Morning in the dorms wasn’t that different from home, when she got down to it. A bell would ring at about 6AM waking most of them up. It was only her second day at the school, but already she could feel the routine forming. She awoke from her less than warm cocoon of blankets, to a room that was colder still.
She hated the cold, but it seemed like it was bothering her just a bit less than the first day.
The desk in her room was larger than the one back home, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing as she had to elevate her arms to reach the writing surface. In the end she had to use one of the books provided to her as a height booster. No one was around to see and tell her not to. Although she did hate to defile the book in such a way, what other options were there?
On the surface of the desk was a sheet of nearly pristine tan paper, with fibers so thin as to almost blend together. It was the perfect paper for the fountain pen they had left in her room. For the first sheet of paper Emilie had begun to pen a letter to her family last night, at the top it read,
“Dear Mom and Dad, I’m fine.”
At the bottom were a few black splotches from her tapping the pen against the paper. In the middle was a great bight void of nothing. Between yesterday and this morning, that was all she had been able to write. What was she even supposed to write?
Clearly, she needed more than that, sending a letter down to Wollseeth would cost at least 3 coppers, she needed to get the most use of her limited funds. In total, there was a bit more than a gold worth of coins in her purse she had locked in the chest. But that had to last for however long she would be here for. A couple of years. Maybe More?
Setting the pen down with a frustrated sigh, she supposed the letter could wait a little longer. The school would send a letter to her parents, anyway, letting them know she arrived. It was common for them to do that for younger students. Still, her parents no doubt want to read something personal from her, just to let them know she was truly fine. At least, she hoped that's what they would want.
Outside the window, it was getting very bright outside. It was a Sanedeg morning, that would have meant something back home. But here, what did it mean? Classes would be held for 5 days with 3 days off, same as in Wollseeth. Though, there would be weekend lectures and events you could attend. If you were so inclined to. She had only gotten a rough overview of everything.
There would be a special class for new students for the first few weeks that she was expected, though not required, to attend. It seemed like nothing was truly required here. It felt strange to have so much freedom and no real direction. She didn't even know what classes and lectures she was supposed to take. Maybe they'd go after that on Momadeg.
What was even the point of her being here? To study magic obviously, but what magic and to what end?
The sounds of her stomach growling reminded her that she had skipped dinner last night. It wasn't that she wasn't hungry, just, when she got to the cafeteria on the first floor it was already full of other students. People she didn't know, people she didn't even know if she wanted to know. A few of them had stared at her and for some reason she couldn't explain it made her lose her nerve. She had planned to grab something later, but just didn't.
Maybe it wouldn't be so crowded if she went down there now. It was strange, she didn't remember being quiet, this scared of new people before. It was probably just her nerves at being in a new place, at least that's what she hoped.
With a quick change, she dropped out of her night gown and put on the heavier dress she brought. It was the heaviest dress she had, and she regretted that all her other clothes were so light. Her pants in particular were a thinner canvas than she would have liked. Even during Wollseeth's warmer winters they were a bit too cold. Her parents weren't poor but couldn't justify buying new clothes when what she had were technically fine. The dress was nice at least, simple but aesthetically pleasing. Light and dark blues complemented her hair. She was never a huge fan of dresses though, too few pockets, and sometimes moving around in them was challanging. Pants were just easier. Still, it was warmer so, it's what she would go with.
Of all the clothes she brought with her, only this dress was fully appropriate for the climate. Maybe she should do some cloths shopping? The thought of the 61 silver coins and twice as many coppers she had gave her pause though. That was all she had. Could she even afford new clothes? Cheap, but warm pants might have been 15-25 silver by themselves. A nice woolen shirt might be 20. Socks and undergarments could be cheap enough, maybe a few dozen copper to a few silvers each. One new outfit would be close to her entire savings.
How did people live like this? Fense told the class once you could live on 10-12 coppers a day if you were frugal but that just seemed impossible. Maybe she just wasn't good with money.
