University of Corsini - [GD x Lysander of Rhodes]

[GildedDragonfly]

None in the lands had a family tree quite as pure blooded and prestigious as the the Kennicots. They had been around since before the founding of the University of Corsini and had been one of the original families to support and shape the University into what it was today. There they taught various forms of transdimensional thaumaturgy or, as the layman would call it, magic. The crafting, control, and use of magic in itself was a science, but it was something that not everyone could learn. Some needed help to unveil the connection to magic that came so naturally to others.

The Kennicot family had always been adamantly against Neophytes, those who didn't possess the latent connection to the magic of the world. For generations they had strong, natural magic users born into their family. They weren't the only family who was predominantly magical, though most had the occasional unattuned family member here or there. Some of them never learned magic at all.

Disparaging comments towards those with less than pure bloodlines was a way of life for the Kennicots, but the training of Neophytes became more and more prominent as time went on. By the time that Eloni was born it was all but a requirement of Naturalists to take on a Neophyte and teach them. To teach someone to harness the power that had evaded them at birth was seen as a rite of passage.

Eloni's birth had been as uneventful as the birth of any of her older siblings, though it was marked by the tragic loss of her mother's life shortly after. That was the start of the long shadow that her mere existence cast on her family and its name. If you had lined her up with any other sibling or family member, Eloni looked as if she belonged. The dark hair, the regal poise and demeanor that each of them carried, and the harshness of her tone spoke of her heritage.

Her father, Emrys Kennicot, had doted upon his daughter less and less as each birthday came and passed. The last milestone was her fifteenth birthday. If she didn't have natural magical ability by then, she never would. He hadn't spoken to her since that birthday when she failed to produce even the tiniest spark on her own, it had been over two years.

Like every other Kennicot before her, Eloni persevered. Even as her father ignored her very existence every day at dinner, she had spent her days applying and qualifying to become a Neophyte. The technique was not the issue. She had proven herself mentally adept enough to become a Neophyte, to learn from someone nearing the end of their own studies. The council, perhaps as a means of revenge against her father who had stepped down as a seated member in a fiery rage two years prior, had declined the petition of her older siblings to become her teacher.

No, she was to learn from someone else.

Eloni's father and family had slighted many promising Naturalists because they didn't meet their 'requirement' to be considered worthwhile acquaintances. She was well aware of the meaning behind the pairing with this man, of all of the available Naturalists. He wasn't any more pleased with it than her. As they left the council's chambers, she turned to face him and closed the distance between them. Her proud chin rose as a Kennicot's chin often did when talking, though it was necessary in order for her to look at him while talking. She was perhaps only just above five foot, though the sturdy boots that protected her feet had added an inch to her height. Her eyes were a striking color of green, a color that was mimicked with the threading and trim of her robes. "I do not like this any more than you do, but let us try not to make this an unpleasant few years."

 

[Lysander of Rhodes]

Magic. Magic was power. Entire dynasties were built around the control of magic, shaping the course of the world, choosing when and why magic was used. Entire fields of crops that would have taken an entire season to grow sprouted to maturity overnight; a building that would take years to construct snapped together in a day; an army that would topple a king dropped dead with the snap of a finger. History was full of these stories, both wondrous and violent, stacked atop one another in an endless race to see where it all would end.

Konrad didn't care for history. He found the study of the past not only boring but ultimately pointless—the future was built upon the past, much like how a foundation provides the base for a house. The foundation is buried and hidden away, its presence merely inferred by the fact that the true goal, the house, is standing. No one cares about the foundation. Konrad was not the laborer setting the stones of the foundation, he was the architect designing the house.

Only this house was special. Beyond sight and sound, closed by a barrier so immaterial it did not even exist in the most literal sense of the word, there was another universe. A universe of unbridled and unimaginable energy, untapped and ready to be used, if one could reach it. That was fundamental principle of transdimensional thaumaturgy, what the layman called magic, which so few in these so-called enlightened days failed to understand. Just as the real universe had rules which determined how and why and when things happened, this unreal universe had rules of its own, natural laws that kept a natural order. Konrad was studying those natural laws at their deepest levels, learning not only how to bend those laws but possibly even someday breaking them. He wasn't the only Thaumaturgist trying, of course, but they were not him, were they?

