Kell is sure he has seen the man somewhere already. He's one of the new Summoned, so Kell needs a moment to connect the face with the place. Of course, he's seen him. That's the new regular at the Cauldron, the one that always holes in the corner with a stack of books, and almost every time orders the same thing. The cooling Minty Breeze, the name is idiotic, but catchy enough to be memorable.
This at least gives him an excuse - in his mind at least - to approach the man.
"May I borrow this one for a moment?" he asks, pointing to a tome bound in green canvas at the bottom of the nearest stack of books. Appropriate for a book on medicinal plants of the area.
Istredd is fairly aware of everyone else in the castle; it is small in a general way, and the Summoned are only a handful of people. He grew up in a castle of mages and that communal aspect has long since been lost to them, all older and spread out, but this situation does remind him of it. And he was quiet then too; not unfriendly. In fact, when Kell comes over, it's clear Istredd is friendly, considering he looks right at him and smiles politely.
"Of course." Istredd pulls the book out and when the stack wobbles a little above, his telekinesis rights it before anything topples it. The magic is not unseen, there is a little bit of a ripple when he uses it, casually and easily like now. He hands it over.
"Are you interested in medicine?" While he is not great at small talk, he is very interested in academic talk at all times.
Kell eyebrows lift as he watches the effortless, almost instinctual telekinesis. It's something he hasn't seen in a long time. People using magic as an extension of their person. The way he used to see it back one, they he hardly ever seen it in Thorne.
"Thank you," he replies taking the book. "Not really. I mostly look into alchemical uses of plants."
That could, even if it doesn't have to, include their medicinal properties. He might have been more interested if healing potions weren't the ones that Kell consistently fails to produce correctly. Painkillers, he can manage. Not really potent, but decent. Sleep potions, fairly well. Actual healing potions? Not even once.
Istredd uses his magic every day in small ways, but he is so used to it that he rarely notices it. He uses it far less than his other mages back home, but their job is magic, his is research. The academic magic of Thorne is very interesting and he likes using it, memorizing a spell is fairly easy in comparison to when it has to come from your very being.
"Oh?" That is interesting. "Do you create potions or poultices? Or both?" Istredd is not very good at being casual, small talk is impossible for him, so when he is curious, he simply asks. The mages from his world are trained in potion creation, although it is not one of Istredd's true skills. Triss would tease him over his lack of ability for it, when it comes easily to her.
"I am not a very good potion maker, but my friends excel at it."
Kell similarly defaults to his own elemental magic, but he's long been the odd one here. So it's both a surprise and a relief to see someone else do it. The academic magic of Thorne is not that different from what he used himself... even if it's a bit trickier than just remembering the right words.
"Potions. Mainly the utilitarian type, but" Kell pauses then adds with a smirk. "some experimental. I like to think I'm fairly good at it."
Sometimes the academic magic here makes more sense. An easily memorized spell, expertly spoken, requires less Chaos and Order and balance. Istredd has learned ones that he thinks will be easy to replace what he can do without any trouble, but his instinct, his automatic magic, will always be his own. He's been using it for eighty years.
"Technically we all learned them in school but I would call it me doing just enough to pass." Istredd smiles wryly. It almost sounds like a typical school when framed that way. Both schools taught the necessary types of magics, and then people leaned one way or the other, but they all knew.
"I lean more psionics. Telekinesis, telempathy, telepathy, illusions."
"I can imagine. I'm more into elemental magic myself, with a bit of combat slant." And that one type he's not so eager to reveal to a total stranger. "Never really had the reason to learn alchemy back home, so I thought why not give it a try here."
He frames it as if the main reason behind the decision was boredom. It wasn't. This world has its way of messing with everyone's minds. Kell would rather prefer having a way to fight it. The potions helped the last time it happened.
"Oh, that's interesting. What about teleportation?"
Of all the branches of this particular type of magic that his new acquaintance mentions, Kell immediately picked up the missing one.
