Greatowl University [Fantasy RP]

[Channelknight Fadran]

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YAYYYYYYYYYY

We're bonding a spirit already??? It took him a few moments of everything he had not to panic. That certainly wouldn't help with the situation. Have to... bond. A... open my instincts? Um?

But the empowering feeling spread throughout the room didn't go away at his intrusive thoughts. Rather, if the spirits were like a river's current, then it was as though he stood between two meeting tides. They wrapped around him, swinging to the sides and flowing about. Almost like an orbit, he thought.

He had to... what did she say? He'd already forgotten. Just kind of... open up?

What in the world was I thinking? Even considering just how bad he was at doing that, Enshao had never been a very emotional person. He'd always been the child who could smash his head into the wall at full speed and brush it off with nothing but a few seconds to think, and the one in the family who never cried at his flu shot. Now, growing up, his parents and friends all teased him about being old enough to go on dates and fall in love... but he had yet to look at anyone and actually feel attracted.

And what in the world was this "choose one" crap? It felt like an ocean, not a ball pit. Even if some patches of water felt different than others, he couldn't very well call those a different "part" of the whole.

This was a mistake, he concluded.

[Knight of Iron she/they]

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Oh whoops. I had quote boxes within spoiler boxes, and apparently those don't actually display on the post, but THANKFULLY somehow the Shard actually saved what I'd written? So here you go:

Enchanting 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 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 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 TLDR:
(1) Your only assignment is to have go and have your near-death experience.
Note: Professor Dekadis is straight up lying about how long it takes to become a good necromancer. He's just finding reasons to be biased against species with shorter lifespans.

1 hour ago, The Unknown Novel said:

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?

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Yeah you probably could, but I'd imagine it'd be sent up kinda like a 16-year-old getting a driving license, except a lot less common and for richer people lol. With Instance's situation, she could probably have her own wand and ace the first assignment, if you'd like.

Tessa took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was very nervous. Terrified, though she denied it. How was she supposed to just... choose one? She tried to clear her mind, but it only made her thoughts even more jumbled. Why couldn't she clear her mind? What if she couldn't harvest minds? What if she failed, and her dreams weren't achievable? What if she couldn't make the game next weekend?

She hesitated. What game last weekend?

A thought that wasn't hers? She tried to feel it again, but whatever shade it was had moved on, disinterested in her.
This would be interesting.

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

11 hours ago, Knight of Iron said:

(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.

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...that showed up for me I think

At least it did initially......doesn't anymore. Weird.

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by DramaQueen

[Knight of Iron she/they]

On 10/4/2022 at 6:00 AM, Trutharchivist said:

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

"Is something wrong?" Professor Dekadis asked, raising an eyebrow.

On 10/4/2022 at 0:04 PM, Channelknight Fadran said:

This was a mistake, he concluded.

Professor Alicorn began weaving in between the students, repeating her breathing technique to help clear her student's minds.
"Inhale... and hold. Now exhale... and hold. Now inhale..."

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

On 10/4/2022 at 8:00 AM, DramaQueen said:

Nononononononono

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

Tuncay took a deep breath.

Okay. I don't have to focus on that yet. I can bond a shade first. That should be easy.

[Trutharchivist he/him]

16 minutes ago, Knight of Iron said:

"Is something wrong?" Professor Dekadis asked, raising an eyebrow.

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I mistakingly thought it was "until next period" situation, but I can work with that.

"No, no..." Said Ben, trembling a little. "Just... Need a little time to come to terms with... Dying. Or partly dying." A breathed deeply. "Alright. I'm ready."

He got up and went to the infirmary, took a bottle of the lemon juice, lay in a bed, inhaled and drunk it all in one gulp.

[Knight of Iron she/they]

On 10/6/2022 at 2:00 AM, Trutharchivist said:

"No, no..." Said Ben, trembling a little. "Just... Need a little time to come to terms with... Dying. Or partly dying." A breathed deeply. "Alright. I'm ready."

He got up and went to the infirmary, took a bottle of the lemon juice, lay in a bed, inhaled and drunk it all in one gulp.

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Nope—it's necromancin' time.

And same goes with everyone else, each of y'all is expected to bond your shade / spirit or whatever within this same lesson, so roleplay that as you please. 

Professor Dekadis watched his students down the concoction. He'd hoped it'd tasted better this time; the poison was quite nasty, and though he tried to cover up its taste with extra ingredients, he could never really be sure if it actually made a difference or not. He had no intentions of trying it for himself to find out.

