Corn raised his non-empty cup and took a sip. Then he said "it's bad luck to toast on an empty cup. Trust me, I study superstitions."
A closed bookstore (Study Buddies)
42993
THREADID
48
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Corn raised his non-empty cup and took a sip. Then he said "it's bad luck to toast on an empty cup. Trust me, I study superstitions."
Crystal tilted his cup and looked inside. "Huh, really now? That another one of your fields of studies?"
He considered getting another beer, but he was feeling a bit tipsy already and opted to wait just a little bit longer. Aurora's question about fascinating facts or stories earned her a sly smile. "Why, I thought you had the most turbulent life among us. Seriously though, I'm curious why you've never been in a relationship. I mean, you wouldn't have any problems to get someone interested in you, would you?"
Not sure if he was being serious or not, she decides to see. “Is that really something that can be studied? I’ve never heard of someone studying those, do you believe in them?” she for one, didn’t.
Finishing off her cup, and getting another, she raises an eyebrow at the sly smile and words.
“Me?” shaking her head, “No, not really. Just an interesting life on the road.” But not turbulent. At least, not to her. But the question was one she wasn’t prepared for, and it took her a few moments to think of an answer. “Considering a majority of my life has been on the road, I’ve never been in a place to dedicate the time to one. Though, why would it be hard to believe?” she asks, sipping again, “And I suppose you could say I’m a bit awkward in that whole regard.” Shrugging, “But I would say yes, I do have problems getting someone interested, if I’m being honest.” Because, why not? It wasn’t a huge secret, and she wasn’t ashamed of it. “Relationships are hard man.” True fucking story.
Corn raised an eyebrow amused at the challenge Aurora sent his way.
"I can assure you, superstitions have been studied from a very early age. A lot of theologians have delved there as they look into one religion or another. Anthropologists too. And then, there are the occultists that have for millennia investigated the subject. I count myself in that later group. I dare say that my studies on superstitions including individual research, could easily beat a Ph.D.
Superstitions... let's take the black cat and why they were loathed in Italy. Some occultists, including me, put the superstition about black cats to certain elements that are easy to explain... with modern knowledge. Italy was devastated by the black plague. Not only it passed through North Italy twice in 50 years - killing about 2/3 of the population, but it was re-emerging there for centuries, devastating cities. We know now that the plague was not transmitted through rat bites but through flea bites, tics and bites of other insects. The fleas, tics etc of cats are far more likely to bite a human than fleas from a dog, as the fleas from cats are far more likely to seek a human host.
And that's the tip of the iceberg. There are more reasons, down to the very mundane: In a dark alley in pre-industrial times, you wouldn't see a black cat and when it turned to you with the eyes glowing in the reflected moonlight, you would be startled and scared. It would seem like the cat is spying on you.
Then there's religion.
And a lot more. And that's from the mundane sources alone.
I have the privilege to be able to check on the book-club side of things and there are more reasons for those superstitions in there. If you believe in such things as sorcery and the existence of witches that can turn to cats or speak with spirits etc... " one could guess what type of mage Corn was describing here
"you may be aware that some of the witches that were supposedly able to turn into cats could manipulate disease and had far more understanding than the average renaissance man on how disease works and spreads. And it is said that some of those witches in Genova were quite angry with the catholics so when the plague arrived they helped to spread it. It makes for fascinating fiction, really.
But studying the superstitions and understanding the reasons behind said superstitions gives one a better understanding of the world and how humanity thinks and reacts.
And also, an understanding of how much bullcrap humanity can buy if it is served the right way. There are a lot of superstitions that if you dig deeper have no 'solid' basis. It was as if a large conspiracy was putting an effort to divert the attention of the gullible that were looking for the supernatural to something made-up so they would chase their tail instead of asking the right questions or accidentally stumbling on the right answers.
You don't have to look too far in the past to find fake priests peddling snakeoil or cultists using hallucinogens to trick their followers etc. "
Man, that was a long monologue... Corn sheepishly looked at the other two.
"I guess I was carried away a bit. Long story short: There are elements of truth in many superstitions and sometimes even if there are not, you can glean useful info about the people that pushed said superstitions to muddle the waters. "
Right, when you thought about it, being just good looking was no guarantee to having successful relationships - he was kind of a living testament to that. "Yeah okay, I can see where you're coming from. But hey, you're pretty much settled here now, right? Maybe you could start looking here." Oops, that was the beer greasing his tongue. Oh well.
The alcohol really didn't help with keeping his attention during the lecture. Crystal was pretty sure at one point his eyes simply glazed over and he lost the Moros somewhere along the way. He suddenly got the feeling that he was way too over it for today to socialize further. The day practically started with academics and while the drinking and story-times were kind of fun, he also didn't want to rekindle the nerdy stuff. "Huh, wow that's really something to think about. Hey, you guys won't be mad if I call it night, will you?"
That was abrupt, but he also kind of was over spending a long time to ease them into him leaving. Besides, he delivered his intention charmingly, what's there to be mad about?
A slow nod, “Huh. Sounds like it could be an interesting field of study.” But wow, he liked to talk. And go into in-depth explanations.
“You are certainly passionate about what you talk about, can’t fault you there.” She didn’t have the desire to pop his balloon about it. Not right now anyways.
A shrug, “Yes and no. I should have been settled years ago when I came here.” Brief far away look, “Nah. I’m not really one for relationships, not one someone looks at and thinks relationship.” Shrugging, "But, whatever.” She was about ready to throw in the towel on the whole relationship thing.
Shaking her head, “Not at all. It is getting late, and there are some places I need to hit up. Did you need a ride or anything?” she asks.
"Thank you again for the beer Madison!" Corn said as the other mages were leaving. He quickly wiped the table cleaned the trash.
Bye fellas
Crystal munched down the last few pretzels he had grabbed earlier and got the last drops of beer out of his cup. "Nah thanks, I parked just around the corner. Thanks for the beer and thanks for offering this place." He gave each of them a short salute, grabbed his stuff and left. Hey, at least it wasn't an Irish exit.
Thanks for the scene!