The College of Jewels (Magical Academy Quest)

So what your saying Meta gaming is the path to certain doom eh :p
Mmmm. I wouldn't quite say that. There's definitely relevant things you could maybe figure out if you meta gamed a bit, but relying on it when you don't really have much of a grasp on the motivations of the characters involved or why Diana died in the original quest would be a mistake.
 
Mmmm. I wouldn't quite say that. There's definitely relevant things you could maybe figure out if you meta gamed a bit, but relying on it when you don't really have much of a grasp on the motivations of the characters involved or why Diana died in the original quest would be a mistake.
Is it okay to have not read whatever old quest this was based on?
 
Hanging around Ruby with a name like Saphira is probably going to cause some people to make an 'obvious' conclusion - it could protect her or potentially make her a target for some people. I'm of the view this is a good misconception for people to have - as long as she never lies about it.

I'm not entirely convinced by countermagic, but this is a good stage of the quest to explore things, so we'll see.

[X] Plan Night rendezvous
 
Is it okay to have not read whatever old quest this was based on?
Oh yeah, totally. I didn't really get terribly far. The only relevant information is that the Dragon of Wealth got assassinated and the Dimensional Science TA has some apparently important notes on dimensional science stashed in her room along with this note.
if you find this note, I beg you please, get the contents of this dimensional pocket to Dishevel. I- part of the note is hastily scribbled out and you can't read it -It doesn't matter. He'll know what it is. The implications. I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen.
There you go. All relevant information has now been conveyed.
 
This is probably impossible but my first idea based on the provided information is that the Dimensional TA was the one responsible for assassinating the Dragon of Wealth. A motivation for this action would be her fondness for Saphira. She could have assassinated the Dragon of Wealth after Saphira was forcibly enslaved in order to serve as a matching companion for Ruby.
 
This is probably impossible but my first idea based on the provided information is that the Dimensional TA was the one responsible for assassinating the Dragon of Wealth. A motivation for this action would be her fondness for Saphira. She could have assassinated the Dragon of Wealth after Saphira was forcibly enslaved in order to serve as a matching companion for Ruby.
I will tell you that Saphira absolutely did not exist in the other quest because I cannot see the future.
 
I realize that it is impossible but I cannot help but find the seeming plausibility of my theory to be very amusing.

[X] Plan Social Studies
 
I'm not entirely convinced by countermagic, but this is a good stage of the quest to explore things, so we'll see.
I suspect at least part of the reason for studying counter-magic by Ruby is to deactivate the 'slave' bracelet. I doubt it is just a tag for show, and Ruby being unable to remove it suggests magic to me.

I mean, it is risky to be sure, but I suspect Diana's power does not extend too far beyond Diadem. Depending on whether she has anything left in the city, she might decide to just skip it if there is an opportunity.

We might want to look into it.
 
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Settling into Routine
[X] Plan Social Studies

[X] Talk to Ruby
[X] Explore the College (Random Encounter)

[X] Finius's History Class (Mandatory Choice)
[X] Dimensional Science TA's Class
[X] Class on the elements

[X] Tutoring with the TA
-[X] Countermagic
[X] The Library
-[X] Talk to Sammy

Another day another early morning. You think you're going to hate your room. The window seems to be positioned perfectly so that the instant the sun comes up, bam! Light directly on your eyeballs. Still, you're already up so you might as well get the day started. On the way to the showers you run into Ruby again, still wearing the same clothes she was wearing yesterday. Going by how she's rubbing her eyes and yawning, you think she would agree with you about the awful positioning of the window.

"G'morning s'phira," she mumbles at you as you match her pace and start to walk down the hall with her.

"Not a morning person?" You ask.

She nods tiredly. "Didn't get much proper sleep last night." She pauses for a yawn before continuing. "Diana was using my dreams to talk to me. Speaking of, she's coming to watch the tournament this Saturday. Dunno why, I doubt many people in our class know much magic yet, so it won't be very interesting. Oh, and for future reference your name is Sophia when I'm talking to her, in case that ever comes up."

"Talking to you in dreams?"

She scowls a bit and pokes her collar. "It's not just for show. It does a lot of things."

You search hastily for a topic to move on to. "So uh," you pause for a noticeable amount of time before you find a new topic. "How are your classes going? I saw you in the dimensional science class but uh..."

She gives you a bit of a look at the obvious change in subject, but doesn't comment on it. "Fine. I attended a spiritual studies class as well yesterday, but I think I'll focus on elemental instead for the rest of this semester. I should have listened to Viola about how difficult using countermagic on creatures of magic is. They're toooooo," she draws out the word, presumably searching for an explanation. "Too much? Too cohesive? I'm nowhere near good enough to effect them yet."

An interesting idea. You'll have to talk to the TA about that as well when you ask her about countermagic. "Who's Viola?" You ask absently as you consider what exactly would happen to say, an elemental, if they were hit by countermagic strong enough to effect them.

"Diana's personal bodyguard-slash-secretary-slash-stand-in-slash-whatever Diana wants her to be on a given day. She's the one who suggested I should study countermagic so I can be her stand-in if she's busy doing something for Diana. She was teaching me personally a lot, but apparently she doesn't have the time anymore. I think there's some big shake up going on behind the scenes in the city council from what I've heard her and Diana talking about."

A shake up in the city council? That could be a bit worrying. Hopefully you wouldn't be caught in any of the crossfire from that. No time to ask about it now that you've reached the showers though.

A bout of washing up later, and you're on the way to breakfast. Although somewhat unwillingly, today you've gotten up early enough to have the time to actually enjoy breakfast. You're a bit startled when someone sits down at your table across from you and sticks a hand in your face. You look up to see that red haired rich boy giving you a friendly smile.

You blink at him, glance down at his hand and then raise yours to shake it cautiously. He pumps it up and down with enthusiasm. Your hand kind of hurts now.

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Henry. I do not tell you my last name because I feel that relying on the fame of another to become well known is rather a cheat. Regardless, I have made it my mission to get to know everyone at the college that I possibly can and introduce myself to all of them. If everyone knows your name, then you cannot help but be famous, yes?"

"I suppose that's true," you say.

He smiles broadly. "Indeed, indeed. Now. I have introduced myself, but that is only half of the equation, yes?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was a bit startled so I forgot. I'm Saphira."

"A pleasure to meet you Saphira. Regrettably, I do not have the time to carry on our conversation any longer if I wish for everyone in the college to know my name by the end of the week. But please, if you ever have need of anything, do not hesitate to call upon me. Everyone knowing your name is one thing, but I hope to one day be famous for great deeds rather than my sociable personality. Farewell for now. May every road lead to your destination."

With that, he bustles off to stick his hand in someone else's face. Huh. Interesting guy you suppose.

--------------------------------------------
Later, you have your dimensional science class with the TA. You sit down next to Ruby this time, giving her a nod which she returns. Now the TA is actually teaching the basics instead of just going over the schedule or giving demonstrations. Despite knowing all of this though, you still feel like you learned a lot after the class is over. You don't think anyone else in the class has realized it, but your TA is brilliant. You had thought you were talented, but seeing her glance over at you before starting to explain what should be the most basic of basic lessons on dimensional science and somehow directing your attention to facets of the fundamentals you had never even considered accept as axiomatic truths is astounding. It really makes you wonder at the depths of her ability that her understanding of the subject is so great.

Unfortunately, you can't spend all your time in her class, and it eventually ends with her reminding all of you that the history class taught by Finius is mandatory. You walk with Ruby down to the main auditorium trying to expound on why exactly the TA is brilliant. She doesn't really seem to get it, but she does ask you to explain some of the spells again when she realizes you can actually cast them. You're not sure she's interested in the spells themselves though. She seemed to be more keen on understanding the differences between why you and the TA explained them differently, down to individual words used. When you ask her about it, she explains that understanding those differences is a big part of countermagic. Before you can ask more however, Finius has appeared at the lectern.

It's strange, hearing about Finius, you expected him to stand out more. In person, he just looks like a guy in a really stuffy suit with a monocle. A slightly see through guy, but... It's strange. He doesn't even have much of a presence, and when he starts speaking his voice is just a monotone drone. In fact, a very familiar monotone drone. You haven't read it in a while but you are absolutely sure he's word for word quoting the opening of the chronicles of the founding of Diadem. You think back. What's coming next if he's quoting directly? Something like...'So the founders swore an oath, that so long as they believed in Diadem, there would be no treachery among them. Where other cities have fallen to petty infighting, Diadem will always stand in unity.' Annnd. Yep, exact quote. Your head slumps to your desk. This is going to be one waste of a class, you can tell already.

