• Solo • The Purpose of Research

[Kori'än]

40th of Saun, 721
Science Institute, Viden Academy, Scalvoris Town

Kori'än placed the notebooks on top of the table of the study table Tallash was sitting at, letting out a small, tired sigh. The heat of Saun never ceased to make him sluggish, although now temperatures were becoming less unbearable."Everything is organized. Every medicinal plant you've mentioned, every information compiled in one place. You really have to learn to take notes."

He didn't mean to offend the blond woman, as this was a mere fact, but Tallash still flushed, her cheeks becoming red instantly. "Well, if you don't want to work with me, you can go find another researcher to hire you, then!"

"I didn't say that," Kori'än snapped back, eyes narrowing at the woman. It was ridiculous how easily she got on his nerves, but he supposed it was because she also had no patience or capacity to stay calm. "But if you had taken your own advice and planned ahead, I wouldn't have to spend a hundred trials redoing your work."

"You didn't redo my work," she growled, and, honestly, Kori'än was ready to throw one notebook at her. "I did most of the research. I did all the note-taking, all you did―"

"Was sort through your mess and rewrite every single word, organize every single note, and spend my days over something that has been done already instead of moving forward. His voice dropped, tone cold, as he interrupted her. It wasn't often that Kori'än interrupted people, but if he needed to find another job, he could very well do so. "This is ridiculous, you know that," Kori stated more than asked, gesturing between them. This was getting tiresome, but he wasn't going to be the one to back down. "Why do you want my help?"

Tallash seemed to deflate almost instantly, taking her glasses off and cleaning them with the hem of her shirt. "I... Look, I'm sorry." She kept her eyes glued to her glasses. "I don't want to fight with you. But you're insuff― Look," she repeated, and Kori crossed his arms, ignoring the light desperation he was starting to hear in her voice. "I just want help. I can't do this alone, and no one will work with me."

"Why that must be?" he whispered, but instantly regretted it when he saw Tallash's eyes fill with tears. He didn't apologize, though. It was the truth. "What do you need help with?"

Taking the cue, Tallash sniffed, placing her glasses on top of her nose again and adjusting it with her finger. She motioned for the chair in front of her, and Kori stared at it for a while, wondering if he really wanted to sit down. He supposed they had fight enough for today, though, and refusing would just be petty. He pulled it back and sat. He didn't return the small smile the woman offered him, though, and soon, she was serious again, straightening up and pretending she wasn't just about to cry.

"Ok. Here is the thing ― I want to find the cure for stoneboil."

Apparently, this was supposed to be a big reveal, since she was looking at him expectantly, but Kori'än simply stared at her face. "The what?"

"Stoneboil? The disease?" Tallash looked at him, incredulity spreading through her face when Kori didn't give any indication of knowing what she was talking about. "Are you―" she interrupted herself, waving her hand around, suddenly back to that know-it-all tone. "No matter. Stoneboil is a rare disease around Scalvoris. No one knows how it is transmitted, and while it isn't fatal, it's highly debilitating, and the quality of life of those who get to the last stage is..." Tallash shook her head.

That he could get behind. As annoying as he thought the woman was, if she was researching a cure for a disease, he would be more than happy to help. Working together wouldn't be easy, not at all, but he wanted to do something with his life, help people with something they really needed. With a heavy sigh, he nodded, noticing how Tallash seemed to perk up at that. He was still too annoyed to offer any kind of apology or pseudo-friendship, but a truce was more than possible.

[Kori'än]

"Ok. I'll help. What do you have already?" At Kori's words, the smile on Tallash's face dimmed, and she frowned. He did his best not to let the disappointment show on his face, but it was quite apparent he failed.

"Look, I was trying to find someone that would help!"

"So you have nothing."

"I have a list of medicinal plants!" Tallash gestured to the notebooks in the table between them, and Kori'än had to control the urge to groan. "Aren't you studying biology? Can't you mix some things together and we can try?"

Kori refused to even entertain the question. Tallash seemed to have splurted it out without thinking because as soon as the words were out, she was blushing again. As easy as it would be, and as much as something inside of him itched for him to say something, Kori'än moved on. "Don't you have to know about the disease to find a cure? Tell me what you know. What causes it?"

"I... Nobody knows." Tallash brushed her brows, frowning, and Kori'än once again fought the urge to snap. "Very little is known about it, actually. But there are a couple of books and some notes I took during one of my classes."

"If we're going to do this, we need a better plan." Too bad Kori had no idea how to begin. No. No, he could do this, as long as he focused. Asking direct, objective questions seemed to work well with Tallash, so he could start from there. "You study medicine, right? How do doctors find cures for diseases?"

"First, we need to identify the cause." Almost instantly, her posture shifted. "I still am not sure exactly how we can do that, in this case, since the disease is rare. It'll be hard to study it. Perhaps―"

"Tallash, focus. So we need to identify the cause," Kori'än interrupted, knowing he didn't have enough knowledge of the topic to follow her ramblings. He reached for a piece of parchment and a feather pen inside his bag. "I need to learn about this disease. You seem to know something already, but I've never even heard of it before. What are some books you would recommend for that?" The obvious look of surprise on her face ― that he was so willing to do the work, perhaps? ― was obvious, and he tried his best to ignore it. Focus on the task at hand. As she told him the titles, he noted them down. Maybe it could be easier for her just to tell him all the info she knew, but by his experience, Tallash was an awful teacher, and perhaps he could learn some important details if he went to more knowledgeable sources.

