Greatowl University [Fantasy RP]

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

"It's odd. Almost as if someone had enchanted an illusion then taken that magic away. But why would someone make an illusion of a door?"

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Can Fumecasting and Enchanting be used by the same person or are they mutually exclusive?

@Knight of Iron @Channelknight Fadran

Edited August 2, 2022 by The Unknown Novel

[Channelknight Fadran]

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I haven't determined which form Fumecasting stems from, if any. 

 

[Trutharchivist he/him]

2 hours ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

I haven't determined which form Fumecasting stems from, if any. 

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I think it's supposed to be based on Physical Realm magic, so kind of another branch of PR magic in addition to Enchanting? We'll have to see what Knight says, too. 

I'm just pushing myself here... I helped build the original Realmatic theory, so I think I do know a thing or two, but it's your magic system.

 

[Channelknight Fadran]

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It was developed outside of the realmatic system, which makes it rather difficult to pin down.

In other words, I need to go check up on it and see what has to change.

 

[Knight of Iron she/they]

3 hours ago, The Unknown Novel said:

"It's odd. Almost as if someone had enchanted an illusion then taken that magic away. But why would someone make an illusion of a door?"

@Knight of Iron @Channelknight Fadran

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Fadran and I have now figured it out, so to answer your question: Yes, but actually no.

A Fumecaster is by nature an Enchanter, but most of their Enchanting powers are used up because of the fumes. The fumes can be more powerful than Enchanting sometimes in terms of raw power, but there is less control over them and far less versatility. A powerful Enchanter and a powerful Fumecaster are completely different and would seem as completely different magic systems. Society currently sees Fumecasting as being a subset of Enchanting, however, though, I will say out-of-character, it may be not quite like that.

It's also... ah, not very fun to become one.

"Beats me," Shaun shrugged. "Maybe some dude's playing a prank. Or making an art statement. The door was pretty cool. Had pretty flowers. Bougainvillea, my mom loves them."

[Channelknight Fadran]

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Essentially: Fumecasting is kind of like a less direct Enchanting.

"Bless you," Enshao replied. He was joking, of course.

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Edit: have some art I made of Enshao making art!

Spoiler

 

Edited August 2, 2022 by Channelknight Fadran

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

On 8/2/2022 at 5:40 PM, Knight of Iron said:

"Beats me," Shaun shrugged. "Maybe some dude's playing a prank. Or making an art statement. The door was pretty cool. Had pretty flowers. Bougainvillea, my mom loves them."

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Player to GM: would Anmil know of any significance of Bougainvillea flowers, if the flowers are some kind of clue?

 

 

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:40 PM, Knight of Iron said:

"Beats me," Shaun shrugged. "Maybe some dude's playing a prank. Or making an art statement. The door was pretty cool. Had pretty flowers. Bougainvillea, my mom loves them."

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Oh wow, those really are pretty.

"I'm more a fan of Celosia myself. And my father had these beautiful Enchanted carnations, they weren't useful magically or anything, but they had to be the prettiest flowers I've ever seen. And they smelled amazing too."

[Channelknight Fadran]

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And here's another art, this one of Prof. Valzwyn

(she'll be relevant eventually)

Spoiler

 

 

[Flaming Coinshot he/him]

Tak is having a crisis because he has no idea what's happening and can't stop himself from imagining the bathroom door shifting before he walks in. 

[Trutharchivist he/him]

"Well," said Ben, "um, can we move forward? I don't think we can learn more about this door by staying here. We can check it out later."

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So, it seems we went low on activity lately. I think a timeskip is called for. I'll tag Knight - I don't want to start tagging all the players now.

@Knight of Iron

[Knight of Iron she/they]

On 8/8/2022 at 8:45 PM, NerdyAarakocra said:

 

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There is a reason I specified it, but that's more of a "DM's hint" and does not rely on any in-universe knowledge.

On 8/8/2022 at 10:35 PM, The Unknown Novel said:

"I'm more a fan of Celosia myself. And my father had these beautiful Enchanted carnations, they weren't useful magically or anything, but they had to be the prettiest flowers I've ever seen. And they smelled amazing too."

"Dang, yeah, flowers are like my favorite thing in nature, man. They're just so chill, you know?"

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⏲ TIME SKIP TIME ⏲
We're going to skip ahead—so skipping the get-to-know-you activities unfortunately. The following day has arrived, everybody knows where they're supposed to go by now, and everybody should be in their dorm rooms (probably) and getting ready to head off to their individual classes. Enchanting, Mind Harvesting, Spiritbinding, and Necromancy all take place at the same time roughly.

 

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

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I may have just figured the hint out via the omniscience of Google. I won't metagame, but that was a clever hint.

Anmil finished their tea and double checked everything. This was it - time to learn Mind Harvesting.

[Channelknight Fadran]

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Whoop whoop!

I forgot what magic Enshao had

 

[Trutharchivist he/him]

On 23.8.2022 at 5:50 AM, Channelknight Fadran said:

I forgot what magic Enshao had

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Spiritbinding, apparently.

Ben opened his eyes and immediately got up in excitement. It was his second day at the Greatowl University - the day classes started! He dressed up quickly, then went to peek into Jared's bedroom. "Hey, Jared, are you awake?"

@Emery the Steelrunner

[Eluvianii he/him]

Ilia opened her eyes, though not because she wanted to. Yesterday had been enough of a lesson, she needed to eat before going out. She shuddered as she dressed, and remembered everyone looking at her, letting her speak, paying attention, and her stomach growling halfway through her introduction.

Yeah, not again. She got out of her room and started fixing a quick breakfast with things she had hurriedly bought after the incident. Cereal, bread, frozen waffles. The essentials.

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

Tuncay woke up, with plenty of time to eat a well-balanced breakfast and get completely ready for school with time to spare. It was time for his first Mind Harvesting class of his college experience, and he was more than a bit terrified.

@Knight of Iron

[Trutharchivist he/him]

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Umm... Emery? It's kind of silly of me, but I got my character stuck until you reply, so...

If you won't reply until next week, I guess I'll just have to go with that.

@Emery the Steelrunner

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

Anmil strolled out of the dorm.

[Eluvianii he/him]

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This one must live.

After eating breakfast and saying hello to Tessa, Ilia got out of the dorm and started walking, without needing to run this time, to the classroom she had been shown yesterday. Her first Enchanting class waiting for her. On the way Pinky appeared and landed on her shoulder, somehow falling asleep even with all the movement. He had probably been hunting and was now sleepy. She could already tell the food she bought for Pinky would last way longer out here. So much more prey for him than in the suburbs.

There were a lot of students walking to the main building. Some were coming from the dorms and some from the cafeteria. Among them had to be her new classmates, and she couldn't help skipping happily for a few moments at the thought.

[Knight of Iron she/they]

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I DID IT.
Okay I have some very good plans in the future to avoid me having to write up giant posts like this. But I DID IT and I officially REVIVE this RP!
EVERYONE COME GET YOUR MAGIC SYSTEM!!!
(Feel free to browse through the other ones if you want, too).

Enchanting (@Eluvianii, @The Unknown Novel, @Emery the Steelrunner)

Spoiler

The enchanting students, upon entering their classroom, are greeted by an incredibly wizened dwarf with a dusty pair of glasses, standing stiffly in a patched, brown suit, gripping the sides of his little podium at the head of the class as if it was the only thing keeping him from falling over dead.

Once the time arrived, he looked up at the class sternly. "Good morning, students. I am Professor Moltenblood, and I get paid to teach you lot about the wonderful world of enchanting. I'm sure you've heard a lot about it. Everyone's an enchanter at one point, eh? Not much more to know, is there? There's magic all around us, and we have the natural-born ability to just tell it what to do. Couldn't be simpler, right?"

"Wrong. You'll get nowhere in this world if that's what you think. There's always more to learn. Always. Why, here at Greatowl, we have researchers performing studies and experiments all the time! The applications of this art are as varied as each one of you are, and it's about time you're given the tools that you need in order to go out into the wild and blaze your own trail."

"A quick overview. As it befit the Immortal One, us humanoids have been granted the natural ability to command magic—called Ire—that permeates the Physical Realm that we live in. Each of you already can, though most of you likely have not. Now, now, don't admit if you have; you could get arrested for that. But suffice it to say, it is most certainly legal for you to command after this first lesson."

"Now, Ire is a finicky thing. It will refuse to obey your command if you do not completely believe in your command. If you want to make a lightning spear, for example, you can't just take a spear and wish for it to shoot lightning. You must command, and believe, it to already be lightning. You need to lie to it. And most importantly, you need to lie to yourself. If you don't believe what you command, it will not work, and when it doesn't work, it will only be harder for you to have confidence in the future. A lot of people completely fail or lose the ability to enchant because of this, but once you got the hang of it, routine practice is usually enough to keep the abilities. Getting started is the hardest part."

"Now, there are certain Elements of the Physical Realm that the Ire we command can tap into and control. These elements define our limitations of what we can accomplish with this system of magic, though there are many. Lightning, air, earth, water, fire, darkness, light, and the spark of life are among the elements and are what we use to command objects. Keep in mind, however, there are dozens of ways to enchant a spear with Ire commanded with lightning. A novice enchanter could enchant it to make little sparkles, for aesthetics. Or to cause little shocks whenever it touches metal. A more skilled enchanter could enchant it to blast bolts of lightning wherever it's pointed, or to send electric shockwaves when slammed down. You are limited only by your creativity and your skill. But, we'll get more into the elements in a later session."

"For now, your assignment for next time is to finally test out these abilities. Specifically, try and learn how to enchant a rock with the light command. Remember, do not tell the rock to shine. You have to tell the rock it is light. And if you can trick yourself into thinking that it already is light... then it will shine. It might take you a while, and that's fine, but I really want you to focus on getting this first step done before you dive into the deeper stuff. You can always come around here and ask me for help if you need."

