Hey! Checking back in. Thread seems back up to it's usual speed I see.
Do they want that? Because it bypass their buffer swamp.
I think this was laid out better a few posts after yours, but I'm on the side that says just revealing that we have the spell is where they'll see a threat if they are inclined so, but the bridge is actually a pretty nice practical bit of diplomacy. Plus I like the idea that we weaponize a mountain for the dwarves, then turn a swamp into a road for the elves. Shows range.
It's a shame that Hubert, Gretel, Johann, Max, and Adella's careers seem to have flatlined. If they'd had the drive and talent to teach Lord Magister we'd form quite the cross-College power block.
I think that in one sense you are right- the college academic organizations- but in the sense that they are acquiring power? Army artillery, elite mercenary unit, and knightly order are all places they could end up as the left hand of the commander while remaining journeymen. So I think that the careers are going places, it's just that we got ducklings who were adventurers at heart.
Plus I hold out hope for both Adella and Gretel- Adella because she seems to be fumbling towards a new artillery unit type like a modern mortar or rocket battery, and Gretel because she's off in Madison Dog Pass and that plotline hasn't been on screen in forever.
Max I think is split between his highly successful day job of writing well respected manuscripts and his love of hammering hot metal with the dream of transmutation in his heart. He could have a late blossoming.
Johann is set for being the ambassador to the elves as his next gig, probably going to get the same offer from the chancellor's office that we did as newly made lady magister. He's got the dwarf and elf experience, and if not the same sort of personal reputation as Mathilde, he isn't far behind.
Most descriptions of Beastform say you can't cast spells while it's active, so unless you have a version of the spell that allows that you'd need two Ambers to "cheese" it like that.
I kinda like the idea that it took an amber version of Mathilde's mystical matrix to enable this. But c'est la vie.
That's a pretty good reason for the library! I know this is a years ago longshot but does anyone remember the specific thread discussions so I can know the out of character reasons?
I wrote up the U-K8P apocrypha originally because I liked the idea of a combination library and diplomatic bolt-hole for the orders if the empire ever turned against mages again, all wrapped in the shell of a university to give it structure and plausiblity. Other contender I remember was a flying dreadnought, and of course the 'not now' faction. In the end, we settled on a slimmed down version that dropped the refuge aspects, but the discussion around the exact wording of the boon was a lot of fun.
