Dangerous Knowledge
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2021 11:21 pm
2nd of Searing 121
The eldest of the two Dornkirk brothers had always been interested in biology. Even as a boy he'd studied plants and insects with his little wood-bottomed wire cage and butterfly net. The interest had developed into a minor at the Academy to his major in engineering. His father had scoffed at it, trying to convince him to minor in political science, but Stefan, at that point, had decided that he would get one thing for himself. He loved engineering, of course, but he would have had to do it even if he'd hated it. His lifestyle, social acquaintances, job, love life, marriage, and fatherhood had all been decided for him and he had, for the most part, accepted the choices and aided in their fulfillment. So he put his foot down, just the one time, and graduated with two degrees, one of which was hushed up by his Malchior, but he didn't really mind that as payment. He didn't really mind it at all, the less the public knew about him the happier Stefan tended to be.
Which was why the last two seasons of being paraded around as the next Zaichaer's Finest Stud for the nobility and other high families of the city had been like living in a nightmare. One of the ones where you walk into a party with no clothes on, except he was awake, had clothes on, and still felt naked. He had kept himself steady and shouldered his duty though, even as he'd envied Brenner his version of duty all the while.
So it was that, on the rare occasion that he took a whole day for himself, away from both duty to his father in the Windworks and duty to his mother in the marriage market, he usually made his way back to the extensive libraries that being an alumnus of Zaichaerian higher education allowed him access too. His money would have allowed him access regardless but he took pride in being recognized for his own accomplishments in this one sphere.
Entering the well-lit, quiet building that housed most of the texts on biology, psychology and other works mostly made use of by those studying to be doctors was a relief. The building was kept cool and dry at all times, another thing to appreciate in Searing.
Finding a quiet alcove he lay his notebooks and writing materials out before heading into the stacks to retrieve the list of materials he'd had Dienerin research for him during Glade when he'd been to busy to do it for himself. Luckily the man was a bit of a jack of all things Stefan, which made sense. The man's soul job for the last sixteen years had been to ensure that Stefan had any and everything he needed, as well as most things he wanted. He was good at it too.
An hour of wandering and making inquiries with the librarians had him four solid tombs, all of them copies of much older books, and several folders full of notes and scraps transcribed from incomplete works.
While his interest, in general, was broad over the whole subject, in this instance, he was looking for specific information about the ideas he and Brenner had passed between themselves. Ideas that he hadn't even shared with his trusted manservant.
Settling to work he read for hours, losing himself in the ancient language, having to use his pocket translation guide for words that were too archaic for him to know. It was freeing to be able to just study for its own sake, it felt pure in his head.
Some of the ideas he encountered, as he began to develop a general knowledge for the subject, were... questionable. Scientifically they were questionable, but that would always be the case where the study of magic and the study of biology intersected, they were also conceptually questionable. Stefan had trouble wrapping his mind around them and had to reread some passages several times. It felt like he was either missing something fundamental or...
He flipped to the printer's page and looked at the date of creation. The printing date had been fairly recent, within the last fifty years, but the date of the original material was listed only as "Unknown, Pre-Sundering."
Oh.
Things had changed, some things so fundamentally that they felt alien to modern peoples. That made sense. Well, no, the texts were still like reading someone speaking in a half-foreign language about another planet, but why they did made sense. Rather than frustrating him or making him lose focus, understanding caused him to sharpen himself, hunker down, dig into it, really reach to understand. Magic was not his forte, as was only proper, but it did make studying harder. Perhaps he could find someone who wasn't personally a magic user but had studied the subject enough that they could shed some light on what parts could still be illuminated. Perhaps he could get Dienerin to find a reputable scholar on the subject of Pre-Sundering magic. He made a note in his pocket-sized To-Do notebook to remind him to ask the man to do so and then got back into the texts.
Hours later he blinked as a librarian's assistant came into his alcove and lit the shard-lamps. No fire was permitted in the libraries, of course, but a good steady light could be gotten mechanically by harnessing small dragon shards. A similar concept to what he used to give airships their lift.
Taking out his pocket watch he checked the time and was surprised to see that the day was gone. As soon as he came out of his mind fog of information his body informed him of several protests it had been making, quietly but growing in volume, for some time. He was starving and thirsty, he needed a privy and his back and eyes were quite displeased with how he'd spent his 'relaxation' time.