Professor Moltenblood slowly pulled out a very large cardboard box and slid open the lid. "You won't be able to use magic wands for a long time, and we'll talk more about wands later, but you'll definitely be needing one at some point if you intend to become a serious enchanter. Please, before you go today, come up to the front and choose a wand to call your own. They all look pretty different, but it's really just a matter of personal preference."

Some of the students started getting out of their seats and making their way to Professor Moltenblood's box, eager to claim a wand.

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TLDR:
(1) Y'all enchanters need to go up and claim a wand. It's appearance is mostly just flavor, so y'all can make up whatever.
(2) Y'all enchanters are now assigned to figure out how to use your powers.

 

Spiritbinding (@Channelknight Fadran, @Flaming Coinshot)

Spoiler

The spiritbinding students are greeted in a very wide and open classroom, with lots of windows to let light in. There... aren't any chairs, at least normal ones. Only beanbag chairs. Sitting on a beanbag chair at the head of the room was a draconic woman with sparkly green hair and the hint of a scale pattern across her body, sitting cross-legged in yoga clothes. She smiled warmly at the students as they walked in.

Once the time arrived, she stood up abruptly from her beanbag chair and kicked it away, giving her plenty of room to pace around at in the front of the classroom while she talked.

"Welcome, welcome! I'm glad you all could make it here today. And it's such an exciting day! Scary for some of you too, probably. I can tell you, bonding with a spirit is very different than most people think! People often get spirits and shades mixed up, and don't understand the difference between them. Shades are of the Ideal Realm, the realm of thought, and are imprints of the thoughts and memories of people who've lived traumatic lives. Spirits, however... they don't think! They don't remember! They are beings of instinct and the drive to do, detached from logic and reason! Once you're bonded to one, you may become far more impulsive, and act on the first thing that pops into your head without thinking, no matter how illogical. These urges, when allowed to run rampant, can completely take over and ruin your life!"

"But there's hope! Very few actually fall to the dark side of these instincts, as it requires willing acceptance of the carnal lifestyle that it leads to. No, this drive, this willpower... it can be controlled. And that's what I specialized in! I am Professor Alicorn, one of the lead researchers on how meditation and other self-control techniques affect the frequency and intensity of the urges of the Spiritbound!"

"For starters, I will have to mention that it will be very advisable to stay far away from indulgences and addictions. They make the spirit-whisperings grow louder and much harder to resist, and you are fairly likely to go mentally insane and become a danger to society! Now, with that being said, we have a pamphlet for you to read over on your own time that'll go a bit more into detail about general guidelines and things to avoid, but you don't have to worry too much cuz they're not enforced by law in any way."

"Your primary goal in learning to become a Spiritbinder is to learn when to follow your instincts, which are now far superior once bonded, and when to meditate, clear your mind of the voices, and with the power of focus, give the rushing waters a direction to go. Once that is mastered completely, you become an unstoppable force."

"And if by the end of this course, you can't figure out quite how to do that... well, we have a mental hospital around the corner just in case. Your assignment for next time, however, all you got to do is come up with a list of some of the crazy impulses you've noticed once you're bonded, and then write some short ideas on how you could deal with them once you have them!"

She clapped her hands together excitedly. "And with that, I'd like to invite you all to close your eyes and meditate for the next ten minutes. I'll put on some relaxing music, and we'll practice achieving focus and awareness!"

The next ten minutes seem to go by very slowly. Students are in various phases of meditation, most of them struggling. Professor Alicorn crept around the place quietly, helping students and occasionally giving quiet prompts to help them clear their minds.

After it was done, Professor Alicorn returned to her place at the front. She continued, much more calmly, slowly, and quietly this time. "Good work, everyone. Now..."

She stretched her hands forth, and a strange feeling suddenly came to everyone in the room. An unusual feeling that they... could do anything.

"We've allowed the spirits of the Spiritual Realm access to this room," she said calmly, "We cannot see them, but they are here, and they are strong, and they are ready to bond. Keep your eyes closed. Sense them. Choose one, offer yourself, and it will bond you. They cannot think, but... they can be kinda clingy. Good luck."

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TLDR:
(1) The Spiritbinders must now bond a spirit. There are many around, but the thing about spirits is that they aren't exactly super distinguishable from each other.
(2) The assignment for next time is to list all the impulsive behavior that they weren't having before, and come up with ideas on how to prevent that.

 

Mind Harvesting (@Isabelle6060, @DramaQueen, @JesterLavorre, @NerdyAarakocra)

Spoiler

The mind harvestin' students are greeted with a classroom full of books, and a Wanderer woman sitting casually up in the front. She'd a pair of large, thin, circular glasses and was dressed in a white buttoned shirt, dark brown vest, and matching pants, and she had her blonde hair up in a ponytail.

Once it reached time to start, she cleared her throat and began. "Greetings, prospective mind harvesters. I am Den Nightsky, but you can just call me Professor Den. Today I will be teaching you about the magical art of mind harvesting."