"Since this isn't a very known disease, it would be interesting if you talked with some professors as well. I can give you names?"

Her offer almost made him groan ― no, he didn't want to talk to professors, or anyone, for that matter. But this was important, and she was right. Perhaps it would offer some better insight. So he sighed, nodding slightly and messily scribbling down the names. He should really work on bettering his handwriting. "Alright. So that should be the first step for me. Then, we need to find the cause for it." Kori'än frowned, tapping the parchment with the tip of his pen for a few trills, before looking up to Tallash, who was leaning forward with wide eyes, as if waiting for him to conclude his thoughts.

She had more knowledge than he did, but she definitely had no clue how to be organized at all, it seemed. Perhaps the reason why no one wanted to work with her wasn't because of her personality, but because it was so hard to find a logical thread and extract her thoughts from her. Tallash definitely seemed like the woman who worked better on her own.

"Hmm," Kori'än cleared his throat, adjusting his chair so he'd get a bit farther away from her. "And how do we do that?"

"Oh, right!" She straightened up almost instantly. "There are a number of case studies and trials we can pursue to find all sort of things. Case-control, or crossover, or more experimental ones like―"

"Hold up," he asked, already feeling that old headache he was very quickly associating with anything Tallash-related creeping in. He didn't want to outright come out and say he had no idea what she was talking about, not after their whole discussion earlier, so, instead, he offered, "Why I don't just take a look first at the resources you gave me, and then we meet up again to discuss our next step? That way, I can actually offer some useful suggestions as well."

"That works! When?" She sounded really excited. It was almost weird.

"I'll let you know." Kori'än had no idea how long it would take him to research about the stoneboil and then figure out what were all those 'cases' she was talking about. And he had other responsibilities as well. As much as he wanted to help others, he wouldn't be able to do so if he didn't know what he was doing. And there was Aokan and Laneey to worry about. Perhaps this should take priority, but it didn't. He would do his best, though. This train of thought made him frown for a moment, as he finished noting down what he needed to do, and Kori looked at Tallash, who was almost done with shoving the notebooks inside her bag. "Why are you doing this? Trying to research a cure, I mean."

For a whole bit, Tallash stayed still, looking down at her bag, face surprisingly serious. Kori'än actually thought she wouldn't answer, and he was ready to get up himself and leave, when the woman sighed. "I... I know you won't believe me, but I want to help people. I really do. I figured... I could start with this, you know? If I can make life a bit easier for those people suffering from stoneboil, I want to do that."

He didn't say anything to that, just nodding, and waiting until Tallash had left to walk to the door. He did believe it. It wasn't the reason he would have guessed ― she seemed like someone who wanted to chase recognition by whatever means necessary ―, but perhaps that was because he was being too judgmental. Helping people was a noble goal. After all, what was the purpose of all that research, all that work, if the result wouldn't have an impact on people's life?

[Balthazar Black]

Review Rewards

Name: Kori'an

Points Awarded: 10
Magic Experience: None
Knowledge: Medicine: Diseases: To find a cure, you must first know the cause
Socialization: Working with someone you dislike
Socialization: Finding common ground
Research: Outlining a research plan
Research: Identifying sources for research
Research: Taking Notes While Talking

Non-Skill:
Adrie Tallash: Insufferable know-it-all
Disease: Stoneboil

Renown: +5 for starting a new job
Loot None.
Injuries/Overstepping: None.
Wealth Points: None.
Skill Review: You overplayed Kori'ans skills a bit in this thread but it is mostly in comparison to the NPC he is working with. I think you have misrepresented the NPC Adrie Tallash in the thread based on the skills she has. She is very quick tempered and easily bested in the argument by Kori'an which doesn't portray her as someone with expert discipline and competent psychology and during the planning portion she is relatively lead around by Kori'an despite being an expert in research and medicine. While she may not be a good teacher, that should only effect how she transmits information to Kori'an- she should still be doing an above average job of gathering information on her own which didn't necessarily come across to me. Additionally, and this is more of an opinion so take or leave this part, I don't think someone with expert discipline and a habit of hiding behind a mask of confidence would break down when challenged. I've assigned a consequence below that I think will could be a fun addition to the story going forward, feel free to use it or not but please mind the NPC skill level and the training that got them where they are a little more going forward.
Consequence: A Rival or a Replacement? - Shortly after completing the outline, Adrie Tallash brings on another assistant to help with the stoneboil research and as things progress it begins to seem that she is beginning to rely on the other assistant more than Kori'an. It could be nothing, or it could be that Adrie is looking to replace Kori'an after the brief embarrassment her pride suffered at his hands. (If you choose to act on this please submit a University NPC here. It should be a Letter student.)

Notes: I really like the interplay between Kori'an and Tallash in this thread. I like the relationship that I read even thought it didn't necessarily line up with the skills the characters should have. Kori'an comes across as a very confident and curious individual and I'm looking forward to reading more threads in this series. You do a great job of setting the scene that they are in and I think you write dialogue in a natural way that flows well. I always appreciate dialogue with colors because it helps it stand out as I read through the thread. I also enjoy how you get into the mind of Kori'an during the conversation but it never drags so long that the flow of the conversation itself is interrupted. This was a wonderful read despite the few skill issues, and I look forward to seeing more (and writing with you)!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM.