Post by Glint on Jun 3, 2023 19:16:28 GMT
Professor Jacobson was having a long day. And it wasn't even noon!
The council requested at least two top scholars from the Unfortunate Biology department to sit on the committee that was to study and question some shape-shifting fiends adventurers brought in from Kundar. So, as the head of department, he spent the early hours of the morning trying to find a couple of colleagues who could spare some time away from their studies to devote it instead to civil service.
Then there was the never-ending line of visitors to his office. Between the new hires' approval, the Tim-related reconstruction budgets, and the Tressym maintenance cost reviews, he couldn't focus a single braincell on his own research. And that fairie dragon was so fascinating, he should be spending days and months only studying her!...
No, he had to escape all this. But where? He couldn't go home in the middle of the working day… Of course, the library! The library would be his salvation!
Despite his advanced age, he found himself all but jumping from his chair, collecting a couple of his research notes, and strolling out of his office. With a quick shout to his PA stating that he would be in the library, he was on his way. He could feel the spring in his step and the lightness in his chest: it was like he was a student again.
He could already see himself sinking into a reading sofa in the corner, dignified silence around him with only a rare murmur of a turned page to interrupt scientific pursuits, and hushed voices near the librarian's desk to lull him into a peaceful and quiet contemplation.
BOOM!
Just as he opened the door of the library, one of the protective scrolls of the charm has gone off. A fearful student looked up, their face unrecognisable under a layer of black soot that the charm expelled.
"Sorry, professor!" The student squeaked and rushed back into the library hall.
Which at this point might as well have been a zoo, a few would have noticed the difference. Missis Brown, the librarian, sat under her desk, hugging her knees and staring into the distance, rocking gently back and forth. Books and scrolls were flying left right and centre. There was a puddle… of coffee, yes, definitely coffee, he will keep thinking coffee, – on the floor. A couple of ducks have made a nest on an empty shelf. A tressym was hovering by, looking for the best angle to disturb them.
As the first waves of shock subsided, Professor Jacobson went through all the likely options: maybe Professor Tumblefoot was visiting the faculty again? or they were invaded from hells? or there was a student mixer event that nobody told him about?
"Miss Ar'kim?" An air genasi sitting in the only remaining calm corner of the library called. A young half-elf student, who Jacobson swore got poached from the Geography and Locomotography department, ran up to him, standing at attention. "Please stay away from the theological sections, will you? I need facts, not platitudes," he said with a charming smile that Jacobson could recognise anywhere.
"GLINT!" He shouted, barging through piles of discarded texts. The half-elf girl barely had the time to avoid head-on collision with the professor, diving to the side and making her way to the nearest bookcase only using her elbows, like a soldier through a trench.
The genasi looked up at him, and yes, it was still him. Was he really hoping to fool Jacobson with a disguise spell?
"What is the meaning of this?!" He gestured around the man's new form.
"A magical accident." Glint shrugged nonchalantly. "And a precaution. Just in case Kundar demands my extradition."
Professor Jacobson briefly considered calling in a Meteor Strike.
"And what is this?!" He pointed behind himself. In the corner of his eye he noticed the tressym pouncing on one of the ducks, causing incessant quacking to add to the nocturn of insanity that was the library at the moment.
Glint leaned to the side to get a better look, but appeared unperturbed, as if that was how library was supposed to look. "A research project," he replied.
Professor Jacobson wondered if he should attempt to contact the Astral Plane and call the gith back.
"You're supposed to be on sabbatical! Not anywhere near the library OR Daring Academy!" He tried.
"It's an emergency."
"An emergency research project?!" Jacobson managed, his voice abandoning him across half of that phrase.
Glint shrugged innocently.
Damn it, the gith might need back-up…
Professor Jacobson grit his teeth.
"As if a talking T-Rex, wyrms, dragons, an entire population of ducks weren't enough…" The head of the department said with all of his remaining restraint. "What have you found this time?"
"A species of shape-shifting demons that have bronze for skin," he said, showing a rough sketch of something that had too many muscles to be able to move and yet apparently could fly. "Well, technically they were discovered by Zola, a paladin acquaintance of mine. This one was posing as Ambassador Panbas in Kundar, not only that, but they were convinced that they were the real Ambassador," he continued passionately. "They haven't minded for Zola using her cleansing touch on them, and only remembered themselves when turned into their real form. Fortunately, Zola and Lord Lucky were close by to send them back to hells, otherwise it'd be quite a fight. Did you know these fiends have three maws?"
