Just a Bystander

Familial Ties

When it was time for Basics of Artificing back in the Nivordin Lecture Hall, I found myself seated at the front row again with the rest of my dorm mates. There was a little tension between us, but Jerric offered a handshake and tried to smooth things over and we all exchanged apologetic looks before taking our places.

I was actually quite nervous about this lecture. After the last two classes, I wouldn't be surprised if I had some new revelatory look at arcanophany that would challenge my view of the world, but that wasn't what made me feel even more on edge. It was the lecturer.

He quietly entered the room exactly at the clock struck two. The conversation in the hall died down, but not as a result of some heavy auric arcana. Silence swept through the hall as everyone's eyes took in the lecturer's appearance. He was dressed ordinarily enough - black pants, business shoes, a brown vest over a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up. What was remarkable was that he had five polished silver spheres drifting vaguely around him. They did not stay in any formation, but there was something clearly organic about the way they moved - the immediate impression was that they were extensions of his body, like how someone's arms might naturally sway as they walk.

On my left, Ambrose leaned forward with a frown. I saw him take in the lecturer's face - his dark brown hair flecked with streaks of grey, the fierce, thick eyebrows, the hawkish nose and high cheekbones. Then he turned to look at me, mapping the resemblance, his eyebrows raised in dawning comprehension.

'Caden Dundale,' he whispered.

Devon was on my right, so he heard. He stiffened and looked from the lecturer to me, then back to the lecturer again. It was almost comical. I grit my teeth and nodded.

'You said your father is an artificier. You didn't say he teaches artificing,' he hissed.

'Welcome, everyone, to my lecture on the Basics of Artificing,' my father said. 'I am Everett Dundale, and I'll be taking you for this semester.' His eyes flicked to the empty desk in front of him. 'It looks like everyone's here, so let's get straight to it.'

I knew my father didn't possess a flawless memory, so it seemed unlikely that he had memorised everyone's names and faces. Neither was it possible that he had been able to count us all off in just one glance. It seemed that the desk itself was somehow helping the lecturers to track our attendance. Reeves hadn't done any roll call either and just seemed to know whether there was anyone missing. It was reasonable to assume that the desk also helped the lecturer identify the students, perhaps by displaying our names in their field of vision. If that was true, then it was a bit of a relief to know that there was a mundane explanation. Reeves was scary enough with his level of control over auric arcana without adding a flawless memory to the mix.

But my father definitely had a different air about him. I was actually surprised at how striking a figure he cut, standing there with those mysterious orbs floating around him. I had never seen this side of him before.

'Artificing is a field that exists at the intersection between the study of glyphs and the study of arcana, both auric and ambient. I will not be covering old ground, so please keep up with the work my colleagues are giving you. In our lectures, we will look at the principles of designing artefacts, drawing on the glyphic vocabulary you have as well as your understanding of the underpinning principles of arcana itself. It will be mostly theory and observation as we will need to make sure that you have a thorough understanding of the basics before we allow you to begin making your own artefacts. But rest assured, there will be plenty to do with your hands even if you're not building anything just yet.'

'So!' He clapped his hands together eagerly. The orbs around him bobbed in the air, moving seamlessly with his body. 'Let's start with definitions. What is an artefact?'