Care for Magical Creatures -- Monday, Period One -- September 01.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

Minsc was feeling exceptionally proud of himself for having set up the fandangled Danger Shop thingermajig to resemble a classroom.

...Kind of. It was hardly traditional, but he did manage to get close. There were desks, but they were very short and, instead of rigid chairs, the students would find plush pillows to sit on, inspired by what little he could remember of his education in Rashemen. There wasn't a desk in front, either, just Minsc sitting cross legged on a larger pillow, with a hamster balanced on his knee. He had originally programmed a bigger desk for himself, but had gotten so frustrated with making it that he had, instead, just programmed it in a heap of pieces to one side of the room, presumably thrown in a fit of rage and annoyance.

The class might also notice that, instead of a blackboard, there was a ledge behind Minsc, covered in a thick and cushioning layer of hay and straw. Settled in the bedding were several eggs, of various size, type, and colour.



"Good morning, class!" he greeted them all with a bright, though oddly untraceable accent. "I certainly hope that you are all here to be in Care! for Magical Creatures! If you are not here for that, maybe you will still stay, because it is a fun class, indeed! My name is Minsc and I will be your teacher for great justice! Justice in learning all about the wonderful world of all the creatures that are out there to help us and aid us and for us to think they are very pretty."

Suddenly, Minsc lifted his hand from the knee that didn't have the hamster. "And you are very lucky, children!" he announced. "Because not only do you have me, but you also have Boo! Say hello, Boo!"

There was a pause where nothing happened. Minsc grinned.

"Boo is no ordinary hamster!" Minsc continued, despite the silence that suggested otherwise. "He is a great and powerful giant miniature space hamster, one of the most magical creatures in all the galaxies! He is my very best friend and he will help us in our great quest for knowledge!"

"Now that you know me, I would like to know you, too! And Boo would like to know you, and your classmates would like to know you, so we are going to be having knowing eachotherness all around!" Minsc started waving his arms in the air, a lifting gesture. "Up! Up! One at a time now, and tell us your name and where you are from and why you are in this class and what your favourite animal ever just might be. Mine is the giant miniature space hamster, but I might be a bit biased." Here, he gave a mightily amused chuckle and turned another happy smile on the class.

"And when you are done with that," he said, "you may have noticed these eggs behind me! If you have not noticed them, then talk to me after class, because you are either blind or not paying attention, and those are both issues that we should address with great immediacy! Anyway! Eggs! These are just simulations, but! You must each take your pick of an egg. There could be anything in them, from a wee baby chickadee to a tiny dragon who will one day be great! The only way you will know for sure is if you take good care of it so that, later in the semester, it will hatch! Pick your egg today before you leave, and, every class period, you will have time to care for it so it can hatch into something big and great and magical!"

"Next week, we will talk about the great giant miniature space hamster some more; they have a great, wide, vast wisdom, you know, so I want you all to think real hard now about some good questions to ask Boo! It is a once in a lifetime chance!"

"But for now, speak! Introduct! You there!" He waved his hand up at the first student. "Speak loud and clear and bravely, now!"



[[ wait kindly for the ocd is up and Boo is gleeful! huzzah! ]]

[[ Class Syllabus and Roster ]]

Comments

Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

You heard the man! Tell us a little about who you are and what you're doing here.

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[morpherboy.livejournal.com]

"My name's Marco, I'm from well, near LA, and uh, I've never had pets? But I'm really good at getting inside their heads." Marco was totally not grinning there, really. "So uh, I like dolphins. And gorillas and chimps and polar bears. I hate poodles."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

Minsc briefly wondered if that grin meant that this student got into animals' heads the same way Minsc got into the heads of his enemy: with strong steel and action-chop motion!

A look at Sir Marco's arms, however, lead him to doubt this theory, which was good, because he wasn't so sure he liked that idea. Still, his words caused Minsc to nod gravely.

"Ah, yes. The poodle. A truly terrifying beast, I cannot blame you there at all, Sir Marco."

Re: OOC -- 09/01.

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

Alec shrugged. "My name's Alec, I'm from Seattle, and I've never had a pet or really cared about animals."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

There was a clearly confused look on Minsc's face as he considered Sir Alec. "So you are taking this class," he postulated thoughtfully, "because you are interested in caring about animals, right?"

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[wannabehunter]

"My name's Jo," Jo said. "I'm from Nebraska, and I'd guess that my favourite animals would be dogs."

Even when they shed white hairs all over your black clothes, thank you Jet.