Unlike those elites whose pedigrees were filled with Naturalists, those that could tap into that unreal universe as a matter of birth, the name Konrad Wolff meant nothing. There were no counts or dukes or kings or princely merchants among his family. A common name for a common family. Yet here Konrad was, sitting in the ornate meeting chamber of the University of Corsini's Seventh Council, so named for the seven members which comprised the group of aged and wizened and antiquated Thaumaturgists. Unlike many of Konrad's peers he had never taken a Neophyte during his early years at he prestigious university, believing he never needed a little puppy to follow him around and leech on his natural connection to the source of all magic. By all social conventions he should have taken an apprentice nearly ten years ago at least, yet now he was nearly thirty-six and approaching his Master Doctorate in Transubstantiative Thaumaturgy.

The elites one found at Corsini enjoyed, if not reveled, at the idea of having a willing servant essentially dependent upon their good graces. No, Konrad didn't revel in the idea. He was enthralled by it, which was the problem. The power he could have over another person, willingly given, not because of something mundane as a pedigree, but by the virtue of his natural gifts. It was the purest power next to magic itself. And that, in part, repulsed him. He did not want to be like those ivory tower boys, petulant and demanding and lacking the imagination of a true Thaumaturgist. They disgusted him.

By fate or designed, however, the sister of one of those elite families was now his Neophyte. After the council was adjourned, Konrad left the council chambers with his new apprentice not far behind. The young woman, barely even an adult by most standards, stormed up to him atop her heels that gave her meager height only the slightest boost. Konrad smirked a little. What a strange pair they were, with him towering over the dark-haired Eloni Kennicot, his blond hair curled atop a head that reach well over six feet and several inches. She was dressed finely in an exquisite robe and matching attire. Konrad dressed comfortably. He preferred a vest with a simple undershirt, coupled with a cravat or widened tie, and pants that would not cost him a fortune. It was respectable, even in fashion among some circles, but not among those with wealth.

"I agree," he replied after Eloni abruptly spoke to him, "which is why we will keep this simple and to the point. I'll let you freeload off my connection to the transmagos while I go about completing my doctorate unhindered. I will teach you when needed, but beyond that I don't care for you or want you anymore than you wanted me, Miss Kennicot." He locked eyes with Eloni, his dark blue orbs not faltering for a moment. "Now that that is out of the way, I am sure your family has paid an exorbitant amount for your private room here at Corsini and you want to see it as soon as possible. Say hello to your brothers for me, whichever one is still here."

Konrad took a step forward and brushed past Eloni as if he would a child, tightening his black gloves around his hands and reaching for the pocket watch he kept his vest pocket. It was just past noon. He needed to ready his paradigms by two o'clock if he was going to get the data required for his research, and this silly little meeting had cut into his preparation stage enough already.

 

[GildedDragonfly]

Eloni had been spoiled her entire life. Even as she had fallen from the good graces of her father, none in their peer group were allowed to speak ill of her without risking the wrath of her brothers or her father. He was content to ignore her for as long as Kennicotly possible, but he wouldn't see his family name sullied by proxy. The way that Konrad, the thaumaturgic peasant, spoke to her set her on edge. Gritting teeth was beneath a Kennicot, but had she forgotten her lineage for a moment she may have very well done just that.

"I am no freeloader." Eloni declared with a self righteous tone as Konrad pushed past her like a man-child who believed himself to be better than he truly was. "I intend to fulfill my duties as your Neophyte just as I expect you to fulfill your duties to me." She turned to face him, the heel of one boot clacking against the marbled floor beneath them while a hiss came from the other as she pivoted upon it.

The pair of them were certainly odd and garnered a few stares from passersby. Rumors had already spread days prior to it becoming official. The youngest Kennicot entering the University of Corsini as a Neophyte had been the hottest piece of gossip in quite some time. Her brothers, while renown as the rest of her family was, had hardly been gossip worthy.

She stepped forward to follow after him, her own pace quickening to match his stride. "Whether my quarters are private or not are none of your concern. It is, however, your concern if I learn adequately. The better I perform, the better you look. The better you look, the more funding you can obtain for your studies while you obtain your doctorate. Borosilicate vials do not pay for themselves."

