The third eye I
[X][Plan] Plan The Most Electives
[X][SVP] Horizon Slicing Technique
[X][Social] The Ravenclaw first year study club is becoming more active as the year draws to a close. Although you might not say so out loud, you know you're quite highly advanced in your chosen fields, and helping your peers cram in some last minute study seems like the right thing to do.
[X][Social] Contrary to the rumors, Harry Potter is nothing more than a polite twelve year old boy. You sincerely doubt that he's taken Gryffindor's loss of the quidditch cup to heart, but you'd still best make sure that that is the case.
[X][Social] Although you estimate that the odds are slim, this could be your last chance to confront Daphne Greengrass about your family connection.
- [X][Training] Breakthrough attempt x5
[X][SVP] Horizon Slicing Technique
[X][Social] The Ravenclaw first year study club is becoming more active as the year draws to a close. Although you might not say so out loud, you know you're quite highly advanced in your chosen fields, and helping your peers cram in some last minute study seems like the right thing to do.
[X][Social] Contrary to the rumors, Harry Potter is nothing more than a polite twelve year old boy. You sincerely doubt that he's taken Gryffindor's loss of the quidditch cup to heart, but you'd still best make sure that that is the case.
[X][Social] Although you estimate that the odds are slim, this could be your last chance to confront Daphne Greengrass about your family connection.
Total to beat raised from 300 to 360 due to dragon encounter.
- Breakthrough I - pool: [17, 1, 15, 3, 13, 15, 18] > rolls: [19+50, 6+50, 90+50, 61+50, 65+50] > total: 491/360
- Breakthrough II - pool: [15, 5, 14, 8, 22, 22, 19] > rolls: [13+50, 12+50, 39+50, 67+50, 35+50] > total: 416
- Breakthrough III - pool: [12, 7, 16, 4, 13, 8, 16] > rolls: [84+50, 14+50, 89+50, 28+50] > total: 415
- Breakthrough IV - pool: [19, 4, 15, 13, 14, 2, 17] > rolls: [4+50, 22+50, 88+50, 49+50, 52+50] > total: 465
- Breakthrough V - pool: [2, 1, 6, 1, 16, 11, 6] > rolls: [64+50] > total: 114
- Spiritual Cultivation: 1001 > 1236/1500
- Physical Cultivation: 1058 > 1293/1500
- Potions: 1337 > 1572/1500
- +1 max potions
- Charms: 400 > 635/550
- Pool die type 22 > 23
- Craft an extra charm
- Transfiguration: 991 > 1226/1500
- Care of Magical Creatures: 129 > 364/150 - 364/350
- Herbology and Astronomy threshold 15 > 13
- Basic linguistic proficiency in common spirit
- Meet ???
The advice of your head of house still rings clear in your ears: to think back on all the experiences you've had over the year, and build an unified understanding of Qi from them. You cast your mind all the way back to September and October, remembering the stumbling start you had. While you lacked the sensitivity to the elemental aspects back then, the sense of awe and whimsy still makes you feel good inside. Ancestor Dumbledore's words about wonder being the source of all Qi come back to you, and as usual, you're forced to concede that the elder's wisdom is deeper than you can ever hope to perceive. When you really think about it, perhaps that very sense of amazement at both yourself and the world is precisely the reason why Hogwarts is such a charged place. Generation upon generation of young cultivators pass through the halls, discovering their abilities and building up their hopes within the walls of the castle. Wouldn't that lead to wonder unlike anything else?
Unsurprisingly, meditation leaves you with new questions, but the revelations are no less poignant for it. The underlying sense of greatness whenever you will something to happen, and it actually does, gives you an appreciation of the mystic energy you doubt you could ever lose. And if you do somehow manage to grow jaded to the everyday miracles you can perform, you just know that that'll be where you stagnate.
That said, it's not like your time at the sect was purely rosy. The rumors contrasting you with Harry, and the way that reality seemed to conform to the idea that you're somehow special have brought you no small amount of pain too. Most notably of the physical kind. The best you could have hoped for when facing down a troll with all of your five and a half stones of weight to its fifty should have been that it got bored of you rather than squish you like a bug. And yet, that's not what happened. For some reason, you decided you had to fight, and came out the victor for it.
