OOC


Wendel picked up his phone and dialed the number he had received from the nice young lady he had met at the Written in Water bookstore. He was eager to begin his education in the base language all Mages used. It had been a hindrance to go without up until now but his own mentor had failed to pass along that crucial knowledge.

When the line connects Wendel speaks into the receiver, "Hello, Miss Lux? Toren here, hope I'm not being a bother, but do you have a free moment soon? I wanted to take you up on your offer for a language class." His words sounded amused but without mockery, sincere in his eagerness to learn.

"Oh, bonjour Toren, I'm glad you called, I was actually just about to contact you, as serendipity would have it. I arranged for a private room at the W-in-W, or Written in Water, rather, where we could begin the lessons. Mr. Four found a time that will suit his schedule so hopefully this should work," the Obrimos explained cheerfully, continuing to describe the time and date. "Just make sure to bring paper and some charcoal or graphite, the kind you'd find in an art store, and I'll see you there..."

Four walked into the W-i-W on the appointed day, looking around for Lux and Toren. He actually held a dry-erase board and an appropriate marker, seeing as he had them attached to his fridge normally and it would be cheaper to just use those instead buying a sheaf of paper.

He may have been getting a little too into his vow of poverty. "Hey Lux."

"Good to see you, Four," Lux replied from her seat a coffee table, glancing up from her book. She took a sip of tea, her eyes casually tracing over the tall man before zeroing in on the dry erase board, and a flaming brow rose in distaste.

"That," she said, gesturing at the board, "that is not going to do...I don't mean to sound like a snit, but there is a reason for why I said to bring paper and charcoal. Don't worry though," she continued, softening the reproof with a small smile, "for today I should have enough with me to share." A small shopping bag with an art media design attested to the Thearchs statement.

The Giant groans, feeling a bit foolish. "Agh, Well, I'll figure out something for next time. Would a normal pencil and printer paper work?"

Wendel, or Toren as he called himself now, strode into the familiar setting of Written in Water, his eyes searching for the young lady and his towering acquaintance. It was not difficult to spot the man who stood a whole head higher than anyone nearby. In tow he held a black plastic case with his assortment of drafting supplies. However, just in case, he followed Lux's literal request and held a small plastic shopping bag with an art store logo on it that contained a bit of charcoal and roll of paper that stuck out the end.

When he got within speaking distance he waved and greeted them, "Hello, fellow students of the world! I've brought a spongy mind ready to soak up knowledge," and tapped his shiny bald noggin dutifully.

"Printer paper would work, but you should have something besides a pencil. Don't worry about it, I'll make sure to bring extra supplies in the future. It is my job to make sure you learn this, after all," Lux said to Four, just before Toren walked up.

"Welcome Toren," the Obrimos said in greeting, rising from her seat with supplies and tea in hand. "Now that we're here, I'll lead the way to the room. I've got a small spiel prepared, so I'll just tell it on the way.

"So, to begin, I will say that we are about to embark upon not just the learning of a language, but also an assimilation of culture and a deepening of understanding, not only of our ancestors but also of all the corners of the universe. This is a no small task, for indeed much of it has been lost and it is wide in scope, but the two of you have already been set apart from most, and I'm sure that you'll gain command of the language much faster than I originally did. But, before we begin, please ask any preliminary questions, and then answer me this:" the Obrimos proclaimed, turning to face her pupils as they stepped into the private room, "what is language? What are words?"

Four visible relaxes, relieved that he doesn't have to worry about those expenses and nods gratefully before pondering Lux's speech and question. "Language is the power to communicate ideas. Wait, more than that, they allow you to form and mold ideas. Like... Like taking a lump of ambiguous image-thoughts and then refining them into one coherent, clear concept and expression. Language allows your mind to first refine those thoughts into anything, and then express them to the world." He's reasonably confident that he at least partly answered Lux's question correctly.

Taking a seat in the private room provided for them, Toren sets out his case and takes out the charcoal and parchment from the bag. He listens to Lux introductory explanation and nods thoughtfully, his finger and thumb placed decoratively at his chin. Four takes the initiative and answers the question posed to them which Toren considers as well. Surely language is the manifestation of thought. What would he answer?

