[Viden Academy] A Promising Journey

[Hookor Crook]

The 20th Trial in the Season of Ashan, 718th Arc

Viden Academy - Scalvoris Campus

Forty, forty one, forty two. Stop. Hookor looked up at the roundish building that stood ominously in front of him. Viden Academy. Though it was smaller, so he had heard, then the main campus, the Scalvoris Campus structure was still very intimidating. Is that sweat? The young half eidisi questioned as he furrowed his brow. A droplet fell on to his nose, and his speculation was confirmed.

I do not have time for perspiration, the irritated Crook complained silently. Without further contemplation he walked on.

Forty three, forty four, forty five...

-----

knock knock knock!

He had found his way to her office, but now in his nervousness had forgotten her name. Professor Faith? Professor...oh hat was her last name? he was sweating again. Hookor knocked a second time, then waited for professor whats her name to answer.

Maybe she isn't here. Maybe she forgot. Though he would never let it be seen, except for the annoying sweating, Hookor was growing increasingly anxious and nervous. It was perhaps his only flaw when it came to his goal of becoming a doctor. Of course, the art of medicine, so he had read, was to keep one's emotions under strict control.

Control. Control. He began to pace. Sixty Seven, Sixty Eight, Sixty Nine. He moved to her door and knocked again. Come on. Come on.

"Professor? Professor, it is Hookor Crook. You sent me notice for an interview." He called, making sure to sound way more confidant the he really was.

[Faith Augustin]

Faith was expecting someone called Hookor Crook, according to the paperwork she had and so, she was in her office, having read through his notes twice. She'd purposely come in even though she wasn't actually teaching to-trial because she wanted to give the interviews for the trial the time they deserved and he seemed to be quite a promising student. So, she was sitting in her office when she heard a noise down the corridor. Listening for a moment, Faith quietly opened her door and stepped out. "I did indeed. I'm Faith Augustin. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The woman who spoke to him was short. About five foot four with pale white skin and jet black hair. She was tiny in stature, with blue eyes which were so pale that they seemed to be almost solver. She smiled in a friendly manner and gestured to her office. "That one is my husband's office, also Professor Augustin. Physics, chemistry, alchemy, that sort of thing," she waved a hand towards the room he was standing outside as though dismissing the subjects within it; she wasn't of course, she was in awe of Padraig's subjects and she had nothing but respect for them, but the rather tall young man looked a little nervous, she thought.

When he looked at her, Faith looked to be young. Maybe twenty, but maybe not and she was well dressed with a knee length white dress and red blouse. On her wrists were intricate tattoos, black and delicate and the same design wrapped around her neck. She stepped forward to shake his hand and her long, black nails were evident. "Come on in," Her office was a few doors away. One wall was taken up by an enormous, floor to ceiling bookshelf which was close to overflowing with books and tubes which presumably held paper. The wall on the opposite side had maps on it. Maps of Scalvoris, of Idalos, of all sorts of places. Underneath each map was a wooden storage for a number of overlays.

The young woman motioned to a chair for Hookor. "Please, have a seat. Make yourself comfortable." Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper when she spoke. Faith took her time getting herself settled in her chair, behind the mahogany desk which was neat and meticulously organised. She gave him a few moments, basically, to collect himself and then she looked at him and smiled, sitting back and folding her hands in her lap.

"So, Hookor, tell me about yourself and why you want to study with us?"

[Hookor Crook]

About myself? Well what kind of question is that? Hookor questioned silently. He was sure he could feel the beads of sweat continue to form on his brow. Nothing about my resume? Nothing about my background, my research? he continued to wonder. Crook smiled at Faith, but it was easily determined to be a forced grin.

"Myself? Oh...of course." he began. Though he was doing his best to hide his nerves, it would be clear to a veteran interviewer such as Faith, that he was a little terrified under the surface. He nodded, indicating he would try to answer.

"Well I'm originally from Rynmere. My Father, Horace Crook, raised me there. My mother..." another uncomfortable smile now, but this one was for the words to come. "...she was from Viden. I know little of her. She was named Sophora. My father passed from us some time ago. His heart failed him, I am sure." Sadness in his expression now, as he remembered the older human fondly.

