Vorstallen Magic Preparatory - The Third-Best School for Young Mages in the Nation! Enrol Today!

occipitallobe · May 28, 2017

It was early in the day when the three got up. Ulos had thought about this the night before.

"Madavian."

"Yeah?"

Ulos frowned, and looked down at him from his perch on the top bunk.

"Can you help me meet people?"

Madavian looked up at him, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Yes, technically. Any people, or someone in particular?"

"Just... other students. I feel like I don't know anyone beyond you two, and as much as we're friends, I think we should maybe branch out a little bit."

"Fair enough. Look, I figure if you want to do this, we do it right. Let me introduce you to some people I've met. Breakfast first, then we go meet people, ok?"

"Sure thing."

Abraham grunted from his position on the floor, legs under Madavian's bed.

"Count me out. I've met enough people, thank you very much. I'll stick around here, look over my Magical Theory books. We're still on for this evening, Ulos?"

Ulos nodded.

"Yeah."

They walked down to breakfast together, quickly showering - two showering at a time while one stood guard, and then the last one showering once the other two had dried out. These little pieces of paranoia seemed to be coming into his life again, Ulos thought. Where he had been paranoid in the Empire, he had spent a few glorious weeks simply thinking about learning, and then he had gone and picked a fight. Still, life was like that. If you didn't have enemies, they tended to find you for some reason or another, unless you were too weak to be noticeable. On the whole, he decided, he'd rather have enemies with power than have no enemies and no power.

Breakfast was a simple affair - bread and soup, not the usual fare they had on weekends. They ate quietly, and afterwards Madavian stood up.

"Alright, Ulos. Come meet someone."

Madavian walked over to another table.

"Henrietta."

He looked down at a girl who was perhaps as normal as Madavian was odd. Where Madavian wore ridiculous glasses and coloured his hair flashily, this girl had twin braids, a pair of neat horn-rimmed glasses, and wore a quiet, conservative grey dress.

"Junotrin. What do you want?"

Madavian struck his hand to his chest.

"Henrietta, I'm hurt! I thought we were friends!"

"No, Madavian. My mother happens to be friends with your father. Junotrin and Aufstadt are allies. Ideally we'd be allies from much further away, but unfortunately life doesn't yield everything you want immediately. Don't worry, though. Once I'm head of the Family, I'll buy you a nice island in the Archipelago so I never have to see you again. Not that I'm likely to ever be head, but a girl can dream."

The words were delivered in a tired monotone, as if this conversation had been had before.

"Gosh, Henrietta. Don't worry, just because you don't think we're friends doesn't mean I'll stop being your friend. In fact, I'm such a good friend I thought I'd introduce you to someone you'll find interesting. Ulos, this is Henrietta Aufstadt. She's a boring old lady stuck in a boring young lady's body. Henrietta, this is Ulos. He reads more books than you, so surely you'll be friends."

She looked him up and down.

"Literacy is hardly a prerequisite for friendship, Madavian. Thought I admit in your case the lack of it is somewhat jarring. Why should I be interested in him?"

Madavian looked down at her, smiling widely.

"Ask him about magical theory, Henry."

"Henrietta."

"Heeeennnnry."

She sniffed, and turned away.

A few moments later she turned back.

"Please tell me you know something about magical theory and you're not as insufferable as this one."

Ulos smiled nervously.

"Um, I could definitely tell you about the basic elements of transformation between domains and some of the mathematical underpinnings of switching spell domains."

Her eyes narrowed.

"How would you know that? We haven't even covered that in class yet, and even being far ahead in the book... wait, I haven't seen you in class. You are a first year, right?"

Ulos nodded.

"I'm just being tutored outside of class, after Mage Inukar thought it was a good idea."

Her entire body snapped around to face him, her eyes intent.

"That was you?"

(Diplomacy Roll: 86 + 10 (Cha) = 96 vs DC 40 (Family Junotrin Ally!). Excellent success!)

"Yes?"

"Well. Sit down, Ulos. Madavian, go away. Nobody likes you anyway."

Madavian shrugged, and spoke.

"I like me."

By then, though, Henrietta was already ignoring him, asking Ulos questions at the speed of bullets about magical theory. He did his best to answer, and the two sat there discussing theory for around half an hour.

Henrietta smiled at the end.

"Madavian was right. You are moderately interesting. Anyway, I'm off, but talk later."

(Gained Relationship: Henrietta Aufstadt. Acquaintance: Academic Peer)

Madavian found him against at lunch.

"Ulos! Come meet my next friend!"

"Are they really your friend, Madavian?"

Madavian looked not at all abashed.

"Everyone's my friend, Ulos. Unless I don't want them to be. Now, come on."

They'd just finished lunch, when Madavian took them outside.

As they came towards a girl, her eyes narrowed.

"You didn't tell me he was Empire, Madavian."

"We're all Empire, Lucy. I mean, if you go back far enough. Poor Ulos here was just born a little earlier than the rest of us, geographically speaking."

"That doesn't even make any sense."

Madavian smiled at her. This girl was tall and lanky, towering over the two boys, though she still would've been towered over herself by Abraham. Her hair was short, cut nearly back to her scalp, and her frame was wiry and muscular.

"Look, I know you like Souls and Spirits, right? I mean, I don't, but Ulos is pretty knowledgeable."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he knows about the light in the room or something."

The girl looked at him, bright blue eyes suddenly interested.

"You can see in the darkness of the classroom? You figured it out? That was you?"

Ulos nodded nervously.

"Um, yes. It's pretty basic once you figure it out, though a lot of luck was involved."

She smiled suddenly, going from suspicious to utterly friendly.

"I'm Lucy. Lucy Firefield. I know, I know. The name is from my great-great-whatever-grandfather when he fought against the Empire back in the Rebellion. No hard feelings, right?"

Ulos was a little shocked. This was a little different from the last few times he'd met Narubite students.

"Well, no. I mean, I didn't fight in the war."

She laughed.

"That's the spirit! A lot of Narubites hate you all because you're the Empire, but Madavian said you were a flit. Basically every Narubite was a flit before we rose up, you know? I think it's silly not have the notion of solidarity, I mean, you probably suffer worse than we do from the Undying. Bunch of bony jackasses. Still, it's not like I'd be popular being friends with you..."

She took a breath, and Ulos flinched.

"But then, I wasn't really popular before. No skin off my face, you know."

"Nose?"

"No, know."

"Huh?"

Lucy laughed.

"Look, I figure bad history between nations doesn't mean bad history between people."

Ulos nodded.

"You know, I think a lot of it is overblown. When the war happened, virtually all those Undying who ruled the region were killed. The remainder almost certainly helped Narubar get free, even if it was just them trying to destroy their rivals."

(Diplomacy Roll: 23 + 10 = 33 vs DC 80 (Narubite). Major failure! Reroll! 76 + 10 (Cha) + 10 (Lore: History) = 96 vs DC 80. Bare pass!)

Lucy's eyebrows rose.

"Huh. I didn't know that."

Ulos smiled.

"Yeah. Anyway, what are you doing here? Out to practice something, or go for a run?"

Lucy shook her head.

"You know, I only know this pink-haired one because he helped me out buying school equipment. Met him down at the marketplace a few weeks back, got me some good bargains. Then he comes into day, asking if I wanted to meet his friend, so here I am. Thought he was going to try and set me up. Not that I'd say no, but my ideal man is more..."

She waved her hands.

"Gigantic and shooting fire from his hands and nostrils. It's a family thing. Anyway, how did you do the Spirit stuff?"

"Well, I..."

The two chatted for a bit. Ulos didn't exactly feel like he'd made a friend, but being able to talk to someone from Narubar without them being the enemy was surprising.

(Gained Relationship: Lucy Firefield. Acquaintance: That One Empire Guy)

At dinner, Madavian looked over at him, and jerked his thumb towards another table.

"Again?"

Ulos whispered at Madavian somewhat despairingly.

"Oh, come on Ulos, it'll be fun!"

He led Ulos over to a nearby table.

"Hi, this is Ulos! I'm Madavian!"

(Diplomacy Roll: 45+10 (Cha) = 55 vs DC 60. Bare failure!)

A boy looked up from the table.

"Please go away."

"Oh, come on!"

"No, we're eating dinner. I'm sure you're perfectly nice, but please, don't bother us."

The other people sitting at the table nodded, or ignored them.

Madavian sighed, and walked away.

"Ah, well Ulos. Can't win them all."

Later on, they were in the Library, Ulos tutoring the two about Magical Theory.

"Madavian. Again. Reinald's First Theorem, in maths."

"Um... x..."

Ulos sighed in frustration.

"Here. Write it down ten times. Then try reciting it to me again.

"But Ulos, this is so boring. Can't we go meet more people?"

Ulos looked down at Madavian.

"Twenty more times."

Madavian shook his head.

"I'm going to die here. Die writing in a book! How does that make you feel, Ulos! Killing your friends with books and learning?"

Ulos ground his teeth.

"Write. It. Down."

If he'd had any idea Madavian was going to be so dramatic about the entire thing, he would've said no. Getting the other boy to sit down and focus was like pulling teeth, and right now it felt like they were his own.

It was several hours later when they'd left, Madavian having finally memorized the first two Theorems. Not that he could explain them, but at least he could recite them. That was... something. Abraham on the other hand had made slow progress. Ulos was surprised at how far the two were behind. Admittedly, he was probably halfway through the term's work already, but those two didn't seem like they'd even finished the first week!

Madavian looked over at Ulos.

"Hey Ulos."

"What?"

The words came out in an angry tone, and Ulos immediately regretted them.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm not good at this, and I know I'm no fun to deal with. I was going to ask, though. Henrietta's pretty obsessed about being the best at magic, so she'd probably join your study group if you asked. Lucy... well, I figure she'd might be interested as well. To be honest, Sunette and you don't seem close at all anymore, and Abraham... he can't keep up with you. He's a great guy, but he's not the best at studying, sort of like me."

Ulos thought about this. What to do?

[ ] Invite Henrietta - Henrietta is clearly really interested in Magical Theory, so her joining the Study Group isn't really that much of a jump. It'd give you a good opportunity to make friends with her, too.
+ Having a intellectual rival will help keep you sharp.
+ Has similar interests to you, will allow sharing of research.
+ Highly likely to succeed.
+ Study Group offers a free Diplomacy roll for anyone you invite to it.
- Aufstadt and Kerek don't like each other, so Sunette will be rubbed the wrong way and possibly leave the Study Group.
- Really locks you in to the Aufstadt-Junotrin Family alliance side of things in Vorstal.
- Abraham is kind of antsy right now, may upset him.

[ ] Invite Lucy - Lucy might not seem super interested in studying with you, but she's friendly in general, so she'd likely say yes. I mean, probably.
+ Will unlock Souls and Spirits option in Study Group.
+ Make a Narubite friend!
+ Study Group offers a free Diplomacy roll for anyone you invite to it.
= Moderately likely to succeed
- Inviting a Narubite to the Study Group is really going to upset Abraham.
- Doesn't offer a whole lot in terms of History or Magical Theory.

[ ] Invite Both - Heck, get the whole gang together! Invite everyone!
+ Will unlock Souls and Spirits option in Study Group.
+ Pros of both options otherwise.
+ Get two free Diplomacy rolls!
- Bringing in two new people makes it less likely you'll get either one. Lower chance of success per person.
- Abraham is likely to be really put off his game. Two new people and one is from Narubar? He might freak out quite badly.
- Cons of both options.

[ ] Invite Neither - Easier on the group dynamic. Keeps all your current friends there, and allows you to proceed at your own pace
+ Changes nothing, can still make friends with your new acquaintances.
- Changes nothing, but lose the opportunity to challenge yourself with new intellectual rivals in the Study Group.

occipitallobe · Jun 6, 2017

The study group was tomorrow. Ulos thought about this for a moment.

"Let's invite Henrietta."

Ulos's tutoring session for the two ended, and they went back to bed.

It was at breakfast when Madavian looked around, somewhat worried.

"She's not here. That's... odd."

They went throughout the day, and Ulos left Madavian to go practice his meditation.

(Henrietta Roll - 1 vs DC 10 (DC low due to high Magical Theory skill!) - Critical failure! Bad things happen!)

Ulos was busy reading the Six Hundred Meditations - fairly boring, mostly breathing exercises, and visualization exercises to better see his Magic Pool. He sat for an hour, trying to visualize his connection to the Primordial Ether as a stream rushing down a mountain, breathing in and out.

(Arcane Meditation Training Roll = 1x5 (Willpower) = 5. Current rank is +1 Arcane Meditation (0/5).)

