Open Chronicles A Collegiate Inquiry

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Autumn Whispergrove

Shattered Prodigy
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Character Biography
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"Whoa."
Elbion was gorgeous. Despite the damages on some buildings from a previous attack she'd learned a little about, the city took Autumn by wonderful surprise. She looked around the moment she stepped out of the portal stone and while overwhelmed, was extremely excited. She felt that she had spent long enough in ignorance and wanted nothing more than to learn the origins of her magic. And what it may take her to gain control of this destructive power she'd been cursed with.

She clasped her own hands tightly together in nervousness, now that she had to figure out where she needed to go next on her own her breathing became a bit more erratic. It's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay someone will help it's okay. She walked forward through crowds of people and tried to look for anyone who seemed as if they'd be knowledgeable on the topic or where she should be looking.


"Excuse me, do you know where I could find books on magic?" She asked a scholarly looking man. The man took one glance at her, scoffed, and walked away. She took a deep breath and moved on.

"I'm terribly sorry but could I ask for directions?" She asked another professor looking sir.
"Brothel's east if you're broke."
"P-pardon?"
"Brothel's east if you're broke, fuck, you deaf?"

Autumn hurried away.
She began to hyperventilate and took a seat in a nearby bench.

It's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay.
 
Adriel smiled to himself pleasantly as he strode through the streets of Elbion. It had been a long journey, in the hopes of uncovering some evidence of ancient constructs, that had lured him out of his usual haunt. His expedition hadn't been as successful as he hoped, so now, he was just content to relax and enjoy the sight.

In the distance, he spotted a meek-looking girl panicking after what appeared to be an unpleasant encounter with one of Elbion's merchant class. His smile widened, the young mage withdrew a single seed from his pocket and surged a small bit of magic into it.

The seed blossomed and grew immediately in his palm, shifting into an iridescent and alluring blue that would be almost impossible to find in nature. He drew closer to the duo, his smile never faltering as caught the tail end of the exchange.

Adriel opened his mouth to speak, but the girl ran off before he had a chance. He sighed. Shooting daggers at the oblivious man who had upset her. Carefully, he summoned a small portion of magic and exhaled deeply towards the man, summoning forth clumps of minuscule pollen and dander.

If the merchant didn't suffer from hayfever, he would now - badly, and for the rest of his life most likely. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Without looking back to relish in the success of his little hex, he strode over to Autumn - nimbly picking his way through the crowd until he had reached her side.

"I can take you to the College Library, although they're a bit protective of their works unless you're a student that is." His voice was calm and gentle and he passed the beautiful blue flower towards the girl.
 
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Autumn's messenger bag lay beside her as she twiddled her thumbs and tried to regain her composure. Her eyes were fixated on nothing but the ground beneath her feet as she leaned forward on the bench catching her breath. Her first encounters with the world here was unpleasant so fast and she was always unprepared for that. She couldn't let a tremor escape. It would mean devastation was soon to follow.

It's okay. There has to be a directory. Or a map. Something. Don't talk to people. Don't talk to-

Adriel's words escaped her for a moment as she was thinking so intently. It took her a few moments to even notice they were directed at her. "Huh?" Escaped her lips as she finally realized what was happening and looked upward. A handsome man about her age and a bit taller stood beside her as she shot up from the bench to meet his gaze. His words finally resonated. She still hadn't noticed the flower.

She stood firm and shook her head to clear her mind. "Thatwouldbegreatlyappreciatedthankyou!" She spoke in a rapid and anxious manner. "Oh!" As she finally noticed the flower and took it in her hand. She looked up into his eyes and blushed a bit, embarrassed a bit by the whole scenario.

"Um..." She started, the awkward eye contact unbreaking. "Would they let me look into a specific magic b-by chance? I just need to under... Understand something..."
 
