Fable - Ask Shapecraft (Elbion College)

Aiko announced her presence to the rest of the class with a rhythmic thock as her wooden sandals made contact with the floor. As she entered the classroom a glance around the room confirmed her suspicions. The classmates who had arrived so far seemed immeasurably boring. Still, the daughter of an Allirian merchant knew how to judge the wealth of a man by the quality of his buttons, coat, or tie, and she had made more than one observation as such. Picking the least dull of marks the thocking of her shoes continued as she made her way to the table occupied by Calixtus .

Upon arriving to the table she noticed the inkwell and allowed herself the slightest of grins. She put her bag in the cleanest, most out of the way spot she could find and extracted her notebook, along with a smaller, thin leather bag. She opened the flap at the top to reveal a series of organized brushes. Calligraphy was a hobby that might pay dividends in the next hour. There was a moment of thought before she selected the third from the right, a middling brush leaning slightly towards a finer touch. She held with grace, awaiting the instructing Maester. Her eyes drifted to Calixtus . She permitted herself a moment to trace over his features and clothing, an attempt to size him up. He resembled the suits her father dealt with more than the tattooed. She wondered if Elbion held any similarities to Alliria.

“Have you managed to find a syllabus for this course? I could never get anyone to confirm if this is more alchemical or metallurgical.”

There was hardly even the rustle of silks as Yue entered. After a glance about, the decision of where to sit was an obvious choice.
The two she had deemed most interesting from the convocation were conveniently seated together.
One which she felt obligated to keep an eye on, the other a beacon of curiosities.
She took up a seat at the table on the other side of the elf. Her gaze was on her own notebook as she set it down. Out of the corner of her eye she quietly followed as the other girl set up her station. The hold on the brush was experienced. She wondered if the elf also made use of talismans and runic magic. The practice didn't seem to be as popular in Elbion. Perhaps because the sigils were difficult to draw. It was an art that took patience.

Yue quietly listened with one ear as the other girl made conversation with Calixtus. If she remembered correctly wasn't this class also taught by a Blodwyn? He would know then perhaps. Though given the appearance of some of the maesters at the convocation.....they would be lucky if all of the classes can with a syllabus....some of them seemed to have a dubious temperament. The type to have arbitrary tests and exams.

Yue withdrew an ordinary quill and set it beside the notebook. She kept the tools she used for writing talismans and sigils back in her dorm, deeming them too precious for class notes.

It was not his true lesson to teach, but Emris had been asked to take up teaching this fundamental class to the first years. The powers that be deemed him to be patient enough, that all his classes in Enchantments and Cursebreaking had come with many high praises from his students. He had been a student over a decade ago, and with a name as prestigious as Blodwyn, Emris excelled in his education.

He had only accepted the position to teach this class to first years in order to keep an eye on his younger brother's efforts, if Cal had in fact listened to his instructions in private before his enrolment, and not their troublesome sister's.

There was a reason why she had not been invited to learn at the College.

His eyes fell onto the rows of desks, and the students settling into every seat.

"Morning, students." He greeted a few paces from the office he had been cooped up since dawn. "I am pleased to see you all got here without getting lost. The Compasses are a great tool in your first year, I suggest you do not lose them."

The odd thing about Professor Blodwyn was that although he did not offer a smile, his eyes conveyed that he was being pleasant. His brows were in a perpetual studious furrow, one that deepened when his gaze fell upon his younger brother.

Emris had every expectation of him, most of all.

Calixtus said:

"I am sure we will have it all explained shortly."

Click to expand...

Aiko’s brow furrowed. It was not quite a no, and yet it was an obvious refusal to share information. Pride perhaps? Aiko had little time to think as the instructor came to view and addressed the class. At the call of ‘Good morning’. Aiko leaned forward in a small but respectful bow. As the Maester transitioned from greeting to conversation Aiko released the bow. She noticed immediately that the Maester focused on her table. His eyes were not quite locked on Aiko. Calixtus then? Or Yuebing? No, Calixtus. Both their eyes conveyed some meaning. Something was being said between them, Aiko simply didn’t know the language. She would have to investigate it, but now was not the time. They would move to actual instruction soon, and their instructor demanded her attention with that chin.

Yue turned her attention to the maester as he spoke. Out of the corner of her gaze she saw the elf bowing. It almost distracted her from noticing that the maester was looking pointedly in their direction. No, her eyes subtly followed the gaze to Calixtus. She hadn't gone out of her way to learn too much about the maesters. Perhaps she should have. Being biased against some student or other seemed to be completely fair play here.
Yue had been warned about that. Though the look in the maester's eye wasn't disdain in the way some maester's looked at the elf. It was something else.

If it was important she doubted she would have to actively seek out the information. She decided to not think too deeply on it and instead quietly ready her notebook.

The maester, more than anyone so far at Elbion, reminded Aiko of her father. It was the way he spoke. Words chosen carefully to act without cruelty, yet with definitive firmness. It was bittersweet. Refreshing but reminding her she was no longer home. As the flowers rained down from the ceiling Aiko raised her head and looked above. Eye went back down to spot the Maester, hoping to catch some glint of a solution. A 'correct' flower to grab.

Calixtus said:

"What do you think we will be doing?" he murmured quietly to those closest.

Click to expand...

Aiko looked over at the boy.

"I am sure we will have it all explained shortly." She replied, and held a silent chuckle. Rather than jump or cast a spell she eventually caught the flower that floated closest to her as it came to her long elven arm's reach.

Yue was undaunted by the declaration that this course would take hard work and a nose to the grindstone. None of her schooling thus far was forgiving. Well....no the flower arrangement classes hadn't particularly dangerous or difficult. So perhaps...mostly unforgiving was more accurate. The maesters certainly all had their own personalities....this one seemed to have an even temperament. His stern style seemed the most traditional to Yue. One less eccentric was a positive in her book as far as she was concerned.
Though she decided not to place her hopes he was as fair a grader as he was exposing on the first lecture.

Out of the corner of her eye she watched the other two at the table casually pick a flower.

Yue's eyes scanned the drifting flowers. It was a seemingly random assortment but all choices had meaning. A small branch flowers resembling plum blossoms caught her eye and she stretched across the table a bit to catch it. She sat back in her seat holding the flowers with a contemplative look.
The plum blossom with it's soft pink and white colors was a spring flower. In Dornoch it represented resilience and hope. In the context of the class it seemed perfect flower for change. She had the feeling that she would need all the help she could get to fulfill whatever challenge was about to be set in front of them.

Flowers littered the floor, forgotten and unwanted, but Emris did not give any indication that he was going to clean it up.

Rounding the desk, he stood behind it and pulled his own example of a flower from seemingly nowhere.

"Flowers, leaves, branches, grass... they are quite forgiving when it comes to malleable materials for magic." Between forefinger and thumb, he slowly twirled his rare coloured tulip. His eyes fixed upon it, until he could no longer physically twirl it as it reached the knuckle. "A simple introduction to this class is turning something soft and delicate into stone."

Emris adjusted his thumb so that it was positioned to push, and twirled the stem back the other way. As it moved, the colour began to fade or turn bleak. Within a matter of seconds, it took on a stony depiction of his tulip as if a skilled sculptor had immortalised the flower into stone.

"Clear thought and intention. Patience and determination. Focus on your senses, most importantly your touch. Should you not succeed and damage your flower..." Emris' gaze returned to the students facing him. He nodded to the ground, to the discarded flowers.

"Try again."

Aiko looked over at the flower in her hand. She took a moment to respect the thing. It was a beautiful thing, so expressive in hue, and yet so fleeting and finite. A thing to be appreciated in the moment. The girl focused on the plant aiming to change it's nature to something more permanent. The stem in the girl's hand began to transition from a smooth stem to hard stone. The smell of the flowers were leaving the room as students around Aiko tried to do the same thing.

It is shame to trade such beauty for knowledge.

Aiko thought to herself, and the flower in her hand snapped at the last point transitioned to stone. The still-plant upper half of the flower fell to the table. Aiko let out a small sigh as she placed the stone stem on the table and picked up the remains of her flower.

Again.

She thought to herself as she took a moment to reflect, this time on her action over the beauty of the sight.

As the maester turned the once vibrant colors of the tulip to stone she realized her folly. She understood the practicality of such a magic in principal. There was an artistry to immortalizing the flower in such a way. In practice she felt regret over robbing the delicate flower of it's delicate nature to be a paltry sculpture.
She tried to focus her thoughts and will the stem of flowers to stone.
At first the mental block was so great that nothing much happened. The flower remained as it was.
She reached out to the spirit of the flower and forcefully attempted to meld and press it to stone.
Her mouth setting in a tight frown.
In all her straining a bit of the stem did begin to turn to stone only crumble and blow away. It could hardly be called a success. No, she knew this wasn't the way of it.

Perhaps the muted slate like stone the maester had used simply wouldn't answer her call. She decided to instead try with a stone she was more familiar with. She held the stem of flowers up slightly to the light and willed the spirit to encase in a form of stone she knew well. What was left of the stem and petals swirled into soft white and green much like her own Jade hairpin. He carefully turned it in her hands inspecting it. It was fragile and imperfect. Though it felt more like a success than if she actually had managed the dark granite like stone.
Perhaps she would try again on different flower....something less auspicious....or a weed.

His eyes narrowed the slightest as he watched his brother, and the moment Calixtus failed to produce a stone flower, Emris dismissed his attempt by looking to the other students. Some were successful at the first try and looked around, others produced variants of stone, and others failed like his brother.

When he saw some students trying to reach for a new flower, he was sure to assist them by letting the flowers levitate until they could be picked up. One day, he would let them do it themselves, but the first years needed to see the many opportunities magic could be used.

"To complete today's lesson, I will test the strength of your stones. At the end of the class, I will make my way through to see if your work can uphold itself." Emris eased his way to a student at the end of the front row, holding up their stonework and murmured a simple incantation. The stone cracked and crumbled, and it's rubble now littering the student's desk. "Try again." Emris instructed before sweeping his gaze across the students. "You may submit as many flowers as you wish."

Lastly, his eyes fell onto Calixtus again. "Good luck, students."

Rather than get an entirely new flower, Aiko picked up the one that remained from her previous attempt and began again. She focused on pouring energy into the flower, but also on the contrast of what was over what was to be. No, what she would make the future to be. The rest of the stem fortified to stone and climbed upward as Aiko poured magic into the object. Abruptly it snapped again, this time just short of the petals. She glanced over at the cause of her loss of focus, one Calixtus Blodwyn.

“You must not touch the flower with the price. From there focus on the contrast. Fleeting to permanence. Color to grey. Beauty to gravel.” She said, picking up the petal separated from the stem. It turned to stone at her fingertips. Forcing the change under her will.

Would this place change Aiko as she changed this poor flower?

Strength, hm? Then jade certainly wouldn't cut it. Jade was a dignified but soft stone. As she considered how to proceed she heard Calixtus' whispered frustration.
She quietly listened to Aiko and nodded in an impartial sort of agreement. That wasn't how she had done it but it seemed like good advice....

She wasn't about to explain the belief that there are forms of spirit dwelling in all things. Or the many trials one must endure to cultivate the power to have said spirits conform to ones will. Actually she was quite a bit more impressed if Aiko had managed it without having tried a similar exercise before.
In truth yue felt that her method of spell craft was simply well suited for this type of forging. She gathered it did obey the five laws of magic of course. It was just that she didn't actively consider the price. Yue applied her magic like a the empress of Dornoch waving a hand at servants. She simply bent the spirits how she desired.
How could she even describe that? That she made friends with the flower?

"I had....some experience in shapecraft....prior. The hurdles are.....mostly mental...." It wasn't good advice but it was what she could manage.
Though her experience had been mostly in mending or similar. She had never had someone request she make something less beautiful. Especially in the Jade pagoda where women were in a constant war over who owned the most stunning finery.

She turned to consider her next move as she looked at the floating flowers.
There was strength an resilience in weeds who grew despite everything... but perhaps she needed something more...

Part 1: First Lesson

Akpadiaha Uwem bounced slightly on his heels as he entered the classroom, eyes wide with wonder. His robes, a vibrant blend of saffron and soft earth tones, fluttered as he scanned the room. His amber eyes noticed a table with three students, two girls and a boy with intense eyes, and they looked interesting, maybe important. Akpa hesitated, then settled into a nearby table with a satisfied sigh.

He reached into his woven bag and retrieved a small roll of parchment, a charcoal stub, and a tightly folded strip of palm-wrapped bread. He paused, staring at the surroundings, the ink wells, the clean floors, the way the elf girl moved her brush, and the sheer confidence dripping off the boy in blue.

"Wow..." he whispered to himself, then tilted his head when the elf girl asked:

Aiko said:

“Have you managed to find a syllabus for this course? I could never get anyone to confirm if this is more alchemical or metallurgical.”

Click to expand...

Akpa blinked, leaned over slightly, and whispered to no one in particular, "What’s a syllabus?"

Aiko said:

"I am sure we will have it all explained shortly." She replied, and held a silent chuckle. Rather than jump or cast a spell she eventually caught the flower that floated closest to her as it came to her long elven arm's reach.

Click to expand...

The word made his mouth feel full, and he giggled. When Calixtus gave a stiff reply and Aiko returned it with her own dry wit, Akpa muffled a bubbling laugh behind both hands.

"Ah! She got him!" he whispered gleefully under his breath.

When the bricked wall melted and Maester Emris emerged, Akpadiaha’s jaw slackened. He clutched his charcoal stub like a wand and then raised his hand as the Maester finished speaking.

"Maester Emris, sir? Um... what is a syllabus? Is it like... like a magical to-do list?"

Part 2: A Failed Attempt

The flowers began to float gently down from the ceiling, and Akpa gasped. "Eyyy! It’s raining flowers! Like Festival Day!" he cheered softly. One landed on his shoulder, a cheerful yellow bloom with white-tipped petals. He gently plucked it and held it up with reverence.

When the others began turning theirs to stone, Akpadiaha narrowed his eyes at the flower in his hand.

"Alright. You and me now," he murmured, eyebrows furrowed. He jabbed a finger at it. "Stone!"
Nothing happened.

He tried rubbing the stem. Whispered sweet things to it. Wiggled his fingers like the priests of his village’s masquerade plays. Still, the flower stayed a flower.

By the time Aiko snapped her second flower and Yue summoned jade, Akpa was still on the first one, now holding it upside-down and shaking it gently.

At one point he stood on one leg and muttered, "Stone. Stone-stone-stone-stone-stooone..." His eyes bulged from effort, face red, lips trembling. The flower remained perfectly unbothered.

Part 3: A Raffia of Stone

Flopping back into his seat, Akpa sulked. His face was hot. He pouted at the flower like it was a rude uncle.

Then, in his mind, he mumbled: Goddess Vaene... I did all the things. I even tried the one-legged stance. And nothing. Nothing! This flower hates me!

Then do not force it, child. Weave it like raffia. Slow. Loving. Precise. It becomes stone because you will it, not because you scare it.

Akpadiaha blinked. "...Like raffia?" he repeated aloud.

He sat upright. His shoulders relaxed. He cupped the flower in both hands and closed his eyes.

He imagined pulling long, slow strands from the flower’s center like weaving grass into matting. He remembers his late sister’s gentle hands and smile. His breathing slowed. His pulse softened. His heart calmed.

In the darkness behind his eyes, he imagined wrapping the bloom in strands of will, of patience. Not to crush or harden it, but to transform it with care.

The stem cooled. A weight settled in his palms.

He peeked. The flower was... almost there. The lower petals had stiffened, dulled. The stem was rough to the touch. It wasn’t perfect. But it had begun.

Ehnnn, he grinned, beaming. Vaene, you’re the best!

Vaene slightly smiled. It’s one of my many abilities.