He felt as though he'd learned a little, but didn't feel anything particularly interesting or useful. Ah, well. Not every day would be productive.

It was later on that he decided on going to the study group that Madavian caught up with him.

Huffing and puffing, the other boy looked really worried.

"Ulos! Ulos!"

Ulos looked over.

"What is it?"

"Henrietta. She's..."

Madavian drew breath.

"She's... suspended."

"Suspended?"

"Something about academic misconduct. No Library access for one weeks, no lessons for the week. It's pretty bad, they think she was cheating."

"Was she?"

"I.. don't see how Henry would've cheated. She's so prim and proper. I mean, it's possible, but on a meaningless test this early into the year? It doesn't make any sense."

Ulos's mind whirled.

"Tell me, Madavian. Is Henrietta close enough to you to be worth targeting for Thomas?"

Madavian thought for a second, and cursed under his breath.

"Minor member of a Family allied to me? Not super popular? Yeah, it makes sense. Hit the weak targets your enemies rely on for general support, and hit them just hard enough that they feel like you can't protect them. Don't anger them too much, because then they'll hunker down with their allies, but make it clear you could've hit harder, and they'll abandon their alliances. That's what father would tell me to do in this sort of a situation."

"Could he have done it?"

Madavian looked down.

"You weren't there this week in class, and in testing. Abraham and I are pretty close with our tests, make sure nobody sees them, touches them, so on and so forth. I don't bother to guard Henry, because she's got her own group of friends, though friends might be a strong word. She's sort of the middle part of her Family - important enough to send, but not so important that hitting her is an open declaration of war."

Ulos found his face morphing into a snarl.

"Damnit! I feel like we're always behind whatever he's doing. Getting someone suspended?"

"Sure, but we were going to do that to him, so..."

Ulos shrugged.

"Alright. We've got to do something about this."

Madavian's eyebrows went up.

"We just lost this round, Ulos. Politics isn't played tit for tat. You take advantages where you see them and defend disadvantages where you can. What would you do to stop this?"

Suddenly, Madavian looked interested.

"We hit them back. Hard. Get in there, use the itching powder we brought, destroy-"

"Which is exactly what they'd expect. Accumulate proof and see if they can get a teacher to catch you. Provoke attacks from your enemy when your enemy is unable to attack cohesively. This is basic, Ulos. No, we need to plan if we're going to hit back. Or look at getting Henry back onside. I'm not losing my father a useful alliance right now."

Unlocked Action - [ ] Assist Henrietta - Henrietta is forbidden to go to class or the Library at the moment, but you can do some of those things for her. Take your subject material in shared classes to her, and borrow books on her behalf (using her Library Chits). Taking this Action will mitigate the diplomatic effects of Henrietta's suspension to you, allowing her to join your Study Group. Due to trying to take extra notes, gain extra class materials, etc, this Action will inflict a -1 penalty on all in-class Training Rolls for the week.

The Study Group afterwards was fairly boring, a little magical theory that Ulos felt he was far ahead on anyway, though he managed to sketch out a few useful symbols that were related to the runic theory he had studied earlier. History felt stultifying and tedious, and his interest felt as though it had be waning for some time over the past few weeks.

(Training Roll: 4x4 = 16. Gained +1 Magical Theory. Current +17 Lore: Magical Theory (7/25 next level).

(Training Roll: 2x4 = 8. Gained +0 Lore: History. Current +10 Lore: History (17/20 next level))

Besides, the concern he had was not for the various bits and pieces of magic he'd learned, but rather for the enemy who had managed to outmaneuver him and Madavian - if this continued, they could be in a great deal of trouble.

You presently have 3 Willpower. 2 Willpower is locked behind your new Locked Action, Tutoring Session: Magical Theory. This pool will not regenerate this turn, and must last for this turn and the next.

Ulos will take 4 Actions, but one of these is locked in as Tutoring Session: Magical Theory. You cannot unlock this without abandoning the Tutoring Sessions entirely. As such, only 3 Actions will be taken from this list.

Temporary/One-Off Actions:

[ ] Appraise your Artifact - Sure, you can't do it, but you can find someone who can. Knowing what that Artifact does might be key to either keeping it or selling it for a good sum. Roll Cha vs DC (Moderate). Success offers information about Artifact. Failure offers no information. Critical failure offers completely false information. Roll will be hidden. Action is removed once either a success is rolled
or a critical failure is rolled.

[ ] Assist Henrietta - Henrietta is forbidden to go to class or the Library at the moment, but you can do some of those things for her. Take your subject material in shared classes to her, and borrow books on her behalf (using her Library Chits). Taking this Action will mitigate the diplomatic effects of Henrietta's suspension to you, allowing her to join your Study Group. Due to trying to take extra notes, gain extra class materials, etc, this Action will inflict a -1 penalty on all in-class Training Rolls for the week. If not taken this week, Henrietta will refuse to join your Study Group or become friends with you.

Offensive/Defensive Actions:

[ ] Scout out your Rivals - Pretty standard. Go spy on your enemies. Roll vs your Rival's roll to avoid being scouted. If you beat their Roll, gain +20 on all Actions against them (defensive or offensive) for the remainder of the week.

[ ] Launch an Assault! - You have Itching Powder now, you can do something terrible (ly amusing)! Make your enemies itch in class to humiliate them, douse their clothes in it to force them to miss valuable learning sessions, or even convince onlookers they have some sort of disease. Roll vs your Rival's roll to succeed. A regular success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action. A major success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action and their classes for that day. A critical success will cause both these effects and cause them to be humiliated, reducing all Relationships with anyone who observes this humilation by one step.

Training Actions:

[ ] Start Studying (Write-In Subject) - You have your textbooks. Next step is reading through them. Sort of nerdy, but hey, aren't you here to learn? Gain a Training Roll associated with the subject you choose. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain 2 Training Rolls. -1 to all Training Rolls of this sort due current roommate penalty.

[ ] Relentlessly Practice Magical Combat - Use some of your little magic to practice your Spellweaving. Abraham will help you, using his progidious Magic Pool to help you deal with, avoid, and retreat from spells. Gain a Training Roll on the lower of Combat: Evasion and Combat: Retreat, as well as a Training Roll vs Channeling. This will help Abraham practice his own Magical Combat. Willpower Upgrade offers a second Training Roll for the applicable Combat Skill. Shooting at you with fireballs is not easy for Abraham, who will spend 1 Willpower undertaking this Action.

[ ] Study Group - The Study Group needs to get going if you're going to dominate your subjects. Get your books, get your bag, and head on over to the Library to get the librarians to let you into a study room. Gain a Training Roll for Lore: History or Lore: Theory of Magic (50% chance each). Possibly gain a step in relationship with Abraham (20+30=50% chance). Cannot be taken while Trait: Banned Doppelganger is active. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain a Training Roll in both subjects. Can only be taken twice per Week max.

[ ] Practice Spell (Write-In From Spellbook) - Time to practice a spell. Get better, cast faster, cast cheaper. Roll against DC (??? depends on Spell). Takes ??? Magic Pool, where ??? is equal to a Spell's cost times 5. Character gains an additional Training roll if they still have more mana after practicing. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain an additional two Training Rolls if you have enough mana for it.

[ ] Tutoring (Lore: Runes) - That horribly expensive Tutoring you paid for. Each Action provides 3 (!) Training Rolls to your Lore: Runes. No Willpower expenditure possible or required. Can only be taken two more times.

Diplomacy and Discovery Actions:

[ ] Hang Out With A Friend (Write-in Friend) - It's good to spend time with people you know. Maybe take a break, and hang with one of your friends. Available options include Madavian Junotrin and Abraham Quincey. Increase Relationship by one step. Roll against DC (Variable, depending on friendship level). On success, increase Relationship by another step.

[ ] Madavian's Speed Dating Agency - With Madavian here to help you, you'll have an easier time of meeting new people. Gain two Diplomacy Rolls. Madavian's presence also offers one reroll, mitigating any unpleasant social consequences (reroll will be taken after both rolls, reroll will prioritize Critical Failures over regular Failures). Willpower upgrade - Spend 1 point to gain a third Diplomacy Roll.

[ ] Go Exploring - It's a big campus, and you haven't seen the half of it. Who knows what you could find? Roll 1D100 vs ???. Success offers ???, failure offers ???. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain a second roll. Spend 2 points to gain a third roll.

[ ] Study your Magic Pool - You need to learn to meditate, focus, and understand what is happening in the Ether, and in yourself when you draw from it. Gaining such inner understanding may shed light on your Curse's functionality. Gain a Training Roll for Skill: Meditation versus Willpower.

[ ] Suck Up To Inukar - Figure out what they like. Do the research. Then suck up. Not hard in theory. Roll against DC 40 (depends on teacher) vs Cha and Lore: Magical Theory. Success increases teacher's Relationship by one step and future DC of this Action sharply. Locked for all teachers who are not Inukar (insufficient Relationship).

Crafting, Gathering & Shopping Actions:

[ ] Gather Mushrooms - Unlocked by your knowledge of the Secret Mushroom Colony. Self-explanatory. Roll against DC ??? using either Lore: Alchemy or Lore: Magical Plants. On success, gain ???.

[ ] Go to the Marketplace - You have money to spend and items to sell. You need to spend some time gearing up, finding tutors, spells, artifacts, items, and more. Activates Shopping Mini-Turn with more Actions within it (including "Find a Buyer" for your items), allowing the buying and selling of items and services.

[ ] Search for Ingredients - You don't know about a whole lot of Alchemical Ingredients, but you can go looking. Even if you don't find exactly what you're looking for, you can scout out good places. Roll against DC ???. On success, find Ingredients. On critical success find a Location with Ingredients.

[ ] Map out the Dorms - Knowing who is where, asking your friends about who has which room and how to get to places quickly. Sort of creepy, but also might come in handy. No skill gains. Roll against DC 65, on success gain Item: Map of Dorms (Unfinished). +10 bonus to pranks and similar actions taken within the Dorms.

[ ] Family Money - Madavian would be happy to send away for money on your behalf (or spend some of his money on you and then replenish it later). However, he'd need a good reason to do so. Reason must be written in if no reason has come up in the thread. No Skill gains. Madavian rolls Cha vs DC (Variable) to gain a Variable number of Coins.

Locked Actions:

[ ] Craft Alchemical Recipe (Write-In) - Time to get your Alchemy on! Get in there and make something useful! Roll against DC ??? (depends on Recipe). Success adds Recipe to Inventory. Locked. Requires at least 1 rank in Craft: Alchemy. Requires access to Alchemical Equipment.

[ ] Craft Rune (Write-In) - Time to create the greatest Rune ever! Well, maybe a normal Rune. But a useful one! Locked. Requires knowledge of at least 1 Rune. Requires access to the Materials needed to engrave the Rune.

occipitallobe · Jun 8, 2017

The week started off fine.

Tutoring with Edward was difficult, though. It wasn't that he was stupid, or having too much trouble following along.

"Ulos. Pay attention."

It wasn't that he wasn't paying attention, well, not completely. It was that he was having trouble copying down the relevant notes for Henrietta and focusing on what Edward was saying. Edward looked down on him, somewhat frustrated.

(Magical Theory Tutoring Rolls: (4+1-1)+(1+1-1)+(1+1-1)+(1+1-1) = 7 * 4 = 28. Gained +1 Magical Theory. Current +18 Lore: Magical
Theory (7/25 next level))

"Ulos!"

Ulos looked up from his hastily-copied notes.

"What?"

"You're not focused. What are you doing?"

"I-"

"Water. We're on water again. I want you to give me a notion of how water spells use power as they expand in vertical size, as well as a notion of spell complexity."

"Um, well.."

His voice trailed off, and Edward looked down at him.

"Tch. Figure out what's going on in your head and come back to me, Ulos. I'm not interested in people who can't even pay attention."

The rest of the day was not much better, however. Edward looked at him with barely-disguised contempt, though that didn't seem much different from usual. He sent Ulos back to get his own lunch, a difference from last week. At the end of the day, Edward looked him up and down and spoke.

"Do better next week."

Ulos could only nod miserably.

At the end of the day, though, he walked with Madavian to a room downstairs and knocked.

Henrietta had her own private room, different from theirs. Larger, too, which made him feel jealous, what with Abraham crashing on their floor.

"Henry..."

Madavian's voice trailed off.

She looked up, and Ulos noticed the faintest rings of red around her eyes.

"Don't even talk to me, Madavian. Not right now."

Ulos spoke up.

