#nappingscholar

[lalamines]

a street with no name

Over a decade has passed, yet Enbarr’s high street has barely changed at all. Even the crowds are as overwhelming as they are familiar. It takes her back in time, when she’d cling to Mother and Emile’s hands on their shopping trips. Mercedes feels an uneasy chill run down her neck. The urge to look over her shoulder.

There is nothing to fear. House Bartels fell years ago.

She recognises the bookshop, her old favourite, immediately at a brings a fond smile to her face. The clothing boutique next to it still stands too and the jewellers across. The food vendors are different but still stand in almost the same spots. The only glaring difference is a curio shop, decorated with bright posters reading ‘SALE’. It looks out of place in a way she can’t quite explain. As if she’s looking at it through a mirror. 

The smell of baked goods grabs her attention though. Her stomach makes a whine of protest and Mercedes realises that none of them have eaten since arriving. They couldn’t possibly start their investigations on empty stomachs! She pulls out her coin purse and clutches it in one hand, extending the other to her companions.

“We should probably hold hands so we don’t get lost in the crowd.” Even stood to the side they were bumped and jostled by passers by. It would be terrible if they were to be split apart and lost in such busy crowds, especially as only Linhardt was really familiar with these streets. “Let’s head over the street for some snacks first, my treat. We can discuss where to go and what to do once we’re filled up and energised!”

@frauleindermorgen @nappingscholar @ulircursed

[ephemeralove]

reverse, reverse

It had been her hope when she’d stowed the odd paper in her pocket that it might prove useful later, but to think that it had been a key for these strange, unlikable doors... Katarina could but hope hers would prove to be similarly useful to R’wena’s. The key sat light atop a curled finger and tight beneath her thumb, gray eyes searching the area near the door for a similar lock--

--but the door opened unceremoniously, offering nothing more than a faint hum and passage into darkness. As if that was somewhere she wanted to go back to... Still, the once disgraced tactician stowed the card away for safekeeping, hesitating a moment before the threshold. A quiet breath... and nothing, save for the following sigh of relief and disbelief. No shock just yet, though that clearly meant little until they’d all passed through. 

“Oh...” Stood half in shadow, Katarina looked back to her companions. A knowing glance shared with Ares, and she turned her attention to the other two. “Lorenz, Linhardt... Be careful entering the room. When we were in our last groups, they used some kind of magic to hurt us when we walked in.” Not that there was much they could do about it, but it was better than being taken unaware. 

As for the matter of the unrelenting shadow -- well, she’d had enough of that in her life, hadn’t she? Holding up a scarred palm, the mage kindled a modest flame in her hand, its light thrown further over the room’s walls. It was bigger than she’d imagined it to be, in some odd sense of irony, and she looked around a moment. A button behind her yielded nothing even when pressed, except for another quiet sigh as Katarina stepped further in, allowing her teammates passage. 

>> @hezulion ; @thyrosus ; @nappingscholar

[ordelion]

[ Nohr ] - A quick-paced dance that focuses heavily on precise footwork and bold movements, evoking the image of two soldiers in battle.

Even though Linhardt was bored out of his mind dancing all night he could admit the benefits of watching others dance. The carefully coordinated movements were like windows into one's mind, and what better way to observe than to get up close.

Linhardt had skillfully switched partners with Lysithea, taking her away before she could protest. "Having a good evening, Lysithia?" he casually asked, trying to set the tone for the rest of their dance. "I wanted to talk with you,"

Lysithea was more than a bit winded after the long, long evening of intense dancing and arrogant noble small talk chit-chatting. Her pitiful lungs could hardly keep up with her footwork, she was sweating more than she'd ever done in the last six weeks at least, and she had barely spared herself the time to eat dinner- although dessert did receive some special attention. Thus, when Linhardt had dragged her off as her new dancing partner with that obvious malicious intent in his eyes and prying poison on his lips, she was about exasperated enough to scream his head off. But, with her sunflower-yellow dress sweeping across the floor as she "dueled" with the green-hair mage in the Nohr style of dance, she managed to just barely maintain appearances... for now. "Ah. Linhardt. How lovely to see you tonight." She spat, jousting two fingers forward in a replication of a mage's lightning spell, before carefully avoiding Linhardt's next move. "Wouldn't you care to talk with someone a little more relevant? I've not much to interest you, nor am I interested in what you have to say." If words could kill.

