(7/12/19)

Our house is back together right outside of the Vale. We head together and enter King's Landing. Lord Jasper puts us up in an inn and I hear Teddy is off to buy a shadowcat! Why haven't I thought of this?? Instead of an army of dogs, I could have had a fierce army of shadowcats… I feel so silly not having seen this great plan before!

I make my way over ot the library of the Red Keep. It is huge, filled with more books than I've seen in a while and seems to be very well kept. Not a dust bunny in sight! I begin reading an interesting book called the <u>Book of Lost Books</u> when a gray old man startles me by asking what I think of the book. I turn around and see he is dressed as an archmaester. I feel I recognize him but am still a bit startled and cannot quite place him yet. I introduce myself and wait for him to return the courtesy but he does not. He rather asks me again what I think of the book. I tell him I have not gotten far yet but am so far intrigued. He states that he thinks the maesters in the citadel are old and stuck in their ways. I ask what he thinks should be changed and he says that we should all focus more on the things we cannot pick up or touch and should focus on the knowledge he has seen in Esos. I express interest in such things and he asks me to join in the conclave at noon in the Maidenvault. I let him know I will be there!

A bit after noon, I am seated in the back. I can see the archmaesters arranged in a circle in the middle of the room. I recognize him now! He is Marwyn the Mage! How silly I was before to have not recognized him. I know that he has been given this title either in honor or jest, depending on who uses it. He is arguing about the children above the wall and states he has seen things in his travels to Esos that would leave everyone questioning. He states there are things beyond our comprehension and we shouldn't stop questioning. The other maesters argue back that he is alone in this and seem put off by his discussion.

He calls out to me within the chamber. I try to hide in the back for a moment but see he could use my help. I stand up and walk to the front and address both he and Grandmaester Pycell. I state that I agree that there may be knowledge in the old ways that we can draw from. Marwyn asks that if I could go back to the citadel and study, what would I like to study? I stumble a bit over my words in my answer but state I would like to study under Marwyn. There is then discussion about how this topic is not worth any of their time and how this should be discussed back at the citadel. I then take my seat again.

Once the conclave has concluded, Marwyn approaches me and is aghast at how things were conducted. He invites me to the citadel to study under him and in his library and I gladly accept. This is something I have been hoping to be able to do for some time! I have done some thinking on this and although I will miss my companions, especially Dolins, I believe increasing my knowledge of the magical arts could really only benefit both myself and House Jasper. I will miss my adventures but hopefully, under the wise teaching of Marwyn, this education will not take that long. After this wedding celebration, I will be off to study! And learn me some magic!