http://berserkerminsc.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] berserkerminsc.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2009-09-14 08:00 am
Entry tags:

Care for Magical Creature; Monday, Fourth Period [ 09/14 ].

It was another day for class! This left Minsc in a very good mood, as he typically did like class, and plus there was all that bowling and fighting last night, and, really, who could be in a sour mood then?

Even if they were still doing more boring talky stuff today.

"Good afternoon!" he greeted the students as they gathered in the classroom; may they be either greatly disappointed or incredibly relieved that below Minsc's feet there was no mysteriously moving or growling boxes. "Today is more talking bits, but they are important talking bits, I promise you! Talking bits are incredibly important with faeries; they are tricksy, and knowledge is power!"

He said it with enthusiasm, but his nose sort of wrinkled a little bit in distaste. "Not as much power as, say, a broadsword or a mace or really awesome spell, but power all the same. I guess. Anyway, today we work on categorizing faeries. Faeries delight in tricks and illusion, confounding our expectations of them and making them difficult to categorize, but, by Tempus, we're gonna try!"



"Over all," Minsc said, "we will be working in two broad categories of faeries: good and bad! It is a division that makes sense to humans or human-like races, because we are good or bad! But faerie folk fight find this effort 'laughable.' In fact, they find a lot of what we do to be laughable! For a faery strives to coexist in good and bad simultaneously, which I think probably gets confusing and a little bit crowded!"

"However, we can discect the division of faeries usually into four major groups. These are--"

Now Minsc was going to the board to write them down, so this might take a while.

"Earth. These are typically gnomes, brownies, and kobolds. Sir Eric's favourite!" He chuckled, having to add that last part.

"Water. These are types like nixies, lamia, and undines!"

"Fire. Salamanders, demons, and fire drakes, oh my!"

"And, finally, air. Sylphs, pixies, and all winged faeries."

"Don't ask about heart. Just don't."

"These will be the classifications we will work with most, and, in a bit, I'd like us to discuss what sort of traits and attributes you might find in an earth, water, fire or air faery, and what sort of categorization you yourself might fit into! But these are by far not the only way to classify faeries, and, sometimes, we might refer to other orders, so listen up! And keep these ones in mind, too!"

"Eastern philosophy is more subtle, but I've never been a fan of subtle! They have four categories, too, based on colours! Golden Devas are faeries that facilitate solar energy, or prana, as they call it! White Devas are like air faeries, sylphs that dominate the air! Green Devas are nature spirits, associated with growing plants, friends to all druids and herbivores! Finally, there are Violet Devas, who maintain structures of things, which is very important!"

"Some places even categorize their faeries by place, despite faeries being incredibly mobile and flippant! Field, mountain, valley, lake, stream. Anywhere you may find them, actually! Some by size or form! Wee little pixies on one side and tempting water maidens in the other! Or perhaps we could try trooping and friendly vs. solitary and cranky! Beneficent versus malignant! There are many ways to do it; can you think of your own faery classification standard?"

"Of course, this is all well and good for scholars, and since we are in school, that is what we are, but I'll be honest. The only way to really understand faeries is to experience them, but we'll not get to that yet. From their very core of their being, they are fluid and transmutable, flowing form one element to the other, shifting size, shape, colour, gender--changeable as mood or thought! They cannot be pinned down to a page, a list, or a single definition. To grasp their elusive nature required direct experience and personal engagement, but we cannot have either unless we remember to keep our eyes and our hearts open."

Minsc paused, to let that sink in a little. It was, after all, the most important lesson of this particular topic.



Once satisfied with the settling, he nodded. "Right, then. Let us discuss! No faery holidays this week, but, trust me, it'll be worth the wait. The next one is a lot of fun, but I'll advise the ladies to wear something a bit more mobile than your average skirts."


[[ the ocd. you shall wait for it it has been completed and classified! ]]

Re: During the Talking Bits -- 09/14.

[identity profile] gods-gymnast.livejournal.com 2009-09-14 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Maron looked down at her skirt a bit sulkily.

Skirts were perfectly mobile, in her rather biased opinion.