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[sythyry]

Sorcery in a Present Time [7 Hivvem 4261]

Dargwyn:"You missed the first meeting of the class."

Me:"I was a bit dead at the time. And some thousands of miles away, too."

Dargwyn:"A typical excuse!"

Me:"It's true -- I can get a healer's note."

Dargwyn:"It's typical, too. One of the other students was imprisoned in a parallel universe... still is, in fact, though she popped back for half a day."

Me:"Is this a class for adventurers?"

Dargwyn:"Exactly."

Me:"The doom!"

Dargwyn:"Exactly."

She then interrogated me about my study plan.

Me:"Getting doomed up and down by a nendrai, mostly." I confess to being a bit unduly mopey already.

Dargwyn:"A good start, but you must study using it."

Me:"I'd really rather skip the whole thing for approximately forever."

Dargwyn:"If you live that long."

Me:"I'm a bit on the immortal side."

Dargwyn:"No more than the rest of my students."

Me:"Hezimikkinen is your student?"

Dargwyn:"Don't be ridiculous. Two Cani, one Orren."

Me:"They're not usually immortal..."

Dargwyn:"No... I expect one of the four of you to survive the year, maybe two. Whoever does ought to be able to make an immortality enchantment before they need it. No big challenge there."

Me:"Oh, dearie."

Dargwyn:"So this class is about two things. First, surviving. Second, distilling the greatest advantage from the things you must survive."

We discussed survival strategies. Dargwyn made a number of minor comments, but really didn't have much to say: there's not a lot one can do in the short term about a nendrai.

Dargwyn:"And now, learning. What are you doing now?"

Me:"The Raven's Beak and such."

Dargwyn:"A decent start. What are you doing about spellbinding?"

Me:"Nothing at all."

Dargwyn:"What a waste... you do know how to bind spells?"

Me:"Just the basics."

Dargwyn:"Can you bind The Raven's Beak?"

Me:"I don't know."

Dargwyn:"Find out!"

I bound a Raven's Claw to a bit of chalk.

Dargwyn:"OK. From now on, don't cast Raven's Claw. Instead, you must use a bound spell, and bind it there."

Me:"Urgh."

Dargwyn:"As a definite connoisseur of urghs, that seems like a peculiarly-flavored sort of urgh -- perhaps one indicating some specific problem, rather than a general distaste for spellbinding, or even for the adventuring that you seem to dislike doing."

Me:"It's an irrelevant urgh."

Dargwyn:"No urgh is truly irrelevant!"

Me:"I was very short of cley last term. But I have gotten better, and in any case I have lost that boyfriend."

Dargwyn:"A boyfriend who requires cley? A boyfriend at all, for a Zi Ri? Is that another adventure I need to assign lessons for?"

Me:"I doubt it. He's gone."

Dargwyn:"Wrong-species ... unwise. Well, we'll have to design a course of study for that bit of perversion, too."

Me:"That's an adventure?"

Dargwyn:"Having a wrong-species boyfriend, no. Enduring the consequences, yes."

Me:mope mope mope

Dargwyn:"Back to the nendrai... you're not intimate with the nendrai, I trust?"

Me:"Heavens, no."

Dargwyn:"Well, that is good, at least. What are you doing about feather-casting."

Me:"Feather-casting?"

Dargwyn:"You do know feather-casting, don't you?"

Feather-casting is the fine art of cheating gods. Specifically, of flicking a cley across a pattern spell, so that the spell goes off (sometimes) and the cley isn't used up (usually). It's unreliable and cheaty, the spells usually come off very weak, and it can annoy the gods.

Me:"I don't want to annoy any gods! I'm studying to be an enchanter!"

We agreed that I would not work on feather-casting.

Dargwyn:"what about hammer-casting?"

Me:"Hammer-casting?"

Dargwyn:"You do know hammer-casting, don't you?"

Me:"Just a little."

Hammer-casting is a way to spend extra cley and get a modicum of extra power on your spells for it.

Dargwyn:"It can be quite important."

Me:"It can waste quite a lot of cley!"

Dargwyn:"Better than spending it on a wrong-species boyfriend, for one instance."

Me:urgh

Dargwyn:no comment on this urgh.

Dargwyn:"Well, for this term, hammer-cast your other spell when you're with the nendrai. That will be part of your grade."

Me:"What other horrid things do I have to for this class?"

Dargwyn:"This term? I want you meditating while you wait for Vae, which will help your cley-debt somewhat. I want you to find another spell like Raven's Beak which demands some finesse to use. I want to figure out some way to exercise magic resistance and spellweaving, but those may wait until further terms."

Me:"Urgh."

