[EQN] Silverpalm

[Vilidius]

Chapter One:  First, you get the money.

Disclaimer:  The world lore of EQN is as yet so undefined that this early version may contain contradictions or inaccuracies.  They will be adapted as may be required.

Valquiss was holding forth on his favorite topic again - economics.

"Money is just another form of control.  Another way of seizing the attention of another, and compelling him to do your bidding.  Whether the farmer toiling in his fields, the robber lurking by the roadside, or the noble scheming to extend his holdings, all of them are motivated by wealth.  They each have their means of pursuing it, but offer them a faster, surer way, and they will be yours to command."

The serious-looking elf was seated on a bench beneath a large oak tree, just a few steps from the library.  He wore the green robe of an advanced student.  Gathered at his feet were a small group of younger students, wearing a variety of fine but common clothes.  Their attention was not on his words, however, but on the dazzling display of lights and colors that morphed continuously in the air several meters above his head.  It was an illusion, of course.  And not even a very advanced one.  Some of the younger students could manage it also - for a few seconds.  But this glamour had stretched over five continuous minutes, and showed no sign of faltering.  Valquiss maintained it even as he addressed his audience.

"It is considered very crass to appeal to greed, of course.  Other frailties and desires are perfectly fine - lust, fear, pity, and the like.  Any emotion or instinct that can seize a person's attention and arrest their thoughts, if only for a moment.  But the desire to accumulate material goods is not thought to be primal enough.  Not worthy of our arts."

The illusionary riot grew to new intensity, taking on shades of gold and silver.  Showers of gemstones rained down on the assembled students, only to shatter into wisps of dissipating smoke on contact with the ground or other solid matter.

"And yet, the tools of our arts are so often rare and valuable.  Enchantments are best laid on the very things that we trade in as currency.  We do not enchant wood or stone or common things.  We enchant precious stones and metals.  We enchant the objects that sentient beings covet without prompting.  The very things that quicken their blood with dreams of wealth."

The storm of gems and light began to morph into a new phase when a bolt of energy struck the center of it and the illusion broke.  Eyes turned in the direction of the assault.  Jaithan stood in the door of the library, with two of his closest companions flanking him.  He tucked a wand back into his own green robes and strode out to the group.

"Silverpalm," he said, loading disdain into the name, "must you really make such a spectacle of yourself?  Our examinations are in three days, and even those of us with mastery of the arts have the decency to study with some vigor.  You, meanwhile, sit out here playing at children's games.  And as if your bad example weren't enough, you fill the heads of these children with your nonsense."

Valquiss composed his face into an impassive mask, well accustomed to Jaithan's jabs and similar provocations. 

"You prepare in your way, Jaithan, and I'll prepare in mine," he said.

"Indeed your shall, Silverpalm. Prepare for the end to your ridiculous conceit."

The younger students sat silently through this confrontation.  Their deference to age and seniority was ingrained, and so they would not dream of interfering.  But their curiosity was also intense.  Jaithan was widely acknowledged as a very promising young mage, with the appropriate pedigree and background.  It was almost certain he would qualify as a master in three days' time - something that few ever achieve.  Valquiss, meanwhile, was an enigma.  The son of a merchant, with hardly a drop of magical talent in his bloodline, he had progressed against all odds to the point where he was on the verge of qualifying also.  This would make him Jaithan's equal, at least technically so, but still far inferior to him in social standing and status.  The tension was inevitable, and at this stage barely concealed.

One of Jaithan's companions spoke up.  "You know my family had business with Silverpalm's father the other day.  Some matter to do with our accounts.  It really was so awkward to hear them exchanging pleasantries over their children's studies.  You know, mine and his.  As though there were some connection between us.  Truly, merchants and bankers can be tolerable enough, in their place.  But when you have to start treating them like society it's gone entirely too far."

Valquiss considered the merits of a reply.  The sons and daughters of gifted and magically inclined families bitterly resented his intrusion in their midst.  He was a wild talent - his aptitude for magic sprung apparently from nothing.  It was a rare but not unheard of situation.  Most wild talents at least had the decency to be modest, however.  Their children and grandchildren might rise to mastery, if they bred back into magical bloodlines.  But Valquiss seemed to defy that rule.  And worse, his father, as a trader in fine jewels and luxuries, was well known to their families.  He would have been more tolerable as the son of poor but distant farmers.  As the son of a rich man, he was too close to their own lives to be comfortable.

