Care for Magical Creatures; Friday, Period 2 [ 03/20 ].

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

"Good morning, class!" Minsc greeted his student in a manner not perhaps his usual brusqueness in cheer, but certainly in tone, and settled down in front of them all with a big box. "We are jumping around in the syllabus, but since some of you are happily already taking on the challenge of your transformations, I figured today would be a good time to talk about defense when you're transformed into an animal or creature of some sort."



"Clearly, with some exceptions, of course, we are generally trained to fight at humans, and to take advantage of not only our hands and upright positions but our ability to make tools and weapons. But some creatures don't have to use weapons; they already have them."

From the box, he pulled out what looked like a few talons and claws.

"Don't worry," he assured his students, "I'm pretty sure these are just models and not actual pieces of animals."

"Anyway! I will pass these around and ask you to have a look at them! For our feathered friends today assuming they were there if someone could be so kind as to either show them or simply have them inspect their own attributes. Take a good look at these. Think about how the sharpness of the claw or the talon could be used in defending yourself. What fleshy parts of other bodies could they sink into? Where might they be useless? What about the relative size of what you would be if you had these?"

"Next, I will pass around a few examples of beaks and teeth. If clawing and scraping doesn't work, perhaps biting and pecking might. These are not just parts of animals, my friends. When you are an animal, these are your weapons. Or, maybe you'll be lucky, and turn into a dragon that can spit fire, but I would not count on it!"

"There are other things to consider that I cannot just pull out of a box. Body mass, weight, where the most strength is located in your transformed body. Can you, for example, be effective by leaping onto an opponents back? Is there a soft spot you can go to? Boo may be giant, but is also miniature, so he finds it useful to go for the eyes!"



"So, are there any questions? Points you would like to make? Feel free, also," said Minsc, nodding, "to play around with them a little. Give the talons a good swipe, ponder where those teeth might sink in best, ruffle a few fellow feathers if you're currently in that state. Just be careful and no hurting each other!"

He would have added too much, but decided it was best left unspoken and assumed.


[[ OCD on the way is up! ]] [[ Class Syllabus and Roster ]]

Comments

Re: Listen to the Lecture/Ask Questions/Play Around with Animal Parts -- 03/20.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John was kind of jealous of people who turned into birds or things with big talons. At least they could fly around. He wasn't looking forward to the inevitable, self-inflicted bunnydom this class was requiring.