Life Beyond Main Quest, A place where old habits continue, and new habits develop . . . Options

[haute ecole rider]

Hi all,

Julian continues to tell me her ongoing tale. There are many questions left unanswered by Old Habits Die Hard, and she will do her best to answer them!

So here we go again . . .


Evening Star 29, 4E01

"Julian." A voice from my childhood reached me beneath the murmur of injury and illness. I looked up from my patient to see the aged Breton standing in the doorway of the hospice.

I acknowledged him with a nod, then turned back to the injured man before me. "That leg is healing well, Ancus," I assured him. "Another couple of weeks, and you'll be swimming again in the harbor."

"Thank ye, kind lady," relief flooded the beggar's tone as he lay back on the narrow cot. "With these old joints, that's the only way I can keep active." I nodded my agreement. I recalled seeing Puny Ancus swimming every morning at dawn in the calm waters of the harbor, between the moored ships and the lighthouse. At these times, he moved without pain or stiffness. I suspected it gave him the same benefits that the Way of the Crane provided me. I smiled at Ancus and grasped his shoulder before I moved to the front of the hospice.

"I see Ancus is doing better," Tandilwe joined me for a few strides. "Thank you for helping with him."

"He may be a homeless beggar," I answered, "but he is my neighbor just as much as everyone else in the Waterfront."

"I wish more people felt the way you do," Tandilwe murmured before moving to her next patient's bedside.

Finally I reached the doorway and Traven. I put my palms together before my chest and inclined my head to him in the mages' greeting. "What can I do for you, Archmagister?"

"How are things with the Waterfront folks?" Traven stepped back into the late afternoon overcast. I followed him and glanced at the darkening sky. No red thunderclouds. Though it had been two weeks since Mehrunes Dagon had been banished back to the Deadlands, I still could not shake my new habit of scanning the sky for telltales of those Oblivion Gates.

"The hospice is half full now, sir," I turned my gaze back to Traven's face. "Most of the patients are recovering well."

"Then we can expect to see you at the Arcane University soon?" Traven led me to the nearby cemetery at the eastern end of Waterfront Isle. Fresh graves still waited new stones, their temporary wooden markers beginning to weather in the winter rains.

I hesitated, glancing back at the rough shelter of the hospice. "I'm not certain," I spoke slowly. "There's still so much to do here --"

"Julian!" A child's voice cut me off. I turned to see a Bosmer girl run up to me, a furry bundle in her arms. "See, you were right! Mausie is doing better!" The kitten mewed in protest at being dangled in the girl's hands as she held the animal up for my inspection.

I knelt to her level and cradled the tiny creature in my hands. Her dignity restored, the kitten submitted to my gentle probing with an astoundingly powerful purr. Her legs gave no indication of the trauma suffered just two weeks ago, when the Gate opened at the southwestern corner of the Waterfront Isle.

"Yes, Brynn," I assured the girl, "Mausie is all better. She'll grow up to be a healthy cat." I tucked the tabby-stripped creature into the child's cradling arms. "Keep feeding her small amounts of meat once a day. No more milk, remember what happened the last time?"

"Eww!" Brynn's face crinkled in disgust. "No more milk!" She shook her head emphatically before running off.

Traven's eyes on me were both thoughtful and amused. "I see you've still the soft spot for animals." I felt my cheeks warm at his reminder of my childhood obsession.

I returned to my full height. "Animals have suffered just as much as mortals here," I muttered more to myself than to Traven. His smile widened briefly, then faded on a sigh.

"Julian, you went to a great deal of effort to gain the necessary recommendations for entry to the University. In your place, any other candidate would have run to Raminus Polus to claim his spot on the student rolls. Yet you hesitate."

I considered his words. How to explain? These people have so little, yet they've suffered as much as those living on City Isle. I live here now, how can I turn my back on them? "Archmagister," I took a deep breath. "Who will help these people recover? Who will make certain there are enough healing potions to go around?"

"The Watchmen and the Temple can help here."