"No, I did not!" Professor Jacobson fumed. He fought a losing battle for his composure. At least this poor excuse for a scientist didn't bring any samples this time. That black goo took ages to clean…
"Well, that's alright, we've got two of them in custody, so you can have a good look at them."
Screw the gith. He'd need to call in astral dreadnaughts.
"Oh, joy," was all he could say out loud. He should have known the shape-shifting fiends were the genasi's latest procurement. Who else can be the reason for Jacobson's headache?
Glint, as per usual, kept talking.
"And the interesting thing about them – there was no scrying. Digs and Cyclone checked for everything they could. These demons actually had the person's memories. All obtained through a single drop of blood. So they can be anyone at all," he added conspiratorially.
Professor Jacobson contemplated where could one find a greatwyrm.
"I couldn't find anything like them in any of our books," Glint gestured at what remained of the library. Jacobson noticed a student falling head-first into a tub of scrolls. Glint continued in the hushed voice. "The physiology of the demon doesn’t make sense! It is my strong belief that they weren't born in the Abyss. I think these demons were made artificially!"
Professor Jacobson was done thinking.
He sighed. He took off his glasses and cleaned them with a squeaking sound of a handkerchief going over glass.
"Adjunct Lecturer Glint," He started in a voice that was so calm he couldn't believe it was him talking. "You are supposed to be teaching people about new species. Over in Port Ffirst. New Hillborrow. Fort Ettin. In Arva, for all I care. I cannot emphasise exactly how much are you discouraged from barging into the Academy like it's your private bookcase every time you find some new bogeyman!"
To his immeasurable joy, Glint looked flabberghasted.
"This bogeyman is trying to sow chaos in the Dawnlands…" he started carefully.
"And you decided to help them by sowing chaos in our library?!" Jacobson bellowed, making the entire room freeze momentarily. The soot-covered student froze with his hands in a pristine new book. A tressum released a duck's tail from its jaws, and the duck, quacking, returned to its new nest. Legs of a person stuck in a scroll box stopped flailing. One of the ladders students used to get to higher shelves, buckling under the weight of a goliath and a firbolg on it, gave and fell sideways with a long sad crack.
"Well…" Glint smiled innocently.
"Out! You're fired! And gods help me if I see you here again!" Jacobson shouted.
He could deal with the paperwork later. There would be lots of paperwork for firing someone on such a short notice. That was fine. He could deal with the paperwork later. As long as Glint wasn't around...
Everything.
Was going to be.
Just.
Fine.
The council requested at least two top scholars from the Unfortunate Biology department to sit on the committee that was to study and question some shape-shifting fiends adventurers brought in from Kundar. So, as the head of department, he spent the early hours of the morning trying to find a couple of colleagues who could spare some time away from their studies to devote it instead to civil service.
Then there was the never-ending line of visitors to his office. Between the new hires' approval, the Tim-related reconstruction budgets, and the Tressym maintenance cost reviews, he couldn't focus a single braincell on his own research. And that fairie dragon was so fascinating, he should be spending days and months only studying her!...
No, he had to escape all this. But where? He couldn't go home in the middle of the working day… Of course, the library! The library would be his salvation!
Despite his advanced age, he found himself all but jumping from his chair, collecting a couple of his research notes, and strolling out of his office. With a quick shout to his PA stating that he would be in the library, he was on his way. He could feel the spring in his step and the lightness in his chest: it was like he was a student again.
He could already see himself sinking into a reading sofa in the corner, dignified silence around him with only a rare murmur of a turned page to interrupt scientific pursuits, and hushed voices near the librarian's desk to lull him into a peaceful and quiet contemplation.
BOOM!
Just as he opened the door of the library, one of the protective scrolls of the charm has gone off. A fearful student looked up, their face unrecognisable under a layer of black soot that the charm expelled.
"Sorry, professor!" The student squeaked and rushed back into the library hall.
Which at this point might as well have been a zoo, a few would have noticed the difference. Missis Brown, the librarian, sat under her desk, hugging her knees and staring into the distance, rocking gently back and forth. Books and scrolls were flying left right and centre. There was a puddle… of coffee, yes, definitely coffee, he will keep thinking coffee, – on the floor. A couple of ducks have made a nest on an empty shelf. A tressym was hovering by, looking for the best angle to disturb them.
As the first waves of shock subsided, Professor Jacobson went through all the likely options: maybe Professor Tumblefoot was visiting the faculty again? or they were invaded from hells? or there was a student mixer event that nobody told him about?
"Miss Ar'kim?" An air genasi sitting in the only remaining calm corner of the library called. A young half-elf student, who Jacobson swore got poached from the Geography and Locomotography department, ran up to him, standing at attention. "Please stay away from the theological sections, will you? I need facts, not platitudes," he said with a charming smile that Jacobson could recognise anywhere.
