Memory 1: first time in the Great Library
Sep. 14th, 2014 06:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
simple_not_boringForm: toybox, open to view
Davian is on a bed in a small room, exhausted but unable to sleep, his mind occupied. A knock on the door jolts him out of his reverie, and he opens it to find Malshash, an older man; he feels relieved that his visitor's appearance hadn't changed again (???). Malshash tells him to come with him, and they head out into fog-filled streets to some place called the Great Library.
Davian is very nervous and consciously has to slow down to match Malshash's pace. He asks if the other man isn't afraid "the Orkoth" will attack, but Malshash says they have nothing to fear from it. Davian won't be put off -- he's seriously worried about whatever or whoever this is, and Malshash, exasperated, gestures in the air. The mist thickens, there's a bonechilling cry, and Davian tries to run; Malshash grabs him by the shoulder and restrains him as Orkoth appears.
It's hideous -- completely black skin, claws for hands, unnaturally thin and eyeless; it has a round hole for a nose and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Davian remembers it, and the memories are blurred out but very bad, but it's not attacking: it's waiting for orders, he realizes with horror. Malshash addresses it in a language he doesn't know; he can't understand a word, but Orkoth bows and dissolves back into mist.
Malshash says that there's nothing to fear; Orkoth knows him now and won't attack. They walk in silence for a while as Davian processes this, but finally he asks how Malshash can control it. Apparently it's "a use of kan" and simple enough, but surely Davian has more important questions? He does; the first one that comes to mind is whether, when he goes back (???), he'll return to the same time he left (!!?!) and be able to save Nihim. Malshash tells him no; something of him remains in Davian's present, a shadow of a shadow, but enough to hold his place. However much time passes for him here will have passed there when he returns. The Jha'vett (what???) bends the rules of spacetime, but doesn't break them completely.
Davian had hoped that wouldn't be the answer, but he's not surprised. He asks why Malshash brought him there and how he got the ring he used to do it. Malshash says that he wanted to see if he could change things, and he had the ring because Davian left it for him. Apparently future!Davian meets past!Malshash at some point, but Malshash doesn't know much about him other than that he picks up another facial scar at some point. He refuses to explain why he was trying to change the past, and they pass the next few minutes in silence.
They come to a huge domed building supported by white marble columns, which Malshash identifies as the Great Library of Deilannis. Inside, Davian's jaw drops -- they're in a huge room completely full of books, every inch of wall space used, and there are doors leading to other rooms that look just as full. He asks how they're ever going to find anything in there, and Malshash says that the Darecians were a clever people. He tells Davian to put his hand on a pillar in the center of the room and think of what he wants to know; Davian's a little dubious, but he does, thinking of learning to master his Augur powers so he can get home.
Immediately, the blue stone capping the pillar starts to glow, and tendrils of light stretch out from it one by one, each crawling on the floor and up the wall until it reaches a book. Davian is amazed, but he follows the first tendril to a small, red untitled book, which is glowing slightly until he touches it, and flips it open.
The book is a frank, practical discussion on best practices of reading minds. Another section talks about natural variants of the ability; the one he recognizes as one he can do, detecting lies, is one of them. There are ways to engage someone's thoughts in order to manipulate them, discussions of ethical and legal implications, techniques of clarity to keep focus when two minds are linked...it's basically Psychic Powers 301: Advanced Theory and Practice. He's totally lost in the book for a few minutes, until Malshash coughs politely behind him.
Davian apologizes, but Malshash just tells him that he should at least skim all the books; the Adviser will have picked out the best possible ones to answer his query, and it's rarely wrong. Davian's amused that it's just called an Adviser, and Malshash says that he calls it that but Davian can call it whatever he wants as long as he uses it. The collected knowledge of the Darecians is here, and they may not have been perfect, but they were more advanced than any other civilization has ever been. Then he says he's leaving for a few days, so Davian should make sure he knows the way back.
Davian flounders for a bit; he thought Malshash was going to train him, and he's still nervous about Orkoth. Malshash says he'll train him once he's read up on the theory, that Orkoth won't harm him and that there's nobody and nothing else in the city to fear. With that, he leaves.
Davian is a little bit unsettled -- he's not sure what to think of Malshash, but it was comforting having another person around, and now he's very conscious of how empty the city is. He shakes off the feeling as best he can. Whatever else the last few days have brought, they've given him an amazing ability to learn about his powers.
EFFECTS/WHAT HE LEARNED:
* He's in the past???
* He hasn't been there long; the room he's in isn't familiar, it's just somewhere to sleep, and he's still deeply confused.
* He can figure out by implication that kan is the force he draws on to use his powers, that Augur is the name for people with powers like his, that the Darecians were an ancient and advanced civilization, and that the Jha'vett is somehow responsible for sending him back in time.
* He also has a sense that the man he was with can change his own appearance.
* Apparently he meets this guy in his own future/the guy's past, and that's why he's here now.
* BOOKS ARE AMAZING LEARNING IS AMAZING :DDD
* He's just flat out awestruck by all the knowledge he was looking for being right there, written down in frank and practical terms.
* Relatedly, he gets a bunch of theory about Reading (what Augurs call telepathy). He has a good general idea of what he can do with it when he gets it, as well as some thoughts on the ethical implications.
