To:Storer.Ellsbeth
Subject: Re:Your Arcane Mechanicals course
Ms. Stoller,
Assuming your undergraduate education afforded you some familiarity with the history of persuasive writing, perhaps you can point me to the precedent of a rhetorician who convinced his audience primarily through the use ofapology—or indeed, numerous apologies piled upon one another to the point of stupefaction. Or did you expect to be the first to win over a skeptic through a cacophony of “sorry”?
It matters not. The system of selection that we have developed at the CotAA has been honed across generations. Other fields, perhaps, can afford the luxury of exceptions based on such dubious virtues as diligence and presumptuousness. But a cursory overview of the history of the arcane will reveal the danger of entrusting magical knowledge in the hands of those who have not been properly vetted and prepared.
More important, my own experience with students not suited to the study has shown that the costs can be grave. The crucible is not merely a tool of our trade, it is a fitting metaphor for the field itself, which reveals any impurity in the heart of the practitioner.
Many a young applicant has felt improperly represented by her Arcanus score, but often that indignation arises from a misunderstanding of the test itself. The exam does not seek only to measure intellectual capability, but is an instrument intended to assess holistic fitness for the rigors of this study and the responsibilities of its practice. If the face I vaguely recall connected to that unfortunate red sweater is any indication, you are quite young, and as such, you may lack the self-awareness to soberly judge your own shortcomings. Worry not; life will reveal them to you, ruthlessly and relentlessly.
Even if I wanted to admit you, the decision is not mine to make; Dean Lennox oversees the admissions process, and wealready have a full cohort of capable students who followed the guidelines and submitted their applications six months ago.
A final thought: I’m sure you intended for me to be flattered by extolling the quality of my first book, but I can hardly take the compliment. While I stand by every word in that text, its author—represented handsomely by that author photo—is a different man than I am. Barely older than you are now, and, while better versed than you in the arcane, no less naïve and foolhardy. It would hardly even be appropriate for me to autograph your copy, since I am so far removed from him, and the intervening years have taken such a toll on my body and soul.
Evidently, I am in a procrastinatory mood and avoiding the quizzes piled upon my desktop, because many words have now been written, when perhaps one would suffice.
No.
Best of luck with your studies,
T. M. Rawlins, DAA
From:Storer.Ellsbeth
To:Rawlins DAA
Subject: Re: Re:Your Arcane Mechanicals course
Hi again Professor Rawlins,
“To be a student of the Arcane is to subject oneself, again and again, to the study of Humility. In fact, it is Humility and a willingness to prostrate oneself before the unknown Mechanikal operations that will ultimately predict one’s success within the Field.”
I admit, it feels silly to quote theMythikum Mythicarumto you (I believe you actually wrote the introduction to Dawes’s new translation several years ago?). But I was thinking about your email, and I decided to consult the original Latin text. While most translators (Dawes, quoted above, included) land on the word “Humility,” in the original Latin text from 1402, the word used ispaenitere.The root word for “penitent.” Repenting. Apologetic. And so, I think we should reevaluate my “cacophony” of apologies as evidence NOT of my being star-struck and intimidated by any communication with you, but instead of my inherent proclivity for arcane mechanicals.
And here is whereyouget a chance to apologize: My name is Ms. Storer, not “Stoller.”
Yesterday (before I went down a rabbit hole of Latin translation) I had messaged Dean Lennox and explained the unusual circumstances surrounding my incomplete Arcanus score. I mentioned that you had communicated that any decision regarding a late admission to the arcane mechanicals course would be entirely up to her judgment, which came as somewhat of a surprise to her. Dean Lennox seemed to be under the impression thatyouare the one with the power to admit a student outside the conventional channels if you were willing to independently supervise their thesis and account for their progress.
I will offer no more apologies, but I will offer you a proposition: tea, over which I can tell you the story of what happened to me on the day I took the Arcanus. I promise to buy if you agree to sign my copy ofThe Arcane and the Ordinary.(I would haveasked you to also sign my copy of Dawes’s translation of theMythikum,but when I revisited the translation again this morning I found it so infuriatingly lacking that I…threw it out the window.)
I am not someone accustomed to asking for favors, nor am I someone who relishes being granted any special treatment. But as you’re aware, the Arcanus can only be taken once, and I fear that if I don’t get the chance to explain to you what happened on that day last January, you won’t have a full understanding of who I am as a student and what I’ll be capable of in the arcane mechanicals.
I’ll be at The Puddle Jumper from 9 to 11 a.m. this Friday if you’re willing to submit yourself to a hot beverage and a good story. I’ll try to find a less unfortunate sweater to wear.
Best,
Ellsbeth
P.S. I am, in fact, vaguely aware of the Maxwell Keene situation, but I am not Maxwell Keene. For one thing, I would never attempt a thaumaturgy ritual alone or without a rune circle. Also: I’m a little better looking.
Rawlins
Rawlins slept poorly.
This was true as a general statement, stretching back to his earliest memories of childhood, but it was particularly true that first week of the new semester.
