fandomhigh | Folklore and Fact: Mystical Artifacts, Week 6 [Thurs/2nd Period]

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folklore and fact

Folklore and Fact: Mystical Artifacts, Week 6 [Thurs/2nd Period]

There were three images on the display screens when the students entered the classroom this morning: two illustrations of a musician in brightly-colored clothing, and a closeup of a small crystalline sphere, amber in color. On the table was one of the now familiar lockboxes.

"Good morning," Sakura told the class. "Today we're continuing our unit on artifacts from folklore with two items from medieval Europe. You had a chance to take a look at them three weeks ago, but now we'll be examining them in detail."

She passed this week's stack of handouts around the room and moved to open the lockbox, revealing a pair of ivory flutes, one trimmed with gold and the other with silver.

"The Brothers Grimm are credited with the best-known written version of this tale, Der Rattenfänger von Hameln, drawn from various sources and published in 1816. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the author of Faust, also wrote a poem about the Pied Piper in 1806. However, the oldest written source dates back to 1440, and a stained-glass window that once existed in the Markt church of Hamelin has been described and reproduced in several accounts dating between the 1300s and 1700s. The window was created in memory of an event that took place in Hamelin in 1284; the rats of the Brothers Grimm's account did not exist in any versions of the story before the 17th century, however. There have been various theories to explain the original event, generally centered around some outbreak of disease, and scholars generally interpret the Piper as a symbol of death." Sakura's tone grew somber. "They wouldn't be far from the truth."

She took the silver-trimmed pipe and placed it on the scanning platform on the table so the students could see, projected on the display screens, that an inscription in cipher was faintly visible around the rim of the horn. "This reads, 'If this pipe be blown, many little lives will gather and one shall receive great power,'" she said. "Wyatt, will you please step forward so I can demonstrate?"

She'd explained to her TA what would be required of him beforehand, which didn't stop Wyatt from looking slightly dubious as he came up. Lifting the pipe to her lips, Sakura played a few phrases of a lilting, almost entrancing tune. An intense orange glow surrounded Wyatt, coruscated . . . and faded to reveal a multifaceted amber sphere on the floor where he'd been standing, identical to the one that had been on the display screens at the beginning of class.

"Spherical gems like this one are often considered to be powerful focuses for magic," Sakura noted. She brought up a couple of new slides on the display screens, depicting an array of the spheres atop an altar-like pedestal. "These photos were taken by my colleague during a mission several months ago. The silver pipe had been discovered by a small group that used it to abduct a large number of children, with intentions of sacrificing them in order to raise a demon. My teammates and I had already obtained the second pipe, however, and were able to disrupt the ritual and release the children." By way of demonstration, she set down the silver pipe and picked up the gold one to play a similar tune. When she had finished, a slightly bewildered Wyatt stood in front of the class again.

"Thank you," she said, and calmly handed him a glass of water before going on with the lecture.

Sakura put the pipes back into the lockbox and sealed it. "Had I chosen to exert my will, I could also have used the first pipe to mentally manipulate you all, as three of my teammates on that mission were manipulated. I am reasonably certain that this is why the adults of Hamelin didn't do more to prevent the abduction of their children in the first place. But more importantly, you can understand the pipe's danger."

Sakura then passed a second handout around to the class. "The medieval era is the origin of many legends and stories like that of the Pied Piper. Many of them are considered to be symbolic or artistic interpretations of more mundane events. Using what you've learned in this unit, select a legend from the handout and write a brief essay speculating on an event that could have been very close to the truth as it's told in the story you chose. After that, you can go."

[OOC: Class info/roster/linkdrop. Low interaction from me today because odds are good that I'll be up to my ears in work before I leave for two days' vacation. Intrepid TA

blessed_twice was modded with permission since the stupid flat tire held me up just long enough to keep from actually preplaying that bit. OCD is up!]