"Henrietta. We didn't know you'd be a target. We do now. Here's the notes from both Madavian's class and my private tutoring for Theory. We'll bring you everything we can throughout the week."

She looked up.

"Thanks, but if you think this means I'm taking on your enemies..."

Madavian shook his head.

"Henry, you're a Junotrin ally. That means you get protected against enemies like these. Right now, we're going to mitigate these effects. I think I'll find a way to communicate how disappointed Family Junotrin is in this outcome, and how bad it might be for the Preparatory's future donations and grants if it were to continue. Then we'll hit back. You're not required to help."

She hiccuped.

"Thanks. I... thanks. Leave me alone now, anyway. I need to study."

Souls and Spirits was just as bad. Copying useful notes and ideas down for Henrietta had left him with little time to study properly

(Training Roll is (1-1) * 4 = 0. No gains)

Magical History and Spellweaving didn't fare much better. He barely learnt anything all week, constantly ferrying notes and ideas back to Henrietta. Still, she seemed happy, and was pretty intent on studying in her room in order to catch up to where she would've otherwise been.

(Training Roll: ((2-1*4) = 4. +11 Lore: History (1/20 next level)

(Training Roll: ((2-1*2) = 2. +5 Spellweaving (1/5 next level))

Next on the list was appraising the Artifact he had. Still nothing. Finding someone to do this discreetly was tough, and he had spent the week running around after Henrietta and desperately trying to keep up with his classes. He just had too much on his plate at the moment to do this effectively.

(Roll: 23 + 10 (CHA) vs DC 50. Failure.)

It was at the end of the week that they decided to hold their usual study group. Ulos figured he'd run it past the other two, and see if they could do pure magical theory. Better than history at the moment, what with Abraham being behind. Sunette might mind, but she might not, and to be honest, she didn't figure into Ulos's calculus at the moment.

He walked down the corridor to deliver a few notes from Magical Theory he'd copied across to Henrietta. He knocked on the door. Once, no answer. Twice more, no answer. He was almost ready to leave when the door creaked open, revealing a rather frazzled Henrietta. He had only seen her with perfect hair and skin, but her hair was unbrushed and her face oily, her glasses sitting askew on her face.

"Hi. More notes?"

"Uh, sure. I wanted to ask, did you want to come to our study group? Maybe get an advance on next week's Theory?"

She looked down at herself, and shook her head.

"Not that I don't want to, even like this. But I'm banned from the Library. Unless you want to study somewhere else?"

"Your room is pretty big, right? I could bring Abraham and Sunette if you want, study together?"

She pursed her lips.

"All right. Give me an hour to tidy up."

"Sure thing!"

He walked away, and down to Sunette's room. He knocked, and she promptly answered.

"Hi, Sunette."

She looked at him. They hadn't really talked at all since the thing with Abraham, though she showed up to study each week. Where there had been a burgeoning friendship, now there was just a sort of habitual, occasional contact.

"Oh hi, Ulos. What is it?"

"Um, we're looking to change the study group location. Henrietta's room. She's had... some trouble, lately, so she can't go the Library. So we're thinking of relocating there today, but we'll be back to usual next week."

Sunette sighed.

"Look, Ulos..."

"Yeah?"

She shook her head.

"It's not that I dislike you, or Abraham. It's just... studying with you isn't a great idea for me right now. Making an enemy of the Aleivas boy means I'm a target, you know. I thought I'd be fine, but your friend Henrietta shows that maybe I won't be. Maybe I don't show up, ok? Nothing against you in the slightest, just..."

Ulos nodded. He hadn't really expected anything from Sunette since the incident with Thomas, so he didn't feel all that disappointed.

"I understand. Talk to you later."

He turned and left.

Later on that evening, Abraham and Ulos went to Henrietta's room. Abraham seemed largely ok with this - a little worried about the change of pace, but Ulos noted that the room was almost certainly more secure than the Library, and switching up their routine made them harder to target anyway.

(Abraham loses 1 Relationship step. 65 + 30 = 95 vs DC 80, Abraham regains Relationship step. No change in Relationship)

It was a good session. They learned a lot, Ulos feeling like for the first time he understood a great deal of what had happened in his tutoring that week. Teaching the other two about Magical Theory in relation to water spells didn't seem to impact Abraham that highly, but Henrietta was avidly interested, and he found her racing ahead of him, managing to decipher things in minutes that had taken him hours.

(Training Roll: (5+4)x4 = 36, Gained +1 Magical Theory. Current +19 Lore: Magical
Theory (18/25 next level))

It was at the end of the session, when they were about to pack up, that Ulos looked over at Henrietta. He smiled.

"Hey, um. This doesn't have to be a usual thing, if you don't want to get targeted. But we're happy to come here tomorrow while you're still banned from the Library, right Abraham?"

Abraham muttered something that sounded like a yes, and Henrietta unexpectedly burst into tears.

She sat there on the floor, crying for half a minute, both boys stunned before Ulos decided to do something.

He patted her on the shoulder awkwardly.

"Hey. Um, hey. Don't worry, right?

(Relationship Roll: 96 vs 50 DC. Critical success! Henrietta gains 2 Relationship steps, gains Relationship: Possible Friend (Helped Out))

She shook her head.

"It's just... first I studied so hard, and came second on the Magical Theory test, and someone else gets to go get private tutoring. Then someone manages to screw me out of a week of classes, and then... I didn't know what to do, you know? I just wanted to come, learn magic, and be good at magic, but it's not even a month and politics is following me here. I just hate it, you know?"

Ulos nodded, not quite knowing what to say.

She wiped her eyes, and drew a deep breath, and Abraham spoke.

"I get it, yeah. Same place for me. You feel like you're all alone. But um... you know, Ulos and Madavian? Cool guys. Good ones, too. Not ideal crashing on their floor, but better than rooming with the same guy who got you suspended, yeah?"

Henrietta nodded.

"So... yeah. If you don't want to hang round us, I understand. But even if you don't, just let us know if you need help. We'll help out."

Well, that had been more-or-less what Ulos had wanted to say, anyway. Henrietta gulped, and nodded. Suddenly despite her red eyes, her composure was back - the dispassionate girl he had met last week reformed, leaving only a mask that had been blurred by tears.

"Thank you, Abraham. Ulos, I'd be more than glad to study with you again if you decide to do so over the weekend. Now, if you might give me a little space, I believe I ought to clean my room up."

She looked down at the immaculate floor and perfectly-made bed.

"What a mess. You'll understand if it takes me a little time to put this in order, won't you?"

Ulos nodded, and the two boys walked out of the room.

Henrietta is now a member of the Study Group. Sunette is no longer a member of the Study Group.

Voting post up in a little bit.

occipitallobe · Jun 8, 2017

Oh wow, really meant to get this post up, but got distracted and invited out for dinner. Here's out voting post.

You presently have 1 Willpower. 2 Willpower is locked behind your Locked Action, Tutoring Session: Magical Theory. 1 Willpower is locked behind Tutor Your Friends, giving Ulos a total of 2 Willpower per week. The pool will regenerate after this turn.

Ulos will take 4 Actions, but one of these is locked in as Tutor Your Friends. You cannot unlock this without abandoning the Tutoring Sessions entirely. As such, only 3 Actions will be taken from this list.

Temporary/One-Off Actions:

[ ] Appraise your Artifact - Sure, you can't do it, but you can find someone who can. Knowing what that Artifact does might be key to either keeping it or selling it for a good sum. Roll Cha vs DC (Moderate). Success offers information about Artifact. Failure offers no information. Critical failure offers completely false information. Roll will be hidden. Action is removed once either a success is rolled
or a critical failure is rolled.

Offensive/Defensive Actions:

[ ] Scout out your Rivals - Pretty standard. Go spy on your enemies. Roll vs your Rival's roll to avoid being scouted. If you beat their Roll, gain +20 on all Actions against them (defensive or offensive) for the remainder of the week.

[ ] Launch an Assault! - You have Itching Powder now, you can do something terrible (ly amusing)! Make your enemies itch in class to humiliate them, douse their clothes in it to force them to miss valuable learning sessions, or even convince onlookers they have some sort of disease. Roll vs your Rival's roll to succeed. A regular success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action. A major success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action and their classes for that day. A critical success will cause both these effects and cause them to be humiliated, reducing all Relationships with anyone who observes this humilation by one step.

Training Actions:

[ ] Start Studying (Write-In Subject) - You have your textbooks. Next step is reading through them. Sort of nerdy, but hey, aren't you here to learn? Gain a Training Roll associated with the subject you choose. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain 2 Training Rolls. -1 to all Training Rolls of this sort due current roommate penalty.

[ ] Relentlessly Practice Magical Combat - Use some of your little magic to practice your Spellweaving. Abraham will help you, using his progidious Magic Pool to help you deal with, avoid, and retreat from spells. Gain a Training Roll on the lower of Combat: Evasion and Combat: Retreat, as well as a Training Roll vs Channeling. This will help Abraham practice his own Magical Combat. Willpower Upgrade offers a second Training Roll for the applicable Combat Skill. Shooting at you with fireballs is not easy for Abraham, who will spend 1 Willpower undertaking this Action.

[ ] Study Group - The Study Group needs to get going if you're going to dominate your subjects. Get your books, get your bag, and head on over to the Library to get the librarians to let you into a study room. Gain a Training Roll for Lore: Theory of Magic. 20% chance for Relationship improvement (DC 80). Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to two Training Rolls. Can only be taken twice per Week max.

[ ] Practice Spell (Write-In From Spellbook) - Time to practice a spell. Get better, cast faster, cast cheaper. Roll against DC (??? depends on Spell). Takes ??? Magic Pool, where ??? is equal to a Spell's cost times 5. Character gains an additional Training roll if they still have more mana after practicing. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain an additional two Training Rolls if you have enough mana for it.

[ ] Tutoring (Lore: Runes) - That horribly expensive Tutoring you paid for. Each Action provides 3 (!) Training Rolls to your Lore: Runes. No Willpower expenditure possible or required. Can only be taken two more times.

Diplomacy and Discovery Actions:

[ ] Hang Out With A Friend (Write-in Friend) - It's good to spend time with people you know. Maybe take a break, and hang with one of your friends. Available options include Madavian Junotrin, Henrietta Aufstadt and Abraham Quincey. Increase Relationship by one step. Roll against DC (Variable, depending on friendship level). On success, increase Relationship by another step.

[ ] Madavian's Speed Dating Agency - With Madavian here to help you, you'll have an easier time of meeting new people. Gain two Diplomacy Rolls. Madavian's presence also offers one reroll, mitigating any unpleasant social consequences (reroll will be taken after both rolls, reroll will prioritize Critical Failures over regular Failures). Willpower upgrade - Spend 1 point to gain a third Diplomacy Roll.

[ ] Go Exploring - It's a big campus, and you haven't seen the half of it. Who knows what you could find? Roll 1D100 vs ???. Success offers ???, failure offers ???. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain a second roll. Spend 2 points to gain a third roll.

[ ] Study your Magic Pool - You need to learn to meditate, focus, and understand what is happening in the Ether, and in yourself when you draw from it. Gaining such inner understanding may shed light on your Curse's functionality. Gain a Training Roll for Skill: Meditation versus Willpower.

[ ] Suck Up To Inukar - Figure out what they like. Do the research. Then suck up. Not hard in theory. Roll against DC 40 (depends on teacher) vs Cha and Lore: Magical Theory. Success increases teacher's Relationship by one step and future DC of this Action sharply. Locked for all teachers who are not Inukar (insufficient Relationship).

Crafting, Gathering & Shopping Actions:

[ ] Gather Mushrooms - Unlocked by your knowledge of the Secret Mushroom Colony. Self-explanatory. Roll against DC ??? using either Lore: Alchemy or Lore: Magical Plants. On success, gain ???.

[ ] Go to the Marketplace - You have money to spend and items to sell. You need to spend some time gearing up, finding tutors, spells, artifacts, items, and more. Activates Shopping Mini-Turn with more Actions within it (including "Find a Buyer" for your items), allowing the buying and selling of items and services.

[ ] Search for Ingredients - You don't know about a whole lot of Alchemical Ingredients, but you can go looking. Even if you don't find exactly what you're looking for, you can scout out good places. Roll against DC ???. On success, find Ingredients. On critical success find a Location with Ingredients.

[ ] Map out the Dorms - Knowing who is where, asking your friends about who has which room and how to get to places quickly. Sort of creepy, but also might come in handy. No skill gains. Roll against DC 65, on success gain Item: Map of Dorms (Unfinished). +10 bonus to pranks and similar actions taken within the Dorms.

