good to have peers with which to discuss the finer aspects of our science, something I have been sorely lacking for a while now. May these days of confection and collaboration continue."
Ruthenia raises her cup as if to make a toast.
"Well met," Archie responded with a warm smile, and pushed both their spellbooks in front of Ruthenia, "your turn now doctor. I'll see to a refill."
Ruthenia sits at a table in the cafe, her fraying leather bound journal placed onto the table in front of her as she scribes down yet another note to herself. She doesn't use her own hands for this but instead summons a skeletal Mage Hand for this purpose. Not unusual here, since the regulars at this particular cafe tend to be magically inclined. She bears a dour, almost grim expression on her face, though this is hardly unusual for her either; the closest to joyful that she tends to get is sardonic. In any case, the woman is an island; perfectly happy to be on her own.
The door to the cafe opened by itself, as a dapper looking middle-aged human man walked into the shop.
"I say. This must be the place then," said the man, as the door behind him seemingly shuts itself.
"Well. This is rather nice," the man thought to himself, "and by the look of that woman's own Mage Hand spell this must be the place. But the bloody sign out front is broken. You'd think a Wizards cafe would mend that with a simple Mend cantrip. Hmmmm. Best make sure I'm in the right place."
The dapper man, dressed in his orange suit, cream shirt, blue tie and blue-ribboned fedora cut quite the fancy image. Along with the fine clothing, the gentleman held a wizard's staff in his right hand that had crystal adornments at the top end that added more colour to his presentation. To complete the look, the man's greying trim, brown beard had blond, pointy highlights at the end of his moustache and beard. This wizard was quite the dandy.
"Hello. Excuse me Miss. I do beg your pardon. The sign out front is eligible, so I'm not sure if I've arrived where I intended to be. This is Daring Height's premier Wizarding cafe that I've heard about, is it not?"
"That is Madam or Doctor to you, good sir." Ruthenia jabbed, having yet to look up at the stranger who had just so rudely broken her concentration. She casted her hawkish grey eyes over at the gentleman and seeing him in all his finery brought back memories where she too could be more extravagant and frivolous. Her simple full length purple dress and equally simple rod with its plain orb showed that those days were no more. He was rather handsome if she did say so herself, not that it ever mattered much these days.
"Yes, I had the same issue myself, this is the place indeed. Ruthenia Truelove. And who would you happen to be?"
The finely dressed man smiled widely and offered his hand, "Archie Haltuhr, Madam. I'm a scholar of Arcane Discoveries, I focus mainly on the Potential for Human Longevity, and from time to time I like to indulge in de-li-ciiious cake."
Archie turned to look at the display of many cakes at the counter, and then quickly turned back to face Ruthenia. Archie's smile remained fixed, but with a tilt of his head he pleaded with his eyes, "I'm also terribly new here. Could I interest you in tea and cake, and join you for a conversation? The way your Mage Hand spell has manifested as a skeletal hand, I find quite interesting."
"Human longevity? Verrrry interesting..." Curiosity became interest as Ruthenia continued to eye the man.
"Well, it certainly has been a while since I've received such an invitation. I take my tea black, and if they have lemon drizzle, I'll take that too."
Archie sat down, his chair pulling itself out, and joined Ruthenia at the table. A server came by, and after a short while a pot of tea, a slice of lemon drizzle cake, and a mille feuille were brought to the table.
Between sips of tea - one served black, one with cream and sugar - and bites of sweet treats, a conversation between the two differently presented wizards began.
"As I say, I haven't been here in Daring Heights for more than a week, and if I'm not careful I won't be here on the plane of the living for much longer!" Archie explained to Ruthenia with concern in his eyes, "and I'll hardly be able to pursue Human Longevity from the grave, no. Tell me, from one wizard to another," Archie paused and sat forward in his chair, "do you think it careless of a wizard to go forth on adventures without the Mage Armour spell in one's spellbook? And that is indeed a confession?" Archie sat back ready to hear honest criticism.
"Undoubtedly." Ruthenia responded, not even missing a single beat. "It is a perennial spell in most adventuring wizards books for a reason. We can't wear armour and we don't tend to be the most durable of people. It only makes sense to fortify yourself in the eventuality that you find yourself in a combat situation, which tends to be more often than any of us would like it to be."
She sipped at her tea, marvelling at the man who didn't know what she considered to be fundamental.
"You're new to this lifestyle, aren't you?"
"Oh you cut me deeply with that question!" Archie responded dramatically." "But yes, rather," he admitted, eyes darting down ashamed, and then back up at Ruthenia. "I would assume then that you possess in your spellbook the Mage Armour spell?” Archie leaned forward to address his conversation partner better, “Doctor Ruthenia; there is a limitless supply of black tea and lemon drizzle cake on offer if you would help me out, and let me copy that spell. Oh, and don't worry about your time being eaten up. I may have embarrassed myself, and by extension my Order with my novice carelessness in battle. But, I assure you, scribing is my forte. A level One abjuration spell like Mage Armour will take me two minutes tops to scribe in my spellbook." Archie summoned his magical quill to his hand, and crossed the fingers of his other hand awaiting the reply.
"Ah, a scribe. That explains a surprising amount... It has been a while since I've met one of your sort." Ruthenia mused. "That is fine by me, but you know the rules of this game; I'll only show you mine if you show me yours. Whilst I pride myself in the practicality of the spells in my book certain events have prompted me to seek further utility. If my years have taught me anything, it is that one must be adaptable to survive, and to never do anything for free."
Ruthenia shut the ratty journal on the table and put it in her bag, before withdrawing another book, this one almost impossibly pristine and almost certainly enchanted in some way. While it was otherwise a plain leather bound tome the lack of imperfections made it seem almost unnatural. She placed it on the table.
