Magical Happenings at Astorius Academy [IC, Pathfinder]

[Steel Mirror]

Day 1 at Astorius Academy!
Midmorning, 3 days before the beginning of Autumn
The skies above Lundt

“Move out of the way, you useless cow,” demanded the student standing next in line to walk down the gangplank. “If you don’t move your gigantic rear end and stop blocking the exit, we’ll be be late. If we’re late, we’ll miss the sorting ceremony. If we can’t be sorted, they’ll send us straight back home to wait for next year. And if I, Sianna of the Four Ways, get sent from Astorius Academy in disgrace because of a cowardly, horse-brained child who can’t even manage to walk downhill, then I will have to kill you!

Behind that impatient student waiting at the doorway off the airship, a few dozen children milled in a nervous mass as they waited for their turn to disembark and finally set foot on the legendary floating island. Most of them couldn’t see what was happening, but they could all hear it. The hubbub of excited conversation quickly died down to a murmur of hushed questions and confused answers as everyone craned their necks to see what all the fuss was about.

Everyone likes a show.

From your position next in line, you could see everything. The yelling student in front of you, standing proudly with her arms crossed at the open hatch and staring down the forty foot long wooden gangplank. On either side of the steeply angled plank was nothing but open air, giving you a disorienting but admittedly impressive view of the thousand meter drop to the earth below. Beyond the plank, the dozens of students who had already gone ashore were trickling off the pier and up the winding path towards the walls of the Academy, which were just visible peeking over the nearby hills.

The target of the angry student’s ire was standing frozen in the middle of the gangplank, hands gripped tightly around each of the rails so that he blocked the entirety of the path off the ship. He was a centaur, about the same age as you from the look of him, but taking up a lot more space by virtue both of his quadrupedal lower half as well as the baker’s dozen of suitcases, sacks, and knicknacks strapped to his back like saddlebags.

There was no getting around him, at least not unless you had a fly speed. He’d been standing there silently for the last minute or so, petrified, taking neither a step forward nor back and not responding when anyone spoke to him.

And people were getting impatient. Especially, apparently, Sianna of the Four Ways. You didn’t know her, though she’d been one of the loudest and most flamboyant presences on the trip up to the floating island from the city below.

As you stood there, cold wind tugging at your cloak and curious students slowly pressing up behind you to get off the ship (or at least get a look at all the fuss), you could see the annoyance growing in this Sianna person’s body language. She raised one arm, and instantly you could feel the thrum of magic in the air. Her skin glowed softly and her clothing, richly embroidered robes, rose and fluttered slightly as though no longer subject to gravity.

“Fine, then,” she yelled down the gangplank. “If you're not going to move, I’ll just force you out of my way. Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to think over your mistakes on the trip back down to the ground!”

Spoiler: OOC

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Welcome to the IC thread! I'll post a bit more info over in the OOC thread, where you can ask me OOC questions and stuff until we're all situated and ready to start. Let's have fun with this, guys!

[Nettlekid]

At or below waist height, often at eye-level with the lock of a trunk or suitcase, a lump of cloak scurries through the crowd to get a glance at the spectacle. A nictitating membrane flicks across his bright red eyes to shield from the dryness of these high-altitude winds, but those eyes are darting back and forth to take in these new developments. Truthfully, Anura hasn't yet become accustomed to this airship or the concept of a floating island either, and can understand the centaur's reluctance to trust his own footing. He's not quite as paralyzed by fear - a childhood of leaping through jungle canopies and a body equipped with aerodynamic webbing makes him less afraid of heights than any reasonable entity without such equipment. Nonetheless, he taps his rounded toes against the wooden gunwale and is relieved by the resistance the tiny suckers exert. They can hold him against walls and on ceilings; he's not about to be blown off the ship by a breeze.

Although he could sympathize in a sense with Sianna's impatience, as he too was anxious to step onto land and familiarize himself with what would be the setting for an undoubtedly defining time in his life, Anura felt himself stiffen with shock as the girl threatened the centaur with violence, and then even more so as it looked like she was going to make good on her threat! She wouldn't really do that, would she? There must be laws against such things! His mind raced, but in this short amount of time he wouldn't be able to persuade the centaur to find bravery and move along. Weren't there meant to be adults about, staff that could aid in this kind of thing? Zip-zoop and magic up some flighty wings to carry the centaur ashore?

Anura's hand went to his sleeve and withdrew his "wand," which was less of a true wand than a tapered stick taken from...well, he couldn't actually remember where the stick had come from or what kind of tree, but he knew that his magic worked far better with it in hand than not. For a moment he considered creating a protective bubble around the centaur to guard it, but that wouldn't actually solve any predicament. The centaur would still be stuck on the ramp. However, that did give him an idea. He readied his wand, prepared to wave it in an instant. If Sianna was as foolhardy as she seemed and was about to knock the centaur over the edge, Anura would create a bubble around the centaur as soon as it had left the gangplank. His bubbles were not tremendously sturdy, but they ought to withstand the centaur's weight and they were fixed in space where they were created. The centaur wouldn't fall if it was inside one. Then someone could fetch a responsible adult to fix the situation.

He hoped it wouldn't come to that, of course, and that Sianna was bluffing, and that he wouldn't have to step in at all. The less done, the better.

[AmberVael]

The all too familiar phrase, 'patience is a virtue' floated through Azalea's mind as she waited and grew less virtuous with each second that passed. Maybe patience is a virtue, but dawdling should be a sin, She thought, crossing her arms. Getting stuck behind someone else was infuriating, and she struggled to be understanding of the obviously petrified student.