"He was a blacksmith for a noble family. I used to go to their estate often, and read there at their wonderful library." Now fondness and a genuine smile as Hookor remembered those days. The sun streaming in through the windows as he spent hours reading books on all manner of subject.

"I have spent the last few Arcs working at one of the clinics in Rynmere. Mostly cleaning, helping with bandages. Every now and then I snuck some time to read through the medical tomes in the back office." Hookor smiled again, this time a mischieveous snicker. He looked up then, his frosty blue eyes a brighter hue then his paler powder blue skin. His moonlight blue hair, almost black, was pulled back into a pony tail, sitting neatly on the hood of his dark green cloak.

"This is a wonderful, grand campus." he said, admiration in his voice, as he looked around, and changed the subject...

[Faith Augustin]

He was nervous, there was no doubting it. Nervous and unsure of himself and so he answered the first question. Which told her a lot about him, both in terms of what he said and did and, of course, in terms of what he didn't. Faith looked at him and she considered. He was mixed race, seemed to be relatively uncomfortable, beyond what she would expect perhaps, and he was very literal. The last, she put down to nerves, but it was important that Faith understood him.

And, of course, that he understood her.

"So, you have a natural curiosity and are drawn to medicine, those are both good things." She didn't doubt that it was a nervewracking experience, she clearly remembered her own interview with the now-Chancellor of the University. However, it was important then and for her, and it was now and for him. "Alright, so let me tell you a little about me, although I would hope that you have done some research in preparation." She considered what she wanted to say, what she did not. Many things about her and her life, Faith was very private about, however this was about her professional life. Or part of it.

"I have two main areas of focus. Diseases, especially currently incurable ones, and blood. My last thesis was a consideration of the two fluids within all bloods. Every race, so far, has blood which separates into two liquids. I have worked on transfusing blood from one person to another, but that is something which carries with it a lot of risks." Pausing, she waited to hear if he had any questions. If not, she continued.

"In terms of disease, I believe that we need to study the patterns of diseases. Age, gender, geography, temperature, all sorts of things. Hence, those," she said, pointing to the maps. "I am tracing patterns of disease with them, hence the overlay. There was a disease, specific to Scalvoris, called Lightbane, considered incurable and led to agonizing blindness. It's cure was fairly straightforward, but only once I realised what was causing it and that was a specific reaction to a specific tree." She looked at him and smiled. "I believe there is nothing more important than service. To all of mortalkind, to the person bleeding in front of you. To the poor and the enslaved." She certainly meant what she said, judging by the look on her face.

"The first part, the list of achievements, that is what I have done and it is, fundamentally, what it is. But what I believe? That is who I am." She smiled and gestured to him. "So, tell me. What makes you passionate about medicine? What drives you and pushes you? What questions do you have which you burn to answer?"

[Hookor Crook]

Hookor nodded, listening with great focus as Faith spoke. He had indeed done his research, but not in preparation for the interview. Medicine was all Hookor thought about. It was an all consuming passion that he had been 'unofficially' studying and researching for Arcs now. This included reading dissertations on blood, of various races, and their speculated subconstituants. He had also read many papers on various disease states. Lightbane, unfortunately, was not one of them.

So Hookor would try to speak around that particular point.

"The essence of life...blood." he began, his tone almost wistful. "Not a creature can live without. A finger, a toe, even an eye, one can do without, but not blood." Hookor shifted in his seat, then continued.

"Was it considered to transfuse just one of the two liquids into the recipient, rather then whole blood?" he asked in all earnest. Crook looked about the room, as he gathered more thoughts.

"Data collection and research I am also extremely familiar with. When I worked at the clinic in Rynmere, I often took notes on the ages, sex, race, body habitus, and other patient variables, and then cross referenced them with the illnesses they presented with. Of curious note, among others, was the distinct increased occurrence of 'Locked Jaw' with farmers, and others who worked with, or near by sewage or animal excrement." Hookor informed. He then contemplated the professor's last question.

"Passionate?" he asked, rhetorically. It was a good question for her to ask, as it got to the core of why they should accept him into the medicine program.

"Knowledge." he answered. he knew it was not the typical answer. Most had counselled him to answer such a query with a rote response of 'wanting to help people, to give of himself to others', but that was not the truth. Not for Hookor. Yes, the blue toned half Eidisi did like helping people, and enjoyed his service at the clinic tremendously. But it was not what drove him. It was not the fire in his chest.

"Knowledge." he answered with a more firm tone this time, confident it was the answer to why he wished to pursue medicine, as a career.

[Faith Augustin]

Was it considered to transfuse just one of the two constituent parts of blood? Faith nodded her head. "I've done some extensive experimentation across Scalvoris, Viden and Rynmere," before Cassander, King of Rynmere had closed the portals, but that was a debate for a different time and place. "The results have proved quite interesting. However, that won't be what you're learning about in your early classes," just by virtue of asking that question he had a place on the course he wanted, but that was by the by. "All races with blood have the same two liquids. There are a lot of similarities, and a lot of differences, too. However, when he spoke of proximity to animal sewage and the Locked Jaw, Faith frowned and glanced, just briefly, at the wall where the maps were. That was interesting and, whilst she had looked at soil components, animals, land type and use, she hadn't considered down to that level of detail.

He was an interesting one, there was no doubt, and Faith listened to his answers about why he did this, why he pursued what he did and she nodded. "Knowledge?" That was an unusual answer and not one he would have been rehearsing if she was any judge of character at all. So, she looked at him and smiled when he repeated. "Knowledge is a good answer. Very well, congratulations. You're on." Faith was still half expecting someone to come running in and should 'fooled you!' every time she did something as important as make a decision, but they hadn't yet and maybe they never would.

Who knew, she considered and she smiled at the earnest blue-skinned chap.

"So, the tuition fees are a hundred nel a season. You'll have classes mostly with myself and professor Hamiliton-Smith," not a nice man, not at all, but a good medic. Still, he would have to navigate that himself. "The thing that I would say to you is that the more practical experience of medicine you have, the better. Not books, not research." Faith smiled slightly. "People vomiting on you, bleeding on you, dying as you try to stop them and living because you were there. We have a large branch of the Order of the Adunih here. I know they are in Rynmere too, so I'm assuming you've heard of them?" If he hadn't, she'd just explain them to him, but either way. "I would urge you to consider joining and volunteering your time. I can introduce you, if you'd like." She sat back and waited to see what he thought of all that she had said.

[Hookor Crook]

A hundred nel? It was more than he had expected. Hookor had gotten a fair price for the home he had grown up in. Though he hated the loss of his childhood home, Crook knew his father would approve. His father was often hard on him, but he always seemed to understand that necessity trumped nostalgia. So he would have gotten it. None the less, the Half-Eidisi had but 300 golden nel to his name. To lose a third of it a season was a huge blow, and he was not sure he could survive on the remainder for long, not to speak of the next seasons.

Suddenly Hookor realized his expression was revealing his angst.

"I...I am sorry professor." he apologized. "I am extremely grateful that I have been honored with a placement here, its just..."

How to say it? How to convey without seeming to complain or beg.

"Does the tuition fee include lodgings?" he asked. "If not, are there reasonably priced accommodations available close by?" he inquired. To be honest, Hookor was embarrassed that he had not looked into this aspect of things before coming to the interview. An error due to nervousness he concluded. An error he would try not to have happen again. Hopefully he had not ruined any rapport he had developed with his future mentor with such mundane talk concerning finances and costs.

"I look forward to every aspect of my learning." Hookor said with complete honesty. Good, change the subject, he thought to himself. "One can obtain knowledge from more than books or research. The practical always complements the didactic." he added. Hookor had learned much in his time spent at the clinic. He had an opportunity to work for the Order of the Adunih, but had such a strong attachment to the patients and staff at the small private clinic he had volunteered at, that he could not leave.

Not then, anyway.

But he had left. For a higher purpose, he told himself. Now he was here. Here, and uncomfortably silent again.

"It would be most wonderful if you could introduce me." he answered upon the suggestion. But he needed a job as well. Something to help him survive while he was there.

"Oh, professor, is there a bulletin board about the campus with employment opportunities?" he asked, then waited for her response.

[Faith Augustin]

She said how much it cost and she saw the look on his face, she recognised it. It was a lot of money, but it was the same in the University in Scalvoris, Rynmere and Viden. So, she said nothing but when he asked if there was accommodation, she nodded. "It doesn't include lodgings, but there is affordable lodging close by. Small, but functional. There is a rental office." She would be happy to show him, she said quietly. She didn't make a fuss about it, she rather thought that Hookor was the kind of man who wouldn't like a fuss, but that wasn't the point. He asked for information and it was given to him.

He wanted to be introduced to the Order and Faith was happy to do so, certainly. Then, he asked about jobs and she smiled and nodded. "There are research assistant positions available at the moment, in the University. It so happens, I'm looking for an assistant to help with my," she motioned to the maps on the wall, "research into the spread of disease. Staff get a thirty percent discount on the fees and, of course, get paid." She raised an eyebrow, wondering if that might be up his street. "Failing that there are clinics which charge for medicine, of course. I also run a restaurant which is the income generation for a faction, the aim of which is to abolish poverty." She smiled, then and shrugged slightly. "I also cook." That was the explanation for the restaurant. In truth, Faith was a madwoman and she knew it, as did Padraig, but there was nothing she could do but be who she was.

Looking at him she smiled and asked, "Would any of those things be of interest to you?" Nodding her head towards the door, she added the observation, "There is also a bulletin board." It seemed more likely that he'd like something focused, she thought, so she made the offer, but at the end of the trial it was up to him.

"Were there any other questions?" Faith asked, with a smile. Hopefully, he was less nervous now and could ask anything he had on his mind.

[Hookor Crook]

All valuable information, the young student thought. He nodded his head politely as his new teacher spoke, and raised an eyebrow at the mention of research positions. Even better, he contemplated excitedly. He collected his thoughts as Faith finished.

"Thank you, professor." he began. "I would appreciate directions to the rental office. As well, I would be extremely interested in a research position. The study of disease is of immense curiosity to me." Hookor added. He was very pleased that he would get more than a fair discount off tuition if he were fortunate enough to get such a research position. Likely very competitive, he mused. Hookor loved to compete. The challenge, the struggle to push oneself to succeed, very appealing to the half Eidisi. Hookor recalled fondly the races he and his father, Horace Crook, would have after his work at the noble smithy. They would race from the furnace house all the way home. Of course Hookor would always win...Horace would always let him.

Momentarily the young scholar's thoughts returned to the present.

"As for the restaurant, perhaps I will visit there and enjoy some of the cuisine." he said, smiling perhaps for the first time since he had arrived in her office. Crook rarely smiled, but when he did, it was charming. Genuine. He would let his mind wander a little on what exciting edible delights might be found at Fath's eatery, but then quickly would wrap things up, moving to the door.

"I would like to apply for this position. If you could provide me with details as to how to do so, and directions to the rental office, I will be on my way." he stated. He waited for Faith to assist, before exiting her room, and heading off to find a cheap room to rent...

[Oracle]

This was a lovely, simple thread concerning an eager student and a talented teacher. I appreciate the effort Faith has put into meeting Hookor and paying attention to his educational needs. I also enjoyed that Hookor stuck to his guns, in admitting that he sought 'knowledge' rather than the normal motivations commonly seen by those pursuing a medical career. Hookor, you do a fantastic job with dialogue, my only suggestion would be a little more focus on the description of your setting. But otherwise your writing is lovely, keep it up! Faith, you always do a wonderful job of including little details here and there that make the scene come alive. A shrug, a nod or a subtle frown. These things really enhance your writing! Thank you both for the lovely and easy read. Enjoy your rewards.

Hookor Crook

Points

XP:15
This cannot be used for domain magic.

Renown

N/A

Loot

None

Injuries

None

Knowledge

Research: Assisting the Research of others
Intelligence: Fine Dining Locally
Medicine: Blood Products - Constituents
Medicine: Blood Products - Racial Differences
Medicine: Disease Demographics
Intelligence: Medical School Curiculum
Intelligence: Order of the Adunih
Research: Employment Opportunities - Scalvoris
Intelligence: Your Teacher is more than a Teacher (Faith)
Research: Accommodations in Scalvoris

Faith

Points

XP:15
This cannot be used for domain magic.

Renown

N/A

Loot

None

Injuries

None

Knowledge

Intelligence: Rynmere medicine
Politics: Taking on a student is an important decision