Possible for Crossroads, canon is "The Name of the Wind"

[master_of_names]

-1-

[While going about your day, you came noticed Elodin hiding in a tree. He looks down to see you looking up.]

Don't tell anyone I'm up here.

-2-

[You've been taking Master Elodin's class for Advanced Magic by Naming in hopes of learning to accomplish some of the remarkable feats you've seen him do on occasions. However the class has so far felt like either a very subtle test or a huge waste of time, and by now you're starting to lean towards the latter. Today (like usual), Elodin was twenty minutes late. The homework was to bring to class something that cannot be defined.]

Okay your turn, what have you got?

-3-


I think I fancy a view from the roof.

[He says something that your waking mind cannot entirely process, and in response the stone ceiling melts down into a simple staircase, which he starts climbing.]

You coming?

Comments

1

[hates_thunder]

Wouldn't dream of it.

[He leans casually against the trunk of said tree.]

Indulge my curiosity, though. Why are you up there?

[master_of_names]

[He gazes thoughtfully into the distance...

No wait, he's gazing at another tree.]

I'm thinking about wood.

[hates_thunder]

[This reply quite honestly puzzles Loki. Not very many people sit in trees and think about wood though, if one were going to sit and think about wood, in a tree is as good a place as any to do so. Still, the last time he heard anyone say something like that, Baldr was stoned out of his gourd on mushrooms from Vanaheim. Somehow Loki doubts this is the case, here.]

[At any rate, he feels he has to ask:]

Any... sort of wood in particular?

[master_of_names]

Just wood in general. It's tricky, and I've never been any good with it.

Wood has thoughts, you know. They're just very slow thoughts.

[hates_thunder]

[He hasn't really considered the concept, though it doesn't seem terribly far-fetched to him. After all, the entirety of Asgard exists in the shade of the inconceivably huge and ancient ash tree, Yggdrasil, which will continue to exist long after the Nine Realms are gone. The thoughts that pulse through the World-Tree every century or so are too vast even for gods to comprehend, but they are there.]

[Curious, Loki places a hand on the trunk of the tree that he's leaning against. It wouldn't surprise him if he didn't hear anything, but it wouldn't surprise him if he did, either.]

Are you a sorcerer, Midgardian?

[master_of_names]

[Nope, just wood.]

No sorcerer worth his salt would be caught sitting in a tree thinking about wood.

[hates_thunder]

[Loki is not about to concede that this fellow is right.]

What are you, then?

[master_of_names]

A man sitting in a tree.

2

[livingthegooddeath]

How can I tell you what I've got if it cannot be defined?

[She doesn't seem to have anything with her.]

[master_of_names]

Plenty of things can't be defined, but people know them if they have them.

[livingthegooddeath]

It is, however, quite impossible for me to tell you what it is that I brought, for any such explanation would be a definition by definition.

[master_of_names]

Then you clearly didn't think hard enough about the assignment. Failing grade.

[livingthegooddeath]

But you don't even know what I brought yet.

[master_of_names]

So you DID bring something then?

[livingthegooddeath]

Of course! I simply can't tell you what it is.

[master_of_names]

Hmm and I can't ask what it is or it could be described, very clever interpretation.

However it defeats the purpose of the lesson, so let us assume for the sake of argument that a name for a thing does not define it.

[livingthegooddeath]

If that was the case, I would have brought something else.

[master_of_names]

Well maybe you can still squeeze by with partial credit.

[livingthegooddeath]

The assignment was to bring a thing that cannot be defined, not a thing that can be named but not defined. I've met the conditions perfectly.

[master_of_names]

I will give you a full credit if you can convince me you actually brought something.

[livingthegooddeath]

Anything that can be presented can be described. Any description can become a definition. If the thing is red, you can define it as "the red thing". Therefore, if I were able to comply with your request, I would have failed to adhere to the spirit of the challenge.

[master_of_names]

Unless you can prove that you have something without describing it or defining it.

[livingthegooddeath]

If one wishes to prove that white ravens exist, there are two ways to go about it. The first would be to present a white raven. The second would be to examine all objects that are not white ravens, and then prove that there is still at least one unobserved object. Do you agree so far?

[master_of_names]

Why are you even IN this class? I've seen you walk through walls.

[livingthegooddeath]

The people in your classes looks like they're having so much fun!