Private Tales The Free Marketplace of Ideas

[Jonathan Burr]

“And why the hell would I do you this favor?” Jonathan asked, folding his arms and staring levelly at the woman seated at the desk. Emelia Bram barely spared the redhead a look, dipping her glass quill into ink.

“Because I’ve asked you to, and you owe this university.” Mayor Bram said sternly. “You will arrive there, learn what you can of the undead, gather samples, and give details about their college. We will invite one of their professors here to lecture so our students can study him. The House of Medicine has been asking me for an undead visitor. This gives us an opportunity.”

“So you mean to invite some poor stuff here, have your doctors treat him like some poor animal-“

“That’s not what I said, Jonathan.” Emelia steeled her voice. “The College of Eternum is well respected and has good professors. We’d do well to learn from them.”

“It’s what you meant.” Jon said, leaning against a bookshelf and picking up a glass orb. A pretty bauble obviously meant to be some sort of award, by the galaxial swirls contained within it. The fact he fiddled with it, smearing fingerprints all over it, bothered her to no end.

“Jonathan I do not have time for this. You’re going.” Emelia said sharply. “Please do try and act professional.” She bent back to her letter. “You’ll deliver this in person to the College. I assume you’ll stay and teach a course or two, learn the College.”

Jonathan rolled his eyes and tossed the orb into the air, snatching it artfully.

Emelia finished her letter.

To Whom it May Concern,

The City of Volta warmly invites the College of Eternum the opportunity to collaborate with one of our junior professors, one Jonathan Rufous Bram, in order to further your research in the area of Transmutation. We dearly hope you will send one of your own to Volta in return; all expenses will be happily covered by the University of Volta.

We look forward to your reply. If Professor Bram doesn’t suit your needs, simply return him with a letter of dismissal and we will make the assumption collaboration is not an option at this time.

Warm regards and deepest respects,
Mayor Emelia Rodham Bram,
Headmaster of the University of Volta

Amankh Kaltar
TTamark

 

[TTamark]

While Steve was doing his part of the work as a member of the council he was suddenly interrupted by a knocking at the door. The skeletons of animals around Steve leapt up to their feet, and showed their exitement for who who could be at the door in their various ways: Barking, scratching at the door, or just running in circles.

"Come in." Steve called out.

"Sir there is a man with a message here, claims to be from the University of Volta."

Steve looked at the letter, then the man, then back at the letter,

"Yeah, we should probably talk to Amankh about this. Follow me."

This seemed like a perfectly important enough reason to stop dealing with paperwork for the time being. Let some of the other members deal with that. Steve chuckled to himself as he lead the man through the halls of the university towards the library, his assortment of animals following closely behind. On the way they passed many students of all walk of life, and all races: poor, rich, noble, peasant, merchant, there were humans, elves, tritons, komodo, orc, and goblin, even a dryad. As they passed students would stop and bow on occasion, offering a greeting such as: "Professor", "Sir", or even just "Steve".

They Steve lead on towards a large building that was the library, its size hinting at the thirst for knowledge that was contained within. Books lined many of the shelves, but there were many shelves that remained mostly empty just waiting to be filled with more knowledge. Steve leaned over and whispered,

"Nothing is greater, nor more valuable than a library when you have eternity before you."

Steve eventually reached Amankh's office, and knocked gently on the door before just walking in with his entourage.

"Hey Amankh, we got a letter from the University of Volta. Since they sent a soul to carry it all the way here I thought I might as well bring it straight to you."

...and not just use this as an excuse to ditch work.

Amankh Kaltar | Jonathan Burr

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

A plethora of papers laid sprawled in several different piles upon the wooden desk, lines of ink adorning the strewn pieces of parchment. Letters from potential applicants, requests for funding on new research, and a large pile of as-of-yet ungraded tests and assignments next to its significantly smaller graded counterpart

Archmage Kaltar sat at the desk, violet orbs scanning the work before him as fingers of ice and bone guided a quill to approve and sign. As the paperwork was finished and completed, a skeletal aide would quickly take the pile and rush off to make the finishing touches before delivering it to its final location—murmuring a silent chant as the papers lifted into the air, carried off by ethereal winds.

However, a familiar sound brought the quill to a halt. It was as though Amankh could hear a variety of animals approaching, barking and clucking mingling with the idle ambience of academia. The sound left little time for consideration as the door creaked open, revealing Steve, accompanied by the typical motley crew of undead animals, and an unknown human.

"Ah, Steve—a pleasure, as always," greeted Amankh, gesturing to the chairs laid out before his office desk. "I hope that paperwork I sent you is nearly completed, by the way."

The undead held out a hand for the letter, opening it to reveal its contents. "The University of Volta, intriguing. I don't believe we've had correspondence before." His violet gaze ran over the letter's writing, occasionally glancing up to peer at the man before.

As he finished reading the letter, Amankh set the letter down with a nod of understanding. "Well, Professor Bram, it is a pleasure to have the University of Volta send one of their own to the Eternum for collaboration."

"Before we move onto discussing such collaborations, however, I believe I should introduce myself." The undead mage rose from his seat, revealing the gilded and ordained robes which covered him. A near-constant aura of frost seemed to permeate the air around him, though one controlled enough so that it wasn't unpleasant to bear.

He outstretched a hand to shake, one distinct from its counterpart in that it was composed entirely of densely packed ice. "I am Amankh Kaltar, Archmage of the Eternum, former Herald of the Sands of the Ancient Abtati Empire, and Headmaster of this very College."

Jonathan Burr | TTamark

 

[Jonathan Burr]

Jonathan raised an eyebrow at Steve, but said nothing. He had seen strange things before, and knew better than to comment. After all, if he could handle Hob, he could handle a few undead animals. The pooka didn’t like them. Jon’s companion was around eight feet in height, with a distinctly cunicular head and flopped ears that reached past his rear. That was where the similarities with rabbits ended. His large yellow eyes and recurved teeth recalled a great predator. The pooka had two sets of arms; a smaller pair curled against his chest and a larger pair crossed over it. His fur moved constantly, as though someone had sewn live pinworms into fabric. His muscles followed much the same pattern, slithering over his bones like pythons under his skin.

Thankfully, the pooka was invisible to all but Jon and those he chose to be visible to. He sneered at the animals and made to kick one. Jon gave him a look, and the pooka rolled his eyes.

They passed through a library, to which Jonathan gave a polite nod. “Impressive.” He noted. His eyes dragged over the books. While he wasn’t a fixture of academia anymore, he did like a good read. He’d studied under the Voltese thumb for far too long. It might be nice to take advantage and further his studies a bit. He followed Steve in a bit further, to an office belonging to either a senior professor...or the headmaster.

Jonathan handed him the letter, and shook his hand with a polite smile. He didn’t hesitate at the ice. “Jonathan, please.” He said. “Mayor Bram was quite excited to hear of another college, even though we’re quite far from one another.”

Bullshit. Hob snorted. Jon was thankful at least that the pooka didn’t insist on making himself heard to everyone in the room...even if he did give one of the undead animals a little distasteful kick.

“Do you have classes on Transmutation here?” Jonathan asked the Headmaster politely.

TTamark
Amankh Kaltar

 

[TTamark]

Steve just smiled through Amankh's statement, what he didn't know couldn't hurt him. Besides someone would probably finish it... eventually.

Steve only realized that he had not introduced himself as Amankh went through the process of introducing himself. With a touch of embarrassment he offered his hand as well,

"Steve, son of Will, Spudmancer supreme, Founder of farms for salvation, Necromancer of friends, Apothecary to all, First member of the Eternum, Father of the Chicken-Orc race, and Co-founder of The Royal Eternal City."

Steve's head and eyes darted behind him to Ghost as she was kicked, his usual warm smile disappearing lightning fast. With no obvious perpetrator he beckoned the upset cooing chicken to come rest in his arms.

"Shh, shh, you'll be ok. What happened baby?"

The chicken clucked into his ear.

"Someone kicked you?"

He looked where she had been.

"Tigger did you kick Ghost?"

Tigger did his best to convince Steve it wasn't him with his indignant, long meow. Steve looked half convinced.

Steve left explaining the transmutation situation to Amankh, after all Steve had not exactly excelled at that field back in his Elbion days.

Amankh Kaltar | Jonathan Burr

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

"As are we. Unfortunate as it may be, our undead nature has made the Eternal College something of an outcast in the greater academic community, despite our greatest efforts." The archmage's words were tinged with the sound of distaste. Even the most gifted mages seemed to find it an unnerving experience to see their own future staring back at them, as though it reminded them of the briefness of mortality to be in the presence of eternity.

Still, it didn't stop them all, and if Volta was undeterred, then it would certainly be prudent to hear them out. "We do indeed, though it is not a major focus of the college. Mages here find themselves often drawn to the arts of elemental evocation—" as if to emphasize his point, a swirl of ice fragments materialized around his gesturing arm, "—and naturally necromancy, among a few others. A true master of transmutation would surely be appreciated by our students, however."

Amankh lowered himself back down to his seat, gesturing to the chairs so that Jonathan and Steve may sit. As he did so, he cast a confused glance at the necromancer and his motley of animals. Though it was hard to read the face of a mummified skeleton, there was a clear moment of analysis to see if there was any true danger.

However, as Steve began to confront a cat, Amankh found himself satisfied to continue. "If you would not mind, I would appreciate you telling me more of Volta and its college. I'm afraid it's not a location I'm greatly familiar with."

Suffice it to say, Amankh was not much of a traveler. Being undead with the threat of religious zealots and otherwise fearful mobs made the prospect of travel a tiresome one, and work never seemed to be done on the College. The fact that his last escapade to the mainland resulted in a lost arm and a failed coup didn't help, either.

TTamark | Jonathan Burr

 

[Jonathan Burr]

Jonathan made a mental note to yell at Hob later. The pooka was chuckling to himself watching the small pot of chaos he’d stirred among the undead creatures. Jon took Steve’s hand and shook it politely, clearing his throat as the man turned to tend to his creatures.

“The University was hoping you’d see fit to send a professor their way. They’re hoping to learn more about necromancy, and the undead in general.” Jonathan told the archmage. “Volta isn’t like any city you’ve ever been to, I’ll promise you that. It was founded on the principles of studying lightning and transmutation. I’d have to say, it’s working out well for them. If you’re worried about judgement for being undead...don’t be. Volta’s motto is No Gods or Kings for a reason. No religious zealots are going to be raving in the street.”

He smirked a bit. “To be entirely honest...the only thing they’ve got on you is wild rumors from the local brothel about unending stamina.”

The Transmuter eyed Hob as the pooka sharply tugged at the undead cat’s tail and stood away again. Alright, that was it. “Hob? Quit it. Now.” Jon snapped. “You’re being an ass. Show yourself and quit harassing people.”

The pooka stepped forward and appeared next to Steve, flicking one of his large ears. “Spoiling my fucking fun.” He grumbled. At a look from Jon he rolled his eyes. “Hob, pooka. Here to make sure you don’t take offense to Jon and turn him into a member of the undead. Or ransom him. They didn’t really know what they were getting into sending him here.”

Jon rubbed a hand down his face. “Pookas are spirits of mischief. I apologize for him harassing your pets.” He told Steve.

TTamark
Amankh Kaltar

 

[TTamark]

Steve regretted letting Amankh answer as during his explanation he only covered his specialties. Dismissing the interest in Steve's lectures as 'among a few others.' I mean sure there might have been a bias for necromancy in a city that openly accepted the undead and necromancers, and who didn't love the idea of being able to summon fire from your hands, or lightning from the sky, but conjuration, specifically, spirits was at the very least a close third.

Steve turned to face Hob as he appeared and gave him a great big smile that held no warmth in it,

"Pleasure to meet you Hob, Though I would ask you to leave my animals alone, many of them lived hard enough lives. "

but to Hob, what he could hear was,

"And I assume Jon is here to make sure you don't make a fool of yourself, get yourself killed, or start a conflict from your stupidity. Who knows maybe they sent you here just hoping to get rid of you."

Steve then turned to Jon brushing the apology aside,

"Don't worry too much about it. If you want to see mischief you should meet Swiper, now that fox knows how to get up to mischief. Again though, I would suggest against bothering them too much as they have more or less humanoid intelligence, so they can only be called my friends, not pets, and as anyone will tell you I am very protective of my friends."

Amankh Kaltar | Jonathan Burr

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

"I see." The archmage nodded along to Jonathan's elaboration, making a mental note to instruct his aides to peruse the archives for any additional information that might have been brought in by travelling Eternals on the city of Volta. "Lightning and transmutation, an interesting combination. I imagine the city has made some unique innovations based on such a pair of focuses. A lack of raving mobs with pitchforks is always appreciated. Provided all goes well with your lessons here, providing Volta with a professor of here would certainly be possible."

If a skull could look uncomfortable, Amankh's certainly did at the mention of brothels. "Well then, they'll be sorely disappointed. These days, unending stamina serves better purpose climbing mountains than engaging in the pleasures of the flesh." He was, of course, referring to the towering stairs and bridge that ascended the height of the mountain Sanctuary was built upon, rising all the way to the Upper Keep. Though its great length was of little issue for the untiring dead, it always was an issue for the more exhaustion-prone mortals among them.