Standing, slowly, (Mists was he getting old already?) he stretched the kinks out of his back, arms, legs, and neck, walking around the tiny room several times to get his circulation back. Packing up his notes, of which he had almost a full notebook now, he took the books to the check-out desk and requested to take them home. As they were printed and there were copies the dry little woman at the desk allowed him to remove them, but the folders of scraps and notes had to stay. He had expected as much but handed them over reluctantly, asking if the woman could file them in his study locker for him as he planned to be back soon. She made him sign for it with an annoyed resignation that felt so well-worn he was fairly sure she only kept it up out of habit.
He had his copy of his study locker, which he had maintained in the years after he'd graduated even though he'd rarely had cause to use it, in his leather briefcase with his notes. The books were too big to go inside so he tucked them under his arm, earning him an additional frown from the desk matron.
Into the night he went his head full of things to discuss with Brenner, who, he knew, had spent a good deal of time studying himself. That fact alone had been more than enough to convince Stefan that his brother was serious about his ambition, his quest, to seek out an ultimate solution to the dangers that magic posed. Brynn had never been one for excessive study, or, in fact, any more study than he needed to get by unless he wanted something badly. He'd poured over the material for his officer exam, demanding complete quiet in the (usually already silent) House, and insisted that Stefan, who had already passed the exam, drill him for hours on end.
The memory brought a fond smile to the elder brother's face as an elusive cool breeze ruffled his hair. It was a fine night, he was heading home with plenty more to study where he could eat and have his other needs easily dealt with. It felt like the start of something, as the days grew hotter. Searing had always felt like the start of an adventure when he'd been a boy and despite the season holding nothing special for him in his adult years there was still a tingle of anticipation when the cool of Glade gave way to the new season.
When he arrived home he called for a meal, took care of a few other necessary physical requirements, and then dove back into the books. The latter half of one of them detailed a number of experiments one could do to determine the magical, or lack thereof, nature of biological creatures. He lost himself completely, notes becoming less data points and theory and more plans to carry out some of the examinations himself. A supplier of minor magical creatures would need to be obtained, and a license for them, he imagined. They would be sedated, of course, he wasn't a barbarian, nor had he any interest in causing unrequired pain.
More lines went into his To-Do booklet, more tasks for Dienerin, more things to discuss with Brenner. It was going to be an eventful season.
The eldest of the two Dornkirk brothers had always been interested in biology. Even as a boy he'd studied plants and insects with his little wood-bottomed wire cage and butterfly net. The interest had developed into a minor at the Academy to his major in engineering. His father had scoffed at it, trying to convince him to minor in political science, but Stefan, at that point, had decided that he would get one thing for himself. He loved engineering, of course, but he would have had to do it even if he'd hated it. His lifestyle, social acquaintances, job, love life, marriage, and fatherhood had all been decided for him and he had, for the most part, accepted the choices and aided in their fulfillment. So he put his foot down, just the one time, and graduated with two degrees, one of which was hushed up by his Malchior, but he didn't really mind that as payment. He didn't really mind it at all, the less the public knew about him the happier Stefan tended to be.
Which was why the last two seasons of being paraded around as the next Zaichaer's Finest Stud for the nobility and other high families of the city had been like living in a nightmare. One of the ones where you walk into a party with no clothes on, except he was awake, had clothes on, and still felt naked. He had kept himself steady and shouldered his duty though, even as he'd envied Brenner his version of duty all the while.
So it was that, on the rare occasion that he took a whole day for himself, away from both duty to his father in the Windworks and duty to his mother in the marriage market, he usually made his way back to the extensive libraries that being an alumnus of Zaichaerian higher education allowed him access too. His money would have allowed him access regardless but he took pride in being recognized for his own accomplishments in this one sphere.
Entering the well-lit, quiet building that housed most of the texts on biology, psychology and other works mostly made use of by those studying to be doctors was a relief. The building was kept cool and dry at all times, another thing to appreciate in Searing.
Finding a quiet alcove he lay his notebooks and writing materials out before heading into the stacks to retrieve the list of materials he'd had Dienerin research for him during Glade when he'd been to busy to do it for himself. Luckily the man was a bit of a jack of all things Stefan, which made sense. The man's soul job for the last sixteen years had been to ensure that Stefan had any and everything he needed, as well as most things he wanted. He was good at it too.
An hour of wandering and making inquiries with the librarians had him four solid tombs, all of them copies of much older books, and several folders full of notes and scraps transcribed from incomplete works.