"Yes, being one with the elements can be compelling. My friend Triss is an excellent potion maker, but she also is strong in earth magic." Becoming one with the earth, growing plants, she has a very grounded spirit too. The two of them always got along well, both being quieter and less ambitious than the others. Istredd himself is most comfortable with earth magic.
"That's a good idea. There is no better time to master a new type of magic." And they have a whole lot of time here to learn. Istredd doesn't know what he would choose to learn. There aren't a lot of areas of magic that he hasn't delved into, considering he got to choose as he went what was of most interest.
"Yes, we can teleport anywhere we want, typically. It's more limited here, I assume the Thorne mages are responsible." Istredd can't be mad about it, logically he understands it. If one of them can simply teleport everyone in and out, it's a massive danger to their system.
Kell's affinity to any of the elements has nothing to do with what he studied, and that was a bit of everything. Mostly what was required of him to keep his innate blood magic in check, rather than of his own special interest. He discovered what truly interested him later on. Which is one thing this place has that made his rotten mood better after summoning. The library.
So many books about magic. Not blood magic, he's yet to find anything that resembles his own magic, but everything else?
"It's always good time to learn, but I must admit I do find the approach here a little rigid."
Though to be completely honest, when he can't rely on his instinctual understanding of how magic works, having clear instructions helps. It makes the learning process more tedious and slower, but at least gets rid of much of the guesswork. And, some, like alchemy, can be learned with a lot less supervision.
"I noticed. It makes sense even if irritating. I was more surprised that the world boundary is shut, but that probably Singularity's doing."
"They do rely heavily on academic magic and memorizing spells. It is definitely the easiest type, anyone can do that, but not very fluid. I'm used to being from a world where only a limited amount of people can use magic, so I can see how this makes more sense for a larger populace."
If they had this many mages, it would be a free for all in many ways, and Chaos would be torn apart in every different direction. There are times he is certain the Brotherhood would prefer more of them, but they weed out all the weak users as youths. It's specialized for a reason.
Istredd has a sharp memory and he is familiar with magic so he's become an expert in academic magic fairly quickly. But he still uses his own magic most of the time. He doesn't know what he'd pick to add to his skills, but he hasn't thought of it much because his interest is on the Singularity.
"World boundary? As in traveling between Spheres ... worlds?" Well that got his attention.
"I come from a place when it is considered great misfortune to not have any magical talent at all. Most people do. Not that many are good at it, but most have a basic skill. And we're still more flexible than the approach here."
True, if you have it, you'd better be able to control it. Though, very few have it strong enough to cause a real problem. Weak magic is a lot easier to control, even for the less than talented. When you have none, that's where the true problems come. Kell tries not to think about it too much. Preferably, not at all. It's fixed here, so he has no reason.
The academic magic, though. Eh ... Kell can learn. He just hates rote memorization they expect of him. Not being able to make a variation of a spell, that he hates even more.
"Precisely. I should be able to, but I can't."
It's probably not the wisest to volunteer such information to a complete stranger, but this problem was bugging him since he came. And that's the first person who knows what he is talking about.
"I'm Kell, by the way. Kell Maresh."
Yes, he may as well introduce himself, since he's already spilling beans here.
"It's fascinating, to see how magic can be almost non-existent in one world and so prevalent in others. The way magic works in my world, it can kill a person to have it and not know how to use it. Many potential mages die before they're discovered or burn out without training."
And also, some of them have weak ability and are absorbed for that power rather than allowed to walk around. One of those completely normal and not at all creepy and unsettling things that the Brotherhood oversees. It's not that Istredd thinks that is okay, more than he has accepted it as a part of the organization and has never dealt with it directly himself. His world is a particularly vicious and violent one.
"That's an extraordinary gift. And not at all surprising that either the people here or the Singularity have limited you."
If Kell could just jump around as much as he wanted to, it would bother any number of powerful people (or entities) in the area. So it's logical. But he finds the limit on his teleporting annoying as it is, it must be more difficult for a power such as that. Istredd notes that knowledge away for another time.
"I'm Istredd. My specialization is psionics, although I consider myself a scholar before a mage."
