The Professor bowed his head a little as he walked over to Celephai and waved the PKE meter over her body. IT beeped and squelched, and the Professor nodded, then pocketed it. He took in a breath and spoke haltingly, as if recalling some long-forgotten knowledge.
Ft'ulh chulag, m'nagh zy'tyr wshig ganoth?
Of all the graveyards in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine.
She halted her slow walk almost immediately as he finished his sentence, visibly surprised even underneath her cloak. He had asked a question in an almost imperative phrasing. It took a moment or so before Celephai could reply.
"Mk'ut, ia n'flughan wagh'n nai ushir al... but still impressive for someone with only a single tongue."
Her tone was not harsh, a small note of caution in her voice as she spoke to the professor. This man deserved a little more attention than the rest, if only because of his audacity to speak a forbidden language so freely.
"...but I the common words of this plane should suffice, as they hold little power by comparison."
He was surprised when he walked in, since the room was bigger than he had thought.. And traveling in time too? This old man was something special and might be dangerous. They had to be aware of his skills.. and his apparent insanity.
"So, what did you need us to collect professor?" He was wandering around, looking at the bookshelves. He had never seen this many books in one place. Most libraries didn't have as many books.
Marvelous! Simply marvelous. I did some work with the Yogg-Saronish cult a decade or so back, glad to know I still remember the phrasing. He seemed to remember what he was doing
Ah, yes, thank you madam. Francine! My chalkboard! Francine sighed and pulled a chalkboard, seemingly at random, into the middle of the room. On it was layers and layers of math and equations, but in the center was a drawing of a perfect circle. He pulled a long pointed from the chalkboard and pointed to the circle.
This is what you will be looking for. Who here knows the formula for the circumference of a circle?
Of all the graveyards in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine.
Completely ignoring anything he didn't want to hear, he turned back to his board.
Pi, as we know it, is 3.14 with infinitely extending decimal points. That means that if you take the diameter and stretch it around the outside of the circle, you can do it three times with some space left over.
He turned the chalkboard over. On the other side was a portrait of a man, larger, with a huge handlebar mustache.
This is Bill Stockton Johnson, AKA "Bloody Stupid" Johnson. He was an architect by trade, a notoriously bad one. In fact, physics-defyingly bad. He thought that pi was a little untidy. So he made a circle of steel whose circumference equaled exactly three.
Of all the graveyards in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine.
Agathaumas stood there, absolutely lost and devoid of understanding. What's Pi? he thought What's maths? What's this thing he's writing on? How am i in a building that's bigger on the inside than on the friggin' outside! Suddenly, his enchantment kicked in, giving him the answers he needed to figure it out. Oh he thought.
"What does Bill Stockton have to do with any of this?" He asked "Do you think he used a spell or item in order to bend the laws of Physics? He can't defy physics fully, no one can, so how did he manage to bend the rules in order to remove decimals from its circumference?"
No one knows. It's not inherently magical, as far as anyone can tell. And Johnson himself didn't have any magical ability. It's as if he simply didn't know that pi had to be 3.14 and did it anyways. Doing that intentionally with the foreknowledge that it was impossible would be significantly harder.
Of all the graveyards in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine.
Orp Boon [M:83:616:][D3v:http://www.rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=406&page=1#374]"Is that family heirloom for sale?"[0:Gone fishing.][1:The store is open!]
I once had it in my possession a few years ago, before Francine was born. Three, four years. I stored it in a cavern some distance away from here, guarded by one of my creations. Unfortunately, that creation went haywire and stopped responding. Now, I didn't program it with any combat abilities, and I don't think it could have picked very many up. He sighed.
But it is slightly more dangerous than I would like to try myself. I can't spare Francine, either, as good as she is at defending herself.
Of all the graveyards in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine.
Orp Boon [M:83:616:][D3v:http://www.rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=406&page=1#374]"Is that family heirloom for sale?"[0:Gone fishing.][1:The store is open!]
"Sir, your poster mentioned multiple magical artifacts. Are there other things you need us to return to you as well? Can you spare anything from your work to help us on our way? Weapons of any sort? And what about the rewards? Are we being paid in gold or valuable items?"
Orp gave the professor a stern look with his one eye.
He flipped the chalkboard around again. It was a different series of math equations and diagrams. Orp noticed a large label saying "Project Lazarus."
I have a few other items I'm looking for...a grand experiment coming up that I've invested quite a lot in will depend heavily on these items. I will charge you with the requisition of those artifacts once you secure the Circle. He walked away from his chalkboard.
As for rewards, I have many items...adventurers such as yourself will appreciate. Weapons? What do you prefer to use? As he said this he took a stethoscope from his pocket and put it against Short Trunk's bark. He listened for a moment and nodded.
You should have someone look at those wood worms, my friend. You will have a sizeable reward later on, but I think I can spare a little something.
He walked to a wall and tapped it. The wall flipped around and revealed an array of weapons of all sizes on pegs on the wall. Shining swords, glowing staves, gleaming bows. The Professor selected a weapon, a bulky-looking piece of machinery with a curious thick, toothed blade. He pulled the cord and the machine blared to life, spinning the teeth on the blade at near-blinding speed. The Professor shouted above the noise of the machine.
Who wants this one, eh?
Of all the graveyards in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine.
Agathaumas was suspiscious, he was a hunter, therefore it seemed to come naturally. So many weapons... for the task of acquiring some random artifacts. Sure, this professor was unhinged, and probably didn't know the blade from the bow. But even he would know the power of such a weapon. These objects were powerful, obviously, it didn't seem like no one else wouldn't go looking for them. "This doesn't feel right." He said quietly. "Is there anyone else after these artifacts?"
Orp Boon [M:83:616:][D3v:http://www.rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=406&page=1#374]"Is that family heirloom for sale?"[0:Gone fishing.][1:The store is open!]