[ Pleasant surprise steals over her a second time. Biting back even a mild smile, she breaks away from their formation to drag the bare thumb of her right hand across a shelf of spines. ]
Your personal projects? [ And because even she can tell when she's straining diplomacy a little too much, she adds: ] I was an historian before I was a queen. Gleaning truth from folklore — myth — was my personal project.
[ Interested in the embossing of a particular spine, she tugs the book off the shelf. ]
[As soon as she'd asked to see the library he'd expected her to get drawn into inspecting the titles. It's not surprising, then, when she steps away towards a shelf. One he knows is a collection of works from a specific author.
Jasnah's explanation, however, is more surprising. 'Historian' sounds suspiciously like a genuine job. Something he wasn't aware royalty had outside of being royalty if they were so close to the throne.]
Did you manage to make the contribution you intended before you were called to the throne?
[ She knows it's an unhelpful answer — and she does intend to clarify, but her attention drifts down to the random pair of pages to which she's opened the book. Despite the fact that her left hand is merely gloved, no longer sleeved, she still handles it one-handed. Like habit.
Her eyes scan the page. Remarkable, how she can read the words. Capital-C Connection is a truly fascinating thing. ]
I'd like to think contributions across my career have been helpful. The great ones and the small ones, [ she had a small handful of expertises. Some taken seriously by her peers; others less so. ] And it's led to some useful discoveries.
[ Her people would have died at the Battle of Narak if not for her ward's quick thinking, using Jasnah's body of research to lead the way to Urithiru. ]
But I've also been terribly wrong. On occasion.
[ Thin lipped, severe, but she manages not to show too much bruised ego. ]
It's hard to sort the fact from the fiction when most of what remains is myth. I'm certain you understand.
[Truthful answers are often too complex to be reduced to a simple yes or no. Yes and no is to be expected on occasion.
Logan watches as interest flashes across Jasnah's face as she lets herself be distracted by the book in her hand. He stays silent as she explains her yes, and her no. It's not difficult to sympathise with making a terrible mistake. It's easily done, even when you aren't in a position of power.]
I understand.
[His gaze shifts as a thought occurs, and then he steps away. Of all the shelves in the library, the one he heads to might be the one he knows best. He scans the spines for titles that filled his formative years, which he read time and time again. Long fingers pull out one book, and then another. Despite being cared for they've both been handled often, but this is the first time in a while they've been taken from the shelves.]
Here.
[Turning to Jasnah, he offers the books.]
If you're a historian staying in Albion, you'll want to read these. They'll introduce you to the two most important topics of our country's history: The Archons and the Heroes.
[ Hesitating just a little, she reshelves her initial, random choice. Making room in her grip for the two additional books now vouched for by Logan. Jasnah tucks one under her elbow so she can leaf through the other. ]
Excellent, [ she expresses genuine gratitude for his suggestions. It can't be easy to try and distill a nation's everything down to one starter path. She knows she'd have a hard time knowing what to assign someone to familiarize themselves with Alethkar, let alone the whole of the Rosharan planet. ]
— Should they be perused only in the library, or may I bring them back to my quarters to read?
[The Archons were Albion's first kings, rulers of the Old Kingdom. A history so old and ruined that it might have become nothing more than myth if the ruins weren't still visible in certain locations. The Heroes were their descendants. After their apparent loss, Albion's history is more recent. It's a good starting point.]
You may bring them to your quarters. Keep them on the castle grounds and be sure to take care of them. This is the queen's favourite section.
[ A simple, understanding nod. Jasnah might put her personal collection — back home — through the proverbial wringer, but she intends to treat someone else's with the utmost respect. ]
...Does your sister also have an interest in history?
In a sense... She has an interest in Heroes, which are an important part of our history.
[While Logan was learning all about the territories and leaders shaping and remaking Albion over centuries, his sister was more concerned with adventures. She asked about myths and legends, and Logan was never as good as storyteller as their father or his friends.]
[ Well. Useful information to be tucked away should she ever find herself once again in an audience with the queen — patting the book in question, and then also tucking it under her arm, Jasnah resolves to start with the Heroes. ]
Heroes. Sounds very...on the nose. [ A quirk of her mouth. ] Although I suppose I shouldn't throw stones, considering a not insignificant faction in our history involves Knight Radiants.
'Knight Radiants'? [Logan lifts an eyebrow.] It's a shame you don't have your own library. That sounds like it would have been a fitting cultural exchange.
Perhaps we can discuss them instead. [Books are unrivalled, but conversation will do in its absence.]
