conjuredskies | The Learned Society of Nexus Geographers

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nexus,
verity

The Learned Society of Nexus Geographers

Felix wasn’t strictly untruthful to Verity, and perhaps that’s good enough.

He is, after all, free. It’s just that rather than waiting to be sent off-duty, he waits until Stratos disappears into their home portal, then scribbles a note to say that it’s been six hours(!) and he needs food. He leaves it pinned beneath a rock at his desk.

How could that possibly backfire?

He’s delved into the streets of the Nexus before, but as usual it’s an education in architecture – and food, and commerce, and the entertaining arts. His map holds him true though. Aside from a bit of shock when he learns what an Escher bridge actually is, he makes it safely to the Fox and Crozier. It’s a surprisingly pleasant place, opening onto a tree-shaded yard of its own. The clink of glasses and murmur of pleasant conversation drift through the open doors. Rather impressed, Felix glances around the lane to check if Verity’s waiting outside before he heads in.

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"What, you can't call one of those fire ladies to do it for you? Controlling fire should make cooking so much easier."

"Asking for a fire is easy. Asking for edible food from a being who doesn't eat, that's almost as hard as trying to conjure it yourself. Which doesn't work at all, might I add."

"It doesn't? Huh. I wonder why dad was always so worried about magic food..."

She's going to be wondering about that for a moment (and the rest of her life).

"I guess you'll have to learn to do it for yourself."

"Food can have magical effects - especially if you lace it with some kind of potion. Maybe that's what worried him?" he suggests. It seems like the most logical answer.

Her latter comment makes him grimace a little. "At this rate I'll be learning to do it for the whole squad. Curse of the apprentice, you know. Not that it'll be anything this nice."

"Maybe." That makes as much sense as anything, so she'll shrug the question off to worry about later.

"Everyone loves a good cook. Would it really be so bad?"

"There's a difference between being a cook and being the one who gets ordered to do all the drudge work." And for all the ways he haas of earning gratitude, his cooking is not one.

"I'm sorry." She'll drop it. She never likes seeing a nice person sulk.

"So what is Cyrodiil like? That's where you grew up, right?"

Sulking is definitely no way to spend an excellent meal; given the opportunity, Felix gladly abandons the subject and his discomforted look turns to a quick smile and a nod.

"It is - though, I must confess, my hometown isn't very representative of the province. Most of Cyrodiil is green and warm, and - well, the Nords would call it gentle. Having lived there, I can't say the same. But it is beautiful."

He toys with the remains of his food for a moment, deciding how to describe it. "At its heart is a great lake and the Imperial City. The whole region around it is - nearly - full of forests and meadows and quiet riverbanks where lotus flowers grow. Sometimes it seems like every bend or hillock is hiding some ancient fort or broken marble arches. The people are courteous and educated and- disciplined, might be the word. It's a bastion of civility and order. The center of civilization in Tamriel. Even if that is what I'm supposed to say."

The last bit is said dryly, but the patriotism does seem to be genuine, nearly down to the word. He has a sip of ale to wet his throat after all that, so he can add, "Naturally, I come from the one city in the northern mountains. The part covered in ice and snow and surly Nords."

It sounds beautiful, the way he describes it. She's leaning with her chin in her hands by the end, intent on the story and the imagery. It almost sounds too perfect.

But, of course, he's from Bruma. The disappointment makes her laugh, not at him, just at the situation. "Aww. Well, someday you can move south and have your very own broken marble arch to admire."

It really is too perfect, but that's what you get for asking a slightly homesick Imperial. And he doesn't want to dwell on Cyrodiil's misfortunes, not when they've just got their conversation back on track.

"Mmm. Someday after I've made my fortune cleaning out some Ayleid treasure vault. Maybe I'll buy a nice townhouse in Cheydinhal - even the Imperial City. Of course, the south has its own hazards." He leans forward a bit and drops his voice. "Cousins, you know."

She wouldn't be half so interested in visiting if he told her about all the Thalmor. They'd just get along so well.

"Cousins?" She doesn't quite get it, not having any (that she knows of). "I thought people like having cousins."

They took down the Blades, but now the Thalmor have incurred the wrath of a far greater enemy: the Tourism Board of Cyrodiil.

"Ah." Okay, maybe he'll have to save the relations jokes for another audience. "Well, that... really depends on the cousins. And whether you mind them demanding you appear at all kinds of family occasions." He has another sip of ale. "I was joking, though- I only have one first cousin for the moment."

Nobody's invented a shield against bureaucracy yet. That's a real oversight. Those mages up in Winterhold ought to get cracking.

"Oh. That doesn't sound like fun," she admits. "So how far south is safe, do you think? Far enough south to be warm, I hope. Or is that how your branch of the family ended up in the mountains?" She may not always understand, but she tries. And who could stay mad at anyone so cute?

But could anyone ~~besides the Dragonborn~~ be trusted with such power?

"That must be it. Bruma is very well-fortified." He grins. "If I get as far as the southern coast, I ought to be safe. It might be rather damp, but I hear the coastal cities are quite picturesque - if you don't mind a few pirates."

That's the real question, isn't it?

"So your options are cold or pirates? That's a tough choice." He gets legit sympathy for that. It's a horrible conundrum. "Are east and west options?"