"Language is symbolism, subjective and malleable. A word, the utterance of sound only has meaning when absorbed by others, and its interpretation is only by the will of the listener. Text is the solid medium of language, a lasting impression, evidence of the word," he replied slowly, considering his words carefully, ironically. "Art has a language, music, and architecture too. They're like instructions sometimes, and others are like poetry. But words are at their essence a tool, a tool of the will of the user?" he offered, looking to Lux for confirmation. That's what he was here for, was to acquire an important tool, a resource to use for his endeavors as a mage.

Lux waited until each mage had spoken and then nodded. "You're both right, even though you're answers were slightly different but still very similar in nature...Although, I suppose saying 'right' would be incorrect concerning how dubious philosophical definitions can be...Either way, at their core, words are a tool used to shape thought, and thus will, and language is a much larger structure that supports our thoughts and even gives a framework the determines how we think. This is especially true in the context of High Speech, for the ideas that lie behind every word and sentence is suffused directly into the supernal and when used, alters the nature of supernal energies. In short, this is because the Exarchs and the Oracles, the rulers of the Supernal realms, have bound the supernal to their own tongue, much as you, as English speakers, subject the world to your tongue.

"Now, why don't you each pick a single word, write it down, and then explain how that word, and your understanding of it, distinctly shape the nature of how you perceive that word."

Four thinks slowly, debating on which word he'd use. His Shadow name had many meanings to him, but that was... egotistical. He really wait, it could just be any word. "Police. Of the people, a protector, guardian... Someone capable of taking violent action to protect people from the greater threat. My Father was a Police Officer. My sister could have been, if she ever got her GED... I respect them, I respect the confidence that's needed to to act in murky situations when you aren't exactly sure who's the greater threat. The Arrows are like that. To another extent... I'm jealous of people who can act in that way. I... couldn't. Not to the same life-and death consequences that the Police or the Arrows do. I would have joined the police if I could stomach the idea of the necessity of killing another."

Ah, learning how to put power in a word, interesting, thought Toren inwardly. "Building," he chose, the hard brittle charcoal making its mark on the page. "Both the act and the result of effort and design, erecting a structure, a container, reflected in culture, history, and technique. Buildings, the homes of our ancestors, the protectors of valuables. Some are meant for faith, some are meant for security, but they are all meant for protection, to raise a man up above his base instincts for survival."

"Interessant," Lux said, sketching the chosen words down and staring at them while she listened to each man give his description. She wrote a rune down on the paper and then turned it around so that Toren and Four could view what was written.

"With both of the words that were chosen, it's easy to see how the meaning of the word extends far beyond it's simple definition, or if you want to be technical it's dictionary definition. In a way, the word 'Police'," she continued underlining the word, "implies violence and sacrafice to you, Four, and also holds a reflection of your personal experience in it's meaning. The same applies to you, Toren, as the word 'Building' extends to suggests man's devotion to ascend beyond his base means. At face value, those 'implications' are submerged under other meaning, but they still exist there. Now, this concept of dual meaning is very important to keep in mind because, being the fragmented language that it is, in High Speech it is sometimes necessary to use words in a metaphorical sense because we lack the proper word, or because this altered meaning more accurately reflects our will. This is not always the case, often the strict and literal word for something is necessary to be used, as the definitions of some words differ from their English counterparts. Hence, the first word that you'll both learn is this," she explained tapping the rune. "This is 'Meaning', or 'Being'. It's a word that is often used in the Prime Arcanum and the Gross Arcanum. For instance, if I were to say that a word means 'Fire', that word would also be Fire, as in a literal flame, one that my will would call forth, but it would also indicate burning, destruction, light, heat, and energy as Fire is all of those things. Now, why don't you try and apply this concept taking the subjests of the sentence and indicating how their 'meaning' and 'being' affect what you're communicating."

Toren nods, his interest enthused and brow raised attentively as Lux speaks, not that he fully understands it just yet. "Neato. So when using High Speech would you have to be careful about miscommunication? Couldn't that easily lead to an undesired result as you're manifesting your intentions?" As he asks he takes out his sheet and attempts to mimic the rune Being with his charcoal. He then thinks on the whole of the word Building and the inherent meaning behind it, wondering if it could be mistaken with Ascension or Foundation. He wondered if Buildings could be built downward or sideways, and then his thoughts started to fall apart from there.

