<div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=205751.msg10200520#msg10200520">Quote from: Chloe Milev on 02-07-2014, 06:02:20</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote"><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">Girls' Locker Room</span></div>While he always took the chance to admire the girls, Asma was a particular interest, with those runes going many interesting places, highlighting her curves.  He swallowed hard, looking back up to her face, "Oh, uh, yeah, they're very pretty too.  I don't know about the tattooing process, but you'll never lose them, that's for sure."  He took the opportunity to ask her about when and where Asma started getting her tattoos, giving him the excuse to stare at them over her body.  He kept his towel modestly wrapped around his torso, clutching a large soft sponge over his groin.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>One of her tattoos was decidedly picturesque, snake coiled around her right leg.  Kleris' eyes weren't being fooled, for it was moving up her body, entangling her waist and belly before settling on her left arm.<br/><br/>"In my home country of Orsan Purl, arcanists practice a tradition where a spellcaster must become one with their talent.  Reliance upon magic items, deities, and external power sources is believed to weaken talent, a crutch which can be taken away.  We are a religious people, but our magical philosophies encourage being one with the art.  Tattooed magic is our way of ensuring that these words of power remain with us.  As for the snake, it's an<em>animated tattoo,</em>a permanent spell which can be used for self-defense."<br/><br/>The snake lunged out of her skin in an arc before diving back into her flesh.<br/><br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">"Yeah, pranking Zull has to be spontaneous, not out of revenge, especially if you've betrayed that same trust yourself.  But you don't have to be too hard on yourself, she has some very nice clothes; I thought about taking some panties myself.  But of course she's very petite.  You know, I made my uniform myself, I could help you with some stuff like Zull's, even if it's mundane.  I'd like to see--well, you'd look nice with a pretty silk dress or something...<br/>I think you made the right conclusion, though, we should just have a room meeting to discuss our parameters, letting others know if you need some private time, or even just putting a sock on the door.  Just so there's no misunderstandings, because you're right, we are good friends."  He thought about what they were just saying.  "Rensha?  Um, unrelated, but I have some secrets of my own too.  I don't think I can tell anyone, but I just want you to know I'm... I'm not trying to fool you, or anyone, it's just something I can't let out, okay?  But anyway, we'll have a little sit-down with Zull tomorrow."</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>"You're right, I'll tell Zull tomorrow that we have something important to talk about.  And as for your secret, you can tell me anytime it's comfortable for you."<br/><br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Artaxes pretty much confirmed what little Kleris could remember about centaur society.  "Yeah, I heard about that.  I suppose a city is pretty unusual for a centaur.  I mean, paved streets alone must be annoyingly loud and slippery.  I guess when you're always moving in smaller groups, it's hard to study magic.  So it's impressive you made your own spellbook!  I just got mine from a book binder in the city.  But yeah, we could practice enchantment, or just hang out.  I don't know much about centaur culture, it would be interesting to hear more."  Without the ball to concentrate on, his gaze wandered from chest and abs to legs and haunches, trying not to stare as he got to know Artaxes.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>"Cool.  I'm sure that I can learn a lot from you,  I've seen how good you are with charms and the like."<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">"So magic that manipulates writing, is that forbidden to protect the ley lines and the runes guiding their flow?"</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>"A lot of folk think that, but the origin is much more political," Arisad said.  Eighty years ago a cabal of demon-worshiping scribes called the Verses conspired to overthrow the government by seeding their magic into ink which they then sold to mages.  They managed to kill many people with their own spellbooks, including half of the Ninemage Council at the time.  Everyone involved in the conspiracy was executed publicly, and there was little protest once it became known how insidious and far-spread their schemes spread.  Ever since, the practice of ink magic has been banned within Allain's borders."