Remembering her teacher and school, brought her thoughts back to Reese. He was able to get a job almost two years ago, and he was younger than she was. Could she do the same? Surely there had to be something at the college she could do for coins.
Flitting though her notebook for an open page, she sketched out a few notes and ideas. Somethings to pursue later. For now though, the dress worked.
Again, her stomach growled, and her head tilted as if a weight was knocked off its top. She was getting lightheaded, and really needed to eat something. The key to her room was left on top of her desk, next to her unfinished letter and her scroll of attendance. While she grabbed her key she wavered for a moment at the scroll. It was valuable and important, and losing it could cost demerits. If she was asked for it and didn't have it, that could also cost demerits. She didn't like this policy. Grabbing it, she stuck in one big pocket her dress had. Hopefully it wouldn't fall out or get damaged.
Walking the hallways she passed a few students even in the early hours. Mostly humans and elves, and small handful of Anthros and mix bloods. But a few curious creatures caught her attention. A boy she would have guessed was a dwarf, given the growing beard. A halfling girl that looked to be her age, which probably meant she was twice as old at least. A few more dwarves, another halfling, and then something that caused her to stumble as she reached the stairwell.
Emilie's legs grew stiff, and she couldn't help but stare at that green-skinned terror with those sharp teeth. "Goblin" She whispered, not realizing how sensitive the goblin girl's hearing was.
"What gave it away, pink skin?" Despite Emilie's attitude, the goblin seemed quite friendly, as she joked. Her very dark green hair was short, but spiky and a little greasy as it reflected the light. Her deep brown eyes almost blended with her pupils, making it seem like she didn't have iris in the dim light. If not for her skin color, the pointy ears might make one think 'halfling' or a small elf. Perhaps most notable was the light green line that ran across her right check down her neck, a scare from something. Emilie could only guess it was a battle scar from a knife, the truth would likely prove much more mundane and boring. Also, she was quite curvey, like someone how had spent life eating too many sweet breads.
Realizing she was staring Emilie looked away and tried to walk past quickly. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."
"Eh, it's ok. Goblins are rare in colleges. I take it you're new here?"
For some reason, she couldn't explain right then Emilie paused. Perhaps it was a bit of fear, a bit of curiosity, and a significant amount of loneliness. Some part of her wanted to talk to his goblin girl who seemed nice, despite her physical appearance. "Yes. I just got here Srijedeg afternoon."
"Ah, that explains it. Halfling mages always seem uncomfortable their first few days here. Everything's the wrong size for them. Ha, being a goblin, I know the struggle."
"I'm not a halfling, I'm a human."
The goblin laughed slightly as her eyes opened wider, "But you're tiny. How old are you?"
"Nine. I just turned nine."
The goblin's smile faltered a bit, and her face showed concern and surprise. "Oh, wow. Sorry, I didn't know you were such a young kid. I must really have scared you then. I know the stories they tell kids about the lesser goblins."
Emilie shook her head, "No. It's not the fairy tales. I got into a battle with some lesser goblins over the summer. I know you're not like them but you kind of look like them."
"A battle eh? Sounds like a bad time."
A strange smile crept across Emilies face, and it kind of scared her. "It actually it wasn't that-" Her statement was interrupted by the angry protests of her stomach once more.
"Ha ha ha! I was going to hit the bath first but let's grab breakfast instead. I think they have squash cakes." Without asking, the goblin grabbed her arm and nearly dragged her down the stairs. The smell of warm pastries and sweet cream grew ever stronger, and Emilie found herself nearly drooling at the expectation of a warm meal.
The cafeteria was half full already, various faces, none of them she knew, started at her as she walked in. Except, maybe one person, that stand offish boy who was on the carriage with her not like he was paying attention though. Her legs quaked for a moment, until she realized, they were actually staring at her goblin acquaintance.
"Find us some seats, I'll grab us some plates."