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He smiled with towards the girl. Adriel could understand her feelings right now, so he decided to not to impose and remain patient with the stranger. His mind whirled, wondering whether or not to tell her about his little hex, but he decided against it for the time being.

Eventually, the girl seemed to calm and he found himself chuckling briefly as he saw the anxiety and nervousness sweep over her. "Don't worry, most people are nicer than that man. The merchant-class, as a whole, are a horrible bunch."

"That depends I guess... What is it you'd like to know about?" His smile widened. He enjoyed a bit of mischief and his mind was currently aflame with ways as to how to get past the various mechanisms and checks that usually prevented individuals from strolling into the vast repository that was their library.

"I'm a researcher for the college, I could probably say you were my assistant. Hmm..." He paused a few moments, placing his hand gently on his chin as he lost himself in thought.

"Although, even I cannot access the stores in their entirety, so if you're looking for blood magic or necromancy, you're out of luck" He grinned now, winking at the woman before him. He had meant it as a joke, but he wasn't actually sure what he'd do if the girl was after something from the forbidden stores.
 
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The man's posture was comfortable. He was friendly and seemed intelligent. At least enough to direct her where she needed to go.

"Don't worry, most people are nicer than that man. The merchant-class, as a whole, are a horrible bunch."

While a common thing she's heard even in Allira, it always struck her as strange to hear that the wealthier someone was the crueler it made them. She remembered her parents being benevolent entities despite their enormous monetary stature. And that they'd worked for it their whole lives! And even gave some of it away! It was difficult for Autumn to see that her situation was an out of place one.

As for what she was looking for. "I'm looking for anything I can read on honing your own magic..." Her eyes shifted back to the ground and her foot dragged across the ground back and forth. "...As well as origins on the manipulation of gravity..." She'd never spoken about her magic out loud much except with Thorne. It felt awkward all things considered. And she was heavily embarrassed by the fact that she couldn't control it whatsoever.

"Would this library contain that sort of thing..?"
 
Adriel paused to consider the question. His eyes clocked some confusion as the woman mulled over his statement about the merchant classes. He shrugged, perhaps she had been in their position in years gone by, perhaps he was simply seeing things, regardless he didn't care.

He mulled the question over in his head before he spoke. Searching his memories for his time in the vast grimoires and tomes that composed the Elbion library. "Have you considered enrolling? Sometimes a teacher is far better than a book in regards to learning to hone your own magic." He smiled warmly.

Adriel's own discipline - nature - was not a particularly unruly element. Without control, the worst thing he could do was cause plants, trees, or even animals to suddenly appear unwarranted. Gravity, however, seemed like the opposite. Dangerous, unpredictable and unmanageable. Autumn had certainly piqued his interest.

"Gravity is a particularly rare discipline, but not so rare Elbion has no knowledge of it. I can assure you there will be dozens of works on the matter." He smiled. Her magic wasn't forbidden, his own access to the library would enable him to browse the collection and, on the off chance they'd be questioned, he could come up with a simple lie.

"My name is Adriel, I'm a graduate of the college, I've stayed on to write a thesis on constructs and golem construction." His smile eased a bit and the young mage looked a bit embarrassed. He wasn't quite sure why he'd decided to share that, it really relevant. He hoped she didn't think him a show-off.
 
"Oh no, I can't enroll unfortunately I'm on the r-" Her heart nearly stopped when she'd realized how close she was to revealing her situation. Her eyes widened and heartbeat kicked into overdrive. "Uh, um... I just can't..." She shifted uncomfortably.

It never really dawned on her how awkward it'd be to explain to someone that she was essentially in hiding. The aura of Adriel made her feel like she could speak freely. She just hadn't considered that most of the things she thought about did not make for pleasant conversation.

It didn't come as a surprise to her that gravity was rare. She had been looking for information on it for the past twelve years. If this was really true, she couldn't throw this opportunity away. She needed to figure out how she could manage Misery's Wrath. Perhaps then it wouldn't feel like such a curse.

