I Met Your Fella… Somewhere… I Can’t Remember?

Written with the brilliant Orianna Èirigh /Riah.
The following takes place after Never Tarnish Nor Grow Dim

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Nevertheless, it was time again to crack open the books and get to work at a table he had booked in the library of Daring Academy.

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The scribe wizard spent a large portion of the day before visiting one more plane than he had expected. The first plane visited came with some peril (The Plane of Minerals), the second one could have been dire (The Plane of Porphatys). Despite the progression of danger, one member of that party was keen to repeat the process that led to the unexpected plane shift. But what was the process by which the party shifted planes? Archie’s memory is sketchy about the method of teleportation. Although, he does recall meeting someone during the transition from plane to plane. It was the adventurer Gerhard, a friend of Kavel’s, but also partner of Orianna Èirigh, who, like the doctor himself, can often be found in the Academy...
…

It was the first time Archie had been to the Stars and Night Sky department’s tower. “Are we in the right place, Juniper?” Archie called out to the Awakened Shrub who had run ahead to look at the names on the department plaque. Archie joined Juniper and read the names. At the very bottom, added with parchment and adhered rather strongly, was Orianna’s name.

“Yes this is her. Well done Juniper,” he said, praising his favourite wizard assistant. “And look. There she is over there. Come. I'll introduce you.”
…

“Ms Èirigh. Orianna. It’s me, Archie. It’s lovely to see you again, I hope I’m not interrupting you. I have a query, one which you seem best fit to help me with.”

“Dr. Haltuhr, it is a delight to see you,” Orianna says, standing up with a friendly smile. “If I can help, I will. Is it pertaining to constellations? Or perhaps the movement of celestial bodies and how they affect the Material Plane?”

She moves over to where a beautiful tea set rests on a sideboard surrounded by a plethora of plants and herbs. “Also, would you like some tea?”

Archie admired the abundance of herbs he could see, and wondered if there were any there he hadn’t already worked with under the tutelage of his herbalist teacher, Fanwen Silvervein.

“Tea would be wonderful, and if you have it, a little water for my companion, Juniper. Thank you.” Archie gestured toward Juniper and back at Orianna. “Juniper, this is Orianna, an expert on celestial bodies, her knowledge of constellations far exceeds my own,” Archie explained. “And I would very much enjoy improving my knowledge of the macro world from you, Orianna. But today…” He paused before continuing, wondering if what he had to say might come off as improper. “I’ve come to see you because I ran into your fella on an adventure.” The elder wizard then hastened to add, “He looked well! Gerhard that is. He was tremendously helpful, too. However… I don’t entirely recall everything…”

Orianna goes very still. Her back is to Archie, so he cannot see her face, but he does notice her tail twitch and jitter before curling back up on itself.

“Where is it you say you saw Gerhard? I don't recall you mentioning…”

She turns around, two teacups and saucers in her hands, steam rising from their open mouths in short curling wisps. Orianna carefully sets Archie’s in front of him, focusing solely on not making the cup clatter in any way.

“Ah thank you Orianna.” Archie takes a sip of his tea and lets the liquid wash around his mouth. “Oh that’s lovely.”

She nods her thanks. Going back to the sideboard and with a wave of her hand fills a small, wide bowl with crystal clear water, which she then brings over for Juniper. Placing his cup on the table before him, Archie strains to answer Orianna’s question.

“Yes… I didn’t mention where I met him. That’s the thing I was wondering if you could help me with. I have perfect recollection of the before and after events concerning Gerhard. But terrible clarity on the moments with him. It all happened between moving from one plane to another.”

Orianna has sat down, her spine impossibly straight.

“When you say ‘moving from one plane to another’, how do you mean?” she asks, voice measured, careful, almost like she is holding something in.

“Erm… well it feels like the memory has been fiddled with somehow. I definitely walked through doors.”

Periwinkle fingers hold on tighter to the teacup in Orianna’s hands “Doors...”

She takes a slow breath in, raises the cup to her lips and blows across its hot peppermint surface, trying to quiet her reeling thoughts.

“I’m afraid I don’t know where you may have met Gerhard,” she eventually says after taking the smallest sip of her tea. “Who else was with you? Were all of their memories affected like yours seems to be, doctor?”

