Hiram makes an offer
This is part of the really long project I'm working on. Hiram is the head of the Collective, the ruling body of the multiverse and he has come to make a man called Wolf an offer. Any and all feedback you can give me would be wonderful. I have no idea why I wrote this in present tense.
"You can cure your mother if you become the Alezrani," Hiram said. He sounded like he was talking about the weather. From what Wolf had heard about him, he could have been. They were in the living room. Hiram had shown up half an hour earlier and told Wolf that he was selected to become the next Alezrani. Wolf hadn't believed him at first; Seres had the bad habit of signing him up for studies where he was required to be a test subject...those didn't end very well. He had let Hiram in and then Hiram had told him this.
Wolf shook his head. "You're lying. The metges said she couldn't be cured."
Hiram nodded. "That is true, the metges do not have the power to cure her. However, if you become the Alezrani, you will."
"And what's the catch," Wolf asked him. Hiram had shown up, early for a Saturday and told him that he had an offer to make.
Hiram hesitated, shifting a little on his feet. They were miniscule shifts that Wolf normally wouldn't catch, but Hiram had mentioned his mother. "There is one….but it's a reasonable catch."
"Reasonable?" Crane was a prankster; whenever she used that word to describe something, he had learned to ask questions.
Hiram nodded. "Yes, reasonable. You know all that power must come with a price. This one is very reasonable indeed."
"Your point?" Wolf shifted, glaring at him.
"You have to become Elaragnia's caretaker." There was silence for a few moments. The air around them seemed to be listening in.
"Are you mad?" He should have seen this coming. The offer had seemed to good to be true. He wondered why he hadn't recognized the term earlier.
"You want me to take care of the multiverse?"
Hiram drew out a sheet of paper with numerous, complex, calculations on it. "Yes...according to these, you are the most able to handle it." Wolf took the sheet and studied it. It didn't make any sense to him. Perhaps Seres could figure it out.
"Can I keep this?"
Hiram shook his head and tried to sound regretful. "I'm sorry, but those calculations must be kept secret. We wouldn't want anyone to use those for anything malevolent." That sounded reasonable to Wolf, but the whole thing was a bit suspicious.
"Can I have some time to think about this?"
Hiram smiled. It reminded Wolf of the sharks on Marrazo. "Of course, but we need to get this done as soon as possible. I will require an answer by tomorrow."
That wasn't much time. Wolf really didn't like this at all. He forced a smile. "I understand. I'll call you?"
Hiram waved a hand. "No need...I'll come personally."
Wolf nodded and Hiram stood. "I'll come for my answer at 7 tomorrow morning."
"Understood." That wasn't much time. He'd have to try and figure out a loophole pretty soon. Hopefully Seres and Crane would be able to help.
---------
He gets up from the springy sofa and places a hand on the gray colored panel right above the side table, with the notepad and pen. The table is false wood, but warm to the touch and he leans against it, taking a few breaths. The panel beeps and flashes twice before settling back into its normal color. Wolf sighs and moves away from it, picking up the small notepad as he goes. Unlike most of the population, he prefers writing things down rather than speaking aloud and having it transcribed.
"Hello, Seres?"
"Wolf" Seres's voice is warm as usual, but slightly worried. His tone must have sounded off. "Something wrong?"
He shakes his head, he knows Seres won't be able to see it, and smiles to himself. "I'll tell you at dinner."
"The Dio at eight?"
"As always." He lets the smile flow into his voice. He's always amused when Seres asks-they've been having dinner every Friday at the same place and time for the past five years.
"See you then." Seres's voice lets him know that he's heard the smile. His smile widens and he can feel his shoulders relaxing. For a moment, he stays like that, in the feeling of routines and readability that comes with old, strong friendships and then straightens again and heads for his bedroom.
---------------
His bedroom is upstairs and across from Crane's. Her door is a mural of the fifteen planets in their planetary system, while his is white.
