Private Tales An Appointment with a Mage

[Alistair Wren]

Theme Music

After travelling across the land for several weeks, Alistair had returned to the College of Elbion, and with a new protege to introduce to his colleagues. His hand held against Ghoncheh's back, he guided her down a grand corridor of the university, where one of the master mages sat at a desk. Huge, arched windows lined the hall, panes of stained glass bathing the stone in a kaleidoscope of colours and within the halls, mages could be heard chanting. A scroll in hand, Alistair approached the old mage sitting at the desk, taking a step back as he approached.

He leaned down beside Ghoncheh, "now Ghoncheh, you're not actually allowed to be here, I had to reserve a special appointment for you just to meet my colleague," not wanting to intimidate her, Alistair withdrew his features and smiled, "so be on your best behavior," he nodded.

As much as he would have liked to let the little Orc girl run around and play, the college was a place of study and there were rules to be upheld. The last thing he wanted was to anger the archmages. Standing at his full height, he gave Ghoncheh a little nudge, beckoning her forward. He walked up to the mage sitting behind the desk and handed him the scroll.

"Master, this is Ghoncheh, she has an appointment with Ukrit Nahr," Alistair stated calmly, his hand held out.

The old mage took the scroll and said, "you will be accompanying this... child?" He screwed up his hooked nose and looked down.

"Yes, master mage," Alistair glared slightly. He could tell the old man was repulsed by the sight of an Orc in his academy, but Alistair did not care.

The old mage unfurled the scroll, coughed and read the information surrounding Ghoncheh's appointment, "very well, the other Orc will see you now," he rolled up the scroll thumped it aside and waved a hand towards the door.

Nodding, Alistair patted Ghoncheh's back, encouraging her to walk forward. Smoothing down the front of his dark, blue robes, Alistair turned a corner at the side of the mage's desk and pulled the iron handle on the door. When opened, it revealed a narrow staircase, which wound into a tower above. He waited for Ghoncheh to walk through, then closed it behind them. Light from the stained-glass windows poured in, luring them up the stairs with its' rays of colourful fingers. Hand on the stone ledge, Alistair lead Ghoncheh around and around, until they reached the top, where there was another door.

Alistair knocked, "Ukrit? It's Alistair," he called.

Ghoncheh, Ukrit Nahr

 

[Ghoncheh]

Ghoncheh was starring at everything they had passed. The architecture of Ebilon was so different from the one in her home town of Kherkhana, she couldn't resists just observing everything, listening to the chants far off down some other corridors. She nearly triped while looking at something, but Alistair's arm on her back kept her steady.

Alistair had leaned down to her and explained a few things. She nodded back when he told her to behave.

The mage at the desk seemed very busy, Ghoncheh was worried for a bit, but got reassured when Alistir spoke out and the way he talked gave her a bit of confidince. Which immediatelly left her when the mage replied.

She began walking towards the door with Alistairs encouragment. As they walked up the staircase, she tugged at his sleeve and asked.
"Is there somethign wrong with me being a child?" She had a worried look in her eyes, clearlly having misunderstood the desk mages target of repulsion.

She stood next to Alistair infront of the door. She uickly patted off some non-existent dust from her skirt, as she needs to make a good impression on the orc mage.

Alistair Wren Ukrit Nahr

 

[Ukrit Nahr]

The rapping upon the door of Ukrit’s personal chamber caused the half-orc’s head to dart upright, the room around him spinning from sheer exhaustion. Clinging to his face a piece of parchment. The room floor cluttered in everything from notes on elemental magic, to books on faraway lands and artifacts of ancient beings. Dark rings encircled the hybrid’s eyes from a lack of sleep, the glasses he wore slightly askew. Yet his hair? His hair still remained with the swoosh in the front that it always did.

“Coming.” Groaning Ukrit rose from his desk, having been there so long his ligaments stiffened and began popping, the tension in them releasing. Ukrit and Alistair had discussed the meeting a few days prior, and despite the massive workload and research he’d undertaken for himself Ukrit had agreed. It wasn’t every day that one would meet another Orcish mage, at least one that wasn’t violent. It could also potentially give them hope to attend the academy despite the prejudice that they would face.

