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 Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:29 pm
 Belwen meandered to her next class, jumping slightly as she saw Khamsyn get stung with a bolt. Letting out a squeak of surprise she scampered out of the way of some of the strange magical lights that were zipping down the hall. Seeing Khamsyn hurry for the door Belwen followed along cringing slightly as she heard the professor; she had a feeling that the class wasn't going to go so well for her.
She got in before too many others arrived glancing around quickly she moved over to take a seat near Khamsyn. With a sigh she got her supplies out waiting for everyone else to get in the room and settled as well; she had a feeling this was going to be much less enjoyable then music had been.
 Nadyrr had shuffled along with the others lingering a moment in the music room to curiously glance to the closet of instruments before hurrying to find the others of his class. He had a feeling he wouldn't do so well with the music but it was interesting to him greatly his thoughts were idly moving along for a moment before the sounds of startlement from the other students caught his attention.
Before he had a chance to react to what was happening a small zap got him in the arm, hearing Bellonna's voice down the hall caused him to frown slightly as he rubbed his arm. Shaking his head slightly he continued on but moved at his own pace still somewhat stubbornly; slinking into the room with a few other students and moving toward the back of the room to find a seat. He hoped the class wouldn't drag on, but that hope he had a feeling would be in vain.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 7:59 am
 Cyphr din't have much to pack up (as he wasn't exactly the note taking kind), and he already had a singing bowl in his dorm that suited him fine. With that in mind, pudgy Cyphr merely stretched once, looked around for friends in the class and headed out. As he moved along the hallway he saw Professora Bellona emerge from the classroom. At first he smiled, excited for Magical Theory, and then he saw the bolts and light begin whizzing around at the students. Cyphr stopped dumbly in the middle of the hall with a quizzical expression before yelping loudly and ducking underneath a zipping fling of magic. With a scowl he continued on to class, dragging his heels as much as he could and dodging as many bolts as he could, but shamefully receiving a stray zap or two. By the time he found a seat in class, he was greatly put out. It took a very certain kind of treatment to put Cyphr off his game. But Professora Bellona had managed just that, and he sat hunched in his seat, arms folded and lower lip protruding so far as to be a firm ledge for a pelican.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:23 pm
 Morrow yelped when one of Bellona's stray zaps careened into him, kind of scuttling ahead to quickly take a seat in the classroom, looking around a bit as he pulled out notebooks and things. He had no idea what this class might be like, since he'd missed it before... but he hoped it was at least somewhat interesting. Emrys was lucky enough that most of the zaps missed him, but he hurried into the classroom too, eyes wide. Okay... this teacher was kind of scary. Once seated, he kind of huddled in his chair, trying to make himself as small as possible.
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:42 pm
I encourage everyone to see how they feel about music, and if they wish to pursue it further... Abacus ran a hand through his hair as he stood up, heading towards the door. Should he pursue music? Would it be wise? An instrument seemed useful, but how long did a song take to affect someone? What if a loud noise interrupted it – would the musician be able to continue after such an interruption and have the same effects?
He’d have to look into these answers later. Abacus rather liked what music could do, but he wasn’t sure if music was in his particular future. Music seemed to require a lot of attention, and personally... Well, how could he take pictures when his hands were busy with an instrument? He loved taking photographs! How could he chose between two hobbies?
In the hallway, Abacus looked up as Bellona called for attention, blinking in surprise. He remembered her – and it seemed that long “nap” the Outsiders had her take didn’t improve her temper. He began to hurry, and picked up his pace even more as Bellona inspired them to move with her spells. A thought struck him, and he immediately placed a protective hand over his camera. It wouldn’t do him any good to get that broken, would it?
Abacus selected a seat in the middle of the classroom, eager for the lesson. Magical theory – that was one of the requirements for a Bael! He set his bag down and began pulling out parchment in quill in preparation, sparing a sympathetic grin to Cyphr. His friend didn’t look like he was having a fun time.
He would have to be careful with his notes for this class. He wasn’t sure if Bellona would appreciate any pictures he took, and if he got one word wrong on this subject he had a feeling that the result would be worse than a bad grade. Extra limb or a smoking pair of boots, anyone?