The Beacon of Ravenclaw indeed; even when all you had was brute force - by far your least favorite method of problem solving - you had to play the distraction, to pull attention to you and dare it to look away. You could barely feel Qi back then, but that fight lit a fire under you.
At the time it perhaps didn't feel like it. You distinctly recall being much more focused on the first match of the season, and pushing your physical conditioning to allow you to at least stay on the sword for the whole duration, but really, you'd just had a brush with death. Yet it never felt like you did, what you were doing then wasn't avoiding thinking about it, it just didn't register as the danger that it was. The reason for your willful ignorance is simple: Qi gives you confidence, and that confidence is not entirely unwarranted. Even then you knew that the mystic energy of the world had your back. Even then, you had an unspoken trust in it - in yourself, really. You wouldn't call it confidence per se, Qi and you are not the same thing, but at the same time, there definitely exists a part of Qi that is very much you. Although you struggle to articulate it, that fact is a truth you've always known, and now you think you understand... at least some facet of it. A fundamental aspect of Qi is the lack of separation between you and it, even if there is a difference.
At the very least, you know what the absence of that feels like. For all that your cultivation took off like a shooting star over the winter holidays, there were somber moments in that as well. The idea that you might want to leave the world of your birth behind you entirely is still something you're working through, and the coming summer will be forcing your hand. But... you'll manage, now's not the time to dig into your insecurities, but your understanding of Qi. If your visit home taught you anything, it's that Qi is not banal or mundane. It is a symphony of epic proportion, and the quietest murmur, a crash and a whisper, and you've no intention of normalizing the sound levels, to stretch the analogy your thoughts are wandering down.
At least the next couple of months were comparatively calmer. Not that you were sitting idle during those, far from it. You learned more about the world, this time in the common sense of the word. With senses trained enough to spot things you missed when you first arrived at Hogwarts, you ventured into your old hobbies and new ideas alike. You tried your hand at animating art, and Qi was colors and veiled vistas to you, the visual element brought to the fore. You took a chance on the choir, and the experience still colors your description of Qi right now, often bringing to mind musical notes and facsimiles. Although cooking isn't your primary forte, a visit to the kitchen made you think of Qi as whiffs of smell to be caught on the breeze or exotic tastes on your tongue.
And finally, you come to the elephant in the back of your mind. The final sense you experience Qi through is touch. You're no stranger to the feel of Qi, whether it comes from a good workout or a match of quidditch, a hug or a caress. Or a burning, scorching heat. On the one hand, you can understand why someone who doesn't know you would knock you out for what to them might be a standard medical procedure, but the unknown is much more scary than the pain. Hell, you'd just spent the whole month holding onto a glassmaking kiln fed by the purest fire Qi you had ever seen, courtesy of a gift from Ancestor Dumbledore himself.
A twinge of phantom sensation goes through your right forearm and out your fingertips. The hand you use to draw with, to throw a quaffle, to rub sleep from your eyes and feed yourself with. Just how close did you come to losing it? You don't actually have many regrets in life, not permanent ones at any rate. Not being able to draw anymore... You know you'll one day make a mistake and live with the consequences, but you fervently hope that's not one of them.
But then, isn't that natural? To fear loss and failure is human, mortal or immortal. You thought you were disturbed by fire, but are you, really? You still channel fire Qi on a daily basis without paying it any mind. You made a name for yourself in your very first year of sect life riding on the back of a fire natured technique, even. With barely a flex of your will, twin orbs of light and darkness appear in front of you, slowly chasing each other in a circle. The fire Qi surges when you decide to make them, and takes the impetus of your will into reality in a blink.
Your will, and your Qi. Fear of fire and fire. Two sides of the same coin, that can coexist within you, neither dominating or controlling you. With a deep inhale, everything slides into place. You exhale, and open your three eyes.
Rei has reached the second stage of her journey to enlightenment, and the experiences along the way have changed her and given her new convictions. This offers no mechanical benefit, but serves as an affirmation of Rei's character. Choose 1 trait from her time spent in the Qi Gathering stage:
[][Breakthrough] Qi is beauty
Qi makes the world vibrant, a feast for all the senses to experience. Could there be a more noble calling than preserving even a small facet of its beauty to share with others? The artistry and elegance of a raven in flight, the sound of ice cracking on a lake, the grace of a friend lost in meditation - the allure is something you could lose yourself in without any regrets.
[][Breakthrough] Qi is wonder
The world is vast, and full of adventure and mystery that calls to you on a primal level. With Qi, there's awe in even the most mundane of places and tasks, and nothing could ever stop amazing you. From the motion of the very heavens themselves to the simple life of an insect under a rug, nothing is trivial to the mystic power.
[][Breakthrough] Qi is safety
You know that hardship is temporary, and time spent in toil means comfort later. It's an intrinsic promise between you and the energy of the world that your efforts are rewarded, and so long as you sense Qi, you won't shy away from any task, no matter how daunting.
[][Breakthrough] Qi is write-in
Or perhaps you saw something else?
Your breakthrough happens in the late morning, just before lunch, but right as you arrive at the great hall, a positively regal looking owl swoops down from the invisible rafters and and presents you with a folded piece of parchment.
"Mistress Young, you are cordially invited for an interview in the deputy sect leaders office at noon," the letter is signed by Elder McGonagall. Naturally, you turn on your heel and march right back to the grand staircase, where the stair you rode in on is thankfully still waiting.
You've never had any business in the transfiguration elder's domain, so it's with some excitement that you knock on the unassuming wooden door.
"Enter."
The office itself is almost boring. The only magical gizmo you can see is a quill writing something into a heavy book on an angled lectern. The walls are lined with shelves containing yet more books and scrolls, and a simple desk faces the entrance, an open window behind it. Elder McGonagall is standing to one side of it, looking at you with her usual stony expression.
Then her mouth quirks upwards just the tiniest bit in what must be a beaming smile for the elder, "Mistress Young, allow this one to be the first to congratulate you for an exemplary performance in your first year at Hogwarts."
She gives you a slight nod, and you curtsey back at her, "Thank you very much."
"Now, I'm sure you must be wondering about the purpose of this talk, so I won't keep you for long. In most cases, disciples at Hogwarts are free to learn in their own way, but in this, we've found that a nudge in the right direction can go a long way."
She pulls out a drawer on the desk and a small booklet floats out and towards you.
"Have you familiarized yourself with the concept of meridians at all?"
"Somewhat," you hedge. You're vaguely aware of their existence and that you have two of them in your Qi network.
"Indeed. You'll find that Qi expressed through one will provide a more natural feeling to a cultivator, the details you'll learn in time. This is a short primer on opening new ones."
You take the floating pamphlet and slide it into your bag.
"Thank you, honored Elder."
"Think nothing of it, young mistress. You are a credit to this school, after all. You may go now."
With another half-nod, half-bow, you make your retreat, letting out a breath you didn't realize you were holding once you get out of the corridor holding the office. You suppose the house famed for boisterousness needs a cool and level head to direct it, but although you won't say so out loud, you much prefer Elder Flitwick's style.
With breaking through, all pool and training dice gain an additional property called aspect. Every die is either wood, fire, water, metal or earth aspected.
These aspects are determined at random when the die gets rolled, so every aspect has a 20% chance of being attached to any one die. All dice are completely independent of each other, unless otherwise specified by some modifier, so a fire aspect pool success does not necessarily mean a fire aspect result roll. Each die can only have one aspect.
By themselves, the aspects do nothing but look pretty, i.e. what's been going on so far. However, your charms and techniques use the different aspects to apply further bonuses to your dice. For examples of these bonuses, refer to the library informational threadmark.
A keen eye might also notice that sometimes the order of those bonuses could make a difference. For example lets consider the Water Sprout Technique and the Overwhelming Tickler Technique: if we apply the fire tech first, we might lose out on a bonus because extra fire aspect dice might ruin the necessary ordering for the (previously) last die. If we apply them in the other order however, that can't possibly happen, so sprout to tickler is objectively superior in this example.
This is where the meridians come in.
Rei can still learn and use however many techniques she can get her paws on, but the modifying bonuses can only apply if she has free meridians to equip them in. As such, a training option has become available to open new meridians. This works as any other regular training action, albeit with the same success threshold as your breakthrough attempt (average of physical and spiritual). This training action does not earn you house points in a specific subject, but the progress is counted for overall advancement (the two-point award).
