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...character info....

Name: Vivian Shalangi
Nickname: Vi, Swamp-child (to childhood friends only, he hates it)
Sex: Male
Age: 15
Type: Time Mage
Species: Crane
Position: Uke
Personality: Serious/Bookish
Ability: TickTock - Using a clock or other instrument for measuring time as a focus for manipulation, can cause a temporary acceleration, rewind, or halt of time. This has only a small range at this time, and the only thing it can reliably affect at all times is Vivian himself.
Turn ons: Sake, books, and birds.
Turn offs: Being interrupted.
Looks: Quite short, only about five feet tall, and wiry. His hair is extremely pale lavendar, while his eyes are startlingly green. He has natural white feathers here and there on his body, most notably above his pointed ears, just below his wrists, at his ankles, and a 'tail' of sorts on his backside. His neck is just a bit oddly long, just enough to make people look at him twice to try and figure out what's 'off' about him. He wears mage robes that go down to the ground, and tries to cultivate a dignified appearance - unfortunately, he's so small that he usually ends up looking more like he's drowning in fabric than anything else.

Education: Just a bit from his Northern peasant village, most of what he knows is practical knowledge. He can read, though, and whenever there are books in range he devours them voraciously. Vivian is largely self-taught, but he thinks he knows a lot....
Occupation: Mage, would-be student.
Marital status: Single
Family: He thinks of the people in his old village as 'family'; he was a foundling there.
Diction/accent: Slight country accent that he's DESPERATELY trying to get rid of; uses big words often to try and seem cultured and educated. This does not always work.
Relationships: None, since he left his dying village behind.
Sexual history: None.
Places: Currently, he lives in the home of the Masters (see History) in Elysium. The home is of modest means, but to Vivian it seems a palace.
Possessions: Several small timepieces of various types, a collection of highly impractical but theoretically impressive mage robes, a big ol' suitcase full of books that he can barely drag around.
Hobbies: Reading, research, magic practice, going to the theater/opera, more reading, swimming, birdwatching, still more reading...
Obsessions: Reading, learning, becoming 'cultured'.

Beliefs: As is common in the young and book-snobbish, is rather "bah!" about most beliefs, and is willing to impart his theories on why anything isn't real at any given time. This results in him getting thrown out of places a lot.
Politics: Anything that lets him be left alone with books - or that gives him a useful stage to learn and impart his learning as grandly as possible.
Ambitions: Become truly educated and cultured in everything, such that people look up to him as a venerable source of knowledge; become a great and amazing mage. Generally, he wants people to think as highly of him as he personally thinks he is.
Religion: None. Gods are constructs of imagination, etcetera etcetera, won't you come to his lecture on the subject later? No? Ah well...
Superstitions: Despite his learning, he's never been able to quite convince himself away from one old folk superstition from his village - that of never turning your back on a full moon at night. He can't quite remember what's supposed to happen if you do, only that it's supposed to be quite bad and possibly involve swamp mud monsters.
Fears: Being wrong; being seen as uncultured or ignorant.
Attitude: He's, um, a bit of an elitist snob. But he does mean well, and he really really does want to learn. When there's new things to learn, he's enthusiastic and happy - it's only afterwards, when he gets smug, that people should run away or be assaulted with a lecture. Also, he's rather naive about city life and 'street smarts', although if you asked him he wouldn't admit to that.
Inwardly, he sort of hides behind his knowledge... what's that, how am I feeling? Why, look, wouldn't you like to hear about my dissertation...? No? Ah well...


Taste in books/music/etc: Almost any kind of book, ESPECIALLY the 'classics' and anything that's considered fine reading for those of good literary taste. (He won't read trashy novels or things like that.... in public, anyway.) With music, he loves classical and opera and won't listen to much else.
Foods: He likes trying just about anything, provided it's cultural or has some 'value' to it. He especially adores seafood, and has a weakness for raw fish and lightly seared frog's legs. His favorite sweet is honey. However, Vivian won't eat any sort of poultry or bird. Ever. To drink, he likes warm sake (just a glass at a time, he'd NEVER get drunk), sherry, or jasmine tea.
Handwriting: Neat cursive with a lot of un-needed flourishes, just to make it look more sophisticated.
Astrological sign: Gemini
Talents: Sharp memory, time manipulation, quick recall, extremely agile/fast (if not encumbered by robes), speed reading.

History: Vivian grew up in the North, in a small village near a large stretch of marshlands, where he was found abandoned as a baby on the steps of the village gathering hall.

Vivian was trained by some older men who lived in the swamplands, nomadic-style - so, for several months out of each year, he would join them on their swamp-trawler, catching frogs, eels, fish, valuable deep-swamp plants, and so on - while learning magic from them. The two men never quite explained why magic-users came to be trawling in the swamps, but Vivian's impression was that this was a sort of escapism for them. He referred to them both as Master. During the rest of the year, he lived in the village and did odd jobs, mostly the same type of things he did while travelling with the Masters, only without the magic.

Then, when Vivian was 15, Imperial began to die. The tiny village was hard to access and blocked away from most major cities by a mountain range, and not many demons or other beasts thought the village worth the trouble it would take to get there. Still, the magic was breaking and dying, and this was more than Vivian could bear...

That summer, the Masters invited Vivian to come away with them when they left, and he accepted. To his surprise, once they wound their way through the vastness of the swamp, they found a brackish area where the swamplands began to feed into the sea - and there, a large yacht waiting. The swamp trawling really had been mere escapism. Wide-eyed, Vivian gladly let the Masters, whose true names he now knew - Shale Alkarsh and Calim Greyfelt - lead him across the sea to Elysium. Currently, Vivian is trying to get on his feet in the home of the Masters, and craves entry into the Hallaverd Academy.

...a meeting in the library...

Vivian thought he'd never seen anything as wonderful as the library in his whole life. The building was big enough to easily house his village, which was amazing on it's own, but the fact that the whole thing was dedicated to *books*... He stood in the foyer just looking around in awe, until his companions had to shake him a little to snap him out of it. "Have fun, swampling... we're going up to one of the research rooms. We'll find you when we're done," Calim said, patting Vivian on the shoulder and giving him a gentle shove towards the lines of shelves.

Vivian almost felt like the masses of books and wood paneling would swallow him up, and when he turned around again he couldn't see Calim and Shale anymore, but there were books... so many books... he grabbed a few at random and toddled awkwardly towards the nearest table, trying not to trip over his robes.

Setosa glanced up as his peripheral vision caught a flicker of motion. Someone was headed towards the table he sat at; the newcomer had an armful of books and a starry-eyed expression on his face. Set recognized that look. Silently, he moved his own stack of materials a few inches to make room for the lavender-haired male to set his books down. In spite of the interruption tohis concentration, he couldn't help feeling a spark of kinship with the expression of rapt attention the other wore.

Vivian barely noticed the presence of anything but the books, and he sat down on the nearest empty chair with a rapt expression on his face before pulling the top book off the small stack and opening it. However, his expectant look slowly changed to one of frustration. "Children's stories? I don't want those. I require something literary."
He glanced around to see if anyone had recognized his fine tastes, and was dissapointed.

Set put his pen down and regarded the other with amusement. "Perhaps you should make use of the card catalog," he suggested.

Vivian jumped as if startled, and looked at the other Dou as though he hadn't noticed him before. "Oh. Yes, of course. I was just going to do so, excuse me," he mumbled, getting up and setting off in exactly the wrong direction.

"It's in the other direction," Set pointed out, expressionless. "Past the stacks to the databanks on the dividing wall."

Vivian immediately pivoted on one foot, though he wobbled - the voluminous robes he was wearing got in the way of any quick movements. "I knew that. I was... studying the shelves," he muttered at Set as he hrumphed past. This was not turning into a good day.
After a few minutes, though, he came back, shoulders slumped. "Stacks of what?" he asked Set, defeated.

Set did an admirable job of not laughing, though his lips did quirk in a quick smile. "The shelves. They are called stacks." He paused and played idly with his pen. "Would you like me to show you where the catalog is?"

"Very well," Vivian muttered. Any hope of appearing knowledgable and sophisticated with this person was clearly already destroyed, so what did it matter? "Thank you," he added, grudgingly, after a few seconds.

Set made a minor production of putting aside his pen and shutting the notebook he'd been taking notes in (currently filled with diagrams, equations, and arcane terms), and rose, padding past Vivian. "Follow me." He glanced back to be sure Vivian was following, and asked, "Is there anything specific you're looking for?"

Vivian spotted a chance to redeem himself, and took it. "Something stimulating," he said, smoothly, standing up a bit straighter. "Something to challenge and broaden the horizons of the mind, yes. Something advanced. I'm quite learned, you know," he added, hopefully.

... Ridiculous. Set stopped in front of the catalog screens, and turned to face Vivian, raising an eyebrow. "Actions speak louder than words," he said coolly. "I'm certain you can find something you'd like in the database. If you need help, come and ask me. There is little point in fumbling blindly."

Vivian opened his mouth and closed it. Several times. "I don't know what I'm looking for," he mumbled, finally, an embarrassed flush spreading across his face. "But I want to read and learn something new. There's just so much, I've never seen so much." And the look of hunger in his eyes WAS genunine, although he still was looking fixedly at the ground and not meeting Set's gaze in the least.

