Book II Chapter 28: Cover
The Academy of Arcana
Lassenbhurg, Liasse
"Sir, thank you for visiting. If you could sign in at the tome over there, we'll have someone with you shortly. Are you here for a class or an arcane service?"
"I'd like to speak to the head of your fine institution, sir, if you could arrange such a thing on such short notice."
"Ah... I'm afraid I can't allow you up there without clearance. In the meantime, if you'd like to--"
The mage on secretary duty within the Academy Grand Hall today was a balding fellow with kind eyes and a pair of half-moon spectacles perched atop his nose; the archetypal good old wizard if ever there was one. His strange, scaly visitor had coaxed his fluffy brow into a suspicious frown, however.
The creature was fascinating, no doubt (silisk and slithr weren't terribly uncommon around these parts, though the latter were rarely found anywhere beyond Lassenbhurg's walls-- but this fellow was something different altogether!), but a five-headed, rainbow-colored hydra with wings and a fondness for singing one-man operas wasn't even quite fascinating enough to merit a visit with the Grand Magus unannounced!
Seamus was just about to continue cycling through his script for these sorts of situations when the odd lizardman abruptly slipped a satchel out of his toga and began to open it.
Fantastic, the old mage thought, his heart sinking. This is the part where they try to kill me to get by, and I wind up in a physician's care for the fifth time this season!
What the creature did next, however, might've merely sent him to hospital on account of a heart-attack.
Carefully, painstakingly, it removed a book from the satchel, setting it gently upon the counter, though not daring to take its clawed hands away from its age-worn, worm-eaten leather cover.
Seamus could read the text's cover quite well regardless, and his eyes grew as if attempting to pop from his head.
"What is... What?!...how did you come across such a thing?! Where?! This cannot be genuine. You...you must--"
"... speak with your employer and let him know I would like to see him. Please, good sir," the scaly thing asked again, his voice smooth and dry. "All of us pursue some order of greater knowledge. I know things that your institution would find worth hearing, just as you know things that I would very much like to learn. A relationship between us could prove beneficial for everyone."
"W..we'll fit you in," Seamus gasped, staring in disbelief at the old, musty tome written in Ancient Aengoch, in a sharp, crisp hand that could not have belonged to any Aeneski, living or deceased.
Aensdounne; A Thorough and Unabridged Accounte of its Tribes and Goddes.
Lorde Dylndrouue Ba'Sylle
Next Chapter: Book II Chapter XXIX
Category: Book II | Story