So Sianna's outburst, unmeasured and ridiculous as it was, got sympathy from Azalea. She did, however, take a step closer to Sianna. "Don't bother, you can just take the stylish way down instead. Walking is so pedestrian, after all." Azalea delivered her wordplay with perfect innocence, then offered Sianna her hand. "Allow me?" If Sianna was as haughty and aristocratic as she seemed, perhaps she would be more inclined to favor Azalea, who was dressed in her finest in honor of the day; her gleaming blonde hair and shining golden eyes were matched by polished jewelry set with amethysts, while a long, carefully embroidered purple dress and a saffron garment halfway between cape and shawl draped over one arm and shoulder completed her attire. The flowing, folded cloths fluttered in the wind, but Azalea stood tall and elegant, her brilliant gaze focused on Sianna.

[Steel Mirror]

As Azalea spoke, Sianna's spell came to completion with a quick gust of wind that blasted out from her, rustling hair and flapping robes among the watching students. Any other effect of her magic wasn't immediately apparent. The centaur boy was still standing halfway down the plank, still rigid with fear and indecision, still blocking the entire pathway off the ship.

Sianna turned briskly toward Azalea, then paused and blinked a few times as she looked the other girl over. Sianna wasn't a tall girl, though she wasn't anything like as short as Anura, who stood a half step to the side of Azalea. She was a human, probably (though there were any number of other races who looked close enough that it was hard to be sure, especially for Anura to whom many of the humanoid races probably looked quite similar). She was just a short human. So she looked a little diminished standing next to the proud, resplendent Azalea.

She found her voice quickly. "That's a very generous offer I'm sure, but there is also the principle to be concerned with. This student is blocking the path for all of his fellow students, not just you and me. We may not have officially begun at the Academy, but that does not mean that we can't teach a few...early lessons."

As she spoke, something floated up from behind her left shoulder and hovered there. A mask, no bigger than two fists together and made of sticks, was floating only inches away from Sianna's left cheek. It looked like a fox. A second later, another fox mask, this one made of fiery red and glossy white porcelain, floated up from behind her to take position over her right shoulder. Though they were disembodied and had only gaps where the eyes would be, Azalea and Anura got the distinct impression that the masks were looking at them.

A scratchy voice came from the one on her left, oddly modulated as though it were being heard after echoing down a long metal pipe. After a moment, the one on her right spoke as well.

Spoiler: If you speak Sylvan

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Made of sticks: "This one is very pretty! May we get to know her?"

Made of porcelain: "Ignore Autumn, I still want to push the mule child off the ledge. Pleeeeease, sister? You haven't let us play for days upon days!"

Sianna aimed half a frown at the floating masks but said nothing in return. When she did speak, it was still addressed to Azalea and still in lightly accented common. "It is for his good as much as our need. If he cannot overcome this simple fear, he will never become a great mage. He will only pull down whichever House is burdened with him."

Try as Anura might, no adults were visible who might bring order to this situation. Well, there was one adult, a dwarf, standing behind the wheel of the ship a few dozen feet away and apparently not caring a single whit for anything the students were doing. He was smoking an old filthy pipe and reading some tattered magazine, a magazine which looked to be entirely unsuitable to young eyes if one was to judge by its faded, racy cover.

[Grek]

Frantically hopping up and down at the back of the crowd, Melwyn von Wingwood stood aghast at the proceedings. "How incredibly and senselessly rude! Can't she see how utterly terrified he is? And with good reason, being this high up on such a rickety bridge." Drawing her wand (seven spiraling inches of willow wood with a leather wrist strap), she began to prod her fellow students in the backs of the legs, squeaking, "You there - budge over, will you please? I need to just get within sight for a moment!" as she shuffled toward the edge of the cliff, completely ignoring the gangplank.

Once within sight of the edge, she took a brief gulp of air and tried to center herself. 'I'm not going to fall.' Melwyn thought to herself as she took the final step out of the crowd and toward the incredibly dangerous edge of the island. 'This isn't going to be like the riding lesson. I can do this. It'll be fine. Nobody needs to get hurt.' With that thought and an underarm sweep leading into an upward brandish, Melwyn cast her spells. "Xylokaikleua! Metaxi!" In a puff of mist, a duplicate of the existing gangplank appeared five feet beside it, arced at the same downward angle. Six seconds later, a silken hammock twenty feet across extended beneath both bridges, ready to catch anyone who might accidentally fall off.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Spell Points: 4/8
Spells Cast:
Xylokaikleua (Create Wood and Rope; Distant, Lengthened) -2 Spell Points
(1d20+5)[21] to Craft (if necessary)
Metaxi (Create Silk; Distant, Lengthened, Expanded Materials) -2 Spell Points
(1d20+5)[18] to Craft (if necessary)

[Steel Mirror]

"Ooof!"

"Hey!"

"Oh hello there little lady, allow me to introdu-"

"Ack! Watch the tail!"

Melwyn pressed and squeezed herself past her classmates to the front of the scrum, emerging onto the vertigo-inducing edge of the ship just behind Azalea and Anura. A few people gasped and someone even applauded as her first creation coalesced from the mist.

The new gangplank settled with a dull "THUNK" directly next to the old one, sending a barely perceptible shudder through the ship's deck. Melwyn was already shaping her thoughts and the words to call her next creation into existence when the centaur student, surprised by the appearance and the sound of the settling gangplank, flinched.

"I can't do this. Can't do this. Please, I can't do this," he muttered to himself as his legs began to tremble. He tried to shuffle back, but one of his back hooves slipped and he squeaked in alarm, grabbing the rope rails even more tightly in fear.