While his interest, in general, was broad over the whole subject, in this instance, he was looking for specific information about the ideas he and Brenner had passed between themselves. Ideas that he hadn't even shared with his trusted manservant.
Settling to work he read for hours, losing himself in the ancient language, having to use his pocket translation guide for words that were too archaic for him to know. It was freeing to be able to just study for its own sake, it felt pure in his head.
Some of the ideas he encountered, as he began to develop a general knowledge for the subject, were... questionable. Scientifically they were questionable, but that would always be the case where the study of magic and the study of biology intersected, they were also conceptually questionable. Stefan had trouble wrapping his mind around them and had to reread some passages several times. It felt like he was either missing something fundamental or...
He flipped to the printer's page and looked at the date of creation. The printing date had been fairly recent, within the last fifty years, but the date of the original material was listed only as "Unknown, Pre-Sundering."
Oh.
Things had changed, some things so fundamentally that they felt alien to modern peoples. That made sense. Well, no, the texts were still like reading someone speaking in a half-foreign language about another planet, but why they did made sense. Rather than frustrating him or making him lose focus, understanding caused him to sharpen himself, hunker down, dig into it, really reach to understand. Magic was not his forte, as was only proper, but it did make studying harder. Perhaps he could find someone who wasn't personally a magic user but had studied the subject enough that they could shed some light on what parts could still be illuminated. Perhaps he could get Dienerin to find a reputable scholar on the subject of Pre-Sundering magic. He made a note in his pocket-sized To-Do notebook to remind him to ask the man to do so and then got back into the texts.
Hours later he blinked as a librarian's assistant came into his alcove and lit the shard-lamps. No fire was permitted in the libraries, of course, but a good steady light could be gotten mechanically by harnessing small dragon shards. A similar concept to what he used to give airships their lift.
Taking out his pocket watch he checked the time and was surprised to see that the day was gone. As soon as he came out of his mind fog of information his body informed him of several protests it had been making, quietly but growing in volume, for some time. He was starving and thirsty, he needed a privy and his back and eyes were quite displeased with how he'd spent his 'relaxation' time.
Standing, slowly, (Mists was he getting old already?) he stretched the kinks out of his back, arms, legs, and neck, walking around the tiny room several times to get his circulation back. Packing up his notes, of which he had almost a full notebook now, he took the books to the check-out desk and requested to take them home. As they were printed and there were copies the dry little woman at the desk allowed him to remove them, but the folders of scraps and notes had to stay. He had expected as much but handed them over reluctantly, asking if the woman could file them in his study locker for him as he planned to be back soon. She made him sign for it with an annoyed resignation that felt so well-worn he was fairly sure she only kept it up out of habit.
He had his copy of his study locker, which he had maintained in the years after he'd graduated even though he'd rarely had cause to use it, in his leather briefcase with his notes. The books were too big to go inside so he tucked them under his arm, earning him an additional frown from the desk matron.
Into the night he went his head full of things to discuss with Brenner, who, he knew, had spent a good deal of time studying himself. That fact alone had been more than enough to convince Stefan that his brother was serious about his ambition, his quest, to seek out an ultimate solution to the dangers that magic posed. Brynn had never been one for excessive study, or, in fact, any more study than he needed to get by unless he wanted something badly. He'd poured over the material for his officer exam, demanding complete quiet in the (usually already silent) House, and insisted that Stefan, who had already passed the exam, drill him for hours on end.
The memory brought a fond smile to the elder brother's face as an elusive cool breeze ruffled his hair. It was a fine night, he was heading home with plenty more to study where he could eat and have his other needs easily dealt with. It felt like the start of something, as the days grew hotter. Searing had always felt like the start of an adventure when he'd been a boy and despite the season holding nothing special for him in his adult years there was still a tingle of anticipation when the cool of Glade gave way to the new season.
When he arrived home he called for a meal, took care of a few other necessary physical requirements, and then dove back into the books. The latter half of one of them detailed a number of experiments one could do to determine the magical, or lack thereof, nature of biological creatures. He lost himself completely, notes becoming less data points and theory and more plans to carry out some of the examinations himself. A supplier of minor magical creatures would need to be obtained, and a license for them, he imagined. They would be sedated, of course, he wasn't a barbarian, nor had he any interest in causing unrequired pain.
More lines went into his To-Do booklet, more tasks for Dienerin, more things to discuss with Brenner. It was going to be an eventful season.