A Quest for Knowledge

When Opesius said he wanted his library built into Shayenne Cliffs, they called him mad! Now who is laughing? Practically a monument to knowledge and the pursuit of truth, his lofty library is a place that many come to visit. With the assistance of architects and dragons he had hewn his work place and home. It is just a short path downwards from the edge of the cliff and in through the obsidian doors; the portal to his library. He is particularly proud of those obsidian doors. They were a gift from a Volcanic Longhorn who graciously allowed Opesius to study it. The doors bear a Draconic and Rider motif as well as the inscription, "Ignorance has a snowball's chance in Hell in this place." It makes him smile every time he sees it. Beyond the doors is the foyer, where the front desk and its attendants work. Nobody ever calls Opesius "Head Librarian", it is always "Doctor Opesius". The size of the place caters both to form and function; he enjoys it whenever a dragon comes to see him. Those honored guests may not be able to browse the several tightly packed and numerous shelves if they have grown too large, but they can still trek down the Draconic Hall (named for the grand statues of dragons along either side) toward Opesius's study. That room is where he is now, staring out of the large, slightly tinted window along the cliff face at the rising sun. He meditates, reflecting on the journey ahead. There are numerous dragons that he has met, studied, cataloged, befriended, loved, mourned for. Now, he plans to find the elusive Ebony Hunter. He had packed the previous day. With the early sunlight fighting its way through the smoky glass, he gets his things together and leaves the study. Through the Draconic Hall he gazes briefly at each statue, thinking back to the dragons of those varieties he has met. Waving farewell to his attendants, he exits the obsidian doors. Doctor Opesius begins his journey.

"Hrm?" Opesius paused to look at the woman before him. Her outfit suggested to him that she was not looking for a relaxing time with a book, but the doctor had met many adventurers in his time and found that if there is a book he can not offer to them they appreciate vital information. And if he is fortunate there may be information for him. Adventurers, from the lumbering brute to the nimble spy, usually know something he doesn't.
"Good morning. Are you here to visit my library?" He gestured to the obsidian doors and smiled, "I do not recognize your face, and I remember every visitor be they man, woman or Dragon."

"I am indeed Doctor Opesius, the owner of this library. It took several years and helping hands to do it, but for the past few years the completed product makes me swell with pride!" He briefly remembers when this spot was just a niche in the cliff face. The architects and Dragons worked so well together to make his dream come true. Their combined talents ensured that the Library could exist for a long time. The architects knew how to make a sturdy structure as it is, but the dragons fire had hardened the walls and columns so that erosion was only a far off nightmare for the rock. Took a while to air out the smoke, though.
"What are you on your way to do, if you do not mind me inquiring? If you have not walked down this path to see the Library, what are you here for?" There was not much else along the cliffs to do. The only things beyond the library were the occasional nest and cave.

"No, Jaden. The library is not being closed. My attendants will be keeping an eye on the place. I was about to begin my journey to find a specific species of Dragon to study when I ran into this young lady here." Opesius held back his amazement at the specimen before him. A Card Dragon! He had half a mind to postpone his excursion and have a long discussion with this Jaden. Perhaps more than half a mind. He felt more comfortable when the Dragons would come to him, anyway.
"However, it appears prudent for me to spend some time here. Dragons are honored guests at my Library, and I would be so honored to help you personally in whatever way I can. And, if at all possible, for you to help me."
Opesius turned to the young woman, "I will leave you to your business, lass, whatever it may be. Good luck, and feel free to stop by when you have finished whatever quest you are on. Maybe you will even catch me as I begin my journey again."
He happily gestures to the Dragon to follow him, "Let us pursue some knowledge, Jaden."

Opesius briefly reflected on his guilt for not waiting to hear what Siofra was traversing the Sheyenne Cliffs for. He made a mental note to wait some time for her visit and hear about it anyway to make up for it. Until then, he opened the obsidian doors and welcomed Jaden inside.
"I commend you for your timing, Jaden. If you had not ran into me then I would have probably been a hard man to find. I have no idea where I am going, you see. That may sound strange to you but I merely mean that I do not know where to find a specific species of dragon. The variety that has caught my eye is the Ebony Hunter. I know very little about them because, alas, the only people who are familiar with them are their victims!" Opesius smiled at his little joke, "I must stop myself from rambling. What brings you here to my library?"