A student bolted upright in his bed, gasping for breath. Dekadis calmly walked over to inspect her.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

The girl looked visibly shaken, and didn't answer.

Dekadis scribbled something down on a clipboard and sighed. As eager as she'd been to undergo the experience, it... usually took at least a few minutes to get used to the unsettling feeling of no longer belonging to life itself.

He motioned for his assistants to help the student, then patiently waited for the rest of his students to each wake up from their own dances with death...

[Eluvianii he/him]

By the time Ilia got up from her seat, everyone had already bolted to the front to choose a wand. Crap, why am I always so slow for these things?

She was kind of expecting an orderly line, which in hindsight was stupid of her. She ran to the front, trying to get a glimpse of the box, and getting distracted with the students that had already chosen a wand. What if they got the one she liked?

She pushed her way to the front, and was presented with a box full of wands, obscured by dozens of hands trying to grab one. What did she want? What would be more fitting for her? What would be the most effective? Wait, no, the professor had said it was just personal preference. Right, so only the design changed. Too many movies if she was expecting anything else.

Still, if that was the case, all the more reason to just get something she actually liked. It was impossible to focus here though. Too many hands obstructing her view, and too many people behind her trying to shove her aside. She closed her eyes, stuck her hand into the box, closed it around the first bit of wood it encountered, and ran away from the scene before she was crushed by everyone else.

Gasping for breath she looked at her hand. If someone got just a glance from afar, it would probably look like just a twig. In reality it was more elegant than that. It was made up from three separate pieces, which where braided together along the length of the wand. The end result was itself formed in a kind of spiral, ending in a single straight thin line at the tip, where the three parts melted into one. There was also a spiral of very thin wood wrapped around the base to form a handle.

She was distracted for a moment thinking about the implications of "wand designer" being an actual job. After that though, and after turning her wand all over and examining it from every angle she could only think of one word.

Perfect.

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Hope I didn't assume too much about the students' reaction. This just comes from my experience in similar scenarios.

 

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

18 hours ago, Knight of Iron said:

Nope—it's necromancin' time.

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I really liked that part, and where he necromanced all over the place.

Instance stayed in her seat. She already had a wand, already knew everything this professor was talking about. Her dad had taught her. Her dad. That took the slight smile of her face. She stood up. After pushing through the crowded students (and receiving quite a few dirty looks), she arrived at Professor Moltenblood's desk. Moltenblood, she hadn't thought about it before, but, that was a Draconic name. Her confidence, and slight sadness, vanished in a wave of fear. "Uh, h-hello Professor."

@Knight of Iron

[Knight of Iron she/they]

16 hours ago, The Unknown Novel said:

Instance stayed in her seat. She already had a wand, already knew everything this professor was talking about. Her dad had taught her. Her dad. That took the slight smile of her face. She stood up. After pushing through the crowded students (and receiving quite a few dirty looks), she arrived at Professor Moltenblood's desk. Moltenblood, she hadn't thought about it before, but, that was a Draconic name. Her confidence, and slight sadness, vanished in a wave of fear. "Uh, h-hello Professor."

@Knight of Iron

Moltenblood turned, looking startled. “Ah, uh… yes, student?”

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

Anmil continued focusing on shades. Anmil was getting better at finding shades, but none of them felt right. Anmil caught tiny bits of thoughts, though. And there - there was one that felt just right.

Anmil focused on that shade. They had expected the bonding process to be hard, but it actually didn't take much time.

Well, it was time to practice mind harvesting.

[Channelknight Fadran]

Something brushed past him. A presence... something stronger than the rest.

Enshao reached out instinctively. Later he wouldn't be able to explain the sensation, but at the time it was like the urge to slam on the breaks and jump out of the car in order to look at the lost cat. The curiosity had a mind, will, and form of its own, seemingly. It sparked to life within him, pushing past the sea of abstract feeling to the... whatever it was.

The something shied away.

Wait! He pulled the sensation back, tucking it in on itself. The curiosity shifted away into the softness he could only ever project with an intent for patience, waiting on the stray cat to come to him. He locked himself into that feeling, focusing away from everything else. The strange beadiness of the chair, small itches across his body; the stillness of the air despite the current of intent. All his attention pushed into the feeling.

The presence touched back at him. Its curiosity matched his: a lightearted kind of... thing. There really weren't many words for it.

Hello. The words were loud and clear in his mind, but Enshao pushed out the feeling of a full greeting outwards as well.

