Care for Magical Creatures; Friday, Period 2 [ 03/13 ].

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

"Good morning, class," Minsc's usual brusqueness was much more subdued today, although he still wore a smile on his face, greeting the students once they were all settled comfortably as usual. In front of him, as always, was the hamster, but also a small assortment of other items: scrolls, vials with bright coloured liquid, a few simple rings. "First off, I would like congratulate you all for clearly doing a fine job of surviving the attack earlier this week! Quite fun! I hope some of you got some good fighting in and those of you who aren't much for fighting managed to stay quite safe! In a bit, we shall celebrate as all great warriors should: by sharing our exploits with each other in great cheer! It is one of the best parts of an epic battle, and I could not dream of making you work when there is celebrating to be had!"

"But that is for later. This," he gestured toward the items, "is for now, as there is no work, but some very important business to cover."



"If any of you have been actually attempting to follow the syllabus, it gets a little messy at the end, but today, especially in the light of fighting something that is a fine but disgusting example of a half-creature, we are going to be talking about your final projects."

"You all remember my friend Jaheira, yes? Well, when she visited, as per request, she brought me some gifts from Faerûn. In front of me are various items for transformation. The scrolls will turn you into an animal for a week, the potions for about two to three days, and the rings are just a one-shot daily thing. I offer the three options to better suit your comfort. I will not hold it against you if you go for a shorter time period, but I will not lie. Those with the most experience are likely to have the better results. You have plenty of time before the end of the semester to make your transformation, so long as you can do it and have a report written about it before your final exam. This gives you the chance to better plan when to transform, to not interfere with other things. Which is more of an advantage than you'd like have elsewhere!"

"Now." Minsc cleared his throat. "I know that some of you are probably appalled at the idea of a transformation or very uncomfortable with the magic, or simply have reservations about the whole thing. I understand that, and if that is a problem, please come talk to me after class. Those not wanting to participate in this project who have very good reason not to will be given an alternate assignment at a later day. Those participating can also do this alternate assignment if they like, but for extra credit."



"Are there any questions? Let us go over those first and then let us begin in the storytelling!"


[[ wait for the OCD is up, whee! ]] [[ Class Roster and Syllabus ]]

Comments

Sign In -- 03/13.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

With your bold adventuring face!

Re: Sign In -- 03/13.

[bitchprince]

Arthur Pendragon

Re: Sign In -- 03/13.

[notafairmaiden.livejournal.com]

Gwynn Hood

Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

Here is the place to listen to Minsc jabber on about the project and to ask your questions if you've got them.

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[bitchprince]

As if Arthur didn't already have enough to brood about.

He asked no questions, but after the initial widening of his eyes and the ensuing silent repeat of Minsc's words, he achieved a very obvious silence.

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin managed to scoot his desk over a bit closer to Arthur in a completely sly and unnoticeable way upon hearing the lecture.

Really.

Sly like a fox, him.

"Arthur?"

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[notafairmaiden.livejournal.com]

Gwynn was actually intrigued by the idea of becoming another creature for a few days.

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[future_sandworm]

That was... practical. Leto did feel a slight uneasiness about experimenting on himself though.

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this whole idea made Firekeeper deeply uncomfortable. She reached for Blind Seer's reassuring presence at her side, burying her fingers in his fur.

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[raspberryturk]

Reno made a face and leaned back into his seat at the lecture. Pride had him wanting to spend a whole week as a creature just to prove he could handle it. Stubbornness, on the other hand, had him wanting to keep things like opposable thumbs and his ability to speak. So he put up his hand.

"What kinda animals are them items supposed to turn us into?"

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

"A very good question, Sir Reno!" Minsc said with a nod. "There is a certain...element of surprise in that we cannot fully predict what you will turn into. I am told that, quite often, these methods will reflect some aspect of your personality, as sometimes the random transformations here do. However, if, say, you take a scroll only to discover you turn into a banana slug for a week, I have the resources in my office to counter-act it because that would kind of suck."

He gave a faint smile. "Of course, if you were a banana slug, it might take you about a week to get to my office, but that is beside the point."