Opesius thought back to his studies on dragon reproduction, "It is not specifically who your parents are that are important in determining the type of dragon that one of your kind becomes. It plays just as vital a role as any other creature, but dragons have an exception to genetics. As far as I can tell, most of what contributes to the dragon that you are has something to do with the color of your egg. I have never seen an Acid Dragon born from a green egg and never will I see any Ice Dragon born from anything other than a blue egg!"
He began to lead Jaden through the Draconic Hall to his study, "The books in here should prove to be more useful. Scientific papers and works in progress by myself and colleagues, books from the library I checked out myself. Surely there is some information about your kind in there."
The doctor turned his head to look at Jaden, "What suit is Rokam?"

"In your own words, Jaden..." Opesius began to furiously scan shelves to refresh his memory as to the location of tomes he had long since placed in his study, "... what would you say a Card Dragon's abilities are? And-do not worry, I will take care of locating books and papers for you. The library's decimal system is inefficient in this room."
He looked over at Jaden, noticing the book he had picked out. "That would be a good place to start. I never knew the author, she was before my time. A primary source if there ever was one. She never titled the book, or published it for that matter. I just happened to find the final draft." Opesius noticed his vision began to be obscured by the books he picked up, and set them down on a table to look for more.
"I inquire as to what your powers are so that I can read through some of the news that the Scroll Dragons and carrier pigeons give me from time to time. If there is an active Card Dragon and it has used these powers someone will know, and that will make locating it far easier. Somewhere in this world, it has left a trail of... well, something."

"Places exist. Long lost places that may not even be on Dragon's Cove anymore." Opesius began to think about a Card Dragons powers. He fancied the thought that Card Dragons do not twist fate but take the credit for affecting chance. After all, how can one disprove twisting the outcome of something? Then he had an idea.
The doctor put down the most recent stack of books and began to rummage frantically around the study. "Jaden, can you do something for me?" He found it! A six sided die. "I want to test something, can you make this dice roll turn out to be the same side repeatedly?" He started shaking the die in his hand. "Forgive me, but I am a man of science. As much as I involve myself with the magical powers of Dragons and the like, I must prove that it is indeed magic."

Opesius rolled the die, it skipped across the table and when it stopped he found it had landed with the three side up. "What I wouldn't give for some loaded dice right now. That would indeed prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a Card Dragon's magic indeed affects fate." He picked it up and rolled it again to double check. "Interesting coincidence that the mark of your type is the same as our playing cards. Is it possible that dragons introduced gambling to humans?" He chuckled at this, and threw the die again. "It is your type of dragon, Jaden, that is playing with loaded dice. Cards up your sleeve... Your powers are dangerous. That is why you search for the other ones?" He threw the die, his tone entering a realm of seriousness little explored by the doctor. "Is the effect amplified when you are in close proximity to each other?" The die was rolled again. "If there are any Gods, do you feel that they allow you to exist because your type of dragon is suited for these powers? Or do they simply fear that you have power over them?"
Opesius began to roll the die again and paused, looking at his shelves and his expression became less grave with the pursuit of knowledge. He set the die down, satisfied with his test. "Pardon me, I ask these sort of questions hypothetically. Perhaps philosophically."

Loaded dice, now there was an interesting thought. It wasn’t anything which Jaden had tried to combat with his powers before, and he wasn’t actually sure how well it would work.
“There’d have to be some possibility of them not landing loaded side up to start with,” he explained. “Something like that, we can see all the millions of possibilities if we take the time to look through them, though it would be somewhat overwhelming. If we then pick one and back up this shadow, this outline of an idea… strengthen it and bring it closer to a real image… then its chances of happening are increased. And with this die…” He tailed off to watch the die bounce over the table once again. “Well, it’s not hard to make it nigh on a certainty.” He left another pause before continuing in a slightly different, more clinical tone. “One thing which I can tell you about the history of card dragons is that yes, playing cards absolutely came from card dragons. Where the name of ‘card’ came from I can’t tell you, whether humans took the word from their name for us or if they named us after creating their playing cards, but one thing that’s for certain is that playing cards were derived from the symbols of the four different card dragons. The idea of testing fate as you’re doing now, of telling the future as is done with tarot cards in modern days…” He shrugged. “Some human was inspired to create cards based on us. I believe the earliest packs reflected us most strongly, with designs being strongly based on the rich blue and pale yellow colours of our markings.”