"Don't be alarmed at the other spells in there; I assure you they are all important for my own area of research."
"Oh but of course you may peruse my own spell book and copy what takes your fancy. It's only fair. Here!" Archie both took Ruthenia’s spellbook, and magically opened his satchel and handed over his spellbook, opened up at the index page, "look I've taken the time to index my spells alphabetically and by spell level, and even school."
The pages of Ruthenia's spellbook turned for Archie at his command, "oh my! Look at that spell. Fascinating! And what is your area of research, doctor? You've had to listen to me prattle on, I haven't learnt anything about you. Do, enlighten me please? And I assure you; as I scribe, I am very much paying attention to you."
Ruthenia handed Archie back his spellbook, "you can finish perusing it in a couple of minutes, I promise," Archie said as reassurance.
The arcane scribe held his magical quill in his right hand, and as if by its own direction, the quill glided across an empty page of his own light brown leather spellbook, filling it with ink of all colours, as he scribed. Red where warnings were necessary, blue for somatic and verbal components, green for the material components, purple for the school of magic. And all this at an alarming speed, and the magical ink changing colour at will.
In two minutes, Archie had copied, and copied very well the Mage Armour spell.
"What do you think of my notation?" Archie asked, turning his spellbook back towards Ruthenia, pleased with himself, "it takes time to rearrange my spells so they are in alphabetical order, but when you have a magical quill with limitless ink and the power to erase; it's relatively easy to do." When Ruthenia turned the page, she noticed that the Mage Armour spell Archie had just copied into his own inscription was not on the latest page of the book, where he began scribing; it was where it belonged in alphabetical order of spells in the book.
"Impressive, I must say this is the first time I have witnessed a scribe's art in practice and I must say, I am jealous. I'd spend far less time on my notes if I had a quill like that. And your notation is almost textbook, in the best possible way. I daresay that even the most novice of mages could manage to perform these spells if this was their guide."
Ruthenia's spells were scribed purely in black ink and read more like a series of essays, detailing the forces that were being manipulated, expected outcomes and even detailed specific use cases. These were accompanied by diagrams and a formula system of sorts devised by Ruthenia describing the base components of each spell.
"Given that it was almost trivial for you to decode my spells you will have already worked out my school of study. I am indeed a necromancer and I am working on the problem of healing magic, and particularly resurrection. Have you ever considered how clerics are able to manage such effects with ease and yet there is a clear lack of progress on our part? Why is it that the only spell in common circulation that lets us heal comes at the cost of great damage to ourselves? Why is it that we cannot resurrect people? This is my main preoccupation."
Archie had turned the pages of Ruthenia's spellbook so that it was now open on her inscription of the Find Familiar spell. But he paused, first to ask if he could copy more, and also to consider what he had just heard. Archie tilted his head, clasped his hands together, and in a soft voice he exclaimed, "a fascinating area of study, yes."
"You know, I would say our areas of research overlap. I am interested in prolonging human life, and resurrection would accomplish that with a bit of a pause in the process. The curative spells if continuously applied would surely rid the world of several manners of common death to our kind. It is certainly in the public interest to unravel the mysteries of the life-preserving side of necromancy. I have consulted with a cleric colleague, friend in fact. Unfortunately, it would seem divine intervention from a favourable deity is the missing ingredient us wizards would struggle to replicate. For my own part, I wonder if only the True Polymorph spell will give me the longevity I seek; by magically changing myself to a Half-Elf, or even further, an Elf."
Archie lent back in his chair, pursed his lips, cradled his fingers and looked back at Ruthenia. "Might I ask what drives you in your research, doctor? And, if you don't mind, I've spotted several other spells in your delightful spellbook I wish to scribe..."
"By all means." She gestured at the book, allowing him to continue.
"Polymorphing yourself seems a rather extreme option, however it is viable. Cloning is also a viable strategy, though both the magic and infrastructure necessary is difficult to acquire. I fear that anything else would require far more nefarious acts. Notably all of these require wizards of considerable power, far more than you or I alone can muster presently, judged by the levels of spells in our spellbook. Hardly options for the common man."
Her expression soured at the mention of clerics, more than the lemon drizzle could ever be held responsible for.
"Yes, yes, divine intervention, that old beast... I have my own theories concerning that, but it's all rather pie-in-the-sky thinking at the moment, nothing I can do at present about that. At some point though, we must find a way to forcibly gain access to the divine suite of powers, or at least work out how to replicate them. You know, this is the most civilised conversation I've had about the matter in a while, it's a breath of fresh air to be honest."
“I’m delighted you think so." Archie agreed. I love my two closest friends, but neither is the scholarly type let alone a wizard, and to think our area of specialist interest is so similar. Yes, I’ve been most pleased with your company, doctor. And you’ve been most generous with your spellbook.” As Archie finished saying that, he had also finished copying the Find Familiar spell. “I feel I made the right decision coming here today, and I do hope that I’ll be able to share more; tea, cake and conversation with you in the future - I plan on advancing my skills in the arcane, and it would be lovely if I could share my progress with someone who could fully appreciate the achievements. For example, it should not be long before I have mastered manifesting a spectral mind for my spell booky-wook, from which I can cast spells at a distance. Perhaps reducing my future reliance on the Mage Armour spell.”
"Yes well, ranged casting can help but consider putting more physical bodies in front of you too. You already are, I can tell. Don't think I didn't notice Summon Undead in there. It is indeed good to have peers with which to discuss the finer aspects of our science, something I have been sorely lacking for a while now. May these days of confection and collaboration continue."
Ruthenia raises her cup as if to make a toast.
"Well met," Archie responded with a warm smile, and pushed both their spellbooks in front of Ruthenia, "your turn now doctor. I'll see to a refill."