Most who attended the University didn't have the same tenacity as Konrad did. They did their four or six years and moved on. Out of the dozen who pursued their studies as adamantly as Konrad did, he was the only one who didn't have a predominantly magical background. Nonetheless, it was a competitive group driven by the thirst for discovery or notoriety. A certain degree of secrecy was required when working on rewriting the laws of of magic. This meant that even if Konrad did not have the same cush private living quarters as her brothers insisted she have, he had his own space to study in.

 

[Lysander of Rhodes]

Konrad scoffed as his new Neophyte exclaimed she was here entirely by her own merit and was not going to be a leech on his life. If the girl had any sense she would recognize her very installment as his apprentice was a drain on his time and resources. Following him down the hallway like some puppy, Eloni was only proving Konrad's point about her interfering with completing his doctorate. If he had to stop every second to explain the fundamentals of thaumaturgy or, even worse, the infinitely more complex practices of the research he was doing, it would take another decade to complete his thesis.

Approaching the carved doorway leading out into the campus grounds, he pushed the ornate oak door open as a breath of fresh air greeted his lungs. The council chamber smelled like old man and blind traditionalism so it was refreshing to take something else into his lungs.

Then he finally spoke, "My expenses were fine before you were made into my Neophyte, Miss Kennicot. Despite your father I have managed to secure several friends in high places which protect me from mouth-breathing ingrates. So before you try to threaten my standing remember that I could deny you access to magic with just a snap of my finger." He turned on the much shorter woman, towering over her like a father would a child, and holding up one hand with two fingers pressed together. "Wouldn't that be a shame? Not just for you, but for your entire family." Konrad cocked his head and smirked, then placed one hand on Eloni's shoulder, "Speaking of which..."

He closed his eyes and focused his mind on the woman in front of him. A series of mental equations and enumerated thaumaturgic evocations worked through his mind in a span of a few seconds. While he had never done this particular evocation before it was simple in and of itself, lacking any advanced written paradigms to draw upon the transmagos. By the time he opened his eyes the connection was bridged and Eloni had access to Konrad's magic—the look of surprise on her face was almost worth her presence.

"Feel that power? It's mine, not yours," Konrad said, "Don't forget that." Releasing her shoulder and pushing away, he walked only a few feet before stopping and turning his head, "You should keep close, Miss Kennicot. When the connection is first made we need to be within fifty yards of one another for at least a day. You wanted to learn as quickly as possible."

Konrad began walking away again, not looking back at his Neophyte, moving with intent as he needed to get to his laboratory as soon as possible.

 

[GildedDragonfly]

Even as they moved out of sight of the rubberneckers who were currently watching them, fresh sets of curious eyes rose to look upon the pair. While Eloni had foregone wearing the standard Neophyte robes, it wasn't hard for people to place her with how often they had seen her brothers and, previous to his enraged resignation from the council, her father around the University. Neophytes did indeed follow their Naturalists like pups, but Eloni was an angsty wolf pup in comparison to the gentler approaches of the Neophytes they passed. They relied upon the good graces of the Naturalists, Eloni had yet to see anything that she considered pleasant about his disposition.

His answer caused a frown to form on her face. Of course he had connections, for him to be here this long it was all but inevitable. Had Konrad been going to the University during the time of her grandfather he might not have been so lucky, but times were changing and the Kennicots were lagging far behind. Most of the families that had once stood beside them in pureblood alliance had since softened and either been born with magicless children or had taken in non-Naturalists by marriage. Even her own family had resorted to marrying less than perfect lineages for the most recent generation. Her eldest brother had married a girl from the Seiwart family and their family tree had at least two black marks as far as her father had counted.

Her own steps came to a sharp halt as Konrad turned to face her. The men within her own family were tall, but he was even taller than them by a good few inches. His threat of cutting her off from magic was all that stilled her tongue.

