In search of paying work. (Adrian & open)

[Deleted]

Sept 19, 2016 0:10:51 GMT @arthas said:

Pessimism is the

reason I'm still among the living

The map was useful but the small triangular stone he had picked up and carved some runes into was far more helpful while he traversed the forest. It was enchanted with a simple show me the way spell. He would stop every so often and ask it a simple phrase, "Show me the way to what I seek." In response the stone would float in the palm of his hand and point in the direction of his intended destination he just had to picture the village around the tree as the tree was a bit harder to hone in on.

It had been a bit of a trip for him, taking almost a week since he would stop to hunt for food. Since he didn't have money he had to get by the best he could on his own. Nothing was left to waste though, he kept the pelts to sell, the bones were cleaned and ground up to be sold as fertilizer or alchemy ingredients. The meat was eaten and the entrails were left for scavengers and predators to eat. He found in the past the forests tended to not like people who wasted what they were given.

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He finally caught sight of the town that had been built around the tree. He cut straight through town and up to the Arch itself, stopping at the entrance. He asked where he would go to speak with someone about applying for a job at the Arch. He was directed to wait there as a message was sent to the Headmaster of the Arch. He found a place to lean against while he waited to see who this person was and if they would be willing to talk to him.

### | Open | @adrian

ulla

@adrian

[Deleted]

Adrain sat at his desk going over applications prior to the Academy Exams that were imminent.An elemental mage here, an artificer there, an alchemist somewhere else. As usual the applicant pool was diverse, but finding those with true potential for greatness was always the tricky part. It wasn't until a junior staff member knocked on the door, stepping in momentarily.

"Headmaster, there is a man here seeking employment of some sort. Shall I send him away since Magus Vera is away?" he says, referring to the staff member who usually handled assorted help related things.

"No, no let him in, we'll see what he came all the way out here for when there is ample work to be had in the cities usually." he states, then putting the applications in his desk while waiting for the stranger to be shown into the room. Once done, he leaned back taking a professional stance, his amethyst eyes calmly waiting to see what the man would say when he entered. Once he was settled, he spoke once more.

"So I understand you were looking for employment of some sort. What do you have in mind and what skills do you have?" he says calmly waiting for the reply.

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Pessimism is the

reason I'm still among the living

He didn't have to wait overly long for someone to come down and escort him up to Adrian's office. The man practically oozed power and stood in a manner that showed he had authority though didn't show signs of arrogance that Arthas had half expected to see.


He had to thank the man for cutting straight to the point of why Arthas had come to visit The Arch of Ages. "Why don't I list off my skills so you can see where I might fit in best within the Arch. Providing I fit in at all."

He took on a slightly more relaxed stance before he started to list off his skills. "First off I have extensive combat training, along with extensive magical augmentation of my body. Runes used to increase my physical capabilities which were literally carved into my bones. I would rather not get into how it was done right now through. Secondly, I've quite skilled in the use of sigils to augment others as well as objects. I guess it would be called runic enchantment. Lastly, I'm willing to pass on my knowledge to others short of how I was augmented as the process is usually fatal for the subject."

### | Open | @adrian

ulla

[Deleted]

Adrain is quiet for a moment in consideration of what Arthas had rattled out with regards to runes being carved into his bones. He visible grimaced slightly as if visualizing how such a procedure would go about before speaking once more. He leans back slightly, pressing the weight of his head upon his fist in contemplation.

"I can imagine why you wouldn't want to go into that. To go that far sounds like it would be excessive and exceedingly unpleasant to say the least. I am familiar with the practice of runes in such a way, a derivative of glyph based magic that channels mana from the air around for an effect. It is a course of study that we have contemplated implementing here from some demand of the students wanting to learn of self-defense beyond the mundane courses we offer for basic self defense for when magic is unavailable. The line we worry about crossing is a focus shifting from academia to more martial regimens and the image of 'learn skills to kill your enemy' becoming synonymous with the Arch." he states, then for a moment quiet as he thought once more.

"Your use of sigils sounds like it could have potential in the Artificer wing of the academy, which has to do with the study and creation of magical objects. I have some degree of familiarity there as I've a talent for metalworking myself but complex spells on weapons is painstakingly difficult if not impossible." he states, then thinking once more.

