abraxaslogs | March Catchall

Uh...it was expensive and not exactly above board. But there's always people who'll look the other way if you pay them to.

[Nadine knows she and Julie are likely considered criminals by Thorne now, but she can't bring herself to care. She doesn't intend to ever go back. The Free Cities doesn't care. The trip hadn't been a very pleasant one, but it was done with and they'd made it.]

And all the other stuff I ran off with, too. But I don't think anyone's issuing warrants over a few books and a bunch of dried herbs. I started my training in an herbalist shop back there, and I just...wanted to be sure I'd be able to get off on a strong foot when I got here. Which worked, since I got a job and my place at the academy.

[She hadn't made the trip with much, she'd prioritized what she could easily transport. Books and ingredients had been high on the list.]

I didn't take any books on healing, though, I didn't have access to anything like that. This one only has a chapter on some basic stuff, but it's a start.

[It’s not that he has plans to do this anytime soon, and he imagines that if he were to make a run for it, he might be something of a special case insofar as actual transportation is concerned, but it’s good to know that this is an option, in case things go south here. Not that he thinks he’d fare much better in Thorne or Solvunn, but he makes a mental note to earmark money anyway. Better safe than sorry.

He nods along as she describes what she did and what she made off with, similarly cataloguing everything he has to work with. Of course, the book is the most valuable, even if she seems to be downplaying it’s usefulness.]

It’s almost certainly better than nothing. [He’s been around the Academies by now—spoken to doctors. Like everything else, Cadens favors the technological. When it comes to his own circumstances, there are limits, so he needs to be exploring other, non-conventional options. He reaches across the table, hesitating a moment as if to ask may I?, then pulls the book towards him.]

Does it have anything interesting to say?

Edited 2022-04-11 22:54 (UTC)

[Nadine nods and gestures that he's welcome to take a look. It's hardly privileged information, it's the reason they're meeting in the first place. As she'd said, the chapter on healing is in the back and contains only a handful of spells. But it does contain them.]

It has your basic healing spells. Knitting broken bones, sealing wounds, that sort of thing. It's Academic Magic, which follows specific formulas, basically. Same spell done the right way has the same results every time.

[It's why this particular branch of magic appeals to her, and she's been able to learn it as quickly as she has. Not that a handful of spells in half a year would be considered 'quick' by this world's standards, but it is by hers.]

[Viktor pages through it, scanning briefly and mentally filing away any initial impressions. Once he's flipped through the pages in question, he'll go back and do a more thorough read through, but a quick skim is enough for now, especially when he can ask Nadine questions. It's all about on-par with what he expected, and he nods along, tracing a finger along the page.]

Not unlike mathematics. Defined formulas, known variables. Simple to learn the basics, difficult to master.

[All of this feels fairly surface level, which she told him to expect--that's fair. It does not, however, stop him from asking about the further applications of such magic.]

What is required of more advanced spells? Practice? Inherent ability?

That's it exactly. I don't come from a place with magic like here, people don't use it. But I was a teacher so formulas and set spells I can practice make sense.

[Academic magic just feels familiar. Nadine likes the structure and that it can be just learned out of a book. Not all magic styles are like that.]

And that is it, practice, mostly. Talent probably plays a part and helps to learn quicker, but anyone can learn any spell with enough practice and dedication. Healing spells are just a much more complicated formula, you could say, than...making a fireball or pulling water up out of the ground.

[Those hadn't taken that long to master.]

[With that in mind, he'd probably be more suited to academic magic as well, given his skillset, though he has to admit he's intrigued by the "new" practiced in the Free Cities, if only because of how similar it is to his own work. That said, the idea of being able to do this himself is still a little daunting.]

A testament to the complexity of the human body.

[All of that tracks. Of course he can't expect to find some kind of miracle cure, and the problem with this kind of magic in particular means that set formulas and specific methods means there's little room for extrapolation beyond what's written in the book. Still, he's grateful to see it.]

I spend a lot of time in the libraries, here. I'm not sure what they might have, that's useful to you, but if I find anything that might further your studies, I'm happy to let you know.

Thank you. And I do have access to the academy libraries and texts, if there's anything specific I could look into for you.

[While Nadine can't be sure that the academy has more books than the average library, she thinks it's a pretty safe bet. It's an entire institution devoted to medicine, they're bound to have a lot of specialized and rare volumes that aren't floating around the public libraries.]

And you're welcome to copy over that chapter on healing spells.

Keeping your eyes open for relevant material would be appreciated.

[He's not going to ask too much of a relative stranger, but they are in a similar boat, more or less. It's not going to hurt, to have someone else keeping an eye out for material he'd find useful, especially if it benefits her, as well.]

If you don't mind waiting--I'll do it quickly.

Sure, just let me know what I should keep an eye out for.

[At the core of all his, Nadine's pursuit of a medical education, is simply a desire to help people. God knows she's caused enough harm in her life. If she can help out by being on the lookout for specific information, there's no reason not to. She'd be studying and pouring through books anyway, for her classes.]

And yeah, that's fine, I'm not in any hurry. And it's not like there's any copiers lying around in this world. I don't think...

Well, we already know we won't find much in the realm of healing spells or incantations, but if you find any applications of the Free Cities' "new" magic as it relates to medicine, that would be of interest to me.

[And the medicine here is about on-par with what he'd be able to access back home. At they very least they seem to understand sanitization practices and anaesthesia--he supposes he can't ask for more than that, given the rest of the technology here. Medical applications of new magic is probably as good as it's going to get, without going to Thorne or Solvunn.

It's possible Viktor is already taking notes with the practiced hand of someone who has attended, probably, a lot of lectures and classes. Copier? Wouldn't that be something.]

I have some carbon paper back at my workshop. I can return the book to you later this afternoon?

March Catchall

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