Despite no one staring at her, it still felt uncomfortable to be there. There were about 60 people in space, nearly double what she was used to seeing. It seemed like soon, there would be even more. A larger bench near the back wall was devoid of anyone, that seemed the best place to sit.
Quickly the goblin came back with two plates of fluffy cake like pastries, slightly orange in color they smelled almost fruity. Emilie had never seen anything like them. A white cream was dripping over the tops of them, and they were smothered in what looked like some kind of seed. It was like a regal desert, and for breakfast.
"Back of the room, eh? Good place if you plan to make a break for it."
The goblin set one of the plates in front of herself, and the other in front of Emilie. The smell was, intoxicating. Not only did it smell sweet, but there were hints of spices. She couldn't even imagine how much it must have cost to make.
"You should eat it before it gets cold. It's much better warm."
As her spoon dug into it, the cake-like sponge began to feel more like a thick pudding. The taste was, pleasant, to be simple about it.
The goblin was staring at her as she savored every bite.
"You wouldn't think it, but it's really cheap." She was still smiling.
"What?"
"Your face, it looks like you're savoring a desert worth its weight in silver or gold."
"Oh, I guess… I'm not used to having spices like this, and it's really sweet. Just seemed extravagant."
The goblin's smile grew wider, like she was excited to explain something. "Notice how cold it is? The sweeter the breakfast, the more energy you'll have, and the squash they make these with are really sweet by nature. Trust me, you'll look forward to a bland or savory meal after eating this for three months. "
Emilie doubted that as she ate another spoonful.
"The spices come from the bark of a tree near here. Can't remember the name, but it's only a few coppers for an ounce and you only need a pinch."
The goblin was nearly done her plate before Emilie could get though even half of hers.
"So, tell me about that battle."
"You mean the goblins?"
"Yeah, I saw that smile you were hiding. You clearly enjoyed something about it. So, what was 2, 3?"
"Well, I don't think I enjoyed it I just... It was me and my two best friends, Reese and Gezal having an adventure. I shouldn't smile about it, we almost died. Especially Gezal. It wasn't 2 or 3 either it was probably closer to 60."
The goblin's eyes opened wide at that. A few nearby students turned their attention to the conversation.
Happy to see her companion was interested, Emilie didn't pay attention to the rest of the students. "So, we were back in the woods, Reese and I, and we came across Gezal laying on the ground bleeding. Around him where these 4 dead goblins…"
As Emilie told the story, more eyes and ears turned towards their small section of the cafeteria. She had no idea just how big the audience became.
"… When it was done, there were about 60 or so dead. But Gezal, I don't think I can ever forgive myself for doing that to him. He survived but… I'm not as good of a mage as I thought I was."
For a few moments, the goblin sat across from Emilie, digesting the food and the story. "Impressive story. Most mages would call that a hard-won battle alright. You were only nine?"
"Eight, at the time."
"I can see why the college picked you! Let me guess full scholarship too?"
She couldn't help but be a bit embarrassed by the attention, "Yeah." She said with a bit of warmth in her face.
"Nice!"
Looking around the cafeteria, it was starting to get crowded. There were still a few seats open, but she was becoming uncomfortable. Perhaps the goblin saw that, though more than likely she just wanted her bath.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
"Well, it was a pleasure talking to you Emilie."
"Likewise, I didn't get your name?"
"Younehti."
With that the goblin wandered off down the hallway, towards the shared baths. Stomach fully, Emile proceeded to take their plates to the dish drop off point. Becoming ever more aware of a few of the students laughing and staring at her.
"Can you believe her bullshit?"
"She's just a kid, let her play pretend for now."
"I killed 60 goblins with my amazing powers!"
That last one wasn't quiet, she needed to leave. More laughter and more eyes. It was all she could do not to trip over her own feat as she bolted out of the cafeteria. Outside, she felt her heart race, her breathing was shallow. This was a common feeling, nothing new. She just needed to breathe. Breathe.
