I’ve recently noticed that I am throwing around a great many terms on this blog which are not understandable for Humans. Nice Imp that I am I made up a glossary of terms for all you non-Imps out there. I put it on a separate page that you can reach via the link on the right side bar. You’re welcome to tell me if there is a term missing.
September 22, 2010
September 16, 2010
Fire!
Some students make me want to scream and throw things at them. Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in my library all content, when all kinds of magical alarms started blaring. A huge cloud of smoke was flying up from between shelves at the back of the building. I ran towards it, raising my magical reserves as I went.
In the aisle between the memory stone collection and the book collection a fire was raging, and in the middle of the havoc stood a young student, looking forlorn and frightened. I immediately formed a magic bubble around the fire and sucked the oxygen out until the fire died. Of course, that meant that the student also couldn’t breath for a minute, but I so didn’t care about his discomfort in that moment. I did make sure he was still breathing when I burst the bubble, nice person that I am.
I checked the shelves. Magic fires burn fast and hot, so I was not surprised to see that a large portion of the books had been burned. The cases of the memory stones had fared much better, as they are protected against all kinds of disasters, but the shelf boards underneath them had given out, leaving the stones in a messy pile on the ground.
The shaky voice of the student hardly made it through my murderous thoughts. “I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean… I just wanted….”
He broke off and his eyes became huge when I looked at him. I know I must have been a frightful sight. I’ve had this reaction before when I put on my angry face. “I know full well what you wanted,” I spat out. Of course I knew. Young students always want to try out new talents immediately and they constantly overestimate themselves. They think just because they learned the how’s of something from a memory stone, they can just command whatever new ability they gained. But that’s not how it works. Knowing how to do something and getting good at it are two very different things. One always needs to train a new ability. Which is exactly why there are training centers everywhere. “Training” in a library was just plain stupid.
This dumb kid deserved to be punished severely. Unfortunately I have been forbidden to hurt imps, so I had to come up with something that wouldn’t hurt the little fool and yet gave me some satisfaction.
“Don’t move,” I told the youngster and went back through the shelves a bit. I picked up a level one stone and took it back to the kid.
I whacked the case against the idiot’s chest and he clutched it with shaky fingers. “This is a memory stone that will teach you how to restore burned things. Unlock it and get to work.”
The restoring spell is a relatively easy one, but it needs utter concentration and it is tedious work to reconstruct anything with it. Meaning: it took the kid hours to get everything back to its original state and by the end he had enough training with the new spell that he, from now on, at least is able to restore anything he burned by stupidly trying out his gift.
I really would have preferred to kill the little critter, but at least it was fun to watch him get the hang of the restoring spell for the rest of the day.
In the aisle between the memory stone collection and the book collection a fire was raging, and in the middle of the havoc stood a young student, looking forlorn and frightened. I immediately formed a magic bubble around the fire and sucked the oxygen out until the fire died. Of course, that meant that the student also couldn’t breath for a minute, but I so didn’t care about his discomfort in that moment. I did make sure he was still breathing when I burst the bubble, nice person that I am.
I checked the shelves. Magic fires burn fast and hot, so I was not surprised to see that a large portion of the books had been burned. The cases of the memory stones had fared much better, as they are protected against all kinds of disasters, but the shelf boards underneath them had given out, leaving the stones in a messy pile on the ground.
The shaky voice of the student hardly made it through my murderous thoughts. “I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean… I just wanted….”
He broke off and his eyes became huge when I looked at him. I know I must have been a frightful sight. I’ve had this reaction before when I put on my angry face. “I know full well what you wanted,” I spat out. Of course I knew. Young students always want to try out new talents immediately and they constantly overestimate themselves. They think just because they learned the how’s of something from a memory stone, they can just command whatever new ability they gained. But that’s not how it works. Knowing how to do something and getting good at it are two very different things. One always needs to train a new ability. Which is exactly why there are training centers everywhere. “Training” in a library was just plain stupid.
This dumb kid deserved to be punished severely. Unfortunately I have been forbidden to hurt imps, so I had to come up with something that wouldn’t hurt the little fool and yet gave me some satisfaction.
“Don’t move,” I told the youngster and went back through the shelves a bit. I picked up a level one stone and took it back to the kid.
I whacked the case against the idiot’s chest and he clutched it with shaky fingers. “This is a memory stone that will teach you how to restore burned things. Unlock it and get to work.”
The restoring spell is a relatively easy one, but it needs utter concentration and it is tedious work to reconstruct anything with it. Meaning: it took the kid hours to get everything back to its original state and by the end he had enough training with the new spell that he, from now on, at least is able to restore anything he burned by stupidly trying out his gift.