Kell nods through explanation. It makes total sense in a world where there's no widespread assumption that everyone has magic.
"It could have killed a person in my world too, but it's very rare for someone to not receive training. I guess we're so used to everyone having it, that it's the first thing people teach their children as soon as they can."
Common to the point where they have children's toys made for the sole purpose of discerning which element the child has affinity for.
"My magic is a bit different from everyone else's, so maybe you're right."
The Singularity wants to keep them here, so it's only rational it would prevent him from simply going back. Not that he specifically wants to. Not where it dragged him from. It's also strange to think about the Singularity as if it was a person with goals and wants, but honestly, somehow it behaves like that.
Kell looks at the stack of books, a rather eclectic collection to be honest. That makes sense.
"Usually they find youths with the ability to use magic and bring them to our school for training. The use of Chaos energy for the first time leaves a mark for those sensitive to magic."
So they usually are unerring in their ability to look for the right candidates. Chaos is the source they use, although there is also Order. He knows it is called other things in other worlds. But it is not a very positive or happy environment, becoming a mage. They nurture ambition and power, although there are some who do genuinely want to make the continent better. Begin a mage is the only way they're allowed to. Istredd could make his path only because people didn't care what he did.
Istredd doesn't know yet if it's the Singularity or the people here limiting them. It could be a mix. It's hard to say, he's still so new. So much of his time here so far has been trying to understand the lay of the land.
"I'm trying to learn more about the Singularity, although there is not much written about it, since the natives cannot go there." So it is really all theory at this point, until he gets to go for himself. "I'm trying to look into if there have been historical examples of connections to other realms like this newest spell, if it's happened before they perfected the one that took us here."
Kell should be interested more with Singularity. He should be. This is the thing keeping his brother alive at this point. So he's aware, viscerally, painfully, knows this is the thing he should be most interested in. But he can't bring himself to think about it. It looms somewhere there, like a threat, an ominous, unknown and unknowable entity. It drives him crazy, that can't even exactly tell what is it about that makes him avoid it.
"I've heard there was one expedition to it from Thorne. I mean. Physical one. Not through Horizon. But I wasn't part of it."
"Chaos and Order are what we call the different types of energy in our world. Chaos is typically where magic comes from, it is what we tap into and channel to be mages. Order is mostly what the rest of the world runs on." It isn't exactly the same meaning in his sphere as Chaos and Order might mean to other people, but it may as well be. It's close.
He raises an eyebrow thoughtfully at that. "I hadn't heard that. I'd only heard about the Horizon visit that everyone was forced through a year ago." Geralt told him that Thorne simply tossed them in that first time, whether they liked it or not. Not the best way to learn about the Horizon, but at least they came out of it relatively unscathed.
"I'll ask around about that. Perhaps those people can help inform me about what to expect when I go." Istredd doesn't like going into anything blind. He will if he has to, but it's always better to know.
Kell nods through the explanation. That makes sense. With it stated this way, it doesn't really feel all that different from what he knows. Yet, with not all people having access to magic... it actually is. Very, very different.
"So it's a source difficult to access or difficult to control?"
He is not going to let such a fascinating subject be. As for the other one, Kell just shrugs.
"That is what I heard. I haven't spoken at length with anyone who was there, so I can't confirm any of it."
About time he stopped avoiding the subject, he just can't make himself do it.
"It's very difficult to control, that's why it can be dangerous to magic users to even have it, handling it poorly kills. Sometimes our young mages never get a chance to be found because they burn out."
Istredd has seen how much magic can burn someone out. It's rare once you are trained properly, but it's not impossible. Using too much of it can create the same problem. It's always about balance. It would seem incredibly easy from the outside watching most mages, or at least that it isn't out of control. Because they spend many, many years making it appear that way. Even now he knows if he went too deep he could spiral the wrong way.
"I'll ask around. I'm hoping to go myself. I know that it appears impossible to do so outside of the Dimming, which only happens once a year."
And it just so happens to be coming up, so Istredd has his eyes on the prize. The problem is knowing what to do and plan for it and also to get permission. It's not like Thorne is in a place where they want to make it easy for the Summoned to go out and about. He'll figure it out.