"1…2-"
"Hey, I heard your story in there. Is it true?" In front of her was that boy who came into the school with her. His cat like eyes, and yellow streak in his otherwise black hair. He was quiet on the on the way, she could only guess his name by the stitching in his bag, Eoltan, she thought?
Regardless, his tone was mocking, and she didn't feel like talking to someone new right now. As she tried to move past him he block her way.
"Why the hurry, mage? Just asking a question, I don't like people who boost and can't back it up." He smirked.
"Look, I don't care if you believe me or not. It happened. Now let me go." Her voice was quiet and meek, if he doubted her capabilities before, he would outright deny them now.
But surprisingly he let her pass.
"Be careful about the stories you tell kid. People take offense at braggards and liars."
Running out of the building, she stood outside in the crisp air. Each breath she took, left in a cloud of vapor and the cool air tingled the back of her throat. Away from the noise and chaos inside, she finally had a chance to breathe.
"1… 2…"
The pounding of her chest quieted and her breathing slowed. For a moment, it felt like someone was standing next to her, comforting her. A slight smile crossed her lips. "Thanks Reese."
With that attack out of the way, she was still uncertain what to do with the rest of the day.
The light creaking sound of the library doors opening caught her attention, as she saw a middle-aged woman leave, heading towards the faculty dorms. It looked like the library was open, maybe that was a good place to spend the day.
Inside was as dim as the first day she arrived. Like the space was still asleep. As her eyes adjusted, small pockets of light could be seen in the distance. Likely other library occupants. The dim light around her was bright enough to see, but just a bit too dim to read anything beyond the titles as she passed shelf after shelf of arcane texts. What little she could see looked like a mixture of Human, High and Dark Elven and occasionally something else she hadn't seen before.
Considering a few of the books, and the strange script on one of them, she wasn't aware of someone behind her until the light came one and a voice spoke down to her.
"Are you a student?"
The voice behind her gave her a start. Standing there was an early middle aged elf woman, judging by the blond hair, fair skin, and green eyes, she was probably a woodland elf. Given the books in her hand, she was also probably a librarian.
"Yes…" Emilie spoke meekly.
"I see. Do you have your scroll of attendance?"
Suddenly, she was glad that she decided to bring it, and handed it to the librarian. The woman elf took a few moments to read it over before smiling and handing it back to her.
"You're new, and quite young. I guess that's why you're reading in the dark. Don't know any light spells yet?"
Shaking her she whispered, "No."
"Follow me." The librarian bid for Emilie to follow her as she made her way to a desk near the center of the first floor. It was the same desk she had visited on her arrival.
The librarian rummaged through one of its many drawers and pulled out an unsuspecting scroll, wrapped around a wooden dowl. With the scroll in hand, she opened what appeared to be a massive ledger on the desk, one of many, and wrote something down.
"Ok, I've checked this scroll out to you. We've got a bunch of these. They're a simple light spells so you can learn to use the light stones around campus. It might take you a few days to learn it. Most competent mages take two or three days, it's a simple enough though." She smiled, "Less competent mages do take longer, but I don't think you'll need more."
Emilie took the scroll and opened it. Inside was a single glyph, not particularly complex. One symbol was at the center of all the lines, a dark arrow pointed up inscribed in a while circle, the simple pure light elemental symbol. There were some words too, "Bringer of light, glow bright, glow strong. Light my way, shine." Coincendtally, the spell was called "Shine".
Without intending too, Emilie cast the spell causing some of the nearby light stone to light up.
"I think, I got the spell." The look of shock on the librarians face made Emilie consider holding on to the scroll for a while. "I'll hold on to it, till I memorize it." Even though she already did.
"I can see why they admitted you, despite your age. Bring it back when you're done, but before the end of next week. All texts have an 8 day check out period. Exceeding that will earn you demerits."
'Demerits', that word rang in her head again. She knew what they were back in Wollseeth, but what about here.
