Private Tales High class

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer
Well that was unexpected. Professor Bellerose didn’t seem to be the sort to give out compliments lightly, and Teodron flushed from some heady combination of pride and embarrassment. Indeed, after the critical way the elf had acted in their last meeting, the half-dwarf had thought it would be hard to impress the other man. Indeed, the student had been imagining many grudging sessions with the professor before Severin finally acknowledged Teodron’s abilities.

But apparently all it took was one well-written essay.

Not used to being praised by the mages here, the half-dwarf took a few moments to respond. “Thank you sir!” he finally squeaked, having found his voice again. Then, of course, Professor Bellerose came over to examine the latest assignment and Teodron found himself worried. He didn’t want to disappoint the elf so soon after the man had praised the student, so he found himself angling his body to block the other man’s view.

“I’m sorry sir...I was distracted while I wrote this. Let me redo it so it will meet your standards.” And Teodron's own standards as well. Without waiting for a response, the half-dwarf set the smudged sheet aside and started writing as quickly as he dared while still maintaining the precise and neat script, focus and energy renewed by the compliment.
 
Severin tilted his head a little before speaking out to the student. »Very well then, call me when you need me.« He wouldn't have minded going through all the strokes together, but if young Teodron already knew to do better, perhaps it's better to leave him to his own device to ready his work to a more apropriate level of expertise.

In the mean time Severin would have retreated to the other end of the room, rummaging a little through the shelves and taking out new parchments to bring over to the student when he ran out, even bringing out a scraping tool to erase the mistakes off the previous sheet.
 
It didn’t take the half-dwarf long to recreate the sheet. This time, Teodron was relieved to see, his writing was perfect. Or at least, as perfect as he was capable of making it. “Done, sir.” If nothing else, the student’s calligraphy and drawing skills were improving with all these drills. While he still wasn’t wholly convinced that scripture magic was for him—that might change if he ever got to cast spells, which seemed unlikely to happen any time soon—at least it was teaching him more patience and discipline. At the very least, the methodical approach to spell-casting could probably translate to other magical disciplines.

That was for another day, though, when the half-dwarf didn’t have Professor Bellerose hovering over Teodron, the elf watching the half-dwarf’s work for any sign of an imperfection.
 
Severin slowly walked over to Teodron, taking out his narrow skewer and taking a good look over the characters. »Good good... allright.« Along the way he pointed out some minor angle mismanagments. »This here is a bit too heavy, too thin here,« he would follow in with correctures inbetween.
»You've gotten quite accustumed to writing in this script already, do you feel confident to apply your newly acquired knowledge to correctly embellish capitals, or do you feel like you need more time?« The scholar queried.
 
The work was good, but not perfect; the half-dwarf knew he could do better, but it was hard to maintain his focus during the long periods of time necessary for scripture magic. As Professor Bellerose asked whether the half-dwarf was ready to move on, Teodron bit his lip, glancing between the page and the professor. Normally, the half-dwarf would’ve said yes. Given the slow pace of learning, any extra moment he spent on perfecting it would feel like a wasted opportunity.

But solid foundations were everything: as in rune magic, without knowing the basics, it would be impossible to create the more complex spells. At best, they’d fizzle out. At worst, they’d explode, or transform him, or make every sound taste like orange. Scripture magic was supposedly safer in that regard; however, that didn’t mean it was necessarily safe, whatever the professor might say. “I’d appreciate a bit more time, sir,” Teodron replied respectfully.

With that, he bent forward and got back to work.
 
»...« Severin pursed his lips a little, nodding his head before walking over to the cabinet, he seemed to bring the Aerdyn codex with him, a recent find with Phillipa Ebonheart back in the country, and a worthy adition to the collection of artefacts in posession of Elbion.
For now Severing would be studying the codex and document every single spell that was held within.
 
Actually, it turned out Teodorn didn’t need all that much more time after all. Though the half-dwarf had struggled to focus earlier, it turned out the professor’s approval of the student’s essay had been all Teodron needed for his energy and attention to return. It seemed like only moments before he’d made the corrections Severin had suggested.

Biting his lip, the half-dwarf glanced at the capitalization Professor Bellerose had mentioned. It didn’t seem too difficult (well, not any more than the rest of the work they’d been doing), so Teodron didn’t know whether to give it a try or wait for the elf to give the half-dwarf permission to do so. Then, he felt his resolve grow: he didn’t need permission to learn, not at the college.

Still, some caution would be prudent. “I’ve made the changes you suggested, sir. I’ll go ahead and work on the capitalization now.” With that, he bent down and put quill to paper again. If Severin wanted to look over Teodron’s work, he was more than welcome to.
 
Quick... Well, - Severin Didn't get quite far in documenting a whole chapter. He put aside his inscriptions before picking up a large scroll. This time he didn't simply stand besides Teodron, he sat besides on the next writing stand. He rolle out the paper just enough to show him the first set of capitals.
»Watch carefully, « Severin began to demonstrate the stroke order on his paper, slowly and gently while explaining characteristics of more intricate strokes. He would do such throughout the whole alphabet and urge Teodron to go along.

While those that they were working on were only in black and designed in ribboning strokes, those in the example sheets were tinted in colourful primal colours and decorated in gold.
 
Though the half-dwarf noted the fact that the teaching scroll had colored inks and the practice scrolls had black ink, he didn’t say anything. It helped that Professor Bellerose was using black ink as well: despite the fact that scripture magic apparently used all sorts of materials beyond the basic parchment and ink Teodron had been allowed to use, the student wasn’t there yet. It was annoying, sure—as with everything else at the college, his thirst for knowledge outpaced his actual capacity to learn—but as long as he kept getting Severin’s approval the half-dwarf would survive.

Side-by-side the two of them worked on the capital letters. Though the half-dwarf acknowledged foundation work was necessary—and indeed, even at times enjoyable—that didn’t make it any less tedious at times. Still, if he wanted his scrolls and books to work, he needed to keep at it.

So he did. With each and every letter he copied the painstaking motions that Professor Bellerose showed the student. Though they weren’t perfect—on the first, or second, or sometimes even third try—Teodron redid them until he was satisfied. Hopefully it would satisfy the professor as well.
 
They would have worked long to get the lettering up to the expected standard, and only continous drilling would make it stick.
It was easy to forget for most everyone just how long it takes to write.
Hasty letters flowed like water, true beuty however took time.
Towards the end of the lecture they'd begin to incorporate the capital letters in text.
...

After finishing the lecture, Severing began to pack up the utensils and setting them to their rightful places.
»By the next lession read 'Madam Ephimem's The secret world of semantics'...for further reading I reccomend Serge Lavier's Treatise on meaning of names. Both books can be aquired in Elbion's library.«
 
They drilled continuously, at least that's how it seemed to Teodron; the half-dwarf had never had to practice a magical discipline quite as strenuously as this one, and he still wasn't one hundred percent convinced he wanted to pursue it further. Still, he kept at it if for no other reason than to have an ally among the Maestars.

The half-dwarf had precious few of those.

Eventually though—after starting to use capitals, which was probably supposed to feel like an accomplishment, but mostly felt tedious—Professor Bellerose declared they were done. The half-dwarf gathered up his supplies. Nodding along, Teodron made a mental note of both books. "Thank you, sir."

With that, he left (though he made sure to stop by the library to check out both volumes, and cracked open the first one that very night).
 
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