"So among the skills you listed thus far, the roles could be a Guard, a Hunter, or an instructor or staff member of Artificer or potential Runic Combat courses. The former two roles are straightforward and skilled hands prove themselves in short order, but for the latter two, do you have relevant teaching experience? There is a skillset required to instruct any form of the arcane, patience, understanding, openmindedness to say just a few."

[Deleted]

Pessimism is the

reason I'm still among the living

He shared Adrian's views on the process he went through all those years ago. Adrian's grasp of what he could do was pretty much right on point which improved Arthas's view of him. The man seemed to have a level head on him and outlined the problems of teaching runic combat to students quite well.

"I agree that training them for combat is a tricky matter. While I can offer up only defensive or countering runes there will be those that will seek out attack related ones. I tend to be rather strict on training if it involves physical combat. Which would be pushing into the military aspect you are trying to avoid. I do have to say that teaching a mage no combat skills isn't always the best thing either."

While normally he wouldn't talk this much about these things right off the bat he had a good person to talk to about it. He was trying not to split hairs too much with what Adrian said as he wasn't a military leader but seeking to instruct mages to use their powers responsibly and effectively.

One thing he never showed anyone was his grimoire. So this made things rather interesting on his end as he pulled it out of his satchel and placed it on the desk just in front of Adrian. The book was well over two hundred pages of runes and explanations of how to use them. Some of them were ones he had created himself which would make them harder for others to use without his level of knowledge. "Normally I don't show that to anyone but in the spirit of cooperation and honesty I'll let you look through what knowledge I've amassed over the decades."

### | Open | @adrian

ulla

[Deleted]

"It is hard to find the balance, yes. It is especially perilous to be seen especially militaristic for fear of making other kingdoms fear that the Arch is preparing for something clandestine. Unfortunately there are still those in this world who view magic with great suspicion and not as the gift that it is, but with time and work I am hoping the students here will change that opinion." he states, then refocusing knowing he had went off on a philosophical tangent.

Adrain's brow raised when Arthas put a book in front of Adrain. He recognized it instantly as a spellbook, a faint aura of magic typically around such librams. As Arthas invited Adrain to look upon it, he stood and carefully pulled the tome closer, treating it like a sacred relic. It was a courtesy of mages to show reverence and respect to the work of others. He opened the tome, looking at the glyphs. They were different from what he was used to, a more direct and aggressive form of the runic magic versus typical glyphs which require more buildup. He understood much of it intuitively but as he skipped across to deeper parts of the tome, it began to grow more complex and to a point even he would have to study it for a time to gain any form of use on it.

"I am impressed, great detail is involved in this libram, I don't fully understand some of the shorthand, but that's to be expected since this is more of a personal use tome versus an instructional one. If you don't mind my asking, how did you get started with the runic magic. If it crosses over into the unpleasant thing you decline to talk about then that's quite alright, but I'm curious where the passion came from."

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He was used to magi being seen as tools or weapons instead of people, viewed through a veil of fear. He didn't disagree with what Adrian said as he had seen that fear turn into mage hunts and mass executions. Adrian though brought the conversation back to the reason he was here quickly as he seemed to know that philosophical debates tended to not end well if the parties involved believed too strongly about their sides of the subject.

Arthas finally took a seat once Adrian started to leaf through his grimoire, his attention held by the later pages of the book. He figured his shorthand was a problem as it was geared for him to use not others. "While it stems from what I've gone through it isn't the reason I'm fond of the style of magic. It was something that came naturally to me and was built on during my training, the thing was I was always curious and started to experiment and expand on what I had been taught. Finding new ways to use the same rune made it easier to adapt to a situation which in turn makes it easier to survive. Most of the back part of that book is filled with runes or my own making, some of them nearly cost me my life to perfect."

His thumb ran over the runes carved into the staff he had with him and he seemed to look a little out of it for a moment. He was thinking over what he was going to do next and what roles he would be willing to accept within the college. After a minute or two of thinking he finally made up his mind, "So I think that teaching combat will come naturally to me but I would still need to teach the students how to use the runes first. So for the first year, I would think that teaching an introduction and basic use of runes class would work well, the students who excelled in it could choose to try a defensive and counter magical combat course. I would also be fine with working with the artificers alongside that since most runes have a stronger effect when carved into the object it is intended to be used on."

[Deleted]

Adrain nodded in response to the statement regarding runic magic that was made. It was interesting, his outward appearance would suggest a more 'user' style than 'write' style of mage, but he speaks and works with the ability of a full scholar. This would mean he had a curious background, though whether to pursue that greater detail now was of question. As Arthas spoke of teaching, he was contemplative for a moment, then nodded.

"Very well, I agree that is the best use of your abilities and the potential you have for this academy. Granted, our new semester will start in a matter of weeks so to make a curriculum on such short notice may be a hefty demand. I do like the idea of having an alternative to mundane weapon based self defense since generally til now the idea was to teach mages to handle themselves without magic in the event it gets sealed or they are in a mana dry area." he states, then reaching into a drawer and pulling out a tome, opening it and writing a bit before looking up at Arthas once more.

"So I do have to ask a few things, formalities mostly but this is information that students and families of students have right to since they want to know who may be teaching and a bit about them. From what land do you hail and what profession or role did you have there? Do you have any outstanding warrants for arrest from any relevant area?"

[Deleted]

Arthas activated his Aura Filter Rune as Adrian asked him where he was from and about warrants and such. He had to check something in regards to the man's aura which was quite potent. There was the same bit of aura that was on him and the woman he had met in the woods on his way here. Meaning this man had been dragged into this world at some point himself. Hopefully he hadn't adopted the view of fated beings being evil or trouble incarnate.

The golden glow of his irises faded a few seconds after it started, letting out a sigh he decided that honesty would be faster than making up some lie. "I'm not from this world, I was recently dragged her by one of the gods for reasons unknown to me. So I'm not even sure what to tell you about where I come from, no I don't have any warrants out on me as I came straight here after arriving and being informed about a few things regarding this world. The only reason I'm telling you this is that you have the same manna marker I do."

Now the fun part of this started, seeing just how this man would take his show of honesty and trust in him. Usually he was a good judge of character but there wasn't as much to read off of Adrian as he was used to seeing in others. Then again he didn't have his reputation to deal with here so people were not afraid of him or wishing him dead yet.

[Deleted]

Adrain was quiet for a moment when Arthas declared that he had similar energy markings as he did. Clever one this one was. He thought before responding, then chuckled slightly.

"Well at least it means you haven't caused trouble yet in the local kingdoms." he says. "I suppose it is true that I am fated, but I may be the first as I arrived hear twenty years ago. I had always never been completely certain as to that since I don't remember anything before I came here. That said, I don't advertise that fact and as far as most know I am native. It makes it easier to act in the benefit of the Fated and others in the various circles that I am a part of. That said, I have others here who are fated so I'm sure you'll find a place here as well." he says, leaning back and tapping his fingers.

"I had always suspected that it was possible to make a 'fated detection' sort of spell, but I've never wanted to make such a thing since that would make it easier to identify and subject people to the...tendencies, some misguided individuals think of them. I would hope you keep that ability to yourself for the same reasons."

[Deleted]

He understood what Adrian was saying about the visual rune, sure someone might find a way to make it in the future but right now he would keep that one out of the books though he would have to hide the page in his grimoire later. He had no issues hiding things to keep the peace for those like himself and Adrian. "You have nothing to worry about on that one, I have no intention of making my life harder by letting that rune be spread around."

"So about that who I am and where I'm from, I'm not sure how you want me to handle that. I can't exactly be honest with them about it but I can't really lie to them as I don't even know what would be believable." He leaned back in the chair he had sat in a little and let out a sigh, "I never was good at undercover work, to be honest. Stealth, assassinations, spying, & sabotage are easy enough since you don't have to interact and remember a story. Sorry about the tangent there, life has been a bit off for me due to my way of coming into being."

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"Good." Adrain replied simply with a nod when Arthas mentioned he would keep that to himself. "At the Arch, fated are equal to anyone else as we are an institution of higher learning and the pursuit of perfection and I will not tolerate any misguided behaviors here, so if that puts your mind at any sort of ease I'm glad." he says simply, then leaning back and thinking about the documentation.

"Arrived from overseas in a smaller town with no direct translation and limited contact. You've chosen to expand your horizons due to your gifts and found your way here to share your knowledge of specialized runic magic as a way of broadening the knowledge of all peoples and students of the arcane arts." he states, half mindedly railing off a cover story. "It's close enough, just overseas meaning across the seas of reality versus the water, but others need not know that. It's vague enough you should be able to fill in blanks if you must." he states then frowning a bit when he heard of some of the more...unfortunate elements of Arthas' past.