The other eyebrow went up. That was a bit of a surprise - he'd expected the other to decline help in a huff. Set's estimation of the newcomer went up several notches. "Do you have a specific area of interest?" he asked, folding his hands behind his back. "Information on almost anything can be found here." There was a faint note of pride in his voice at that. The library might not belong to him specifically. But it was his library.

"Everything!" Vivian said instantly, looking up, his voice earnest. "I want to learn about everything! I want to be a great sage, you know. And a great mage," he confided, leaning in a little closer. If he'd had a tail, it would have been wagging a mile a minute.

Set kept a straight face with some difficulty. "An admirable goal," he said dryly. "What level of education have you achieved? I would not want to start you on something too simple."

"Uhm.... I'm not sure?" Vivian fiddled awkwardly with the hem of one draping sleeve. "There wasn't a school in my village. Calim and Shale taught me. They're wonderful ," he added, eyes bright with adoration. "They brought me here. To this city, I mean. And the library too. But I know a lot. Um, I think," he added, looking away for a moment as if expecting to be chastised for claiming to know a lot.

"Hmmm." Set tapped a finger against his chin, then turned and busied himself with one of the consoles. He didn't explain what he was doing, but neither did he hide it - if Vivian was paying attention, he might be able to observe the process for himself. "Here," he said. "World history - I will assume you can think and that your tutors have given you a good grounding. If it is too simple, there are better ones. Likewise, if it is too complex, there are more basic." He paused and tapped on the screen with a finger. "The numbers are how one finds specific volumes. Subjects are placed by number. Each shelf is marked; the individual books are marked on their spines." He looked back to Vivian. "Clear enough?"

Vivian looked at the screen with a serious expression. "I understand," he said, finally. "History is an excellent subject. Really, nearly all fields of knowledge connect to the study of history in some way." He stood up straighter, clearly pleased with himself, then deflated a little lest Set whack him with words again. "Honest, it is," he added, in a smaller voice.

Set eyed Vivian. "All fields are intertwined," he said, a little pompously. "History, the sciences, the arts; there is nothing that is not connected to something else." Being so clearly deferred to was simultanously pleasing and irritating, but he couldn't resist letting it inflate his ego somewhat.

"It is, it is!" Vivian said enthusiastically, admiration shining in his eyes. "Are you a scholar to- um, I mean, are you a scholar?"

Set folded his hands. "I am a perpetual student," he said. "I must necessarily focus on my work often, but learning for its own sake is one of the great pleasures of life."

"It is, it is!" Vivian repeated happily. "What is your work? Um. I'm Vivian, by the way," he added, shyly.

"I study the effects of ambient and specific magic on wild and cultivated flora," Set said, pride in his voice. "My name is Setosa Imbriss. I discovered the trace-element mineral effect of biomagical lighting in hydroponic environments," he added. He would be surprised if Vivian recognized his work - it was not, after all, the stuff of mainstream publication - but perhaps ...

Vivian looked surprised. "That sounds... important," he said, finally. "Um. Hydroponic....?"

Set flicked his fingers. "It's minor enough," he said dismissively. But he was pleased. "Hydroponic cultivation refers to growing plants without soil," he explained. "The environment must be carefully balanced for optimum results."

"Without soil? How do you do that, do you make the plants float in-mid air? Is that what the magic is for?" The questions came rapid-fire.

"The roots are immersed in a nutrient solution, instead of filtering the required nurtients through soil," Set said. "Magic plays various roles in cultivation - the use you refer to has occasionally been tried, though results are mixed. More often, it is used directly to encourage plant growth, grafting, fertilization, or mutation; or indirectly, such as in greenhouse lighting." How odd. He felt rather like a teacher at the moment.

"Are there books about that? It sounds interesting." Vivian leaned forward and tapped the screen experimentally.

"I can certainly direct you to some essential basic texts," Set offered. "Here. This is the search function." He brought up a screen filled with titles.

"Is there some book that's good to start learning with?" Vivian asked, quickly tapping the screen so that the list of titles scrolled.

"This one is a good starting point." Set tapped an entry. "The book will be on the next level up, towards the back wall and to the left. Write down the number and the information so that you can find it." He straightened. "I will return to my notes. If you are in need of help, you may ask me."

"Thank you! Um." Vivian quickly vanished into the shelves, then returned, book in hand, and sat down right by where Set had been making notes earlier.

Set returned sedately to his stack of books and flipped his notebook back open, flicking through the pages of the text he'd been using. When Vivian reappeared, he glanced up and nodded briefly, then returned to his work.