Many times during her childhood studies Eloni had imagined what magic actually felt like, as if it would help manifest it and redeem her in her father's eyes. Nothing she had ever imagined aligned with the real deal as Konrad opened the link between them. His heavy hand gripped her shoulder and her own eyes closed as she realized what he was doing. Konrad's magic reached out as he wished and enveloped her entirely during the moments he concentrated. The look of surprise on her face that greeted him as his eyes opened wasn't a result of the sensation of the magic that washed over her and took root within, however. She could feel his power at her fingertips.

It felt akin to trying to capture a lake in her cupped palms.

Her own eyes rose to meet his again and the look on her face returned to the Kennicot sternness her family was known for. "Fifty yards." She confirmed, unable to keep the annoyance out of her voice as she began after him again. There was no need for her to tell him her intent to follow him for the day.

 

[Lysander of Rhodes]

The actual campus of the university was several miles wide, a veritable urban sprawl of buildings constructed through the centuries until it became a little town unto itself, surrounded on all sides by the hinterland town of Verucca to serve its non-academic needs. Most the buildings were constructed in the same earthy brick and mortar with stone edifices and black towers and metal roofing—a style common in this part of the world where the ocean and mountains were squished so close together. Verdant gardens of many flowers and trees could be found along the cobblestone path that Konrad walked, including a series of magnificent redwoods from across the ocean that were quickened by special evocations and kept alive in a climate most unusual for them by Northern runic configurations gifted from the University of Loddbruken.

The particular building Konrad was heading towards was his home away from home. While his small residence on campus was farther west, in the much more homely d'Rafael Hall, he could more often be found in the Tower of Evocation. While it did sport a rather stunted tower, in which a variety of different birds roosted in the parapets of the unused walkway around the tower roof, it was still a larger rectangular structure that was covered in a swarm of vines and a wild garden of flowers from the far east. It was one of the oldest buildings on campus, near the very center and not far from Dimora di Corsini, the once home of the near-mythical Thaumaturgist whom founded the university well over a millennia ago.

Pushing the ancient doors of the Tower ajar, Konrad was greeted by the branny scent of the central chamber of the hollow tower of which the building was named. The Tower of Evocation was, for all intents and purposes, a library-turned-laboratory. Entire walls of the T-shaped central chamber were lined with bookshelves filled with books going up to the roof with a secondary catwalk nearly thirty feet up. At the intersection was a circular block of stone of rough granite with the landing of the spiral staircase at the bottom, leading up to the erstwhile tower roof. Dozens of smaller rooms and private studies could be found throughout the building, lacking any symmetry and varying in sizes as if a madman had designed the plans to abolish the notion of the natural laws which labored to abide by the concept of equilibrium. At least that was what Konrad felt when he entered the Tower and why he enjoyed coming to this place to do his research—that and how very few usually came to the Tower. It was not exactly fashionable among the intelligentsia of Corisini and only utilized when certain books, usually centuries old, needed to be found.

Konrad walked between tables covered in dusty tomes and disused evocations tools until he came to a gap between two bookcases, revealing a hall deeper into the building. A slanted window angled from the wall to the outside illuminated the hallway as he tread down it, hearing the click-clack of his new apprentice behind him, until he came to a solitary door which he opened by pressing his palm against it, using a bit of simple magic to unlock, and crossed through leaving the door open behind him.

Inside was a larger room, illuminated by the same slanted window to the outside that ran across its breadth just under the ceiling, that clearly was used more than others. As a matter of fact, it was Konrad's room for lack of better words. Tables sat against the walls littered with papers and implements of magic alongside chalkboards covered in various evocations and thaumatrugical mathematics, as well as other esoteric symbols from far off lands and their different styles of thaumaturgy. Bookcases lined the closet wall to the door as well as a ramshackle sofa a smaller table which seemed to be for eating and drinking, with an easel not far with a blank canvas sitting upon it. A whole section of the room though, on the western side, was completely empty except for a circular stone in the ground much like the one in the central chamber but much smaller. White and black chalk marred its surface in a complex array of symbols that formed what a Thaumaturgist would call a Conjuration Permutation, one of the highest orders of evocations used in magic. At the center sat a block of lead almost a foot wide, tall and deep. A perfect square of utter darkness.

Konrad pulled his pocket watch from his vest pocket and gave it a look over as he came closer to the Conjuration Permutation, watching the hands of it click closer and closer to where he needed it to be.