"I've never seen something that magically powerful before. Even though I can't tap into it from the Horizon, I know it is, the Horizon itself proves so."
That is the direction that Kell didn't think he could go.
"Do you, really?" he asks. "I was always of the impression they won't exactly let us." Not that he tried. "If you somehow manage to get the permission for such an expedition, I'd very much like to go with you if you don't mind company."
Now, this might be the source of his hesitation. The raw power of Singularity resembles Black City's magic a bit too much. For now, it hasn't proven exactly destructive, but it wasn't fully benign either.
"I did, and it wasn't pretty."
i crawl back to life - but maybe we can wrap this soon for a newer thing?
"My friend Yennefer is influential here, she is trusted by many of Thorne's mages. I believe she can persuade them. They want answers too, we are their only option at getting that close."
So it will be worth it to let them go, in his opinion. Istredd raises an eyebrow at him at the suggestion and nods.
"If they will allow several of us to go, I'll keep it in mind."
Istredd doesn't know if they'll let him and Yennefer go, so it's best to make no real promises. He also doesn't know Kell well, despite this conversation being perfectly amiable. Perhaps in time it will be easier to advocate for him.
"Power is always potentially ugly. We should keep in mind that the Singularity is capable of flipping on us just as easily as giving."
so do i.... alas yesss it's a good spot for them to end this conversation
Now that's a development Kell was not expecting. To hear that Yennefer has a friend is a surprise, given all the things he's heard of her. Tough, mostly just the impression he got from Mat, to be honest. Kell is not the person to keep up with the juiciest of gossip, but there's news that does trickle down even to him. If this man is friends with one of the well known Summoned in Thorne, he must be quite interesting himself.
"That I heard of. If anyone is to get a permission, it would be her."
And reasonable too...
"Wouldn't have worded it better myself. Well, I'll leave to your studies then."
Kell nods a farewell and goes to find himself a quiet spot. He did take the herbology book with him. It's always good to have a convenient excuse if he wanted to talk again later. Given the other mage's plans, he just might.
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Library
This at least gives him an excuse - in his mind at least - to approach the man.
"May I borrow this one for a moment?" he asks, pointing to a tome bound in green canvas at the bottom of the nearest stack of books. Appropriate for a book on medicinal plants of the area.
no subject
"Of course." Istredd pulls the book out and when the stack wobbles a little above, his telekinesis rights it before anything topples it. The magic is not unseen, there is a little bit of a ripple when he uses it, casually and easily like now. He hands it over.
"Are you interested in medicine?" While he is not great at small talk, he is very interested in academic talk at all times.
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"Thank you," he replies taking the book. "Not really. I mostly look into alchemical uses of plants."
That could, even if it doesn't have to, include their medicinal properties. He might have been more interested if healing potions weren't the ones that Kell consistently fails to produce correctly. Painkillers, he can manage. Not really potent, but decent. Sleep potions, fairly well. Actual healing potions? Not even once.
ACTUALLY ALIVE ONCE MORE
"Oh?" That is interesting. "Do you create potions or poultices? Or both?" Istredd is not very good at being casual, small talk is impossible for him, so when he is curious, he simply asks. The mages from his world are trained in potion creation, although it is not one of Istredd's true skills. Triss would tease him over his lack of ability for it, when it comes easily to her.
"I am not a very good potion maker, but my friends excel at it."
AND I AM BACK TOO
"Potions. Mainly the utilitarian type, but" Kell pauses then adds with a smirk. "some experimental. I like to think I'm fairly good at it."
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"Technically we all learned them in school but I would call it me doing just enough to pass." Istredd smiles wryly. It almost sounds like a typical school when framed that way. Both schools taught the necessary types of magics, and then people leaned one way or the other, but they all knew.
"I lean more psionics. Telekinesis, telempathy, telepathy, illusions."
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He frames it as if the main reason behind the decision was boredom. It wasn't. This world has its way of messing with everyone's minds. Kell would rather prefer having a way to fight it. The potions helped the last time it happened.
"Oh, that's interesting. What about teleportation?"
Of all the branches of this particular type of magic that his new acquaintance mentions, Kell immediately picked up the missing one.
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"That's a good idea. There is no better time to master a new type of magic." And they have a whole lot of time here to learn. Istredd doesn't know what he would choose to learn. There aren't a lot of areas of magic that he hasn't delved into, considering he got to choose as he went what was of most interest.
"Yes, we can teleport anywhere we want, typically. It's more limited here, I assume the Thorne mages are responsible." Istredd can't be mad about it, logically he understands it. If one of them can simply teleport everyone in and out, it's a massive danger to their system.
no subject
So many books about magic. Not blood magic, he's yet to find anything that resembles his own magic, but everything else?
"It's always good time to learn, but I must admit I do find the approach here a little rigid."
Though to be completely honest, when he can't rely on his instinctual understanding of how magic works, having clear instructions helps. It makes the learning process more tedious and slower, but at least gets rid of much of the guesswork. And, some, like alchemy, can be learned with a lot less supervision.
"I noticed. It makes sense even if irritating. I was more surprised that the world boundary is shut, but that probably Singularity's doing."
no subject
If they had this many mages, it would be a free for all in many ways, and Chaos would be torn apart in every different direction. There are times he is certain the Brotherhood would prefer more of them, but they weed out all the weak users as youths. It's specialized for a reason.
Istredd has a sharp memory and he is familiar with magic so he's become an expert in academic magic fairly quickly. But he still uses his own magic most of the time. He doesn't know what he'd pick to add to his skills, but he hasn't thought of it much because his interest is on the Singularity.
"World boundary? As in traveling between Spheres ... worlds?" Well that got his attention.
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True, if you have it, you'd better be able to control it. Though, very few have it strong enough to cause a real problem. Weak magic is a lot easier to control, even for the less than talented. When you have none, that's where the true problems come. Kell tries not to think about it too much. Preferably, not at all. It's fixed here, so he has no reason.
The academic magic, though. Eh ... Kell can learn. He just hates rote memorization they expect of him. Not being able to make a variation of a spell, that he hates even more.
"Precisely. I should be able to, but I can't."
It's probably not the wisest to volunteer such information to a complete stranger, but this problem was bugging him since he came. And that's the first person who knows what he is talking about.
"I'm Kell, by the way. Kell Maresh."
Yes, he may as well introduce himself, since he's already spilling beans here.
no subject
And also, some of them have weak ability and are absorbed for that power rather than allowed to walk around. One of those completely normal and not at all creepy and unsettling things that the Brotherhood oversees. It's not that Istredd thinks that is okay, more than he has accepted it as a part of the organization and has never dealt with it directly himself. His world is a particularly vicious and violent one.
"That's an extraordinary gift. And not at all surprising that either the people here or the Singularity have limited you."
If Kell could just jump around as much as he wanted to, it would bother any number of powerful people (or entities) in the area. So it's logical. But he finds the limit on his teleporting annoying as it is, it must be more difficult for a power such as that. Istredd notes that knowledge away for another time.
"I'm Istredd. My specialization is psionics, although I consider myself a scholar before a mage."
no subject
"It could have killed a person in my world too, but it's very rare for someone to not receive training. I guess we're so used to everyone having it, that it's the first thing people teach their children as soon as they can."
Common to the point where they have children's toys made for the sole purpose of discerning which element the child has affinity for.
"My magic is a bit different from everyone else's, so maybe you're right."
The Singularity wants to keep them here, so it's only rational it would prevent him from simply going back. Not that he specifically wants to. Not where it dragged him from. It's also strange to think about the Singularity as if it was a person with goals and wants, but honestly, somehow it behaves like that.
Kell looks at the stack of books, a rather eclectic collection to be honest. That makes sense.
"I see. What do you study here?"
no subject
So they usually are unerring in their ability to look for the right candidates. Chaos is the source they use, although there is also Order. He knows it is called other things in other worlds. But it is not a very positive or happy environment, becoming a mage. They nurture ambition and power, although there are some who do genuinely want to make the continent better. Begin a mage is the only way they're allowed to. Istredd could make his path only because people didn't care what he did.
