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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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?"

Is it in any way surprising that no, he quite deliberately hasn't been to Markarth proper? The Forsworn have really interesting hobbies but last time he asked, they wouldn't let him in their club.

"I'm sure either of our governments would have quite a lot to say about it, if it did." It's a reassurance, so long as you don't over-analyze it.

"Oh, there are engravings? I'd love to see them." His is a world not yet saturated with Youtube videos and selfies and Google maps, and his immediate keenness reflects that. Getting actual pictures of a mysterious foreign land is a rare pleasure.

Oh, but they've got plenty of clubs for a handsome Imperial like him.

"Yeah, and most of it wouldn't mean anything." She knows how these things work. She's seen plenty of politicians on the news, talking and talking and saying nothing.

"Not exactly..." Prepare to be amazed: she has a smartphone, and an album of photos she's taken around the city. Once it's open she turns the screen to him. "Rub your finger lightly over the screen in either direction to switch to the next picture." She will demonstrate: right to a new pic, right to another one, left goes back to the one they'd just seen, left goes back again, another left is another picture. Magic.

And he'd like to stay handsome, so he'll stick to making friends with daedra.

He shrugs a little, not willing to dispute it: most of what the powerful say is of questionable honesty and that's undeniable. He can't really blame Verity if she finds that less endearing than he does.

Ah, he's noticed a few people wandering around with devices like that. He peers at it while she fiddles, then blinks when he's shown the pictures. "Oh." It's so bright and detailed and- he breaks into a delighted grin.

"Hah! Well, look at that!" He has to try swiping between pictures, although it might take him some fumbling to get the right combination of pressure and movement. Motor skills of the future, here he comes! "What a fine little device. No wonder I keep seeing them around." Although to be fair, he doesn't differentiate between different small rectangular gadgets yet.

In her defense, J. Jonah Jameson is the mayor of New York where she's from. Nobody could love politics after that. Nobody but the villains.

He can play to his heart's content. She's enjoying the show. "Pretty great, huh? It stores information for me, it can connect to other devices to retrieve even more information, I can use it to communicate with other people, it even takes pictures. All those pictures you're looking at, I took with that phone."

He seems all the more impressed by its versatility. "All of that? Wait, how do you mean it 'takes' the pictures? I mean, I suppose you have to receive them from somewhere..."

They're pretty damn impressive things. "You see that small round glass piece? That works sort of like an eye. It takes in all the light and the machine makes a picture from it. Then it shows the picture on the screen when we tell it to. "

Felix leans his head to take a look at the lens. "That's interesting. And it's all just mechanical and... electrical? Hmm." His fingers twitch a little over the phone. "So these are all places you've really been, not just places the artists like." The technical aspects are fascinating, but it's worth remembering the other implications.

He's almost too caught up in the moment to notice the older man come in the door. The newcomer is armored in segmented steel, polished and gleaming - although in style it otherwise resembles Felix's uniform, down to the skirt. He sweeps a cool glance around the dining room and strides straight for their table. Felix is careful not to let his expression change.

"Yes, it's mechanical and electrical. Next time I'll bring something with a bigger screen so you can see the details." Because there are so many more details than he realizes. "They are. This is exactly how they looked when I was there. Those people were all there, the weather was really like that. No artistic license." She doesn't even use filters.

She looks up at the man approaching but saves the questioning look for Felix. Not that she's going to stop the conversation now. "Further on there are some pics I took at night, you can see how the city lights up. It's really beautiful."

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