Project: TheirWorld - Chapter 010 - Part 1

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Receiving an Education

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TheirWorld

“...Indeed,” Grimhai said, and took the book from her hands. Attempting to protest, Guin opened her mouth, but Grimhai spoke over her. “Many skills - and while some skills have a very literal effect on you as a person and as a character, most skills will only have a passive effect.” He shut the book and put it back into his desk. Guin pouted.

“For example,” the teacher went on, though at this point she was only half paying attention to him, pining after the book. “Knowing [Cryptozoology] gives you a bonus when fighting creatures. This skill is also one that you can improve by fighting monsters and gaining knowledge of creatures in an area. It also gives you access to the [Bestiary], which can be accessed through the [Cryptozoology] skill screen, or simply by summoning it.

“[History and Lore] works in similar fashion, giving you access to the [History of Uldarin] and [Lore of Uldarin] screens. The [History and Lore] skill also gives you a bonus when dealing with knowledgeable NPCs, and if you can study and recall relevant information to use to negotiate, you can gain extra quests, bonuses, or quest information.”

“Where would I have access to such books?” she asked, still eyeing the general area of the Cryptozoology book.

“The world is full of books,” Guin was drawn to Grimhai’s amused voice. She looked up and saw him leaning back in his chair with a grin on his face. Feeling her face flush, Guin recoiled back into her chair, shoved her hands under her legs, and shifted her gaze to the floor like a child. “Though, there are other ways to gain skills,” he went on, leaning forward onto his desk again. “Another way to learn is simply to listen. To give an example of this, I shall give you some information:

“If you leave Bade taking the road to the east, you shall find yourself in the sacred city of Miala’De Rii, City of the Dead. If you take the road to the north east, you will find yourself deep in the White Fox forest, and if you go far enough, you will find yourself in the Silver Teeth - the Mist Moon Mountains. To the West, you will find the grand city of Xenthus, City of Owls. To the south, after crossing the Tagett River, you shall enter the lands of the Noble Clan’s Territory, and if you travel for two days, you shall find yourself in Cryvaria, the Imperial city. In Bade, there are no roads directly north.”

Guin flicked the window away. Interesting, Guin thought. So what he is saying is that I can basically learn by eavesdropping.

“The [Geography] skill has many different applications. In fact, most skills in this game have sub-skills that can also be learned. For instance, if you go and learn how to make maps under Scribe Marlon, you can learn a sub-skill. Why don’t you go and ask him to to teach you?” Grimhai smiled warmly.

Getting antsy anyway, she got up and went over to where the scribe was looking over the shoulder of his students.

Scribe Marlon was a serious looking elderly man with half-moon spectacles and a long, triangular beard that cascaded all the way down his robes to the tips of his pointed shoes. As he saw her approach, the straight line of his lips turned into a frown.

“A new student are you?” he said quickly. “And that Grimhai sent you to me? Of course he did, fool boy. The young have no respect for the proper way that things should be done. And what - he expects me to teach you something? Decades - you’d need decades to learn a craft as worthy as mine!”

“Er…” Not quite sure how to handle the scribe who seemed to become more agitated by the moment, Guin decided to press on the quest point. “Really, if you could just teach me a little something about what it is that you teach, I would greatly appreciate it. Certainly, the art of map making is a respectable career which I am not worthy to follow - but it is something that I admire and would like to know more about.”

Though he looked disapproving of her, he ‘hmmed’ in a low tone. “An appreciation of an art is one thing, but don’t expect yourself to be capable,” he told her and waved to a desk. “Sit and I shall be quick.” Guin did as she was told, and the scribe pulled out a handful of maps and placed them in front of her. “These are maps of the area that I have drawn myself. This here,” he pointed to a complex, beautiful design in the top right corner of a map of the area around Bade. “Do you know what this is?”

“A compass rose?” she told him.

He seemed to approve and continued, “Yes. It’s a very important thing. In most cases, however, unless you buy maps of those Treasure Clan fools, the top of the page shall always be North. Moving on. What is this?” He pointed to a scribble on the bottom right.

She decided it was, “A scale?”

“Correct. Good,” he said, his voice starting to sound a bit warmer to her. Guin refrained from laughing. “Now this. What is this?”

“...A legend,” she answered. He snapped excitedly. Finding it kind of cute, Guin smiled. She supposed this game anticipated that the person playing really had a child’s knowledge of everything. He asked her a dozen or so other questions about the map regarding the weights of lines and the contour lines, growing more and more excited with every answer she got correct. He happily allowed her to try drawing her own, giving her a quill and ink well.

She happily completed her map, copying one of Scribe Marlon’s maps of Bade and the forest around it, down to the drawings of the motifs that he had decorated it with. As she finished, several notifications popped up:

Ignoring Guin’s jaw dropping with her heart at how ridiculous these skills were, Scribe Marlon began to fawn over her work, praising that she might be a cartography genius to have copied his work so accurately at so ‘young’ an age. With the requirement of her quest completed, she thanked the scribe for his time, and went back to report to Grimhai - though now it seemed like he wanted her to stick around.

Grimhai was still sitting at his desk, looking out over the classes. She sat back down in the chair and said, “Teacher Grimhai, I have done as you asked.”