"That's dull. Why not paint it?" She had asked when they were younger. He can't remember his reply, but he remembers her laugh and the way she had picked up the paintbrush and started to paint hers instead. Their mother had gotten quite mad at them for that. She had frowned and tried to get Crane to paint over it, but it had looked quite nice after it dried, so she left it alone. Crane was always the artistic one.
He opened the door and scanned the room. The bed was a mess again and the floor wasn't any better. He'd have to clean it again if he wanted to find any of his pens again. Luckily, his paper tablet was rolled up on top of his bookshelf. He tried to reach for it, but wound up tripping over the large dictionary instead.
Eventually, he gets the tablet and unrolls it on the bed. Time to look up 'Alezrani'.
The short explanation is that the Alezrani is the caretaker of Elaragnia. This is the longer one.
Elaragnia is the multiverse. Imagine that there are planes, spaces that hold a single universe. These planes can be thought of as being flat, their edges somewhat defined and semi-permeable. The places where the planes touch or intersect are where the ley-lines appear. These can be thought of as currents of energy that appear in both planes. Sometimes they are thought of as gateways to the plane that is on the other side. The area around the ley-lines is the most permeable and therefore many of the gateways to the other planes appear in these areas.
However, ley-lines have very few optimal configurations. The planes tend to shift, like tectonic plates, over a span of decades or in times of magical upheaval, weeks. The problem happens when the planes and lines get misaligned due to the shift. This causes things like crop failure, flooding and, in extreme cases, stars disappearing. Therefore, the Alezrani has to go travel to these places and shift the lines back into an optimal configuration. Since Elaragnia is mostly unstable, this happens more often than not and the Alezrani's job involves a great deal of traveling.
Being the Alezrani is a difficult job and few people have the capabilities for it. This is the reason why the previous Alezrani caused the cataclysm on Gallia. For some, the responsibility of taking care of Elaragnia grows to be too much and they aren't able to do it anymore. This is when the Coveria (see Elaragnia's guiding council) select a new Alezrani.
-From "A layman's guide to the Alezrani"
Wolf lifted his head from the tablet. The bedroom had gone dark and the glow of the tablet made his eyes water. He frowned at the tablet. If that was what being the Alezrani was, he definitely didn't want the job. He really hoped that Seres would be able to come up with something.
"You can cure your mother if you become the Alezrani," Hiram said. He sounded like he was talking about the weather. From what Wolf had heard about him, he could have been. They were in the living room. Hiram had shown up half an hour earlier and told Wolf that he was selected to become the next Alezrani. Wolf hadn't believed him at first; Seres had the bad habit of signing him up for studies where he was required to be a test subject...those didn't end very well. He had let Hiram in and then Hiram had told him this.
Wolf shook his head. "You're lying. The metges said she couldn't be cured."
Hiram nodded. "That is true, the metges do not have the power to cure her. However, if you become the Alezrani, you will."
"And what's the catch," Wolf asked him. Hiram had shown up, early for a Saturday and told him that he had an offer to make.
Hiram hesitated, shifting a little on his feet. They were miniscule shifts that Wolf normally wouldn't catch, but Hiram had mentioned his mother. "There is one….but it's a reasonable catch."
"Reasonable?" Crane was a prankster; whenever she used that word to describe something, he had learned to ask questions.
Hiram nodded. "Yes, reasonable. You know all that power must come with a price. This one is very reasonable indeed."
"Your point?" Wolf shifted, glaring at him.
"You have to become Elaragnia's caretaker." There was silence for a few moments. The air around them seemed to be listening in.
"Are you mad?" He should have seen this coming. The offer had seemed to good to be true. He wondered why he hadn't recognized the term earlier.
"You want me to take care of the multiverse?"
Hiram drew out a sheet of paper with numerous, complex, calculations on it. "Yes...according to these, you are the most able to handle it." Wolf took the sheet and studied it. It didn't make any sense to him. Perhaps Seres could figure it out.
"Can I keep this?"
Hiram shook his head and tried to sound regretful. "I'm sorry, but those calculations must be kept secret. We wouldn't want anyone to use those for anything malevolent." That sounded reasonable to Wolf, but the whole thing was a bit suspicious.
