Ciphers
For Zariah
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
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Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#1
{{A request for any who wish to join this thread: I often have trouble loading/reading posting tables, so I would appreciate if people don’t use them here. Thank you!}}

As afternoon tended towards evening - earlier every day, it seemed, in the chill of Deepfrost - Jigano leaned back in his favorite chair and rubbed at his forehead to ease the tension that had been building there for the past few hours. A half dozen books lay open on the table in front of him, turned to various pages - all in a similar script that seemed part-heiroglyph, part-scribble, part-dotted accents. In the middle of them lay an herbal, open to a picture of a fiery flower with notes written in a concise hand around it - a labeling of parts? A list of their uses? - and beside that was the lorekeeper's personal notebook, a journal already more than half-full just of the notes he'd taken since arriving in Caido.

Sunlight filtered through the windows and the broken side of the great building, turning the floating dust motes to sparkling prisms hanging in the air, and the bard smiled tiredly at the beauty of the moment. There were others in the Atheneum, not many in the cold weather, but a few diehards like himself, seeking answers to questions the gods would not answer, or simply looking for a few good books to take home for Long Night. Their quiet shuffling was a soft background susurrus of comfort and familiarity. The slender lorekeeper was well-bundled in his warm cloak, with a thick scarf and patchwork gloves he'd coaxed from Rathskeller regulars in exchange for his performances there. Slowly but surely he was building a life for himself, though he still chose to live out in the woods like a wild thing.

Perhaps it said something about him that he trusted the beasts and monsters of the woods more than the humans of the Settlement.

For now, though, he sighed and stretched his arms above his head, then rose and began to walk around, working feeling back into his legs and toes after sitting too long. Maybe he needed a break... or simply another pair of eyes to help make the connections he knew were there, if he could just crack the writing system!

Zariah
Zariah Launceleyn
the Merciless
Grand Sorceress of the Arcane Academy

Age: 33 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 7 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 23 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: Grant Offline
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Posts: 1,101 | Total: 5,479
MP: 0
#2
There were many answers to many questions in this new place, and if any were keen to find them, it was Zariah Launceleyn.

Since arriving, the head of the magical family hadn’t done much to be frank. They had all been left reeling – what was once a tight knit familial unit had been torn asunder with abruptness. Everything they valued in themselves had changed; the very magic they bred for completely altered. And for the first time in centuries, Launceleyns walked freely, without the threat of a magically binding oath to keep them in line.

This wasn’t just a new place. Everything they were had to be rebuilt from shattered, disparate pieces. Some of them handled it better than others.

Zariah perused the shelves, trying to find anything she could on the new laws of magic governing this place. She had done some of her own research of course, honing her skills through trial and error to see what she was and was not still capable of. Her newfound weakness was beyond frustrating, though she did seem to remain more powerful than others in her family. That could barely be considered comforting though. But the Launceleyns had once helped establish the magical system of Northwind – it only made sense for them to do so again in this place.

As she passed through the rows of shelves, movement caught her eye. The doll-eyed woman glanced over at Jigano, her wild dark curls falling around her face however they pleased. She watched him for a moment, staring openly as if she had some right to do so, before turning back to the shelves.
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#3
As he worked the chill from his extremities, he felt the hair at the back of his neck prickle as though he were being watched. Slowly he turned, in time to see a woman with dark hair somewhat reminiscent of Edy's look away from him, turning back to the shelves with apparent disinterest in him as she dismissed him from her concern - or, perhaps, simply a preferred focus on her own studies. Not that he could blame her for that; he had an intense dislike of being interrupted when he was working, and if she had an effective search pattern going as she hunted the shelves it would be unforgivably rude of him to interfere.

That being said, her nearness to his current zone of study meant that he couldn't simply walk away and leave the table occupied. Not only did he not want his belongings rifled while he sought a scholarly companion, but it would also be rude of him to hog the table in case she wished to use it while he was gone.

Chewing his lip for a moment, he came to a tentative decision. Since he was already up and moving, perhaps there was somewhere warmer he could go. It was early enough he could commandeer an entire table at the Rathskeller, or perhaps Samuel would be up and willing to lend him a practiced eye? Turning back to the table, Jigano began closing the books that were laid out, shutting the pages on bits of paper or ribbon he dug from his pouch and piling them neatly as he packed up.
Zariah Launceleyn
the Merciless
Grand Sorceress of the Arcane Academy

Age: 33 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 7 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 23 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: Grant Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,101 | Total: 5,479
MP: 0
#4
He might be packing up out of courtesy for the other occupant he just discovered in the library. But said occupant did not consider him so polite. As he packed up the noise of his shuffling rang out clearly in Zariah’s ears, as it struck discordant against the silence that filled the place. What was it with men and making an absolute ruckus wherever they went? It seemed in all worlds, they were obnoxious creatures.

Again, Zariah slowly turned until she was once again facing the unknown man. She watched him in silence once more, wide-eyed, doll-like, by all accounts rather creepy. Resting creepy-face meets resting-bitch face – the epitome of her usual expression. Finally, when it seemed he would not notice her, nor that the din his efforts would cease, did she then speak up. ”Is it your usual habit to stop studying suddenly and pack your things as loudly as is possible?” she asked in a near monotone, as if she were asking how the weather was rather than mildly insulting him.

Jigano
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#5
He had known there were others in the library - there usually were these days, regulars that he recognized and offered polite nods to even though they never spoke. Since he had arrived hours ago they had made quiet sounds from other nooks and tables - the quiet susurrus he had noted earlier, the library far from silent. He had, in fact, been hoping to perhaps gain the assistance of one of them, but the woman's appearance and then dismissal of him had dampened his enthusiasm for that plan, not least because he hadn't wanted to bother her.

As a lorekeeper he treated the books in his keeping with respect, his touch gentle and caution taken so that no harm would come to them by carelessness. As a bard he was exquisitely attuned to sounds both loud and small, and so he knew he had made been packing up in near-silence. And it wasn't as if packing up a mere half dozen books took him even a full minute to accomplish, his motions deft and practiced. As he placed the last book into his pile and gathered them up - already dressed against the weather - he glanced to his unwelcome companion with a polite smile, his voice as pleasant as if she'd greeted him with the usual courtesy in such situations.

"Only when someone comes stopping through the library as gracelessly as possible, making it impossible to concentrate." He nodded down at the small woman in farewell, and turned away, heading for the exit and more convivial scholarly company.
Zariah Launceleyn
the Merciless
Grand Sorceress of the Arcane Academy

Age: 33 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 7 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 23 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: Grant Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,101 | Total: 5,479
MP: 0
#6
If Zariah was at all upset by the rude response to her rude question, she didn't show it. Granted, she wasn't in the least bit upset. Very few people could handle her brusque attitude long enough to get to know her truly. Neron may have been the only one besides her actual blood relatives to know that side of her. But alas, he was missing. For a moment her heart ached but she was quick to shove it back aside. She did not have time for heartache. She did not have time for worry or concern. She did not have time to feel sorry for herself.

And she certainly did not have time for this idiot.

"Interesting." the curly haired mage said, as if she had just observed the way in which the world itself worked. If only she could get Loren out of his little hole...wherever that was. He would have been a much more pleasant presence than this bendy-spined simpleton. But she turned back to the shelves, perfectly pleased to see him leave her in peace.


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