[ A fitting cultural exchange. It would be a grand thing (she supposes) if proper diplomatic ties could be achieved — she knows it'll be far, far too much to ask another kingdom, another planet, to throw in with Roshar's lot. But a lot could be learned from one another, all the same.
She sets the two books down on the edge of a study desk, nodding. ]
It's complicated. [ She warns him not because she doesn't think him up to the task — although, frankly, she wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't. She's so so so unaccustomed to discussing academic matters with men. ] But I would tell you what I know — the bits we've confirmed, as some of it is still hearsay.
[Logan folds his hands and lifts his chin out of habit. A lifetime of being told to stand straight and tall. In contract to his stiff demeanour, his expression is one of curiosity.]
Is any history not complicated? Is it ever clear and unbiased?
[If anyone knows that it's the tyrant who was pardoned by the sister who overthrew him, though he doesn't say so aloud. He knows what history will say about him, and he knows the truth. Two things so different, but one will almost certainly be choked out by the other.
Jasnah must know this too, he thinks. Any decent ruler should, even without becoming a historian.]
[ A soft exhale through her nose — not a laugh, more like an apologetic huff. She can see how she might have misled the moment, and she's quick to clarify. ]
You're correct, of course. History is never so straightforward. Rather — I meant the very nature and function of the Radiants are complicated. More Realmatic Theory than history. More physics than folklore. And to explain them, I'd have to start us off with some very dry concepts.
[ She sounds like she's not opposed. ]
A little outside of my specialty — but I'm confident I'm up to the task.
[ Ah. If her expression appears to hedge, it's only because Jasnah is in the unfortunate position of nearly knowing just how much she doesn't know. Oh, yes, she might be one native-born Rosharan with the most experience of the Realms — the Cognitive Realm, certainly — but she's only scratched the surface compared to others in the Cosmere.
She has the good grace to look a little apologetic when she admits: ]
I'm confident Realmatic Theory is at the heart of how I ended up here.
[ A soft breath. She'd been holding this card a little close to her chest, until now. Partially because of the complexity, and partially because she wonders whether she won't sound mad. ]
...It's the study of the three realms. The Physical, the Cognitive, and the Spiritual. Does Albion have anything like it?
[Logan's brow rises as he listens. Not only is it very relevant, but it doesn't sound completely foreign.
Stepping over to the books Jasnah set down, he pulls one aside and flips it open. A couple of pages in, near the start and turns it towards Jasnah. There's an image illustrating...]
The three Heroic disciplines: Strength, skill, and will.
[It seems that learning about Realmatic Theory is exactly what he needs to do. To help Jasnah, as his sister instructed, but also to potentially learn about his own people.]
[ With the index finger on her right hand, she pulls the book a few inches closer. She touches the image — a soft sound catching in her throat. Perhaps it's not the hardest of evidence, but it's heartening to see something whose shadow is at least familiar. ]
I was in the Cognitive when I — [ she pauses. Reconsiders her words in the last second. ] When I unintentionally ended up here. The realm of thought and perception.
[ And...skill? Maybe. She can follow the stepping stones, however distant they are from one another. ]
[To think they might have come across such a poignant commonality so soon. The potential discoveries urge Logan to speak with just a hint more enthusiasm than he might otherwise have shown.]
These are the Heroic disciplines. Strength isn't simply about power, but all things physical. Endurance, health, resilience. Skill is more nuanced. Those with great skill can be extremely fast and nimble, stealthy and cunning, exceptionally accurate, but also skilled in conversation. Will is the ability to control magic. There are all manner of uses for this, from raising the dead to creating great hurricanes.
Mastery over them are what makes Heroes what they are. Most often a Hero might only be adept at one, perhaps two of them. It is a rare and extremely powerful gift to have all three. [And, because it will be relevant, he adds,] Like my father. Like my sister.
[ The word is little more than a whisper. It's not a perfect mapping. But why should it be? One world to another world to yet another — none of them would take the exact, perfect, and identical paths. No. Like Logan, she suspects there's something here.
He mentions raising the dead. He mentioned hurricanes. And she frowns, so tempted to ask, but warns herself to stay on task. ]
[ She straightens from the slightly canted posture she'd taken over the book, sliding her palm over the table's edge. ]
This — [ she gestures to them, the room, the world perhaps. And then holds out her bare right hand flat in the air ] — is the Physical Realm. Straight-forward. Familiar.
[ And in a rare moment of movement, she raises her sleeved left hand — sitting it a few inches below her right. ] You can think of the Cognitive Realm as sitting just beneath the Physical. Perhaps like an inversion of it. But everything there is thought and perception. Things gain more or less detail depending on how often they're — well — thought of.
Travel between the realms is possible. And I was in that layer, sometimes called Shadesmar, when I ended up here.
[Jasnah has his full attention. The explanation seems simple enough on the surface, but it leaves Logan with a great many questions. Along with the question of which question to ask first.
Coming to the library first was a dangerous idea... productive, but dangerous. They may well never leave.
[ Ah. The Spiritual Realm. She chews her lower lip — just briefly — while gathering her thoughts into a coherent order. ]
Somewhere I'm considerably less acquainted with, I'm afraid. However, I've had it described to me as a land of essences. Souls, and all the Connections they have to one another. It's less a place where one can go and more a map of all the ways we are bonded or related to one another. Our families, our homes, our planets.
[ ...Ah. That. What an astute question. Jasnah had planned to withhold this information for as long as humanly possible, but in her burst of excitement over these three qualities in common, she'd let the academic in her run away with the truth she was trying to hold so close to her chest.
Her mouth quirks into a brief, self-reproaching frown. ]
Not a device. But it does require a power source we call Stormlight. [ She wets her lips, cautious. ] And oaths.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Your personal projects? [ And because even she can tell when she's straining diplomacy a little too much, she adds: ] I was an historian before I was a queen. Gleaning truth from folklore — myth — was my personal project.
[ Interested in the embossing of a particular spine, she tugs the book off the shelf. ]
no subject
Jasnah's explanation, however, is more surprising. 'Historian' sounds suspiciously like a genuine job. Something he wasn't aware royalty had outside of being royalty if they were so close to the throne.]
Did you manage to make the contribution you intended before you were called to the throne?
no subject
[ She knows it's an unhelpful answer — and she does intend to clarify, but her attention drifts down to the random pair of pages to which she's opened the book. Despite the fact that her left hand is merely gloved, no longer sleeved, she still handles it one-handed. Like habit.
Her eyes scan the page. Remarkable, how she can read the words. Capital-C Connection is a truly fascinating thing. ]
I'd like to think contributions across my career have been helpful. The great ones and the small ones, [ she had a small handful of expertises. Some taken seriously by her peers; others less so. ] And it's led to some useful discoveries.
[ Her people would have died at the Battle of Narak if not for her ward's quick thinking, using Jasnah's body of research to lead the way to Urithiru. ]
But I've also been terribly wrong. On occasion.
[ Thin lipped, severe, but she manages not to show too much bruised ego. ]
It's hard to sort the fact from the fiction when most of what remains is myth. I'm certain you understand.
[ If he too deals in folklore. ]
no subject
Logan watches as interest flashes across Jasnah's face as she lets herself be distracted by the book in her hand. He stays silent as she explains her yes, and her no. It's not difficult to sympathise with making a terrible mistake. It's easily done, even when you aren't in a position of power.]
I understand.
[His gaze shifts as a thought occurs, and then he steps away. Of all the shelves in the library, the one he heads to might be the one he knows best. He scans the spines for titles that filled his formative years, which he read time and time again. Long fingers pull out one book, and then another. Despite being cared for they've both been handled often, but this is the first time in a while they've been taken from the shelves.]
Here.
[Turning to Jasnah, he offers the books.]
If you're a historian staying in Albion, you'll want to read these. They'll introduce you to the two most important topics of our country's history: The Archons and the Heroes.
no subject
Excellent, [ she expresses genuine gratitude for his suggestions. It can't be easy to try and distill a nation's everything down to one starter path. She knows she'd have a hard time knowing what to assign someone to familiarize themselves with Alethkar, let alone the whole of the Rosharan planet. ]
— Should they be perused only in the library, or may I bring them back to my quarters to read?
no subject
You may bring them to your quarters. Keep them on the castle grounds and be sure to take care of them. This is the queen's favourite section.
no subject
...Does your sister also have an interest in history?
no subject
In a sense... She has an interest in Heroes, which are an important part of our history.
[While Logan was learning all about the territories and leaders shaping and remaking Albion over centuries, his sister was more concerned with adventures. She asked about myths and legends, and Logan was never as good as storyteller as their father or his friends.]
no subject
Heroes. Sounds very...on the nose. [ A quirk of her mouth. ] Although I suppose I shouldn't throw stones, considering a not insignificant faction in our history involves Knight Radiants.
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Perhaps we can discuss them instead. [Books are unrivalled, but conversation will do in its absence.]
no subject
She sets the two books down on the edge of a study desk, nodding. ]
It's complicated. [ She warns him not because she doesn't think him up to the task — although, frankly, she wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't. She's so so so unaccustomed to discussing academic matters with men. ] But I would tell you what I know — the bits we've confirmed, as some of it is still hearsay.
no subject
Is any history not complicated? Is it ever clear and unbiased?