"Excuse me, but what exactly are the demerits here? Back in my schoolhouse we did pages for demerits, but what would happen here?"
"Well, I'm not sure what you mean by 'pages', but it depends. They'll go over it on your first class for Momadeg. Don't worry too much about them for now. Every student ends up with a few in their time here. Just, worry if you get a lot or can't expunge them quickly." With that, the librarian smiled and went back to stock her books.
That last statement was both reassuring and worrying at the same time. What constitutes a lot? With the light spell in hand and mind, Emilie wandered the shelves of the library, looking for something to read. The light certainly made it easier. One book caught her interest,
"Challenges of Early Mages in Healing Magics, Thesis by Rolith"
The title was long, but the memory what happened with Gezal in the woods, she couldn't help but be intrigued by it. Picking it up, she wandered to a desk and began reading.
Calling the text dry would have been an insult to deserts, and sand. There was a term Reese may have used ‘deliquescent’ a substance that literally pulls moisture from the air around it. Right now she could feel the text trying to pull the tears from her eyes.
The whole tresses was nothing more than ledgers and descriptions of events. The descriptions were just that, basic, straight forward, long. There was no feeling or emotion just, a set of events. It was the kind of text Reese might have liked, “Research” he would have said. Despite the morbid details in the text, the thought of Reese shouting ‘Research!’ while he read it amused her. For a moment she couldn’t help but smile.
Still, there did seem to be some potentially useful information. One of the events described a mage attempting to give a young sword master energy, a lapse in concentration caused significant bruising in the abdomen region, loss of consciousness. It sounded like what she had done to Gezal, only the outcome was much worse, death.
“Cause of death was catastrophic vascular system failure. The internal vanes and arteries through the abdomen were dematerialized by the spell. The mage reported it was the first time he had cast the spell and temporarily lost focus. The sword master quickly lost footing after the cast and collapsed. Deep healing was ineffective, possibly applied too late. The sword master died within a few minutes.”
‘This is what I did to Gezal.’ That thought echoed through her head. At least she had an answer for what went wrong. Healing spells were challenging to get right, the simple spells didn’t do much if you made a mistake, but the more advanced ones, could result in death. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she suddenly lamented the lack of her notebook. If she was going to make full use of the information here, she needed to take notes.
Closing the book, he realized there was another problem. How would she find it again when it was shelved? Would it be in the same place, the same shelf? Maybe the librarian could help her.
“Hmm… You want to know how to find a book here? I take it you’ve never used a library before.”
“No. My town didn’t have a college or anything like this. All we had was a book store.”
“Well, our library uses a catalog system. Come see these books. They’re indexes of all the texts we have.”
There were several large books on the desk’s surface, unlike most books, the pages seemed to be bound with very thick thread, that was only loosely tied. Like they were meant to be removeable.
“We have a few copies of each book. They contain the same information, but each is organized differently. This one is organized by topic, and these tabs, get you to different sections: ‘Research’, ‘Historical’, ’General’, and other categories. From there, it’s ordered by title. Those letters and numbers reference a row letter and a shelf number.” The librarian pointed to the letters at the edge of a nearby shelf, and the number at the top of it.
“From there, you just have to look on the shelf to find it. Simple enough.”
Emilie opened the book and glanced through the pages and pages of texts. Some had notations at the end of them.
“What do these symbols mean?”
“They each mean something about the text. Some books can’t be checked out that’s what this means, this next symbol means the text was damaged and needs to be repaired, this one means it’s a scroll. Here, the front of the index has a symbol look up.”
It was a lot of information to go over. The lack of her notebook was really starting to weight on her. “I guess that’s why he always carried it with him.” She whispered to herself.
“Pardon?”
Shaking her head, Emilie when to try and find the book she had in the ledger. She looked under ‘Research’, but couldn’t find it. However, there was another tab for ‘Thesis’, she tried under that one. Nearly a hundred of pages later, she found it. This would be useful for finding a text she already knew, but finding newer ones, might be difficult.
