In the Shadow of Ribbons: Part 1-14: Erian: Academy Retreat
Scene 14 of 'In the Shadow of Ribbons', set Within Thalenra. Erian & Marnie travel to Velcirra Academy.
The previous scenes are all saved Within Thalenra. Or go direct to scene one here, or scene 13.
Erian & Marnie have left the CCD Team Xaelin base behind, and travel by hover-carriage to the Academy Erian works at.
Hover-carriages do not travel quickly. The roads they follow set their speed and direction, and both were tightly controlled in the city of Velcirra. The elegant edifices of the capital’s Circle district passed by the windows slowly as Erian looked out at them. The area was one he knew well. He could see Lindall Manor - his father’s house - in its prominent position a stone’s throw from Circle Stand. The domed roof of the Stand rose far above any other in the city, catching the mid-afternoon sunlight, and sending the shimmer of complex Strandforms to encompass Velcirra.
The sight of the eminent structure that embodied the Thaumic Seat that Thaymia considered itself to be, raised mixed feelings in Erian of both awe and wariness - always underlined with a learned caution. But this time, he had little chance to dwell on it with Marnie’s never-ending chatter. She had started asking questions from the moment they entered the carriage; first about their transportation, before moving on to each of the buildings they passed; the statues that lined the route; the small groups of well-dressed citizens, that hurried between the Circle Stand offices - all faster than the hover carriage. Her questions slowed a little, but didn’t stop, as they passed through the ornate stone gates that marked the start of the Academy quarter.
The Academy quarter of the city was reached long before the Academy itself came into sight. And it was indeed a full quarter of the city, in size if not population. It had existed as long as Circle Stand itself, growing in tandem with it. It didn’t host as many students as it once had, but each one had rooms in the extensive dormitories they passed, just as each member of the faculty had their own residence. The quarter held businesses that catered to those residents, and there was little need to leave the Academy grounds. Velcirra Academy was in many ways a town in its own right.
Marnie asked about the larger buildings they travelled slowly by, and Erian explained their purpose, and pointed out the ones she could use. Training grounds were passed, as well as older research facilities that had been renovated repeatedly as new discoveries were made. The groups and clubs of the student population often claimed old buildings intending to use them as they strove for a competitive edge in one contest or another. Erian mentioned the few he knew of, but their conversation faltered as Marnie became distracted by the groups of students. The streets were not normally this crowded, but classes returned tomorrow, and students could be seen everywhere, as some checked on experiments left running during the long absence, some met up to strategise for the next contest, and others were simply happy to see each other.
Erian turned from the window as the ambient spiritual energy from the student’s emotions pressed against the carriage. Its discordant chimes faded somewhat beneath the familiar tones of Marnie’s ribbons. She had grown quiet as she listened to the chatter outside, and was overwhelmed by the crowds. But Erian could see the tangerine excitement far outweighed any dusk-grey worry she had.
It took almost an hour to cross the grounds to finally reach Erian’s assigned residence. It was on the far edge of the section dedicated to the Thaumic Research department, and was further separated due to an incident that damaged several of the nearby buildings, leaving most unoccupied. He assumed it had been intended as a minor slight when it had been assigned to him, but he was grateful for it. Little of the uncontrolled emotions of the students reached him here, and one of the few gardens on the grounds was visible from the upstairs back windows. He had managed to create something of a space for himself in this isolated corner of the academy.
Erian stepped from the carriage as it stopped in front of the building, taking their bags from its roof. He was quickly followed by Marnie as she jumped out and grabbed the one containing the belongings she had been given. He flicked a couple of fingers at the carriage, and it slowly turned, trundling towards the Academy’s carriage-house.
He looked up at the house. It didn’t look like much from the outside - a simple brick building over two floors, the upper smaller than the lower. It was as well maintained as any other building on campus - the infused thread paths placed within the foundation of each building would allow no less - but there was something about the not-quite straight angle of its grey-brick walls that gave it an inelegance the rest did not have. Erian activated the hover stitch on his luggage, and walked up to the wooden front door, the bags following behind him. He unlocked it and gestured for Marnie to follow. She skipped after him, stopping on the threshold to peer inside.
There was a small dimly lit entry hall inside containing a thin staircase to the floor above. The entry expanded into an equally thin corridor to the left sparsely lit by narrow windows along the front wall of the house. Four doors spanned its length that led to the research spaces that occupied the lower floor of the property. The house had originally been used by the family of a prominent Magister a century ago, and the rooms downstairs had once been elegant living spaces, long fallen to disrepair when Erian moved in. He had altered them enough to suit his own purposes, creating two ritual circle rooms, as well as a book room, and an artificer’s workshop almost as well-equipped as the one Gretham used.
“I need to get your room set up,” he said to Marnie, and gestured towards the corridor. “How about you take a look down there? Come upstairs when you are ready.”
Marnie hesitated only a second before doing just that. She dropped her bag where she stood in the doorway, and scampered down the corridor, poking her head through the first door - the book room and study space. Her body quickly followed. Erian smiled, and picked up her bag. He nudged the larger of his own bags to follow her into the book room - it contained the marked papers and his notes, and the room’s active Strandforms would see it found its place next to his desk. He went up the narrow wooden stairs followed by the smaller bag, feeling pressure lift with every step.
The wards he’d added to the upper section of the house helped ease that pressure - Erian had spent considerable effort devising patterns to dampen the sound of spiritual energy, even if only slightly - but it went beyond that. The upstairs had not been built to the strict regulations of Academy accommodation, and was little more than afterthought, neglected by all previous occupants and used only as servant quarters or for storage. Erian had recognised its potential as a retreat, the first time he’d seen it.
It was half the width of the lower floor, and the rooms were small, but large windows had been added to each wall, keeping the space bright for most of the day. The staircase came up at the side of the living room, which consisted of a fireplace, two sofas and a reading chair, and a small dining table with two mismatched wooden seats. One corner on the front side of the house was used as a makeshift kitchen space, with cabinets and counters he had taken from downstairs. The infused cooking objects Erian used instead of going to the Academy’s dining hall stood on several of them.
There were leafy plants in pots scattered around the room, placed in corners, or hanging near the windows where the occasional visitor might overlook them, even as the tranquil wisp-thin ribbons of spiritual energy they generated calmed their unsuppressed emotions. Erian’s eyes were drawn to those wisps that provided him a little respite from unexpected guests.
Erian ended the hover on his bag, put Marnie’s on one of the sofas and went up to each of the plants in turn, to water and check their leaves. They didn’t thrive in here as well as they would outside - Erian always felt guilty about that - but it had been a necessary part of his life since long before his mother died, one he was reluctant to let go of. She had always had greenery both inside the house and out, despite his father’s teasing. She had ignored the judgemental looks the plants attracted from guests with ease, far better than Erian managed. His charges cared for, he collected Marnie’s bag and opened one of the three doors that led from the living room, entering the room intended for Marnie.
The academy required that the teaching staff ensured adequate accommodation was provided to anyone in their direct employ, including their research assistants. It was possible to house them in the dormitories, but most would not, given the paramount importance of security around certain research conducted on the grounds. Erian had never expected to have an assistant, but had kept this room available to limit the administrators’ interference with his unorthodox renovation of the ground floor. He had been right to do so.
The bedroom was laid out simply, much like his own - a bed, dresser, wardrobe, and desk. It lacked decoration, but the view made up for it, overlooking the nearby garden area - the only one on campus that held both flowering plants and trees. He placed the bag on the bed, and checked the wardrobe was empty and bedding was ready. He activated the cleaning device in the corner of the room before he left, closing the door behind him. It would be clear of dust in a matter of minutes, ready for Marnie to use.
Erian took his bag into his own cluttered room. It was filled with books and papers that routinely migrated from the study when he was deeply immersed in one topic or another. A ritual circle was visible beneath scattered papers on the floor, one designed to aid his Mindscape use. He rarely used it.
He made a note to himself to get the room cleaned up, and promptly forgot it as he closed the door on the mess. He heard Marnie bounding up the stairs. “It’s amazing down there Erian, those circles are incredible! How did you-”
She stopped talking as she reached the top, and Erian caught surprise entwined with delight as she immediately spotted the plants. She looked up at the walls and ceiling as well, clearly recognising the extensive Strandforms covering them. She looked a little concerned then, although Erian barely registered it, surprised as he was by the delight at the plants. The defensive words he’d been about to utter fled from his lips as he replied to her praise of the lower floor.
“I’m glad you like the facilities. You can use the second one for your studies if you decide not to use the academy student spaces. We will use the first for your memory recovery.”
She looked confused for a moment. “What are you… Oh right, downstairs. Um, sure. But… Erian, what’s with all the protection? You’ve so many wards layered here, and most I’ve not seen before. They don’t make any sense!” She ran over to one of the walls peering at it closely, her nose almost touching the Thaum threaded through its surface. “Are all mage houses like this? The place we just left had some defence, but this… What’s with the gap here, how have you got this stitch to hold like this?”
