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Kara coughed as she entered her grandfather's study in the back of Bauerburg's library. The thick layer of dust hanging in the air was almost too much to bear, so full was the room of ancient texts and artifacts. With a little love and care it would have been a truly magical place, but in its current state she was convinced that it was simply a hazard to the health of any who entered. She silently assured herself that the visit would be a short one, and that she would likely survive.
She hoped.
With a slight frown and a frustrated sigh, she continued onward. As she expected, Orin sat at his trademark desk, poring over what seemed like a hundred different books all at once. He jumped between them seemingly at random, occasionally muttering incoherent phrases under his breath. The uninitiated would call him mad, but Kara knew much better than that. He had lived far more years than most were fortunate enough to see, but he remained in complete control of his faculties. Those faculties were, for lack of a better word, absolutely brilliant.
Another sigh. "If only the world could see you as I do, grandfather." She stepped forward and tapped him on the shoulder, putting on her best and least-worried smile. She waited for him to turn fully around before greeting him. "Hello grandpa!"
"THERE'S NO NEED TO YELL!" Kara winced as the old man screamed at the top of his lungs. As intelligent as he was, he had been born completely deaf, and so volume was a concept he had never quite gotten the hang of. You got used to it after a while, but it could still be quite jarring as he adjusted himself to each situation. Luckily, he could understand your speech so long as he could see your lips move, and often better than you understood it yourself. "THIS IS A LIBRARY!"
"Of course, grandpa. My apologies. I'll try to be quieter."
Orin blinked a few times, forcing his eyes to readapt to the darkness. Suddenly, they lit up and a wide grin found its way onto his face. "Kara! My beautiful granddaughter, how are you?" With some great effort he rose from his chair and wrapped her in a warm embrace. "What fortune has caused you to visit this old man?"
She allowed him a moment to sit back down and pulled an extra chair from behind a stack of books. "I'm worried about you, grandpa. You've been locked in this study for weeks now! Mother thought you died in here. Honestly, what have you been up to?"
"OH!" The exclamation as accompanied by a wild gesture, his excitement clear. He quickly reached behind him and pulled a hefty tome from the center of the cluttered desk. Unlike most of the others scattered about, this had barely any dust on it at all. It also only had a single page of writing that Kara couldn't even begin to interpret. "It's actually rather brilliant! You see, I've discovered an alternative method of spontaneous spellcasting using a combination of the Archivist's Lemma and the Samson variant of the Planar Conjecture from Bundrella's Second Thesis! I'll spare you the details, of course, but what I've managed to accomplish is to directly manifest knowledge as an actionable force! It consumes the written version of the spell, which has proven to be slightly problematic, but I'm still in the early stages of my research, so I'm confident that at some point I'll be able to make the process more efficient... Oh yes! Your question. I've been studying, mostly. You see my standard array of spells can circumvent the need for this new method, so I needed a control group of some kind, and have delved into the arcane as a mechanism of attaining an unsullied sample. I can't quite cast get this one to trigger yet, but it's a wonderful tool. I picked up a scroll to test the effects, and as a result I can now see magical auras eternally! Concentrate a little bit and this whole room lights up in a sea of colour. It's spectacular. Someday I hope I can share it with you. But I digress. The process takes time, which is why I've been here researching."
He took in a deep breath, clearly intending to continue, but the look of confusion on Kara's face caused the words to catch in his throat, which he promptly cleared. "I'm quite alright, I can assure you, but I do appreciate your visit."
The scholar's cheeks burned red at her warm smile, causing the slightest chuckle to emerge from her throat. She looked over his shoulder to the desk behind him and noticed that there were two other books identical to the one he held. "What are those?"
He glanced back. "Oh, well since this process consumes the spell I cast it's more efficient to have a duplicate at the ready." He waited for a moment, but the look of expectation on her face didn't fade. She clearly thought he intended to elaborate. He did not. "It's a magic thing, trust me."
"So why are there two?"
"Hmm?" He looked back again, his brow crinkled in confusion. As soon as he did so, he let out a knowing laugh. "Oh, the other is my personal spellbook."
"I thought you didn't need a spellbook."
"Oh, I don't." He pulled the book from the desk. It had the words Orin's Spells hastily scribbled on the cover. "It's more of an accounting thing. It's literally just a book of my spells." Sure enough, the pages of the book were filled with endless lists of spells and brief descriptions, all written in common. Her look of incredulity was met with a simple shrug. "I'm getting old," he offered. "Couldn't hurt to have a backup."
She laughed as she handed it back. "But look around you! There are so many books here! Why keep another? And look at these…" She picked one at random from the top of a pile. The cover read: Cat Characteristics: Wild Cat Supplemental.
She was silent then, her mouth hanging open and prepared to voice words that never came. After a moment she allowed it to close and opened the book instead. As she did so, one of the pages tore slightly.
Orin immediately sprang into action. "Oh no!" It was a whisper, but his panic was clear on his face as he rushed forward and gingerly lifted the book. He silently waved his fingers above the book, and the page slowly but surely stitched itself back together. The old mage let out a sigh as he placed the book back on one of the room's many shelves. "Please be careful, my dear. These are precious."
Kara raised an eyebrow. "Grandpa, that's a picture book for children. They printed thousands of copies and sell them for a handful of gold each."
He placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "All knowledge is precious, my child. It is a thing to be protected. One day you will understand."
For those interested, his character sheet can be found here.
