Purple Painting No.1
PART ONE
5th Ymiden Arc 720 in Volta
5th Ymiden Arc 720 in Volta
Yrmellyn had spent the end of Cylus in Volta, ill after her recruitment trips in the Rharne region. Her contribution to the war at Storm’s Edge had been scant. It had consisted of propaganda to recruit more people. The actual fighting and other hard physical work had not been her forte, nor had travelling in winter. At the time she and her partner Ha'zel had arrived in Volta she had been in bad shape. She had been half delirious when she was awake and lucid dreams had kept her busy when she slept. The dreams had exhausted her and prolonged the fever.
In Ashan, when she had recovered from the flu, she had stayed in Volta. Her partner and good friend Ha'zel had insisted on it. No more travelling for her for a while. She had been happy to oblige. Rharne felt like a strange place to her these days despite being her home town.
But she knew that it wasn’t the city that had changed. It was she who wasn’t the same anymore. Step by step, the spark of magic was turning her into what it needed and wanted her to be. Like ageing, it was such a slow process, impossible to observe from day to day time. Only in hindsight could she see how different she was today compared to her past self.
Things that once had been important to her were not important anymore. People she once had cared about were fading from her thoughts and turning into memories. Those too were getting unimportant to her. Even her big true love of the past, her mentor in magic and art Mariuz Arbin was now a man she had known once upon a time. That was all. She had lost him and mourned him but many arcs had passed by. She was forgetting how the sorrow felt and even how the love had felt. It was all so long ago. Ha’zel was the only one she cared about nowadays.
“I fear for you. How will this end? Is there no way to end the magic and free you from it?” Ha’zel had raised the question uncountable times but she had no answer.
But, Yrmellyn felt no need of losing the magic: she felt no need of losing herself. “I’m going out,” she had said. “I want to paint.”
She had been painting a bit outdoors. But, not until she returned to the tavern in the evening did she find a motif she had felt the right inspiration for. Here he was now, a man she had seen before, long ago in Rharne. She didn't know his name, but she knew that he was a drug peddler. He was the peddler of the mystery wine. The effect of that brew had scared her so much that the memory was clear and strong even one and a half arc later.
It was hard to guess the age of the man but he was not a youth. He could be anything between thirty and fifty. His furrowed face spoke about a life full of experience, maybe too full. He had that special worn look of people who have tried everything and a bit a more and are proud of it. Now, he sat in the dining room of the tavern where Yrmellyn was staying. He was alone at the table and seemed to brood over something. Once in a while, he sipped on a drink. The glass was small, which meant that the amber content was a strong liquor. He was smoking too. From a general point of view, he looked suspect and shabby. But, from a painter point of view, he was perfect. She knew that she must paint a portrait of him.
He hadn't looked up from his liquor when Yrmellyn had stepped in, her painting kit in the backpack and the small foldable easel under her arm. She looked around the room. It was dark but not cosy. This early in the evening the place was still silent and almost empty. Except for a red-haired tavern maid who was scrubbing the floor there was only Yrmellyn and "the peddler".
At a slow pace, she approached the table where he sat. It would give him time to notice her in advance. Surprising people was never good when you wanted to paint them. Halfway there, she saw him glance at her. Good.
She arrived at his table. “Evening.”
The man shrugged. It was his only answer.
Yrmellyn didn’t ask him if he would mind if she joined him. He looked like he would immediately mind. Instead, she decided to be straightforward.
“I bought a potion of you once, in Rharne. You see, at the time I hoped it would embellish a weird rash I suffered from as it was a kind of beauty potion. Or so you told me. But, the potion had an intriguing effect I hadn’t expected. It’s possible that I looked more beautiful, but not from a human point of view. It looked like had the skin of a reptile, shimmering and strange. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.”
As she spoke the man looked down at his glass several times, but he always looked up from it again and continued listening.
“It was a rare and wondrous experience. And scary. I’m not without experience in alchemy myself and I have been curious about that potion ever after.”
“Oh.”
“I practice alchemy myself.”
“You’ve come to the right town then. Volta is the best place in all Idalos for working with alchemy.”
The Alchemy of Volta was well known in Rharne and some would say it was infamous. Sometimes, people like this man turned up to peddle their mysterious wares. The effects were not always what people hoped but they were always amazing. More often than not it seemed like the alchemists in Volta were operating far away from what scientists taught in the universities.
“Why do you find Volta the best?” Yrmellyn was curious, as always. “Some people say that the best way to learn alchemy is to study it at a university.”
“Universities! Pah! Who says they are the best?”
“It’s possible to study alchemy there. A professor once told me about it.”
Doran Tethys! An elusive man she had eventually found suspect. Something had been amiss with that one!
“Professors! Pah! Stiff and dusty boring scholars who are good at writing dry papers! They lack the knack and creativity for real innovation! They teach people to not be creative. You become a master of following rules but a good-for-nothing in practice.”
“It’s one of the reasons why I hesitated to sign up for university studies, “Yrmellyn admitted. “I’m an artist (a painter) and I don’t thrive on formality and strict rules. But, you know, I was also not able to pay the fees and I had responsibilities that came first.”
“Good thing! You avoided getting dampened and becoming a standard alchemist like others. True alchemy is a creative art. And Volta is the best place in Idalos for creative alchemy.”
“Well, why would I want to learn the same things they teach all their students? I never studied art at university either. Why would I want to conform and be like all others when I can follow my own path to mastery?”
The alchemist laughed. It was a low and dry laugh. “We seem likeminded. Care to join me for a drink and more chat? Name’s Jack Hector, born and raised in this fine village.”
Yrmellyn was quick to pull out a chair and sit down at the table. “Yrmellyn Cole, from Rharne. I’m always up for a drink and a chat about interesting things like art and alchemy.” She put her artist kit on another chair. Meanwhile, Jack Hector waved down the tavern maid and ordered one more glass of ...
“... well, one more glass and bring in the whole bottle of Aqua Volta! I and my new friend here have many things to speak about!”
“Show me the money first, Jack,” said the maid. Her hand were still wet as she had been scrubbing the floor. She wiped them off on her apron.
Now, Yrmellyn realized that she didn’t have any money at all on her. Her partner Ha’zel had taken care of the money when she was ill and delirious and he was still managing everything. It had felt very convenient but now it felt embarrassing. She met the maid's gaze, smiled and was on the verge of apologizing. The maid looked back at her with something that might be a feeling of surprise. But, before Yrmellyn had time to say anything, Hector threw a few odd non-metal coins on the table. “There you go, Janey. Bring in the liquor now.”
The waitress took the money and walked away. Yrmellyn noticed that she didn’t seem to be in a hurry. Jack Hector might be a regular as the woman had used his first name but he didn’t seem to be a very trusted regular. Yrmellyn didn’t care about his reputation in this tavern though. It wasn’t the best place in the world. Ha’zel had rented their room there when Yrmellyn had been ill and his reasons had been pragmatic. The room had been free and it had been cheap. Who could know if there were any more free rooms of how long time they would have to stay in Volta? Best to not be picky!
So, Yrmellyn and her new friend, the creative alchemist Jack Hector, sat in a low-end tavern in Volta. Both of them were looking at the waitress Janey as she walked toward the bar. The woman's hips were swaying and her skirt was swishing in a manner that spoke of arcs of routine.
In Ashan, when she had recovered from the flu, she had stayed in Volta. Her partner and good friend Ha'zel had insisted on it. No more travelling for her for a while. She had been happy to oblige. Rharne felt like a strange place to her these days despite being her home town.
But she knew that it wasn’t the city that had changed. It was she who wasn’t the same anymore. Step by step, the spark of magic was turning her into what it needed and wanted her to be. Like ageing, it was such a slow process, impossible to observe from day to day time. Only in hindsight could she see how different she was today compared to her past self.
Things that once had been important to her were not important anymore. People she once had cared about were fading from her thoughts and turning into memories. Those too were getting unimportant to her. Even her big true love of the past, her mentor in magic and art Mariuz Arbin was now a man she had known once upon a time. That was all. She had lost him and mourned him but many arcs had passed by. She was forgetting how the sorrow felt and even how the love had felt. It was all so long ago. Ha’zel was the only one she cared about nowadays.
“I fear for you. How will this end? Is there no way to end the magic and free you from it?” Ha’zel had raised the question uncountable times but she had no answer.
But, Yrmellyn felt no need of losing the magic: she felt no need of losing herself. “I’m going out,” she had said. “I want to paint.”
She had been painting a bit outdoors. But, not until she returned to the tavern in the evening did she find a motif she had felt the right inspiration for. Here he was now, a man she had seen before, long ago in Rharne. She didn't know his name, but she knew that he was a drug peddler. He was the peddler of the mystery wine. The effect of that brew had scared her so much that the memory was clear and strong even one and a half arc later.
It was hard to guess the age of the man but he was not a youth. He could be anything between thirty and fifty. His furrowed face spoke about a life full of experience, maybe too full. He had that special worn look of people who have tried everything and a bit a more and are proud of it. Now, he sat in the dining room of the tavern where Yrmellyn was staying. He was alone at the table and seemed to brood over something. Once in a while, he sipped on a drink. The glass was small, which meant that the amber content was a strong liquor. He was smoking too. From a general point of view, he looked suspect and shabby. But, from a painter point of view, he was perfect. She knew that she must paint a portrait of him.
He hadn't looked up from his liquor when Yrmellyn had stepped in, her painting kit in the backpack and the small foldable easel under her arm. She looked around the room. It was dark but not cosy. This early in the evening the place was still silent and almost empty. Except for a red-haired tavern maid who was scrubbing the floor there was only Yrmellyn and "the peddler".
At a slow pace, she approached the table where he sat. It would give him time to notice her in advance. Surprising people was never good when you wanted to paint them. Halfway there, she saw him glance at her. Good.
She arrived at his table. “Evening.”
The man shrugged. It was his only answer.
Yrmellyn didn’t ask him if he would mind if she joined him. He looked like he would immediately mind. Instead, she decided to be straightforward.
“I bought a potion of you once, in Rharne. You see, at the time I hoped it would embellish a weird rash I suffered from as it was a kind of beauty potion. Or so you told me. But, the potion had an intriguing effect I hadn’t expected. It’s possible that I looked more beautiful, but not from a human point of view. It looked like had the skin of a reptile, shimmering and strange. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.”
As she spoke the man looked down at his glass several times, but he always looked up from it again and continued listening.
“It was a rare and wondrous experience. And scary. I’m not without experience in alchemy myself and I have been curious about that potion ever after.”
“Oh.”
“I practice alchemy myself.”
“You’ve come to the right town then. Volta is the best place in all Idalos for working with alchemy.”
The Alchemy of Volta was well known in Rharne and some would say it was infamous. Sometimes, people like this man turned up to peddle their mysterious wares. The effects were not always what people hoped but they were always amazing. More often than not it seemed like the alchemists in Volta were operating far away from what scientists taught in the universities.
“Why do you find Volta the best?” Yrmellyn was curious, as always. “Some people say that the best way to learn alchemy is to study it at a university.”
“Universities! Pah! Who says they are the best?”
“It’s possible to study alchemy there. A professor once told me about it.”
Doran Tethys! An elusive man she had eventually found suspect. Something had been amiss with that one!
“Professors! Pah! Stiff and dusty boring scholars who are good at writing dry papers! They lack the knack and creativity for real innovation! They teach people to not be creative. You become a master of following rules but a good-for-nothing in practice.”
“It’s one of the reasons why I hesitated to sign up for university studies, “Yrmellyn admitted. “I’m an artist (a painter) and I don’t thrive on formality and strict rules. But, you know, I was also not able to pay the fees and I had responsibilities that came first.”
“Good thing! You avoided getting dampened and becoming a standard alchemist like others. True alchemy is a creative art. And Volta is the best place in Idalos for creative alchemy.”
“Well, why would I want to learn the same things they teach all their students? I never studied art at university either. Why would I want to conform and be like all others when I can follow my own path to mastery?”
The alchemist laughed. It was a low and dry laugh. “We seem likeminded. Care to join me for a drink and more chat? Name’s Jack Hector, born and raised in this fine village.”
Yrmellyn was quick to pull out a chair and sit down at the table. “Yrmellyn Cole, from Rharne. I’m always up for a drink and a chat about interesting things like art and alchemy.” She put her artist kit on another chair. Meanwhile, Jack Hector waved down the tavern maid and ordered one more glass of ...
“... well, one more glass and bring in the whole bottle of Aqua Volta! I and my new friend here have many things to speak about!”
“Show me the money first, Jack,” said the maid. Her hand were still wet as she had been scrubbing the floor. She wiped them off on her apron.
Now, Yrmellyn realized that she didn’t have any money at all on her. Her partner Ha’zel had taken care of the money when she was ill and delirious and he was still managing everything. It had felt very convenient but now it felt embarrassing. She met the maid's gaze, smiled and was on the verge of apologizing. The maid looked back at her with something that might be a feeling of surprise. But, before Yrmellyn had time to say anything, Hector threw a few odd non-metal coins on the table. “There you go, Janey. Bring in the liquor now.”
The waitress took the money and walked away. Yrmellyn noticed that she didn’t seem to be in a hurry. Jack Hector might be a regular as the woman had used his first name but he didn’t seem to be a very trusted regular. Yrmellyn didn’t care about his reputation in this tavern though. It wasn’t the best place in the world. Ha’zel had rented their room there when Yrmellyn had been ill and his reasons had been pragmatic. The room had been free and it had been cheap. Who could know if there were any more free rooms of how long time they would have to stay in Volta? Best to not be picky!
So, Yrmellyn and her new friend, the creative alchemist Jack Hector, sat in a low-end tavern in Volta. Both of them were looking at the waitress Janey as she walked toward the bar. The woman's hips were swaying and her skirt was swishing in a manner that spoke of arcs of routine.