She looked across the class silently for a few moments. "I can sense each of you. As easily as I can see you with my eyes, I can sense your minds thinking. Feeling. Working. This is because my connection is to the Ideal Realm, and yours will be as well once you have bonded a shade. As to why they're called shades, there's a rich etymological history to it, I'm sure, but I'm afraid I can't call them anything else until the official literature updates its terminology. Shades are remnants, or imprints of sorts, of the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and minds of people who have once lived. They are not the people, more like a snapshot of who the person was upon their traumatic death. You will share and know the thoughts of the shade you are bonded to, but the shade cannot think more thoughts. It holds only to the thoughts and memories and knowledge that its person once had."

"Bonding a shade will result in some minor differences in your life. The spiritbound can be driven mad by their bonds, but research shows that it is far less likely to happen with mind harvesters. It can still happen, however. Some shades will have lived traumatic lives, and once you're bonded to one, its memories will slowly make their way into your own dreams and flashbacks. Their feelings may try to creep in, and their emotions as well. Caution is advised, and it never hurts to reach out to someone if there are things that are bothering you. If a particular shade you're bonded to disturbs you, it is much more wise to cut them off and to find another shade to bond than for you to suffer. Again, they cannot communicate with you, for they cannot think or react. They are simply a collection of thoughts and memories and feelings."

"With that aside, the bond allows you insight into the Ideal Realm. Suddenly the world around you becomes rich as you sense the presence of the minds of people and animals around you. And, with practice, you can harvest their minds. This is nothing more than a temporary borrowing of operating power, you could say. The harvested mind will hardly notice the difference, or simply feel as if they're having "an off day." Their minds will quickly grow back the power that lost from them within an hour, however. When in a pinch or alone, you also can harvest your own mind for its essence, for a time."

"Once you've harvested this essence, there are several different types of connections you could give it. Beginners are usually able to connect it to themselves, allowing them a temporary advantage for about an hour. You'll only be able to sense general, vague feelings at first. With practice and experience, you can sense more specific feelings, then vague thoughts, then specific thoughts, and so on. You may even temporarily absorb the skills, proficiencies, and languages of the person you've harvested, though not nearly to the extent that they had."

"Your assignment this week will be to find a partner and with their permission, practice harvesting their mind and connecting that to yourself. The ability to simply harvest is similar to enchanting's faith principle—you have to know that you can do it, to be able to. This is a hurdle that is difficult to overcome, but easy once it is overcame."

"There are other connections you will also be able to make, with practice. Harvesting your own mind is very difficult, but within the bounds of this course. But you can take the essence of your mind, or of someone else's mind, and connect it to another person. This will not have the same affect on the target as it would if you'd taken the essence for yourself, but they will have a weakened version of the effect. This is very useful for those who are emotionally manipulative, like my ex-girlfriend."

"Another thing you'll learn to do is to release the essence into the general atmosphere via music or spoken word. And, of course, we'll devote an entire lecture into turning essence into energy constructs. But, one step at a time."

She clapped her hands. "Now, it is time for each of you to bond a shade. The shades in the Ideal Realm around this school hover around this place anyway, and it seems that I've successfully information-dumped hard enough for them to gather here. I'd like for you all to close your eyes and see if you can sense the shades that are here. Better yet, see if you can sense or identify thoughts or feelings or memories floating around in your own mind that do not belong to you. Sense the shade, and claim it, and it will bond you, and you will begin your path to mind harvesting. Best of luck."

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TLDR:
(1) Y'all mind harvesters gotta find a shade! If you want the shade's backstory to be important to your character or their arc, then feel free to use random memories/flashbacks/thoughts/feelings/emotions from the shade to do whatever. But shades can also just be unimportant if you so wish.
(2) The assignment is to find a partner and practice harvesting their minds and taking the essence for yourself. For y'all's characters, when you decide they're successful, they'll just be basically stealing that person's emotions. Have fun with it lol.

 

Necromancy (@Trutharchivist, @Goob)

Spoiler

The necromancy students are, of course, brought into the clean dungeon/cave area under the university, situated right next to the infirmary. As they walk in, they are greeted with silence from the professor, a tall, slightly translucent sparkling elf dressed in green and black robes, who looked to be middle-aged.

When class starts, he stands up. "I am Professor Oedis Dekadis," he states. "I... have been instructed to teach you children to be necromancers. I... see humans. Wanderers. Draconics, even, in your midst. I mean you no ill will, but necromancy is a very difficult system of magic. I myself took nearly two centuries to get to where I am now, and I still pale in comparison to the greatest necromancers of the past. I urge you to reconsider your life choices, but if you should choose to devote your life to an art you will never master in your lifetime, who am I to judge?"

He sighed. "There are four Realms. Three which co-exist, and one separate from all the others. Us humanoids technically exist in three, but we are creatures of the Physical Realm first and foremost. The electricity in our brains, the... neurons that fire. That is what we call our spark, and it is what ties us to the Physical Realm. Upon death, we lose our spark, lose our grasp on our essence, and are sucked into the inevitable void of light that consumes us all. The Fourth Realm. The Afterlife."