Stumbling to the door, half-drowsy Ukrit took a final look back to his room and waved his hand. “Clanzin” The word one he derived from Orcish origins could possibly be heard from the other side of the door. In response to the word and magic behind a gentle breeze seemed to kick up, the looseleaf papers scooped up and landing upon the desk neatly. The books flying to the shelf where they stored themselves. Even Ukrit’s robes were cleaned, what dust was in the room carried out the window.

Straightening up to his full height Ukrit opened the door just in time for Alistair Wren and Ghoncheh to see the cost he paid for his magic. A crimson stream that retreated down his cheek from his eye, the wizard oblivious to it. “Aww welcome, sorry if it's such a mess. I didn’t have much time to adequately clean. Homework and all, please do come in!” Ukrit said cheerfully stepping out of the entrance to usher the two in. The half-orc sporting as friendly a smile as he could with the sharp teeth that adorned his mouth. “Do make yourselves comfortable, tea is fine I hope?”

 

[Alistair Wren]

The door opened before Alistair and he looked up to see Ukrit, sleep-deprived and spent from his magic, standing before him, a piece of parchment on his face. Alistair huffed. Curling his hands into balls, he placed them on his hips and frowned.

"Did you stay up all night?" Brow furrowed, he glared, tutting slightly as he beheld Ukirit, "Ukrit, you need to sleep after casting, or you'll pay for it, you know this," he waggled a finger in Ukrit's face. While he didn't want to come off as overbearing, he had his colleague's best interest at heart. He didn't want a dear friend to pay for his magic with his life because he hadn't taken better care of himself. Withdrawing his hand, Alistair sighed and reached into his robe.

He procured a small vial containing blue liquid. Brow still furrowed, he handed it to Ukrit, his other hand on his hip.

"It'll replenish your energy, but you need a good night's sleep for it to work," he said, the potion in hand.

A pause followed and Alistair's expression softened. The ends of his mouth crept upwards and he smiled, unable to stay angry for so long. He waved a hand towards Ghoncheh, who was almost as tall as him despite her young age.

"Ghoncheh, this is Ukrit Nahr, a colleague of mine who is much looking forward to meeting you," Alistair smiled, his voice bright and enthusiastic, yet soft, "Ukrit, this is Ghoncheh, I met her while I was travelling back from Alliria," he turned around to face Ukrit, a hand held towards Ghoncheh.

"She's interested in learning magic," Alistair beamed.

As Ukrit invited them in, Alistair plucked the hems of his black, rose gold trimmed robes and swished inside, Ghoncheh following behind. Once Ukrit closed the door, Alistair exhaled, withdrawing a sigh as he looked around at the clearly disorganized room. He wanted to run around and pick all the scrolls up, but decided not to bother Ukrit by doing so. He wasn't his mother after all, and so long as he got his assignments in on time, Alistair didn't mind if his chambers were a mess. Ukrit then offered them tea, to which Alistair smiled.

"Barley tea will be fine, thank you," he nodded and gripped the edges of his hood, pulling it down.

"So Ghoncheh, would you like to tell Ukrit what kind of magic you're interested in learning?" He offered, turning around to face the Orc girl.

Ghoncheh, Ukrit Nahr

 

[Ghoncheh]

The door had opened, and before them stood Ukrit. Shorter than she expected, and also more... exhausted. She had wondered what kind of work he had been doing, not even her brothers looked that tired after hours of sword training. She held back a chuckle when the much shorter Alistair disciplined the much larger Ukrit.

She did a small curtsy holding the edges of her skirt, as Alistair introduced her. "Nice to meet you mister Nahr," she looked up at him and smiled with a wide grin showing of her not fully grown teeth. And noticed the blood going down Ukrit's cheek from his eye, "Are you crying?" her hand wen't to her pocket for her handkerchief, before she remembered that it was currentl used by a fair as a bed sheet.

She followed behind Alistair when she entered Ukrit's room, her steps were slow, "I'm fine with any tea." She looked around the room, at the many bookshelves. Alistair had taught her how to read a bit on their travel to Elbion, but she still didn't know enough to figure out the titles of many books on said shelves. She was a bit lost in thought thinking of what all occurred in the college of magic.

"Oh, I woudl like to learn all of the magic!" she spoke with the enthusiasm, but calmed down a bit after the first sentence, "But it would be better to learn useful magic, like magic fire, or healling wounds,or something like that."

Alistair Wren Ukrit Nahr