"Can I have some time to think about this?"
Hiram smiled. It reminded Wolf of the sharks on Marrazo. "Of course, but we need to get this done as soon as possible. I will require an answer by tomorrow."
That wasn't much time. Wolf really didn't like this at all. He forced a smile. "I understand. I'll call you?"
Hiram waved a hand. "No need...I'll come personally."
Wolf nodded and Hiram stood. "I'll come for my answer at 7 tomorrow morning."
"Understood." That wasn't much time. He'd have to try and figure out a loophole pretty soon. Hopefully Seres and Crane would be able to help.
---------
He gets up from the springy sofa and places a hand on the gray colored panel right above the side table, with the notepad and pen. The table is false wood, but warm to the touch and he leans against it, taking a few breaths. The panel beeps and flashes twice before settling back into its normal color. Wolf sighs and moves away from it, picking up the small notepad as he goes. Unlike most of the population, he prefers writing things down rather than speaking aloud and having it transcribed.
"Hello, Seres?"
"Wolf" Seres's voice is warm as usual, but slightly worried. His tone must have sounded off. "Something wrong?"
He shakes his head, he knows Seres won't be able to see it, and smiles to himself. "I'll tell you at dinner."
"The Dio at eight?"
"As always." He lets the smile flow into his voice. He's always amused when Seres asks-they've been having dinner every Friday at the same place and time for the past five years.
"See you then." Seres's voice lets him know that he's heard the smile. His smile widens and he can feel his shoulders relaxing. For a moment, he stays like that, in the feeling of routines and readability that comes with old, strong friendships and then straightens again and heads for his bedroom.
---------------
His bedroom is upstairs and across from Crane's. Her door is a mural of the fifteen planets in their planetary system, while his is white.
"That's dull. Why not paint it?" She had asked when they were younger. He can't remember his reply, but he remembers her laugh and the way she had picked up the paintbrush and started to paint hers instead. Their mother had gotten quite mad at them for that. She had frowned and tried to get Crane to paint over it, but it had looked quite nice after it dried, so she left it alone. Crane was always the artistic one.
He opened the door and scanned the room. The bed was a mess again and the floor wasn't any better. He'd have to clean it again if he wanted to find any of his pens again. Luckily, his paper tablet was rolled up on top of his bookshelf. He tried to reach for it, but wound up tripping over the large dictionary instead.
Eventually, he gets the tablet and unrolls it on the bed. Time to look up 'Alezrani'.
The short explanation is that the Alezrani is the caretaker of Elaragnia. This is the longer one.
Elaragnia is the multiverse. Imagine that there are planes, spaces that hold a single universe. These planes can be thought of as being flat, their edges somewhat defined and semi-permeable. The places where the planes touch or intersect are where the ley-lines appear. These can be thought of as currents of energy that appear in both planes. Sometimes they are thought of as gateways to the plane that is on the other side. The area around the ley-lines is the most permeable and therefore many of the gateways to the other planes appear in these areas.
However, ley-lines have very few optimal configurations. The planes tend to shift, like tectonic plates, over a span of decades or in times of magical upheaval, weeks. The problem happens when the planes and lines get misaligned due to the shift. This causes things like crop failure, flooding and, in extreme cases, stars disappearing. Therefore, the Alezrani has to go travel to these places and shift the lines back into an optimal configuration. Since Elaragnia is mostly unstable, this happens more often than not and the Alezrani's job involves a great deal of traveling.
Being the Alezrani is a difficult job and few people have the capabilities for it. This is the reason why the previous Alezrani caused the cataclysm on Gallia. For some, the responsibility of taking care of Elaragnia grows to be too much and they aren't able to do it anymore. This is when the Coveria (see Elaragnia's guiding council) select a new Alezrani.
-From "A layman's guide to the Alezrani"
Wolf lifted his head from the tablet. The bedroom had gone dark and the glow of the tablet made his eyes water. He frowned at the tablet. If that was what being the Alezrani was, he definitely didn't want the job. He really hoped that Seres would be able to come up with something.