In the distance, bells chimed. It was already noon. That was something else that would take getting used to. In Wollseeth, they only chimed bells for the start and end of the market day. Here, they seemed to do it every hour. The rumbling of her stomach was its own sort of bell, it was lunch time after all, and she was still a bit peckish from missing last night’s dinner, despite breakfast. She hopped the cafeteria wouldn’t be crowded.
But of course it was. It was even worse then last night, with not a single seat and several students standing about.
Maybe she could run back to her room and grab her notebook first. The cafeteria might empty out a bit in that time. Though, she doubted it.
Leaving the cafeteria, she passed Younehti again, who was taking a bowl and bread off to somewhere upstairs. Where there places to sit and eat up there?
“Huh, no there’s no public benches or anything. I’m just taking it to my room.”
“I thought you weren’t supposed to do that. You could get demerits.”
The thoughts of demerits, or at least demerits from this, didn’t seem to bother the young goblin, who shrugged in response. “Hasn’t happened yet. I think they only care if you create a pest problem, like bringing rats into you room. Hey, grab a bowl and you can eat in my room if it bothers you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah! Be nice to have someone to talk too.”
Younehti’s room was nearly on the very end of the hallway, just one room removed from it. Inside was, about the same size as Emilie’s room. But that’s where the similarities ended. The bed was higher off the ground, stood up on stilts. Underneath it were wooden crates, possibly filled with things. The walls were covered in papers full of sketches and diagrams, drawings of what look like runes and enchantments. Her desk was larger then Emilie’s, and much flatter. More like a work bench. It even had some scattered items across it.
Her bookshelf was bereft of all but a handful of books, but had far more trinkets, iron works and mana stones than even the desk had. It all kind of reminded her of Reese’s room, maybe a bit less ordered, if that was possible.
“Well, what do you think?” Younehti’s sat down and began quickly devouring her lunch, like she had with breakfast.
Emilie took a sip of her soup while she thought about what to say. The soup was sweet, and tasted like that squash from earlier. Even had the same spices. It was good, but maybe Younehti had a point, this same taste everyday could get boring.
The goblin stared at her with an impatient grin.
“It kind of reminds me of my friend’s room. He was also working on various projects and experiments.”
“Ah, that Gezal kid you fought with.”
“No, my other friend. Probably my best friend, Reese.”
“Oh, the one who away ran into the goblin horde. What did he work on?”
What did he work on? For the past two and a half years she had followed him around and listened to him prattle on about things. She knew what he said, but never really understood a lot of it. It was like talking with someone who spent decades studying and was just, too far ahead.
“Well, he did a lot with enchantments, and some other research project. Things he called ‘Fundamental’ concepts of science? I didn’t really get the terminology.
“Enchantments! A man after my green goblin heart. I have a really large gate for a goblin, but it's too disorganized to cast spells well. So I picked up enchanting instead, that’s what I’m studying here. That’s why I’ve got all the drawling on my wall. They’re my ideas. I want to write a thesis on one or more of them. It’s one of the ways you can graduate.” She pointed to the drawling as if beckoning Emilie to look them over.
It would have been rude not to, so that’s what she did. Most of them were quite intricate, lots of spell like glyphs just simplified for enchantments. They were impressive, but somehow, seemed to be missing something. Like, they were too simple? Reese's seemed much more complex, and there were none of those funny nand gate symbols he used a lot.
“Impressive, aren’t they? Creating complex enchantments like this takes a lot of work and effort. Lot of things you need to consider. Maybe I could teach your friend a thing or two!” Her smile was very boastful and full of pride. It was hard to tell if it was deserved or not, Reese’s enchantments were so, different.
“Sorry, I only know the things Reese showed me. They were… different.”
“Different how? Simpler?”
“No… He was focused on doing other things. Before I left he was talking about making mana count, and doing math with it. Things like ‘switching’ enchantments and even making mana ‘think’. The more I think about it, it was all nonsense.”