"Oh, desert on one side and swamp on the other." He pulls a face. "Not that I'd mind the heat in Hammerfell so much as... well, the locals are, um, superstitious about mages. I can't see it being worth the hassle. Black Marsh, on the other hand, might be interesting to visit. Profitable, even, if I practice making friends with Argonians."

He's all but finished his food, so he takes a minute to savor the last couple of mouthfuls. "So, what about America? What sort of country is your home?"

"Ah. A desert full of people who wouldn't like you much doesn't sound like the most fun place to visit. Argonians are... the local people in the marsh?"

She'll finish up her meal before pushing her plate aside and pulling the giant book closer. "America is huge. Thousands of miles across and encompassing all kinds of places, from places so far north that it's always frozen to southern deserts, mountains and rivers and forests and plains... it's beautiful, but... I haven't actually seen most of it. So I thought we'd start with the city where I grew up, New York."

She opens the atlas to a double-page map of the States. "This is the main part of my country. There's parts further away that don't fit on this map. Kind of like... colonies, I guess? Except their full members of the government. I grew up here, by the ocean, in between two rivers on an island of granite."

He gets a few minutes to take in the vast scale of the country before she moves on to the map of New York City. "This is my city. The grid of streets makes navigation easy, and also estimating distances. Each block, those go east to west, is one twentieth of a mile. I grew up here, but moved here when I decided to get my own place." The Upper East Side probably looks nice, on paper, being near the giant park and all.

"Lizard-folk," he replies with a nod. "Black Marsh is their homeland. I met one here earlier, actually. He's a knight." And rather more than that, which thought brings a smile to his lips. "Charming fellow."

He pushes his cleaned plate aside and leans over the atlas. The scale doesn't overawe him, but he is impressed. It's easy to get used to being a citizen of the biggest and most powerful state around; recent history might have left his generation more chastened than their Imperial forebears, but that kind of privilege doesn't fade quickly. So whether Verity's considering it or not, it really does help to bump up his opinion of her people as To Be Taken Seriously.

Both maps are studied with fascination: the places they show are equally exotic to him, after all. But the city looks very civilized - so far as he can tell from a map. "It was well planned-out, I see. And so you're near - that's parkland, right? Is it all garden, or can people hunt there?"

"Oh, Shade-Seeker! Yeah, he's great." She really likes him. He gives hugs and doesn't judge her.

It's good to respect people with nuclear weapons and superheroes. Not that they're likely to invade the Nexus, but... stranger things have happened. Seriously stranger.

"It's a park, yeah. We don't hunt there, but there's lots to do. There are places for concerts, there's a lake with boats you can rent, there's paths for biking, places for picnics... It's sort of like everybody's back yard." She loves her city. She loves it so much.

"That's him, yes. He's from a couple of centuries in our past, so, ah, I'm trying to be careful how much information goes his way." He's terrifically nonjudgmental though. Felix finds it a tad unsettling.

"That sounds lovely. Most of our cities have public gardens, but in a place so packed..." he brushes his fingers over the dense grid of street lines, "it must be terribly important to have somewhere that isn't paved over. Somewhere everyone can gather. Are there many performances there? I take it you have your own college of bards? Or performers in general?" He's been in Skyrim too long - there are other kinds of musician, he reminds himself.

"Your past, dear, not mine. But that's probably wise." Her own brief time-travel adventure didn't end so well, and she doesn't like to think about how much worse it might have gone.

"It is really nice to have green space, yeah. We have some other parks too, but they're not as big. We have one that elevated above the streets even." She traces that path over the map, though it isn't shown there. "Oh, there's all kinds of performances. Different kinds of music, and plays too. There's shows for kids sometimes, puppets or people acting out fairy tales. We don't call them 'bards' where I come from but we do have schools for musicians, actors, dancers... New York is one of the biggest cities in the world, and culturally it's very important. People come from all over to try and become famous."

"With the world on your doorstep, it's a miracle you find time to travel. Is New York your capital, then?"

"No, it's not the capital of the country or the state. It used to be the capital of the country, but they built a new city for that. They needed more room and wanted it to be more centrally located, you see." Flipping back to the big country map, and this time she points out D.C. "When the country was founded, it only took up these places near the ocean. Americans moved westward slowly, in stages, over the next century. Which would have been fine if they hadn't committed genocide in the process. And maybe it wouldn't have been fine with the people who used to live there."

She doesn't like admitting that part, but it's the truth and it's important to know these things.

"Ah. Yes, that's... unpleasant. I think something similar happened a couple of times in Tamriel. Like the Nords conquering Skyrim from the Snow Elves and Bretons." People aren't usually so sensitive- okay, the descendants of the victors aren't generally sensitive about these things, in Tamriel. But Verity is very somber about it, so he's following her lead. And there's something to be respected in a people who don't forget the bloodshed behind their triumphs.

Plenty of people still sensitive about that, Felix, haven't you ever been to Markarth? "I hope it doesn't happen again, for any of us."

Verity's sensitive about a lot of things. It's part of why she spent so long trying to isolate herself. It's hard to deal with deep feelings and constant truth at the same time.

"So, would you like to see some pictures of New York?"

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