“Most mages are myopic“, the alchemist agreed. He was, he had to admit, somewhat surprised by what he had heard. He had not thought that a mage would have such a view of his own kind, but then again, Llyr had turned out to be quite extraordinary so far, at least compared to most of the people that he had met. “They rush into initiation without being aware of the consequences, of the nature of the spark and the fact that magic changes you inevitably. I met with a mage just yesterday. He had not thought about most of those things until I mentioned them to him. I do not only study the use of mage blood in alchemy. I’ve also begun to study the spark as well as mutations”, he explained.
A part of him would always consider magic an affliction and the Spark a parasite – for that was what it essentially was – but another part of him couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to be under its influence, if it could be affected by magical or mundane means or if the mutations were random or the result of something that you did. Unlike most of the mages he had met, he was aware of the dangers as well as the potential of magic, even though he had never given his own soul to the Spark and maybe never would.
“Cassander’s stance was understandable to some extent”, he agreed. “But executing mages – and in public at that – was not the best way to deal with the problem. I was there when the executions took place. I heard the mages scream as they burnt. I witnessed the protests. I talked to the Lord Arbiter, Caius Gawyne”, he spoke in a relatively neutral tone – he saw no reason to get emotional over the death of mortals – and mortals who couldn’t be brought back at that. He didn’t say more than that though.
There were a lot of things about Rynmere that he disapproved of – in his opinion, Cassander could have tried to use those mages instead and prevented subsequent catastrophes – but this was another thing that was best discussed in the waking world. Their time together in Emea was too precious to spend it trying to analyze mortal politics and wonder what could have been – a fairly pointless activity, as far as he was concerned.
Llyr, he noticed, wasn’t looking at him when he admitted that he hadn’t chosen his domains. For a moment, the alchemist just stood there, furrowing his brow, before he asked, in a tone that was unusually soft, at least for him, “Would you have picked different domains if you had been given a choice?” Of course, asking such was just as pointless as wondering what would have happened if Cassander had tried to harness the power of the mages in his kingdom instead, but he couldn’t help but ask, nevertheless.
“I met U’frek once, shortly before the battle at Treid’s Tomb”, he remarked as Llyr spoke about how his kind had been created and by whom. “It is a beautiful story”, he decided. “You have a way with words, Mister Magpie. As for my meeting other Mortalborn – I’ve met a few of them, yes”, he said, inclining his head sharply as he did so. “Some were several centuries old and some but children who had barely begun to discover their divine gifts. That’s another matter that we’d better discuss in the waking world though. Someone might be listening to us”, he remarked.
He didn’t know much about Emea, at least not yet – although he planned on changing that in the near future - but if Llyr could just appear in his dream, without a warning, it made sense that others could as well – and hide themselves so that he would never be aware of their presence.
“I have test subjects as well as lab animals”, he confirmed before he momentarily turned away from Llyr in order to focus. In spite of his long life and his extraordinary skill in alchemy and chemistry, he had never been able to create something from nothing. He had no idea how to even begin creating a construct, but of course, he didn’t admit that. Instead, he tried to picture one of his previous test subjects, a mutant that he had owned in Etzos and that had served him well. He focused for quite some time, to no avail.
Finally, he turned back to the younger man, a light frown on his face. “It doesn’t seem as if I’m capable of creating a construct yet”, he admitted somewhat reluctantly. “But no matter, seeing as that we’ve done the groundwork here, replicating such a potion in the waking world and testing it on live subjects should be a relatively easy matter. I will of course share the results of my research with you – or let you watch and even assist me, if you are interested in that”, he remarked. It would only be fair seeing as Llyr had helped him here.
“How much more time do we have together tonight?” he asked after a while, momentarily looking towards the windows. The light outside had never changed – the aurora was still visible - but it was unlikely that time had stood still while they had been talking and working on their potion.
A part of him would always consider magic an affliction and the Spark a parasite – for that was what it essentially was – but another part of him couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to be under its influence, if it could be affected by magical or mundane means or if the mutations were random or the result of something that you did. Unlike most of the mages he had met, he was aware of the dangers as well as the potential of magic, even though he had never given his own soul to the Spark and maybe never would.
“Cassander’s stance was understandable to some extent”, he agreed. “But executing mages – and in public at that – was not the best way to deal with the problem. I was there when the executions took place. I heard the mages scream as they burnt. I witnessed the protests. I talked to the Lord Arbiter, Caius Gawyne”, he spoke in a relatively neutral tone – he saw no reason to get emotional over the death of mortals – and mortals who couldn’t be brought back at that. He didn’t say more than that though.
There were a lot of things about Rynmere that he disapproved of – in his opinion, Cassander could have tried to use those mages instead and prevented subsequent catastrophes – but this was another thing that was best discussed in the waking world. Their time together in Emea was too precious to spend it trying to analyze mortal politics and wonder what could have been – a fairly pointless activity, as far as he was concerned.
Llyr, he noticed, wasn’t looking at him when he admitted that he hadn’t chosen his domains. For a moment, the alchemist just stood there, furrowing his brow, before he asked, in a tone that was unusually soft, at least for him, “Would you have picked different domains if you had been given a choice?” Of course, asking such was just as pointless as wondering what would have happened if Cassander had tried to harness the power of the mages in his kingdom instead, but he couldn’t help but ask, nevertheless.
“I met U’frek once, shortly before the battle at Treid’s Tomb”, he remarked as Llyr spoke about how his kind had been created and by whom. “It is a beautiful story”, he decided. “You have a way with words, Mister Magpie. As for my meeting other Mortalborn – I’ve met a few of them, yes”, he said, inclining his head sharply as he did so. “Some were several centuries old and some but children who had barely begun to discover their divine gifts. That’s another matter that we’d better discuss in the waking world though. Someone might be listening to us”, he remarked.
He didn’t know much about Emea, at least not yet – although he planned on changing that in the near future - but if Llyr could just appear in his dream, without a warning, it made sense that others could as well – and hide themselves so that he would never be aware of their presence.
“I have test subjects as well as lab animals”, he confirmed before he momentarily turned away from Llyr in order to focus. In spite of his long life and his extraordinary skill in alchemy and chemistry, he had never been able to create something from nothing. He had no idea how to even begin creating a construct, but of course, he didn’t admit that. Instead, he tried to picture one of his previous test subjects, a mutant that he had owned in Etzos and that had served him well. He focused for quite some time, to no avail.
Finally, he turned back to the younger man, a light frown on his face. “It doesn’t seem as if I’m capable of creating a construct yet”, he admitted somewhat reluctantly. “But no matter, seeing as that we’ve done the groundwork here, replicating such a potion in the waking world and testing it on live subjects should be a relatively easy matter. I will of course share the results of my research with you – or let you watch and even assist me, if you are interested in that”, he remarked. It would only be fair seeing as Llyr had helped him here.
“How much more time do we have together tonight?” he asked after a while, momentarily looking towards the windows. The light outside had never changed – the aurora was still visible - but it was unlikely that time had stood still while they had been talking and working on their potion.