* +500 desire to learn all the things
Davian is on a bed in a small room, exhausted but unable to sleep, his mind occupied. A knock on the door jolts him out of his reverie, and he opens it to find Malshash, an older man; he feels relieved that his visitor's appearance hadn't changed again (???). Malshash tells him to come with him, and they head out into fog-filled streets to some place called the Great Library.
Davian is very nervous and consciously has to slow down to match Malshash's pace. He asks if the other man isn't afraid "the Orkoth" will attack, but Malshash says they have nothing to fear from it. Davian won't be put off -- he's seriously worried about whatever or whoever this is, and Malshash, exasperated, gestures in the air. The mist thickens, there's a bonechilling cry, and Davian tries to run; Malshash grabs him by the shoulder and restrains him as Orkoth appears.
It's hideous -- completely black skin, claws for hands, unnaturally thin and eyeless; it has a round hole for a nose and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Davian remembers it, and the memories are blurred out but very bad, but it's not attacking: it's waiting for orders, he realizes with horror. Malshash addresses it in a language he doesn't know; he can't understand a word, but Orkoth bows and dissolves back into mist.
Malshash says that there's nothing to fear; Orkoth knows him now and won't attack. They walk in silence for a while as Davian processes this, but finally he asks how Malshash can control it. Apparently it's "a use of kan" and simple enough, but surely Davian has more important questions? He does; the first one that comes to mind is whether, when he goes back (???), he'll return to the same time he left (!!?!) and be able to save Nihim. Malshash tells him no; something of him remains in Davian's present, a shadow of a shadow, but enough to hold his place. However much time passes for him here will have passed there when he returns. The Jha'vett (what???) bends the rules of spacetime, but doesn't break them completely.
Davian had hoped that wouldn't be the answer, but he's not surprised. He asks why Malshash brought him there and how he got the ring he used to do it. Malshash says that he wanted to see if he could change things, and he had the ring because Davian left it for him. Apparently future!Davian meets past!Malshash at some point, but Malshash doesn't know much about him other than that he picks up another facial scar at some point. He refuses to explain why he was trying to change the past, and they pass the next few minutes in silence.
They come to a huge domed building supported by white marble columns, which Malshash identifies as the Great Library of Deilannis. Inside, Davian's jaw drops -- they're in a huge room completely full of books, every inch of wall space used, and there are doors leading to other rooms that look just as full. He asks how they're ever going to find anything in there, and Malshash says that the Darecians were a clever people. He tells Davian to put his hand on a pillar in the center of the room and think of what he wants to know; Davian's a little dubious, but he does, thinking of learning to master his Augur powers so he can get home.
Immediately, the blue stone capping the pillar starts to glow, and tendrils of light stretch out from it one by one, each crawling on the floor and up the wall until it reaches a book. Davian is amazed, but he follows the first tendril to a small, red untitled book, which is glowing slightly until he touches it, and flips it open.
The book is a frank, practical discussion on best practices of reading minds. Another section talks about natural variants of the ability; the one he recognizes as one he can do, detecting lies, is one of them. There are ways to engage someone's thoughts in order to manipulate them, discussions of ethical and legal implications, techniques of clarity to keep focus when two minds are linked...it's basically Psychic Powers 301: Advanced Theory and Practice. He's totally lost in the book for a few minutes, until Malshash coughs politely behind him.
Davian apologizes, but Malshash just tells him that he should at least skim all the books; the Adviser will have picked out the best possible ones to answer his query, and it's rarely wrong. Davian's amused that it's just called an Adviser, and Malshash says that he calls it that but Davian can call it whatever he wants as long as he uses it. The collected knowledge of the Darecians is here, and they may not have been perfect, but they were more advanced than any other civilization has ever been. Then he says he's leaving for a few days, so Davian should make sure he knows the way back.
Davian flounders for a bit; he thought Malshash was going to train him, and he's still nervous about Orkoth. Malshash says he'll train him once he's read up on the theory, that Orkoth won't harm him and that there's nobody and nothing else in the city to fear. With that, he leaves.
Davian is a little bit unsettled -- he's not sure what to think of Malshash, but it was comforting having another person around, and now he's very conscious of how empty the city is. He shakes off the feeling as best he can. Whatever else the last few days have brought, they've given him an amazing ability to learn about his powers.
EFFECTS/WHAT HE LEARNED:
* He's in the past???
* He hasn't been there long; the room he's in isn't familiar, it's just somewhere to sleep, and he's still deeply confused.
* He can figure out by implication that kan is the force he draws on to use his powers, that Augur is the name for people with powers like his, that the Darecians were an ancient and advanced civilization, and that the Jha'vett is somehow responsible for sending him back in time.
* He also has a sense that the man he was with can change his own appearance.
* Apparently he meets this guy in his own future/the guy's past, and that's why he's here now.
* BOOKS ARE AMAZING LEARNING IS AMAZING :DDD
* He's just flat out awestruck by all the knowledge he was looking for being right there, written down in frank and practical terms.
* Relatedly, he gets a bunch of theory about Reading (what Augurs call telepathy). He has a good general idea of what he can do with it when he gets it, as well as some thoughts on the ethical implications.
* +500 desire to learn all the things