[ ] Family Money - Madavian would be happy to send away for money on your behalf (or spend some of his money on you and then replenish it later). However, he'd need a good reason to do so. Reason must be written in if no reason has come up in the thread. No Skill gains. Madavian rolls Cha vs DC (Variable) to gain a Variable number of Coins.

Locked Actions:

[ ] Craft Alchemical Recipe (Write-In) - Time to get your Alchemy on! Get in there and make something useful! Roll against DC ??? (depends on Recipe). Success adds Recipe to Inventory. Locked. Requires at least 1 rank in Craft: Alchemy. Requires access to Alchemical Equipment.

[ ] Craft Rune (Write-In) - Time to create the greatest Rune ever! Well, maybe a normal Rune. But a useful one! Locked. Requires knowledge of at least 1 Rune. Requires access to the Materials needed to engrave the Rune.

occipitallobe · Jun 10, 2017

It was time to tutor. Ulos thought briefly about inviting Henrietta, but the reality was that she was ahead of Madavian and Abraham by a significant margin.

A few torturous hours in the Library, Ulos found himself wondering if Madavian would be missed if he killed him. After all, Abraham could dye his hair pink, right? Right?

"Uloooossssss. I'm so boooorrrrreeed."

Ulos shook his head. The other boy was a friend, but he just wanted to give him a slap, sometimes. He'd worked so hard and given up so much to get here, and Madavian was wilfully trying not to learn Infuriating. Abraham learned as best as he was able, but Ulos felt he was merely memorizing the formulas and ideas, not truly understanding them.

Still, Madavian had done a lot for him. Helping him out like this is the least he could do.

Later on that day, Ulos took Madavian and Abraham aside. The taller boy looked serious, as he almost always did nowadays. Ulos couldn't blame him. Thomas had tried to get him expelled, ruined his books, and forced him out of his room. Sleeping on their floor couldn't be pleasant, but Abraham hadn't voiced a single word of complaint, unlike Madavian who kept stepping on Abraham and then complaining about it. Abraham took it all in stride, though.

"We need to get a good map of the dorms. There are the courtyards, but I want to know where everyone is. Their names, where they come from, and I want to know how to get around. Climable drainpipes, rooftops we can move between if necessary, everything."

Madavian smiled, his eyes gleaming. He tossed back his pink curls and adjusted his glasses.

"Alright! Finally, we're going to do something. What's the plan, Ulos? Dose him with itching powder?"

Ulos shook his head.

"Reconnaissance only. Thomas has hit us twice, each time in Magical Theory. He probably wants to sabotage our efforts there so we end up in a lower class than him, keeping us from learning the really useful sorts of magic. It makes sense - if you're going to have enemies, you may as well cripple them. The Grinning Skull had a similar lesson during his wars with the Prince of Bones, though round the other way. The Prince of Bones set him at odds with the Imperial Court, and killed many of his finest scribes and researchers. He had him killed two centuries after that, but he spent his time harassing and weakening the Skull, and eventually assassinated him once he'd pushed him far enough out of his comfort zone. I don't think Thomas will try to kill us, but what he's doing makes sense."

Abraham nodded. They'd had the same Magical History lecture.

Madavian frowned thoughtfully.

"Sure, he wants to weaken us. What's our gambit?"

Ulos looked over at the other boy.

"We're weaker than him, really. Narubar will stand with him, whereas the Five Families are divided and the other Empire students couldn't care less whether I live or die. Deciding on a strategy early would just hurt us, we don't even know where he's weak. We need to get more information, and once we have more information..."

Ulos trailed off.

"We strike."

Abraham smiled.

"Yes. We figure out how to hit him, find his weaknesses, and exploit them ruthlessly. Now, split up. Check in here every half hour. We'll go individually, and then in a group of three once we're near Thomas's room. It'll unnerve him, at the least."

(Roll 87 vs DC 65. Success!)

The three boys went through the dorms, mapping things out. Sketches on notebooks at first with names scribbled in, maybe half the Dorms having names filled in. Marks where windows you might be able to squeeze out or in of, lines for where you might be able to scale the building. Useful knowledge, allowing the three to plan ahead. It all went, surprisingly, completely to plan. Even at the end, passing Thomas's door, no-one confronted them, which was a little surprising.

Gained Item: Map of Dorms (Unfinished) - +10 bonus to pranks and similar actions taken within the Dorms.

The next morning, the trio went down to breakfast. Henrietta met them on the way down. Ulos smiled at her, a tentative thing. She once again looked implacable, braids in place and face unmarred, her waifish appearance offset by the porcelain mask she wore for a face.

"Shall we?"

Henrietta looked at them, every inch the Vorstallen merchant princess.

Madavian curtsied, bobbing an imaginary dress.

Henrietta didn't blink.

"Ulos. I have some questions about the Domain of Water. Would you mind entertaining them over breakfast?"

"Um, of course. I mean, I'd love to."

Breakfast was delicious, freshly-baked meat and vegetable pies, coming steaming from the ovens. Henrietta nibbled daintily at one, while Madavian thrust his face into one directly. Ulos shook his head. The closer those two were, the more they tended towards their personal extremes.

He nodded at Henrietta after they'd finished eating.

"We could talk about theory here, or go upstairs and study?"

She smiled at him, a simple curving of the lips that in no way reached her eyes.

"Of course. That might be best."

They returned to the Dorms, heading back to their room briefly to get books, and then went to Henrietta's room.

(Training Roll: (5+2)x4 = 28, Gained +1 Magical Theory. Current +20 Lore: Magical
Theory (21/30 next level))

Hours went by like nothing, the three laughing and enjoying themselves, odd for a study of pure magical theory.

Henrietta looked at Ulos intently.

"Are we friends, Ulos?"

"Um...."

Ulos thought. Being put on the spot like this was hard.

"Well... maybe? I mean, if you want?"

She looked a little surprised.

"If I want?"

"It's like.. you seem nice, and you like the same stuff I do. I feel like we'd be good friends, or maybe okay one. I mean, I don't know. But I understand if you don't want to be, what with the Thomas stuff."

She looked at him intently, and suddenly reached out her hand, leaving it in the air before Ulos.

"Yes. I think we shall be friends. Junotrin aside, you boys seem quite nice, and... it's better to have friends and enemies than no-one, after all."

Ulos shook it.

"Friends, then."

(Relationship Rolls - 57 + 30 = 87 vs 80 DC (Abraham), Relationship Maintained (extra Relationship points do not improve Relationship, but do reset decay counter), 87 vs 80 DC (Henrietta), Relationship Improved by one step! Two more steps to Friends!)

Last came his Runes tutoring. He'd made an appointment with Radalscalp for the end of today. Walking into the city, the little wizened man welcome him in.

"Hello, Ulos. I think today we'll focus on the theory of slow runes, or runes that lose their charge very, very slowly. One of the essential truths of runic crafting is a rune loses power over time proportional to two things. The first is the effect power. The second is the complexity. Well, there is a third factor. It's not really a factor, though. Runic knowledge lets you build better runes, runes that bleed less power or have other effects. It's difficult to pin down the perfect rune, but a rune that's constructed well enough in terms of both skill and theoretical knowledge might last for centuries. I mean, Old Vorstal has runes that have lasted longer, so it's definitely possible."

He drew a breath.

"Hello, Radalscalp."

The little man wagged a finger at him.

"Sit down, Ulos. No time for pleasantries, we need to learn. Now, you'll note for this sort of thing, each rune has an optimal form, one that bleeds less power. However, runic construction is still centuries if not millenia behind the science of sigils - runes are simply not as interesting for most, as they are easier to copy. Runic research is hampered by the fact that the most talented runesmith in the world has no way of protecting his work beyond physically protecting it, whereas copying a sigil is nearly impossible if you know nothing about it, and copying an alchemical concoction is quite literally impossible without seeing the Alchemist create it. So runes are rudimentary at best, excepting of course the runic arts of the Undying, but I don't think they're giving those up anytime soon."

Radalscalp chuckled, and then coughed.

"Anyway..."

(Runes Tutoring: (5+2+2)*4 = 36 . +3 Lore: Runes. Current is +10 Lore: Runes (8/20 next level)
A few hours later, Radalscalp looked at him.

"Ulos... hm. I have a deal for you, if you care for it. A bargain, shall we say, hm, between mages."

Ulos looked up from his notebook.

"Yes?"

"I'll teach you... hmmm.. a rune of your choice from a few useful runes I know, and some skill at crafting it. In return, though, you'll teach me two runes I find useful in a year or two. You're a bright lad, and I think I'd benefit from this. And you'll benefit from it now, so it's win-win..."

Ulos frowned thoughtfully. What to do?

[ ] Accept - If you vote Accept, please vote for one of the three sub-choices. Note that Accepting will require Ulos to teach Radalscalp two Runes in future, and each will take an Action to teach him. Taking Accept gains one of the three Runes below, as well as an additional two Craft: Rune rolls on your next Runes Tutoring session. Note you will not gain the Rune in question until Tutoring is taken again.

[ ] Slumbering Brick (Clay) - Unseen and inactive until the command word is spoken. The rune is engraved on a brick left nearby, and when the word spoken, the brick shatters into a cloud of dust and particulate matter, clouding the air for the better part of a minute. Useful for ambushing enemies or escaping from an unfortunate encounter. Takes 4 Magic Points to charge, requires recharging weekly. DC 40 to craft.

[ ] Radiant Blade (Steel) - A careful rune engraved onto a knife or other piece of steel. When activated (usually by touching human flesh to the side of the blade), the blade shines incredibly brightly towards whatever it is pointed at. Usable as a temporary flashlight or to blind your enemies with a high-powered spotlight. Takes 40 Magic Points to charge, and requires recharging weekly. Light lasts for five minutes after activation. DC 90 to craft.

[ ] Aqua Barrier (Water) - A simple low-powered defensive rune, the Aqua Shield is a rune that must be reverse-carved onto a piece of wood, metal, or stone, and then tossed into the water. It will create an obscuring shield made of rushing water up to three metres high and ten wide (depending on the size of the body of water it is tossed into), facing in the direction the rune was tossed from. The Aqua Shield will not stop most powerful spells, but will slow down physical impacts such as crossbow bolts considerably, and the rushing of the water will make you essentially invisible. It will be impenetrable to human beings while standing unless they attempt to break through with the assistance of magic. Lasts for fifteen seconds. Takes 15 Magic Points to charge, and requires recharging weekly. DC 60 to craft.

[ ] Decline - No effect. No favours owed to Radalscalp, though, which means not having to give up any precious future secret Runes.

You presently have 2 Willpower. 2 Willpower is locked behind your Locked Action, Tutoring Session: Magical Theory. 1 Willpower is locked behind Tutor Your Friends, giving Ulos a total of 2 Willpower per week. The pool will not regenerate this turn.

Ulos will take 4 Actions, but one of these is locked in as Tutoring Sessions: Magical Theory. You cannot unlock this without abandoning the Tutoring Sessions entirely. As such, only 3 Actions will be taken from this list.

Temporary/One-Off Actions:

[ ] Appraise your Artifact - Sure, you can't do it, but you can find someone who can. Knowing what that Artifact does might be key to either keeping it or selling it for a good sum. Roll Cha vs DC (Moderate). Success offers information about Artifact. Failure offers no information. Critical failure offers completely false information. Roll will be hidden. Action is removed once either a success is rolled
or a critical failure is rolled.

Offensive/Defensive Actions:

[ ] Scout out your Rivals - Pretty standard. Go spy on your enemies. Roll vs your Rival's roll to avoid being scouted. If you beat their Roll, gain +20 on all Actions against them (defensive or offensive) for the remainder of the week.

[ ] Launch an Assault! - You have Itching Powder now, you can do something terrible (ly amusing)! Make your enemies itch in class to humiliate them, douse their clothes in it to force them to miss valuable learning sessions, or even convince onlookers they have some sort of disease. Roll vs your Rival's roll to succeed. A regular success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action. A major success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action and their classes for that day. A critical success will cause both these effects and cause them to be humiliated, reducing all Relationships with anyone who observes this humilation by one step.

Training Actions:

[ ] Start Studying (Write-In Subject) - You have your textbooks. Next step is reading through them. Sort of nerdy, but hey, aren't you here to learn? Gain a Training Roll associated with the subject you choose. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain 2 Training Rolls. -1 to all Training Rolls of this sort due current roommate penalty.

