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Quite the Thinker

It was easily the tallest tower in Magistrum City. But as Enigma took in the view through the window, situated in an office on the topmost floor, he thought idly to himself that it still wasn’t so tall that he couldn’t climb it.

Doubtless the current headmistress, an elderly eaglefolk who was the head of the College of History up until her election, never had such thoughts. After all, flying up to her office was part of her morning routine. No, she was more preoccupied with the paper that the wolfkin had just handed her.

“If I may, Rabrandt, you’ve gone out of your way to avoid signing on an apprentice, no matter how many people ask you. What makes that boy different?”

He smiled, anticipating this question, “Because I see a guile in him that I’ve not seen in anyone else in a very long time.”

“What? You think he’s putting on an act.” Her tone was more one of curiosity than surprise, a talon softly tapping on the tip of her beak.

“Not quite, at least not consciously. He’s every bit as well-meaning as he looks, but I’ve seen the way he studies people. I’ve seen the way he analyzes and thinks before he takes action, faster and more decisively the most.”

It was her turn to smile, a subtle curling of the features around her beak giving it away. “If I didn’t know any better, Rabrandt, I would say you’re describing yourself.”

After a brief chuckle, the teacher responded. “You catch on quick. Despite the obvious differences, I see a lot of myself in him. I think he can go far.”

Sitting back down in her chair, she placed her seal of approval upon the document. “Then it’s not my place to naysay your judgement. I’ll take care of the arrangements. Henceforth, you will be his mentor.”

With a polite bow, the professor responded. “Thank you, Headmistress Altissa. Is there anything else you need from me?”

“Not at all.”

Shortly after my first favor to LittleBadWolf, they reached out to me again in May of 2024. They wanted to test a new payment platform and asked me if I had an idea for a simple commission at a discounted price that they could run as a test. I had this little idea in my head of Edmund doing the classic “Thinker” pose, so that’s what we went with. Thankfully, the experiment was a success.

In October of 2024 this website was still getting art and story ported over to it, which meant my time to compose new content was more limited. It came time to post this image, but I did not have a story to go with it. I tapped into the world-building I had done in my head, and penned this in about an hour, just before uploading it.

In Crossroads, it’s normal for teachers, especially teachers who often find themselves away on business, to take on apprentices they train personally. I wanted to establish this, and that Enigma was an anomaly for refusing to take one on for a long time. At least, until Edmund walked into the picture.

He saw some in the kid, something that he knew could go far.