A Magical Demonstration

Log Info

• Title: A Magical Demonstration
• Emitter: Telamon
• Characters: Telamon, Warrick, Magpie, Schara, Verna
• Place: Society for Progressive Arcanists
• Time: March 14th, 2023
• Summary: Telamon leads a magical lecture on the Society grounds, mentioning ethics and methods. All the while making Warrick's daughter Cynthia get touted about through telekinetic force. Warrick, Schara, Magpie, and Verna watch on, some taking notes, others not. But Verna conducts some minor pranks on the speaker before questions are taken in the cafeteria.

Society for Progressive Arcanists, afternoon

The skies are clear, the temperature is warming up, and there's a happy smattering of newer students in the courtyard. When you're still mastering your cantrips, the prospect of seeing more powerful magic can be a bit of a lure. There's some confusion over who's giving the presentation, though.

"I hope it's the Proctor of Transmutation, he's pretty impressive." "Probably not. I bet it'll be Professor Grimleach." "Not -again-, he could make -anything- boring!" "I heard it's not a teacher, actually. One of the members of the Shining Chalice!" There's a fair amount of interest at that last speculation, and quite a bit of chatter among the students.

It wasn't very high on his list, attending such a thing. But, information is information, so he was in the crowd, sitting with a notebook out and a grey overcoat on. The eldanar man seemed quite mundane amongst all the potential magic about.

Warrick's daughter, on the other hand...

She was right there with the speculation. "Is someone going to get turned into a toad?! Oo- oo- whataboutaDRAGON!" the freckled, black haired teen all but jumps up and down in excitement.

"Last time someone turned into a dragon, a city block was destroyed," Warrick deadpans.

"Okay, aaaaaaaaaaaaaand??"

He just shakes his head.

The society of progressive arcanists, a great place to gather supplies if you knew where to look and who to trust. Learning magic was expensive after all, and many supplemented their income with varying degrees of work on magical objects.

So it wasn't too surprising for a brown haired elf to be wandering out of one of the entrances to the courtyard with one large pouch hanging off of one of their hands. Whatever had everyone so curious was enough to make them stop however, and take a look around to see what might be happening.

Not all may have arrived for the spectacle. Some may or may not have been aware of such a thing, having arrived some time prior. Verna exits the main main bulding into the courtyard and then slows her steps at noting the gathering of students and spectators. Demonic invasion? Student scuffle? Catastrophic miscasting? Some form of hazing or prank? She is uncertain of the immediate cause, though her presumptions, and hopes, tend towards the latter given the light and curious nature, or at least the lack of running and screaming.

"Oh hey," Magpie says at Verna's heels. "Wonder what's going on there?"

Hopping down the steps two at a time, the blond gnome makes frustrated sounds, trying to get a better vantage point on what's drawn such a crowd. Finally, some of the speculation reacher her ears, and she can only chuckle. "Oh! Okay. Demonstration. That should be fun, if whoever it is has half a grain of common sense! Hey Ve-- uh, Mourner, wanna check it out?"

There's the usual jostling, as the young students form a rough semicircle, and for a moment, nothing. Then a startled gasp, and several fingers are pointed in the direction of the library, where a rather familiar, dapper looking half-elf is strolling towards the plaza.

Well, sort of. He appears to be walking on about two feet of empty air, but his pace looks perfectly natural. A set of six shimmering vanes of glimmering light, like insect wings, extend from his back -- presumably the signature of his flight spell. Dressed in a ruffled white blouse, black leather trousers, polished boots with silver buckles, his platinum hair artfully tousled (or maybe it's natural) and held back by an intricate gold and silver headband, Telamon Lupecyll-Atlon approaches the gathering with an easy smile.

Coming to a stop in front of the students, he politely bows, as his feet drift to the paving and the flight spell goes dormant. "Well, good afternoon!" he says, his dark eyes sparkling with good humor and cheer. "I see we have more than a few people here out to study the Art and the Talent, as they like to call it in the Mythwood. For those of you who -don't- know me, I am called Telamon Lupecyll-Atlon."

Warrick's brows raise at the incoming individual. Is that...? Hrm. The man notes that down. At least those known, this speaker is the more amiable. He's not one to be impressed easily.

Cynthia, on the other hand, grabs her dad by the overcoat and shakes him. "OHMYGODDESSDAD!" she squeaks before all but running off to get a front row seat.

He just lets himself get wobble about before settling. A chuckle escapes him, him scanning the crowd before raising a hand to Schara across the way.

"Oh, hello Warrick, good to see you!" The elf greets with a slightly stilted wave as she walks over to where the ex-guard was watching, stopping to wave to Verna as she passed as well. "And hello to you as well Miss Verna, why are you here today?" She asks in passing. "I didn't know any demonstrations were scheduled for today, what brought this about?"

"Intriguing..." Verna notes as the intent of the gathering becomes more apparent. Then she notes as Telamon flutters by and introduces himself to the gathered. "Yes, this should be quite interesting, indeed," she notes to Magpie. "As well, you need not be so formal and can use my name." She gestures towards as more run by. "We should make haste, or we may be behind others thus that neither of us will be able to see anything of note." Verna may not be a gnome, but she is in nearly the same allocation by stature, so moves to close the distance. Schara's greeting is returned with "Good day, Schara. I do not know the specifics, yet I expect that my sibling shall put on a strong spectacle."

"I... right, sorry, Verna," Magpie says, threading through the crowd as best she can. "Oh it's Telamon? Oh yeah this is gonna be *fun.* Hiii~!" she says, waving at the elf greeting Verna.

This would be a great place to watch, if one were the size of the rest of the onlookers... which, sadly, Magpie is not. With another, longer frustrated noise, she casts about for a handy bit of architecture, and spots a nearby statue, storming over to it. Rubbing her hands on her sleeves, she mutters a quick incantation, and begins to climb the statue as easily as a spider might. Dominance over sightlines established, she settles in to watch the show.

Warrick's daughter isn't the only one. It seems a clique of five girls, plus Cynthia, have managed to hustle their way into front row seats. For his part, Telamon regards the gathering with an amused look, though his eyes widen ever so slightly at Verna, and he waves to her before continuing.

"You've probably had to endure the lecture from Professor Grimleach, about the dangers of magic. No, I won't belabor you with it again. Suffice to say he's right -- but it's only half the picture. Magic is a gift, and a tool. What matters more than anything else is what you do with it. Yes, there are proscriptions, but such magic is proscribed because it's an offense against others just by using it."

Telamon's fingers move in a deft pattern. "Emegar gete," he says calmly. Strands of light weave together, and suddenly a shimmering image springs upwards, a knight clad in plate armor, to the 'oooh' of the students. "Ultimately, every spell you cast is on your conscience. So do good things with it." Telamon bows to the illusionary knight, who salutes him in return.

"Schara, Verna," Warrick greets, wagging his pencil to supplement a wave before nodding his head towards Magpie. That was a good point, the man gets up to get a better look of what was going on.

At the front row, slate eyes wide with excitement was Cynthia, next to the other girls, claps and jumps happily at the display of the shimmering knight. "That'ssoooocooooool!"

"Oh, that's your sibling? I guess on your human side if that's the case." The elf notes, mostly to herself before she settles in for whatever demonstration was to come. "Socool? Is that their name? I've never heard of them here before."

The misinterpretation causes... is that a curl of smile on Verna's lips. "Adverb and adjective, not appelation," she corrects good-naturedly, "and Telamon is my brother by marriage, and adoption. He seems to have the rapt attention of all with his lesson, as well."

Her expression lingers as she retrieves a cylinder from her satchel and attempts to time her new utterances with the apparent adorations of the gathered crowd to work a morsel of magic of her own. It is nothing spectacular, and intentionally not: a barely-visible and intangible hand of life-essence and force materializes before zipping off to hover in Telamon's vicinity. Above and behind him, to make a brief wave to the spectators.

"Oh niice," Magpie says, looking with appreciation at the illusion of the Knight. The cooing and aaahing of the young girls brings a chuckle to the gnome's throat, as she shifts in place to extract a book, scribbling down notes.

Best thing about arcane studies is, if you do it right? They never stop.

Telamon hasn't noticed the ghostly hand yet, so focused is he on the crowd. "But! You didn't come here to listen to me lecture... though I suspect some of you would happily listen to me read a history book." A snap of his fingers dismisses the knightly illusion, and he gives the girls in front a knowing, wry smile -- not derisive, though. "So, I need a volunteer..." His eyes sweep the crowd -- giving Magpie a double take at her perch, before finally stopping on Cynthia. "Lass, care to get a better look at things? I promise," his voice turning a touch more formal, "nothing bad is going to happen to you."

Calmly, the sorcerer takes a step back, letting the young lady come up next to him at his beckoning, flexing his fingers. "Dimma sa, irhandi namsita," he says, focusing his energies again.

Warrick seems a bit distracted hearing about Verna's recent familial additions. "No, that is Telamon, no Socool. That is just Cinny being Cinny," he elaborates to Schara.

The little mage hand flitting about gets Cynthia's attention, her laughing as it distracts her from the display. But the paff and vanish of illusion draws her back. And Telamon is pointing right at her. Her freckled face tinges red, but she immediately hops forth. "Yeah yeah yeah!" she enthuses, standing out with her hands akimbo on her hips as she settles in next to Telamon. "I'm ready!"

Strands of her black hair start to lift, the straps on her purple jacket beginning to float. "... woah. Woah. WOAH!"

"Sometimes she just gets into the strangest things, but, that's kids for yo-" Warrick was explaining before turning back to the display. He blinks. Halfways sighs, then laughs.

Looking up as the illusion is dispelled, Magpie catches Telamon's eye, grinning and wiggling her stylus in his direction. Then she notices the hand as well, and really it's only the magic that keep her from falling off the statue in a fit of silent laughter.

She perks, as Tela calls for a volunteer from the audience, and settles in for some *serious* note-taking. Who knows *what* spell might come next, and deciphering it from its weave alone? Might be a fun exercise!

"Telamon, oh, right! I remember them, I don't know why I didn't recognize them." Schara notes with a brief moment of understanding, followed by more confusion. "I'm not going to ask for explanation of your relationship as I'm probably just understanding things wrong to begin with and it makes sense." The elf huffs once, before falling silent to watch the show, with a low nod to Warrick. "It's a lot of trust to put in him, but if Verna vouches for him, it must be alright."

The hand somewhat mimics Telamon's gestures as he focuses mana to Cynthia, though it otherwise hovers and flits behind to try and stay out of the demonstrator's immediate vision. It would be impolite to distract or interrupt him by its presence. That or it could be one more small part of the spectacle.

"She does seem quite enthused," Verna opines to Warrick, still bearing a bemused expression, "and now..." Well, who knows exactly what magic is happening, now, to the young volunteer? Verna may, or may be attempting to as she observes the effect keenly, though she does assure Schara, "She is in no danger." Without lifting her eyes too far towards the statue, she inquires lightly, "Are you still scribing notes, Magpie?" There is just enough emphasis beyond Verna's typical flat tone to suggest that the inquiry -might- be more than just an inquiry.

The half-elf's eyes are deep and full of stars, as he slowly raises his hand. And there are small flickering stars around Cynthia as well, as she begins to -rise-. Lifting upward -- not by her arms, or jacket, but some vast, shapeless but inexorable force that carries the young woman up about ten feet in the air before stopping.

After a moment, Telamon continues, "Sometimes, the trick is not just throwing energy around. But controlling and harnessing it. Keeping it under rein, to get the most out of it. A fireball may be very impressive, but it's hard to lift a friend out of a pit with it." The mana coursing through him is causing his own hair to float around his face a bit, as he glances up at Cynthia and smiles. "How's the view, miss?"

Warrick simply states to Schara. "Verna and her wife recently married and have taken on the Lupecyll-Atlon family name, ergo, he is Verna's brother," he rattles off. For an old guard, he seems well informed of current ongoings. But, his attention is mainly focused on his daughter going... up?

Cynthia is having an ab. so. lute. blast. She's cackling and flailing her limbs, doing her best to get used to the situation. Eventually she gets her bearings, finding some of the inexorable force and laxing back into it. "I-I can see my house from here!" she enthuses, giggling with a wide grin.

The man has stopped taking notes, Warrick just watching Cynthia. His face cracks from its usual stoicism to a relaxed sort of smile. "She's doing just fine, Persi," he mumbles.

"*Hells yes* I am taking notes," Magpie replies, looking up to give the magic suspending the young girl in the air a hard, hard look. Pages begin to fill with indecipherable shorthand and fragmentary sketches, and if one's notes are a measure of the way they think, then Magpie seems to have difficulty with linear time.

Grinning as the girl approaches eye level with her the gnome wiggles her fingers in greeting, producing a brief shower of multicolored sparkles. With that, she turns her attention more fully to the conversation on the ground. "Wait, that's *your* daughter, sir?" she asks of Warrick. "Adorable little munchkin, you got."

"Oh yes, I know miss Verna recently married, but that wasn't where the confusion was, I guess it makes sense if they just decided to take a name, I'm not sure how that works but that's okay. If you say it's safe then that's fine as well." The elf shrugs. "Who are you calling Persi Warrick?"

The name-drop, as it is, does pull Verna's attention to Warrick from Telamon and his levitating assistant. Not that any of it was secretive, yet, "You are very well-informed, Warrick." He also appears to be an excellent parent, admittedly in Verna's limited experience with him, Cynthia, or even parenting. Schara now directs her questions to Warrick, so Verna returns her focus on the demonstration at hand. Plus one, though the spectral one continues to be as innocuous as one might be. "Excellent," she comments, now flicking a glance to the gnome on high. "I am curious to see what occurs after she is landed." Back to spectating.

"Is it hard to do that?" That seems to be the gist of questions from the audience. It doesn't seem that hard, but... Telamon's spell cradles Cynthia as gently as if she was spun crystal. Tel replies, "To an extent. Gathering mana and releasing it isn't hard. Gathering it and then keeping it in one place, or molding it... that's a little trickier. Some spells simply require too much concentration to let you cast others." Slowly, the girl descends, the sparkles glimmering around her as she lands on her feet again as light as a feather.

"As you study, you'll learn how to mold mana into spells, and how some can be sustained while others require your focus. There's nothing standing in your way of reaching the heights of Professor Grimleach, or myself, or -- heavens forbid -- some of the archmagi here at the university. It's just a question of how far you want to follow the path."

Warrick blinks as he's being called out, him looking up to the statue. "Yes, that goober is mine, thank you," he chuckles. "Take a lot after her mother."

A glance to Schara. "My wife's name is Persephone," he simply states. "Or Persi, as she preferred."

He nods to Verna, gaze still on Cynthia, who was excitedly waving back to Magpie. "Need to be in my line of work. Information can save or end lives for lack of or knowledge of. It is good to know what the current news is."

"Weeee!" Cynthia giggles as she's being spun about until she lands on her feet. She wobbles, but is all smiles. "Dad! Did you see that!?"

"You almost flew to Eluna, how could I not?" he gestures to her across the crowd, him not one to shout. Unlike his daughter. Remembering something, he writes a few more things down into his journal. <Handspeech>

Cynthia turns to Telamon. "I dunno how you did any of that but that was SUPER fun! Thanks Mister!" she grins, reaching out to grab his hand and shake it with fervor.

As Verna claps lightly for Cynthia's efforts and return to Ea, the floating hand gives her an approving thumb up. "Indeed. All is just a matter of study, focus, practice, and patience," she notes absently to those in her vicinity. Perhaps a bit of mischief could be included in that list, as well as the hand moves again. It dips down to 'tap' Telamon on the right shoulder, perhaps felt more as a chill than pressure. It then flits to his left to avoid his expected turn, also ready to tap at the left shoulder.

It is likely not a novel prank to anyone. Except, perhaps, to Verna.

It's a good thing the demonstration is over, because with Verna's antics, Magpie wouldn't get *anything* done. Clutching at her stomach from the silent snickers, she manages to drop both stylus and book. Which would normally be a disaster, but they're hers anyway and she can pick them up later.

"So that looked like a fun time!" she says to Cynthia, as she returns to her father's side. "What was it like being The Most Tall?"

Telamon blinks as he's tapped. Wait, again? He spins in a circle suddenly, before swiping at the spectral hand. "Oh for... I see -someone- is having a little fun with me." he quips, chuckling. "Alright, I'm off to the dining hall to grab a bite. I'll be answering questions there, if any of you have such..."

It appears there's more than a few who do, as a good portion of the happily chatting students follow the elegant half-elf towards the dining hall. Would that all classes were this fun and entertaining!

Cynthia giggles at the prank before jogging about to the group. She looks down to Magpie, grinning, "It was GREAT! Felt like I was in a big comfy chair floating up high!"

Warrick shakes his head, the faint smile on his face seemingly permanent as he stashes his journal away. "It was interesting, that is for certain." He puts a hand on Cytnhia's shoulder. "Food time? I'm sure you have questions for him."

"Yeah yeah yeah!" the teen cheers, starting to run towards the cafeteria. Well. Trying to. She's held in place by Warrick. But he's slooowly being dragged that way.

Verna lifts a hand to bid Telamon farewell with a wave, with the spectral variant mirroring the gesture before it flits to Verna's side. A single dismissive gesture causes it to dissipate before she turns to Warrick and Cynthia. "That was quite enjoyable." She glances to the curious group of spectators following Telamon with more questions. "All are far more energized and conscious than I recall most spectators during my past sessions as lecturer..."

When she looks back to them, one is already being led (slowly) away by the other. "Enjoy the day," she bids them farewell with a brief wave.

"Oh c'mon Verna," Magpie chuckles, scrabbling off the statue. "It's *Telamon,* he could read the minutes of an exploratory committee, and be surrounded with moon-eyed admirers." Stooping -- not very far, thankfully -- to retrieve book and stylus, she bumbles over to join the elves' gathering. "Good demonstration, though! I get the feeling her dad's a leeeeeettle bit protective of her."

"Oh, alright, that makes sense you aren't referring to anyone here with that." The elf nods back to Warrick, lost in some train of thought or another as the demonstration comes to an end. Though they are unable to ignore the sudden commotion as people move and shuffle about to either take their leave, or head to the cafeteria. "Oh! Yes, it was a good demonstration, even if it was lacking in practical explanation, it had good points and making people want to learn more is important in itself." Schara notes. "Of course, and good day miss Verna, take care. That sounds like a good idea, but I spent all my spending money for the day on various parts, so I should find some food elsewhere."

-End Scene-