<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">It suddenly occured to Kleris that Lillin would have been raised by humans in a society where she was completely different.  It was no wonder she was so excited to meet others and feel a part of a common society.  "That's so cool!  We should meet them and talk."</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>"Hey there!" Lillin called out.  "I'm with the Redhurst students!"<br/><br/>"It's good to meet you.  There's a lot of folk outside the country who apply for scholarship, but we never meet people from other magic schools."<br/><br/>"I hope it doesn't seem weird, but I noticed that there's a lot of us here in Bemmea.  Where I come from, there aren't really any tiefling communities, just individual families.  It may seem normal to you, growing up here, but what's the deal?"<br/><br/>"It dates eight hundred years ago to the Black Sorceress' Rebellion.  The human mages of old Caelmarath discovered enough magical rituals and breakthroughs to declare independence from the elves.  The majority of noble houses mixed with infernal blood, and eventually their legacies spread on down to the commoners.  The most prominent families of the old magocracies were located in what is now Allain, the only nation to survive unbroken after the Great Mage Wars.  Imagine that!"<br/><br/>"So, there's no stigma against our...heritage?"<br/><br/>"Oh there is, in lands beyond.  They still blame us for the state of affairs in the Wastes, although it was a minority of tiefling nobles, and far more humans, responsible for the summoning of the Great Old Ones.  Most of us were just regular folk trying to survive.  Hey, if you're interested, you could always transfer here."<br/><br/>"Maybe, although the folk at Redhurst are very nice.  The teachers do a great job on cutting down prejudice and bigotry against newcomers."<br/><br/>"That's good to hear.  Just don't let the elves get too much power now, you hear?"<br/><br/>"Um, yeah, I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that.  So, would anyone mind if we took a tour inside the Academic?"<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">[Initiative 14+2=16<br/><em>Sleep</em> DC 15]<br/>Seeing Carson's signal, and finding himself currently unthreatened, he chanted and blew a puff of dust which settled on the student before Carson, hoping to at least knock him out, and maybe his companion.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Fight Music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLy9dHalG-8)<br/><br/>Kleris' ring glowed as he cast the<em>sleep</em>spell.  It failed to affect him, and he shook it off. (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=60580)<br/><br/>Nelsa flinged her hand at Arturon, who got hit in an explosion of colors as Edgar swooped off his shoulder and started pecking her in the eyes.<br/><br/>Knowing that close-range spells weren't an option, Carson grabbed the bully adjacent to him by the wrist to prevent him from casting any spells.  With a sweep of his legs he knocked him to the ground (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=60581) and pinned his arm behind him.<br/><br/>"Fucking bird!" Nelsa screamed.  "Get it off me!"  One of the two standing bullies swiped at Edgar, but to no avail.  The last one charged for Arturon, but Lillin leapt in front of her path and shoved her back.<br/><br/>"Fight!  There's a fight in the hallway!"<br/><br/><br/>"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"<br/><br/>The deep, throaty shout froze Nelsa and her cronies in place.  Not due to magic, but to his voice alone.<br/><br/>A seven-foot tall robed figure stomped down the hallway, beady red eyes shining forth behind a veil.  He looked over the Academic and Redhurst students, his eyes settling on Arturon and Nelsa.<br/><br/>"I don't need to know that this is<em>your</em>doing," he said as he pointed an accusing finger to Arturon.  "And Nelsa!  Must you insist on dragging everyone else into your vendettas?  You, Zed, Hank, and Barbara, 24 hours, dungeon!"<br/><br/>He pointed down the hallway, and Nelsa and her friends sulked down that direction before turning back one last time to Arturon.  "This isn't over yet!"<br/><br/>"I don't know what disciplinary protocol is appropriate at Redhurst," the teacher said, "but I'll be sure to bring up this incident to your Headmaster!"<br/><br/><br/>"We're sorry!" Lillin cried.  "It was in self-defense, she was going to hurt Arturon badly!"<br/><br/>"That's between her and him, not you all.  Now come with me until I summon a representative of your school."<br/><br/><br/>Kleris and his friends were taken to a small office.  In almost no time at all Arisad appeared again.  "My apologies for the pugnacious behavior of the Academic's bad apples," he said.  "I take it you're unaware that Arturon was an apprentice here, once?"<br/><br/>"Yeah," Arturon said.  "Nelsa and I...we had our differences, to say the least.  I didn't expect to meet her again, or that she'd try that out in the open."<br/><br/>"That shall all be in the past soon.  In the meantime, I heard reports that one of you had a magic ring in the encounter?"  Arisad looked upon their hands, catching the one on Kleris.<br/><br/>"Give me your hand?"  His eyes gazed at the ring for a while, deep in study.  "I've seen this design, this arcane pattern before...Yes, I know it!  You're a Merchiot, I presume?"<br/><br/>"Is that a bad thing?" Lillin asked, worriedly.<br/><br/>"Oh not at all!" Arisad laughed.  "It's just a coincidence; I met a man bearing this surname before, back when I visited the necromancer Karnakia.  She wasn't always the foremost teacher of necromancy in the Known Realms.  I wouldn't be surprised if she had something to do with your recent admission to Redhurst..."<br/><br/>The three students gave no signal of assent.  Lillin remained confused, Arturon still hung his head in shame, and Carson was merely listening intently to his words.<br/><br/>"Oh, you don't know?  Well, that's not for me to pry.  Anyway, Dean Khûdzak of Redhurst should be here to fetch you soon.  I apologize that your field trip must end on such a sour note, but you have the rest of the month to visit Allain."<br/><br/><br/><em>Gain 300 experience points for the fight.</em><br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">Dean Khûdzak's Office, 7 pm sharp</span></div><br/>"A fight?!"  Khûdzak roared.  "And with students of Bemmea, no less!  Do you know how this makes us look?"  He paced back and forth across his office.  "Yes, I heard the story.  Yes, I know that you wanted to defend Arturon.  But you threw the first spell, making you the aggressors.<strong>20 demerits for each of you,</strong>and detention tomorrow!  As for you, Arturon, your duties as prefect are temporarily suspended for the time being!"<br/><br/>Arturon said nothing.  When they were dismissed, he ran out of the office, not showing his face to any of them.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Perception DC 13</div><div class="spoiler_body">Kleris could spot Arturon shedding a tear before he turned away.</div></div><br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">Day 34</span></div><br/>Normally this would be a weekend, but due to having detention Kleris has no free time other than studying.  He can still pursue relationships, but it would need to be someone within his study circle (Zull, Rensha, Lillin, and Artaxes if I recall correctly).<br/><br/><br/><br/><div align="center">Kleris, Rensha, and Zull's Dorm</div><br/>Everyone was sitting around the room.  "Zull, we need to talk," Rensha said.  "It's important."<br/><br/>"Why?  Is everything alright?  Is...is it about the fight yesterday?"<br/><br/>"No, but I heard.  It's about us.  Zull, I...er, the day before yesterday, you were sort of loud, and we could hear what was going on.  There's nothing wrong with...you know, but...you used my bed."<br/><br/>Zull blushed and put her hands in her face.  "Oh no!  I'm sorry, Rensha, I was overcome with desire, and my bunk was so high, and yours was just right by there!  I know it was wrong; it won't happen again!"<br/><br/>"It's alright, Zull, I cleaned the sheets.  But we should plan ahead for this, when one of us might need the room...alone for a bit."<br/><br/>"Okay, what do you two propose?  Everyone uses the sock on the door.  Sometimes roommates make a deal on the same day to spend their respective nights in their boyfriend's bed.  Something like that?"<br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">Enter Karnakia</span></div><br/>Mordant's head necromancer wasn't hard to find, even with Kleris' restricted time schedule.  "Oh, hello Ms. Merchiot," she said while reading a book in the Library of the Arcane.  "Are you looking for something?"<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/2AqlhL8.png)</div><br/>Her face looked up when he brought up the topic of his father.<br/><br/>"Yes, I do know of him," she said.  "But our meeting was brief.  He came here to conduct some private research, and paid us for our services.  As to what he was looking for I cannot say, and while I did see him from time to time, anything I might have learned about the man is known better to you."<br/><br/>Karnakia got up to return one of her books to its original place on the bookshelf.  "I don't know why he hasn't kept in contact with you, but for whatever reason it might be, I can say that it's not to avoid you.  Sometimes people wish to go unnoticed, or need to keep their distance.  It may not make sense, or seem cruel at the time, but in the end it may be for the best.  I'm sorry, Kleris, I know that this is not what you want to hear.  But you'll need to trust me on this.  Until then I have a class to teach, and must depart for Mordant now.  Until next time."