Academy of Drell, Part I

[Tokiwong]

So different and yet alike... she too does not see her in place in the noble structure... though perhaps it is not so much a distaste as it is that my lack of arcane skill excludes me from the upper echelons... I shall show my worth... though in time...

Keith nods sympathetically, "We all must choose our paths... to be forced down a path is to lead to destruction... to choose for yourself is to be emancipated... it is like my mentor said of the noble women.. they are caged doves... kept locked away for their beauty and elegance... while the hawk flies free... its beauty as sharp as its yearning for freedom and self-reliance... free of the strictures of the gilded cage..."

Just as she said to me... I can recall the moment with much clarity...

Keith glanced to Charlotte as he held the door to the mess hall open for her, and gestures for her to enter...

 

[GnomeWorks]

An interesting analogy.

Charlotte nods her agreement. "That's why I left them. I didn't want to be cooped up, stuck in one place, never free to go. I had other reasons, too - I have an extreme distaste for nobility. Always arrogant, always snooty. A pack of liars who will backstab you for money, even while they smile at you. A sack of honorless thugs, dressed up in pretty clothes."

She laughs lightly at herself.

"I'm sorry, I just keep rambling on and on about things that don't matter anymore. I don't often talk to other people, they tend to think that I am noble in every sense of the word and stay away."

She nods her thanks to Keith as she holds the door open for her, and walks in.

 

[Dalamar]

Hearing what the nobles are speaking Sildarin can't keep silent.
Can't they see the worth of family? I never knew my parents and these left their on their own will?

"You should honor the fact that you even have a family! I never knew my parents and I feel sorry for it, but you ran away!?!"
He then gets ashamed of speaking out loud and tries to look like he's not there
"Sorry... don't mind me..."

 

[Tokiwong]

A sharp distaste indeed...

Keith follows and grabs a cup of juice and a plate of toast and some fruit...

Perhaps I am just a snooty noble of the elven descent... how amusing... to each their own I suppose...

Keith takes a seat and offers one to Charlotte, "No need for an apology, I do not mind the rambling. Every now and then it is healthy to interact with our peers... we learn things we did not know before..."

Keith rubs his stomach some...

"Like a knee to the stomach hurts..."

A mild attempt at humor... how unlike me...

Keith glances to Sildarin quizzically but holds his tongue...

And to speak when not invited... how insolent...

 

[GnomeWorks]

She turns to address Sildarin.

"I do honor the fact that I have a family. I question my reasons for staying away nearly every day. With each action I take, I wonder if it's the right one. I assure myself that I am in the right, that what I did was necessary to avoid the caged existence of a noblewoman... but some days..."

Charlotte's voice trails off, and she appears to be thinking hard about something.

She picks up an apple and a piece of toast, and takes the seat offered to her by Keith. She smiles at his complaint about his stomach.

"Perhaps you are right, Keith - we all need to talk to someone. But, enough about me and my history - what about you? Why are you here?"

 

[Dalamar]

Sildarin moves to the farthest corner, still trying to avoid being seen. He grabs some bread on his way there and takes a bite and starts to speak with his psicrystal.

I really need to watch out for outburst like that, I don't want to draw attention to myself.
But isn't that what makes it worth it, to be heard? Did you see how that elf looked at you? He looked like he had tasted something rreeaally bitter.
Sildarin laughs lightly at his friends remark.
Maybe you're right... or maybe I should leave the Academy for once and try to look for my parents.
You know its practically impossible?
But its the only thing that keeps my going. That, and finding more about my gift.
Just focus on the power of your mind, that will keep you alive.
I guess so...

 

[Tokiwong]

Where to begin.... and what to say...

"My origins... I was born into the noble house..." he pauses, "of the Kinain... we as a family are famed as a house of wizardy and arcane mastery... my father... was warrior but he fought with blade and magic... a Bladesinger... while my mother was a wizard without peer... just as her mother before... and so on..."

Keith takes a sip of his juice...

"My brother Elisdill was an aspiring Enchanter... my eldest sister Delviane... a diviner... and my younger brother Yulius... already showed the natural talent for the Art at th age of 43 by human reckoning..."

Everyone had the talent... and drive except me... always they wondered why... a fluke? Perhaps I would bloom late... perhaps I was simply an abomination... or perhaps I was meant to be something other then a master of the Art...

"Though myself... I showed talent in the more atheltic disciplines. I was trained under an elven fencer, Alustir Soriel Thallain. She taught me much in my 15 years of tutelage... but as with all things it came time for me to take my place among my peers as a member of the noblesse oblige... and thus I was sent here to refine my skills in the court... mastery of the more intellectual arts... at least that is what my parents hoped..."

Much to their dismay... I suppose...

"I find myself driven to the mastery of the art that is the blade... its intricate disciplines... the dance of savegery and elegance... the portrait of crimson... that can be created with it... I see it not so much as swordplay... but a Swordart... for at its essence it is an artform. A dance weaved with each step to create one beautiful flowing movement..." he smiles and takes another sip of his juice...

Perhaps I prattled on too much...

 

[GnomeWorks]

Charlotte listens attentively.

"Our histories sound very much alike. You were different from the others in your family and your past, and I was different from the others in my family and my past."

She takes a bite out of her apple, and continues. "I know what you mean, when you talk about the sword. I myself have always been fascinated by three things, swordplay - swordart, as you called it - among them. My psionic talent started developing only a little before I fled my home, so my parents never really commented on it. As for the third... flame has always attracted me. Fire, the essence of chaos, a representative of love and passion, yet capable of such devastation and destruction. I find it quite ironic, at times."

She nibbles daintily at her toast, then remembers herself and bites into it heartily.

So alike, and yet so different. This will require thought, later, when I contemplate the spar again.

"So - how long have you been training in the use of your rapier?"

 

[Tokiwong]

Alike... and yet different... her words ring with a sense of clarity... that is chilling...

"I have been training with the weapon for quite some time... ever since I was old enough to walk... I have practiced and played at the art... I had little else to distinguish me from my peers outside of my athletic ability. By human reckoning my true training has been nearly 22 years, 15 years of which I spent under the tutelage of my mentor Alustir..."

15 years that bring a slight tinge of happiness to a life lived in the shadow of inadequacy...

Keith pauses for a moment and sets his cup down, "I have little ability if any in either the Psionic or magical disciplines... wholly ordinary... I suppose... as my mother would say..."

Even she can muster the talent to open her mind to the world around us... and I cannot even muster the strength to create the simplest of cantrips... calm... must achieve the calm.. to wonder on what could have been dilutes my purpose...

Keith nearly twists his face in annoyance... but resumes his normal calm demeanor... in quick order.

 

[GnomeWorks]

"22 years. That's a long time to train in the use of a weapon. No wonder you're so good with the rapier - you've been trained by a mentor for longer than I've been alive!"

Something about the way he mentioned his mentor...

"As for having talent for psionics or magic... if you are interested, you may find that you have the ability for it. If your family is full of gifted wizards, then it probably wore off on you, even if only a little. You might want to look into it, if you haven't already."

What was that? A twinge in the face of the ever-calm Keith? Best not to bring it up - anything that can bother a guy with a patience the size of a boulder should probably be left alone.

Charlotte continues to eat.