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

"It is very good to have you in class, Lady Jo," Minsc said, even though he had no idea where this Nebraska land might have been, but he did expect a lot of that coming in, strange lands and whatnot, but what she spoke of was familiar. "And dogs can be very good and loyal creatures, so I think you made a very good choice there."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[firebringerborn.livejournal.com]

Jan cleared his throat before he spoke, which sounded more like a low whinny than anything else, and rose to his feet, ears tilted to the sides. "I am called Jan, and I come from a far away land, of golden shores and green waves, and a vale in the mountains," he said politely, voice low and respectful, clinging to those memories. "I do not know how I came to be in this class, but I am sure I will learn much."

He swished his tail, thinking. "My favourite animal is the deer that dwell in the valleys, for they are near as fleet as a unicorn." It was worth noting that Jan certainly didn't consider himself an animal.

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

Minsc tilted his head at Sir Jan. Of course, these thoughts had crossed his mind when he saw that one of his students was a unicorn, but there was a speech that had to be given and Minsc was never very good at multitasking. Jan's introduction, though, jarred his memory and he found himself confronted with his idle wondering of how exactly to handle it when one of your students was one of what you were teaching.

"I...well...hrm."

Thinking was hard; give him a break. Still, for the most part, Minsc appeared to continue to just give Jan the utmost of deep thought, although, in truth, Minsc's brain had drifted off toward chasing kobolds across the grassy plain. That happened a lot if he thought too hard on something.

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"I'm Edmund from Narnia. I deal with magical creatures on a daily basis, so I thought it best to broaden my knowledge of them. I don't really have a favourite animal, though if I did have to choose," he thought about it, then decided on an answer, "I'd pick the lion."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

"And why the lion, Sir Edmund," Minsc asked, "if you had to choose?"

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[robinthefrog.livejournal.com]

"Hi! My name's Robin, and I'm from the Florida Everglades. I thought I'd take this class because I'm really interested in magical creatures. And my favorite animal? Uhm, the Manatee."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

Minsc, truthfully, didn't even notice the wee little frog on the pillows. Plushy things and all. They tended to blend in a little. He blinked.

"Oh!" he said, realizing for a belated and second time that the frog was there. "Hello!" He waved a hand.

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

"My name is Savannah Levine and I'm taking this class because I love animals and figured that knowing more about magical creatures and how to take care of them would be a good thing."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"My name is Helen Haras-Uquara and I am from another world. I am able to control a number of different types of animals. I've never actually had a pet, but at the temple I would often play with the rats and spiders. They're my favorites, really."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[grasshopper-mol.livejournal.com]

"I'm Margaret Carpenter, but please call me Molly," she said, in what had become a litany since kindergarten on first days of school. "I'm from Chicago, and I got sent here...well, my dad felt I needed to be here. And, um, I guess my favorite animal is the dog?" She thought of Mouse, then glanced over at Jan. "Maybe the unicorn, now that I've actually met one."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

"My name is Chris Halliwell. I'm from San Francisco and I'm a witch and a white lighter, so I figured knowing how to properly care for magical creatures would be beneficial."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[scary-jeff.livejournal.com]

"...I'm Jeff!" Jeff replied, a little overwhelmed by the whole enthusiasm thing. If boosted. Because that was some enthusiasm.

Nana had no problems either way. She was just refusing to leave, and had by now settled on his feet. "...And this is Nana. She's a giant... thing."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

"I'm Ella," Ella supplied. "I'm from Frell, in the country of Kyrria, which nobody here has ever heard of. I'm here because I like animals -- I have a pet centaur at home, Apple, and a parrot here -- and I wanted to learn more about taking care of them."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[harrydresden.livejournal.com]

"I'm Harry Dresden," Harry said. "I'm a wizard, so magical creatures seemed like a good thing to learn about. I guess I like cats best." Huge fat tailless cats, though Harry didn't know that yet.

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[likethegun]

"My name is Sam, and I'm from Kansas," he said, even though that felt less and less like home with every passing semester. "My favorite animals are dogs. I know some people might not consider them magical, but I think they count."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

"I'm Mac. From Neptune, California."

"I have a space lemming," she offered. Seemed like the sort of guy might appreciate that bit of information.

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[talks2objects.livejournal.com]

"Hi, my name is Dor and I'm from a land called Xanth. It has a lot of animals there that aren't found here in Mun- Fandom but I thought it would be fun to see what other magical animals are from other worlds."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Aravis, of Calormen and more recently Archenland," she said, smiling a tiny bit. "Where I come from, many animals speak and act as humans do, so I could hardly pick a favorite any more than I could pick a favorite person. I do have a very long history and some familiarity with horses, however."

Re: Introduce Yourself! -- 09/01.

[key-of-heart.livejournal.com]

Sora stood up and nearly tripped on the pillow. "Uhm, I'm Sora, I'm from a place called Destiny Island. I've run into a lot of different kinds of animals but my favorites would be..."

He paused to think.

"Well I would have to say, dogs, ducks and mice."