"Upon traumatic or dramatic death, which happens a lot, one's spark is lost, but they do not go to the Afterlife. Instead, their connection to another realm keeps them around. If it is the Spiritual Realm, then they are spirits, and if it is the Ideal Realm, then they are shades. Even still, after enough time, spirits and shades will die and be consumed by the inevitable void of light."

"The most important part of all this is to note its composition. Our spark, our spirit, our shade all exist in different realms but are able to be transferred to each other because they are all magic. Inter-Realmatic Energy, or Ire. The realms themselves are permeated by Ire. Matter itself, energy itself, all of it is Ire in some form or another. At least, that's the prevailing theory, though mathematicians are still trying to find the right equations to prove it."

"To be a necromancer is not a particularly pleasant experience. While spiritbinders bind spirits, and mind harvesters bind shades, we have no entity to bind. Thus, to summon the powers of the Afterlife, we bond ourselves to the Fourth Realm itself. And... the more you are bound to the realm of the dead, the less bound you are to the realm of the living. This is our sacrifice. You may notice I am partly translucent. When I walk, I leave a faint afterimage. I look ill. This is usual of necromancers with a moderate amount of dead currently being reanimated, as I have. Most don't leave their animations running like I do, however, and so they just look regularly ill."

"I cannot even begin to teach you how to reanimate the dead while you are still so strongly tied to the land of the living. Thus, your first assignment is simple. You must be killed, and then come back."

After pausing to let the classroom react, he continued. "Due to modern research and technology, we've a fairly reliable way to induce this type of experience with an estimated 99.99994% chance of success." He looked to the back of the room. "Evor, bring out the lemonade."

Several doctors, dressed completely in white, rolled several trays of lemonade into the classroom and aligned them all up near the front. They then stepped to the side, and a dozen of similarly dressed nurses also stepped in and hung out in the back of the room.

"This lemonade has been poisoned with a magically modified version of a deathbane leaf. Upon drinking it, in a bed in the infirmary of course, you will quickly begin to feel ill and pass out within a couple minutes. You will then die... or get very close to it, rather. Our medical team is very equipped to deal with emergencies, and we have never had a student die here from the poison... yet. The poison itself, after giving enough time for the element of decay to set in, will switch to a modified natural element of growth formation, and it will become its own antidote. You'll be awake before you know it, and your connection to the world of the living will have been weakened enough for you to be able to do necromancy in future lessons.

"For now, you will simply learn to deal with the effects of being a necromancer. Make sure to get plenty of food, rest, and exercise. Wash your hands, and do try to make a conscious effort to be healthy. One side effect you will notice is that your dreams will become extremely vivid. They will feel real. Most of the time, they are not. But... well, it makes your nightmares a bit less fun. And people tend to have a lot more of those after almost dying."

"Now, if you'd please, let's make our way over into the infirmary. Grab a glass of lemonade, choose a bed, and take a sip."

He paused. "And please do let me know how it tastes. I added a dash of honey to make it a tad sweeter. My wife says it's good, but I haven't tried it myself."

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TLDR:
(1) For necromancy folks, the weekly assignment is inducing a near-death experience, aka drink the lemonade in the infirmary.

Also, Dekadis is totally lying about how long it takes to get good at necromancy. He just doesn't like humans, Wanderers, or draconics.

 

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by Knight of Iron

[Trutharchivist he/him]

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All right. Going to skip forward - Ben ate breakfast, probably with friends, then went to the lesson. Further social interaction could be possible later.

Also, our racist professor isn't dwarf-racist! In addition to that, we have a character who's the first I've heard of being half dwarf, half elf. Interesting.

Just, another player joined the Necromancy track a while ago - I don't think she left. I'll tag her and we'll see.

@Random Bystander

2 hours ago, Knight of Iron said:

Enchanting (@Eluvianii, @The Unknown Novel, @Emery the Steelrunner)

  Reveal hidden contents

The enchanting students, upon entering their classroom, are greeted by an incredibly wizened dwarf with a dusty pair of glasses, standing stiffly in a patched, brown suit, gripping the sides of his little podium at the head of the class as if it was the only thing keeping him from falling over dead.

Once the time arrived, he looked up at the class sternly. "Good morning, students. I am Professor Moltenblood, and I get paid to teach you lot about the wonderful world of enchanting. I'm sure you've heard a lot about it. Everyone's an enchanter at one point, eh? Not much more to know, is there? There's magic all around us, and we have the natural-born ability to just tell it what to do. Couldn't be simpler, right?"

"Wrong. You'll get nowhere in this world if that's what you think. There's always more to learn. Always. Why, here at Greatowl, we have researchers performing studies and experiments all the time! The applications of this art are as varied as each one of you are, and it's about time you're given the tools that you need in order to go out into the wild and blaze your own trail."

