Bookish Adventures With Valan And Issy (Valan)

 Happy Passover everyone, Chag Sameach! Have a fun little fic for the weekend.

Despite my vision being what it is I have always enjoyed bookshops, and today's adventure to one is no different. While at home visiting my mother I ran into none other than Isabelle, who was skulking about the city looking for trouble of one kind or another. The question of if she was going to get into trouble herself or attempt to stop others from being troublesome still remains unanswered as the two of us walk along the busy streets of The Imperial City. “So what brings you to the center of Imperial power hmm? Last I heard the Empire wasn’t exactly thrilled with you.” Issy asks as we walk “They’re being over dramatic, so some stuff happened with the tribunal and some other stuff happened on Solstheim, it could be worse. At least they don’t have to worry about Daedra running about anymore.” At the mention of the last sentence the topic is rather abruptly changed to something else, I don’t blame her for doing so, the ending of the Septim Empire I heard was rather dramatic and unfortunately quick, though I have not heard the full details back home still.

“Where were you off to anyways when I ran into you?” I ask her, a more lighthearted discussion topic…I hope. “To the bookstore a few streets over, I need to get a few spellbooks and some other things to bring back to Bruma.” Sometimes I forget about Issy and her isolated wizard tower that was given to her as part of an inheritance that stands outside of Bruma. It suits her, really, a cold and somewhat distant place on the outside but when you step inside you find it’s full of life. Recently she’s been working on cultivating rare plants, she tells me, and as a result needs some material on how to best care for and grow what she's planted.

 “You still never answered my question of what you are doing here, Valan.” Isabelle points out, holding the door to the shop open for me now that we’ve reached our destination. “The only real reasons I come back here, to visit mom, maybe get some supplies that are hard to find in Morrowind, and be a nuisance to the imperial legion.” the last part makes her laugh, you very rarely hear her laugh anymore. The shop owner greets us, but gives me a slightly confused look for a moment upon noticing my cane. Never seen a visually impaired person before? “Are there any large print books?” I ask Isabelle as she sifts through the piles and shelves looking for what she needs and without a word points to a shelf over in the corner of the shop “Thank you.” I reply bluntly and go to look at what I have the remaining eyesight to actually read. The selection is slim to say the least, but that does not surprise me, most of the books in my collection are in fact old ones from the arcane university library, as they sell them along with the regular print books every so often when students no longer have need of them.

Bookshops are a place I find oddly calming, same with libraries, usually when in the area I will hole myself up in Neloths library if he doesn’t need my help, it's more comfortable than the one at Tel Fyr where you could easily be brought out of your concentration by an unwanted guest or annoyed grumbling when experiments go wrong. Does that happen at Tel Naga as well? Of course, but far less frequently. Some time passes as Issy and I look through the shelves for interesting things and eventually find at least one book each to take home with us, I find a rather amusing story simply titled “Wabbajak” and Issy finds a number of titles regarding the flora and fauna of Tamriel and Oblivion, as well as a few spellbooks. The concept of spellbooks is very much an Imperial thing, in Morrowind if you want to learn a spell, like any skill, you find someone proficient in it, and with training and instruction you eventually become proficient enough yourself to be able to cast it. Spellbooks seem to require intense individual study, and quite a bit of reading…I think I prefer the Telvanni method of spell learning, myself. Once things are paid for, and I further confused the poor old shopkeeper Issy and I step back out into the busy streets. “What now then?” I question her and she thinks for a moment. “Well, in Daggerfall at least, a visit with a friend is never complete without a trip for a cup of tea.” I like that ideology, Breton culture seems like a rather nice one to be immersed in, cultured without being snobby like the Altmer. So we decide, a cup of tea and perhaps a snack are in order, and wander off to find our nearest cafe. I should come back here more often, I think to myself, even if it’s only to buy books and see Isabelle, after all she is my friend, and she seems like she could use a friend right about now.