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

At some point, a note found its way on to Reno's desk;

I'll do it if you do it. Also, you still owe me dancing.

Unsigned, but he could probably guess from the handwriting and the content.

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Dōjima was... not exactly thrilled with the assignment, no. It was one thing to get accidentally turned into a bunny for a week due the vagrancy of the island. Undertaking a deliberate transformation using magic veered a bit too close to abuse of the Craft for her own tastes.

She sighed and looked down at her notebook, doodling more frowny faces. It might be nice to be a kitten or something for a weekend, and not have deal with thinking about other things, but somehow Dōjima doubted that Father Juliano would approve.

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions -- 03/13.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

As he listened, John really, really hoped he didn't turn into a bunny again.

Talk about the Harpies! -- 03/13.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

The fact that harpies are part bird, part woman, and entirely gross is more than enough of a reason for Minsc to feel that sitting around and taking about beating them up is a sufficient topic for the class. Go around the circle and share your thoughts!

Talk to the TAs -- 03/13.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

Should you need them for whatever reason, although Minsc suspects that neither of them will be very talkative unless the harpy talk soothes them over.

Re: Talk to the TAs -- 03/13.

[bitchprince]

This TA looked like he was attempting to surpress insane levels of discomfort. Honour and the need to stand against any challenges levelled at him battled against the whole... magic... thing.

He was, above all, fighting the urge to get up and pace.

Re: Talk to the TAs -- 03/13.

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

Firekeeper was deeply frowny, yes. One might almost say broody, except that wolves didn't brood. They didn't.

Talk to Minsc -- 03/13.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

As always, he is available after class.

Re: Talk to Minsc -- 03/13.

[bitchprince]

It was most likely no surprise that Arthur was there as well.

"And what is this test supposed to prove?" he asked. It held a distinct hint of demanding.

Re: Talk to Minsc -- 03/13.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, yes. Minsc would have actually have been disappointed if Sir Arthur wasn't among those coming to speak to him after class.

"Experience," he informed the boy, "is a far better teacher than I could ever dream to be, Sir Arthur."

Re: Talk to Minsc -- 03/13.

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

Wolfish pride warred with a reluctance to put herself willingly in the path of magic which meant that Firekeeper too was approaching Minsc after class.

"I not think," she said carefully, "I can be doing this."

Re: Talk to Minsc -- 03/13.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

Minsc nodded a little. The man did pay attention, after all, and he knew that there were at least a few students who would have a good reasonable issue with the assignment.

And he knew Lady Blysse would be reasonable about it, too.

"I had a feeling," he said. "I know it's a topic that's a little...problematic for you, Lady Blysse. You're approved to take up the alternate assignment if you prefer." He gave her a slight, encouraging smile. "I cannot tell you what it is yet, but I can assure you that it might be one you are more comfortable with."

He emphasized the might in particular, because he would not shy from admitting that he seemed to be exceptionally good at inspiring issues in her even when he least expected it.

OOC -- 03/13.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

Just to recap on the project:

-You have a choice of putting your character through a week transformation, a few days, or just one day.
-You can have this take place whenever you would like or whenever you feel it would be best for your student to be an animal for the chosen length of time, so long as it's before exam week. I think a week would be awesome and fun, but I'm not about to expect anyone to put their character in a compromising state like that for that long unless they wanted to.
-You can pick whatever animal you would like.
-You, always, can just handwave the whole damn thing.
-You can also have your character opt out and go for an alternate assignment. Minsc does pay attention; he knows that there might be some mega issues with some characters here. Also, he knows which students these are and which students might just try to get out of it, so you'd better be convincing.
-I'm willing to have Minsc be more or less able to be convinced depending on if your student is all "HELL NO" but you're all, "HELL YES."
-A Final Report about the Transformation is due at any time before exams.

I think that covers anything, but ask questions away here, as well.

Re: OOC -- 03/13.

[raspberryturk]

A question about the "whatever animal" bit, just for clarification. Are we aiming for real animals, or are animals from mythology or the character's own world alright, as well?

Inquiring minds want to know if there's any chance certain redheads might have to bunk down in the stables going "WARK" for a week.