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Harper's Tale

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Eirian walks quietly in from the Main Hall Balcony.

Eirian slips inside, braving the starhall to visit Thala, and goes over to take her hand. Looking up, for she knows she's startled her, she whispers "Hi."

Lyana looks up from the big 'viewer at the sound of footsteps. "Hi, Thala," she greets the apprentice happily. Then a few moments later smiles to the little girl that walks in. "Hello. I'm Lyana."

Thalassina smiles to the Journeywoman, at the small hand suddenly in hers she glances down "Oh hi there, visiting again?"

Eirian sobers as she looks up at the Lyana "Hello, I'm Eia or Eirian, if you prefer." she says softly. Eirian blinks up at Thala and then whispers. "I kin leave, need me to go?"

Lyana smiles, kneeling down to be at the girl's level. "Well met, Eia. You can call me Ly." She looks back up at Thala and tilts her head. "So what can I do for you?" she asks, still kneeling.

Kender blinks in from ::between::!

Thalassina reaches down for a hug. After giving the girl a hug she looks at the woman "Well I was wondering if you might be able to teach me a bit about this little thing I've been given." she pats the Distance Viewer at her side "I was given it but I'm not quite sure how it works." whispering down at Eia "You can stay if you wish, I'm seeing about a lesson."

Eirian scoots closer until she's right next to Thala, though she does let go of her hand in case she might need to use it. "I'd like to listen in ifn' you promise me they won't keep me."

Lyana chuckles. "It's a 'viewer, dear. It helps you see at far distances." Catching what Eia says, Ly smiles warmly. "Oh, don't worry. We won't keep you if you don't want."

Eirian studies Lyana solemnly, then asks quietly. "How comes the starcraft has flits watching my home?" Blunt? well, maybe she just oughtta leave the subject alone.

Thalassina grins to both other people in the room "Well thats what I was told when I got it, but how does it work? Is it similar to the (uhh whatever it's called that the seacraft uses to see far away land)" she is quite curious about this item she has been toting around.

Eirian turns to look at the instrument that Thala is holding, studying it and hoping that maybe her last remark would go unheard and unremarked on. "So it shows you distances much closer that you can normally see?" she asks softly, cause they've not asked her to be quiet just yet.

Lyana blinks, frowning a bit, but decides not to ask what Eirian means. Instead she turns to Thala. "Well, first of all, do you know how to use a DistanceViewer? That's its full name, by the way."

Thalassina nods slowly as she takes it out of it's case "Well you look through the small end and out the big end to look at the moons or the red star closer." she learned all about the red star the other night.

Dahndi limps in a little favoring her right foot in from the Main Hall Balcony.

Eirian studies the instrument closely as Thala takes it out of its case, but doesn't move her fingers which she has shoved in her pockets. "If you look at the moon, what do you see through it?" she asks softly, moving around Thala until she's gotten a good look at it from all sides.

Lyana nods, pleased that the apprentice knows how to al least use the 'viewer. She glances at Dahndi when she walks in and smiles. "Evening. You're just in time for Optics if you haven't already taken it."

Dahndi slips into the observatory and leans against the door. "Oh certainly." Dahndi smiles "must be my luck day!"

"Very good. Do you have a 'viewer?" the journeywoman asks, smiling at Dahndi's comment.

Dahndi blinks and shakes her head slowly, "Oh ummm I didn't think to bring..one.." She looks around at all of the apprentices with viewer.

Lyana hands Dahndi's DistanceViewer to Dahndi.

Eirian fingers itch to touch, but she resolutely keeps her fingers where they belong, in her pockets.

Dahndi takes the DistanceViewer carefully from Lyana making sure not to smudge the lens. She sighs with relief and gives Lyana a look ok of gratitude. "Thank you"

Lyana smiles, "Well, I just happened to have one. And you can keep that one. Now back to the lesson... Oh, Dahndi, do you know how to use a 'viewer?"

Kender suddenly disappears ::between::!

Thalassina holds the view down towards Eia. "Did you want to try it? You're here to listen so you need to try as well." perfectly good logic to her.

Eirian looks up at Kinipel with a grateful look on her face, but whispers "Are you sure? I'd be careful."

Dahndi smiles and uncaps the DistanceViewer, she pulls the collapsed shaft to its full length and fiddles with the eyepiece."I should be okay I think."

Lyana nods. "Good. Now, can either of you tell me what a refracting telescope is? Oh, and you can join in, too, if you'd like Eia," she says, smiling to make the girl feel more welcome.

Dahndi struggles a bit with the tool. "Well... maybe i could use a little help with it?" She frowns at the brass tube, "my dad never let me touch his."

Eirian thinks about what the term refracting might mean and then says quietly. "Well, does it mean to make something bigger? Some lenses when they're put together turn the object upside down. Does this?" she asks softly, wanting more explanation.

Thalassina mulls over the term refracting, doesn't sound like any word she's ever heard of before. "Well I don't think I can say what that means?"

Dahndi wonders, "My dad told me once that a persons eye works sort of like that. Dahndi frowns at the "lenses. " She pronunces the word lenses and refracting quitely, contemplating the term, re kinda means to turn back...and we're dealing with light soo... turning back light? She ponders the notion.

Lyana glances at both apprentices to see if maybe they can answer her question, then smiles at Eia. "Very close. Actually, there are two lenses in a refracting telescope. Light goes through the first lense and the image is flipped. Then the second one magnifies the image." She goes over to a table where a 'viewer that happens to be taken apart and point to each part as she talks. "Now what you actually see is flipped. Can anyone tell me what a convex lense is?"