"A quick overview. As it befit the Immortal One, us humanoids have been granted the natural ability to command magic—called Ire—that permeates the Physical Realm that we live in. Each of you already can, though most of you likely have not. Now, now, don't admit if you have; you could get arrested for that. But suffice it to say, it is most certainly legal for you to command after this first lesson."

"Now, Ire is a finicky thing. It will refuse to obey your command if you do not completely believe in your command. If you want to make a lightning spear, for example, you can't just take a spear and wish for it to shoot lightning. You must command, and believe, it to already be lightning. You need to lie to it. And most importantly, you need to lie to yourself. If you don't believe what you command, it will not work, and when it doesn't work, it will only be harder for you to have confidence in the future. A lot of people completely fail or lose the ability to enchant because of this, but once you got the hang of it, routine practice is usually enough to keep the abilities. Getting started is the hardest part."

"Now, there are certain Elements of the Physical Realm that the Ire we command can tap into and control. These elements define our limitations of what we can accomplish with this system of magic, though there are many. Lightning, air, earth, water, fire, darkness, light, and the spark of life are among the elements and are what we use to command objects. Keep in mind, however, there are dozens of ways to enchant a spear with Ire commanded with lightning. A novice enchanter could enchant it to make little sparkles, for aesthetics. Or to cause little shocks whenever it touches metal. A more skilled enchanter could enchant it to blast bolts of lightning wherever it's pointed, or to send electric shockwaves when slammed down. You are limited only by your creativity and your skill. But, we'll get more into the elements in a later session."

"For now, your assignment for next time is to finally test out these abilities. Specifically, try and learn how to enchant a rock with the light command. Remember, do not tell the rock to shine. You have to tell the rock it is light. And if you can trick yourself into thinking that it already is light... then it will shine. It might take you a while, and that's fine, but I really want you to focus on getting this first step done before you dive into the deeper stuff. You can always come around here and ask me for help if you need."

Professor Moltenblood slowly pulled out a very large cardboard box and slid open the lid. "You won't be able to use magic wands for a long time, and we'll talk more about wands later, but you'll definitely be needing one at some point if you intend to become a serious enchanter. Please, before you go today, come up to the front and choose a wand to call your own. They all look pretty different, but it's really just a matter of personal preference."

Some of the students started getting out of their seats and making their way to Professor Moltenblood's box, eager to claim a wand.

 

Spiritbinding (@Channelknight Fadran, @Flaming Coinshot)

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The spiritbinding students are greeted in a very wide and open classroom, with lots of windows to let light in. There... aren't any chairs, at least normal ones. Only beanbag chairs. Sitting on a beanbag chair at the head of the room was a draconic woman with sparkly green hair and the hint of a scale pattern across her body, sitting cross-legged in yoga clothes. She smiled warmly at the students as they walked in.

Once the time arrived, she stood up abruptly from her beanbag chair and kicked it away, giving her plenty of room to pace around at in the front of the classroom while she talked.

"Welcome, welcome! I'm glad you all could make it here today. And it's such an exciting day! Scary for some of you too, probably. I can tell you, bonding with a spirit is very different than most people think! People often get spirits and shades mixed up, and don't understand the difference between them. Shades are of the Ideal Realm, the realm of thought, and are imprints of the thoughts and memories of people who've lived traumatic lives. Spirits, however... they don't think! They don't remember! They are beings of instinct and the drive to do, detached from logic and reason! Once you're bonded to one, you may become far more impulsive, and act on the first thing that pops into your head without thinking, no matter how illogical. These urges, when allowed to run rampant, can completely take over and ruin your life!"

"But there's hope! Very few actually fall to the dark side of these instincts, as it requires willing acceptance of the carnal lifestyle that it leads to. No, this drive, this willpower... it can be controlled. And that's what I specialized in! I am Professor Alicorn, one of the lead researchers on how meditation and other self-control techniques affect the frequency and intensity of the urges of the Spiritbound!"

"For starters, I will have to mention that it will be very advisable to stay far away from indulgences and addictions. They make the spirit-whisperings grow louder and much harder to resist, and you are fairly likely to go mentally insane and become a danger to society! Now, with that being said, we have a pamphlet for you to read over on your own time that'll go a bit more into detail about general guidelines and things to avoid, but you don't have to worry too much cuz they're not enforced by law in any way."

"Your primary goal in learning to become a Spiritbinder is to learn when to follow your instincts, which are now far superior once bonded, and when to meditate, clear your mind of the voices, and with the power of focus, give the rushing waters a direction to go. Once that is mastered completely, you become an unstoppable force."

"And if by the end of this course, you can't figure out quite how to do that... well, we have a mental hospital around the corner just in case. Your assignment for next time, however, all you got to do is come up with a list of some of the crazy impulses you've noticed once you're bonded, and then write some short ideas on how you could deal with them once you have them!"

She clapped her hands together excitedly. "And with that, I'd like to invite you all to close your eyes and meditate for the next ten minutes. I'll put on some relaxing music, and we'll practice achieving focus and awareness!"

The next ten minutes seem to go by very slowly. Students are in various phases of meditation, most of them struggling. Professor Alicorn crept around the place quietly, helping students and occasionally giving quiet prompts to help them clear their minds.