"You are coming dangerously close to proving my thesis, you know.  The very 'society' you cite has never been exclusively magical in nature.  Anyone with sufficient power in any form, and yes even money, can find a place in it.  You disdain my family of merchants and traders because we still work for a living.  But if my father profits much more from the excesses of your own families, my brothers and sisters will never need to work.  And won't we be 'society' then?  Aren't you acknowledging the power of wealth?"

The companion was about to retort, when Jaithan cut him off.  "I won't stand here debating economics with you Valquiss.  In fact, I'll even concede you have mastered the subject far more thoroughly than I.  But that's exactly my point.  You are a born merchant, while I am a born master of the arts.  And no, that distinction will not fade in a generation.  Nor in ten.  And your foolish admirers here would do well to consider where they come from, and also where you come from."

The younger students took this as their cue to scatter.  Jaithan looked pointedly at his two companions and they both withdrew a few steps also.  The two senior students were alone.

"Don't think I fail to admire what you have accomplished, Valquiss.  I may even enlist your assistance in my research, when I am named Master.  But you overreach.  In your position you should be grounded carefully in convention.  You should demonstrate your willingness and ability to conform, and not only to manipulate the arts.  For one so versed in charm and persuasion, you might have realized that by now.  You do yourself no favors by magnifying your oddities."

Valquiss hesitated.  These were fairer words than Jaithan had uttered to him in years.  And the elf was sincere, if he was any judge of that.  But his hesitation was taken only as obstinacy by Jaithan, who motioned to his companions to rejoin his side and then strode away in their company.

Still lost in thought, Valquiss failed to notice that one member of his recent audience had reappeared.  Emerging from some hiding place, the younger student tugged as his sleeve.

"Please, Adept Valquiss," he began.  "Tell me how you maintained the illusion for so long, and through so many distractions.  Teach me how to do it."  He reached into a pocket at his belt and drew forth his focus crystal, holding it out to Valquiss, plainly hoping he would demonstrate.

Valquiss looked at the boy.  He was dressed more plainly than most of the students, in clean but common clothes.  Probably from one of the families who depended entirely on their magical talent for social standing, and had never managed to translate it into wealth or other power, which were essentially the same thing anyway.

He took the crystal from the boy and turned it over in his hands.  Common quartz.  It was clear and relatively free from flaws, but that was all he say in its favor.

"There are any number of secret techniques your teachers will never show you," he said.  "I'll teach you one right now. First, you hold your crystal in your right hand, and face me.  Good.  now throw it as hard as you can over your left shoulder." 

The younger student paused, and looked quickly for confirmation, but finding that Valquiss at least didn't seem to be joking, he tossed the crystal over his shoulder.  He winced visibly when it struck stone, resounding with a distinctive clack.  Valquiss smiled.

"Good," he said.  "Now keep your hand out."  Valquiss drew his own focus from his inner robes.  It was embedded in a gold and silver setting.  Far more ornate than the other student's simple and unadorned quartz.  He dropped it in the boy's hand.

The boy turned the focus over and over in his hand, examining it from all sides.  It was flawless, and its many facets reflected the bright sun overhead, gathering in the centre of the jewel.  The power contained within it didn't need to be coaxed out or manipulated.  It was waiting there, only needing release. 

"Is this diamond?" the boy asked, with wonder in his voice.  He had never seen one so large.

"Yes," replied Valquiss, pleased the boy had not rejected the obvious, only because it was beyond his experience.  "Some traders passed through here weeks ago.  They didn't have much of value, but their uncut gem stones were fantastic.  I had it made then."

The storm of color and light began to faintly appear above the younger student's head, as he stared into the diamond.  Then all at once he lost his concentration, and it blinked out of existence.  He held the jewel out to Valquiss.

"It is far too fine for me, Adapt.  We are instructed to practice with quartz.  This would ruin me for that."

"Indeed, it might, if you return to common tools.  But you keep this one, and practice well.  Don't worry - I have several."

... to be continued.