[ ] Relentlessly Practice Magical Combat - Use some of your little magic to practice your Spellweaving. Abraham will help you, using his progidious Magic Pool to help you deal with, avoid, and retreat from spells. Gain a Training Roll on the lower of Combat: Evasion and Combat: Retreat, as well as a Training Roll vs Channeling. This will help Abraham practice his own Magical Combat. Willpower Upgrade offers a second Training Roll for the applicable Combat Skill. Shooting at you with fireballs is not easy for Abraham, who will spend 1 Willpower undertaking this Action.

[ ] Study Group - The Study Group needs to get going if you're going to dominate your subjects. Get your books, get your bag, and head on over to the Library to get the librarians to let you into a study room. Gain a Training Roll for Lore: Theory of Magic. 20% chance for Relationship improvement (DC 80). Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to two Training Rolls. Can only be taken twice per Week max.

[ ] Practice Spell (Write-In From Spellbook) - Time to practice a spell. Get better, cast faster, cast cheaper. Roll against DC (??? depends on Spell). Takes ??? Magic Pool, where ??? is equal to a Spell's cost times 5. Character gains an additional Training roll if they still have more mana after practicing. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain an additional two Training Rolls if you have enough mana for it.

[ ] Tutoring (Lore: Runes) - That horribly expensive Tutoring you paid for. Each Action provides 3 (!) Training Rolls to your Lore: Runes. No Willpower expenditure possible or required. Can only be taken one more time. Will gain extra bonuses depending on the result of the above vote.

Diplomacy and Discovery Actions:

[ ] Hang Out With A Friend (Write-in Friend) - It's good to spend time with people you know. Maybe take a break, and hang with one of your friends. Available options include Madavian Junotrin, Henrietta Aufstadt and Abraham Quincey. Increase Relationship by one step. Roll against DC (Variable, depending on friendship level). On success, increase Relationship by another step.

[ ] Madavian's Speed Dating Agency - With Madavian here to help you, you'll have an easier time of meeting new people. Gain two Diplomacy Rolls. Madavian's presence also offers one reroll, mitigating any unpleasant social consequences (reroll will be taken after both rolls, reroll will prioritize Critical Failures over regular Failures). Willpower upgrade - Spend 1 point to gain a third Diplomacy Roll.

[ ] Go Exploring - It's a big campus, and you haven't seen the half of it. Who knows what you could find? Roll 1D100 vs ???. Success offers ???, failure offers ???. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain a second roll. Spend 2 points to gain a third roll.

[ ] Study your Magic Pool - You need to learn to meditate, focus, and understand what is happening in the Ether, and in yourself when you draw from it. Gaining such inner understanding may shed light on your Curse's functionality. Gain a Training Roll for Skill: Meditation versus Willpower.

[ ] Suck Up To Inukar - Figure out what they like. Do the research. Then suck up. Not hard in theory. Roll against DC 40 (depends on teacher) vs Cha and Lore: Magical Theory. Success increases teacher's Relationship by one step and future DC of this Action sharply. Locked for all teachers who are not Inukar (insufficient Relationship).

Crafting, Gathering & Shopping Actions:

[ ] Gather Mushrooms - Unlocked by your knowledge of the Secret Mushroom Colony. Self-explanatory. Roll against DC ??? using either Lore: Alchemy or Lore: Magical Plants. On success, gain ???.

[ ] Go to the Marketplace - You have money to spend and items to sell. You need to spend some time gearing up, finding tutors, spells, artifacts, items, and more. Activates Shopping Mini-Turn with more Actions within it (including "Find a Buyer" for your items), allowing the buying and selling of items and services.

[ ] Search for Ingredients - You don't know about a whole lot of Alchemical Ingredients, but you can go looking. Even if you don't find exactly what you're looking for, you can scout out good places. Roll against DC ???. On success, find Ingredients. On critical success find a Location with Ingredients.

[ ] Map out the Dorms - So you've got a pretty decent map of the Dorms. You can do better, right? Get the more obscure students' details, look at their timetables as best you can, figure out what routes people take... really get the map going.. No skill gains. Roll against DC 75, on success gain Item: Map of Dorms (Finished). +20 bonus to pranks and similar actions taken within the Dorms. Replaces Map of Dorms (Unfinished).

[ ] Family Money - Madavian would be happy to send away for money on your behalf (or spend some of his money on you and then replenish it later). However, he'd need a good reason to do so. Reason must be written in if no reason has come up in the thread. No Skill gains. Madavian rolls Cha vs DC (Variable) to gain a Variable number of Coins.

Locked Actions:

[ ] Craft Alchemical Recipe (Write-In) - Time to get your Alchemy on! Get in there and make something useful! Roll against DC ??? (depends on Recipe). Success adds Recipe to Inventory. Locked. Requires at least 1 rank in Craft: Alchemy. Requires access to Alchemical Equipment.

[ ] Craft Rune (Write-In) - Time to create the greatest Rune ever! Well, maybe a normal Rune. But a useful one! Locked. Requires knowledge of at least 1 Rune. Requires access to the Materials needed to engrave the Rune.

occipitallobe · Jun 12, 2017

Urgh, writing has been like pulling teeth today.

Ulos agreed to Radalscalp's terms pretty readily. The reality was, he thought, that Radalscalp got a great deal out of the bargain. Powerful magics from himself in a few years time, magics he might not want to give up. But in return, he offered power now, and that was a pretty good bargain. Even a minor power like the exploding brick would give Ulos a near-perfect escape tool, the sound and debris from the brick allowing him to evade enemies with ease.

He could even forge them and put them in useful places... the possibilities were endless.

He couldn't come back Monday, unfortunately. He had his tutoring session then, and it was going to be a brutal one.

(Magical Theory Tutoring Rolls: (4+1)+(4+1)+(2+1)+(2+1) = 16 * 4 = 64. Gained +2 Magical Theory. Current +22 Lore: Magical
Theory (25/30 next level))

Edward taught him all day, pushing him and sniping at him, forcing him to copy down diagram after diagram after diagram. Miserable, and Ulos hated every minute of it. Magical Theory was sometimes fun, sometimes interesting and clever, but today it was just tedious. Six hours in, Edward nodded.

"At least you're focusing. Come on down, we'll get lunch."

The other boy didn't smile. Ulos suspected he never smiled, except when he was making fun of someone.

They walked down, and Edward took him somewhere different. Rather than the teacher's lounge, he walked down the hallway and opened another door. Inside was an icebox, the runes for cold on steel gleaming atop it. Edward sighed, and Ulos felt - at the edges of his consciousness - magic move from Edward to the box.

"General price. You want to keep your stuff in here, you help keep it charged up"

He pulled out three sandwiches, each laden down with sliced roast beef, slightly soggy lettuce, and large hunks of cheese.

"One for you. Eat up, I'll eat while you copy the next fifteen diagrams from Tensor's Diagrammatic. Once you can explain to me the principles behind the changes in shape for what should be an identical spell, you get to eat."

Ulos walked back in. It was forty minutes before he managed to explain the diagrams. The sandwich had gone quite soggy by then, but it was still delicious.

It had been a good, if somewhat difficult session.

Tuesday was another day. Souls and Spirits continued to vex him. Little progress was made.

(Training Roll: 1x4 = 4, Gained +1 Lore: Souls and Spirits. Current = +11 Lore: Souls and Spirits (0/20 next level))

After class, though, he returned to Radalscalp.

The little man had clapped his hands in glee when Ulos has consented to the deal.

"Now, young Ulos. Time to talk about Clay Runes, I think. Here, look at how you might alter a Rune of Clay to decrease its energy requirements, or..."

(Runes Tutoring: (3+2+1)*4 = 24 . +1 Lore: Runes. Current is +11 Lore: Runes (12/20 next level)

It was soon after this Radalscalp started teaching him how to etch runes on clay, something he took to with ease. Learning how to etch on unformed clay and baked bricks was difficult, but he had the general idea fairly quickly.

(Runes Tutoring: (5+2)*4 = 28 . +4 Craft: Runes. Current is +5 Craft: Runes (8/10 next level)

(Learned Rune: Slumbering Brick!)

Lastly, Radalscalp turned to him.

"I have a set of tools that are most useful for engraving runes onto brick, young Ulos. Ten silver numismata and they're yours. I daresay I don't do a lot of brick work these days, and they might be more useful to you than to me..."

Ulos frowned. His purse was considerably lighter than it had been, but it might be a good purchase...

Later still, he found himself sitting and thinking, ready to study his Magic Pool. His mediations prior had not been successful, but these very well might be.

(Meditation Training (3)*5 = 15 . +3 Arcane Meditation. Current is +4 Arcane Meditation (0/5 next level)

He sat there for hours, breathing and meditation as instructed. It was at the very end of his practice that he felt something. Some glimmer of something unseen or unfelt before, and Ulos found himself drawn into his own mind, envisaging his Magic Pool. He saw it easily enough, a pool of blues and oranges all mixed together, swirling below him. And yet... something else lay beneath it. As he focused, he understood. The pool were the remnants dripping through a barrier placed to divert a river, droplets falling from a container larger than he could fathom.

The magic that he could see he could not touch, not even in his own mind. It flowed like a torrent behind invisible walls, the occasional dollop of it springing out from past barrier he could not understand, like floodwaters occasionally splashing over a wall built to restrain them.

He opened his eyes and shock, and the ability to envisage it vanished, gone like that same water flowing through his fingers.

"Damn it.", he muttered.

It made sense. He had not bargained away some portion of his magical power, but all of it. What remained to him was simply the inability of his Curse to transfer all the magic without losing a little, the same way that the occasional few stalks of wheat might fall out of a cart transporting them, or a coin or two might slip from the purse of a rich man without him noticing.

He felt the loss keenly for a moment.

"With all that..."

He shook his head. He had struck the bargain, and done well by it. Without the money made thereby he would never have made it here. Hopefully it could be remedied in future, but for now, the understanding was something. He thought again about telling Madavian, or perhaps Abraham, but...

No, even his friends should not know. The first rule of keeping secrets, he knew, was that two men can keep a secret if one of them is dead. Information carelessly ventured might find its way back to those who could use it, and nobody who knew what his Curse meant would be inclined to treat him favorably. Better to be another student with a bare trickle of magic, the same that most who practiced magic had. A little more unusual for Vorstallen, but not enough to be remarked upon.

Radalscalp offers Clay Runic Tools. +10 to all Craft: Rune rolls involving Runes of Clay. Cost 10 Coins.

[ ] Buy Them - Increasing the number of Runes you can put out is a huge advantage.

[ ] No, Don't - You're not spending hard-earned money on a minor trick.

occipitallobe · Jun 14, 2017

History was different today. Professor Junotrin was still there, a name he felt quite comfortable with. She was apparently Madavian's third or fourth cousin, and taught this class in-between her efforts as a research mage at the Preparatory. Kind eyes overlooked a hooked nose and thick brows, and her long grey hair made all this seem very formidable before she spoke.

When she spoke she was quite pleasant, often smiling when she turned in Ulos's direction. Of course, she probably knew he was one of Madavian's friends, so that was the most likely explanation there.

"Today, class, we are done with our cursory study of continental history. I think today as well, we will begin our first lecture on understanding."

She smiled at them.

"The average mage thinks of magic as not merely a tool, but the tool. There is some validity to this. Why bother with swords when you can summon a blade fifty times as sharp, and long enough to cut down a company of men? Why understand the simple ways of the smith when you can incinerate metal with a well-placed rune, using careful sigils to melt it into a precise shape? However, there are realms where magic is sorely deficient."

Suddenly, she looked at Ulos almost intently.

"Magic is a tool of unrivalled versatility, but only when harnessed by the greatest tool of all. The human mind. Great mages are destroyed by their lessers in power and knowledge when they are outsmarted, and the friendships and alliances forged between mages are as great a power as the magics themselves. There is a reason that the Five Families are mostly nonmagical, and the Senate of Narubar is made up entirely of those who are not mages."

She turned away from Ulos, looking at another part of the classroom.

"The average mage is deficient in many areas. If you can fly and visit lightning upon your enemies, why bother learning their names? If you can tear down a small village at will, why talk to the villagers, why reason with them? Why engage with them except as a superior unto his inferiors? Arrogance is often the mark of a freshly-graduated mage, and one that invariably ends in humility or death."

"The power of diplomacy is no small one, as is the power of history and knowledge. Knowledge that does not immediately lead to power is not useless, knowledge that allows you to understand your enemies and friends is more useful than you might think. Knowing the customs of another land is something no magic can teach you. You will often think to yourself 'Why am I learning something a non-mage could learn? Why bother with the tasks and tools of my inferiors?". When you think these thoughts, I urge you to remember that magic is not the only power in the world. Devoting yourself to your studies is a fine thing, but becoming a creature of magical knowledge only is to be a tool for those more adept in human relations and human knowledge than yourself."