Istredd doesn't know yet if it's the Singularity or the people here limiting them. It could be a mix. It's hard to say, he's still so new. So much of his time here so far has been trying to understand the lay of the land.
"I'm trying to learn more about the Singularity, although there is not much written about it, since the natives cannot go there." So it is really all theory at this point, until he gets to go for himself. "I'm trying to look into if there have been historical examples of connections to other realms like this newest spell, if it's happened before they perfected the one that took us here."
no subject
Kell should be interested more with Singularity. He should be. This is the thing keeping his brother alive at this point. So he's aware, viscerally, painfully, knows this is the thing he should be most interested in. But he can't bring himself to think about it. It looms somewhere there, like a threat, an ominous, unknown and unknowable entity. It drives him crazy, that can't even exactly tell what is it about that makes him avoid it.
"I've heard there was one expedition to it from Thorne. I mean. Physical one. Not through Horizon. But I wasn't part of it."
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He raises an eyebrow thoughtfully at that. "I hadn't heard that. I'd only heard about the Horizon visit that everyone was forced through a year ago." Geralt told him that Thorne simply tossed them in that first time, whether they liked it or not. Not the best way to learn about the Horizon, but at least they came out of it relatively unscathed.
"I'll ask around about that. Perhaps those people can help inform me about what to expect when I go." Istredd doesn't like going into anything blind. He will if he has to, but it's always better to know.
no subject
"So it's a source difficult to access or difficult to control?"
He is not going to let such a fascinating subject be. As for the other one, Kell just shrugs.
"That is what I heard. I haven't spoken at length with anyone who was there, so I can't confirm any of it."
About time he stopped avoiding the subject, he just can't make himself do it.
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Istredd has seen how much magic can burn someone out. It's rare once you are trained properly, but it's not impossible. Using too much of it can create the same problem. It's always about balance. It would seem incredibly easy from the outside watching most mages, or at least that it isn't out of control. Because they spend many, many years making it appear that way. Even now he knows if he went too deep he could spiral the wrong way.
"I'll ask around. I'm hoping to go myself. I know that it appears impossible to do so outside of the Dimming, which only happens once a year."
And it just so happens to be coming up, so Istredd has his eyes on the prize. The problem is knowing what to do and plan for it and also to get permission. It's not like Thorne is in a place where they want to make it easy for the Summoned to go out and about. He'll figure it out.
"I've never seen something that magically powerful before. Even though I can't tap into it from the Horizon, I know it is, the Horizon itself proves so."
no subject
"Do you, really?" he asks. "I was always of the impression they won't exactly let us." Not that he tried. "If you somehow manage to get the permission for such an expedition, I'd very much like to go with you if you don't mind company."
Now, this might be the source of his hesitation. The raw power of Singularity resembles Black City's magic a bit too much. For now, it hasn't proven exactly destructive, but it wasn't fully benign either.
"I did, and it wasn't pretty."
i crawl back to life - but maybe we can wrap this soon for a newer thing?
So it will be worth it to let them go, in his opinion. Istredd raises an eyebrow at him at the suggestion and nods.
"If they will allow several of us to go, I'll keep it in mind."
Istredd doesn't know if they'll let him and Yennefer go, so it's best to make no real promises. He also doesn't know Kell well, despite this conversation being perfectly amiable. Perhaps in time it will be easier to advocate for him.
"Power is always potentially ugly. We should keep in mind that the Singularity is capable of flipping on us just as easily as giving."
so do i.... alas yesss it's a good spot for them to end this conversation
"That I heard of. If anyone is to get a permission, it would be her."
And reasonable too...
"Wouldn't have worded it better myself. Well, I'll leave to your studies then."
Kell nods a farewell and goes to find himself a quiet spot. He did take the herbology book with him. It's always good to have a convenient excuse if he wanted to talk again later. Given the other mage's plans, he just might.