The mummy's gaze was drawn once more to the group as one of the undead cats suddenly hissed at the air. Seconds later, he was staring down a towering, lumbering spirit with the vaguest resemblance to a rabbit.

Amankh looked over the pooka, clearly unamused by the mischievous antics. "Ah, there are... more. I trust this is the only such spirit present?" Though his gaze was directed towards Jonathan as he asked, in truth, no answer was needed as the archmage scrawled a rune into the air,—yes, it seemed he was.

His attention soon fell back towards Hobs, saying, "I can assure you no such thing will occur so long as you both remain orderly, Hobs." He decided to let Steve handle reprimanding the pooka for the animal harassment. Hopefully, one warning would suffice. He'd hate to have another situation like the hunter that tried to poach inside Steve's fields occur again.

"I understand, spirits can be ever difficult at times. Steve here is quite a practiced conjurer of them, in fact. I am interested in learning more about how you and Hob are acquainted, in fact. I didn't believe transmutation had much to do with the interaction of spirits."

 

[Jonathan Burr]

Hob stuck his tongue out at Steve. Or more accurately, his impressively fanged mouth unfurled slimy black appendages that could vaguely be termed tongues. He vanished in a cloud of white fur that squirmed around on the floor. They worked their way between the floorboards and out of sight.

Jonathan cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the archmage. “That, I’m afraid, is confidential. I hope you understand. Being bound to him isnt entirely safe, and I know mages tend to eh...meddle around.” He smirked. “I hope I haven’t put you in any sort of inconvenient position. The Headmaster of Volta’s university can be very pushy at times. But I am here to serve your students for at least a few weeks. Once she gets her professor from Eternum, she’ll get off my back.”

TTamark
Amankh Kaltar

 

[TTamark]

Steve nodded along. His smile did grow a touch larger as Hob left sight, as well at Amankh's response to his stamina.

"So Amankh, do you have any mages in mind for who to send? We should look probably send someone adept at necromancy as that is what they seem to desire study in. They also should probably be a capable mage good at handling themselves, especially in the department of adapting to new, and strange environments. Though Jon here has reassured us, I still believe it might be for the best if we send someone who can be inconspicuous if possible. It will be hard to find someone like that though, especially with our limited staff that fits that description at the moment. Can you think of anyone Amankh?"

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

Amankh watched as the pooka evaporated into puffs of fur, the remnants of which seemed to move on their own accord to leave their sight. Certainly an interesting creature, and not one like any he had ever seen before. Intriguing, he'd have to ask one of his researchers to look into these spirits.

"Of course, I can imagine you've been the subject of quite a bit of questioning regarding your relationship already," Amankh nodded. "If you could tell us more about this Headmaster and what exactly she would be interested in from our faculty, it would be quite useful."

The archmage looked over to Steve, listening to his concerns. "Yes, deciding which mage of ours to send will require some deliberation. However, I do believe I have one in mind. Steve, you are no doubt skilled in necromancy and are well-acquainted with the mainland. Your... mortal nature would aid the inconspicuous nature you wish to keep up far better than sending me or our other undead teachers as well. What would you say?"

 

[Jonathan Burr]

Jonathan raised an eyebrow at the pair of them. “Volta’s got a reputation for diversity. I know you’re frightened, but that’s...kind of why I was sent. You send an undead tutor, and I stay as collateral. I had hoped to do this without bringing forth the eh, bald terms, but seems inevitable. Your professor will be well treated and very much undead upon his return, or you have a convenient hostage. Excuse me, semi-permanent unwilling guest. Not only that but a bargaining chip. I’m Emelia Bram’s only son.”

It may not have been wise to play that card immediately, but Jon figured on doing this correctly. He’d never been good at the political doublespeak his mother excelled at. He would rather be honest with Eternum. The deal was plain to him; they would send a teacher skilled in necromancy to either allow Volta to raise its own dead or be studied himself, and in return Jonathan’s considerable talents with Transmutation could be taught at Eternum.

With the understanding he wouldn’t give away any trade secrets. Of course.

Jonathan was there to enjoy himself. He genuinely liked teaching without all the invisible strings that Volta put on a man. He was going to serve the College of Eternum as best he could. He wouldn’t be lying if he said he was intensely curious as to the inner workings of the city.

TTamark
Amankh Kaltar

 

[TTamark]

Steve let out a big gasp before he grinned, and nodded in agreement to Amankh's words,

"Well, if you insist."