After the lecture, you head off to your elemental class, Ruby following along, you complaining in as quiet a voice as you can manage about the pointlessness of a professor just quoting a book all class. This time, Brand has you trying to manipulate the elements that are already there instead of creating them. You manage to make a pot of clay bulge up a bit, and then explode over half the class in a shower of dirt. That wouldn't be so bad normally, but about five seconds later another student made a bucket of water do the same thing, so now you were covered in what was basically mud. Still, your hair had yet to catch fire, unlike one girl at the front of the class, so you'll take your silver linings where you can get them. You also noticed Ruby occasionally glancing at other people's experimentation's and giggling a bit as she made their spells go awry. You're kind of glad you made friends with her just for that. Having your spells just randomly fail sometimes would have irritated you to no end.
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After the elemental class, you wave goodbye to Ruby, get a quick shower, then head off to see the TA for some extra tutoring. She actually seems a bit surprised when you ask her about countermagic.

"Countermagic? Definitely an interesting topic, I agree. I admit, I'm not the best at it. The high speed intuition and 'feeling' of spells is very much not my strong suit. Still, I can explain the theory at least, and when it comes to dimensional science I'm actually quite proficient at disrupting spells. You don't need to rely very much on intuition if your theoretical knowledge is good enough. What brings you to ask about it though?"

"Oh, I was talking to Ruby and it's her main focus of study. The idea fascinated me quite a bit."

"Hmm. I did see you sitting with her. I would be very careful around her if I were you. Whatever you might think, the Dragon of Wealth does not have disloyal servants."

The TA doesn't comment on the subject more than that, but you do sense that she's somewhat unhappy for the rest of the tutoring session. Regardless, you think you've learned some about countermagic. Though, if the TA isn't very proficient with such a large part of the subject you're not sure how much more she'll be able to help you with it. You don't doubt her brilliance, but she seems like she has a very full schedule- too full to keep ahead of you on a subject she barely studies. You're not sure how long it will be before you equal her skill at the subject, but when you do, you're going to have to find another teacher.

It's getting late now, but you think you'll go talk to the librarian, Sammy, before you head off to bed. You're too intrigued not to honestly. You enter the library, still holding a fair number of students even at this late hour, and again she appears in front of you saying, "Library Card," this time with her hand held out for it.

You give it to her. She gives it a cursory examination, nods, and begins to disappear. Before she can however, you say "Excuse me."

She re-solidifies slightly. "Yes?"

"Well, it's just my TA told me that you were an interesting person, and I'm kind of intrigued myself, so I wanted to ask about you."

The spirit nods it's head, the motion exaggerated by the immense and spiky helm it's wearing. "Well, that's fine. I'm not doing much else at the moment."

She beckons you to follow her, and you head to a small table in front of the main library desk. Amusingly, she moves as if she's sitting her massive armored form on one of the table's rickety chairs.

"I suppose the short explanation will do. Once upon a time I was the leader of a great army, the scourge of the continent. Then, I got the silly idea of trying to conquer Diadem into my head. And now, to be clear I made a very good showing of it. Killed a few city council members." She says this with a degree of pride in her voice.

"Anyway, long story short I was ambushed by the archmage when I was storming the college and killed, my spirit bound here forever, yadayadayada. Thing is, they were going for torturing me for all eternity, but my armor was a gift from the Goddess of Conquest for my victories, and she's annoyed that Diadem has never once been taken by an enemy force. So I'm kept safe by her divine power as a bit of a spiteful middle finger to the city council. I spent a couple decades fucking with everyone, but eventually you get bored of that, you know? So I figured I would just be the librarian. It's a way to pass the time."

The TA was right, Sammy was an interesting person. She might be a good source of information actually. Worth talking to if you needed to know something. You spend a little time reciprocating and giving your life story so far. There's not very much of it, but from what you can tell the spirit was fascinated. You get the impression not many people talk to her that often.

Now. Time to go sleep.

Tuesday 1 Complete

+1 point to Elemental Magic
+1 point to Dimensional Magic
+1 point to Countermagic
+Social Link- Sammy
+Option Unlocked- Ask Sammy Questions
+Option Unlocked- Talk to Henry
+Option Unlocked- Talk to Ruby about learning countermagic

Wednesday 1 Schedule:

Morning (2 Choices)
[] Find a Club
-[] Writein topic
[] Talk to Ruby
-[] Learning countermagic
[] Talk to Henry
[] The Library
-[] Ask Sammy about something (writein)
-[] Books
[] Explore the College (Random Encounter)
[] Tutoring with the TA
-[] Dimensional Science
-[] Countermagic
[] Practice (May spend accumulated points)

Afternoon (3 Choices)
[] Dimensional Science TA's Class
[] Class on the elements
[] Explore the College (Random Encounter)
[] Tutoring with the TA
-[] Dimensional Science
-[] Countermagic
[] The Library
-[] Ask Sammy about something (writein)
-[] Books
[] Find a Club
-[] Writein topic
[] Talk to Ruby
-[] Learning countermagic
[] Talk to Henry
[] Practice (May spend accumulated points)

Night (2 Choices)
[] Explore the College (Random Encounter)
[] Tutoring with the TA
-[] Dimensional Science
-[] Countermagic
[] The Burning Earth's Arena
[] The Library
-[] [] Ask Sammy about something (writein)
-[] Books
[] Find a Club
-[] Writein topic
[] Talk to Ruby
-[] Learning countermagic
[] Talk to Henry
[] Practice (May spend accumulated points)
 
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[X]Magic Dancing
[X] Find a Club
-[X] Dance
[X] The Library
-[X] Books
[X] Dimensional Science TA's Class
[X] Class on the elements
[X] Tutoring with the TA
-[X] Dimensional Science
[X] Talk to Ruby
-[X] Learning countermagic
[X] Tutoring with the TA
-[X] Countermagic
 
Morning (2 Choices)
[X] Talk to Ruby
-[X] Learning countermagic
[X] Tutoring with the TA
-[X] Countermagic

Afternoon (3 Choices)
[X] The Library
-[X] Books
[X] Dimensional Science TA's Class
[X] Class on the elements

Night (2 Choices)
[X] Tutoring with the TA
-[X] Dimensional Science
[X] Talk to Henry
 
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[X]Taking a Peak at the Shop

[X] Find a Club
-[X] Dance
[X] Talk to Henry

[X] Dimensional Science TA's Class
[X] Class on the elements
[X] Explore the College (Random Encounter)

[X] Tutoring with the TA
-[X] Dimensional Science
[X] Practice

I want to see what we can spend points on currently.
 
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[X] Tutoring with the TA
-[X] Dimensional Science
[X] Talk to Ruby
-[X] Learning countermagic
[X] Dimensional Science TA's Class
[X] Class on the elements
[X] The Library
-[X] Books
[X] The Burning Earth's Arena
[X] Tutoring with the TA
-[X] Dimensional Science
 
[X]Old War Stories

[X] The Library
-[X] Ask Sammy about something (writein)
-[X] So, you managed to kill members of the city council? How did you do it? What were the battles like? How strong were they compared to the archmage at the time?
[X] Talk to Henry

[X] Dimensional Science TA's Class
[X] Class on the elements
[X] Explore the College (Random Encounter)

[X] Tutoring with the TA
-[X] Countermagic
[X] Talk to Ruby
-[X] Learning countermagic
 
We should see what's available before putting any more points in Countermagic.

I may need to ask @Wander whether an Enchanting club actually exists...

Plan Exploration
[X] Talk to Henry
[X] Find a Club
-[X] Enchanting/Magical items club
[X] Dimensional Science TA's Class
[X] Explore the College
[X] The Library
-[X] Books
[X] Tutoring with the TA
-[X] Dimensional Science
[X] Practice

Reasoning - we want to look at as many things as possible in order to get a sense of what our options are. So let's check out a number of things, and see what's available to plan out further. Putting points into Dimensional Science can't hurt because it's Saphira's specialty.
 
[X] The Burning Earth's Arena
Could I convince you to switch this to a practice session? Cause as of now, we have 0 combat ability as we've yet to spend our points (technically we don't even have the lowest tier of the elemental skill tree)
Maybe swap it to a practice session and we can visit the arena next vote or sometime?
 
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