"I see...so you were an agent of some sort where you come from, and the runes in your bones thing was some kind of forced procedure to facilitate that goal. As long as you aren't going to garrote the students here or something and leave that sort of life behind it's something that can be worked with...but the safety of my faculty and students is what I worry about foremost. I make it a rule to not judge the paths others in other worlds have taken due to not knowing the circumstances, as long as you are forthcoming and honest with me I will be the same with you."

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As Adrian started to rattle off his story for him he pulled out his little notebook and jotted down the story to memorize should it come up at a later point. Once he had finished with that he tucked the notebook away again and looked at Adrian again. He had to say that this man was far more agreeable than any who held power back where he came from. He spoke of him being honest so he figured a bit more of his history would be a good idea to reveal.

"In the spirit of honesty I was altered and raised to be a weapon, originally intended to not have a will of my own once the process was completed. While they trained responses into me I overcame the conditioning, I don't act out of pure instinct. If I so chose I could perform the procedure that was used on me on another though like I said earlier I've no interest in perpetuating the creation of living weapons such as myself. It leads to a very long and lonely life where you watch most of the things that you care for wither away into dust. I have over a century of time weighing on my mind and shoulders, I've learned a great deal in that time and what is suitable to be shared I will gladly share. With the advanced runes though I would go over them with you at another date to figure out what ones would be considered far too dangerous for normal magi to learn. Was there anything else you wished to know of me, I feel I'm taking a bit more of your time than I should as I was an unscheduled meeting for you today."

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Adrain listened to Arthas carefully as he went into a greater detail about the life he led up to the point that he had become fated. Apparently Arthas here had some extended longevity and that those where he came from were shorter lived, at the very least less than a century apparently. He nodded when Arthas had mentioned going over the runes with him at a later time.

"Sure, that will be fine for going over the runes. It sounds as though you coming to this world may be a blessing in disguise sort of thing. At the very least, you won't have whatever it was that coerced you before hanging over you trying to influence your path." he says, then moving to stand up when Arthas asked if there was anything more to be needed of him.

"No, I think that is quite enough, I don't wish to pry when it is obviously less than pleasant and not really relevant to the immediate future. However if you are going to be an instructor here, then you need a quarters, especially since you are fated and as such have nothing to your name beyond what is on your person." he says as he then holds his hand up, his eyes glowing purple as he manifests a portal in the space between himself and Arthas in the open floor, walking through himself.

On the other side, there would be a longer hallway, a number of doors would dot the sides periodically. He walks to one, holding his hand on it as a spell goes off, a number of glyphs resonating as it opens, revealing a bare quarters, sizable with two branching hallways. Down one would be a lavatory and bedroom, the other would lead to an open dining area and a few other spare rooms with a larger living room in the center. There would be a few standard pieces of furniture such as a bed in the bedroom, a table with chairs in the dining room, and the like but otherwise a clean slate.

"This room should suit you for now, I just ask you not try to use any runic augments on the walls as they are a part of the tree itself and we try to use as little magic on it as we can. We have a few mages specialized in the shaping of the tree for the quarters such as these but there is a delicate balance that must be preserved."

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Arthas was glad he didn't push too much on the subject of his past. So far he had only run into fated beings other than the commoners that were walking around the world oh there was also that purple haired woman with the fake arm in the woods. So far nothing seemed to be overly tense other than he had to make sure he didn't draw too much, unwanted attention to himself.

When Adrian stood up and lead him from the office to show him to his new quarters, which were rather roomy and had a very minimalistic decor right now. At least he could have a solid place to call home instead of sleeping at inns and taverns all the time like he did in his world. He looked around the place a little bit but didn't seem upset or anything, "No worries there I have no reason to alter the rooms in any way. Though I do have to ask if I can get the dining area converted into a personal office at some point to allow for me to work in my quarters while transcribing the later parts of my grimoire." Beyond that he was sure he could acquire other things he needed from the arch or the small village that surrounded it. Overall, this world was turning out to be far more interesting and far more welcoming for him. There was one constant thing nagging at his thoughts, what kind of plans did the being that dragged him here have for him and what could he do to avoid them.