I really would have preferred to kill the little critter, but at least it was fun to watch him get the hang of the restoring spell for the rest of the day.
September 8, 2010
Asmodeus
Having a library pet is a great thing; it gets rid of rodents and keeps you company. Having an azectlotl as a library pet is even better. Azectlotls are easily described. Just imagine a cat that is as big as a German shepherd dog, with black fur and white stripes. Azectlotls are rare and intelligent animals. They are also dangerous, because their bite is venomous and their claws sharp enough to rip through any kind of clothing. Their high intelligence allows them to bind telepathically with Imps. If I concentrate on Asmodeus, I can merge with his mind and share his body. This is a very practical thing. It allows me to prowl through my House of Knowledge, making sure everything is as it should be without leaving my desk – and without anyone knowing I am there.
This afternoon this proved particularly helpful. I saw the dean of the university come into the HoK together with one of his close buddies, who also happens to be one of the universities most esteemed profassurs. They walked right past me into the depths of the library, surrounded by a mysterious aura of secrecy. That, obviously, made me curious and I merged with Asmodeus.
I followed them on my velvety soft paws into a deserted corner and hid behind a shelf to listen in on their conversation.
“Why have you brought me into the library?” profassur Jarix asked and the dean answered in hushed tones, “Because I have to talk to you about a delicate matter and in the university one never knows who might be magically listening in on a conversation on account of all the magic already permeating the air making it impossible to detect a spy-spell.”
Interesting – and how practical that the mind-merge between imp and azectlotl works entirely without magic. They had no way of detecting me.
“I have an important matter about which I need to talk to you about,” the dean went on. “I want to know your answer before I go public with the announcement so that everything is settled by the time anyone finds out just to make sure there won’t be any plans to hinder the progression of the planned out succession because that would merely cause an unnecessary upheaval among the staff and no one needs that.”
“What are you saying?” Jarix asked as soon as he got a chance to get a word in edgewise. Did I detect a hint of excitement in his voice? Did he expect this conversation to go where I thought it was going?
“Jarix my good friend I have made the somewhat difficult decision that the time has come for me to step down as dean of the university after having done the job for more than a century and of course I need a worthy successor for the post which in my opinion can only be you as you are the most esteemed profassur at Knobblyville University and after knowing you for many many years I know that you are more than qualified for the job which is why I am asking you now whether you feel ready to step into my shoes once I’ve vacated them.”
“My dear friend. I regret that you want to step down as dean, but I am honored that you want me to be your successor. I thank you for asking me and will strive to be as great a dean as you are.” Jarix answered, his polite tone unable to hide his glee.
I sneaked away and then unmerged. What a juicy tidbit of information. My mind is still reeling with all the possibilities offered by my newfound knowledge.
This afternoon this proved particularly helpful. I saw the dean of the university come into the HoK together with one of his close buddies, who also happens to be one of the universities most esteemed profassurs. They walked right past me into the depths of the library, surrounded by a mysterious aura of secrecy. That, obviously, made me curious and I merged with Asmodeus.
I followed them on my velvety soft paws into a deserted corner and hid behind a shelf to listen in on their conversation.
“Why have you brought me into the library?” profassur Jarix asked and the dean answered in hushed tones, “Because I have to talk to you about a delicate matter and in the university one never knows who might be magically listening in on a conversation on account of all the magic already permeating the air making it impossible to detect a spy-spell.”
Interesting – and how practical that the mind-merge between imp and azectlotl works entirely without magic. They had no way of detecting me.
“I have an important matter about which I need to talk to you about,” the dean went on. “I want to know your answer before I go public with the announcement so that everything is settled by the time anyone finds out just to make sure there won’t be any plans to hinder the progression of the planned out succession because that would merely cause an unnecessary upheaval among the staff and no one needs that.”
“What are you saying?” Jarix asked as soon as he got a chance to get a word in edgewise. Did I detect a hint of excitement in his voice? Did he expect this conversation to go where I thought it was going?
“Jarix my good friend I have made the somewhat difficult decision that the time has come for me to step down as dean of the university after having done the job for more than a century and of course I need a worthy successor for the post which in my opinion can only be you as you are the most esteemed profassur at Knobblyville University and after knowing you for many many years I know that you are more than qualified for the job which is why I am asking you now whether you feel ready to step into my shoes once I’ve vacated them.”
“My dear friend. I regret that you want to step down as dean, but I am honored that you want me to be your successor. I thank you for asking me and will strive to be as great a dean as you are.” Jarix answered, his polite tone unable to hide his glee.
I sneaked away and then unmerged. What a juicy tidbit of information. My mind is still reeling with all the possibilities offered by my newfound knowledge.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)