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 9:00 am
When her students were sufficiently rounded up like so many sheep, Bellona strode into the room in an even glide accomplanied by the sharp click of spiked heels beneath the volumnous folds of her taffeta dress. She reached the front of the class and pivoted severely, peering out at their upturned faces with a hard, cold glance. "Magical Theory will now begin. This is perhaps the most important lesson you will learn, so pay rapt attention. I will not reserve any patience for those students who deem to waste my and other student's time. Is that clear?" Bellona shot her razor glance over the room with enough vehemence to prohibit anyone to answer. Then she folded her lean arms under her bosom and glided forward a foot. "As I hope you have gleaned so far in your studies, the one thing that the Outsiders cannot do is perform Magic. This, obviously gives us a distinct edge against them. Therefore it is of utmost importance that you learn how to weild some form of magic - for your own self defense and to do your part in defending the City." Bellona's hand shot into the air with lightning quickness, and she held aloft four spread fingers, each ending in a sharp black little claw.
"There are Four types of magic available to us, for the Four Metatrons who began them: Grimoire Magic as created by Mephistopheles, Tribal Magic as created by Rasputin, Circle Magic as created by Nova and Ritual Magic as created by Fortuna. Despite what some may have you believe - these four types of magic are equally potent and important. Grimoire is the pursuit of creation - taking concepts and imagination and giving it life and form through symbolic imagry or words. Tribal is the use of the body and manipulation of its layers and energies to have distinct effects within and around your form. Circle is the act of building shapes, mathematics, balances and space to form connection between points that exist and imbue effects upon those ensnared. Ritual is the act of calling up latent energies int he world through coaxing combinations of ingredients, words and action to rouse Gods, spirits, energies and creatures. Has any one here already decided which form of Magic to pursue?" Bellona here looked for any Melancholic students in the class first, as they were her favourites, then she glanced to the faces of other female students in the room. The Sanguine Males she distinctly ignored.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 11:15 am
 Khamsyn himself was utterly silent and still as Bellona started her class. Of all the courses before and behind him, this one was by far the one he had looked forward to the most. Despite the reputation Bellona had of being hard on students (some harder than others) she also had the reputation of being a very good teacher. Plus she was head of the Seraphim. That alone should tell everyone that she knows her stuff.
As the Professora began speaking of the four different styles of magic, Khamsyn made detailed notes as quickly and efficiently as possible. Grimoire magic sounded useful but it didn't stir his soul as much as he thought it could. And while Circle magic also sounded useful, Khamsyn knew mathematics and such were not his strong point. He was not a "math brain" and by early appearances, Circle magic required such inclinations. That left Tribal and Ritual. One harnessing an internal power, the other an external one. Both seemed interesting and exciting to Khamsyn and when Bellona asked if any students had chosen a style they wished to pursue yet, he raised his hand. Truth was he hadn't chosen between the two yet, so when the Professora acknowledged him his brain and soul just reacted, making the choice for him and forcing it from his lips.
"I wish to pursue Ritual magic Professora. I feel drawn to it more than the other forms." he responded truthfully. He kept his impulse to ask about pursuing two forms quiet for the moment. He didn't want to annoy Bellona with a question she may very well touch on later, and if she didn't, he could ask after class instead.
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:23 am
Mentally, Abacus kicked himself for not going to the library and researching magic in order to learn a bit more about it. Bellona seemed even stricter than he imagined her to be. Sure, she did look rather peaceful (if a bit intimidating) when she was enscrolled in sleep... He made a note to himself to try and look up the answers to any magic-related questions, rather than ask her.
The fact that Outsiders couldn't use magic was something he knew from Lelaus' lesson in the Teacher's Lounge. It wasn't anything new to him, but the phlegm looked sharply at Bellona as she named off the separate types of magic and their Metatrons. He had a feeling that it would be rather... difficult to stay around this Melancholic woman, given the images she unknowingly summoned to his mind.
He shook his head in negative in response to Bellona's question. He needed to learn a bit more about each type of magic before he could settle on which would be a good fit for him.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:46 pm
Biwa had snuck in the back, wilting under Bellona's stern gaze. Her return to classes came at a point where... it honestly seemed like she had missed nothing, with all of this frightening talk of battling the Outsiders.