"GLINT!" He shouted, barging through piles of discarded texts. The half-elf girl barely had the time to avoid head-on collision with the professor, diving to the side and making her way to the nearest bookcase only using her elbows, like a soldier through a trench.
The genasi looked up at him, and yes, it was still him. Was he really hoping to fool Jacobson with a disguise spell?
"What is the meaning of this?!" He gestured around the man's new form.
"A magical accident." Glint shrugged nonchalantly. "And a precaution. Just in case Kundar demands my extradition."
Professor Jacobson briefly considered calling in a Meteor Strike.
"And what is this?!" He pointed behind himself. In the corner of his eye he noticed the tressym pouncing on one of the ducks, causing incessant quacking to add to the nocturn of insanity that was the library at the moment.
Glint leaned to the side to get a better look, but appeared unperturbed, as if that was how library was supposed to look. "A research project," he replied.
Professor Jacobson wondered if he should attempt to contact the Astral Plane and call the gith back.
"You're supposed to be on sabbatical! Not anywhere near the library OR Daring Academy!" He tried.
"It's an emergency."
"An emergency research project?!" Jacobson managed, his voice abandoning him across half of that phrase.
Glint shrugged innocently.
Damn it, the gith might need back-up…
Professor Jacobson grit his teeth.
"As if a talking T-Rex, wyrms, dragons, an entire population of ducks weren't enough…" The head of the department said with all of his remaining restraint. "What have you found this time?"
"A species of shape-shifting demons that have bronze for skin," he said, showing a rough sketch of something that had too many muscles to be able to move and yet apparently could fly. "Well, technically they were discovered by Zola, a paladin acquaintance of mine. This one was posing as Ambassador Panbas in Kundar, not only that, but they were convinced that they were the real Ambassador," he continued passionately. "They haven't minded for Zola using her cleansing touch on them, and only remembered themselves when turned into their real form. Fortunately, Zola and Lord Lucky were close by to send them back to hells, otherwise it'd be quite a fight. Did you know these fiends have three maws?"
"No, I did not!" Professor Jacobson fumed. He fought a losing battle for his composure. At least this poor excuse for a scientist didn't bring any samples this time. That black goo took ages to clean…
"Well, that's alright, we've got two of them in custody, so you can have a good look at them."
Screw the gith. He'd need to call in astral dreadnaughts.
"Oh, joy," was all he could say out loud. He should have known the shape-shifting fiends were the genasi's latest procurement. Who else can be the reason for Jacobson's headache?
Glint, as per usual, kept talking.
"And the interesting thing about them – there was no scrying. Digs and Cyclone checked for everything they could. These demons actually had the person's memories. All obtained through a single drop of blood. So they can be anyone at all," he added conspiratorially.
Professor Jacobson contemplated where could one find a greatwyrm.
"I couldn't find anything like them in any of our books," Glint gestured at what remained of the library. Jacobson noticed a student falling head-first into a tub of scrolls. Glint continued in the hushed voice. "The physiology of the demon doesn’t make sense! It is my strong belief that they weren't born in the Abyss. I think these demons were made artificially!"
Professor Jacobson was done thinking.
He sighed. He took off his glasses and cleaned them with a squeaking sound of a handkerchief going over glass.
"Adjunct Lecturer Glint," He started in a voice that was so calm he couldn't believe it was him talking. "You are supposed to be teaching people about new species. Over in Port Ffirst. New Hillborrow. Fort Ettin. In Arva, for all I care. I cannot emphasise exactly how much are you discouraged from barging into the Academy like it's your private bookcase every time you find some new bogeyman!"
To his immeasurable joy, Glint looked flabberghasted.
"This bogeyman is trying to sow chaos in the Dawnlands…" he started carefully.
"And you decided to help them by sowing chaos in our library?!" Jacobson bellowed, making the entire room freeze momentarily. The soot-covered student froze with his hands in a pristine new book. A tressum released a duck's tail from its jaws, and the duck, quacking, returned to its new nest. Legs of a person stuck in a scroll box stopped flailing. One of the ladders students used to get to higher shelves, buckling under the weight of a goliath and a firbolg on it, gave and fell sideways with a long sad crack.
"Well…" Glint smiled innocently.
"Out! You're fired! And gods help me if I see you here again!" Jacobson shouted.
He could deal with the paperwork later. There would be lots of paperwork for firing someone on such a short notice. That was fine. He could deal with the paperwork later. As long as Glint wasn't around...
Everything.
Was going to be.
Just.
Fine.