Younehti’s expression shifted as if she was thinking about something. “That, kind of sounds like the ultimate goal of enchanting.”
The goblin's smile grew ever wider and moved to her bookshelf, pulling off one of the few books she had there. It was unusual, the bindings were simple leather, without and semblance of a title. Flipping through the pages she stopped on one in particular and held it up to Emilie.
There were a set of diagrams and drawings. One of the items looked familiar for some reason, maybe like something Reese had? That glass junk he showed her kind of looked like the edge of it. Turning the page were more devices, something really weird that was on stilts or legs? It looked big.
“These are some of the ultimate goals of enchanting. This technology has been lost for at least a thousand of year. Since Auslang… Maybe even earlier." She whispered that last part.
Emilie didn't really get this stuff. She was interested in pure magic, being able to channel the power of mana in your hand and body. This was neat, just not what she cared about. The goblin girl reminded her a lot of Reese, in some ways.
"I think Reese had something like this, he was trying to make his own version. He could kind of make numbers glow on glass but, eh. He called it a screen I think? Said it could display-"
"Letters! Books! Even moving images! Your friend was able to get numbers to show up on one? I would love to meet him, you should convince him to apply to the college."
The soup residue in Emilie's mouth began to taste sour. Even out here, she was bringing Reese's shadow with her. "He did. He was rejected for not having a gate. We didn't part on good terms; it was so stupid too. You know, I don't really want to talk about him anymore."
Younehti nodded her head "Ok, I get that…" After pausing for a moment to let the air clear Younehti continued her explanation. "Anyway, everyone thinks these things are Auslang technology. But you know what I think, I think they're from something else. How many empires do you think there have been?"
There were three they went over in school, Auslang, Elven Doctrine, and the really old Human Empire, but there very few records of that. "Three?"
"Some think there were four. Between the Elven Doctrine and the Auslang Empire is nearly 4,000 of just missing history. A small number of enchanters and history scholars have discussed the idea of a third empire between Auslang and right after the Elven Doctrine. They were the ones that made most of this stuff. The Auslang empire arose and figured out how to use their old junk."
"So then where is it all? I mean if this empire was that big, what happened to it?"
"I mean, it's been nearly 7,000 years. Not much would be left in an ideal case, and a lot of it was scavenged by the Auslang who ran it into the ground. But some of it's still out there. Anyway, we're not supposed to talk too much about it. Also, don't tell anyone I have this book."
It was hard not to laugh at the attempt to keep the book a secret. What would they do to arrest someone for just having a book? "Why is forbidden?" Emilie tried not to laugh.
"Yes. I can get arrested or at least fined for having it. You're not supposed to talk about the Technopolis, even the Cataclysm is frowned upon." The goblin quickly grabbed the book back and shut it before putting it back on the bookshelf. "Sorry, I probably shouldn't have even shown it to you. Just seemed like you'd be interested in it."
"I do like history. Is there anything that isn't banned?"
The goblin twisted her head back and forth thinking. "A long history of The World, By Meakus. It's rare, the library has a copy, but it's locked up in their restricted section. It's not illegal, though some have tried to make it that way. Either way it's hard to find a copy."
'The cataclysm', Emilie made a mental note, she'd have to write that down in her notebook when she got back to her room. It was getting hard to remember everything.
"I want to get back to my room. I left my notebook in there and I really want to write something down before I forget."
The goblin's smile drifted downwards. "Sure I'll let you go. Thanks for listening to me."
Standing in the doorway, Emilie turned back to her new friend. "We should hang out again though, this was a lot of fun. I missed… having someone to talk to."
The goblin's tooth grin grew wide again as she smiled, "Yeah!"
On the walk back to her room, the sensations in her stomach grew unpleasant. The soup was good, but probably had too much fiber in it. A thought crossed her mind as she made her way to the toilet, maybe she really would end up hating the cafeteria food after all.