She clapped her hands.

"Now, onto the second part of the course. We will be studying the cultures of the Six-Fox Pact, primarily those of Narubar and Uin-Malat. Narubar of course is well known to us all, producing the majority of the mages from the Pact. If you meet a Pact student here, they are likely to hail from Narubar. Let us talk about two of their customs. The first, military service, and the second, the dying of hair. These are of course the same custom, expressed in different ways."

She looked over at her audience. Not a single streak of blue hair met her there.

"Blue dye is common among Narubites. This is in part because of the ban on blue dyes by the Undying, who found them immensely useful for their magical studies into the nature of life and unlife, though for reasons we still do not know. Blue dye was the property of the Empire, and anyone discovering it would not be permitted to keep it. When the rebellion began, blue dye was a sign of outright defiance, and the rebels dyed their hair to show this. Of course, this was limited to those who fought. Only those who have undergone some military service are generally seen as having the right to use the blue dye. The amount used tends to be relevant to one's status in society, as well. A Senator's Scion might be permitted to dye their hair entirely blue, whereas someone from the orphanages might dye a single lock of hair blue. Over-using dye can often be punished with harsh social sanctions, and exclusion from the community."

She smiled.

"Secondly for today, let us talk about Uin-Malat. The second smallest nation in the Six-Fox Pact, at least in terms of population. Uin-Malat was founded by the mage Simon Bonesnapper, and is named after the two cities in the nation, Uinon and Malat. It is largely agricultural, and has a taboo against magic, like many of the Six-Fox Pact nations. Magic is generally permitted to be learned, but mages must be identified at all times, and research of any sort is strictly forbidden. Bonesnapper established his Iron Law of Magic when founding the nation, which states 'Magic may touch iron, but never flesh'. This establishes that any experimentation on humans or animals is forbidden."

"Alchemy is unknown there, and Uinon and Malat are both minor cities on the trade routes between other nations. We rarely see students from Uin-Malat, but when we do, they almost never return to their home country, usually preferring to join us here in Vorstal or occasionally returning the Pact, but to Narubar rather than Uin-Malat."

(Rolled (3x4) = 12. Lore: Six-Fox Pact + 2! Current +2 (2/5))

The day after, Ulos found himself doing Spellweaving exercises once more.

(Training Roll: ((5*2) = 10. Gained +1 Spellweaving! Current is +6 Spellweaving (1/10 next level))

It was a good day, and he felt he gained a little more than he would've normally.

Friday, they met up in the Library for their new study group. Abraham, Henrietta, and himself.

He spoke up.

"Henrietta, Abraham. Good to see you. I think I'd like to focus on two things. Firstly, the magical theory I know we're all studying. Ideally, spellforms of Water and Clay, if we can. I feel like discussing high-level theory is to some degree a waste here. If we know the forms and we can alter them and understand them, that's important. Going onto superior theory is... tough."

Henrietta's lip quirked.

"Are we that far behind you, Ulos?"

(Relationship Rolls: 80 vs DC 80, (Henrietta). Success! (85 + 30) = 115 vs DC 80 )Abraham. Success (maintenance)!)

Ulos frowned for a second, and then decided what to say. Henrietta would not appreciate lies, he thought, and sparing her ego wouldn't help her become better at magical theory.

"Right now? Yes. Abraham is a long, long way behind me, and you're a fair way behind as well. It's not that either of you are stupid or slow, but I spend an entire day every week being grilled by a genius upperclassman, and if I get anything wrong he mocks me. Relentlessly. Right now studying abstract theory would be more like tutoring for me than it would be studying, and while I'm okay with that, I wouldn't want to pretend. Rather, we memorize things that are useful to us all, so when we go back into the classroom we grasp the theory more easily."

Her lips smoothed back into the impassionate mask.

"As you say. Give me a few weeks, though. I'll catch up, tutor or no tutor."

Ulos nodded.

"Good."

Abraham didn't look particularly perturbed by this. The bigger boy had, he thought, somewhat less of an ego. While Ulos found humiliation rank and raw, even when it happened to others, Abraham simply took things in stride as best he could, borne on by the currents of life.

(Magical Theory Roll: (4*4) = 16 . Gained +1 Magical Theory. Current +23 Lore: Magical Theory (11/30 next level))

After a few hours, Ulos held up his hand.

"I think, next... Abraham and I want to study Narubite customs and history. For both class and personal interest. You in?"

Henrietta looked at him for a moment, and shrugged. Even her shrugs seemed elegant, though Ulos had no idea how.

"I think so. Studying with you is always interesting, at the very least."

(Rolled (4x4) = 16. Lore: Six-Fox Pact + 3! Current +5 Lore: Six-Fox Pact (3/10))

A few more hours, and they finished up. Ulos smiled at the two.

"Thanks for coming. And Henrietta..."

His voice trailed off. She looked at him quizzically, waiting for him to go on.

"Just.. if you need anything, or something happens, just let us know. Ok?"

She nodded.

"Of course, Ulos. Likewise for you?"

He smiled.

"For sure. What are friends for, right?"

Voting post up in just a little bit.

occipitallobe · Jun 14, 2017

You presently have 1 Willpower. 2 Willpower is locked behind your Locked Action, Tutoring Session: Magical Theory. 1 Willpower is locked behind Tutor Your Friends, giving Ulos a total of 2 Willpower per week. The pool will regenerate after this turn.

Ulos will take 4 Actions, but one of these is locked in as Tutor Your Friends. You cannot unlock this without abandoning the Tutoring Sessions entirely. As such, only 3 Actions will be taken from this list.

Temporary/One-Off Actions:

[ ] Appraise your Artifact - Sure, you can't do it, but you can find someone who can. Knowing what that Artifact does might be key to either keeping it or selling it for a good sum. Roll Cha vs DC (Moderate). Success offers information about Artifact. Failure offers no information. Critical failure offers completely false information. Roll will be hidden. Action is removed once either a success is rolled
or a critical failure is rolled.

Offensive/Defensive Actions:

[ ] Scout out your Rivals - Pretty standard. Go spy on your enemies. Roll vs your Rival's roll to avoid being scouted. If you beat their Roll, gain +20 on all Actions against them (defensive or offensive) for the remainder of the week.

[ ] Launch an Assault! - You have Itching Powder now, you can do something terrible (ly amusing)! Make your enemies itch in class to humiliate them, douse their clothes in it to force them to miss valuable learning sessions, or even convince onlookers they have some sort of disease. Roll vs your Rival's roll to succeed. A regular success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action. A major success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action and their classes for that day. A critical success will cause both these effects and cause them to be humiliated, reducing all Relationships with anyone who observes this humilation by one step.

[ ] The Brickworks - Use your newfound tools and knowledge to carve up some sweet, sweet Slumbering Bricks. Litter the walkways with them, put them anywhere you tend to go as long as they can be reasonably hidden. Offers a chance for any confrontation to involve a Slumbering Brick that you and your friends can activate. Slumbering Bricks allow an automatic escape from almost any situation, or alternatively a free attack on your opponent. Will take a lot of time and effort. Roll against DC 40 vs Craft: Rune up to 4 times, or until you fail. The first four successes (this Action may be taken multiple times - successes refers to number of successes on all Brickworks Actions) will offer you and your three friends a small brick apiece, which offers a 50% chance to withdraw from a hostile situation. Each success after that offers a +5% chance for any confrontation to involve a Slumbering Brick, which will offer an automatic withdrawal from hostile situations. Willpower upgrade - By focusing hard on this task and working to discover the best ways to etch runes in clay and bricks, all Clay Rune DCs are reduced by 1.

Training Actions:

[ ] Start Studying (Write-In Subject) - You have your textbooks. Next step is reading through them. Sort of nerdy, but hey, aren't you here to learn? Gain a Training Roll associated with the subject you choose. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain 2 Training Rolls. -1 to all Training Rolls of this sort due current roommate penalty.

[ ] Relentlessly Practice Magical Combat - Use some of your little magic to practice your Spellweaving. Abraham will help you, using his progidious Magic Pool to help you deal with, avoid, and retreat from spells. Gain a Training Roll on the lower of Combat: Evasion and Combat: Retreat, as well as a Training Roll vs Channeling. This will help Abraham practice his own Magical Combat. Willpower Upgrade offers a second Training Roll for the applicable Combat Skill. Shooting at you with fireballs is not easy for Abraham, who will spend 1 Willpower undertaking this Action.

[ ] Study Group - The Study Group needs to get going if you're going to dominate your subjects. Get your books, get your bag, and head on over to the Library to get the librarians to let you into a study room. Gain a Training Roll for Lore: Theory of Magic or Lore: Six-Fox Pact. 20% chance for Relationship improvement (DC 80). Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain two Training Rolls. Can only be taken twice per Week max.

[ ] Practice Spell (Write-In From Spellbook) - Time to practice a spell. Get better, cast faster, cast cheaper. Roll against DC (??? depends on Spell). Takes ??? Magic Pool, where ??? is equal to a Spell's cost times 5. Character gains an additional Training roll if they still have more mana after practicing. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain an additional two Training Rolls if you have enough mana for it.

Diplomacy and Discovery Actions:

[ ] Hang Out With A Friend (Write-in Friend) - It's good to spend time with people you know. Maybe take a break, and hang with one of your friends. Available options include Madavian Junotrin, Henrietta Aufstadt, Lucy Firefield and Abraham Quincey. Increase Relationship by one step. Roll against DC (Variable, depending on friendship level). On success, increase Relationship by another step.

[ ] Madavian's Speed Dating Agency - With Madavian here to help you, you'll have an easier time of meeting new people. Gain two Diplomacy Rolls. Madavian's presence also offers one reroll, mitigating any unpleasant social consequences (reroll will be taken after both rolls, reroll will prioritize Critical Failures over regular Failures). Willpower upgrade - Spend 1 point to gain a third Diplomacy Roll.

[ ] Go Exploring - It's a big campus, and you haven't seen the half of it. Who knows what you could find? Roll 1D100 vs ???. Success offers ???, failure offers ???. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain a second roll. Spend 2 points to gain a third roll.

[ ] Study your Magic Pool - You need to learn to meditate, focus, and understand what is happening in the Ether, and in yourself when you draw from it. Gaining such inner understanding may shed light on your Curse's functionality. Gain a Training Roll for Skill: Meditation versus Willpower.

[ ] Suck Up To Inukar - Figure out what they like. Do the research. Then suck up. Not hard in theory. Roll against DC 40 (depends on teacher) vs Cha and Lore: Magical Theory. Success increases teacher's Relationship by one step and future DC of this Action sharply. Locked for all teachers who are not Inukar (insufficient Relationship).

Crafting, Gathering & Shopping Actions:

[ ] Gather Mushrooms - Unlocked by your knowledge of the Secret Mushroom Colony. Self-explanatory. Roll against DC ??? using either Lore: Alchemy or Lore: Magical Plants. On success, gain ???.

[ ] Go to the Marketplace - You have money to spend and items to sell. You need to spend some time gearing up, finding tutors, spells, artifacts, items, and more. Activates Shopping Mini-Turn with more Actions within it (including "Find a Buyer" for your items), allowing the buying and selling of items and services.

[ ] Search for Ingredients - You don't know about a whole lot of Alchemical Ingredients, but you can go looking. Even if you don't find exactly what you're looking for, you can scout out good places. Roll against DC ???. On success, find Ingredients. On critical success find a Location with Ingredients.

[ ] Map out the Dorms - So you've got a pretty decent map of the Dorms. You can do better, right? Get the more obscure students' details, look at their timetables as best you can, figure out what routes people take... really get the map going.. No skill gains. Roll against DC 75, on success gain Item: Map of Dorms (Finished). +20 bonus to pranks and similar actions taken within the Dorms. Replaces Map of Dorms (Unfinished).

[ ] Family Money - Madavian would be happy to send away for money on your behalf (or spend some of his money on you and then replenish it later). However, he'd need a good reason to do so. Reason must be written in if no reason has come up in the thread. No Skill gains. Madavian rolls Cha vs DC (Variable) to gain a Variable number of Coins.

Locked Actions:

[ ] Craft Alchemical Recipe (Write-In) - Time to get your Alchemy on! Get in there and make something useful! Roll against DC ??? (depends on Recipe). Success adds Recipe to Inventory. Locked. Requires at least 1 rank in Craft: Alchemy. Requires access to Alchemical Equipment.

occipitallobe · Jun 18, 2017

The weekend began as most weekends started.