Four types of magic...? She had barely given it thought, only wanting to do something with art and music. She had to choose beyond that? What would suit her best? She almost raised her hand to ask, but her arm wilted back down to her side almost immediately .
She cast a worried glance over at Abacus, looking for some form of support. This class set her nerves on edge.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:02 pm
The first student to speak up was Khamsyn. Bellona had heard good things from Requiem about the boy's interest in restoration of books and allowed herself a thin, cautious smile.
"Ritual Magic is an excellent choice, for you. You have the attention to detail required to do well at it, I should think." Bellona waved her wand up in the air and a series of glittering words misted like smoke and swirled into a square encircled, and from each of the four points an animal motif sprouted and flourished. "Ritual Magic, for those of you who haven't studied the forms at all, is the study of calling forth the powers of dormant spirits, gods, and energies in the world around you to come to your aide. Ritual requires the performance of rituals - hence its name, obviously - that can range from spell words recited, to the placement of offerings or the lighting of candles. The more complex the spell magics get, the increasingly more finicky and complex the rituals become."
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:12 pm
Bellona talked, but no one seemed much like answering her. Then that Khamsyn boy did, an' Cyphr was sure that he was about the bravest Zero he'd ever laid eyes on. Ritual, Khamsyn had picked... "Hrrrrmmm...." Cyphr buzzed to himself, eyes darting up to Bellona fearfully as he realized he'd made the noise aloud, but she seemed to be ignoring his presence quite thouroughly. So, what type was Cyphr gonna learn? It occurred to him that he didn't know any magics... So, he thought over the things Danna had told him when she had been studying Magical Theory. Ritual, as Bellona explained sounded far too complicated, he wasn't sure he wanted to find out what happened when one made even the smallest error. No, that weren't for him. Grimoire, like ol' Gravelet did? Cyphr's art skills weren't really to the task, if he was honest, and he was. And his writing weren't much better'n his scribbles. Actually, the two looked about the same, when it came to it. So, no to Grimoire too, then. Circle? Oh, the math... the numbers and the lines and the exatitudery and all that complex Paxar nuttiness. No thanks indeedy. So, what was left? Tribal, he was might sure... He'd done errands as Page boy for a pleasant Choleric lady named Tullum more'n a few times, and she was huge in the Tribal practices. All Cyphr remembered of what he'd seen was there was nood-ness and a lot o' body paint. He grinned, thought about it again and grinned wider. Yeah, now that sounded like home. Cyphr leapt from his seat, nearly nocking himself over in the process and shot up both pudgy hands and wiggled all eight fingers and both thumbs wildly to get her attention. "Tribal! Tribal for me, Professora? Think I could do it? 'S'it a good match for ol' Cyphr??"
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:29 pm
Biwa? Biwa! Abacus was glad to see her, but for now all he could do was shoot her a rueful grin and a half-shrug. There wasn't much that could be done, and considering the teacher's abilities... well, passing a note to her would be a pretty bad idea.
Abacus stared at Bellona waved her wand, studying the motif created. Huh -- fancy! He wrote down the basics of it, that it relied on the powers of other beings and required, well... rituals. He looked up and eyed her wand thoughtfully. Maybe...?
He tried to think of examples of magic he'd seen. The Phlegm twins performed ritual magic back at Halloween... Grave had his mudras, but that didn't seem like magic to him. Right now, he really wished he looked into magics when researching different types of monsters.
When Cyphr spoke up, Abacus looked between him and the professor, watching and waiting to see what Tribal magic would look like. Maybe it'd be something to take into consideration?
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 9:39 am
Biwa relaxed slightly with Abacus's returned glance and set to actively taking notes. After a moment, she slowly raised her hand.
"Um- if you were interested in the magic of music, what direction would you likely go in...?" Because damned if she knew.
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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:21 am
 Cypress had hertofore said nothing, but was starting to sit a little more relaxed in her seat as questions were asked and answered, just like in any class. This professora was certainly intimidating, but Cypress flinched a bit at Cyphr's enthusiastic response. She wasn't sure that would be welcome at all. Still, she had perused some books in the library and had decided that she'd like to try Tribal magic as well. She didn't have much faith in anything, so Ritual was out. She hated math, so there went Circle. Grimoire . . . seemed interesting, and Cypress had a vague idea that that was the sort of magic that had created one of her best friends, Raya, but she wasn't sure if that was really her calling. So, for the time being at least, she had settled on Tribal magic as well. That her choice matched Cyphr's simply added attraction to an already-made choice. At least they could learn together!
Professora she began in a calm, quiet tone, belaying none of the insecurities that she felt, I also would like to pursue Tribal Magic. She hoped that, by her calm response, she might quiet any fires that the Professora had burning at Cyphr's remark, though she was very curious to hear the answer to Biwa's question. She could see an instrument fitting nicely into just about every branch of magic. Music and math had more in common than people might think, and if you created your own song, that could go well with Grimoire. With Ritual you could use your music to call upon the mystical powers, and with Tribal . . . well . . . dancing music! It was hard for Cypress to try and pick out just one branch of magic that would suit music better than another. Quickly, she continued jotting down the floating, glimmering diagram, quill scratching on the parchment as a wisp of her hair fell into her face. When she finished, she looked back up at Bellona, awaiting an answer.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:49 pm
Bellona visibly twitched when Cyphr burst out. Perhaps she'd have less contempt if she'd heard the lengthy (in Kinesthetic terms) and careful considerations he'd gone through to arrive at his decision. With a withering stare she sneered at him, "Perhaps flailing yourself around will be the least detrimental to the honourable arts of magic, yes. Pray do take a tutor for the matter though, Metatrons only know what wretched havoc a blunderer such as you might cause left on your own." At this point she regained an austere composure and physically turning away from the crestfallen Cyphr turned back to the rest of the class. "Tribal magic is a potent and physically taxing art, students. Tribal magic involves the manipulation of one's own power, energies and forces of soul, chakra, energy signature and movement to create force and power to use against your enemies and to strengthen yourself beyond normal limitations. Dance, rhythym, meditation and intoxication are all methods. Tribal is also perhaps the most open to collaboration and group practise. They even form groups to better execute their spells." Here she turned her attentions to Biwa and gave a small, but genuine smile. "As for the pursuit of music, it can be used as a method for any of the four types of magic. It depends on how one wishes to affect others. Through Circle magic one can weave emotional and cerebral effects on the hearers of your music, through Grimoire one can create effects and creatures through your lyrics, through Tribal you can manifest further power in your body by raising resonance through tempo and vibration, and through Ritual you can strengthen the connection and worship with your Gods by pleasing them with your playing. Choose if your music is to be offensive or defensive in execution and you can select your form of magic from there." When Cypress voiced her desire to persue Tribal as well Bellona nodded to her, the same soft smile in place. "Remember that all the magic forms are equally required for our city. We need students in all four, so do not feel that you need to choose the 'best' of the four - choose simply what is the best match for you."
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:52 pm
Fenna sat in class, fully absorbed in pondering her fingernails and not really paying much attention to Professora Bellona. Not that she didn't care about the class, she did, kind of, but more because she really didn't know what type of magic suited her the best. None of them seemed a logical match. So when the Professora actively asked the students which forms they each wanted to pursue, she withdrew physically into her chair and hoped Bellona's gaze wouldn't find her. It was a pointless hope. The Professora's gaze found every student. With a sigh, she spoke up when that gaze rested on her.
"I'm sorry Professora, but I'm at a loss for the flavor of magic study that matches me best. I honestly don't know." She paused, twisting her pretty little face this way and that as she thought. "From your description of Ritual magic it seems too... boring." She cringed slightly, hoping the Professora wouldn't snap at her for calling any magic boring.
"And Tribal seems a little too touchy-feely and erratic for my tastes as well. Which leaves Grimoire and Circle right?" Once more she paused. On one hand Circle, from what she'd heard, seemed good but she wasn't much of a math brain. On the other hand, she wasn't much of an artist either, which was useful for Grimoire magic. "If I had to trust my gut, I'd pick Circle, even if it is really math intensive."
She wasn't completely satisified with her choice, but it was made. Maybe she could study hard enough to at least be passable in math and thus be passable in Circle magic. Stranger things have happened.
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