It didn't leave at his advance this time. It shied closer, pulling inwards.

Who are you? Though in the context of all this feeling devoid of logic, it was more akin to identify.

There was hesitation. Enshao couldn't really blame it for that, at least. Most regular people wouldn't very well spill their identity to a person they just met. But to its credit, it tried to reply. It was slow at first, eeking out just a couple base feelings: a contentedness without reason, doubt towards development, and a lingering sadness hidden deep within everything else. It didn't come or go in the sense that a physical thing could, rather just washing over him in sync and consistency like a ray of sunlight.

Among it was another urge: for Enshao to reply.

He started by thinking about it, then quickly shut that down. Right. No thinking. Just... vibes.

What were his vibes?

Enshao tried to project his joy at joining the university, then pushed into simplicity with the feeling of cuddling Bunny at night. Neither seemed to satsify the sensation. Right: it had given him its entire being with just one flow of feeling. Going one at a time wouldn't get him anywhere. But how in the world was he supposed to project all his emotions at the same time? The being had given both contentedness and depression. How?

Maybe he just needed a different medium. Some kind of...

The spark of inspiration shot into his mind.

He looked down, then reached into his pocket and brought out his notebook. Sliding the pencil from behind his ear and opening the book, he began to doodle. Nothing in particular, really: just the same old dragons and wizards and swords and airships. But he tried to project the feelings that the thing had entrusted to him, constructing the scene to match its presence.

Before long he had a grand kingdom, and before long he had completely fallen past conscious construction and into the state of flowing inspiration. The feelings from the presence melded and warped into his, bridged by the comfort in ability he had developed over so many years.

And before long the being had come in to observe, now presenting one emotion more powerful than the rest: comfort.

[Knight of Iron she/they]

On 10/9/2022 at 11:25 AM, Knight of Iron said:

Moltenblood turned, looking startled. “Ah, uh… yes, student?”

@The Unknown Novel(?)

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

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Sorry about that.

"Yes, um, I already have a wand, am I free to go?" Instance looked like she was about to bolt, and she didn't feel much differently.

[Knight of Iron she/they]

21 minutes ago, The Unknown Novel said:

"Yes, um, I already have a wand, am I free to go?" Instance looked like she was about to bolt, and she didn't feel much differently.

"I... uh, already have a... hmm... well, let me see, dear, what was your name?"

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

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Any mind harvesters for Anmil to practice with?

 

[Knight of Iron she/they]

2 minutes ago, NerdyAarakocra said:

 

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You could make one up or ask someone else. I'd RP one but I feel like I'm RPing ten background characters already at this point.

Tessa struggled to sift through the shifting thoughts appearing and disappearing as she became more aware of the realm of thought around her. Finally, a shade seemed to connect—one that was just as anxious as she was, earnest for a connection. She focused on its feelings... felt its feelings... and breathed a sigh of relief. A small feeling of euphoria washed over her, indicating the bonding was successful.

"Class is dismissed," said Professor Nightsky. "We will meet again next time. You have until then to find your partner to practice with, so good luck."

[Channelknight Fadran]

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I wouldn't mind making one

 

[Knight of Iron she/they]

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To be honest I'm kinda thinking of making each of these classes be weekly.

So like. Y'all have plenty of time for homework. And we can always just timeskip to next class when we need to, but also have a lot of downtime for in-between stuff, now that everyone has their magic system started.

What that would mean for my worldbuilding is that this hard-to-get-into university of high prestige only has... one day of classes.
Then the rest of the week is just goofing around while possibly procrastinating homework!

 

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

1 hour ago, Knight of Iron said:

"I... uh, already have a... hmm... well, let me see, dear, what was your name?"

Instance was already taking a step back as the professor talked, but made her self stop and said, "Instance Avery, professor."

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

1 hour ago, NerdyAarakocra said:

Any mind harvesters for Anmil to practice with?

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Tuncay is a mind harvester but you'd have to approach him and be willing to deal with his antisocial awkwardness.

 

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

17 hours ago, DramaQueen said:

 

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SURE.

 

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

On 10/14/2022 at 3:04 PM, NerdyAarakocra said:

SURE.

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Okay, go ahead whenever.

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

9 minutes ago, DramaQueen said:

 

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Has Tuncay bonded a shade yet?

 

[DramaQueen she/he/neopronouns]

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Nope. I'm uh...not really sure how to write that and I don't have the motivation to figure it out right now. If you want to wait for me to do that, that's fine, and I will get it done soon enough.