User:Christoph Schrader

С приездом! (it sounds like spree-yehz-dom)
That means Welcome!

I cannot really say that I speak Russian, though I like the way its writing looks, and I do know how to say a few things in it. Regardless, this is my userpage — I have recently begun writing a story in a series of letters here, though there really isn't anything else of interest.

Qui suis-je?
Bonjour! I am quite the afficionado of both Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, though this is the first userpage I have ever taken the time to create.

I typically contribute to the following wikis:


 * Aselia (Tales)
 * Final Fantasy
 * Kingdom Hearts

And I often find my favourite characters from any game to be the elegantly egotistical villains, my favourite character in the series being Marluxia, and if you had not already noticed, I am also quite fond of literary Enlgish.

¿Porqué Kingdom Hearts?
¿Porqué no? Silliness aside, I found the premise a bit outlandish at first, but I grew to find the games quite endearing, and it was through them that I discovered Final Fantasy, which I have also enjoyed immensely -- largely because I love this sort of fanciful thing, though I never could quite stomach much in the way of what claims to be modern fantasy literature. There is simply something endearing about the series that cannot be easily explained, even though I was rather disappointed by Kingdom Hearts II (which I did enjoy nonetheless) in the anti-facelift given Hollow Bastion, which I liked better before the town was rebuilt, and which bids one wonder what was done with all the incorrectly-moving water to reveal the immense amounts of now-columnar crystal.

What, exactly is a Christoph, or a Schrader for that matter?
It is a random paring of a German forename (Christoph being a rather transparent variant of Christopher, most likely derived from the French Christophe) which I quite like with an equally-German surname (albeit misspelled -- it should really be either Schräder or Schraeder). I suppose one might call Christoph my alter-ego -- he is quite a bit more extroverted than I, a humble introvert, could ever hope to be, though I suppose that very well may be due to the fact that no one has ever cause to meet him in person.

I wish there were some sort of deep significance to my pseudonym, though the simple truth behind it is that I fancy German names....

Russian, French and Spanish? But you seem to fancy German...
Even though I do fancy German names, I cannot speak a word of the language, but I have studied French (français) (and, to a lesser extent, Spanish (español), and to a very much lesser extent (one semester), Russian (русский язык)), though I suppose English will always be my first love, linguistically (and literarily) speaking.

Christoph Reports
''A set of letters written to Christoph's future friend Annette, the Christoph Reports were unearthed during the excavation of a city surrounded by a dead forest that has come to be called "The City of Lights" after the name mentioned in these letters. It is believed that the author was Christoph IX von Schrader, the thirteenth governor of the city, and that his son was responsible for its collapse sometime after.''

Christoph Report I
On the instruction of his governess, Artemisie Schwarz, to whom he refers in his letters as Madame Schwarz'', Christoph writes to his future friend Annette to tell her about himself and his home, the City of Lights, and expresses the hope that she will like him. It was discovered in what is assumed to have been the library of the city governor's residence. A pressed flower is mentioned in the text of the letter as being sent with it, though it has not yet been recovered.''

Dear Annette,

I live in the City of Light — I believe it is very far to the east of where you live — and everything here works through magitechnology: we use magic like other people use steam and coal and electricity, or so Madame Schwarz (my governess) tells me. I have never really seen any of those things, however, except in the pictures in books. Madame told me that you live far away in a place called —————, and that if I write to you and we become friends, that you will come and live with us here someday. I hope you will like it here — the city is so pretty in the morning with all the trees covered in dew, and the sky turns to silver when the sun is just about to appear, though the forests are even better. Our city is surrounded by a forest — papa says that this one is filled with white birches, and that rare flowers grow there, though I have never really seen any (papa says that is because they are rare, even here, and so I must be patient and happy to see them only in my books until I should chance to find one). I have enclosed a flower that I preserved between the pages of a book — papa says it isn't rare, but it is still one of my favourites. A book I once read calls it camellia sinensis, but we all just call it a tea plant.

When I go out into the forest, I always take my favourite books, and I love to read in the trees until nightfall, when the birds begin to sing (papa says that they are called nightingleams, and that they only live around here, but that, when the moon has a halo about it, their queen will appear and sing for everyone). Madame Schwarz does not like this — she says that the governor’s son must conduct himself in a dignified manner, and she is really mad whenever she finds that papa has come with me to read, but she is afraid to scold him. Papa tells me that the forest is a beautiful place and that it is the city’s duty to protect it, and that I will one day have to be the governor, but I don’t really want to — I want to study magic. Papa almost became something else, but he told me that when his older brother died without an heir, that he had to take over or the city would have fallen in some sort of war that happened a long time ago. He told me that I could read about it when I am older, and, though I want to know now, I know that something terrible must have happened if papa doesn't want me to know.

Madame Schwarz says that you live on an island far away, but the only island I have ever seen is one on a lake in the middle on the forest — there seems to be some sort of house on it, but no one ever seems to go there. Papa says that I can’t swim in the lake because there is some sort of magic in it that he says would turn me into a different person, and that this water was what the people attacking the city wanted, though he won’t tell me what it really does. He also says that the forest protects our city, though he never told me what against, and that without it, the mountains would stop it from raining here — I still don’t understand how a forest can make it rain, but I still want to study magic. Papa says that he will send me to school so that I can, but that since mama went away he can’t have any more children, and that I will have to become the city’s governor when he is gone. I know that mama isn’t coming back, although I visit her every day after my lessons before I go out to read — papa sometimes comes with me, though he always has so much to do, because running a city is such a hard job.

I have just finished reading a book about a man who was imprisoned by his jealous friends in a terrible castle for so long, only to find an old man who taught him so much that he turned himself into a perfect gentleman. The old man then left him an immense amount of wealth hidden on an island, which he used to save those he cared about who had fallen into distress, and also to try to take revenge upon those who had put him there. I was really sad when I found out that his true love had married someone else, but a girl he saved from being a slave fell in love with him — she was some sort of princess from a far-away land, like you — and he became a count after buying the island upon which the old man told him the treasure was hidden. I wonder if there is any treasure like that on the island in the middle of the magic lake — there might be a spell that can make a magic boat to take me across — would you like to see it when you come here? I don’t have many friends, and I hope we can get along well — did you like that story? I will read it to you if you like.

Sincerely,

Johann Emil Christoph Lorenz von Schrader

p.s. Madame Schwarz made me write my full name so you can see what it looks like, but I feel rather silly doing it, as no one ever calls me by the whole thing.

Christoph Report II
''Discovered alongside the first, this one is so numbered as it appears to have been the second letter written from Christoph to Annette, though Annette's letters in response appear to have been lost. It contains Christoph's detailed physical description of himself. A faded image, presumably a photograph of a young Christoph was discovered alongside the second letter, though the original likeness was unable to be recovered.

This letter was dated two weeks after the first.''

Dear Annette,

Madame Schwarz scolded me for not telling you what I look like, and she says that I can’t just send you a photograph, but that I have to tell her — but she also says that you like to draw, and that, if I am very nice, that you might even draw a picture of what you think I look like. She also said that you won’t be able to guess, and that it won’t be as fun if I just send you a picture, but I think you would be able to do it better if I did. I will see if I can capture an image in the mirror like Madame Weiss, my new teacher at the magic school here in the city, taught me — Madame Schwarz is angry with papa for allowing me to learn magic, but papa says that if I am to govern properly, that I must understand how our city works, and that learning magic is a perfect way to do so. I hope that papa is right — people really trust him, and I think that, if people really trust me to run the city, I might be happy doing it. I wonder if I will look like papa when I am older — he is really tall and strong, and he says that he used to be a swordfighter, though he seems happier that I am studying magic rather than following after him, though he won’t tell me why when I ask him.

Madame Schwarz will scold me if I forget to tell you all about what I look like, and I don't like to lie, and so I will, even with the attached photograph. When I look into the mirror, the first thing I see is my hair — it is about the colour of honey, or the pancakes I poured it over this morning — and my eyes are a sort of grey that reminds me of birch bark. Papa says that they are silver, but I like birch bark better. I have lots of freckles, and papa always says that I have a different number, though I don’t really think that he can count them all — I have tried so many times, but I always wonder if I am counting the same one twice. Maybe there is a spell somewhere that can teach me to count my freckles, or maybe even do it for me, but I haven’t asked Mademoiselle yet. I am taller than most of the boys my age, and my arms are kind of lumpy from climbing so many trees — Madame says that I look like a monkey when I hang from the branches — though I love to climb them, even if it makes me even lumpier. I also get sunburns very easily if I stay outside in the city for too long, though I never get them in the forest — the leaves protect me and make the light soft and warm, but not too hot like it can be on a bright day, though Madame seems to think that the City of Light is one of the coldest places she has ever been.

Madame Schwarz has told me that your island is always nice and warm, but I like the cool forest so much — I don’t understand why she likes to keep everything so warm, but old people always seem to do this sort of thing. People who come from the City of Light all have long hair — we can tell people who come from other places when they don’t — and papa says that mine is always full of leaves, and it makes him smile (Madame says the same thing, and it always seems to make her frown). He says that if I climb enough ginkgo trees, that he will induct me into the Order of the Ginkgo Leaf (our city’s group of knights who protect it from attackers — I think papa wanted to be one of them once, and that is why he studied swords). I like using white magic the best — I have only learned how to cast the ‘cure’ spell so far, but it makes little seeds spread over everything, and when Mademoiselle casts it, it makes so many flowers appear that it is like springtime. I wish that they wouldn’t disappear when the spell is over — it would be nice to have flowers in winter, though the forest seems to be filled with camellias whenever it snows, and I always pick them and take them back for papa — he says that they are his favourites.

Madame Weiss told me that she was proud of what I had learned this week, and I like her lessons better than I did Madame Schwarz's, and she is so mad now that I am learning everything at school — she says that a governor's son must have a governess, but papa doesn't listen to her. I learned to cast aero as my first spell — Madame Weiss says that it will protect me as well as drive away anything that tries to hurt me, and that she hopes I will cast it if I am ever in danger. She says that she will teach me to cast pearl soon, though the spell I really wish to learn is called sidereal in one of my books — it makes pillars of light appear — and it is my favourite of them all. Madame Weiss says that I have to learn a lot of other white magic first, and that she would like for me to learn some black magic as well, but that won't come until later. I have also read about spells that can reflect magic, stop time and make people who are badly injured or very sick well again, though I think I will have to wait a while before I learn to cast them. Mademoiselle says that I look like a perfect white mage, though I don’t believe her, because Madame says that I am always dirty and that I will never make a proper governor — but I think she really cares for me, because papa told me that she has high hopes for the next ruler of the city. Perhaps this means she doesn’t like papa?

I hope you will come soon, I know that you will love it here.

Christoph

Christoph Report III
''The date on this report is inconclusive, though it was certainly written after reports I and II. It was discovered shortly after the first two between the pages of a book upon a desk in one of the palace's studies, indicating that it was being used as a bookmark at the time at which the city was abandoned. The book in which this letter was found was damaged beyond readability, prompting investigators to properly surmise that the author had cast a spell on it to prevent weather damage should it be miscarried by post before actually reading that it was mentioned in the letter. It can be assumed that all weather-resistant letters were written after this one.''

Dear Annette,

What are the sunsets like where you live? Here, they cast a golden glow over the entire city as the lamps are lit in preparation for nightfall, and the dew-covered forest glimmers with a thousand golden pearls as the sun falls below the horizon. I showed that sentence to Madame Schwarz, and she said it was quite poetic, and I am very proud of it myself, and I hope you like it too. The sky becomes rose-coloured after the sun slips below the horizon and the stars begin to shine and the city lights grow brighter and brighter so that, from the forest, the city looks like a big flower of light that has just bloomed. The forest becomes golden orange just before the sun disappears, and if you are out walking on one of its paths, you might see a nightingleam come out to sing. Papa says that they only sing at night, and that they will stop when they see you, but if you are very still and don’t even take a breath, the nightingleam will not notice you and continue its song. I have heard a nightingleam’s song before — I don’t really know how to describe it, but while you listen, you never wish for it to end, and it is so nice that you never even move, and when it does end, you feel as though it was too short. Have you ever heard a song like that?

Madame Weiss says that magic is at its strongest when its caster is most delighted, which means that mine would be at its strongest when I see the sunrise or the sunset — I think I will try the new spell she taught me today. I hope it worked — it will prevent this letter from weathering until it has reached you, and maybe longer. Madame Schwarz says that she was wrong to tell me not to study magic, and has even watched me cast spells to demonstrate what I have learned for papa, though I think that Madame Weiss may have put some sort of spell on her when she sent a letter a few days ago. I never thought magic could be used to make people nicer, though I can sometimes use mine to make people happier — there isn’t a happiness-causing spell, though, I just have to do nice things with it. I have enclosed another image I captured in the mirror (Madame Weiss says that I am becoming very good at this), this one is of me in my new school clothes. What do you think? I really like the way I look in them, and Madame Weiss even taught me a spell that will keep them clean while I climb trees. They are also very comfortable, and I wear them everywhere. I tried to catch some of the sunset in the mirror as well, though it didn’t work — you could see it, but it just wasn’t the same, and I don’t want to send it like this.

Madame Schwarz says that you are from a big city on your island — is it anything like the City of Lights here? She told me that I would know if I had paid more attention to my geography lessons, but now that I am in school, I am not certain why I still need a governess. Papa says that it is good to have someone to help him care for me, but I wish that it would be someone else who thinks it is alright for a city’s governor to climb a tree with his son. I really don’t like to think about that, but she says that it simply isn’t proper. Did I ever tell you that I wrote the last letter when I was sitting in a tree? I had just finished reading, and I thought you would have liked the book as well — what do you think of it? I will send it by post if you want to read it or anything else — papa already gave me permission, so long as you promise to return it. I am finishing this one in a tree as well — a birch tree, to be exact — and I hope you like them, because both the city and the forest are filled with them. Madame Schwarz says that you won’t be coming to the city for another year, but I hope that you can come sooner. Papa really likes it when I read your letters to him — don’t worry, he will keep all of the secrets you told me.

Papa is calling for me to come back himself today — I wonder if something important has happened, because I heard him talking about some sort of strange goings-on in the southern districts of the city, but I never go there — there are too many people. What do you suppose could be happening here?

Christoph