Again, in-universe, Rei can make use of all the knowledge she has, but using a meridian grants her a deeper and clearer understanding of what she's affecting. It also serves as a proxy of her instincts for solving her problems. If Lumos is on the top of the list, that's what she'll consider first. Of course, if her problem is the sun shining in her eyes and blinding her, she'll quickly move on to the next spell until she can find something that works.
At present, Rei has 2 meridians, and she automatically fills them with the Light Summoning Technique and the Light-eater Technique, like so:
These aspects are determined at random when the die gets rolled, so every aspect has a 20% chance of being attached to any one die. All dice are completely independent of each other, unless otherwise specified by some modifier, so a fire aspect pool success does not necessarily mean a fire aspect result roll. Each die can only have one aspect.
By themselves, the aspects do nothing but look pretty, i.e. what's been going on so far. However, your charms and techniques use the different aspects to apply further bonuses to your dice. For examples of these bonuses, refer to the library informational threadmark.
A keen eye might also notice that sometimes the order of those bonuses could make a difference. For example lets consider the Water Sprout Technique and the Overwhelming Tickler Technique: if we apply the fire tech first, we might lose out on a bonus because extra fire aspect dice might ruin the necessary ordering for the (previously) last die. If we apply them in the other order however, that can't possibly happen, so sprout to tickler is objectively superior in this example.
This is where the meridians come in.
Rei can still learn and use however many techniques she can get her paws on, but the modifying bonuses can only apply if she has free meridians to equip them in. As such, a training option has become available to open new meridians. This works as any other regular training action, albeit with the same success threshold as your breakthrough attempt (average of physical and spiritual). This training action does not earn you house points in a specific subject, but the progress is counted for overall advancement (the two-point award).
The first costs 20 progress.
After that: where x is the number of open meridians, cost is added to the previous (cumulative) cost.
In words: get rid of the pi in the inverse tangent result, multiply by 200 and round to the nearest integer, then multiply everything by ten.
Why the complicated math? The first few come easy, but the cost quickly ramps up. However, it doesn't scale indefinitely, and increases in cost level off. Eventually to no more than a 1000 progress per meridian (admittedly, this happens when opening meridian 2548, but the principle stands).
Meridians opened by rolling the top percentile result on a training progress roll do not count for the purposes of this calculation.
For the first few:
After that: where x is the number of open meridians, cost is added to the previous (cumulative) cost.
using radians:
\[
cost = \lfloor\frac{200}{\pi}\arctan(\frac{x}{20})\rceil\cdot10
\]
Why the complicated math? The first few come easy, but the cost quickly ramps up. However, it doesn't scale indefinitely, and increases in cost level off. Eventually to no more than a 1000 progress per meridian (admittedly, this happens when opening meridian 2548, but the principle stands).
Meridians opened by rolling the top percentile result on a training progress roll do not count for the purposes of this calculation.
For the first few:
0 open: total progress required for next one = 20
1 open: plug in 1 to the formula, get 30 out, total progress required for next one = 20 + 30 = 50
2 open: plug in 2 to the formula, get 60 out, total progress required for next one = 50 + 60 = 110
Skipping a few steps, the 10th one is opened on total progress 1400, and the next one would cost 300 progress.
The 20th one would be opened after 5360 total progress, to give you an idea of the scaling costs.
The meridians are also numbered, from one to however many Rei has. Whatever charm or technique is in the first slot gets applied first, then the next, and so on. This can be changed as part of the monthly plan vote. By default, new techniques/charms get added to the bottom of the queue, if there are free slots.Again, in-universe, Rei can make use of all the knowledge she has, but using a meridian grants her a deeper and clearer understanding of what she's affecting. It also serves as a proxy of her instincts for solving her problems. If Lumos is on the top of the list, that's what she'll consider first. Of course, if her problem is the sun shining in her eyes and blinding her, she'll quickly move on to the next spell until she can find something that works.
At present, Rei has 2 meridians, and she automatically fills them with the Light Summoning Technique and the Light-eater Technique, like so:
- Light Summoning Technique
Fire aspect result rolls are rolled on a d120 - Light-eater Technique
Fire aspect result rolls between 50 and 100 are rerolled between the old roll and 200 minus the old roll
In the days following, you dearly wish to sink into the ground in mortification. How could you have ever been so foolish? Every bit of your work is riddled with errors and false assumptions, and the fixes are trivially simple and obvious in hindsight.
It starts with potions. Your usual cocktail of remedies looks like poison, the Qi swirling in your store of Alkahest completely unbalanced. Clearly, you need to use far less water natured Qi, and a bit more of earth for stability. A simple fix to a simple process, and the solvent is so much more pure. Whereas before, the concoctions slowly dissolved within your dantians and filled them to the brim, now they simply take up less spiritual space. A few hours in the library later, you're sure you've successfully purified your Alkahest, and taking another potion in a lunar month will do you no harm.
Something similar holds true for your latest notes on charmcraft. A lot of the abandoned threads of description could so easily have been incorporated or turned into a whole new charm by themselves. All you need to do is stitch them together, feeding this aspect into that, replace a few words here and there, and voila. In fact, you do just that, cranking out another charm in record time from your leftovers.
- Gloves of the gecko
You'd like to think that your grip is excellent - it better be, between your physical cultivation and keeper training - but try as you might, sheer walls still stump you. Which brings to mind a scene from a few years ago where one of your classmates from school brought a comic to the yard. In it, a black clad main character could stick to walls like a spider, and that gives you ideas. A pair of leather gloves that clamp to whatever surface you will them to could give you unprecedented mobility and surety of hand.
If there is more than 1 earth aspect pool die in a pool, which rolls strictly less than half of your maximum, gain 1 extra die to that pool.
- The proto-bludger
Between Elder Flitwick's floating pillow, the bludgers you're far too familiar with and your own first charm that's now probably a part of the masonry of Hogwarts again, you've an idea for a more peculiar piece. People make fun of pet rocks, but what if you did bring one to heel under your will for real? A toughened up bit of stone could serve as an offense and defense in one, although you'll much more likely make use of it as a portable step-ladder for those dastardly high rows of shelves in the library. No more climbing the bookshelf for this young lady!
Every even metal aspect pool die randomly counts as 1 to 3 higher.
- The whispering loudspeaker
If there's one character flaw that could be attributed to you, it's that you're too curious for your own good. Still, acknowledging a fault doesn't mean you intend to avoid it. You just have to know what a hushed conversation is about, and a tiny earring that can whisper distant noises straight into your ear is right up your alley. Dad said you couldn't get your ears pierced until you're twelve, but that's happened, so you're getting the accessories one way or another; may as well add a pinch of utility to them.
If all wood aspect dice in a pool are in an increasing order from left to right, they all count as the highest wood aspect die in that pool.
However, what really staggers you are the notes you have on the cracked galleon you received for Christmas and your sheer blindness in pattern recognition. As a silver lining, you can be proud of past-you for keeping meticulous details, such as what you were feeling at the time. It's a simple enough matter to translate that into primal aspects, and a picture starts to take shape.
You were right to assume that the sprite's Qi was a form of communication, but the language doesn't have any need for words or sentences. Why would it, when Qi is a form of intent? If you want to ask a question, you project your intent to learn, and know, and that forms the words by itself. Want to say 'red'? Call up the very concept of red and be heard.
Of course, that means the whole thing is rife with double meanings and opportunities for confusion, but to be fair, you've never heard of a fairytale where the fairies are straightforward. That, and you still find yourself translating to English in your head first, if only to have a better grasp of what's being said.
Thankfully, you have an appropriate test subject to make use of to verify your new abilities in talking to Qi sensitive beings.
Mandy has occupied an out of the way courtyard near the greenhouses, and the cracks in the pavement tell a tale about what she's been doing there. Even as you arrive, the girl is finishing up a kata centered around a battered looking stump with a stomp of her foot. An invisible explosion of earth Qi flows from her and dust crumbles from the pillared arches surrounding the plaza.
A warning screech from a vine of ivy clinging to one such arch gives away your presence and Mandy turns to face you, huffing for breath.
"Rei? What's up?"
Rather than answer her, you focus on the sound of the first noise. Wisps of alertness and caution, with a hint of familiarity. "Company," perhaps?
"Hey. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about talking with spirits?"
She takes a second look at you, her own Qi carefully probing yours.
"Congratulations!" she says with a smile, and you nod back. "Sure, I'm due a break anyways. And I wouldn't mind some pointers of my own from Senior Sister."
"Deal," you agree, "So, two questions: can Billy speak Qi, and do you understand him?"
