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Dmitri entered the classroom wordlessly, his eyes scanning about the room as soon as he did and taking in the environment. Divination was not something he expected to excel at, or even be especially good at, but the subject was available and sounded interesting enough as a side course to his primary purpose at university: graduation with a major in music. In the in between, some magic study seemed appropriate, and from soothing, winding scents to the overall air of tranquility in the room, he suspected he wouldn’t regret his choice.

When he sat and after glancing to the cups at his desk, he turned his attention forward to the instructor. Tasseography. Well, Dmi thought with another glance to his cup, at least, if nothing else, he would start the morning off with fresh tea. He shut his eyes, drawing a breath and attempting for a moment to, as instructed, ‘clear his mind.’

It sounded simple.

As such things tended to go, however, one tended not to realize how much they had going on in their mind until attempting to wipe the slate clean. Eventually, though, after dusting away thoughts of his parents, concerns over the relationship with a particular friend back home, all of his upcoming classes, and where he would be going from here, Dmitri managed to attain a reasonably blank mental space.

He reached for his mug as instructed. Warmth from the smooth ceramic climbed his fingertips, and he left his eyes shut for a moment before beginning to sip. He couldn’t help, then, but glance around the room, observing the myriad faces and reactions: eagerness, confusion, boredom, interest, curiosity, and absent-minded whimsical looks alike filled the different desks. Shaking his head and suppressing the twitch of a smile at the corner of his lip, Dmitri finished his tea, and turned his cup as instructed.

After three breaths and a lifting away of the cup, the results were…wet.

It looked, frankly, like a mess to him, and Dmi wasn’t sure what he expected but—well, no harm in at least trying to see what the ‘shapes’ might be interpreted as. If one was so very determined to find shapes in wet, stewed leaves. He scanned the chart at his desk, listing off potential shapes and meanings. A certain, vaguely rectangular broken piece might be understood as a flag, he supposed after a while. Which meant…

Danger. ‘Look to nearby symbols for added meaning.’ Magnificent.

Dmi squinted at his leaves. Could this fragment of a triangular piece be seen as an…arrow? Possibly. A glance to his chart, though, said that direction was important, and he decided it looked to be pointing slightly upwards to the right? If that was considered the point, but then again. If one of the other points on the triangle was interpreted as dominating the meaning, then it was pointing—leftward? Or down.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, and tilted his head. There, in the center. That flake looked fairly recognizably like a star. Success, recognition, and praise. He couldn’t argue with the positiveness of that, but in combination with the rest, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was stretching his interpretation or not. After a long moment and a bit more study, he resigned himself to picking up a pen and transcribing, best he could, a summary of his thoughts from the experience.

Professor Tamandani,

While I have never been especially talented with magic personally, the art of divination, when combined with the question of whether the fates can even be predicted to begin with, has always been an intriguing subject to me. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the lesson from the beginning, which I suppose was only helped by the fact that I am a tea drinker myself, and on that front I cannot complain. I found the exercise to be relaxing, and helpful for taking my mind off the minutiae of life and other classes for a time.

I cannot be sure I took away any divine insight into my future from the lesson, and if I have, I can’t say I feel confident that I uncovered it properly. Needless to say, whatever my future holds, I suspect I will be just as surprised by it as I would have without the lesson, but on the positive side, it has given me some things to think about. I have never attempted anything similar in the past, and I found it an interesting glimpse into a new method of applying magic and our more common resources—such as tea.

I enjoyed the class.


Sincerely,
Dmitri Azarov

After re-reading his sheet one last time, Dmi rose quietly so as not to disturb those still at work, and approached the front to turn in his paper.

Fig was so excited to get started on the first half of his double major. He felt fortunate that divination classes had opened up around the same time travel restrictions had been lessened significantly. The fey shuffled into class with an excited smile and a little nod and wave to the teacher as he entered. Folding his wing upon his back, he took a seat and listened to the instructions given by the professor. The tea he selected smelled wonderfully and the color was very pretty. Clearing his head was pretty easy, since he practiced meditation most mornings.

Well, time to tip his cup. Fig swirled the dregs around his cup before carefully flipping it upside down upon his saucer. Taking a few deep breaths, he flipped the cup upright and took a moment to skim the list as he processed the tea leaves. A small handful of shapes became clear to him, whereupon the fey listed them on a sheet of paper both for his own reference and to turn in.

'7 ) Bed - sleep on it before establishing a close love or business relationship
10 ) Boat - worthwhile journey; your ship is coming in.
14 ) Bow - fortunate symbol meaning gift or celebration of achievement.
58 ) Hare - unlike the shorter eared rabbit, the long eared hare represents something important brewing in your destiny in love or travel
63 ) Hourglass - a warning to be punctual.'

To be perfectly honest, the things he saw got him all happy and excited. Reading the meaning of the boat, Fig looked around the classroom. Here he was, a daydream attending university in Below. A shiver raced down his spine. A worthwhile journey indeed, and it was only just beginning. Pretty much everything save the hourglass had him all a'twitter. Something important brewing in his destiny regarding love or travel? A symbol meaning a gift or celebration of achievement? Yes please! There was little better than a good celebration. Tying into the hare, the bed symbol seemed pertinent and wise. Love and business were serious matters, which were best not rushed into. So, that was reasonable. As for the hourglass, that was something to keep in mind just in case.

'Professor Tamandani,

My tasseography results today are very encouraging, and I dare say some put me in mind of my present good fortune. I look forward to learning more, continuing to practice to see when and how my results might change as a go about my way. I plan on keeping an eye out for the things that were hinted in my tea leaves. I found your class very enjoyable and will eagerly await further lessons down the line.

Respectfully, Fig '

He took a few moments to double check his results before deciding everything appeared to be in order. Rising, he brought his paper to the professor before excusing himself from the classroom, taking careful pains to not brush against or bump anyone who may still be working.

This seemed simple enough... Though decided he should work with two types of divination that he wasn't intending to go practice, just to broaden his horizons. After scanning the textbook, Starlet picked out two disciplines and then began writing down basic descriptions along with what he thought of them.

Aeromancy
Aeromancy is, compared to a lot of other disciplines, a relatively new form of divination. Aeromancy depends on atmospheric conditions, including clouds, wind currents, thunder, lightning, comets and even shooting stars. I picked this discipline because it ties somewhat into my own interest in astrology. I think it would be a somewhat difficult discipline to work with, considering our advancements in meteorology and astronomy. Weather patterns can now be predicted more accurately with machinery. I would have liked if there had been a more detailed description of what aeromancy is used for.

Alphitomancy
Alphitomancy is primarily used to determine innocence or guilt in those accused. The accused is given barley cake or bread, and those who become sick are deemed guilty. I do not think this is a particularly good practice, as some people simply have stronger stomachs than other. Also, some are simply allergic to the cake/bread, but I do not think that having an allergy automatically makes a person guilty. This is not a practice of divination that I would endorse, I am happy that we do not use it anymore.

Satisfied, he signed his name at the top, and then stood to go pass his paper in to the teacher.

Strawberri Stardust

Joseth cracked open his divination tome and flipped through the pages until he came across aeromancy and pessomancy. He scanned the passages and answered the assigned questions about the reading. He let his ink dry for a minute before handing it in and returning to his desk to dive back into his tome, turning back to the flagged divination section.

Joseth went to class and listened to the professor's brief instructions, a a line appearing between his furrowed brows. He did not own a cat, which would make this assignment tricky. Wanting to stay true to his craft, however, he decided to make a couple trips to the local shelter. That way, he could observe the cats without having to bug Burvia about her pets. He took his notebook and recorded notes on each visit he made.

'- Monday morning: Black and white cat named Pepper curled up with her forehead resting on the floor, indicating foul weather moving in. Grey cat named Siloh followed me around the cat area, indicating good luck and money coming my way.'

'- Tuesday afternoon: Weather cloudy, slightly proving Pepper's behavior from yesterday. Found a couple silver crescents on the ground, proving Siloh's behavior. Several cats washing their ears and face, indicating oncoming rain.'

'-Wednesday afternoon: Sprinkled this morning before class, proving yesterday's prediction. White cat named Talia groomed herself, wrapping her paw around her left ear, indicating a lady will soon be visiting.'

'- Thursday afternoon: Rained most of the morning. Burvia visited to bring some soup to my dorm, proving Talia's behavior true.

Friday Joseth turned in his notes, concluding his notes with the shelter being closed Thursday.