Lux glanced at Toren and Four, and paused, realizing that she'd tried to bring in too many components at once.

"Lets...back up a step. To answer your question, though, when you use High Speech, miscomunication can become an issue due to the fact that it is a broken language, and words must be borrowed or aproximated in order to fill in some of the gaps. Now, if you choose the wrong word to fill in a gap, you can mis-influence the supernal, and thus make a spell harder to be cast, or you can confuse someone who you're communicating with. Another, well, difficulty of High Speech is that some of the words do not translate directly into English.

"For the present though, ignore what I said about using words metaphorically. We'll get to that, but I shouldn't have mentioned it. Instead look at the example I gave with 'Fire'. When you say 'Fire' in High Speech, you're naming that energy directly, but you're also naming what it does, such as burn, consume, heat, and provide light. You need to take both of those facets of meaning into account, since the why the word is used in a sentence determines what is being adressed. If 'Fire' is put with certain words, it means 'Burning', or 'Heat', instead of just 'Fire' because that is the proper subject of what you're trying to say. Does that make sense? Maybe try and pick a few words to try the concept on, just like I picked 'Fire'."

"That... Actually doesn't help me much. More 'cause Fire is the best example for that. I mean..." He drifts off, trying the think of a word that is and DOES... "I suppose water could be used? It's the liquid, but the liquid is also known for dissolving almost anything, for moving with a heck of a lot force. But it's not as clear-cut an example as Fire."

Something clicked in Toren's head for a moment. "Ah!" he said, as if he had said 'eureka', "So you're saying words in High Speech are like a merged verb/noun hybrid. It's like they're whole pieces of a singular concept, right? So every aspect of fire is culminated in the meaning of fire and defined in the word, thus the word is essentially fire. I see why you would use a metaphor to describe them, that's tricky stuff." He rubbed his chin furiously in thought, "So for 'Building' it wouldn't really be Building, it'd be like Structure of Sturdy Foundation and High Reaching Walls that House and Protect While Providing Exit and Entry?"

"...Well, Building would actually be more like 'An arrangement of Elements' since the verb Building is basically 'purposefully arranging Elements', and I mean periodic table elements. You're thinking more along the lines of 'House'. Still though, I believe that you both understand the concept? Here, why don't we do this," Lux continued, explaining the next activity. Ten minutes later she began schooling them on recognizing the meaning of certain words so they would be able to get the gist of the signs around the WiW or any other location with High Speech runes warning against willworking. An hour and 3 pages later, she declared that they would be wrapping up.

"However, before you two go, there is one more thing that we need to discuss. If you remember when we first discussed this, I mentioned that there would be a form of payment that I require if you wish to take these lessons. What we've gone over today is a preview, if you will, and I'm glad I was able to tell you at least that much about our heritage. Nevertheless, these lessons will teach you an incredibly valuable tool and thus I ask that you both agree to owe me one, singular favor in return for teaching you High Speech. Note that this is a favor, not a command, and that you could choose whether you perform it or not, but it still might require you to go out of your way at some time or other. Also, I do admit that this was a rough start today, so I understand if you wish to seek this knowledge elsewhere...That said, will you agree to these terms?"

Toren replied brightly, "Of course, Miss Lux, one can't expect something for nothing, after all." He was just glad she hadn't asked for money, since he wasn't doing so well financially. A favor was something easy to fulfill and he was happy to repay her anyways for taking the time to help him. Her lesson was insightful and was putting his own magics into perspective. It was almost like a new awakening, a complimentary awakening perhaps. He wondered why his Mentor never took the time to educate him in High Speech. Maybe he thought Toren wouldn't pick it up very well, or maybe he thought it wasn't important, or maybe he secretly hoped Toren would be shut out of the Consilium because of it. He'd have to ask the next time he saw him.

"Thank you for your time spent helping us in our understanding of this interesting language. I do look forward to our next session and thereafter!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.

"I would be glad to owe you a favor in the future. I quite enjoyed this, even if there was some confusion." Four gives an easy smile and a nod, clearly showing his interest in continuing.

"Excellent!" Lux beamed. "It's a pleasure working with both of you. We should meet at least a few times a week, but I'm sure we can work out whatever we need to."