Bob (
nuclear_snide) wrote in
fandomhigh2016-01-29 08:35 am
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Defending Yourself Against Magic | Friday, period 2
The Danger Shop this week was simulating a forest glade in decidedly non-winter weather, bright sunlight streaming down on a perfectly smooth stone porch.
"Right." Bob clapped his hands. "So far we've been dealing with confronting magicians actively working magic. We'll come back to that later, but it's not the only sort of magic you may encounter. There are many different sorts out there, some active and some simply...there. The first step to dealing with any sort is realising it's in front of you. You can't deal with what you don't know's there. Some of you will probably find it easier than others, and you'll all likely find different types of magic easier or harder to detect. We're going to do two things today."
He waved at Mabel. "One of those in each, please."
"No prob, Bob," Mabel chirped, carrying a pair of rune-etched stones over to a pair of large pentacles on the ground. There might have been skipping involved. And a twirl. Mabel liked being helpful, okay?
Look, Bob, you'd asked for a volunteer this semester.
Oh, for useful hands for just a little while! Bob gave Mabel a pained smile before turning to the rest of the class. "The pentacle - a five-pointed star in a circle - is one of the more basic modes of magical containment. It keeps what's inside it, in and what's outside it, out. In this case, one of those spheres is filled with magical energy. The other is no more than it appears. I want you all to spend a bit of time in both circles, until you can reliably tell which is the magical one."
He waved dismissively. "Some of you may know immediately. Some of you may not ever figure it out. But it's important to know if you can, and to know what it feels like. So try." He crossed his arms and gave them a stern look. "This is not a group activity. Come and tell me when you've discovered which is which. Everybody needs to figure it out for themselves."
He watched them for a moment, then continued. "When you're not working at that, you'll be out in the rest of the room, finding magic using other means, mostly your minds. There are a number of enchanted stones hidden around this clearing." He wrote in the air: air, fire, water, earth, spirit. "They represent the most basic elements of existence. There are enough stones for everyone to find one of each. But," he said, smirking, "these stones are created by this room; there's no actual magic to them. You'll all be on equal footing. Observe your surroundings. Think about what each element is and how it would affect those surroundings. Then find the stones."
He grinned at them. "Well, shall we get started?"
[OOC: guest appearance by the lovely and talented
rhymeswithtable!]
"Right." Bob clapped his hands. "So far we've been dealing with confronting magicians actively working magic. We'll come back to that later, but it's not the only sort of magic you may encounter. There are many different sorts out there, some active and some simply...there. The first step to dealing with any sort is realising it's in front of you. You can't deal with what you don't know's there. Some of you will probably find it easier than others, and you'll all likely find different types of magic easier or harder to detect. We're going to do two things today."
He waved at Mabel. "One of those in each, please."
"No prob, Bob," Mabel chirped, carrying a pair of rune-etched stones over to a pair of large pentacles on the ground. There might have been skipping involved. And a twirl. Mabel liked being helpful, okay?
Look, Bob, you'd asked for a volunteer this semester.
Oh, for useful hands for just a little while! Bob gave Mabel a pained smile before turning to the rest of the class. "The pentacle - a five-pointed star in a circle - is one of the more basic modes of magical containment. It keeps what's inside it, in and what's outside it, out. In this case, one of those spheres is filled with magical energy. The other is no more than it appears. I want you all to spend a bit of time in both circles, until you can reliably tell which is the magical one."
He waved dismissively. "Some of you may know immediately. Some of you may not ever figure it out. But it's important to know if you can, and to know what it feels like. So try." He crossed his arms and gave them a stern look. "This is not a group activity. Come and tell me when you've discovered which is which. Everybody needs to figure it out for themselves."
He watched them for a moment, then continued. "When you're not working at that, you'll be out in the rest of the room, finding magic using other means, mostly your minds. There are a number of enchanted stones hidden around this clearing." He wrote in the air: air, fire, water, earth, spirit. "They represent the most basic elements of existence. There are enough stones for everyone to find one of each. But," he said, smirking, "these stones are created by this room; there's no actual magic to them. You'll all be on equal footing. Observe your surroundings. Think about what each element is and how it would affect those surroundings. Then find the stones."
He grinned at them. "Well, shall we get started?"
[OOC: guest appearance by the lovely and talented

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Listen to the lecture!
Exercise 1: Check out the spheres
Re: Exercise 1: Check out the spheres
She frowned at it, wondering what she was looking or feeling for.
This probably wasn't going to go very well.
Re: Exercise 1: Check out the spheres
Re: Exercise 1: Check out the spheres
She stared at this one, too, but it seemed, well, pretty much the same.
Re: Exercise 1: Check out the spheres
"Feel it all around. Close your eyes. Listen to it. Smell it, maybe. I wouldn't actually recommend licking it, but you never know. Use all the senses you have; see if you can find a difference."
Re: Exercise 1: Check out the spheres
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before holding the stone up to her ear. She was actually pretty good at hearing and feeling tiny differences in things, but mostly those were living things. She could feel the way someone's muscles moved, but this was kinda a rock, so none of that helped.
Exercise 2: Find the stones
Generally, the stones are slightly larger than pebbles and won't visually stand out. Their effects will be subtle and very localized - you'll have to really pay attention and search to find them.
- Air: will stir the leaves/grass/etc. around it in a tiny breeze.
- Fire: will be warm. may glow a little.
- Water: will make the leaves/grass/etc. a little damper (dew, not a deluge) and the air more humid.
- Earth: will make the ground around it denser.
- Spirit: will make things around it grow a little better.
Re: Exercise 2: Find the stones
People might think that was a pretty impressive job of finding the stones, for someone who got lost in the dorms on a daily basis.
Re: Exercise 2: Find the stones
Re: Exercise 2: Find the stones
Re: Exercise 2: Find the stones
Talk to Bob!
Talk to the TA!
Re: Talk to the TA!
OOC!