Large double doors, standing ajar, led into the building. Once ornate carvings must have adorned the grand oak, but weather and the ages had left their mark, warping them beyond recognition. Panha cleared away a tangle of spiderwebs with a gloved hand before stepping into the gloom within.
"It's a little sad," she reflected, lowering to a murmur when her voice echoed through the small chamber. Her Keeper eyes adjusted easily to the darkness, and she beheld the fallen majesty of one of Nym's great academies as she made her way down the aisle that separated the rows of seats. Bookshelves lined the walls; to her disappointment they were left bare, either secreted away by the scholars as they fled whatever catastrophe befell this place or taken by looters. Fragments of stone littered the floor, fallen from the walls and vaulted ceiling. There were windows, most of them miraculously intact, but so layered with dust that little light filtered through them. The largest of these centered behind a grand podium that stood upon a dais at the far end of the auditorium. "Imagine what could have been, had Nym's influence spread even farther beyond Vylbrand."Â
Soon, Panha climbed the short steps that led to the dais and circled round to stand behind the podium. Wiping away a thick layer of dust, she swept her gaze over the seats. In another time, it might have been her addressing the grand assembly, lecturing disciples in the theorems of Arcanima. She dismissed the thought at once from her mind - she was no great scholar of auld; she was barely a journeyman arcanist, only a few moons fresh from her studies at Mealvaan's Gate!Â
Her head lowered, silver-white bangs falling free to hide the sardonic smile from the male's eyes, and then started when a glint of silver caught her eye on the floor below. Lowering herself to a crouch, she cleared away the thick dust to reveal more of the pattern that was etched into the very rock. "Ahh," she breathed, marvelling. "Ken, I think I've found something!"
"It's a little sad," she reflected, lowering to a murmur when her voice echoed through the small chamber. Her Keeper eyes adjusted easily to the darkness, and she beheld the fallen majesty of one of Nym's great academies as she made her way down the aisle that separated the rows of seats. Bookshelves lined the walls; to her disappointment they were left bare, either secreted away by the scholars as they fled whatever catastrophe befell this place or taken by looters. Fragments of stone littered the floor, fallen from the walls and vaulted ceiling. There were windows, most of them miraculously intact, but so layered with dust that little light filtered through them. The largest of these centered behind a grand podium that stood upon a dais at the far end of the auditorium. "Imagine what could have been, had Nym's influence spread even farther beyond Vylbrand."Â
Soon, Panha climbed the short steps that led to the dais and circled round to stand behind the podium. Wiping away a thick layer of dust, she swept her gaze over the seats. In another time, it might have been her addressing the grand assembly, lecturing disciples in the theorems of Arcanima. She dismissed the thought at once from her mind - she was no great scholar of auld; she was barely a journeyman arcanist, only a few moons fresh from her studies at Mealvaan's Gate!Â
Her head lowered, silver-white bangs falling free to hide the sardonic smile from the male's eyes, and then started when a glint of silver caught her eye on the floor below. Lowering herself to a crouch, she cleared away the thick dust to reveal more of the pattern that was etched into the very rock. "Ahh," she breathed, marvelling. "Ken, I think I've found something!"
Panha Molkot - Arcanist of the Morbolvine Clan