Jaden stopped to allow Opesius to make several more comments, watching the dice skitter across the table top and focusing on bringing them to a rest with the three facing upwards.
“I do believe it is my duty to ensure that no card dragon leaves the path of goodness and begins to use their powers for evil. However, there seems to be some integral sense of decency among us, for rarely has there been a truly evil card dragon recorded in history. But as well as this, I have interests in gathering the card dragons to use our powers where they would be beneficial. The more of us work together the more we can influence fate, yes… And even if our wishes are opposite, if we are in close proximity to each other then we cannot help but amplify each other’s powers. I would love to see what four card dragons together could do for the world, but it is a dangerous thing to try, given that the calamity caused seems unstoppable. If only we could find some way to control the magic then we could do great things. I have thought that perhaps a stone such as those made by the Archmage, except of fate rather than one of the simple magics, could do something to help this. It’s a dangerous thing to try though, hugely so, and there’s no guarantee of it helping. We may never know… But I feel that if I can organise a good archive of information for future generations of card dragons to draw upon and promote the path of learning, then one day my breed may accomplish great things. I hope that with the help of other card dragons, I could see if such a thing was possible.” His eyes were large and bright as he spoke, the words flowing steadily faster from his mouth. Taking a breather, he continued at a more controlled pace.

“No pardon is needed. I am glad to spread this knowledge to somebody such as yourself, and perhaps in explaining these things I will be able to gain a better viewpoint of them myself. As for your last inquiries… Well, while I don’t like to be immodest-“ here he sat up straighter and assumed a slightly smug expression- “if there is a god, then I believe that card dragons must be Their divine tools in this world. There is no other reason for Them to give us our powers. The visions we receive must be Their way of guiding us in how best to guide the world. Indeed, perhaps we are extensions of Them, embodiments of Their power over fate which They surely must possess. If there is no god, then I believe that there is simply a way of life, a flow of fate over the world which card dragons are nature’s way of maintaining and keeping good in this world. Whichever is true- and personally, I am inclined to believe that there is a divine being keeping this world- I will serve my purpose with all the devotion and effort that I can give, and will always look forwards to see which path will best preserve the way of the card dragons and the goodness in the world. I will follow that path.”


Ooc: Bah, I know never to consult him on philosophical matters! Sorry about the droning, he's never shown that side of himself before so I didn't really know how best to control him :/

"Yes, of course... Your kind affect chance. If there is no chance, there is no change."
Opesius imagined the fabric of the universe bending to the whims of four Card Dragons. "Such an amount of fate-altering power could change the outcome of a terribly outmatched battle. Maybe even more than that."
"That is good, Jaden. I am glad that you would not use your powers in an irresponsible way. Dragons are easily some of the most intelligent creatures I have met, I attribute that to your natural longevity. If you do not mind me asking, how old are you?" Opesius put the die away. He took out a notebook, "How long do Card Dragons live? I apologize if you are uncomfortable with me asking such questions such as 'Do you have a breath weapon?' but I merely do so out of curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. I mean no disrespect." The pencil in his hand waited against the sheet of paper the notebook was open to. There were many questions he had to ask in his time with Jaden. He did not know how much time he had to ask these sort of questions. Dragons do tend to go wherever whenever they please.

Ooc: Oh man. A month to reply? I feel so dirty.

"Excuse my cynicism, but I am never truly convinced there is true peace." He noted Jaden's change in expression. After some scribbling, his focus broke when his doors opened. Opesius threaded his pencil through the spine of the pad and set it on the table. He called out to the visitor after Jaden, "The main entrance to my study is through the Draconic Hall, but you'll find another closer to the reception area more suited for beings as large as you or me."

The doctor began to put some scattered papers away, tidying up out of respect for the woman about to enter. "That must be Siofria, unless it's another good lady of yours." His eyes scanned the room for his travel packs, and he made a mental note of where he had left them. "I hope she doesn't find this space to be too indulgent. It truly is to accommodate for my larger guests." If he had hair, it is likely he would fuss with it briefly. If Jaden gave him a look he would ignore it. Doctor Opesius knows the importance of looking good.