Steve on the other hand couldn't help laughing at Jonathan's attempts to reassure them.

"AHAHHAHAAHA! My friend, your ways of thinking are far too untrusting, that and they are flawed in accordance to ours... or at least mine. First of all I don't care about holding you as some captive, or political chip. H*ck if the letter had simply asked for a teacher to teach I would have likely been more than willing to go. Nothing makes me happier than people opening their hearts, and being willing to learn about things that are different. To react to the different with curiosity rather than hate. Well... nothing besides making new friends, HAHA.

Also I am sure ya'll are offering every thing you can to make sure this works. Can't get it to work if the teacher we send gets killed in no time, eh? Besides what would we care for you if something did go wrong? We would show up directly on the ones responsible's doorstep. As I said before I am very protective of my friends.

Mainly though we just want to pick the best option we have. Now though you might not care about race the rest of the world isn't always as kind. That is why we feel that the best thing to do might be to send one who still breathes. No doubt eventually word will get out that Volta has accepted the study of necromancy into their city, might as well keep the news from being too scandalous. You might be accepting, the rest of the world isn't, and we don't want any harm to come to our friends. Also we are accepting to vampires here, doesn't mean I love seeing them lick their lips while looking at me."

Steve didn't care for the very thought of holding him captive no matter who he was. Lives are too valuable to be used as bargaining chips. Lives are not game pieces, but things that deserve all ones labours to save, and if Steve could save some lives by doing this than that would be amazing.

Jonathan Burr | Amankh Kaltar

 

[Amankh Kaltar]

Amankh allowed Steve to respond to Professor Burr's statement first, taking the time to consider the implications. As he expected, Steve was moral to a fault. To dismiss the possibility of requiring a tool for bargaining should things go dire—though he, of course, did hope they would not—seemed foolish to the Archmage. Preparing for the worst was not a matter of distrust, it was merely a matter of practicality.

He had to admit, the bluntness of the young man was a relief. It did get tiring, having to navigate the myriad of ways one could insinuate they'd be a valuable hostage. Having it said upfront was a welcome change of pace, even if the circumstances to take advantage of it would likely never occur.

"Very well, Jonathan. Your reassurance is appreciated, as is the rather blunt mention of your utility. With luck, however, you shall remain willing during the duration of your stay. Hostage negotiations do take so much time to get through, the paperwork alone would be a nuisance."

The Eternal rose from his chair, the sound of ancient jewelry clanging against one another with the movement. "Now with that sorted, we should get you situated with the quarters you will be staying in for the duration. Along the way, perhaps we can discuss your skills and what you might have to offer to our students in the coming lessons."

TTamark | Jonathan Burr

 

[Jonathan Burr]

Jonathan glanced at Steve. The old lady wasn’t going to be happy, but then again the College’s points were valid. How would the rest of the world react to Volta studying necromancy? Jonathan damn well knew the House of Medicine was going to treat it purely as a hypothetical endeavor, or use it to instruct when dissecting cadavers. Vampires had to undergo strict laws in Volta; they were accepted, so long as they understood they could not hunt and needed to visit the House of Medicine to get donated blood to consume. Jonathan had always liked the idea; students needed to practice using needles and bloodletting for medicine and magic, and vampires needed somewhere to get food without hurting anyone.

Of course it went without saying any vampire caught hunting Voltese citizens was turned out with a steel stake in his back. But he wasn’t about to mention that small detail.

“I’m sure you’ll be welcomed there, Steve. Just make sure to avoid packing anything metal, and check in with the Office of Conductivity. They should be able to point you in the right direction. The University of Volta is huge; I would be lying if I said I hadn’t found students lost and sleepless exploring the grounds.” Jonathan told Steve warmly. “Volta’s safe, I’d just listen to what the House of Medicine says about necromancy. They’re definitely going to want to restrict the classes so people don’t run around resurrecting squirrels and causing chaos. We have a club called the Pranksmen known for doing that very thing.”

He turned to Amankh and nodded politely. “Of course.” He waited patiently for the man. “My skills are with inorganic objects, as is every Transmuter. There are two schools; Speaking and Changing. Speakers can...well, talk to walls, floors, the mug someone drank out of. They usually become pretty accomplished thieves; if you can sweet talk a lock you can sweet talk anything. I’m a Changer. I change things from one to the other. Bricks to glass, silver to gold, that sort of thing.”

TTamark
Amankh Kaltar