After it was done, Professor Alicorn returned to her place at the front. She continued, much more calmly, slowly, and quietly this time. "Good work, everyone. Now..."

She stretched her hands forth, and a strange feeling suddenly came to everyone in the room. An unusual feeling that they... could do anything.

"We've allowed the spirits of the Spiritual Realm access to this room," she said calmly, "We cannot see them, but they are here, and they are strong, and they are ready to bond. Keep your eyes closed. Sense them. Choose one, offer yourself, and it will bond you. They cannot think, but... they can be kinda clingy. Good luck."

 

Mind Harvesting (@Isabelle6060, @DramaQueen, @JesterLavorre, @NerdyAarakocra)

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The mind harvestin' students are greeted with a classroom full of books, and a Wanderer woman sitting casually up in the front. She'd a pair of large, thin, circular glasses and was dressed in a white buttoned shirt, dark brown vest, and matching pants, and she had her blonde hair up in a ponytail.

Once it reached time to start, she cleared her throat and began. "Greetings, prospective mind harvesters. I am Den Nightsky, but you can just call me Professor Den. Today I will be teaching you about the magical art of mind harvesting."

She looked across the class silently for a few moments. "I can sense each of you. As easily as I can see you with my eyes, I can sense your minds thinking. Feeling. Working. This is because my connection is to the Ideal Realm, and yours will be as well once you have bonded a shade. As to why they're called shades, there's a rich etymological history to it, I'm sure, but I'm afraid I can't call them anything else until the official literature updates its terminology. Shades are remnants, or imprints of sorts, of the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and minds of people who have once lived. They are not the people, more like a snapshot of who the person was upon their traumatic death. You will share and know the thoughts of the shade you are bonded to, but the shade cannot think more thoughts. It holds only to the thoughts and memories and knowledge that its person once had."

"Bonding a shade will result in some minor differences in your life. The spiritbound can be driven mad by their bonds, but research shows that it is far less likely to happen with mind harvesters. It can still happen, however. Some shades will have lived traumatic lives, and once you're bonded to one, its memories will slowly make their way into your own dreams and flashbacks. Their feelings may try to creep in, and their emotions as well. Caution is advised, and it never hurts to reach out to someone if there are things that are bothering you. If a particular shade you're bonded to disturbs you, it is much more wise to cut them off and to find another shade to bond than for you to suffer. Again, they cannot communicate with you, for they cannot think or react. They are simply a collection of thoughts and memories and feelings."

"With that aside, the bond allows you insight into the Ideal Realm. Suddenly the world around you becomes rich as you sense the presence of the minds of people and animals around you. And, with practice, you can harvest their minds. This is nothing more than a temporary borrowing of operating power, you could say. The harvested mind will hardly notice the difference, or simply feel as if they're having "an off day." Their minds will quickly grow back the power that lost from them within an hour, however. When in a pinch or alone, you also can harvest your own mind for its essence, for a time."

"Once you've harvested this essence, there are several different types of connections you could give it. Beginners are usually able to connect it to themselves, allowing them a temporary advantage for about an hour. You'll only be able to sense general, vague feelings at first. With practice and experience, you can sense more specific feelings, then vague thoughts, then specific thoughts, and so on. You may even temporarily absorb the skills, proficiencies, and languages of the person you've harvested, though not nearly to the extent that they had."

"Your assignment this week will be to find a partner and with their permission, practice harvesting their mind and connecting that to yourself. The ability to simply harvest is similar to enchanting's faith principle—you have to know that you can do it, to be able to. This is a hurdle that is difficult to overcome, but easy once it is overcame."

"There are other connections you will also be able to make, with practice. Harvesting your own mind is very difficult, but within the bounds of this course. But you can take the essence of your mind, or of someone else's mind, and connect it to another person. This will not have the same affect on the target as it would if you'd taken the essence for yourself, but they will have a weakened version of the effect. This is very useful for those who are emotionally manipulative, like my ex-girlfriend."

"Another thing you'll learn to do is to release the essence into the general atmosphere via music or spoken word. And, of course, we'll devote an entire lecture into turning essence into energy constructs. But, one step at a time."

She clapped her hands. "Now, it is time for each of you to bond a shade. The shades in the Ideal Realm around this school hover around this place anyway, and it seems that I've successfully information-dumped hard enough for them to gather here. I'd like for you all to close your eyes and see if you can sense the shades that are here. Better yet, see if you can sense or identify thoughts or feelings or memories floating around in your own mind that do not belong to you. Sense the shade, and claim it, and it will bond you, and you will begin your path to mind harvesting. Best of luck."

 

Necromancy (@Trutharchivist, @Goob)

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The necromancy students are, of course, brought into the clean dungeon/cave area under the university, situated right next to the infirmary. As they walk in, they are greeted with silence from the professor, a tall, slightly translucent sparkling elf dressed in green and black robes, who looked to be middle-aged.

