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The College of Jewels (Magical Academy Quest)

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I am starting to get a bit tired of the 'train, train, and then train some more' routine. I mean, it does wonders for character builds, and nothing for the story. I am with RedV on this one - I want to meet new people of narrative significance. I don't want our topics of conversation to be limited to 'train this' and 'train that'. When did we last talk to Ruby about something that wasn't counterspelling?

Yes, I know there is a tournament coming. So what? We've grinded like mad for the last 4 days.

[X] Plan Trying out new things
Morning:
-[X] The Library
--[X] Books
-[X] Talk to Ruby
--[X] Plans for the Tournament

Afternoon:
-[X] Class on the elements
-[X] Explore the College (Random Encounter)
-[X] You and Ruby look for the archmage's 'volunteer'

Evening:
-[X] The Burning Earth's Arena
-[X] Practice (May spend accumulated points)

If anyone still wants to try something new but it's not on the list, I am open to suggestions. As long as we do something but collect magical points.

I think talking to Ruby about what we are supposed to do at the Tournament could be interesting. Is it possible to help each other from the sidelines unnoticed? How do we avoid Diana's attention?

It might need to be scheduled after the Arena for better effect so that we can reflect on our combat progress.

Practice may be unrequired since not a lot of points are gained, but Thirsday was productive, so there is that. Might prove useful to grab something from the generic line.
 
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Wander said:
Listen, it's magic. How it works is that it's a hole to a place where there's nothing but there's no accompanying suction because that's not how I want it to work. Justify that however you like.
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But what if we open a portal to Someplace? There's air in Someplace, and air can come out of it, otherwise we wouldn't be able to hear anything on the other side of the portal, so how does that work?

The point is that this is magic, and magic is the best when you're screwing around with the pointy corners of where it touches other things and forgot to set up warning signs. Saying that there are no pointy corners? That's just asking for us to make more pointy corners and then never say anything about them.
 
chocolote12 said:
But what if we open a portal to Someplace? There's air in Someplace, and air can come out of it, otherwise we wouldn't be able to hear anything on the other side of the portal, so how does that work?

The point is that this is magic, and magic is the best when you're screwing around with the pointy corners of where it touches other things and forgot to set up warning signs. Saying that there are no pointy corners? That's just asking for us to make more pointy corners and then never say anything about them.
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Pointy corners are fun, and they definitely exist, but I'm aiming for pointy corners that I understand. Contemplating the far reaching effects for the setting of portals acting like a giant vacuum is not something I want to deal with, so I'm not.
 
Wander said:
Pointy corners are fun, and they definitely exist, but I'm aiming for pointy corners that I understand. Contemplating the far reaching effects for the setting of portals acting like a giant vacuum is not something I want to deal with, so I'm not.
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You could just say that Nowhere has air in it, it's just that it's a completely random place that you'll never find again, as opposed to Somewhere, which is pretty much the same as Nowhere except you can consistently open a portal to the same place, Somewhere.

And being able to drain bathtubs using portals makes perfect sense, because how else does liquid get into the portals? It's just a natural consequence of the ability; portal users can create holes because gravity is throwing the whatever it is down the portal.

Kind of like how portals to the Elemental Plane of Fire are going to discharge hilarious amounts of energy, because that's just how fire works.
 
Nevill said:
-[X] The Library
--[X] Books
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Hey, look. Grinding.
Nevill said:
-[X] Explore the College (Random Encounter)
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Aka "waste an action when you have a death match coming up the next day".
Nevill said:
-[X] You and Ruby look for the archmage's 'volunteer'
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Aka "Walking with Ruby isn't enough, we should totally go looking for another social pariah, and this one doesn't even like us! Fun!"
Nevill said:
Yes, I know there is a tournament coming. So what? We've grinded like mad for the last 4 days.
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So what that the Archmage was very, very clear that this ain't a Disney movie.

Can we please focus on not dying, getting maimed, getting booted from college or any combination thereof?

Like, seriously, it's been four days IC, can we wait the first week to be over and make sure we are not defenceless before trying stupid shit?
 
RedV said:
[X] Find a Club
-[X] Aikido
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1) Why Aikido? Do you think that particular style will be particularly effective in magical combat? Why not seek the generic MMA one, which we do have confirmation of existing?
2) Now? A day before the tournament? When we don't even have the most basic skills set up?
RedV said:
[X] You and Ruby look for the archmage's 'volunteer'
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Yes, that's a great idea.

Maybe we could look for someone that isn't hostile by default?
RedV said:
[X] The Library
-[X] Ask Sammy about something (Can you teach me more about Elementalism or direct me to a tutor?)
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Why ask her about this? She seems to be a warrior focused on divine blessings, not a someone who threw fireballs.
 
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@TotallyNotEvil
Being too hostile in your tone (and you are edging into that territory) will probably not help anything. We're all here to have fun. ;)

EDIT: Increasing our social circle is a valid tactic, if in my opinion a sub-optimal one, and one that could be focused on better targets than the pariah. Still, any friend is better than no friend. One more pair of eyes to watch our back for backstabs and whatnot.
 
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chocolote12 said:
You could just say that Nowhere has air in it, it's just that it's a completely random place that you'll never find again, as opposed to Somewhere, which is pretty much the same as Nowhere except you can consistently open a portal to the same place, Somewhere.