Silk spread into being beneath him and the plank beside him, though he hardly seemed to notice it. It was a pretty substantial safety net; Melwyn would probably want to double check how it was secured before trusting it to catch anyone who fell (or was flung) off the plank, but it was a solid creation to be proud of. Several of the watching students certainly seemed to think so.

"What? I can barely manage to make a biscuit! Who made that, I can't see - was that really a student?"

Spoiler: OOC

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The creation rolls were excellent, so your magical constructs are quite solidly crafted and even pleasant to look at! I think that the hammock to catch them probably needs som solid anchor points though if you want to actually support anyone's weight with it, especially a centaur with a heavy load. But you can come up with a way to do that if you like, or explain how you were planning on it being attached if I'm missing something. Cool spell though, and nice rolls!

[jamieth]

Izumi

A short, thin, pale girl visibly struggling under the weight of her - not particularly heavy-looking - bag kept to the back of the group, stoically enduring both the encumbrance and the delay. Her mind, however, was racing, trying to think of a way to resolve the situation. She briefly considered lifting the terrified student and carrying him down, but... no, he was too large for that. That rude girl, Sianna, she probably could, barely - but that would do nothing to help others.

When the second plank appeared, Izumi - on the occasion of not trying to get closer to the first one previously - happened to be closest to it... and, after tapping it with her foot briefly to make sure it wasn't an illusion (who would make an illusion of a plank in a situation like that was beyond her, but just in case), strolled forward without hesitation, ignoring the rope rails as she held her bag in both hands.

But, however sturdy and fancy-looking the new plank was, it could, at best, solve the problem for every student except one.

Leaving her bags on the pier-side, she stepped onto the plank - the original one - again and soon faced the centaur, silently extending the hand to him in an offer to help him down.

Spoiler: OOC

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Aid another on Acrobatics - autosucceed. If needed, Diplomacy: (1d20+4)[7]

[Steel Mirror]

As soon as Izumi made it safely across, a slow trickle of other students began walking down, hesitantly at first but with more confidence as it became clear that nobody was plunging screaming to their doom. As they walked by the centaur, a few of them laughed and pointed. The centaur kept his eyes tightly shut, still shaking as he inched slowly backward.

Izumi made her way silently up the original gangplank, feeling it bounce slightly under her feet with each stride. When she reached the centaur, he opened his eyes long enough to see her, but he immediately made the mistake of looking down. Long stretches of expensive looking silk swayed in the wind beneath their feet, but the ground beyond was still visible. The centaur closed his eyes tightly again with a panicked squeak.

"D-d-d-d-don't worry about me," he stuttered, eyes still shut. "Th-th-the other girl is right, I'll slow you down too much. Just go on without me, I'll...figure this out." He didn't sound very certain of that. In fact, he sounded like he was about to throw up.

Meanwhile, back on the ship, Sianna was watching the rest of their class make use of Melwyn's ingenuity with a sour expression on her face.

The masks spoke again, their scratchy almost childlike voices again distorted and somehow unaccountably distant. The one made of sticks flipped upside down as it spoke, wiggling back and forth and making a keening noise that communicated disappointment even to those who couldn't understand the words it was speaking.

Spoiler: Sylvan

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"Awwwww, why are they trying to spoil our fun? Haven't we behaved like you asked us? Haven't we been good? I don't care if they are pretty little things, it's rude to interrupt someone else's jape."

"So what if there is another path? We can still push him, right? He's so top heavy he'll flip right over!"

Again, Sianna seemed to ignore the masks. "Impressive," she remarked to Melwyn. "I suppose I should have expected as much from Astorius students. Although if that is any sort of indication..." She motioned vaguely in the direction of the terrified centaur.

Then she turned back to look into Azalea's eyes. "Though I must admit, I am still intrigued by your offer. What is the 'stylish' way down?"

[jamieth]

Izumi

"Ceremony starts once we get to the school", Izumi stated flatly, "meaning, it won't start until we get there." It was a somewhat faulty logic, admittedly, but good enough for now. "Give me your luggage; it would be easier without it." Granted, anyone who saw her struggling with her own, much smaller, bag, might be puzzled as to how did she expect to be able to help the centaur with his...

[Hella Lugosi]

Columbus had done his best to ignore the proceedings. A terrified centaur stuck on the gangplank, that was annoying. But there was nothing he could do about it - nothing that didn't involve making things considerably worse anyway - and so had tried to let it slide. The arrogant student too, he could cope with as she shouted endlessly during the flight over, albeit by continually squeezing a tennis ball in his fist to relieve his stress.

But the two of them combined was something else.

Finally rising from his seat, he pushed his way to the head of the mob, effortlessly towering over the other students. By the time he arrived at the front, he noticed another student create a new gangplank - maybe he could just take the easy way out, wait for the centaur to fix his own problems.

Nah.

He took to the centaur's gangplank, moving slowly along it so as not to startle him too much as he was distracted by another student offering to help him down. He waited before he was just behind him before speaking, lowering his voice to a threatening tone. "If you don't get yourself off this gangplank right now, I'll do it for you."

Spoiler: OoC

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Intimidate: (1d20+9)[28]

[Steel Mirror]

Izumi, Columbus

The kid Izumi was talking to looked younger than she was. He winced yet again at her offer, but then moved one hand, slowly, to take one of his bags off his back. "I'm gonna die," he whined. "I'm going to die before my first day at school! I never even got to make a friend."

And then Columbus spoke, his deep voice and threatening tone enough to make even Izumi take notice. The centaur's eyes snapped wide open, and he stiffened once more in fright. The bag that was in his hand slipped, then fell through his fingers and off the side of the plank. Fortunately, it landed in the silk hammock below, and was stopped. For now. It looked like the place where the hammock was attached to the far end of the pier was starting to give way, though. It didn't seem all that likely that it would support a whole centaur's worth of weight by itself.

The gangplank creaked softly in the wind. "Is there...some kind of ogre behind me?" the kid whispered in a frightened rasp. He didn't look behind himself. "Oh stars, my brothers told me that there were ogres living up here! Don't let him eat me!"

At least he seemed to have forgotten about the fall.

[jamieth]

"No, just another student who thinks he's more important than everyone else", Izumi replied just as flatly as before. "It's OK, I'll fetch it for you..." she took the step back, closed her eyes for a moment, spread her arms and started spinning in place, wide sleeves of her ornamental kimono tracing wavy patterns in the air.

Spoiler: OOC

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Using Sustained Force to telekinetically move the dropped bag to the pier. Skilled casting check: (1d20+11)[25], vs. DC 19. update: passed, so TK works at CL 4; with Powerful TK talent, enough to lift Small object without spending SP. Writing the following assuming that'll be enough; would edit otherwise.

With another swing of Izumi's arm, the bag, perilously laying in the hammock, slowly rose into the air and floated to the level of her eyes. Not interupting the dance, girl slowly moved down the plank, bag following her, and gently lowered it on the pier next to her own bag.

"Next one!" she called out, her cheeks turning slightly red clearly visible against her pale skin and a thin smile the first expression of emotion on her face since the start of the incident.

[Nettlekid]

Anura shrinks even further into the folds of his cloak, made anxious by the quick-paced flow of student traffic bustling around him. He's pleased that the situation seems to be somewhat calmed, but even if students can exit the ship on the second gangplank there's still the issue of the centaur to deal with. Despite the kindly efforts of some students and less kindly efforts of others, it still seemed unwilling to move. A concern of poor footing, perhaps?

To get a slightly better vantage point, Anura hops to the siding of the ship, elevated so that he can see the flat of the wood plank ahead of the centaur. Anura begins to trace just the tip of his stick through the air, hoping to remain unnoticed by the crowd. In front of the centaur's feet to about ten feet along the plank, silver-traced and faintly shimmering symbols materialize. They're hoofprints, numbered 1 through 4 repeating. An ethereal leg overlays the centaur's own right foreleg, lifting up and slowly descending to step squarely in the outline of the hoof marked 1. The phantom leg vanishes and reappears overlaying the centaur's leg, and repeats the slow motion.

Spoiler

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Anura's just using a Trick, so it's obviously identifiable as an Illusion, no spell point being expended. He's showing the centaur exactly where to step, and showing him the first step to make. If the centaur manages to make that step, Anura will continue with the illusion to then show how the second leg should step into the second hoofprint, and if the centaur gets far enough Anura will slide the whole illusion down to keep going.

If the centaur hesitates for a round before moving, Anura will keep concentration on the Trick with his move actions and ready his standard to cast the Barrier ward bubble like before, in case the centaur falls or the bridge breaks. If the centaur moves right away and falls, I'll expend a Hero Point to act out of turn to cast the Barrier anyway.

And if pertinent, Sleight of Hand check to avoid drawing attention to myself as I cast the Trick. (1d20+9)[17]

[Grek]

Melwyn winced as she saw the bag hit her hammock. There's no way that would hold. "Ah, excuse me, need to double check the other end. Don't worry, don't worry! I'm sure it'll be fine. Excuse me, though!" she hastened to the other side of the platform, very pointedly not looking at the centaur, the fight or (particularly) the ground. There was nothing she could do there, and it looked like two other people had already volunteered to help. Once on the other side, Melwyn cast a few further spells, pointing her wand with one hand to the other. "Metaxi. Xylo."

First, a length of silk rope around her waist, to tie her to the bridge. No sense falling off, after all. Next, a wooden shepherds hook, to reach down under the bridge and get at this side of the safety net. Adjusting it should be simple enough, but what change to make? Clearly, it needed attached somewhere else. But where?

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Spell Points: 4/8
Create Gear Uses: 6/8 (ten feet of knotted silk rope; a hooked quarterstaff)
(1d20+2)[20]Climb (if needed)
(1d20+3)[8]Perception (to find other places I might be able to tie the hammock)

[AmberVael]

"I mean, yeah, but I don't think making him more terrified is going to teach him anything." Azalea pointed out, before smiling at the masks. She spoke in kind, addressing the one of sticks while keeping a measuring eye on the other.

Spoiler: Sylvan

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"Why thank you! I'm Azalea. And who are the two of you?" Her words were delivered naturally, clearly, and without hesitation, though they were marked by a distinctive accent and her word choice was a bit peculiar. Nothing she said was wrong, but it was a bit... archaic, perhaps.

She watched with mild interest as the gangplank and the centaur were swarmed with people attempting to help one way or another. The creation of the bridge was greeted with an approving nod and a grin, and she soon set the matter out of her mind; her attention returned to Sianna, whose expressed curiosity received a reply and a bit of twinkling satisfaction in Azalea's eyes. "The Way is the stylish way down." She answered, dipping her hand into the folds of a belt-like cloth about her waist and drawing out a calligraphy brush with a flourish. With great finesse she wove the tool through the air, leaving behind a diagram of silver circles connected by thick double lines, each circle adorned with a single celestial letter.

"Open the Way!" She declared with confidence, setting her hand to the diagram. It blazed with light in response to her touch and then dissolved, falling like sand to her feet where it formed a shining path. The silver path led through a corridor of darkened mist, and then exited out onto the island below them, completely disregarding the intervening space. Satisfied with her work, Azalea turned and again offered Sianna her hand to help her onto the path. "After you."

Spoiler: Mechanics

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This is simply a flavorful teleport using the Warp sphere. Since the distance to the island is a bit longer than Azalea's default range, she'll spend a spell point to increase her range to Medium, which should definitely let her teleport Sianna down to an open spot on the island below. She can only teleport one person at a time though, so she'll only be teleporting Sianna and Sianna's luggage here. (Though she'll follow up shortly).

[Steel Mirror]

As the students passed by on their new bridge, several of them continued to laugh at the centaur. They seemed to be amused by the scene on display: Melwyn racing through the crowd and along the pier, conjuring up even more gear from nothingness. Izumi trying to coax the centaur down while Columbus loomed behind. And now the appearance of phantom hoofprints, though most in the crowd didn't have the observational skill to notice that the source of that spell was the froggy student stuck to the side of the ship.

Which didn't mean that nobody noticed Anura. "Wow, look at the size of that frog!" An elf was looking at him from the gangplank, pointing at him for the benefit of her human friend. "And it's even dressed in it's own tiny, adorable little robes! My parents bought me a toad for my familiar but I have no idea what to do with it, all it does is croak and poop."

--------------------------

Meanwhile, back down in the middle of the attempt to talk the centaur down from the gangplank, things seemed to be at last be moving along. Izumi's graceful performance drew its own share of appreciative (and a few confused) comments, but at least it was progress. Her happy request for the 'next one!' went unanswered by the centaur however, as he seemed to be more concerned at the moment with whatever was behind him. The centaur turned, slowly, to face Columbus, gulping fretfully when the muscular physique and piercing green eyes finally came into view. "S-s-s-s-so sorry sir! Am I in your w-w-w-way?" Even as he spoke, he took an uncertain and perhaps involuntary step forward, placing a hoof precisely into the illusory outline marked "1". Then, he took another step.

Slow progress, but progress.

-------------------

At the pier, Melwyn was in luck. In addition to lamp posts spaced every thirty feet or so, there were a number of benches placed around to provide places for travellers to sit. At one spot about twenty feet away from where the gangplank reached the pier, there was a pile of supplies and crates and, oddly, two large statues of what looked like pandas made of clay. Right nearby was a small hut, maybe some kind of storage shed. Finally, the edges of the pier were all lined with sturdy-looking iron poles, with rope netting stretched between them to act as a railing.

Between all of that, something was bound to work as an anchor point.

--------------------

And back at the top of the ship, Azalea was showing off her magic, and her language skills.

"Fear can be a very good teacher," Sianna replied to Azalea. "If he chooses not to learn anything then there's no...helping..." She trailed off as Azalea's magic opened the Way.

Meanwhile, the mask made of porcelain responded to Azalea's words, bobbing up in down in excitement as it floated towards her.

Spoiler: Sylvan

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Porcelain: "She knows how to talk! What fun! I didn't think we'd have anyone to talk to but sister, gods of other places are always so stupid."

The other mask, by contrast, slunk lower towards Sianna's shoulder and then half-hid behind the fabric of her head scarf.

Spoiler: Sylvan

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Porcelain: "What, are you being serious? Why are you hiding now?"

Twigs: "I'm not hiding! Her magic just smells funny."

Porcelain: "Stop being a liar, you're just embarrassed that she heard you say she was pretty. Now come out from there and stop being rude. Good day to you, Azalea, my name is Summer (in Sylvan it's pronounced Huette) and this is my brother, Autumn (Roché). Very pleased to meet you!"

Once more Sianna seemed to ignore her two little companions, though this time more because she was entranced by the display of spellcraft than as a measured choice. She gasped ever so slightly as the Way resolved fully, allowing her hard expression to soften. "Is it safe?" she asked, taking a step forward. Absently, she placed one hand lightly onto Azalea's offered hand.

[Grek]

"Atsali."

With the net in hand, Melwyn tossed her newly conjured staff off the side of the platform and conjured a long steel knife, serrated on one side and dull on the other, to replace it. "Snip me fee, snip the net open, no, all the way through. And wrap around the pole." The benches wouldn't do, they didn't seem like they could hold a whole centaur. The statues might work, but they were far enough away that they'd need yet another conjured rope, and Melwyn simply didn't have enough magic in her for that and whatever the Sorting would require. The hut had a similar problem. No, the railing would simply have to hold out. Melwyn could keep an eye on them (like she'd have to do with the bridge, she realized - it wasn't safe to leave an unmarked conjured bridge over such a big drop) and fix them if they started to strain.

"Diorthono. Diorthono." With a twirl of her wand, the cut she'd made in the net repaired itself as if it had never been, leaving the rope wrapped around the railing without even having to untie anything. "Another snip here, and drag and wrap and... Diorthono. Diorthono!" Hopefully, the safety net would hold now. Her conjured tools had already run out and began fading back into vapour. First the rope, then her knife.

"Net should be fixed now! Just... try not to need it, alright?"

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Spell Points: 4/8
Create Gear: 5/8
Atsali - Create Steel (Create Gear again)
(1d6)[2] Rope Cutting Roll, if needed.
(1d6)[6] Rope Cutting Roll, if needed.
(1d6)[2] Rope Cutting Roll, if needed.
Diorthono - Repair
(1d4+2)[3] Repair Roll, if needed.
(1d4+2)[3] Repair Roll, if needed.
(1d4+2)[6] Repair Roll, if needed.
(1d4+2)[5] Repair Roll, if needed.
Diapththeiro - Destroy (not used, but I figured I'd specify it now)

[Hella Lugosi]

Columbus does his best to hide his grin as he sees the centaur's reaction, not wanting to ruin the impression he's made. He becomes vaguely aware of the other students trying to help him and others across, impressed at some of their ingenuity. But he decided to press on regardless. The carrot hadn't worked so far, so he might as keep on using the stick. Besides, he had just gotten into character.

"Yes, you are. I suggest you keep on moving." He lets himself break eye contact for a split second, and notices the glowing footprints that seem to be setting the centaur's new pace. He has no idea where they came from, and doesn't quite care right now, but they'll certainly help. "One step at a time." He tries to match the pace of the footprints as he slowly advanced towards the centaur, hoping he'll at least make a little more progress before seizing up entirely.

[AmberVael]

"Absolutely. The paths are made for sure, swift travel so that messengers can go wherever they are needed." With a firm hand and gentle push, Azalea showed Sianna through the opened pathway and to the pier below, placing her coincidentally a bit close to Melwyn. The path begin to fade then, but Azalea quickly skipped through after Sianna and hopped off of it before it vanished, coming out on the far end of the gangplank and past the frightened centaur. She skipped the rest of the way down and rejoined Sianna, a bit of puzzlement on her face as she looked towards the masks. After a moment's consideration, she spoke to them again.

Spoiler: Sylvan

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"Am I misunderstanding you, or did you imply that you consider us gods?" She really didn't know how to put it more delicately than that, and as odd as it seemed, it was the best explanation she could think of for Summer's comment.

She looked towards Sianna with a little uncertainty, looking for disapproval or other subtle signs the other girl might want to pass along to her, then kept on with their conversation. "It can get a bit more unstable when you use it for really long distances, but I'm not good enough to make a path that far yet. Something like that is one of the Way's high mysteries, and I'm just an initiate. But hey, what about you? You definitely look like you've got some talent too; what's the story behind your... siblings?"

Azalea took just a moment to give a wave and a thumbs up to Melwyn. After all, that magical bridge was pretty cool, and neatly solved the problem of the centaur blocking the gangplank.

Spoiler

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Azalea uses her own teleport after teleporting Sianna. However, she'll just use a normal teleport instead of spending a spell point to increase range, so she can't make it all the way down to the pier. She'll just teleport near to the end of the gangplank and walk the rest of the way down it.

[Steel Mirror]

"S-so sorry for the inconvenience, my friend," said the centaur as he took another couple of unsteady steps forward. "It's just that I'm not really used to heights, you see. N-n-n-never been in an airship before. Never even climbed a t-t-t-tree! I 'm sure you can imagine how difficult it would be for me to get much higher off the ground than my own four legs can lift me. The g-g-g-gods surely never intended for centaurs to be aeronauts!"

As he stammered and apologized and babbled, the trio of Columbus, Izumi, and the centaur were nonetheless making steady progress down the ramp and towards solid ground. Each step hit another of the illusory footprints, and with the centaur's terrified eyes locked firmly on the muscular kid with the tennis ball locked in a death grip, he no longer had any time to look down.

Azalea stepped out of her Way and skipped over to chat with Sianna, who was still looking with wonder at the fading remnants of Azalea's spell. The two masks were left behind by the two girl's sudden relocation, as Azalea's spell only opened a Way for one individual at a time (for now), but the masks quickly seemed to notice where the girls had reappeared. They yelped and leaped with excitement, then sped through the open air above the other students' heads to rejoin Azalea and Sianna on the pier.

Or rather, the porcelain mask that called itself Summer did. Autumn slowed down half way over, hovering in the air a few feet from the timorous centaur and cocking it's head back and forth as though inspecting him. Izumi and Columbus couldn't help but notice it, as well, though it didn't seem to spare a glance for either of them.

Summer ignored his tardy companion and answered Azalea's question.

Spoiler: Sylvan

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"No, silly, you're no god!" He seemed quite amused by her question. "Don't worry though, I don't hold it against you. Even our esteemed sister isn't any sort of god, though she did marry-"

Sianna finally reacted to her companion, and cut in with an impatient tone.

Spoiler: Sylvan

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"Quiet, Summer! You shouldn't talk about these things. Don't make me put you back to sleep." Then Sianna raised her voice, still speaking in Sylvan, but calling out to Autumn who was still floating around near the centaur and his gaggle of good Samaritans. "Get down here, Autumn! There is no time for you to play!"

It wasn't clear if it was Azalea's question or something that her mask companion had said, but the chilly demeanor that Sianna had displayed since the beginning of the encounter, and which Azalea had just begun to defrost, returned. Her face settled into a mask of mild disapproval.

"Thank you for your assistance, Azalea. Your magic is very impressive." She looked around at the other displays of magic currently being demonstrated, and Azalea thought she saw a trace of another emotion pass for a split second. "I don't really have time to chat right now, though. That fool has made us late enough already. I don't want to make a bad impression on my first day."

Back up on the gangplank with Izumi and Columbus, things were moving as slowly as ever. Then, as the centaur took another hesitant step forward in time with Columbus' stalking, the fox mask slid a foot closer and giggled. Without further warning, it darted directly at the centaur's face, impacting against him and trying to knock him over the rail!

Spoiler: OOC

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The mask creature is making a trip attempt against the centaur.

(1d20+6)[21]

This technically provokes an attack of opportunity from each of Izumi and Columbus, though I don't think either of you is armed. You may, however, roll some kind of check to react, probably by trying to hold the centaur to stop him from tipping over the edge or something similar. Other players may attempt to react if you wish, but you won't be able to do anything until the trip attempt is resolved one way or the other. If the trip attempt succeeds the centaur will go over the edge, though the safety net beneath him is now pretty solidly tied.

The centaur boy screamed as he took the tackle gracelessly, instantly tipping towards the rope. All of his bags and packs clinked and jangled as they tipped as well, throwing his weight off balance even worse. In a split second, he was about to fall overboard!

[Hella Lugosi]

Columbus kept up the fearsome act as the three of them slowly moved across the gangplank. The centaur's ramblings, while not particularly interesting, did serve to be at least somewhat endearing. Columbus was almost sorry for the act he was putting up. Maybe once they all got to the other side, he'd have time to explain himself and apologise for hiFOX MASK.

Columbus cursed under his breath as the creature (construct? thing? whatever) hurtled towards the centaur with worrying determination. If anyone thought he was gonna let his performance go to waste, they'd have another thing coming. With no mutagen in his blood and not enough time to shift form, he had no weapons to hand. Well, no particularly effective ones, anyway. In an instant, he hurled the tennis ball at the mask, aiming straight between the eyes.

Spoiler: OoC

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Attack Roll: (1d20+4)[5]
If that doesn't work, Reflex Save: (1d20+5)[14]
Strength Check: (1d20+3)[23]

[jamieth]

Izumi

It all happened so fast. The mask's sudden attack, the rude boy's interruption, centaur almost toppling over the rails... Izumi just had no chance to react. What she could do, though, was to try and prevent something like that from happening again... maybe? Was worth trying, at least. She pulled the clasps of her bag and stepped away, breaking into dance immediately. half a second later, two fancy, metal-trimmed fans floated out of the bag and raced bast Izumi, towards where the mask, the centaur and the rude-but-apparently-not-really-that-bad boy were stuck together.

Spoiler

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Swift action to draw two fans via Whirlwind Assembly; Standart action to move them into the mask'ssquare (since the Mask is likely no larger than Tiny, that should be possible, right?
Note, strictly speaking, I can't AoO with telekinetically wielded weapons anyway.

[Steel Mirror]

Columbus threw the tennis ball with all his might, sending it hurtling towards the mask. Unfortunately, the mask twisted aside at the last second. The ball flew by right above it, bouncing with a thwack off the back of the centaur's head, even as the impact of the mask sent him tumbling towards the edge of the ramp.

"Oww-ahhhhh!!"

Columbus wasn't done, though. With a speed and assurance that might be surprising considering his size, he grabbed a firm hold of the falling student and hauled him back from the brink. A few more of the kid's bags weren't as lucky, and they came loose from his back and plunged off the side.

The mask was still giggling with its oddly hollow-sounding voice. It continued the momentum it had gotten from bouncing off the centaur's face and arced back a few feet through the air, shaking with apparent amusement. As it did, something seemed to take form beneath the mask. Ragged, brown and gray fur, a long sinuous body, a bushy but somewhat sparse tail, and two oversized ears. The shape quickly swam into existence as though coming into focus through a spyglass. A flying fox, wearing the mask, with two bright yellow eyes twinkling with mischief visible through the pair of eyeholes.

It's amused celebration was cut short by Izumi's two fans, which cut through the air and came to a stop on either side of the newly visible creature's head. Their metal surfaces glinted in the afternoon sunlight, and the fox's eyes flicked over to to where Izumi was still going through dance movements. It spoke.

Spoiler: Sylvan

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"Wow! That was fast, for a mortal."

Meanwhile, the centaur child was offering his own contribution to the chaotic situation. "I'm falling! I knew it I'm falling!" He hugged the platform with his arms and had his legs tucked up beneath his body in what might pass for a centaur fetal position. "I knew I should have gone to Moresby! At least they built their school on SOLID GROUND!"

Meanwhile, the dozen or so remaining students reacted like you'd expect a batch of fellow schoolmates to react-they yelled with excitement and crowded closer to the action so they could get a look. A few of them starting chanting, "Duel! Duel! Duel! Duel!"

Spoiler: OOC

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Anyone who has an action can take it. For the moment, it doesn't look like anyone is in immediate danger of falling, though some of the centaur's bags are stuck in the net again and a gust of wind might conceivably shake one free. Izumi has the floating spirit mask fox thing's attention, but Sianna hasn't had the time to react yet either.

EDIT: the floating fox is also only a few feet away, within melee reach of Columbus should that end up being important.

[Hella Lugosi]

"Well, this could have gone better." Columbus thinks to himself as the tennis ball rebounds off the centaur's face and drops onto the hammock. He grits his teeth, and braces the centaur, stopping him from falling off the edge. "Sorry about that, mate." He says, dropping the threatening act in an instant. He was never the best at making first impressions. Lord knows what the centaur thinks of him now.

He shifts his attention to the giggling fox-thing as it reveals it's new form. Unimpressed, and more than a little irritated, Columbus does his best to keep up a tough demeanour as the two fans appear on either side of his head. Columbus shifts his form, revealing two glinting tusks, but does nothing else to try and start a fight. It was only the first day after all. Instead, he points to the pile of luggage collected in the hammock below, topped with a leather tennis ball. "You owe me a new ball."

[AmberVael]

Hm... Azalea wondered at Sianna's suddenly chilly response and thought back over what she had said and when exactly Sianna had reacted. Maybe there was some clue there. "True enough! Lets get inside, its too windy up here anyway." After giving a glance at the gangplank just to make sure everything was turning out alright (and it looked like it was, though not with a certain amount of mess), she looked around for a sign or some indication of where she was supposed to go now.

Her eyes fell on Melwyn again, and she decided to make one more attempt to get her attention. "Hey, we're going to be late! C'mon!" The tone of her words made them as much an invitation to join her as a friendly warning.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Azalea is going to use Sense Motive to get a better idea of what is bothering Sianna.
(1d20+9)[21]

[Steel Mirror]

In response to Columbus' request, the masked creature simply quirked its head to the side interrogatively. When somebody spoke it wasn't the creature itself, but rather the girl who seemed to own it, Sianna, standing down below.

"Why should I owe you anything? It was your choice to get involved. Maybe now you'll all get the lesson," and she gestured to include all of them on the scene, Melwyn, Izumi, and Columbus himself. Anura she didn't point to, but he was a little further away and set off to the side. Maybe she simply hadn't noticed where the illusory footprints had been coming from. "Helping a fool who won't even help himself is pointless. It costs too much and he'll end up disappointing you anyway."

Then she glanced aside at Azalea and said, more quietly, "I apologize, you are right. This will only take a few moments. I will...catch up."

Spoiler: Azalea's Sense Motive

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The flash of emotion that crossed her face when she was watching everyone cooperate to talk the centaur down the ramp was jealousy, tinged with something like regret. The thing that dragged her back to putting some emotional distance between herself and Azalea was almost certainly what Summer was starting to say about her. Also, Azalea can tell that Summer was goading Sianna on purpose with the comment, and that in general Sianna doesn't have the best control over these two. She also doesn't want anyone to know about her lack of control, and so she's a little embarrassed that Azalea can speak and understand Sylvan.

But with all those emotions going on, one thing Sianna does seem to be so far is sincere. The centaur kid really does annoy her, and she really does think that the students trying to help him are just wasting their time. She also doesn't seem to actually harbor any dangerous intent, despite what she threatened and blustered. Maybe she was just planning on scaring the kid? It doesn't seem like she was worked up enough to actually be capable of attempted murder, at any rate.

[jamieth]

Columbus shifts his form, revealing two glinting tusks, but does nothing else to try and start a fight. It was only the first day after all. Instead, he points to the pile of luggage collected in the hammock below, topped with a leather tennis ball. "You owe me a new ball."

"There's no need", as Sianna and her... sojouners apparently cease hostility, Izumi calls the fans back and hangs them on the belt of her kimono, "I said I'll help with the luggage."

Not waiting for anyone to reply to her statement, she stasts lifing the bags from the hammock, bringing them onto the pier one by one - except for the ball, that she floats, and leaves hanging, half a meter in front of Columbus, "Here."

Spoiler

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I'll roll a bunch of checks, though since we're not in combat time, i assume she can reroll freely? Anyway, DCs should work like that: Izumi's CL for TK is 4th, and base DC 19. For every 2 less, I suffer -1 penalty on CL.

So, with Powertful TK, I need to hit DC 17 (CL 3rd) to lift Small object, and DC 13 (CL 1st) for Tiny one.

(1d20+11)[24]
(1d20+11)[15]
(1d20+11)[15]
(1d20+11)[28]
(1d20+11)[25]
(1d20+11)[12]

[Grek]

Finally letting out her held breath, Melwyn sighs with relief. Nobody had falling to their death on the very first day of school. Only then does she notice Azalea, having been too panicked prior. "Oh! Coming, just let me leave a note!" as she waved back at her unusually shiny fellow student. A flourish of ink on rice paper later, she had a simple message stuck to the conjured gangplank's post.

VANISHING BRIDGE DO NOT USE
-Melwyn von Wingwood

"I'm Melwyn. Pleased to meet you! I really admire how you tried to talk Sianna of the Four Crazies down. Terribly brave."

[Hella Lugosi]

Columbus smirks as the ball floats into view. "Cheers. Finding another one of these was gonna be a pain. Nice job with the luggage and the, uh, fan things." He plucks it from the air and begins idly tossing it in one hand, before reverting to his more human-looking form, the tusks retracting back into his gums. "I'm Columbus, by the way." He returns the ball to a slot on the bandoliers wrapped around his chest.

He takes an absent-minded step forward along the gangplank, bumping into the centaur's prone form. "Oh yeah, right." He crouches down to his level, tries to speak more gently than normal. "Hey. Sorry about all that, but, uh you wanna move? I mean fair enough if you just want to stay here, but I've got places to be." A pause. "And sorry about the head again, by the way."

Spoiler: OoC

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Diplomacy (if needed): (1d20-1)[10]

[Steel Mirror]

The centaur paled once again as he saw Columbus transform back to human in front of his eyes. "Oh, my head? Don't worry about it! I'm always sticking that thing where it doesn't belong, haha, my brothers always say..." As he spoke, he scrambled to his feet (a lot easier without so many bags) and took a few more faltering steps down the ramp. He was still clearly more scared by Columbus' presence than comforted, but maybe, for the moment, that was okay. It was helping him make progress anyway.

It only took a few more seconds, during which the kid continued to babble, and then all of a sudden he was on solid land. He blinked as he noticed that he was no longer standing on an incline, then finally looked around and noticed his surroundings. Melwyn was just catching up to Azalea, Izumi was stacking the last of the bags on the solid wooden planking nearby, and Sianna was frowning at all of them.

"Hey! I'm off! I made it!" He shook his legs a bit and then stomped a hoof experimentally, verifying that the ground was as solid as it looked. Then, he noticed Izumi's handiwork. "Oh my gosh, thank you so much for helping with those. I owe you so big." He rushed over and hefted one of the bags, then immediately began rifling through the contents. There was the gentle tinkling sound of glass on glass. "I hope nothing is broken..."

Meanwhile, the mob of kids interested in seeing a duel dispersed with mild disappointment. As they filed past on the pier, they gave Sianna and her masked companion a wide berth.