"That's amazing!" She exclaimed upon his explanation of himself. Her eyes lit up a bit. "There was a story I always loved about a Golem, I think his name was Gary and he was rejected due to his stature but I didn't think that was fair but a bunch of woodland creatures accepted him and it was just really cute and I.. Uh..." She went red from embarassment again.

"I'm uh, Autumn. It's nice to meet you Adriel."
 
His eyebrow raised towards the girl, but Adriel said no more. Part of him wanted to explain the rule of sanctuary, an ancient tradition that the College - in part because it was independent of the city - was able to uphold. Yet, he decided without knowing the circumstances, it would be best if he kept quiet.

He smiled. It was a common enough story, although he hadn't heard this particular abridged telling of it. Golems were fascinating creatures, any construct really held a place in his heart and fuelled his research fervour. He nodded briefly to the girl and had to stop himself releasing a small laugh as she went red.

"Hello Autumn, it's nice to meet you too - shall we be off?" He smiled, gesturing her to follow him and set off walking leisurely towards the Elbion library. Thankfully, for the two of them, the library was only two quarters from their current destination.

"You weren't far off you know?" He gestured in the distance, pointing to a large azure spire that twisted and turned unnaturally - yet elegantly - and even in the bright light of day seemed to glow with a dim turquoise colouring.

"Remember, you're my assistant - I doubt anyone will ask - but if they do." Adriel had never had an assistant - real or pretend - his graduation had only happened within the past year and he was thankful the College had chosen to retain him.

"We're researching gravity traps, they're common enough in ruins, so it would make sense to be investigating them." He spoke to the girl with a sly wink. He wasn't really one to break the rules, but he didn't have any qualms about bending them. Plus, the girl seemed relatively harmless.
 
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Autumn followed closely behind Adriel as she led him on the way. She looked onward in the direction he pointed to see the spire that must be the college itself. It was magnificent, as was the theme of the city in her eyes. It had so much more color and life than most of Alliria which found itself being haunted by shades of gray most days. Perhaps it was just her perception of that place that made it that way but she couldn't shake how beautiful Elbion was to her.

"Definitely! I shan't forget that." Don't fuck this up. Don't fuck this up. Her mind, while damaged, could easily hyper focus if she needed too. She needed to make sure she got adequate information in regards to her magic without anything interrupting it.

"So, um, Adriel." Now to try and hold conversation. The bane of her existence. She rubbed her arm nervously. "You seem so young for someone writing a thesis and having already graduated from this college. You must be an amazing mage! What kind of magic do you use?"
 
"You should take a breath." He smiled innocently towards his comrade as he stole a glance towards her. She seemed increasingly nervous and anxious, while he was certain that might be her resting state, he figured it was worth a try. "I know what it's like feeling anxious, sometimes a deep breath helps to put things in perspective and ground you... Or it does for me at least." His face reddened a bit at the end.

He grinned at the compliment, but simply shook his head as she spoke. "I wouldn't say amazing... I just... Think outside the box?" He grinned towards Autumn, then nodded towards the blue flower she still held.

"Nature magic, it's not as exciting as gravity, but... It's very versatile and I'm very creative with it!" His grin didn't falter as he thought of some of the spells he had created. Hexes mainly. As far as he knew and his teachers knew, no one else had thought to combine hex craft and nature magic - but Adriel had tried it and now had a few extra spells in his repertoire.

The crowd filtered around them, in the distance the great spire of Elbion College Library drew closer. "So where are you from Autumn, what do you want to do with this knowledge you seek?" He asked casually with a hint of innocent curiosity.
 
She felt even more embarrassed that her anxiety had been called out so plainly, but he was right. Autumn had an awful habit of letting things fester without making any effort to better her own situations. Her eyes perked up a bit when he admitted to feeling the same and went red as he did. She was very grateful for having met him.

"What do you mean not amazing?!" She responded excitedly upon his explanation. "You help things grow! And create life from your palms! And flowers are the worlds ultimate form of beauty and you can just MAKE those! I think that's pretty fucking amazing! Uh, pardon my language." She'd kinda let that one slip and felt a bit awkward about it.

"Plus..." She took a deep breath. "Some things may be exciting but they can be very burdensome..." Her eyes went down again. And his question was a hard on to be truthful about. She felt tremendously guilty about lying and didn't want to. She would definitely have to omit some information.

"I just want to be... Better. About my own magic." Her voice was toneless.
 
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He grinned at her response. Nature magic wasn't a disrespected art - as such - it was viewed inline with most of the other elemental magics. However, in layman's terms, it was boring. The flash, the destructiveness or simply the originality of other forms - often rarer ones - usually won the day and wooed those who witnessed it. Therefore it was strange to hear such praise.

"It is pretty fun I have to admit, makes camping very easy and animals love me." His grin widened and the young mage released a small trilling whistle for a few moments - as if on queue a bird swooped down and landed comfortably on his messy hair. The fact it was a pigeon only diminished the spectacle somewhat.

"You know, some magics are bound more by what's up here." He tapped his head, before continuing.

"I knew a fire mage who could stoke the metaphorical flames in someone, give them courage and inspire them. Boost their metabolism, heal their wounds quicker." His eyes drifted off as he considered the manipulation of gravity.

"If you focus on one aspect of your magic, you're limiting yourself. Think of the freedom you can experience if you lighten the gravity and can fly. Or even, perhaps, lighten the metaphorical burdens people carry them." He didn't want to sound too silly, but sometimes magic just required a second set of eyes. It was unpredictable, yet in the unpredictability, you could force it to do the wildest of things.

"You should take a few days to decide if the College is right for you, I've never heard them turn anyone away and if you're so dead-set against your own talents, why... They can just teach you new disciplines to hone entirely!" He shook his head, letting the pigeon fly off back to wherever it had come from.
 
She didn't seem to mind that it was a pigeon. Her eyes were still lit up in wonder by the idea of him being able to do something like that. She clapped gleefully with her eyes shut for a second as a display of enjoyment from his trick.

"I love that so much! I have had birds approach me when I sing sometimes, but I don't like to sing in public so maybe another time." Why did you diminish his accomplishment by comparing it to your own? That wasn't about you you were talking about him. I just wanted to empathize. No, you wanted to show off for a cute boy.

She shook her head as if something was in her frazzled hair and let her thoughts drown to the sound of people around her.

Autumn had never considered that idea of magic before. That one could use the idea of an element and apply it to other, more symbolic concepts. She would love to be able to do that. But she needed the grasp on her ability at all before she let that idea consume what she wanted to do.

As they approached, she really did think about what it may be like to go to the college. She'd think Thorne would approve. Elbion was still far, far away from Vel Anir. It would just be a huge change to her world. And to leave Thorne all by himself...

She turned up towards Adriel. "Okay so, I'm your assistant, we're looking for books on gravity traps, anything else I should know?"
 
"Oh really? You should sing for me sometime, I'd love to hear it. Who knows, you might even have a secondary affinity for nature!" He grinned. As he spoke to the girl he watched a sense of unease build, the girl seemed - at least externally - to be constantly at war with herself. Adriel tried his best to keep calm and smile, he didn't want to give away or point out her unease - it would only work against her.

"One of the librarians is an orangutan, but he's quite friendly, just don't stare." He smiled, remembering the librarian in question. While several people claimed the title of librarian, none of them really bothered the students. Most of them got the position so they could spend their life reading the countless stores of books that the College offered.

"The library can be a bit mismatched in places, but that just means we can have an excuse to look further afield for things. If we grab some basic magic mastery books, some on the elements and some on gravity we should be fine." His grin faded to a smile as he lost himself in thought, considering the various wings of the library and where to find the aforementioned books.

"Keep your voice down too, some people are very strict about noise in here." He paused, as the duo approached a large oaken door, Adriel reached up. His hand was quickly enveloped in a small bubble of green magic and the young mage quickly etched a strange sigil into the wood.

The door lit up and, two very distinct human-shaped holes appear - both matching the body frames of Adriel and Autumn perfectly.

He grinned, turning towards his comrade. "After you."
 
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She'd never been asked to sing for anyone before, let alone considered it a possibility even. She resented her voice though Autumn had been told countless times it was pretty. Her lack of confidence in her own abilities really dampened her desire to sing in public or to anyone. She offered him a nod as a response but felt a bit of guilt from knowing she was basically lying.

"An orangutan..?" Well this city grew more and more interesting as time passed. Autumn hadn't met any speaking animals prior but knew of their existences. "Well then I'll absolutely be friendly right back! I'll do my best to not get caught up by wonderment, I promise!"

She listened and watched as intently as she could as they began to enter the library. Her eyes lit up upon the sigil creating the doorways for them to begin their venture into the library. That light that shown in her eyes became even greater upon her seeing what was inside the library. The elegant shelves, the countless number of tomes strewn throughout. She couldn't believe that the college had so much information on magic.

"Wh-where do we start?"
 
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"I'm not sure if he was born an orangutan or he changed himself into one... Either way, he's one of the more pleasant figures in the library - just don't call him a chimp or a monkey, he hates that." He grinned towards Autumn, making it unsure as to whether or not he was joking or - in fact - he was telling the truth. In reality, Adriel wasn't sure himself, he'd witnessed the strength of the librarian and how many professors avoided him and likewise, he now did the same.

As they exited the initial tunnel from their entrance it emptied out into what appeared to be an almost never-ending room that possessed shelves crammed with books, tomes, scrolls and everything in between spanning the floor and all the way up to the ceiling.

Milling about the place were an abundance of people from all creeds, races and ages - each one carrying different documents and each one seemingly glued to their readings. Notably, however, despite the cavernous space and people, the silence here was deafening.

Adriel paused thoughtfully, before turning towards Autumn. He whispered as quietly as possible to the girl beside him. "Keep your eyes out for a floating or flying book. They're subject indexes, they'll help point us in the right direction." He glanced around, spotting zero within the immediate vicinity, and sighed. If they were all elsewhere, or in use, today might take a lot longer than initially thought.
 
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They were long trails. Geometric patterns flatly repeated by isles of knowledge. They said intelligence shaped the world and the Library of Elbion always seemed to do just that twirling the sunlight just the right way so the light shimmered on just the line of the page you wished. That's what they always said at least it was a mythical aspect that Farzad loved about the library, the library that strew itself like a dungeon just minus most of the traps.

He had catched himself just at the cusp of a bend of light and the shadow of a bookshelf tightly wrapping one of his scarves over his face, he had worked his way past at least thirteen mages so far, some in training, some respected and all of them using magic in some form or another. Farzad, was less lucky and it made him standout like an off coloured stone on a wooden bridge as he carried a tower of books.

He mumbled beneath his breath, the Library had made it rather clear he was to keep whisper quite something he rather hated the whole inner monologue thing never did quite click as he came to one of the tables, stumbling a large smack of book and spine against the table, some toppling down Farzad narrowly caught most of them as they careened down, twisting and twirling pages a flutter in the breeze before landing open mouthed, pages gouged wide open as their pages bent and left dog tagged. At least eight.
He thought to himself a long wheeze as he looked flatly. The orangutan had that look again, that all too knowing disappointed look Farzad was too often familiarized with. He may have loved the Library but he hated the patriots with a passion. "Snooty... I can do magic innately..." He mumbled about as passive aggressively as he could without getting in trouble, picking a few of the books up with all the care of a meek rabbit playing at it's food in a clear trap.

