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 Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:58 pm
The door to the laboratory was slightly ajar, so that from the doorway a small, wheeled cart was visible. There were several artifacts on it- a vase with flowers, several feathers, an incense censor, a candle, and a selection of crystals. While they may have been placed on the cart with care initially, they were all knocked over, and the candle had burned a hole in the once elegant silk cloth beneath it.
Behind the cart, only visible upon entering the room, was a smashed wineglass, surrounded by what seemed to be water. Just next to the glass, Anoki was pulling at his leg, which was trapped between two rungs of the cart. When he saw Earako, he immediately looked down. "It b-broke, and I s-s-slipped and I'm s-sorry!"
Sitting a few feet away, Myung-Ki looked at his person with disdain. Why did he have to be so clumsy? Even if he could have, he wouldn't help. But, not posessing opposable thumbs or the knowledge of how to disentangle him, the point was moot."
Looking down her nose at the velvet worm, Raven managed a disgruntled "very good." She would have to do something else next, since the others had yet to emerge. "Now, would anyone care to share their homework assignments?"
The question sounded innocent enough, but it was clear by her tone that if nobody volunteered, she would have to make them.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:58 pm
Ooo... what an interesting display. Earako's gaze found the cart before it found Anoki, and lingered there for a moment. What lovely... stuff. But not what she was in the market for at the moment. She was looking for a boy, one with horns preferably. Quite like the one behind the cart, actually. Earako's expression went from curious to worried as she entered the room more fully and she stepped over to Anoki's side, careful not to touch anything as she did so.
"Are you ok, 'noki?" She asked, kneeling to get a better look at the boy's leg. Her fingers moved to rest lightly at the point where leg met cart, as she examined the way in which they'd need to twist it to get him free. "Does it hurt?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:17 pm
Anoki shook his head, too ashamed to speak. No, it didn't hurt much. It pinched, but that was more uncomfortable than painful. Whatever he had done had really gotten his leg jammed in, and when Earako touched it he flinched, unprepared. Still, he couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make him look more foolish than he already did.
Fine, if they wanted to play it that way, they would play it that way. Consulting her list, Raven picked a pupil at random. "Miss Ledell, if you please."
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:32 pm
Alaqua jumped and groaned to herself. Why oh why did the teacher have to pick on her? She sighed and flipped her notebook to the page where she'd done the homework that Raven had assigned in her last class. "The spell I'd like to cast would be to make a tree grow inside of my bedroom." Oh how silly it made her sound! Why hadn't she put more effort into her homework and thought of a really cool spell. Like making flames shoot from her nose or something like that?
Ala plunged on with the rest of her assignment. "The will aspect would be focusing on making a tree appear in my room. The imaginary would be imagining a large tree in the middle of my room. And the procedure," and here was the part she wasn't sure on, "would be gathering some sticks and leaves of the desired type of tree and causing them to grow into the tree itself." Well, it was a good guess, right?
"And I think I'd be best at imagination because I like to pretend." Okay, lame and probably not right, but she was now done. And could now promptly bury her head behind her notebook and pretend that the other students weren't thinking that she was stupid.
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Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 9:09 am
Earako didn't remove her fingertips, even as Anoki flinched, just patted his leg gently. At least he wasn't hurt, that was a plus. But they needed to get him out, before the teacher got really mad at them. Her wings adjusted themselves restlessly as she bit her lip. "You're going to have to twist your leg, like this, I think." She said at last, putting pressure on it to indicate the proper direction. "And then pull it out. Do you think you can do that?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 9:07 pm
A fairly average report for a first try, Raven assessed. "Thank you, Miss Ledell. It is a fine idea for a spell, however, you may be confusing will and imagination to be the same thing. Imagination is visualizing the spell coming to fruition. Willing it, however, goes even deeper. You can't just want it. You need to know why. And I am curious, Miss Ledell, as to your inspiration for this particular spell. "
Not that curious, but she was stalling, and lessons had to be taught. "Does anyone else have any questions or comments about this spell? Especially the procedure?"
Mumbling inaudibly, Anoki twisted his leg in what he thought was the way Earako said. It was difficult, but he knew that the longer it took him to get out there, the more he would be inconveniencing everyone else. And he just had to turn it a teensy bit more...
The leg slid into place suddenly and slipped out of the card. It was so sudden that Anoki lost his balance again, and stumbled backwards. "Look out!" he warned, hoping not to hurt anyone if he fell.
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Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:31 pm
Ala blushed a bit at her error. "Uh, because I like to sit in trees... and my mom wouldn't let me go outside until I finished my homework..." Why couldn't the teacher just go on to someone else and shift the attention away from her?? And what was taking Anoki and Earako so long?!
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Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 7:17 pm
"Oh!" Startled by Anoki's sudden and unexpected freedom, the batling wasn't immediatly sure whether to move closer or away. In the end, she leaned to the first, reaching out in an attempt to grab the boy and prevent him from falling. "'noki! Careful."
Oh, this isn't going at all like she'd planned.
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Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:25 am
"So that, Miss Ledell, is your motivation. The fact that you need to manifest a tree is important to you, and something that you need to focus on. Even if it's just a whim, it must resonate within you somehow, or else the spell won't have meaning, and will fall apart. Do you understand?" Raven had hoped that one of the other students would talk about procedure, but they were a bit green for that, she supposed, so she let it slide.
Swaying on his feet, Anoki grabbed Earako's arm as lightly as he could, and used it to regain his balance. "Th-thank you," he stammered, followed by "I'm s-s-sorry."
The objects on the cart were askew, but the only one that was actually broken was the glass of water. Hastily, Anoki grabbed a beaker from a nearby counter, filled it with water from the sink in the corner, and planted it on the cart, sloshing water onto the fabric. The rest would have to do. Righting the candle, Anoki pushed the cart towards the door. "Let's g-go, before she g-gets m-mad."
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Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:38 am
Success! Look at what a valient rescuer she was. And Anoki was even alright, though his leg might be a bit sore. Earako hoped not. Should she have tried something else to get it out? But other than twisting and pulling, she didn't know any methods for freeing things that were stuck. Maybe is she was Teacher she could have used magic. Of course, that would never be her. Even with Raven, who was nice compared to the other teacher, Earako just couldn't seem to bring herself to like the subject.
But it wasn't important right now, what was important was Anoki. And he looked nervous. Summoning her most confident smile, the albino bat reached out to lightly squeeze his arm. "It'll all be fine, now, 'noki. You'll do great."
And nevermind that she had no idea what Anoki and the Teacher might be doing with all the stuff on the tray.
With that confident statement, she headed back out of the lab, absently smoothing her outfit as she did so.
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Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 1:27 pm
Ala nodded. That made sense. Perhaps she would get to actually make that tree appear in her room one of these days, then. Which would be nice, because it didn't rain inside.
The koala girl was relieved to see Anoki and Earako reappear from the lab. Good. Now Raven would move on and she could exit out of the spotlight. Or so she hoped.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:47 pm
It seemed that Raven was losing the attention of her class. That wouldn't do. She had to finish it, and quickly. Eyeing Anoki testily, she waved him to the center of the platform, and then turned back to the class. "We have just finished our discussion of how outside forces affect a spell. Now, we have a brief demonstration, involving the practical use of elements. Anoki Kenelm, if you will."
Flinching at being addressed, Anoki scurried up the short ramp to the platform. But not before whispering to Earako, "th-thank you." Then it was up with the cart, when he realized something that he had forgotten to fix. The candle wasn't lit. Wincing, he gestured at it, hoping to bring it to Raven's attention.
It worked. A scowl on her face, Raven strode over to the cart and placed her thumb and fingers over the charred wick of the candle. A moment later, she removed them and revealed a brightly burning flame.
"Can any of you tell me what an altar is?" Raven asked, opening up the class again.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:57 am
When he thought of alter two different things came to mind straight away, seeming to be a bit different but then when it came down to it they were rather similiar. Spell casting and weddings, both were ceremonies performed on alters were the not?
"Raised platforms you perform cermonies on?" He guessed seeing both things in his mind as he said so.
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 6:49 pm
With Anoki safe, it was time to return to her seat. The short adventure had been interesting, but she was still worried that the boy might be in trouble, or hurt, considering how tightly his leg had been wedged at the start.
Still, there was nothing else she could do, not really, so the batling quickly sat back down, looking down at her notes as if the time she missed might have been transcribed for her. No such luck, but maybe she could ask Ligeia for what she'd missed, later.
Returning her gaze to the front of the room, she listened to Raven, but watched Anoki, more concerned about him than about the lesson in general.
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Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 9:33 pm
Raven raised an eyebrow at this answer. "Only if you are a carpenter, Mr. Solon. Some of you may have heard of temples of gods having altars. The most common use for one of these was for sacrifices. While these, especially the human ones, can be quite barbarric, altars themselves do have practical uses for spellcraft. And they can be quite simple."
Raising her arm, she gestured at the cart, making Anoki flinch. "In simplest terms, an altar is a place created to invoke spirits- or gods, in the case of the old temples. They are filled with things the spirits would find inviting. Very simple altars to the elemental spirits can be created with materials of the corresponding elements- the compass elements, if you will- and invoking them, you can summon spirits to aid you. This is the most elemental, if you will, form of summoning.
"On this altar we have a flask of water, symbolizing the water element. Flowers and crystals, both born of the earth. Incense provides a visible and manipulatable form for air. And fire is, predictably, a candle." Raven paused, looking at the candle, and frowned. Rubbing her fingers together, Raven placed them both over the candle's wick for a moment. There was a spark, just barely noticeable, and when she removed her fingers, there was a flame dancing merrily.
"As for the central element, there are many options. Some use attuned crystals, others an oil burner, and some use an empty bowl. It is best to allow the caster to decide, however. Anoki Kenelm, if you will."
Anoki gulped. It was finally his turn. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a tiny glass sphere and placed it into the center of the circle. Little more than an oversized marble, it was dwarfed by the other elements, but it seemed to take up as much room as anything else. That settled, he opened his arms- palms up, just like he'd been taught, and hoped that nobody would laugh at him.
"G-guardians of the East, open the g-gates to il-llumination," he stammered, hurrying through the words as fast as possible. "Guardians of the S-south, allow me t-to the place of cr-creatiity. Guardians of th-the West, g-grant me the access to inner v-visions. G-guardians of the North, let m-my wishes m-manifest in y-your d-domain."
With each word he grew more nervous, but he was almost there. "Sp-spirits of the Center, accept m-my plea and c-come t-to my aid!"
There was a feeling of something building, gathering in the room, but nothing else seemed to happen... yet.
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