Erian rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little uncomfortable at her discovery. He should have realised she would pick up on it all. He’d embedded veils in the wards - intended to hide them from all but the strongest Readers - but little escaped Marnie’s notice, as she moved from one stitch to another.
“It’s… nothing to be concerned about. I’ll explain it to you while you’re here. Most of it is to do with my empathic magic however, and isn’t something you need to worry about.”
“It’s odd, there’s as much for keeping something in as out, but I can’t see what.” She was muttering to herself, and didn’t seem to register what Erian said. “Threads still get through; you aren’t blocking scrying or anything. This is the part that stops it escaping.” She looked down at him from on top of the counter she had clambered on, when studying one of the Strandforms higher up the wall. “There are five different layers here. They’d normally be arguing with each other as close as you’ve got them, but you’ve made them get along. I want to learn this.”
He blinked under her intense stare. Her reaction was unexpected once again. Most mages would have immediately reacted when he’d mentioned Empathica, and assumed he was up to something untoward with all these wards. His only intention was to provide what protection he could against spiritual energy. It had taken him years to reach something resembling success, given how little research existed on using Thaumcraft against Spiritual energy - even now it barely qualified as a barrier. The other side she had picked up on, was intended to contain his own energy in the event he lost control again. He believed it would work, but couldn’t test it without letting his control slip.
Perhaps we could try and recreate what happened in the workshop. Would my wards contain it? There were similarities in Marnie’s emotional storm, and what happened when he lost control. He would need to add them to the ritual spaces however, which he had avoided doing in case of an inspection. They had ignored what he did with his living area, but kept a closer eye on areas considered research space, and his converted ones would draw scrutiny to the upper floor if he took it too far.
He reached out a hand to her, to help her down from the counter. “I think that we can include study of the wards as part of looking into how our magic combined. Perhaps you could replicate them downstairs, using some of your veiling techniques.”
She jumped down next to him, nodding excitedly. “I can do that. I really like this room, Erian. Are those green things plants? They’re pretty. You said I have a room here. Does it have them too?”
He glanced at the plants. Their wisp-like ribbons were entwining with Marnie’s own, instead of calming them as they would visitors. For a moment he felt they were a little healthier than before - as improbable as that was. “They are, and you can add some if you wish to. Would you like to see your room? It is through here. Mine is through the door over there, and the third is the bathroom.”
He listened for a moment, for the hum of the cleaning device. It was silent. He opened the door and Marnie sped past him, immediately stopping in the very centre of the space. She spun slowly on the spot, her eyes wide. A wide array of coloured ribbons wafted out of her to fill the space, dazzling Erian for a moment. He hadn’t expected this level of excitement - the room was much smaller than she’s used at the CCD base - but he could hear her quietly muttering ‘my room’ under her breath as she spun.
She stepped lightly over to the window, which looked out over the garden. “I recognise that place. It was in your Mindscape.” Erian, confused by the statement, went to stand next to her. He realised as soon as he looked down at the garden, and his first memory of it surfaced. He had forgotten - just for a moment - that he met Gerard in that garden.
“My room overlooks the garden as well. I suppose it was what came to mind when I envisioned my Mindscape.” He strode back towards the door, not wanting to intrude on Marnie’s space too long. “We will need to get your role assignment registered before the end of the day. Shall I give you a brief tour of the grounds as we head to the main building?”
Marnie turned her head, hesitating for a moment before she answered. “Yes, I’d like that. Can I unpack my things first?”
“Of course. I will meet you downstairs.” Erian closed the door behind him, and took a moment to settle himself again. Like the wards that covered this room, he should have realised she would notice the garden. It was going to take some time to get used to sharing this space with her.
But as he remembered how the plants reacted, her enthusiasm at researching here, and her excitement at her own room, he smiled. The time spent would be worth it, if his retreat from the Academy’s constant clamour could provide Marnie with a home.
Thanks for Reading! There was far more description in this than I’m used to doing. I had intended to add the dialogue in for the first half, but when I started describing Erian’s house that thought went away as I experimented with how Erian felt about it. What they say in his retreat felt more important than a conversation about Academy buildings. I easily could have continued on with this - the original outline called for the tour being included as well - but it seemed like a good point to stop.
Our next scene takes place after several months of Academy life have passed.