[If anyone knows that it's the tyrant who was pardoned by the sister who overthrew him, though he doesn't say so aloud. He knows what history will say about him, and he knows the truth. Two things so different, but one will almost certainly be choked out by the other.
Jasnah must know this too, he thinks. Any decent ruler should, even without becoming a historian.]
no subject
You're correct, of course. History is never so straightforward. Rather — I meant the very nature and function of the Radiants are complicated. More Realmatic Theory than history. More physics than folklore. And to explain them, I'd have to start us off with some very dry concepts.
[ She sounds like she's not opposed. ]
A little outside of my specialty — but I'm confident I'm up to the task.
no subject
[That is far less in his wheelhouse. History is a topic he was raised on. Science? A curiosity he was never allowed.]
Is 'Realmatic Theory' a concept which impacts much of your culture? Or just the Radiants?
[It would be nice if the very difficult topic he's asked after wasn't entirely niche.]
no subject
She has the good grace to look a little apologetic when she admits: ]
I'm confident Realmatic Theory is at the heart of how I ended up here.
[ A soft breath. She'd been holding this card a little close to her chest, until now. Partially because of the complexity, and partially because she wonders whether she won't sound mad. ]
...It's the study of the three realms. The Physical, the Cognitive, and the Spiritual. Does Albion have anything like it?
no subject
Stepping over to the books Jasnah set down, he pulls one aside and flips it open. A couple of pages in, near the start and turns it towards Jasnah. There's an image illustrating...]
The three Heroic disciplines: Strength, skill, and will.
[It seems that learning about Realmatic Theory is exactly what he needs to do. To help Jasnah, as his sister instructed, but also to potentially learn about his own people.]
no subject
I was in the Cognitive when I — [ she pauses. Reconsiders her words in the last second. ] When I unintentionally ended up here. The realm of thought and perception.
[ And...skill? Maybe. She can follow the stepping stones, however distant they are from one another. ]
What are these disciplines used for?
no subject
These are the Heroic disciplines. Strength isn't simply about power, but all things physical. Endurance, health, resilience. Skill is more nuanced. Those with great skill can be extremely fast and nimble, stealthy and cunning, exceptionally accurate, but also skilled in conversation. Will is the ability to control magic. There are all manner of uses for this, from raising the dead to creating great hurricanes.
Mastery over them are what makes Heroes what they are. Most often a Hero might only be adept at one, perhaps two of them. It is a rare and extremely powerful gift to have all three. [And, because it will be relevant, he adds,] Like my father. Like my sister.
no subject
[ The word is little more than a whisper. It's not a perfect mapping. But why should it be? One world to another world to yet another — none of them would take the exact, perfect, and identical paths. No. Like Logan, she suspects there's something here.
He mentions raising the dead. He mentioned hurricanes. And she frowns, so tempted to ask, but warns herself to stay on task. ]
And you?
[ Jasnah "pulls no punches" Kholin. ]
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The question is a fair one. A little irritating, like a splinter, but fair.]
I'm not a Hero.
[None, Jasnah. None.]
What do you mean when you say you were 'in' the Cognitive?
no subject
[ She straightens from the slightly canted posture she'd taken over the book, sliding her palm over the table's edge. ]
This — [ she gestures to them, the room, the world perhaps. And then holds out her bare right hand flat in the air ] — is the Physical Realm. Straight-forward. Familiar.
[ And in a rare moment of movement, she raises her sleeved left hand — sitting it a few inches below her right. ] You can think of the Cognitive Realm as sitting just beneath the Physical. Perhaps like an inversion of it. But everything there is thought and perception. Things gain more or less detail depending on how often they're — well — thought of.
Travel between the realms is possible. And I was in that layer, sometimes called Shadesmar, when I ended up here.
no subject
Coming to the library first was a dangerous idea... productive, but dangerous. They may well never leave.
Logan's gaze shifts back from Jasnah's hands.]
And the Spiritual realm?
no subject
Somewhere I'm considerably less acquainted with, I'm afraid. However, I've had it described to me as a land of essences. Souls, and all the Connections they have to one another. It's less a place where one can go and more a map of all the ways we are bonded or related to one another. Our families, our homes, our planets.
no subject
You said you travelled between realms. How? Does it require a device? Or is it unique to certain people?
no subject
Her mouth quirks into a brief, self-reproaching frown. ]
Not a device. But it does require a power source we call Stormlight. [ She wets her lips, cautious. ] And oaths.
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