He placed the first book down on the table, it was penned by some unknown author. Which was good Farzad needed knowledge forgotten to time it often tended to be where all the slivers of information were. He had read the first few lines before he turned the dry read over and looked at the spine: Gravity - A peculiar fiction by Author Constanazo Blackgale. He had at his other side a map, an index, a language identifier, a small shard of glass hollowed and shaped and finally, a picture book for when he got bored. He always end up feeling ennui in this part of an adventure. But for now his attention was focused.


First, he put together the syntax. Decoding languages mixing and matching familiar words. He opened and spun the pages of the index at least fourty times before he had a sentence broken down. "I write these words to my dearly beloved, Giuseppe Nighttwirler, my muse and my rock, when all others called me mad for doubting gravity, he stood by me without pause but with patience." It was a disappointing opening line that gave no knowledge except the man in question went against the grain. He kept himself fixated on the paper, hand fumbling to his side as he tried to grab his small glass piece. He had brushed his map halfway off the table, his picture book to a random page before he resigned, turning to look over at the pile and grab the shard piece, pointing it down at the paper, "Eye of Shiva". It took a few seconds, the words muddled and spun, twisting new shapes as the ink before one of his eyes formed new more clear words.
 
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She wanted to keep her attention on the skies but there were so many things that caught her eyes. The panorama of faces and books was almost too much for her. Her stunned expression was helpful as she was inadvertently being dead silent. She nodded with a jaw agape as a recognition of what he'd said. He gripped her knapsack tight as she slowly moved forward, forcing her gaze to peer in front of her so she didn't run into anything.

Autumn stood as close as she could to Adriel without trying to make it uncomfortable as she was deathly terrified of getting lost in this labyrinthine place of knowledge. Then she saw one. A floating book. Yet it was on a floor above their own. She tapped Adriel's shoulder and pointed up.

"Where are the stairs?" She whispered. "I doubt I can catch that thing."
 
"Uhh, a lot of them had to be removed... A few mages kept animating them and they kept trampling shelves." He glanced around as he spoke, lowering his voice to an exceptionally faint whisper. Adriel, was in fact, the ring-leader of that group of mages and had almost been suspended in his first year of study because of these antics.

He liked to think he had grown since then, but he was aware some of the librarians still regarded him with disdain and distrust. "There's one this way, follow me." The young mage didn't break into a run per se, but he wasn't exactly walking.

He was nimble, flitting between tables, students, chairs and everything else that popped up out of seemingly nowhere. Within moments he was at the foot of a very majestic spiral staircase that rose to the next floor.

Without looking back to check on Autumn's progress, he leapt up the stairs and carefully shouldered a student out the way to close the distance between him and the book. He grinned, snatching the floating tome from the air.

Much like before, he sketched a brief sigil onto the surface of the book and the object glowed eerily. The book shook in his grasp, before hurtling off - out from his reach - and towards the books relating to gravity.

Adriel turned and ran back to the stairs - catching back up with Autumn who followed in his wake.

"Back down we go, we need to follow it - that way!" He grinned, running past her and turning to chase the book through the library.
 
"Like a midsummer drift, wallowing the land. How too can the air blow if gravity exists? How could a man's beauty, I ask you dear scholar's, shine as radiantly as Giuseppe Nighttwirler if gravity could weight it down. No it couldn't, graivty by it's very law is weight and pulls everything down with it. Would our vision not too be weighed down? Would I not be incapable of hearing Giuseppe Nighttwirler's voice if gravity could weight it down? No, no my dear reader I propse that gravity is nothing more than a comical phrase that does not hold a candle flicker to the simple laws of reality without very specific circumstance to hold it up. Is evidence enough of Giuseppe-"
Fourteen. This was the fourteenth page of a four-hundred and ten page book on gravity and why it wasn't real. He showed in his frustration, each page and each stain of ink had something useful he was certain. Or he had simply grab some mans raving love for his boyfriend. He wasn't yet sure, but his eyes bulged deeply, his hair a mess as his nails dug into his cracium eeking out any focus he could. It was hard enough reading drivel, but drivel by a man that couldn't spell or write competently was a nightmare.