Ulos woke up, swinging himself down, feet planting firmly on Madavian's bed. Madavian grumbled for a moment and turned over, going back to sleep. He sprung past Abraham, who was curled up on the floor, wrapped in a large feather-downed quilt inside a oiled canvas sleeping bag. Waking Madavian wouldn't matter, the other boy went back to sleep in seconds anyway, but Abraham was a light sleeper nowadays. Ulos shook his head. After all he'd gone through rooming with Thomas, he could see why.

Usually they studied, but today Ulos had plans. Ordinarily he struggled to better himself, but sometimes you needed to get one over your opponents. Today was for preparation.

Firstly he snuck out, taking his crafting tools with him. He sat down to begin crafting, scratching runes onto bricks, copying the page he had been given onto brick after brick. Ordinarily, he thought, it would be best to recruit the others, let them guard him while he did this, to find somewhere. That way he could activate the first one, and just make sure it went ok. No, best to leave them alone. The bricks were meant to be loud and visible, and he didn't want to attract attention.

He found after a few hours, it came naturally to him. Copying the rune across,

At the end, he sighed. It had been difficult, but he thought he'd activate one, just to make sure.

He concentrated, and put his magic into the rune.

Nothing.

He blinked. He was sure he'd gotten it right.

He focused on the next rune.

Nothing.

He looked at the rune he had been given, and down at the bricks. They looked exactly the same!

Except...

Ah.

"Shit!"

The rune was sketched on a piece of thin paper, delicate and dark ink running across the face of the paper. So dark, in face, it seeped a little through the paper itself, easily visible on the other side.

The side he had copied from.

"Three hours!", he said.

He groaned, and took to the work of smashing the bricks. He ground and threw them against each other, so the rune would not be visible. Best if nobody knew what he'd been doing.

(3 + 10 (Phys) + 10 (Clay Crafting Tools) + 5 Craft (Rune) = 28. Failure. -1 DC to all Clay Runes!)

Later on that day, he took to mapping the dorms again. It was a quick and easy endeavour, as Madavian had quietly written down the names of everyone he was in classes with, and used that information to somehow figure out where the rest of the year took classes. He had spent the week simply studying the others in their year, and Madavian even did a quick sketch with coloured lines the political relationship between various students.

Plan out a prank, see who got mad, who might retaliate, who might feel threatened. It was a pretty solid thing.

(Map Out the Dorms - 99 vs DC 75! Critical success! Gained Map of Dorms (Superior). +25 bonus to pranks and similar actions taken within the Dorms)

(Bonus roll one! 5 vs ???. Something cool missed.)

(Bonus roll two! 66 vs ???. Success! Something cool found!)

It was later on that day that Henrietta came down to meet him, dressed in a conservative grey dress. Sometimes he wondered if she preferred grey, or simply found it easier to avoid notice that way.

"I know you've been mapping out the dorms, Ulos. Preparing for something?"

He nodded.

"You know, I'm not your equal in magical theory. Not yet. But I have an idea."

She looked at him.

"It is possible to enchant your map. I've seen the schema for similar items, they're not especially complicated runic devices. You put life detection runes that need virtually no mana somewhere, and have them each entangled to another set of runes on the map. You need to build the map out of something durable, ideally, maybe steel or stone, but it's not hard to do. It's a pretty basic setup for a defensive laboratory. We could copy the map across to something more durable, and work on runes to link it to each part of the dorms. The runes take a few seconds to recharge, and you can just lean on the wall or something once every few weeks to recharge them."

Unlocked Option - The Magical Map!

The next day, Ulos found himself meditating again. Magic that had not been easy to feel previously expanded a little, and he came to realise that even when out of sight, he could sense in the vaguest sense magic elsewhere. Of course, there were simple spells to do the same thing, but there was certainly some value to being able to sense magic yourself.

(Meditation Training (3)*5 = 15 . +2 Arcane Meditation. Current is +6 Arcane Meditation (0/10 next level)

It was later on that day that Madavian returned to the room, and spoke to him.

"Hey, Ulos. Note for you."

He handed over a piece of paper.

Please come to my office within the hour. - Inukar

The Magical Theory building was maybe thirty minutes away by foot. Ulos stood up immediately, and jogged off.

A little while later, he went into Inukar's office.

"Welcome, Ulos."

The barrel-chested man looked him up and down,

"Every term, there's a meeting between the various schools, to discuss magical co-operation and exchange. Bunch of useless tosh, to be honest, but good networking. Good food, too. This year it's held in the Outer Ring College, over next weekend. Every year I take one first-year with me as a gofer, someone to carry my books and get me coffee. I mean, everyone does. They generally pick their most talented students, though. It's you or the Aufstadt girl for me, but after she got caught cheating, well..."

He smiled.

"Henrietta's very good, Senior Mage. We study together, and she's almost caught up with me."

"That's as may be, but I'm not enthusiastic about her character. So, how about it?"

Inukar has invited you to the Yearly Vorstallen Magical Co-operation and Exchange Conference.

[ ] Yes, go - Next weekend will not have any Actions taken, instead being replaced with a minor Adventure. Who knows what could happen? Meet other mages, explore another campus, and try not to start a feud between your school and another! You will, however, need to hold your tutoring session earlier in the week.

+ Adventure has all sorts of boosts if successful. Networking opportunities, intrigue, diplomacy, and maybe even combat! Probably not combat.
+ Possible major boost to Inukar relationship.
- Only two Actions next week, as you need to Tutor Abraham and Madavian earlier.
- Next Weekend has no Actions for obvious reasons.

[ ] Argue For Henrietta - Henrietta is a major fan of Magical Theory, and setting her up to meet and spend time with Inukar means she'll be able to impress one of her teachers. Low chance of success, as Inukar doesn't think much of her. Arguing for her and failing will have Inukar move on to his third choice - you cannot take this choice, fail, and then go yourself.

+ Henrietta gets a minor boost with Inukar as well as bonuses from the Adventure.
+ Major boost to your friendship with Henrietta.
- Don't get to go on an (albeit minor) Adventure.
- Low chance of success.

~~[ ] Don't Go - Just stay and do nothing. Henrietta doesn't deserve to go anyway.~~ Cannot be taken due to Trait: True Friend or No Friend.

A note as well. Willpower reserves can be spent on Adventures for bonuses to rolls or to take superior alternative actions. Spending them all may not be wise.

You presently have 2 Willpower. 2 Willpower is locked behind your Locked Action, Tutoring Session: Magical Theory. 1 Willpower is locked behind Tutor Your Friends, giving Ulos a total of 2 Willpower per week. The pool will regenerate after this turn.

Ulos will take 4 Actions, but one of these is locked in as Tutor Your Friends. You cannot unlock this without abandoning the Tutoring Sessions entirely. As such, only 3 Actions will be taken from this list.

If the thread votes to go the Conference, only 2 Actions will be taken from this list.

Temporary/One-Off Actions:

[ ] Appraise your Artifact - Sure, you can't do it, but you can find someone who can. Knowing what that Artifact does might be key to either keeping it or selling it for a good sum. Roll Cha vs DC (Moderate). Success offers information about Artifact. Failure offers no information. Critical failure offers completely false information. Roll will be hidden. Action is removed once either a success is rolled
or a critical failure is rolled.

Offensive/Defensive Actions:

[ ] Scout out your Rivals - Pretty standard. Go spy on your enemies. Roll vs your Rival's roll to avoid being scouted. If you beat their Roll, gain +20 on all Actions against them (defensive or offensive) for the remainder of the week.

[ ] Launch an Assault! - You have Itching Powder now, you can do something terrible (ly amusing)! Make your enemies itch in class to humiliate them, douse their clothes in it to force them to miss valuable learning sessions, or even convince onlookers they have some sort of disease. Roll vs your Rival's roll to succeed. A regular success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action. A major success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action and their classes for that day. A critical success will cause both these effects and cause them to be humiliated, reducing all Relationships with anyone who observes this humilation by one step.

[ ] The Brickworks - Use your newfound tools and knowledge to carve up some sweet, sweet Slumbering Bricks. Litter the walkways with them, put them anywhere you tend to go as long as they can be reasonably hidden. Offers a chance for any confrontation to involve a Slumbering Brick that you and your friends can activate. Slumbering Bricks allow an automatic escape from almost any situation, or alternatively a free attack on your opponent. Will take a lot of time and effort. Roll against DC 40 vs Craft: Rune up to 4 times, or until you fail. The first four successes (this Action may be taken multiple times - successes refers to number of successes on all Brickworks Actions) will offer you and your three friends a small brick apiece, which offers a 50% chance to withdraw from a hostile situation. Each success after that offers a +5% chance for any confrontation to involve a Slumbering Brick, which will offer an automatic withdrawal from hostile situations. Willpower upgrade - By focusing hard on this task and working to discover the best ways to etch runes in clay and bricks, all Clay Rune DCs are reduced by 1.

Training Actions:

[ ] Start Studying (Write-In Subject) - You have your textbooks. Next step is reading through them. Sort of nerdy, but hey, aren't you here to learn? Gain a Training Roll associated with the subject you choose. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain 2 Training Rolls. -1 to all Training Rolls of this sort due current roommate penalty.

[ ] Relentlessly Practice Magical Combat - Use some of your little magic to practice your Spellweaving. Abraham will help you, using his progidious Magic Pool to help you deal with, avoid, and retreat from spells. Gain a Training Roll on the lower of Combat: Evasion and Combat: Retreat, as well as a Training Roll vs Channeling. This will help Abraham practice his own Magical Combat. Willpower Upgrade offers a second Training Roll for the applicable Combat Skill. Shooting at you with fireballs is not easy for Abraham, who will spend 1 Willpower undertaking this Action.

[ ] Study Group - The Study Group needs to get going if you're going to dominate your subjects. Get your books, get your bag, and head on over to the Library to get the librarians to let you into a study room. Gain a Training Roll for Lore: Theory of Magic or Lore: Six-Fox Pact. 20% chance for Relationship improvement (DC 80). Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain two Training Rolls. Can only be taken twice per Week max.

[ ] Practice Spell (Write-In From Spellbook) - Time to practice a spell. Get better, cast faster, cast cheaper. Roll against DC (??? depends on Spell). Takes ??? Magic Pool, where ??? is equal to a Spell's cost times 5. Character gains an additional Training roll if they still have more mana after practicing. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain an additional two Training Rolls if you have enough mana for it.

Diplomacy and Discovery Actions:

[ ] Hang Out With A Friend (Write-in Friend) - It's good to spend time with people you know. Maybe take a break, and hang with one of your friends. Available options include Madavian Junotrin, Henrietta Aufstadt, Lucy Firefield and Abraham Quincey. Increase Relationship by one step. Roll against DC (Variable, depending on friendship level). On success, increase Relationship by another step.

[ ] Madavian's Speed Dating Agency - With Madavian here to help you, you'll have an easier time of meeting new people. Gain two Diplomacy Rolls. Madavian's presence also offers one reroll, mitigating any unpleasant social consequences (reroll will be taken after both rolls, reroll will prioritize Critical Failures over regular Failures). Willpower upgrade - Spend 1 point to gain a third Diplomacy Roll.

[ ] Go Exploring - It's a big campus, and you haven't seen the half of it. Who knows what you could find? Roll 1D100 vs ???. Success offers ???, failure offers ???. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain a second roll. Spend 2 points to gain a third roll.

[ ] Study your Magic Pool - You need to learn to meditate, focus, and understand what is happening in the Ether, and in yourself when you draw from it. Gaining such inner understanding may shed light on your Curse's functionality. Gain a Training Roll for Skill: Meditation versus Willpower.

[ ] Suck Up To Inukar - Figure out what they like. Do the research. Then suck up. Not hard in theory. Roll against DC 40 (depends on teacher) vs Cha and Lore: Magical Theory. Success increases teacher's Relationship by one step and future DC of this Action sharply. Locked for all teachers who are not Inukar (insufficient Relationship).

Crafting, Gathering & Shopping Actions:

[ ] Gather Mushrooms - Unlocked by your knowledge of the Secret Mushroom Colony. Self-explanatory. Roll against DC ??? using either Lore: Alchemy or Lore: Magical Plants. On success, gain ???.