At the sound of his name, the little monkey launches himself from the canopy to land on Mandy's shoulder, tilting his cute little head almost ninety degrees to look at you.
"Big ugly talk?"
"He probably can, but I'm still struggling to pick up on it. The intent comes through because I've had him for long enough now, but as I understand it, you need a third eye to really comprehend spirit-speak."
The voices of owner and pet intermix. It's not like they're speaking over each other, more like you're trying to read a book while someone else speaks next to you, but it's still a bit distracting.
"Uh, he can talk alright..."
Mandy's eyes light up, "What did he say?"
You hesitate for a moment, but then, why lie to cover for a monkey that insulted you. "He asked if 'big ugly' can speak. Or wants to talk, I'm still new to this myself."
"Billy!" the girl gasps, "Don't be rude to people."
"Big safe feeder stupid," the monkey replies, stroking his magnificent moustache, "She braidless. So big, so ugly. Big mess, all straight."
You dutifully relay what you heard to Mandy, who just groans.
"I suppose it's a matter of perspective," you chuckle, "I'd hope I'm not a classical beauty by tamarin standards."
"Uncle is going to kill me if he says something like that to actually important people. Err... no offense, I hope."
You wave her concerns away, "None taken. But I was wondering if you knew anything about what comes next in care of magical creatures."
"A contract," she replies, "although as I understand it, you need to be in the Foundation Establishment stage before it can truly be made. You formalize an agreement of aid with a spirit, who will help you cultivate in exchange for living in your dantian. I don't actually know how that happens though. I imagine being friendly with a spirit would help - that's why we get our companions early."
"So I should make friends with a spirit beast?"
"If you want to. Billy's a hassle, but I wouldn't trade him for the world," she shrugs as she stands up. "Now, how about that spar?"
You spend a few afternoons like that, practicing your spirit speak with Billy and training your physique with Mandy. While you don't make a breakthrough on the latter, the former proves to yourself that you can approach a Qi sensitive animal and not make a fool of yourself. Although the monkey is much less cute when you get to hear him constantly criticizing your hairstyle. 'Can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.'
All that's left is to find a spirit to befriend.
Care of Magical Creatures serves as a bridge between your pool and progress rolls, or between distinct actions.
Cultivators who pursue this discipline will make lifelong commitments with up to three spirit beasts, although you start with one (or you would, if you had your dantian sorted out).
A spirit beast is either a spirit in truth, think wisps or fairies or the Grim Reaper on the high end, or Qi sensitive forms of animals, from rats, cats and toads to dragons and phoenixes.
What or who Rei seeks out for her first familiar is up to you, so we'll need to do a bit of character generation. Rather than having an n-way tie between different animals, you'll get to pick a few broad categories and help me narrow down the choice of familiar before you get a final choice in part two of this turn. Also, note that she's constrained by several factors in what she's willing to approach, so nothing bigger than a particularly big housecat. How would she feed a basilisk, or clear up all of Aragog's cobwebs?
Cultivators who pursue this discipline will make lifelong commitments with up to three spirit beasts, although you start with one (or you would, if you had your dantian sorted out).
A spirit beast is either a spirit in truth, think wisps or fairies or the Grim Reaper on the high end, or Qi sensitive forms of animals, from rats, cats and toads to dragons and phoenixes.
What or who Rei seeks out for her first familiar is up to you, so we'll need to do a bit of character generation. Rather than having an n-way tie between different animals, you'll get to pick a few broad categories and help me narrow down the choice of familiar before you get a final choice in part two of this turn. Also, note that she's constrained by several factors in what she's willing to approach, so nothing bigger than a particularly big housecat. How would she feed a basilisk, or clear up all of Aragog's cobwebs?
[][Mythical] Yes
Nargles and wrackspurts, will-o-wisps and fairies, living coal and gnomes - decidedly weird and strange beings. Things that lack a physical form altogether, or aren't flesh and blood, that might walk and talk even without the intervention of Qi. Although not yet, for example a troll or a fire elemental would be in this category
[][Mythical] No
Cats and rats and toads and owls - a beastly bent. Note that a housecat and a cat with Qi are still two very different beings, so you'll still get more than a common pet. Although not an option at this stage, for example a unicorn or a gryphon would also fall in this category.
Next, where should the looking get done?
[][Location] The lake and near it
Watery beings and things characterized by change.