“Dr. Truelove’s memories have certainly been affected. We talked about it, her and I. I was a little surprised we were able to talk about our experience on the Plane of Minerals, and also Porphatys, what with our hazy recollection of how we got from one plane to the other.” Archie nurtured the corner of his head with his fingers. “I’m afraid we also, rather, overdid it on the wine, too. Ruthenia was most upset with Calla and insisted on a drink after we plane-shifted back to Professor Quillis’s office. You see, Calla was quite enchanted with all the plane-shifting. She was rather eager to go back. She was also the only one who connected with the rather malleable mithril, too. Although, it’s not like any of us had a chance to interact with the metal. Calla rather greedily pocketed it all. Mendal was most upset.”

“Calla? Malleable mithril?…”

It comes to Orianna is a bright moment of clarity, mixed with thoughts she would rather forget. Her cup slips from her fingers to clatter across the desk, spilling the tea everywhere.

“Ah! My apologies. I- I will clean this up.”

She snatches up the star maps, scrolls and one illuminated manuscript that was about to fall victim to her blend of minty tea. As she bustles about cleaning up her unexpected reaction, Orianna talks, a sort of run-on conversation that doesn’t offer much chance for Archie to interject.

“It sounds like the lack of memories of where you went could be contributed to your over consumption of the vine, doctor. Not that this is a bad thing! Just, perhaps, something to be done once every blue moon, if you take my meaning. Sometimes I say things that don’t make sense because of where I’m- well, we all have little colloquialisms don’t we! You’re here, back in Daring, safe, and that is what is most important. Especially with those rather ominous ‘art pieces’ that have been appearing around the city. Do you know who is doing it? Many of the Scholars are saying it’s anti-adventurer rhetoric. I am glad I have been focusing on my studies and my work here at the Academy. These maps, the annotations, their layouts! None of them made sense unless you had extensive knowledge of the Cosmos. Of course, once I realised how critical it would be to have several different copies I had to do just that. It is an incredible undertaking though. These ones here, for example, are for amateur astronomers. Perfect for people like yourself with a little knowledge but not much more than something cursory. See, here…”

Orianna keeps on like this for a while, remaking her tea, refilling Archie’s cup, and giving a fresh bowl of crystal clear water to Juniper. It’s like she hardly takes a breath.


Concern for Orianna creeps across Archie’s face, as his mind had trouble following the succession of cosmological concerns Orianna brought up one after the other. The young scholar, it seemed to Archie, was putting as much distance as she could between the matter of the unexplained plane-shifting, and herself.

The elderly man reaches out with his hand towards Orianna to request a pause. “Or-Orianna?”

“-Meanwhile these maps- Hmm? Yes, doctor?”

Lowering his hand, but keeping it stretched towards Orianna, an offering of support, he says, “Orianna, are you alright?”

“Yes. Of course. I am fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Oh…” A little surprised at her reassurance, Archie slowly retracts his hand, a bit embarrassed. It occurs to Archie in that moment, that maybe he had taken up more of Orianna’s time than he should have.

“Well, I do beg your pardon. I must be keeping you from work. It sounds like it has you so busy there’s no time to think on other matters, and here I am troubling you with my misplaced memories of plane-shifting through doors with a silver glint.”

Silver glint? Archie thinks to himself, and hastens to add, “Oh that’s right! Both doors, though made of different material, had a silver glint to them. A silvery mist poured out from the doors, when opened, as well!”

Archie was delighted to have remembered one more detail of his experience. It took him quite by surprise. As did the realisation that he had signalled to Orianna he would be leaving now, and then abruptly swerved the conversation back to his troubles.

Archie shakes his head, slightly embarrassed. “Oh, I do apologise, I don’t know if the new piece of information helps? But, I will write it down now, just in case I forget.”

Orianna merely smiles, neither commenting nor confirming whether ‘silver mist’ means anything to her or not — and the good old doctor does not catch on to her discomfort at all.

“Well, thank you ever so much for the tea, and for entertaining a hangover, old academic. It was lovely to catch up with you Orianna.”

Orianna inclines her head. “It was a pleasure to see you in my area of the Academy, doctor. If you ever have questions about celestial movements and their meaning be sure to drop by.”

She stands, smiling, anticipating his imminent departure.

Smiling in return, Archie wishes Orianna a good day, and leaves with Juniper to head to his usual work space in the main library.

The smile on her face fades once Archie’s steps fade into the empty space of silence, replaced by a far away look of worry. The buzzing of her thoughts has not stopped this whole time, whilst questions and doubts begin to tie her stomach into knots.

“Imi-ib… what is going on…”

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