[ljosalir]

spooky scary skeletons but not skeletons -- bronze round

     It was tempting. Really. To hold hands with her classmates and drag them through the endless maze of decorated streets and frightful scares. She would have--she wants to, but... an arena sounds waaaay more cool! True, there aren’t any haunted houses or crazy colored treats or funny costumes or... OK, there wasn’t a lot of things that you could do at an arena but the lady who--with a great amount of confidence and excitement--had proposed the idea seemed delighted that people were becoming her clients so of course, Sharena had to become one, too.

     The Askran princess raises her arms in the air and stretches, pausing for a moment to recollect herself and survey her surroundings. Her companions were somewhat recognizable. Kris, a classmate. Miss Ethlyn, one of the Knights. Then there was Linny, the student she always saw in the library. Or, was his name Linny? OH! Linhardt! Yeah, that’s his name!

     “Alrighty-o,” she exclaims with a bright smile, “let’s have some fun, everybody!” and just in time, too, because their enemies are here within the next moment. Sharena’s fingers curl around the pole of her broom ( also another reason why joining the arena was cool--the fun little weapons! ) and she takes a step forward. Cautious, but not without intent. “I’ll take the closer one!”

     It’s the mage that’s closest so, with a twirl of her weapon and a determined smile, Sharena moves toward them and--

     sharena! roll 1d20 = 5, hit! ( 0.5 damage dealt )

     wind mage! hp = 5.5/6, oh!

     --the broom manages to hit the mage but not in a perfect arc. Whatever, at least she got a hit! That’s what counts, and by her delighted exclamation, she’s more than proud for the attack.

     wind mage! roll 1d20 = 11, hit! ( 0.5 damage dealt )

     sharena! hp = 9.5/10, ouchies!

     Wind swirls in the air before her and she’s sent--weakly--stumbling back. Just like her own attack, the strength behind the hit wasn’t the best but it was still something! That’s better than nothing!

@unsungblade @ladyleonster @nappingscholar

[radiantpriamos]

Slide to the Right! [Team Forest]

Unlocked Starter for @albaccelerando @nappingscholar @unsungblade @dragon-kiddos

Their destination loomed before them, overgrown with moss and vines. If there was anyone living there, they hadn’t done much to make it not look deserted, though whether it was purposeful or not remained to be seen. Their parties branched off at the main door, going separate ways to investigate.

Priam drew Ragnell and took the lead to the right. If there was anything, he swore he wouldn’t be caught off guard.

Well... he didn’t see anything.

The first room he poked his head into was dim, and all he could make out were walls lined with boxlike shapes, floor to ceiling, with a few more around the middle of the room. He squinted, unable to put his finger on what they were.

“Uh... got some cabinets in here, maybe? Not how I would make them, but I dont think there’s any danger in here.”

[constanzea]

the burden of curiosity

How much one remembers from the past year seems to vary among the villagers. Some may not remember a thing while their brothers, their mothers, their friends remain haunted by their past traumas. Reason magic bears the blunt of the blame for what transpired here. Your mages undergo a fair bit of scrutiny, but it’s one of their own that becomes a target of their paranoia. A young mage, normally considering a blessing in a small village like this, has been arrested for practicing dark magic. The terrified child insists that it’s the only kind of magic he is capable of casting. Find out his story and judge whether or not he’s telling the truth about his innocence… you have until his “exorcism” to do so. [Grants Reason +1]

Their trek to the village was, thankfully, overcast but Constance idly twirled the parasol in her left hand. It was always a risk, venturing outside before sunset in the summer months. Alas, she had little choice in the matter, being called out to accompany one of the Black Eagles students on an important mission. At least the details were fascinating.

The ability of some to “magically” forget their trauma? Whatever complex, nuanced magic was behind that (if it was magic of course, assumptions could be such folly!) could be groundbreaking. Could solve her little... problem, although with a high price. It was certainly worth looking into though, even if it all came to naught the mental rigor and exercises should be useful in the future. The thought of a small child being behind such intricate and arduous magic sounded utterly preposterous. All a makeshift exorcism could do was harm the poor child and the church clearly wanted them to put a stop to it.

If they even got there in time. Linhardt was just as idle and lethargic as she remembered. It must be nice, being so carefree. The heir to House Hevring has everything on a silver platter. What need did he have for steadfast determination, or ambition? Not like her, at least.

From what she heard though, his curiosity had become even more stubborn. Perhaps she could leverage that to get things moving. The village was, finally, in sight.

“Linhardt, sally forth! If we don’t get there soon,” an innocent child will be harmed, “there’ll be precious little to investigate. Are you not intrigued by the magic at play here? The time for repose is not now!”

@nappingscholar​

[macawbre]

{ weightless || Linhardt & Henry

The Pegasus Moon gets its name from the herds of wild pegasi that flock to their snowy nesting grounds. Nestled in the tall mountains, Garreg Mach sees plenty of snow-white pegasi come wintertime. This year, however, the school is abuzz with news that a flock of black pegasi have stopped close by, searching for a suitable place to nest. Their feathers are of particular interest to certain students, as they are said to amplify a mage’s power. With final exams just around the corner, many are looking for a little boost to their power. [Grants Reason +1]

There was a confluence of interest when it came down to power and feathers, just as it would be for migratory creatures who knew more of the sky than the earth. Freedom, potential, ideations of being apart from one's self— those were all inherent in the pursuit of weightlessness. Sagacity would come to those who knew that both flight and power were intersectional, and there was both a struggle and slack to the balance. To spare a less-than-palatable philosophy lecture towards those who were just in it for the sake of the funnies, sometimes a certain somebody wanted feathers because he wanted to fly.

Not because of the so-called magic boost. (Since when did pegasus feathers become all the rage? He's been collecting crow feathers since before he even rolled into the Shepherds!) But, since the kids were into it, and he was into it, he decided to put up a special extra credit assignment for the class.

"You know, exams are coming up and the birdies are telling me some of you are looking to collect those nice black pegasus feathers for a little extra boost." Laughing nonchalantly as some of his students shrunk at the accusation, Henry shook his head. "Well guess what! I'm all for it! If any of you want extra credit, you can take 1-on-1 trips with me up so I can collect feathers, too. Come on, it'll be extra credit, ahaha~"

And that’s the thing about extra credit. Once you give people the choice to grab that potential by the throat, most shy away from the challenge. Or maybe they just didn’t want to go on a field trip with the residential murder machine. Really quite a toss up, there. Fortunately, the sorry soul who did agree would meet him by the foot of the verdant forest nearby.  “Lindhardt! You ready? I heard they’re actually pretty close to campus this time around~”

@nappingscholar

[lalamines]

reading between the lines

After waving Andrei and Micaiah off, the two priests headed across the road to Bergstrom’s Books. Mercedes had fond memories of pressing her own face against the window as a child, longing to raid the shelves and drink in the stories on every page. The thought gave her a small chuckle as her hand settled upon the handle of the door.

“Shall we then?” Mercedes kept her voice low and quiet as she held the door open. Upon the threshold she decided to ask something that had been ruminating in the back of her mind. “Have you ever heard of these Agarthans? I don’t know much about them but could they be linked to that magical eye?” Maybe it was a long shot but Mercedes had precious little to go off other than a desire to be useful. To help her friends and the church she held so dear

The store is surprisingly sparsely populated, considering the crowds just outside. That was preferable of course, it was easier to peruse titles stacked on shelves without being jostled around or crushed against others. It felt more as though she really was just shopping for books and she found herself browsing the books thoughtfully. Most of them were slim novels rather than giant tomes, romantic tales - some perhaps a touch bawdy, rather than technical volumes. A pair catch her eye, ‘The Starlight Maiden’ and ‘Court of Clerics’. Mercedes takes them carefully from the shelf and tucks them under her arm.

The counter is empty, with no one to check out her purchase. It struck her as a little strange, the doors were open and whilst not crowded the store was occupied by customers. Yet there was precious little sign of any staff working here.

She’d simply have to wait a while to pay though, no worries.

Beyond the shelves she had been browsing, the store extended further than she had initially realised.. Around the back of the store there were no windows and the candlelight illuminating the romance shelves dimmed considerably. It appeared as though the section was less well frequented, it’s shelves lined haphazardly from what she could see. 

“I wonder what they have over there.” Mercedes points to the back of the store, cast in shadow. From just a glance it look more mysterious than the rest of the store. Her mind spun with ideas, painted with images of secret, ancient tomes or dazzling pages. The truth was probably far more mundane but it couldn’t really hurt their investigations to take a look.

@nappingscholar