Dahndi points to the bludgey lenz on the table. "that one... with the curve the bulge outward?" She looks up at lyana for an answer.

Eirian looks up at Lyana puzzled "Convex lens or concave? I'm not sure which you're asking about." she asks quietly, okay so she's not just listening in.

Lyana nods to Dahndi. "That's right. The convex lense has one or both sides surving outward." She look down at Eia and replies, "The convex lense." Then she looks back to her students. And while we're talking about lenses, what is a concave lense?"

Eirian looks up at Lyana and then says quietly. "It's the opposite of a convex lens, where both of the sides of the glass curve inwards."

Lyana blinks, surprised that such a young child knows so much. "That's... right. Very good, Eia!" she praises the girl then asks, "Now who can tell me how a reflecting telescope works?"

Eirian gets the message and decides she's already put more into the class than she's supposed to and so studies the floor and keeps her mouth shut.

Dahndi murmurs softly perparing to speak..."well umm Is it that the convex lense switches the image and magnifies it then the concave lense switchs it back and presents it to the eye?" Dahndi frowns, thinking over her hasty answer, she reconstructs the geometry in her head... no that couldn't be right... could it? Dahndi blinks and waits for a right or wrong though by know she is prefectly sure she's wrong.

Thalassina listens to Eia chuckling softly, that child has more in her head then many adults she knows. She just stares at the pieces of the viewer making mental nots as to what is what and what exactly it does.

Lyana ehhs and she thinks of Dahndi's answer. "Umm... not really. A reflecting telescope uses mirrors. Light travels through the open end to a concave mirror at the bottom. The mirror collects the light and sends it to a mirror in the middle of the telescope. From there the image is sent to an eyepiece where another lense fouces it for you to see. Now these telescopes are usually bigger than refracting ones. This observatory 'viewer would be a perfect example." She glances around the room to see if anyone has any questions.

Eirian closes her eyes and pictures what it is that Lyana is saying, putting together the picture in her mind and then gives a grin up at Thala. "I've got it and if I had the pieces, I could make one." she whispers.

Dahndi grins and nods seeing that Lyana's answer makes much more sense than her own. "Okay so doesnt that distort the image a bit?"

Eirian looks up at Dahndi, itching to explain, but resolutely keeps her mouth shut.

Lyana tilts her head. "Not really. Actually it helps you see even further than the smaller 'viewer. Now one last question... What is a catadioptric telescope?"

Dahndi grins and answers, "Doesn't It have to do with both refracting and reflecting lenses?" the Scary words roll off her tongue. She looks about really embarrassed but her enthusias.

Lyana smiles proudly at Dahndi. "Exactly. Now do you think you can explain how it's built?"

Dahndi scratches her head.. "ummm well it's based on the principles of the refracting telescope I think so you use the lenses and refracting mirrors." She begins to wave her hands about tracing angles and vectors..."the mirrors would go here" she points to the nearer end of her imaginary scope and the lenses would go here and there concave and convex respectively..." Dahndi is off on a tangent worlds like angle of incidence and raytracing creep into her speech... she slowly peters off as she notices strange looks...

Eirian is listening for all she's worth, trying to put together the image as Dahndi describes what it is she's thinking about. She closes her eyes because that helps her to picture what's being explained. She then looks up at Lyana to make sure that Dahndi is explaining it correctly. She's got to have it correct in her mind or she's gonna bug somebody, probably Thala until she's satisfied with the answers.

Lyana blinks and waves her hands quickly, shaking her head. "Woah, now. Slow down. It's not as complicated as you make it out to be. Yes, it does combine rrefracting and reflecting telescopes. It has two mirrors in which the light changes twice. It also has lenses that it uses to magnify the image."

Eirian turns her attention onto Lyana, listening as she begins to explain the principle behind that particular kind of telescope. Glancing up at Thala, she gives her a grin. New stuff, what fun.

Thalassina blinks slowly at all of this information straining to make sense of it all, ships arn't this complex are they, well she's never found them so. Hopefully she will actually understand enough of this for if Eias asks her a question she might not even understand the question

Dahndi nods and shuts up. "I'm sorry.. I, well, ummm yeah..." Dahndi takes note of the /simple/ better explination and mentally shakes herself. Again to many words, she has a problem with that.

Lyana finishes off her lesson and smiles. "Very good you guys. You did very well." She stifles a yawn and chuckles. "Now class dismissed."

Dahndi grins and thanks Lyana for the lesson and the nifty distanceviewer. she is off to play with her new toy. Dahndi goes home.

Eirian looks up at Lyana and then asks softly. "When you put together that particular type of telescope, which of the lenses go first and how do the mirrors reflect the images?" Well, she's still got questions.

Lyana goes home.

Eirian gives a look up at Thala and asks softly. "I was disruptive, wasnt' I?"

Thalassina shakes her head as she gives her another hug "No I think you were fine, a nice attentive pupil, I don't know if she knew how to answer your last question though."

Eirian shrugs and says quietly "If I had the materials, I figure I could figure it out by myself, I think I know already, but, I'm only guessing. Once you've used the convex lens and then the concave lens, you've got a mirror which reflects it in another direction Using another convex lens gives the image a larger size and then another mirror changes the image right side up." Course she's only guessing, but that's what makes it so interesting to her. Now to find somebody who really knows someday and ask again. Beaming up at Thala, she gives her a hug and says, "Thanks for letting me stay even if I wasn't supposed to be here. I'd better get going afore somebody catches me here. Walk me out?"

Thalassina gives her a hug back "Okay, you know that you can visit whenever you wan't maybe sometime I can tell you some of the stories about the constelations." she gets up from her seat and lets her hand drop to be taken or left.