[][Location] The infinite labyrinth of castle Hogwarts
Industrious, metallic Qi characterized by everyday usage to immortals.
[][Location] The sunny plains towards Hogsmeade
Fiery, temperamental go-getters characterized by the desire to act.
[][Location] The Forbidden Forest
Woodland critters and hermitic beings, characterized by a drive to create.
[][Location] The dungeons and caves carved into the cliff underneath Hogwarts
Earthen burrowers and things that stay in the dark, characterized by calm stability.
- [X][Social] Although you estimate that the odds are slim, this could be your last chance to confront Daphne Greengrass about your family connection.
- Roll: 90
Still, there's only so long you can lie to yourself about how what you're doing isn't considered stalking, so you pick a moment when she's alone in the middle of a field and make your approach, doing nothing to hide your presence.
"Sect Sister Greengrass, a moment of your time, please?"
You keep your senses as sharp as you can, and analyze her Qi as she turns to you. Apprehension, but also a kind of relief briefly surges within her before she masters her surprise and schools her thoughts.
"Sect Sister Young," she says neutrally.
"This one sees she's been presumptuous," you do your best to speak formally, and hope you get the nuances right. With a light bow you continue, "I was worried I might not get another chance to speak to you, but I shouldn't have been."
She gives you a more thorough look, and returns your bow with one of her own, although the expression is much more elegant on her than you. "This one thanks Senior Sister for her consideration and vote of confidence. Congratulations on your breakthrough."
"Thank you in turn," you mutter the polite words out of habit. Truth be told, between every first year in Ravenclaw, and your other friends, and your quidditch team, it's starting to get a bit old. "I'm sure you're busy with your own cultivation, but I was wondering if you had given any thought to our last meeting?"
A pause.
"More than you could imagine," she answers eventually.
Normally you'd go with a 'try me', but any sign of progress is to be carefully nurtured, so you settle for an inquisitive silence.
"You were talking in the past tense about her. Did she ascend?"
There's no need to clarify which her you're talking about.
"No. She passed away when I was a toddler."
"How?" this time the reply is almost instant.
"Pneumonitis related complications," you once squeezed the clinical words out of Dad, and committed them to memory.
Another silence follows as dandelions sway in the breeze. You can see the frustration on Daphne's face, until she decides to take a step that clearly doesn't come easy to her.
"I don't know what that means."
"She had trouble breathing, but the doctors didn't really know why."
"Do you have a painting of her?"
"A picture, you mean? Not with me, but there are a few back home. They're just normal photos though, not animated. Do you?"
"No," she sighs, "but not strictly for the reasons you might think."
"And I guess you can't explain those reasons to me for whatever cause."
"Can not, yes," before she can continue, her eyes focus on someone behind you. "Hogwarts has ears," she whispers, then, louder, "Indeed, Senior Sister, you'll agree to a series of spars for a point then. This one is thankful for your tutelage."
You blink, but play along, the invisible tally of Qi in your head ticking up by one, signaling that Daphne's dead serious. A group of... third year, you guess, Slytherins and Hufflepuffs passes into your peripheral vision, on their way to the forest from the castle behind you.
"As agreed," you loudly state, internally amused at how many people you suddenly find yourself helping, even if this instance isn't for real.
"Of course, time at Hogwarts grows short. This one would be glad to host our training sessions at the Greengrass summer compound, should it be acceptable."
"I'm sure it can be arranged," you think you just got invited over for a continuation of your chat. Hopefully it really is arranged, because somehow you get the impression that Dad can't just drive you over for an afternoon. You watch as the posse of disciples continues on their way, completely ignoring you two.
"Shall we?" your attention is pulled back to the blonde, who's placed down her book and adapted a much less rigid posture.
"Wait, really? Right now?"
"I don't intend to waste my point, Sect Sister, and I can't lie to mother, so there does need to be an element of truth to this. Plus I need to see if the idea is at all believable."
That last bit sounded like a challenge to you.
"Have it your way," you shrug and roll your wrists, "Let's dance."
Rest of training (crafting a charm and meeting who in all likelyhood will be your future familiar).
Tutoring your peers.
Talk with Harry.
End of the school-year, house cup.
Tutoring your peers.
Talk with Harry.
End of the school-year, house cup.
Last edited:
