By Blood and Craft [IC Thread 2]

[TooManySecrets]

Group B - Elana Pirea Cenca, Tiberius Horatius Pulvillus, Lucius Maro Virgilius

During Instructor Horatius's lecture yesterday he had mentioned something that had been a bit hard to understand (the structure of the Office of Arbitration during the reign of the 8th emperor). Unfortunately, he didn't have time to go over it completely before the dinner bell had rung. Hoping to figure it out, you — Elana, Tiberius, and Lucius — have decided to go the library. It shouldn't be hard to find out the needed information, especially if somebody like Manius Curtius is there.

Before you even get there, however, you hear what sounds like trouble. Up ahead, down the left hallway, you hear the sound of a few kids laughing. The laughter, however, seems to have no humor to it and reminds you nothing more than the snorting of pigs. Given the laughter is immediately followed by the sound of another kid yelping out and the clatter of a dropped scroll, it's not too hard to make an educated guess as to what is happening.

On the one hand, it would be easy enough to just continue onto the library. On the other hand, maybe you should help whichever student is being bullied?

[Quellian-dyrae]

Elana was truly starting to hate the gym.

If it had just been exercise, it might have been another story. Staying fit was a laudable goal and important for an agent. But the way the Instructor harped on them about it no matter what they did rankled. Being good at running just seemed pointless to her when there was literally no amount of running skill that was going to even come close to approaching flight for practical mobility. The fact that she was just plain bad at it almost certainly had nothing to do with it whatsoever. No sir.

History she found more to her liking. Okay, yes, the first couple weeks had struck her as involving a certain amount of bait-and-switchery on the part of the faculty, what with the lack of actual crafting studies. But knowledge was power too, and once you got past the natural disappointment that any kid (and, let's be honest, most adults) would feel at studying the events of the past in place of awesome elemental powers, the Empire's history was an interesting topic. At the end of the day, it was a story, and Elana liked stories.

But all in all, the part of the past two weeks that she most enjoyed was the time she spent with her senion. It wasn't the same as back home, but that was part of the fun. Elana pretty much knew how her siblings would react to most things, but her senion constantly surprised her. It was also a strange shift, going from the youngest child to one of the oldest, and Elana found herself acting a bit more confidently, more decisively, as a result.

Which, perhaps, was part of the reason that when Elana heard the cruel laughter and the helpless yelping she stopped, got a grim look on her face, squared her shoulders, and marched straight down the left hallway to see what was going on.

With GM approval, Elana will take a rank in Expertise (History) and Persuasion.

And if anyone's even the least bit surprised at Elana's response to the situation, I'm pretty sure it denies you the opportunity to take Insight or Perception ranks with this PP :smallamused:.

[Hyperbolic sine]

Instructor Horatius' behaviour was at the very least...puzzling: his methods seemed to have an excessive amount of stick and almost no carrot, but he didn't seem like a cruel person at heart. No matter how much effort Tiberius and the others put in doing something, no matter how well they did, they always seemed to do something wrong: however, he still was convinced that the Instructor had a good reason for all that, and so he kept trying harder and harder, looking at the bright side - at least all that running as actually doing something. It's not like he isn't used to try hard without anything in return aside from self-improvement, after all.

Afternoon lesson, those were a real pain: each time, Tiberius wondered wheteher that was the day they'd start practicing crafting (one can only do so much in the dormitory), and each time he was disappointed by the usual - and, let's face it, boring - speeches about ancient history. He of course forced himself to actually listen to the Instructor, because if they will ever be tested he has no intention whatsoever of failing, but he couldn't help but sometimes wander somewhere else with his mind: this time he took a bit too much to come back to reality, losing an important chunk of explanation about the structure of the Office of Arbitration a long time ago. Luckily (so to say), he apparently wasn't the only one who didn't get that part well, and thus he, Elana and Lucius formed an expeditionary force to library in order to uncover the buried secrets of said ancient hierarchy.

The yelping came quite unexpected, because - as he was busy trying with imagination to give a little more appeal to the library trip - the laughter didn't even register at first: however it doesn't take long for him to make two plus two, especially since Elana sudenly stopped and started marching towards the source, and so he quickly follows her. "Contego." he murmurs as he prepares to defend both the hapless victim and themselves, a little bit excited that he can finally get his crafts to use (though he would've intervened regardless, just because "it's the right thing to do").

"Readying" an Active Defense action.

Aircrafting Array Status:
+5 AGL, -3 Dodge :: 7/14 pts

Current: AGL 5, DEX 0, Dodge 3.
Shielding Winds :: 7/14 pts

[Starbin]

Lucius Maro Virgilius

The days turned into a long, monotonous string of the same thing - history lessons, exercise, meals, study, sleep; the order might vary, and the timing of each might be different, but it was pretty much the same thing over and over. Where others seemed to rankle and bristle at imagined slights and frustration at their seeming lack of progress, Lucius endured. He accepted the lessons of the instructor without much commentary, complaints, or discussion. He had even been called out specifically for his lack of fire when it came to defending his own view points, to which him simply said, "Yes, Instructor. I will do better."

Of course, they all tried to do better, and it didn't make a difference. Fix one problem, another one was highlighted; address a challenge this way, be corrected for not doing it that way; say yes, and the answer was no. It was a life of constantly being wrong, and always wondering what you should have done. Of course, it was all a joke - and one Lucius had lived for most of his life. The others might not understand, but it was life as he knew it. So he continued to study, continued to work as hard as he could to keep up with the others, and usually kept to himself.

It was unusual, therefore, when he found himself heading out with Tiberius and Elana to check on some topics at the library - they were both much more outgoing than he, and came from a completely different walk of life than he did. He wondered how contrary the Academy was compared to their expectations, but he was interrupted from his reverie by laughter.

He paused, instantly recognizing the humorless, mocking lilt to the sounds - the mean and belittling nature almost palpable. He knew it because he had been the target of such teasing many times growing up. Had he been by himself, he might have kept going; or he might have simply edged over to see if he could 'help' the victim - he wasn't sure. But inwardly sighing, he knew what Elana's reaction would be. He didn't even need to look at her to know she was already squaring her shoulders, tightening her jaws, raising her chin - it was almost cute ... although why that word popped to mind was odd.

Shaking his head clear, he glanced at Tiberius who seemed to be following her. With resignation, he followed, looking around to see if anyone else was watching or coming this way.

[TooManySecrets]

Elana, with Lucius and Tiberius following closely on her heels, turns the corner to see four students in the middle of the hallway. It's not a fair fight, however, since it seems like three of them arrayed against one.

The aggressors — for that is what they almost certainly are — are two boys and a girl. One of the boys is broad and tall with a dull expression. He's the one who laughed and he's still chuckling now. The other boy is thin but almost as tall. His face reminds you of nothing as much as a rat. He keeps running one of his hands over the his arm. The girl, despite coming only up to the shoulders of the two boys, seems to be the one in charge. She's the one in the center of the two others, the one standing forward, and the one with the upraised hand. She's got a snub-nose and a plain face ruined by her dark expression towards the other student standing across from her.

At his feet is a dropped scroll, the wooden roller having rolled down the hallway. He cringes and clutches at his books and scrolls, trying desperately to hold onto them.

None of the participants in this little tableau have seen any of you yet — their attention focused mostly on each other — but since you're barely 20 feet away that's not likely to last more than a few seconds.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Elana gave a little inwardly sigh, bending down to grab the dropped roller and then walking towards the four students. She tapped the boy lightly on the shoulder with the roller, asking with a gentle, friendly smile, "You drop this?" before stepping forward to carefully gather up the scroll itself - and place herself between the boy and the bullies, if there was space to fit and the latter didn't stop her, though as she did so she'd politely say, "Excuse me," to the three, with that same gentle smile on her face.

In some ways, she knew, it was a bit brazen, but it might put them off their game. And if things got out of hand, well, she felt secure knowing Tiberius and Lucius had her back.

[Hyperbolic sine]

Tiberius was preparing to say something, but Elana's action somehow foiled his plans - she's got guts, there's no denying it - so he limits himself to simply stare at the three aggressors with a raised eyebrow and little swirls of dust as his feet, ready to shield Elana if they dare as much as to lay a hand on her. Things may get interesting, so he looks for pendants and other clues on what type of crafters and what year the aggressors attend.

Ready to Actively Defend.

Perception [roll0]

Aircrafting Array Status:
+5 AGL, -3 Dodge :: 7/14 pts
Current: AGL 5, DEX 0, Dodge 3.
Shielding Winds :: 7/14 pts

[Starbin]

Lucius Maro Virgilius

He followed his companions around the corner, pausing behind as he watched Elana engaged the group directly, with Tiberius staring imperiously from the side. With three potential aggressors harrying one lone boy, it looked pretty damning. Of course, looks could be deceiving. After a moment, he tried to see if he could detect what the boy was thinking on the surface ... and perhaps what the lead girl on the other side was thinking.

I suppose Lucius will try to detect thoughts ... I guess that's opposed vs Will, so
[roll0]
[roll1]

EDIT: Oh good, I suck ...

[TooManySecrets]

The words ... you can't understand them. Everything is too loud and your mind can't make any sense of it. It's just a rushing, crashing sound of meaninglessness, like waves or the loud murmur of a crowd.

You failed both of your checks, but only by one degree, so you can try again if you want. However, remember that crafting takes both words and hand motions — you didn't get noticed this time because their attention wasn't on you. Be careful of when you try again.
The boy being bullied doesn't have any necklace or pendant, but the bullies do. They're second-year students. Rat-face has a necklace with a blue and white stone — air and water — and tall boy has a necklace with a red and brown stone — fire and earth. The girl has a necklace with only a single brown stone.

The tension in the hallway increases that much as Elana intervenes so boldly. The boy being bullied seems to cringe even more and the two kids flanking the girl are momentarily taken aback. Only the girl seems relaxed as she slowly looks Elana up and down, sizing her up. Whatever she sees, she doesn't seem impressed.

"Listen," she says, contempt dripping in her tone, "this doesn't concern you. So, why don't you just turn around" — she makes a little turning gesture with her hand — "and I'll forget just how stupid you are."

"Yeah," adds rat-face.

[Quellian-dyrae]

There was a part of Elana that wanted to respond with something like, "Helping a fellow student pick up something he dropped is stupid?" But she could tell there wasn't any point to it. Fact was, everyone here knew what was actually going on. Everyone knew that all the others knew what was going on. So there was no point in pretending otherwise.

"Okay, direct it is. Turning and walking away sounds great. I think we should all do just that. Because right now, there aren't any problems here. No one's been hurt - they haven't hurt you, have they?" she asked the victim as a sudden aside. "And no one's been crafted on, so everything's fine. No one has to be hurt, no one has to be reported to an Instructor, we can all go about our day as model Agents-in-Training. Sounds good, right?" she asked with a friendly smile, while gently nudging the boy behind her with her heel, hopefully signalling him to start moving away.

Persuasion: [roll0]. Additional +2 if Attractive applies.

[Starbin]

Lucius Maro Virgilius

His attempt having failed, but going unnoticed, Lucius decided to leave well enough alone. Of course, with the girl beginning to square off, he realized there was little hope of this not ending in conflict. With a sigh, he stood to the side, watching carefully, wondering where the librarian was ... or if that was even an option. For all he knew, this was another test to either fail or be counciled on how they could have done it better.

He had a few choice words he could use, but since Elana was not afraid to talk, he waited, watching in silent support.

I guess Lucius will wait until it becomes a real fight and he is absolutely worthless :smallsmile:

[Hyperbolic sine]

Uh-oh.

In hindsight, that the aggressors wouldn't have been first years should have been a given...but, as they say, hindsight's always 20/20. Tiberius gulps silently, but doesn't budge an inch - not a chance in the world he'd abandon a friend, and there's still that part of him that wants to fight just for the thrills of it. If anything, maybe Ratface would show him some interesting tricks.

Still Actively Defending.

Aircrafting Array Status:
+5 AGL, -3 Dodge :: 7/14 pts
Current: AGL 5, DEX 0, Dodge 3.
Shielding Winds :: 7/14 pts

[TooManySecrets]

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," she says, "but if you really want to stick yourself into it so bad, then fine. We'll walk." She glances from Elana to the boy and back again and smirks. "Besides, me and Valerius can always continue our little 'talk' later on."

The girl turns towards to her cronies and motions down the hallways. "Let's go."

"What?" says rat-face, as they begin to walk away.

"I'll explain later. Just walk."

The tall-boy grunts in agreement and then they're gone.

I was very much expecting this to end with ... well, not a "fight" 'cause that would imply that either combatants had training. Let's call it a "brawl".

Also, Hyperbolic, small thing but your character wouldn't say "20/20", as that refers to a visual acuity measurement that only became common in the 1980s. Unfortunately, I can't think of an appropriate idiomatic expression besides the rather bland "hindsight is always clear".

[Quellian-dyrae]

Elana frowned at the parting shot, but she didn't try to get any last words in. Letting the bullies save face was a small price to pay to keep things from escalating.

Once she was reasonably certain they were gone, she let out a long, relieved breath and turned to Lucius and Tiberius with a smile. "Okay, all truth? I am really glad you two were standing behind me," she said with a laugh. Then looking to the boy, "You okay?"

[Hyperbolic sine]

As the three second years leave the scene and he releases the power sustaining his craft, Tiberius experiences a mash up of relief, disappointment, and worry. He avoided what would have been most likely a lost battle, but that also meant that he didn't get to practice crafting - and, to boot, the girl's parting words weren't particularly reassuring. Still, there's no reason not exploit this small victory, so he puts up a brave front.

"Fear not, I wouldn't have let them lay a finger on you." he replies grinning, then he too turns to the boy: "So, what did you do to upset a bunch of second years?" he asks, though he has the feeling he was just picked as a target for no reason aside maybe weakness.

[Starbin]

Lucius Maro Virgilius

Lucius watched the three older students leave, a slight frown on his face. Turning back, his two senion-mates both seemed satisfied with the end results, but he was not so sure. The girl had left with an assurance that spoke of knowing something they did not ... and that would bode ill for this group. Besides, it sounded like she was going to deal with the boy here later, and Elana couldn't protect him all the time. Could she?

Silently, he let his companions question the boy, while he committed the three departing student's faces and mannerisms to memory as best he could.

[TooManySecrets]

The boy doesn't look grateful. In fact, he looks ... annoyed, perhaps?

"I didn't need any help," he says to Elena. He's awkwardly trying to roll the scroll up properly while still using one hand to hold onto the rest of the books and scrolls. "But ... thanks, I guess."

"I didn't do anything to them," he says, only looking up at Tiberius for a flickering moment before focusing again on his work. "They're the ones who came up to me. I don't know why."

The boy is lying. He knows why but he seems very uncomfortable about it.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Yay we're back! :smallbiggrin:

Elana's smile faltered...just a little at the boy's response, but she shrugged it off. Far as she was concerned, they had done a Good Thing, and in the end, that was what mattered.

What was more disconcerting was how he lied right to their faces. It was all too obvious for an aethercrafter as sensitive as her, a discordant vibration in the faint flow of energies she constantly, subconsciously perceived. An experienced liar or competent firecrafter could hide those vibrations; this young boy could not.

But she didn't want to put him on the spot by confronting him directly. "They didn't say anything about why they were bothering you? I ask because, if they end up doing it again, then I'm going to have to inform an Instructor about their behavior, and I'd prefer to have as much information as possible if I'm going to do that."

Auto-success the Insight. Don't even need to Routine it.

I think I will Routine this here Persuasion check though, for 15 total, or 17 if Attractive applies.

[Starbin]

Lucius Maro Virgilius

Lucius listened impassively as the boy denied any knowledge of what was going on. He understood the situation - the boy still fear retribution from the girl and her flunkies, enough to maintain quiet in hopes that it would not go worse later. However, with Elana's continued concern, Lucius wasn't sure how this was going to play out. In his quiet voice, he reached out to pat the boy on the shoulder, murmuring, "You're scared they will come back and it will be worse if you've talked. Of course, that girl will assume you've talked, so you'll take a beating for nothing. You might as well tell us and maybe we can help you avoid further trouble."

It was an honest assessment ... especially since his senion would likely divert the focus of the girl's future wrath ...

[Hyperbolic sine]

The boy's answer is consistent with Tiberius' guess, so he takes it at face value despite it being quite the obvious lie. He still casts a upon him a slightly disappointed look though, thinking I wasn't expecting anything in return, but you could certainly show a little more gratitude...we just made enemies of three second years for your sake, you know?

[TooManySecrets]

The boy pulls back from Lucius immediately. "Hey, don't touch me," the boy says with some heat.

He looks around at the group. "Look, if you want to tell the Instructors I can't stop you, but I don't want any part of it. You tell them and they'll think I'm a whiner or that I can't handle it myself. I'll never be an agent then, if they think that. So just walk away, alright?"

If what the boy is saying is true, it's a reasonable worry. Regardless, whether or not it is true, he certainly believes that it is. That would certainly explain his reluctance.

...but that's not the only reason. Whatever the boy isn't telling you, it's the primary reason that he doesn't want the Instructors to find out about this.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Elana eyed the kid uncertainly. His reactions confused and concerned her, and admittedly, his reticence tickled her curiosity. She couldn't just leave it go, and neither could she just leave the boy to his troubles. "I'll only tell an Instructor if they do anything like that again. If the matter is resolved, then there is no need to take it further. But if it isn't resolved, then they should be reported and duly punished. That is not whining. That is not failing to handle yourself. For one, you are not an Agent yet, you are a student, and if you are being bullied by other students, it is the Instructors' jobs to see the transgressors punished in accordance to the rules of the Academy. But even if you were an Agent, the correct response to facing overwhelming opposition is not to quietly allow them to have their way so you don't come off as complaining. Nor is it to enter into a conflict you cannot hope to win, because all that that does is ensure you will fail the Empire."

"The Empire has seven Offices, and none of them are the Office of One Guy Doing Everything Himself. The best thing any Agent can do is get the right people the information they need to ensure that problems are solved. That is how you do your duty to the Empire."

She met his gaze directly, an intense look in her eyes. "And right now, we're those people. So now you make a choice - do you want to act like a child scared into silence by his fear of the big bad bullies? Or do you want to act like an Agent?"

Persuasion: [roll0], additional +2 if Attractive applies.

[Hyperbolic sine]

You couldn't handle it yourself. Tiberius thinks, but refrains on pointing it out to not work against Elana's attempts at having him say...something. Maybe she thinks there's something he doesn't want to tell...but really, anyway, would at least avoid treating us like nuisances kill you?

[TooManySecrets]

"Who are you?" the boy says angrily, clutching the books closer to his chest. "You don't know me. You didn't even ask my name and you think that you can boss me around?"

The boy stamps his foot. It's ... less than intimidating. "Whoever you are you're just another bully, just trying to get people to do what you want. I'm not going to be bullied by you, too."

"Goodbye, whoever you people are." And, with that, he turns and walks away.

You can run up and stop him if you want, but otherwise we'll move on.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Boss you- I'm trying to help you!" Elana called futilely after him, before shaking her head and turning back to Lucius and Tiberius with a huff.

"I...don't even know. Um. Library, yeah?"

[Starbin]

Lucius Maro Virgilius

As the boy pulled away in anger, then began to lash out at his helpers, Lucius actually began to get annoyed. Here they were trying to help him and the response was to lash out. Obviously there was more going on here than meets the eye - Lucius figured it was a bit of lashing out to hide the embarrassment of being helped. Regardless, it was rude, and he would normally have left the boy to his own devices. However, in this situation, his senion was going to potentially pay the price for having stepped ... and not even know why.

Stepping away from the boy he watched him leave, and tried to see if he could detect the lad's thoughts ...

I'm sure this is a bad idea, but seems appropriate here. [roll0] vs boy's Will

If I'm too late to do this, that's fine, too. Ready to proceed

[Hyperbolic sine]

"That attitude will be his undoing, I tell you." Tiberius says shaking his head in disbelief. "Well, don't let it get to you," he continues, cheerfully, "you did what you thought was right, and that's what counts...I suppose we'll just have to teach a lesson to those guys if they come for us. Onwards to the library!"

[TooManySecrets]

You whisper the words of power and release your craft. You glimpse a momentary vision of watery tendrils running from your fingertips to the boy's head — you know that they only exist for you — and then you hear the whispers of a mind which is not your own.

Can't lose the codex...


...can't be weak...


...can't let them know.


...What was that?...

With that last thought your concentration is jarred and brought back to the world of stone and flesh. The boy glances back at you but it's too far away to make out his expression. It's only for a moment and then he turns back and walks away again. Maybe its your imagination but he seems to be walking away just a bit quicker.
Remember that crafting requires the person using it to speak out loud. It can be done as a whisper but it's still out loud. Tiberius and Elana are both close enough to Lucius for it to be trivial to release that he has used his craft (though not necessarily which one). So, if you want your character to react to Lucius crafting, you can.

The rest of the trip is uneventful. You get to the library and with Manius Curtius' help, you find the information you need rather easily. You spend a few hours studying together and getting to know the material as well as you can.

Right now I don't have anything specific for you guys. As I said in OOC, I was expecting you guys to get into combat. Darn players never doing what you want them to do. *Insert more mock anger here* If there's anything you want to have your characters do for the in-game day, we could do that. Otherwise, I'll try to figure something out.

[Starbin]

Lucius Maro Virgilius

(OOC - I was waiting to see if either E or T wanted to either comment or scold Lucius ... but given that they didn't, I'll just post here.)

Lucius' eyes glazed for a moment as he finished his crafting, his world suddenly a menagerie of colors and sounds as he waded through the surface thoughts of the boy. It was always disorienting Why does pink taste like pork? What makes blue smell like rain one day, and straw the next? but he managed to find his way back, eyes furrowed in confusion as the boy walked into the distance. Looking to his senion, he murmured, "He is hiding more than just his fear ... a Codex of some sort."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Elana gave Lucius a kinda...uncertain look, not sure reading the kid's mind was...strictly advisable. Or necessary. She didn't say anything about it though. "That's, um, interesting. But unless you think it's dangerous, it's not really our place to intervene further, I don't think." Perhaps the kid calling her just as much a bully as the three who had been pestering him had more of an impact on Elana than she would readily admit.

[Starbin]

Lucius Maro Virgilius

Raising an eyebrow at the girl's sudden change of attitude, he shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, we can ignore it. It's just that now we're on everyone's bad side without any idea of why. I wanted to see if I could find out what we had gotten into ..."

His face lapsed back into it's normally placid mask and he followed the others back to library to finish up their studies.