Canas & Pent

Level C:

Canas:	...Mmm. I wonder where it went? If I dropped it, it should be around here...
Pent:	... ...
Canas:	Ah!
Pent:	...Mm?
Canas:	Excuse me...that book...
Pent:	Oh...Is this yours? It looked interesting, so I started reading it... I'm sorry to have kept it from you...
Canas:	No, that's perfectly fine...I just...didn't know you had an interest in ancient magic. You look more like one who specializes in the magics of nature.
Pent:	Very perceptive.
Canas:	Oh, well...My knowledge is but a candle to your mastery's blaze. ...Are you not Lord Pent, the mage general of Etruria?
Pent:	That is correct.
Canas:	Wow! Goodness! In the flesh? Well, my wife will not believe this!!
Pent:	I'm sorry, but who are you?
Canas:	Oh, I am Canas. I have only just become a shaman...
Pent:	And your wife is a magic-user?
Canas:	Yes. Why, she just thinks you are the bee's knees!
Pent:	...What an interesting pairing. I had heard there was a scholar of ancient magic who had married a magic-user just to learn more about his field.
Canas:	Well, I guess that's true...I am still just a scholar at heart... That is my, err, true calling...
Pent:	You went from scholar to shaman? Quite an interesting history! You really must tell me about that sometime...
Canas:	Well, you see, it all started...

Level B:

Pent:	Canas!
Canas:	Afternoon, Lord Pent!
Pent:	Here is the book I borrowed. It was truly fascinating!
Canas:	I am glad it pleased you.
Pent:	I have collected a great number of books on elder magic, and I thought I had read them all...But to find one of such high quality that I did not know of...
Canas:	...I do believe this is the last surviving copy of this book. ...As I told you before...Knowledge of the ancient magics has been passed down in our family for generations...Even this book...was to be passed to one of my three brothers.
Pent:	And all three are now dead!! Good Lord, man, you must be...
Canas:	Oh, no! They are alive! But...barely. They merely subsist...As you know, elder magic is based on the forces of darkness...It is even more powerful than nature magic, which is often called anima. But to use this magic, you must invite the dark forces within you. The temptation to submit to the darkness is...great. ...Unfortunately, the darkness took my brothers...They live...and breathe...their eyes open and close...But...they do not move. And they do not speak.
Pent:	... ...
Canas:	There is no guarantee that I will not join them... ......Truthfully, it scares me...However, I must see the other side. My curiosity pushes me even deeper. It will be my undoing.
Pent:	This is the course of knowledge. I am the same way...
Canas:	I knew you would understand. If it pleases you, keep that book.
Pent:	I cannot do that. It is an important part of your family history!
Canas:	Yes, but it was written by my mother. If I ask her, she will write it again...
Pent:	...Unbelieveable. Are you telling me that this book was written by someone still alive!? Your mother...How could...
Canas:	Her name is Niime. She is an odd character. She is known to some as the Mountain Hermit...
Pent:	Canas! You are the son of Niime!?
Canas:	...You know of her?
Pent:	Every mage knows of Niime the Hermit!! ...So you are the hermit's child...That is...remarkable...
Canas:	What is the matter?
Pent:	You must excuse me! My lady wife, Louise, will never believe this!