Dargwyn: I hereby lecture you for a ninth of an hour about why this is a valuable opportunity and must not be wasted, and, indeed, must be exploited fully.

Me:"What about vitality training?"

Dargwyn:Well, you should arrange to get injured frequently, at least a little. And to get attacked, at least a little. If the nendrai's friendly, get her to do the work. Trade bound spells for it, maybe.

I resolved -- entirely in my own thoughts -- to never even suggest the matter to Vae.

Dargwyn:"Well, it's not sorcery, so it won't formally be part of your grade. I will note it though."

I hate Cani. And adventuring.

Comments

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

You know, for homework assignments, this one sucks rocks. I'm sorry...

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised you aren't already exercising magic resistance every time you see Vae... how many times have you had the conversation?

[galis.livejournal.com]

I can see how this would be a very, very bad thing to let Vae know. The last thing she needs to be thinking is that turning you into things and injuring them will improve your grades!

Though, I bet she could put you at the top of your class...

[thestra.livejournal.com]

Except for the whole 'sorcery' thing, your instructor's demeanor reminds me very much of my own mentor. Perhaps it's a trait common to all cani teachers.

Then again, probably not. I'm Cani, after all, and I have mentored two or three apprentices in the intricacies of my own profession...and they stopped sending me death-threats ages ago.

[kris-schnee.livejournal.com]

When dealing with nendrai, "Whatever doesn't kill you, turns you into a small glass disc covered with runes." Maybe you could practice your Flirtation skill instead?

I like this professor! Reminds me of certain camps where kids get forced into slightly dangerous group challenges... and all we get out of that is teamwork!

[vernononfm.livejournal.com]

Personally, I recommend getting out of this class immediately. Go take another exciting class, like Dissection of Combat Spells. That one sounds particularly interesting! I think I shall have to enroll myself in a course or two like that in the nearest University I can find! (It was not available to me while I was at the academy, unfortunately, as it conflicted with my mid morning and late afternoon nap times. I have since outgrown those, and now take one single nap around midday instead. ;) )

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I've lost track. About once a week.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

I bet you'd get a good grade if you managed to resist at least one of Vae's spells by the end of the term.

They're only, what, 120 power I'm guessing? Hammer cast 'Tune the Magic Resistance' and spend the rest of your cley straight...

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

*cheers*

I like this professor! He's going to be teaching you things I've been trying to suggest you learn for quite a long while! :)

It's high time you learned a bit about minmaxing -- minimixing your weaknesses and maximizing your strengths, in this case for the purposes of survival in a dangerous environment...

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Hmm, Dargwyn seems to be a little bit of a taskmaster. Has he yet demonstrated he knows anything worth learning, or is he making up difficult work for you in an effort to keep you too busy to ask?

If the object is merely practicing your skills to get better at them, it seems hardly the sort of thing one requires a class for, unless one is more motivated by deadline pressure and the expectations of a teacher than by self-improvement.

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

All I can think of is taking a level of Monk when you say that...

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

*grins and beams, whistling innocently*

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Well, to me, it sounds like he is more of a personal trainer, helping give expertise and focus on where and how to best learn skills in order to survive, to get the right frame of mind to be able to survive...

[cattitude.livejournal.com]

Any conversation that includes the phrase, "you should arrange to get injured frequently," is a bad conversation. My sympathy.

[pobig.livejournal.com]

It can be pretty depressing when you're served notice yet again as to in which category of making the best of a bad situation you are. Better study up, no fooling.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

A perfect epigram. I wholly agree.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

As long as you're ambassador to Vae, you should practice feather-casting mutoc pyrador spells as often as possible.

I mean, she already has to be watching you since you're playing with one of her new toys (or vice versa). So you might as well show her you don't care what she thinks about you.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

My translator must be on the blink, or, perhaps, on the drink. Or the brink. I'm afraid I haven't a clue what you're talking about.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Well, feather casting sounds like a fun thing to be able to do, so you might as well pick some gods to annoy that are unpredictable and malevolent anyway.

For those gods, the main danger is really that they'll notice you exist, and for you, well, it's probably too late.

So, on second thought, mutoc locador seems like a better choice to feather cast!

[coppercheetah.livejournal.com]

But would it be counted for or against Sythyry if zie caught the attention of "Here", and "Here" saw Sythyry with a nendrai (a powerful Locador user)?

More hilarious twists of fate (probably ones with black claws) will no doubt ensue!

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

I agree with coppercheetah. Catching the attention of "Here" is Not a Good Thing.

Remember the inside-out fellow that Sythyry found in Vae's home? To "Here", that might be a warm-up exercise...