And being able to drain bathtubs using portals makes perfect sense, because how else does liquid get into the portals? It's just a natural consequence of the ability; portal users can create holes because gravity is throwing the whatever it is down the portal.
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We'll go with that then. I just don't want it to work like a vacuum in midair.
Demonic Spoon said:
@TotallyNotEvil
Being too hostile in your tone (and you are edging into that territory) will probably not help anything. We're all here to have fun. ;)
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As a general note to the thread, very much this. Being passionate about it is one thing, but let's not shout at each other, all right?
 
I'm on board with not just grinding. Saphira is a little snarky and a lot hardworking but other than that we don't have a clear view of her personality, and hopefully having more scenes that aren't just 'SV powergrinds! SV asks a question through Saphira's mouth! Block of text expositing the answer!' would help with that.
 
tricholysis said:
I'm on board with not just grinding. Saphira is a little snarky and a lot hardworking but other than that we don't have a clear view of her personality, and hopefully having more scenes that aren't just 'SV powergrinds! SV asks a question through Saphira's mouth! Block of text expositing the answer!' would help with that.
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If you can identify good target for social combat that doesn't rely on random chance, I'd be all for some good ol character on character interaction. Currently however, nothing really appeals. I'm assuming we'll see some stand-outs during the tournament who we can talk with afterwards.

Until then, grinding is the way to go.
 
tricholysis said:
I'm on board with not just grinding. Saphira is a little snarky and a lot hardworking but other than that we don't have a clear view of her personality, and hopefully having more scenes that aren't just 'SV powergrinds! SV asks a question through Saphira's mouth! Block of text expositing the answer!' would help with that.
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You'll definitely get some of that on the weekend, and once we've finished this week and a bit of the next I'll be skipping through a lot of the samey 'and then she has class' stuff to get to more plot relevant things.
 
TotallyNotEvil said:
Hey, look. Grinding.
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That was what TA asked us to do, as in, 'narratively justified grinding'. Like going to lectures in a College! But hey, I can reconsider that too. :whistle:

TotallyNotEvil said:
Aka "waste an action when you have a death match coming up the next day".
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'Let them sleep while you grind'.

TotallyNotEvil said:
Aka "Walking with Ruby isn't enough, we should totally go looking for another social pariah, and this one doesn't even like us! Fun!"
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Ruby is unhappy with the situation. That much is said. That's enough for me to act on it. But yes, actively ignoring this on grounds that it isn't 'optimal' somehow and - worse yet! - cuts into the grinding schedule was what made me rethink our priorities.

We have lots of ways to deal with this. Up to and including asking Henry to commit one of his Great Deeds he is talking about. I am willing to check this one out and see what ways of solving the problem are there. I am certain we won't come to an instant bad end just from looking into it.

TotallyNotEvil said:
So what that the Archmage was very, very clear that this ain't a Disney movie.

Can we please focus on not dying, getting maimed, getting booted from college or any combination thereof?
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And there is only one way of doing this, namely yours. If we don't, we get maimed, die, and are booted from the college, not necessarily in that order. :whistle:

Look, I am not trying to convince you of anything. I am just going on a record to say that I am not particularly amused with the majority of our actions being put into enhancing our build, and trying to gauge if anyone else thinks this way.
 
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Nevill said:
But hey, I can reconsider that too. :whistle:
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*Dies a little on the inside*
Nevill said:
'Let them sleep while you grind'.
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Now you are getting it.
Nevill said:
cuts into the grinding schedule
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I know, right? That kind of shit can't fly.
Nevill said:
We have lots of ways to deal with this. Up to and including asking Henry to commit on of his Great Deeds he is talking about. I am willing to check this one out and see what ways of solving the problem are there. I am certain we won't come to an instant bad end just from looking into it.
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Yeah, I just want to see how the rest of the semester will go down, wait for the first tournament, etc.
Nevill said:
And there is only one way of doing this, namely yours. If we don't, we get maimed, die, and are booted from the college, not necessarily in that order. :whistle:
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I'm glad we can see eye to eye on this :V

But really, we can pull off a really neat set of skills by the end of friday if we play our cards right. Can't exploring and looking for that guy wait till next week?
 
It can, but there will be a tournament next week, and the week after the next. This week is literally as good as any other.

I am disputing the logic itself, because make no mistake, the tournament will change nothing in regards to its applicability.

I can let it slide this one week as an anxiety before the big challenge (making us overcompensate), but I want us to drop this attitude once we clear that barrier. Because there always will be rivalries and reasons to grab just one more XP. There is an even neater set of skills and an even bigger adversary around the corner, and it never ends. I'd rather enjoy the journey.

It really feels like we aren't out of chargen with how we think our skillset is not yet formed.
 
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If people REALLY don't want to interact with Mr Pariah, we can request that Henry help him out with one of his Great Deeds.

...actually, that sounds like fun. :D
 
Indeed. That keeps both Henry and Ruby happy. And Henry is in no danger of becoming a pariah himself.

Just get the popular kid take him under their patronage.
 
Hmm. I'm not sure how many points we have. Do we currently have any Countermagic points?
 
Okay, thanks.

@Nevill I'm happy with most of your vote. Are you willing to change the 'volunteer' action out for 'Ask Henry to help the archmage's volunteer' and shift it to the morning?
 
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