(Aeodan) Since when has books been this interesting?
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He'd more or less walked onward in an open space or something, unaware of what had began when he found himself aware. Patrick had fallen asleep for a moment and then found himself here, in what looked to be an endless plane of existence. At first it seemed void and empty, barren of anything at all when he started to explore. Sure enough though his eyes could see shapes take form, figures suddenly outlined themselves in the dark with faint glows. The further he walked the more vivid and detailed these shapes became, and the more he began to think this place became a maze of a sorts.
Well it actually did. Just... not the sort he expected to find here. Each and every supposed wall he encountered seemed to rise, while within them thousands of objects materialized with their own different designs. All around him he found the development of the world became that of a library, a vast compendium of books and tomes that decorated every tall shelf. This place... felt so ancient and curious, and while Pat definitely didn't feel scholarly right now, he couldn't deny that the sight of all these books did create a bit of awe.
The mysticism of this place already rubbed off on him too, already he filed through a row of books individually. He couldn't help but run a finger along them as he walked by, a heavy breath of air taken in to admire the somewhat musty smell. This had to be an interesting area he'd come across to say the least. He wondered what it actually was that he found himself in, and while he didn't consider it directly, he wandered further into the maze with hopes of discovering... well more!
Places like this must've held secrets after all, why not search and see what exactly he could find.
Seated at a table outside the maze of stacks, Aeodan pored over a text that he'd accidentally run across: The Life of Amry the Senseless. The biography, written about a monk named Amry of the Sheoran continent, whose stoic lifestyle led him to be publicly flayed and burned alive. In the text, it described that he made no noises during the flaying, instead reciting prayers to Ymiden about bringing him back into a world that did not tolerate such barbarism. So clear were the words of his final prayer that the monastery from which he hailed carved them into the walls of their monastery, inlaying them with gold so that they shone in the early suns.
Aeodan's eyes sped across the page, taking in every detail in trills. He was a particularly fast reader, and he was quite a few pages in by the time Patrick wandered into his view. Immediately, the Burnett boy turned on him, eyes suspicious. He narrowed the orbs and raised a pale hand, pointing at Patrick with blackened fingernails.
"Who's there? You shouldn't be here! This section is restricted to non-Academy staff." He stood from the table and stared at Patrick, gaining a better view of him.
"Identify yourself." Aeodan's voice was strong, and the young man took a step forward to get a better look. The text sat on the table, opened to the page describing Amry's acceptance of all, regardless of faith or creed. Aeodan, who hadn't read the page yet, was oblivious.
Patrick looked at the tip of his finger as he continued to trail down the aisle of books, surprised to find that the 'dust' matter somehow glowed here. This place definitely seemed a lot different from where he usually visited, the tomes led him to wonder what he could discover here. Just as he looked up along the shelves in curiosity though somebody stopped him in his tracks, apparently another who had been here just now saw him and...
Wait, this place was off limits? But how? Patrick was here wasn't he? The guy was tall like him but rather lanky, someone who appeared like one of those bookworm scholars. Pat always tried to avoid those types, he didn't like hanging around know-it-all's really. "Relax man, I had no idea this place was special." He remarked with a shrug of his shoulders, if this were some sort of academy though, then it had to have an impressive library for sure. "Ye sure ya wanna do that?" Patrick inquired as he looked at one of the tomes on the shelf, it was a red book without a title on the spine. The rough leathery binding seemed old and slightly worn, but overall its condition looked solid and decent.
"I mean sure, ye can call security and I'll likely have t' deal with that; but why do that when you dunno why I'm here." He posed more or less as a riddle, to test the patience of the guy really. When he opened the book he flipped it a few pages with little interest, just the first few words on each page skimmed until he'd made it a third of the way in. "Though I'll be honest I'm not even sure why I'm here, but I'll admit this place has piqued my curiosity." As he said this the words found in the page he stopped on glimmered and brightened, the text suddenly alive as it floated from the pages.
The lettering seemed to glow and dissipate into the air like brightly lit dust, and he briefly raised his eyebrows before closing the book. "Huh," He murmured while the book was replaced, "curious."
Aeodan's eyes narrowed as the man posed the weak conundrum. He did not have time for petty games, and the man opposite him offered no true explanation as to why he was in a restricted section of the library. The professor's mouth curved downward into a frown, and Aeodan took a step forward, though not menacingly.
"Karavora Seftivenum." He pointed at the tome in Patrick's hands. "They say it was a tome found in an ancient Monastery in the mountains of the Eternal Empire. Written by a monk named Ky'mmin Synn, it was said that the runes on those pages would float in front of the monks of the monastery, and would allow them to enter into a meditative trance unbreakable by anything but their willpower."
Taking another step, Aeodan reached out and gently took the text from Patrick's hands, slowly closing the cover and dissipating the shimmering runes that hovered in the air.
"The scholar who returned with it had spent six arcs among the monks of the monastery. Din-Yaeva, the monks called themselves. They made him swear an oath not to reveal their secrets, and also swore their language to secrecy. Even with my, ah... Enhancements, I haven't been able to decipher the text. They say if you stare at the runes, you enter the trance and, if you're not so equipped with proper mediation techniques and willpower, you stay there. I'd rather not explain to whomever will come looking for you that you fell into the runic trance of the Monks."
The joke was light-hearted, but the implications serious. He truly did not wish for the man to be taken by any harm, especially in his care. And being in this section of the library after breaks was putting himself, wanted or otherwise, into Professor Burnett's care.
"I am Professor Aeodan Burnett of the Viden Academy. Your purpose here is unknown, but certainly, you can remember your name?"
This close, Patrick could see the silvery scar-like mark over his eye. Aeodan smiled and held a hand out for an introduction.
Patrick's eyebrows rose as he listened to the explanation the scholar gave, almost rather self consciously he pretended to be sleepy. Mainly because the story, while fascinating, didn't particularly interest Patrick at all. What use did he have in knowing about some dead guy's tome, which would put those who stared at the text too long in a deep trance. That kind of information... well actually that proved useful to know. Patrick could think of a few ways to apply that, considering he himself was a seeker of any and all information found within the world.
"Really? Interesting." His eyes lit up with curiosity as he allowed the scholar to take the book. "Well I guess I should consider myself lucky, since I'm not takin' a hibernation nap any time soon." He mused as he looked among the shelf for more books, though his eyes never found any particular titles to be anything interesting. "Certainly," Pat responded with a firm handshake, "You can call me Patrick." He responded with a wide smirk as an idea dawned on him, if this place was filled with ancient tomes and texts; then perhaps the good 'professor' here knew a few things.
Things like... the Orimatsun tribe? Although he'd not been focused on them much lately, Patrick hadn't forgotten his intent to seek their lost civilization out. To discover the lost legacy of the Emean Jewel they used. With everything being so vague, and Crowley being missing from the picture; determining the notes Patrick took back home with him proved a vain effort. He certainly wasn't an expert in research or treasure hunting, but that didn't mean he was going to quit entirely. No. He'd met his share of dead ends up until now, and Aeodan could probably serve helpful after all. As he noticed the silvery scar on Aeodan, he contemplated the chances the scholar could know something. It wasn't likely but at the same time, it wasn't impossible to ask and see either since he seemed well experienced.
"Listen Mr. Aeodan, though I'm not sure what brought me here; I'm quite aware that Fates work in the mysterious o' ways. See I just happen t' be caught in a puzzle I can't figure out, one that involves some ancient civilization mysteriously vanishing." He explained with arms crossed, his eyes alight with intrigue upon the scholar. "Ever heard anythin' about the Orimatsun tribe? Or their lost bastion Orimar?"