[ ] The Magical Map - You and Henrietta, working together on a magical map. Henrietta has done some research, and you have a good map to begin with. This Action will roll initially versus Lore: Runes to begin figuring out what to do and where. DC is ???. Once the research roll is complete, you may begin construct the Magical Map. The Magical Map offers awareness of living creatures within the Dorms. This means you can reliably target empty (or full rooms), offering new and powerful options when engaging in an attack. It also offers perfect awareness of people coming towards your room. It will be made of stone, clay, or metal. Offers a Roll vs DC 70 to improve Relationship one step with Henrietta.

[ ] Go to the Marketplace - You have money to spend and items to sell. You need to spend some time gearing up, finding tutors, spells, artifacts, items, and more. Activates Shopping Mini-Turn with more Actions within it (including "Find a Buyer" for your items), allowing the buying and selling of items and services.

[ ] Search for Ingredients - You don't know about a whole lot of Alchemical Ingredients, but you can go looking. Even if you don't find exactly what you're looking for, you can scout out good places. Roll against DC ???. On success, find Ingredients. On critical success find a Location with Ingredients.

[ ] Map out the Dorms - So you've got a pretty decent map of the Dorms. You can do better, right? Get the more obscure students' details, look at their timetables as best you can, figure out what routes people take... really get the map going.. No skill gains. Roll against DC 75, on success gain Item: Map of Dorms (Finished). +20 bonus to pranks and similar actions taken within the Dorms. Replaces Map of Dorms (Unfinished).

[ ] Family Money - Madavian would be happy to send away for money on your behalf (or spend some of his money on you and then replenish it later). However, he'd need a good reason to do so. Reason must be written in if no reason has come up in the thread. No Skill gains. Madavian rolls Cha vs DC (Variable) to gain a Variable number of Coins.

Locked Actions:

[ ] Craft Alchemical Recipe (Write-In) - Time to get your Alchemy on! Get in there and make something useful! Roll against DC ??? (depends on Recipe). Success adds Recipe to Inventory. Locked. Requires at least 1 rank in Craft: Alchemy. Requires access to Alchemical Equipment.

occipitallobe · Jun 22, 2017

"I'll go."

Inukar smiled.

"Good. You know, Edward went to this a few years ago. Hated it. Would not shut up about it, either."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the boy's smart, but he's not..."

Inukar shrugged.

"Well, not that diplomatic, I guess."

Odd. Ulos felt he had been about to say something completely different.

On Monday, as per usual, he had his brutal day of tutoring. Edward showed up, and looked him up and down.

"Headed to the conference?"

"Yes."

"Pointless thing. Inukar thinks 'making connections' is important. The reality is, though... if you're a good enough mage, the connections get made for you. Anyway. They'll probably quiz you on magical valence between branches of magic. It's not really related to what we generally talk about, but I'd prefer if you didn't make an idiot of yourself after Inukar introduces you as someone tutored by me."

Ulos tried to speak, but Edward simply kept going.

"So. Magical valence is weird, and to be honest, fairly new. The idea that runes and sigils interact with one another is fairly common - the magic comes into the world, and if it doesn't come in the right way it has problems. You can disrupt sigils this way by flooding them with waves of raw Ether, though doing so is tough and to be honest, raw Ether is something you don't want to handle without an artifact doing the heavy lifting for you."

"Don't we handle raw Ether when we draw on magic and bring it into the world?"

Edward's eyes widened for a second.

"Right. Inukar likes to teach the same way I do - get the equations in first to see who has the mental fortitude and intelligence to figure it out, and then move on to the grand unifying business. I find the latter more interesting, but it's undeniable the former has more immediately utility to you. So..."

Edward turned for a second, lost in thought.

"Raw Ether?"

"Right. The Primordial Ether is genuinely Primordial, or so the theory goes. At least the theory I subscribe to. The entire world is made out of Primordial Ether taking the forms of, well, stuff. Spirits are just slightly more animated versions of Ether. We only see so many of them because, being animate, they tend to be easier to spot. We don't know this for sure of course, but it fits with our knowledge. Spirits are unpredictable because there's no guiding principle for them like there is in nature."

Edward gestured over at the wall of Inukar's office, where a bookcase sat. Ulos had no idea what he was pointing to, exactly, but dutifully craned his head as to not to seem stupid.

"Ether itself is supremely dangerous. We don't really know why some people can access it, but something about human intention and action transforms Ether into a constrained space where it becomes a controlled effect. If you draw Ether into the world, on the other hand, it is not constrained or controlled. Doing this is difficult, as if Ether is not channeled by some other effect, such as a Sigil, it is channeled by the human body."

Edward looked down at the bookcase further, drawing out a book. He flipped it open. Inside was a picture of a man with black and green protrusions coming out of his body.

"Channeling Ether into the human body is extraordinarily difficult, thankfully. My personal opinion is that those who lacked the mental mechanisms to naturally safeguard themselves from doing so died, leaving the existing mages as those who naturally have such mechanisms. It is why you might be able to feel or touch your magic pool, in some abstract sense. You cannot, however, unless you are very unlucky, draw it naturally in to yourself. If you can do so, you are likely to do so in a moment of accidental panic or foolish experimentation. At which point, the random nature of the Primordial Ether touches the human body, which is a piece of pristine and perfect clockwork doing a hundred thousand different things. The effect is not dissimilar to taking a sledgehammer to a pocket watch, at least in terms of damage."

"So how does this relate to magical valence?"

Edward looked at him.

"Well, this is largely my own research. Valence is a rough notion, one not fully explored. Notably, though, you cannot destroy a Spirit with magic. The effects of a Spirit, certainly. An embodied and active Spirit, though, is literally invincible and unstoppable. It will tear through magical constructs as if they are not even there, ignore the most esoteric attacks, and destroy any sort of magic it comes into contact with."

He smiled.

"Magically, this holds true for other things. If you wish to interrupt not merely the form magic is being channeled in, but the raw Ether itself, it is necessary to counter it with Ether as well. Artifacts can be made capable of refining Ether into a usable, but still somewhat raw form. A 'counterspell' if you will. This is not particularly interesting, excepting that this 'refined Ether' is very similar to the magic we feel within the forms of our sigils and runes. It is the same stuff, simply not as directed, not as shaped."

"The interesting thing, though, is that Ether has valency once refined. Sigil Ether and Runic Ether counteract one another, repelling one another in a sense and scattering a spell. This holds true for runes against runes and sigils against sigils, as well. However, Alchemical Ether is the opposite. I know, personally, several Alchemical Recipes that require a charged Rune as a recipe, and trying to counterspell an Alchemical Concoction often makes it stronger, though not to any useful degree."

Ulos looked at Edward, a little confused.

"So... Ether changes according to how we use it? And different forms of Ether have different effects on each other?"

"Two effects. There are only two 'directions' Ether can be refined in, as far as we know. Of course, valency postulates the existence of another branch of magic. Sigils and Runes use the same Ether, what is the corresponding branch to Alchemy? Something I hope to discover, at any rate."

Ulos's eyebrows went up.

"Shouldn't this be a secret?"

Edward chuckled.

"Oh, the fabled Fifth Magisterium is a fairly common legend. I think the facts bear out it exists, others think it might not, or perhaps is not discoverable with our current knowledge. Anyway, it's not really anything you'll need to focus on anytime soon, but I thought the notion of valency would be a useful one, coming up to the conference. I want us back on illusion sigils, anyway. Write out these exercises, and..."

(Magical Theory Roll: (3+3+5+5+1+1+1+1) * 4 = 80 . Gained +2 Magical Theory. Current +25 Lore: Magical Theory (31/35 next level))

Later on, Ulos decided to try and figure out the damned Artifact, one more time.

(Artifact Roll: 38 + 10 (CHA) + 5 (Lore: Runes / 2) = 53 vs DC 50. Success!)

It was obvious, now Ulos thought about it. He recognised a rune for water on there, which was rather odd. Of course, who would know more about magical theory than Edward?

He went back to the office that day, finding Edward engaged in a shouting match with Inukar. He stood outside the door for a minute, his hand moving away from the handle as soon as he heard the shouting.

"Shut up old man! You think you know everything because you've spent a few years studying?"

"That's enough out of you, child. You're arrogant and foolish, and being good at something isn't the same as being experienced. When you live as long as I have, you either learn how to survive or you don't survive."

"Coward."

"You think I'm a coward, Edward? Look at me. Look at me! I've been delving into magic for decades and I'm still alive. You think I got scars because OI'm careless? No, I only have scars because I'm careful, you young idiot! You don't know what careful means, because this is the first time you've found something actually dangerous. Or interesting, for that matter. I'm telling you. Study it with me. Go slowly. Live."

Ulos backed up the hallway a bit.

"I'm sitting on the greatest.... and you want me to go slowly? No! No, I-"

A few minutes later, the door burst open and an extremely angry Edward burst out. Upon seeing Ulos, he took a deep breath, as if ready to yell, and then slumped down, all the fight leaving his lanky body.

"Ulos? What are you doing here?"

"Um, I have this amulet I acquired, and I want to figure out what it does?"

"Artifact?"

Ulos nodded.

"How did you- no, don't tell me. Knowing would just make it more boring. Come with me, we'll have a look."

Edward led him outside, down a ways, and into a small thicket of trees, one of many that littered the campus. Inside was a seat in a clearing, the sun shining down onto a field of grass.

"Now, let's look at this amulet of yours."

Edward turned it over, and muttered a few words. He looked at it for a little bit longer, and then smiled.

"Oh, this is reasonably standard. Very, very good craftmanship, though. Impressive. It's an Alchemical Amulet of some sort."

"Alchemical Amulet?"

"Protects you from vapors, liquids, stray fumes of semi-raw Ether if any happen to come out. Very interesting construction."

You have identified the Amulet as the Amulet of Purification. Requires 150 Magic Points to fully charge. When activated, offers six hours of protection against poisons, acids, and harmful liquids and particulate matter of all kinds, converting them to either pure water or pure air before coming into contact with the mage. Allows +1 to all Craft: Alchemy Training Rolls, and +20 to all rolls to improve a Recipe as you are able to weather far worse conditions to improve your magics. Allows you to imbibe any liquid without fear of poisoning. Only needs to be charged once every month due to extraordinary workmanship.

Edward looked intently at it.

"The workmanship is precise, and extremely good. Hmmm."

He looked thoughtful.

"I'd like to exchange it for something of mine, if you're interested in a trade. I have a few Artifacts scattered about, of similar scale. Want to take me up on it?"

[ ] Yes! You're no Alchemist anyway! - Go straight for a different Artifact. Edward has two for trade (of roughly equal value, within 25 Coins of the Amulet's value either way). If you vote Yes, please vote for a sub-vote.

+ No incriminating Artifact.
+ Get a new sweet Artifact!
- Lose an amazing Alchemical Artifact
- Also great for countering poisons and such, as well as fumes which are excellent attack vectors in your first year.

[ ] The Rainbow Hammer. Getting into a battle, but don't have a large Magic Pool? The Lens is here to help! Runes are carved into an opal that is set in a small pendant shaped like a hammer. Holding it and using the command words allows the user to fire three forms of kinetic force - blunt kinetic force to incapacitate, sharp kinetic force to slice and kill, and percussive force in the air to make really loud sounds. Can store up to 250 Magic Points. Blunt attacks use 30 points, sharp attacks use 10, and percussive sound strikes use 150. Blunt attacks will break (but not shatter) bones, and are only deadly if aimed at the head. Sharp attacks will cut a human being in half. Percussive attacks will inflict deafness for ten or fifteen minutes to everyone nearby.

[ ] The Fear Capacitor. The secondary option. A simple thick copper wire wrapped around a topaz, runes carved into both the copper and topaz respectively. Not hugely effective against experienced mages, but a great crowd control tool otherwise. Want to inflic pants-wetting terror on your opponents? Done. Want to do anything else? Not on the cards, sorry. Against mundane opponents it's essentially unstoppable, and against mages who haven't prepared a defense or haven't properly practiced one it can be a fantastic alpha strike capacity. Can store up to 100 Magic Points. Fear attacks cost 5 Magic Points per person, and last about five to ten minutes. Can be stacked on top of each other for added effect.

[ ] Keep the Amulet of Purification. Not as offensively oriented as what Edward is offering you (why is he offering you such powerful, damaging tools?), but offers a near-complete defense against poisons and fumes, as well as improving any possible Alchemical training and classes. Of course, it does leave you offensively without any power whatsoever. Benefits as above.

Vorstallen Magic Preparatory - The Third-Best School for Young Mages in the Nation! Enrol Today!

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks

occipitallobe

occipitallobe

occipitallobe

occipitallobe

occipitallobe

occipitallobe

occipitallobe

occipitallobe

occipitallobe

occipitallobe

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks