Education of the Ancients (Anurin)

[Quetzal]

Since the end of the war and their bit in the cleanup, Isrydia and Arlyn had found much success in their work avoiding politics and uncovering mysteries of the world around them. The longer they stayed in Ellesmera, the friendlier the elves became. The respect of the elves had been won especially when they had seen that this dragon and Rider truly were scholarly, with goals other than gaining strength, pursuing knowledge just as elves did. The only difference here was Isrydia wanted to uncover new information through her own observation and theories rather than studying old texts and discussing vague thought-based ideas. It was not the typical way of the elves, but it still made them curious when she began talking about new things they had not heard or recorded in any of their great libraries.

The telescope she had invented had been honed further and further as her magical skill developed. Currently it saw too far to look at anything on the ground, but at the sky it revealed stars that could not be seen without it. The moon ballooned into a grey orb covered in fuzzy splodges. The wandering stars looked slightly bigger, but all the others stayed the same size. She had made rough calculations based on mathematics she learned from the elves - not being educated at all before become a squire to Sir William - placing the stars far further away than anywhere thought. In fact, nowhere else placed an exact distance on them at all. The more she studied them, the more of their magical feel was lost. They no longer seemed like mystical gods rushing far away but familiar friends, probably powered by the fire of god-like beasts but not so mystical after all.

At times she just needed a break from all the stargazing. Beautiful intricate maps covered her walls and work surfaces along with bits of telescope and attempts to map out the stars in 3D in relation to Alagaesia. None were successful so far. She could not figure out where anything could go based on how much they moved but how far away they were, though the godlike speeds might play into it. Anyway, the past few days had been a break from it all, spent drifting through the forest, practising magic, visiting friends and flying with Arlyn.

Today she decided to visit a man she respected deeply but had only met briefly on a couple of occasions. Anurin was quite possibly the oldest man alive. He was not just from the previous generation of Dragon Riders; he had been ancient then. To think of all the historic events he remembered, all the knowledge he had accumulated over the years, was incredibly exciting. She was a little nervous he might have better things to do than talk to a young Rider who was barely even an adult, with no real achievements or legends to her name aside from fighting for the Varden at the cost of a leg (thankfully magically healed by a good friend though badly scarred). Eventually finding his house, she fidgeted anxiously after knocking at the door.