When class starts, he stands up. "I am Professor Oedis Dekadis," he states. "I... have been instructed to teach you children to be necromancers. I... see humans. Wanderers. Draconics, even, in your midst. I mean you no ill will, but necromancy is a very difficult system of magic. I myself took nearly two centuries to get to where I am now, and I still pale in comparison to the greatest necromancers of the past. I urge you to reconsider your life choices, but if you should choose to devote your life to an art you will never master in your lifetime, who am I to judge?"

He sighed. "There are four Realms. Three which co-exist, and one separate from all the others. Us humanoids technically exist in three, but we are creatures of the Physical Realm first and foremost. The electricity in our brains, the... neurons that fire. That is what we call our spark, and it is what ties us to the Physical Realm. Upon death, we lose our spark, lose our grasp on our essence, and are sucked into the inevitable void of light that consumes us all. The Fourth Realm. The Afterlife."

"Upon traumatic or dramatic death, which happens a lot, one's spark is lost, but they do not go to the Afterlife. Instead, their connection to another realm keeps them around. If it is the Spiritual Realm, then they are spirits, and if it is the Ideal Realm, then they are shades. Even still, after enough time, spirits and shades will die and be consumed by the inevitable void of light."

"The most important part of all this is to note its composition. Our spark, our spirit, our shade all exist in different realms but are able to be transferred to each other because they are all magic. Inter-Realmatic Energy, or Ire. The realms themselves are permeated by Ire. Matter itself, energy itself, all of it is Ire in some form or another. At least, that's the prevailing theory, though mathematicians are still trying to find the right equations to prove it."

"To be a necromancer is not a particularly pleasant experience. While spiritbinders bind spirits, and mind harvesters bind shades, we have no entity to bind. Thus, to summon the powers of the Afterlife, we bond ourselves to the Fourth Realm itself. And... the more you are bound to the realm of the dead, the less bound you are to the realm of the living. This is our sacrifice. You may notice I am partly translucent. When I walk, I leave a faint afterimage. I look ill. This is usual of necromancers with a moderate amount of dead currently being reanimated, as I have. Most don't leave their animations running like I do, however, and so they just look regularly ill."

"I cannot even begin to teach you how to reanimate the dead while you are still so strongly tied to the land of the living. Thus, your first assignment is simple. You must be killed, and then come back."

After pausing to let the classroom react, he continued. "Due to modern research and technology, we've a fairly reliable way to induce this type of experience with an estimated 99.99994% chance of success." He looked to the back of the room. "Evor, bring out the lemonade."

Several doctors, dressed completely in white, rolled several trays of lemonade into the classroom and aligned them all up near the front. They then stepped to the side, and a dozen of similarly dressed nurses also stepped in and hung out in the back of the room.

"This lemonade has been poisoned with a magically modified version of a deathbane leaf. Upon drinking it, in a bed in the infirmary of course, you will quickly begin to feel ill and pass out within a couple minutes. You will then die... or get very close to it, rather. Our medical team is very equipped to deal with emergencies, and we have never had a student die here from the poison... yet. The poison itself, after giving enough time for the element of decay to set in, will switch to a modified natural element of growth formation, and it will become its own antidote. You'll be awake before you know it, and your connection to the world of the living will have been weakened enough for you to be able to do necromancy in future lessons.

"For now, you will simply learn to deal with the effects of being a necromancer. Make sure to get plenty of food, rest, and exercise. Wash your hands, and do try to make a conscious effort to be healthy. One side effect you will notice is that your dreams will become extremely vivid. They will feel real. Most of the time, they are not. But... well, it makes your nightmares a bit less fun. And people tend to have a lot more of those after almost dying."

"Now, if you'd please, let's make our way over into the infirmary. Grab a glass of lemonade, choose a bed, and take a sip."

He paused. "And please do let me know how it tastes. I added a dash of honey to make it a tad sweeter. My wife says it's good, but I haven't tried it myself."

 

 

Ben went to the class and listened to the lecture intently. He flinched at the mention of how long it would take to master Necromancy. When the professor mentioned that they'd have to die, he reacted with shocked silence while around him people screamed and demanded explanations. He... Never thought it was going that far. He breathed deeply at the end of the lecture, then got up shakily. 

He decided he won't go to the infirmary immediately.

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If anyone wants to interact with my character, please note that I won't be available for a bit more than a day due to a Jewish holiday. 

By the necromatic power invested in me, I infuse this thread with some of my life force. REVIVE!

 

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

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I will also not be available tomorrow.

Anmil looked around. Catch a shade? This was not what Anmil was expecting their time here to be like. Well, time to get started! Anmil closed their eyes and focused. They thought that they saw one, but... well, this clearly was going to take some practice.

Edited October 4, 2022 by NerdyAarakocra

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

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HECK YEAH GAY PROFESSOR

Nononononononono

Why partner work? Of all things, why partner work??

Edited October 6, 2022 by DramaQueen

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

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How much will Instance already know? He also said you could be arrested for that, but I'm assuming you can have formal apprenticeships, right?