I shook my head. "The Waterfront is not a place where citizens trust the City Watch," I reminded him. "And there simply aren't enough Temple healers to go around."

Traven bent to one of the temporary markers and set it straight in the sandy soil. "Julian, I've seen enough of your spell casting to know that your magicka has grown considerably since those days when you struggled to heal your own scrapes and bruises. Yet you have not learned to control it, as you know how to control the sword in your hand." He met my gaze. "This can create a dangerous situation not only for yourself, but also for others around you."

"I've been careful, Archmagister," I knelt beside another grave and tidied the wilted blooms propped against the wood panel.

"Tandilwe tells me you've been up late nights replenishing healing potions for the next day," Traven apparently tried another approach. "Do you realize that alchemy consumes magicka as well?"

I glanced up at him, startled. No wonder I feel so tired these days! "As long as they need healers in the hospice," I nodded at the rough-built shelter just a few paces away, "I'll stay here and help as much as I can."

"Are you worried about the tuition?" Traven's abrupt change of subject caught me off guard, and I could only nod. "Silly girl!" Traven chided me. "If you had bothered to speak to Raminus Polus about the admission process, he would have told you that the Anvil and the Bravil Mages Guild chapters are sponsoring you!"

I stared at Traven. "S - sponsoring?" I stammered. "What does that mean?"

"Each Guild chapter has the option to sponsor a student of their choice and to pay up to a quarter of that student's tuition, for as long as that student remains enrolled in the University full-time." Traven's smile widened at the astonishment I knew showed in my face. "Between Anvil and Bravil, half of your tuition is covered."

I stared at the overcast sky, momentarily glad I was still kneeling. Anvil makes sense - after all, Carahil and Felen Relas knew me when I was a child, they know me better than anyone else except maybe for Traven himself. But Bravil --! "Why Bravil?"

"Kud-Ei is very impressed by the way you handled certain challenges during your recent visits to Bravil," Traven answered. "She feels very strongly that the Mages Guild needs more members with your real-world experience, and fewer - ah - ivory tower warriors."

I lifted my brows at his terms. "Ivory tower --?"

Traven chuckled. "One dangerous habit scholars must beware is the tendency to get so buried in their books they forget to look up at the world around them. Such as a certain pair of young mages more obsessed with playing pranks on their clueless chapter head than with figuring out how to keep the folks warm on those cold mountain nights."

I stifled a groan at the memory of the dressing-down I had given Volanaro and J'skar my first night in the Guild. “Yet they taught me a few useful spells,” I found myself defending them.

“They did not understand the practical value of those spells,” Traven shook his head. “They learned them only because they could. You, however, chose to learn spells that would be of use in your travels.”

I rose to my feet and turned to face Traven. “Isn’t that the best use of the magicka you are born with?” I shook my head. “I understand wanting to know more,” Akatosh knows how many military history and strategy books I’ve read through the years! “If not for those seeking knowledge for knowledge’s sake, how can we expand our understanding of the world around us?” I shook my head. “Like the nirnroots. Why have no new ones grown in so many centuries?”

Traven’s brows rose. “I see you have been talking to Sinderion!” He chuckled. “All the more reason for you to enroll at the University. Perhaps you can change Kalatar’s boring lecture on the runestones!”

[Grits]

First, how marvelous to see Julian again! Especially as she makes her entrance flawlessly coifed and in a blue velvet gown. After all of the blood and ashes in OHDH, it was a treat to see her cleaned up and formal on Elder Council business.

The walk from Mages Guild to County Hall provided all of the news I was eager to hear about the past two years in Kvatch. That edge in Steffan’s voice said volumes! I agree with Julian -- Savlian Matius has more than earned the leadership of Kvatch, even though that’s not why he did it.

Oh no, the dress! A worthy sacrifice since its loss helped to (finally!) get these two naked. I confess it was me who shamelessly campaigned for an update to Julian’s LBMQ, though I may not have been the only one! Thank you for sharing this, Rider! It was a joy throughout.