Manidrim, the Human Illusionist

(Taken from one of Prof. Lystulliv’s lectures at the University of Al-Drifa)

Young ladies, my purpose here is not to assert that females are naturally more gifted at manipulating illusions than males: everybody knows that according to the old laws of Ganareth, both sexes are proven equal, and that those who dare say otherwise shall be punished. Therefore, I’ll just say that Manidrim was a very gifted Illusionist.

And the fact that she got interested in this Art in order to look prettier than she actually was, is unrelated to the fact that she was a woman. Besides, I know many men that love to doll themselves up. Lyllkrank, stop giggling stupidly, you dunce!

So, she started her career by playing with light and shadows, to take some light away from her nose to her eyes. Miss Lylambelle, no need to check your nose in the mirror, it’s JUST FINE!

Now, from ordinary cosmetic illusions, Manidrim gradually began exploring the secrets of High Illusion which is a much more powerful Art. She was not as gifted as Dark Elves, who are natural-born Illusionists, but she took a lot of interest in her appearance, she was very playful, and she never gave up.

One day she realized the progress she had made when, as she was standing on a hill above Al-Drifa, she managed to make some poor woodcutter believe that she was the Goddess Malecta; she told him she had come down to Ganareth to bless him with eternal fertility (the poor guy, who already had eleven children -it gets lonely in the forest when you are alone you know- was so scared he almost hung himself).

Allousius the Great heard about the trouble this young Illusionist could spread and came to her looking like an irresistible young man. Manidrim knew how to look like an irresistible young woman as well, so they couldn’t resist each other and learned a lot about one another. As he put his toga back on, he decided he would spend a few years teaching this rather promising young lady. No, Miss Lylambelle, not all teachers act the same way with their pupils.

Maridrim learned so much that she became the greatest Illusionist humankind had ever known. Her enemies had many opportunities to test her skills. As did her followers since, after Allousius went on to his own quests, she had many disciples who were eager to learn everything she knew. People say that even while she was quite old, she always managed to look like a young woman. If someone could discover her secret today, he (or she) would become very rich, for sure. Maridrim the eternal beauty, the eternal liar, hid this secret somewhere, along with many other tricks of hers. Some say they saw her coming back, as beautiful as ever despite the centuries, in order to check if her tricks still work. Rumor has it she came across Vuuar one day, and he got caught in her net (which made his temper even worse). Perhaps she also came here to the University and sat on one of these benches? No, you can’t be her, Miss Lylambelle: your test results can’t fool anyone!