He turned over a page, and there it was in great, clear writing.
Chapter One: A Chronicle of Lies
Farzad looked at the page. It was an information dump, scores upon scores of tightly knit words scrambled and forced together with uncomfortable confusion. Even the glass lense didn't help, he flipped over two more pages. It followed like this. He scratched his fingers down his head, slipping through and muddling his brow before coming to his eyes, rolling around as he switched back through the pages and came to the first page of the first chapter. "Firstofallmydearreader, Idonotblameyouforbeing decievedbytheliesof famousscholarssuchas AntonioConstantineorthe ' illustrious ' FabilisonaVarudant. Thesemenhavebeen givenagreatdeal ofcreditandwhoamItoblamethem? TheirwritingsontheartofNatureMagicand Seastormmagicarenothing toscoffatandshow anaptitudeforitIdoubtI-"

SwoooOTHWACK
It came like a bolt that didn't stop for something as simple as a body. Not too dissimilar to a regular crossbow bolt. Farzad's head was caved and knocked forward, his head dug into the parchment and still the words didn't seem more muddled for it. The faint glow of magical embers hovered over his head as he slowly looked up and towards the runed book, his expression distorted with frustration as he fixed himself up, running his fingers through roughage like hair, dabbing his thumb on the tip of his tongue and slicking back his eyebrows. He focused his attention composed himself.

"Ow."
 
It all happened way too fast. She didn't have the chance to respond to him about the staircases before he bolted off. "Uh, um, Adriel!" She called towards him as she followed him. While not running, he seemed to have immense speed due to his knowledge of the areas layout. She tried to keep up but was paused every few seconds to apologize to anyone she had interrupted while she pursued Adriel.

"Oh my gosh!" She said a bit too loudly from behind her hands. A man to her right shushing her and her offering quick apologies. Due to Adriel's haste in the library had caused an actual physical assault on a man. Autumn found herself hurrying over to Farzad's side and setting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry for my friends behavior, are you oka-?" She would've finished her sentence if she didn't let her eyes wander to the page that was currently open on the mans book. A jumble of words written hurriedly but with one word that consistently repeated.

Gravity.

Her heart fluttered and sank at the same time. She was ecstatic to know that there were books that could help inform her and yet... This book seemed to deny its importance or rather its existence entirely. That stung. She lived it, so how dare someone try to downplay her issues. As mad as they may sound. Without meaning to, she'd forgotten what she was doing, now consumed by this book.

"Sir, where did you find this book?"
 
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Adriel spun around the corner, witnessing the runed index book collide into the strange multi-coloured figure that stood within the shelves. He'd seen this happen countless times, apparently, the librarians hadn't seen fit to add safety measures to the book-seeking missiles. In their eyes, it was a danger of the job, you accepted the risk of being struck by a passing book by entering the library in the first place.

Despite him having seen it many times before, Adriel noted that it was still an incredibly amusing spectacle and had to take several moments to suppress the rising urge to giggle and laugh that swept over him.

"I don't mean to sound obtuse Autumn, but I'm guessing he found it on the shelf." He grinned, pointing to an obvious gap within the shelving - where the mage had, presumably, taken the book from.

Adriel quickly scanned the title of the book - not worrying about the man for a few moments - and giggled. It was a controversial book, kept simply for that fact. That said, he did wonder if it might touch upon some more metaphorical elements of gravity that Autumn could explore.

"Constanazo Blackgale... He was the mage that couldn't actually cast any magic right?" He grinned, remembering Blackgale's scathing critique on the understanding of portal stones. If Adriel remembered correctly, the scholar argued that they did, in fact, not exist and everyone who had used one was either a liar or a drunk.

The young mage calmly strode towards the shelf and pointed out to Autumn several more texts regarding the subject of gravity. In fact, it had been almost a whole minute before it occurred to Adriel he hadn't actually asked the status of the book addled man.

"Sorry, uh, I got a bit carried away - are you okay?" He said apologetically.
 
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Farzad was taken aback. His fingers ran throw his scarf, slipping past the fabric to scratch the back of his head, the fabric bent, expanded and shaped around his rolling fingers before he slipped back out with a single tendril of hair whirled around a fingertip.

He took a pause, dragging out the tension as he slowly twirled his finger in the air, pointing to the book above his head. "Which one? This one?" He inquired, peeling it from it's magical hoverance and scrolling through it's pages, pages betwixt fingers at a rapid pace, than a slowed pace, than he went back a page and pointed to the book before him. "Or this one?" He said with dandy care, a sly remark and tease at the mismatched young ladies words.

He snapped his fingers to the following remark his tendril of hair wisping and caught on the soft sputtering radiance of magic slivering, shifting, shaping before finally shredding itself in the vacuum of magic.
"You are familiar? I can't say I am. The book had collected so much dust that I figured he'd been forgotten." He gave a harsh scoff, "Rightly so, I've seen books published by the supposed Eleth the Unknowable that made more coherence than this ired dribble." He acted as if he rebuked the Constanzo in his very presence.

He finally followed with a smile,
"You know. I was wondering if you'd ask if I was fine. So to answer the duo of you at the same time, perfectly so." He lied ignoring the engorging lump that started to swell on the back of his cranium.
"Though, it sounds you two are looking for gravity. A rather... Well ironically niche. It's about as searched after as people looking for books on breathing or drinking water for halfbrained nitwits even though it impacts our daily lives... Or so most would say..." There was a look of foreboding dreary as he looked at the page of cluttered letters and, he was almost certain a few mismatched fonts.
 
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Reactions: Adriel Withers
Autumn blushed in embarrassment from Adriel's words. She felt stupid for such a question even though she intended to find the section he'd discovered the book in, but it was apparently directly in front of her. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Surrounded by mages far more capable and intelligent than herself certainly didn't assist her lack of self confidence. She was out of place in this world.

"Either," she said plainly, "So long as they have the means to teach me about gravity manipulation." She tried to keep her breaths slow and steady as she was getting emotional from her feeling of being out of place. No tremors yet. So long as it remained that way all would be well.

She shook her head. "I don't want to start with metaphors or with different applications. I cannot cast my magic on my own. My magic releases by itself and I need to study the prevention of that. Would either one of those books offer such advice?"
 
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Reactions: Farzad Oldsummer
The trio would find themselves rudely interrupted, though not intentionally, when a mage fell down from a portal mere meters from where they were, sending books and dust alike up in the air. His cloak fluttered, and from his neck did an amulet of pure ice glow a navy blue. His eyes lit up in magic, and he cursed.

"Son of a - Hold!"

And as if time stopped, the air stood still, the books and dust held suspended in the air by a strange magic. Lithomancy was abstract as such, and Focraig took what few lessons he had learnt to heart. Dusting himself down, he stood up to rearrange the mess he had made, tidying up before releasing the magic with a simple, "Stop."

The books fell into the stacks they were before, but it didn't stop the dust from spreading out. Remedied before it could reach the trio with a simple inhale, converting the dust into ice, the mage bowed in apology to them. "I am sorry. Got into an argument with a mage that portals do not preserve gravitational momentum and got thrown into one for my folly." He coughed out yet more mist, and the air around them all dipped ever so slightly in temperature. Work on his conversion speed and reaction, he noted mentally.

"Ice Mage Focraig'Diin. Now why are we all gathered here today? Mine of course, was unfortunate spatial and gravity displacement, but I see at least one has come in search of knowledge!"