"That sounds absolutely delightful," Catrina replies. She knows that whatever her glamour girl makes to eat will probably be rather bland and simple. But then, what was the use of being an illusionist if you couldn't spice up the look and taste of your dinner? "I'm in the mood for something relatively simple tonight. But perhaps later on I can sample one of your more exotic desserts?"
Fiona smiles. [color=blue]"It's been a while since I've been called 'exotic." She then leans over and purrs in Catrina's ear, [color=blue]"but what I meant by 'dessert' was, after dinner, you and I could retire to the bedroom and cook up some fun, and you can choose which of my forms you want to play with."
She straightens back up and runs her hands down her dress to flatten out any wrinkles. [color=blue]"If you're interested."
"And what I meant by 'simple' was that I'd prefer your male form tonight," Catrina replies with a wicked smile. "The glamour of an attractive man can be very satisfying. But nothing can quite take the place of the real thing." She winks, then adds, "pardon me a moment."
The illusionist then makes a wave of her hand and what looks like an attractive male servant appears out of nowhere.[sup]1[/sup] She motions toward the book she was working on, the writing materials, and the small case for carrying them. "Please tidy this up and return it to my tower," she says to him. "After that, you can do whatever Gwydion tells you to do." Her instructions given, she tilts her head and gets a slightly far-away look that Fiona instantly recognizes as indicative of mental communication.
Gwydion, I'm out til late, so don't wait up. I'm sending a glamour back with my things. Feel free to have him tidy up the tower until he disappears.
Out late, you say? Is it anyone I know?
Yes, and I'll fill you in on all the details tomorrow.
Okay then. You two have fun. I'll close up the tower and turn out the lights when I retire.
Catrina's eyes return to focus and she turns back to Fiona. "Okay, everything's taken care of. I don't know what I'd do without Gwydion around." She nods toward the door. "Shall we? I was hoping there'd be time to tour your garden before dinner."
[hr][/hr]
[sup]1[/sup] Cast Glamour of the Human Form again. Casting Roll (target 35): 1d10+40=47, Finesse Roll: 1d10+7=11
As the pair begin to leave the baths, Elizabeth enters. Or at least the first thought is it is Elizabeth when looking at her face, but then it is easy to notice that she's pregnant. Very pregnant. Like more than one baby in there pregnant. She nods at each of you and disrobes. "Oh, my back." She has no stretch marks whatsoever.
Fiona smiles and easily (wordlessly and without gestures) changes back to his giant male form, then takes Catrina back to his cottage and shows her around his gardens, showing her what he's planted so far, what's starting to grow. He points out the stone borders which delineate five foot squares of earth, and explains that he has a staff that's enchanted to do all the backbreaking work of hoeing and turning the earth, and that the borders mark about how much earth it can handle in one go.
He then shows her where the workers are building a windowless wooden structure larger than her cottage, roughly 25 feet wide and 40 feet long. [color=blue]"Ideally, I would like to get plants and flowers from all over the world to house in there. I have an item that's designed to keep everything inside growing as if it were in its native environment, and to allow the light and heat to pass into the greenhouse as though the wood weren't even there."
He then takes her back to his cottage, which is (for the most part) sparsely furnished. Most of the windowsills have potted plants on them, with space for Albus to lounge and watch for intruders. The basement has a still on one side and storage for about a dozen barrels of whisky on the other. A dumbwaiter-like contraption goes from near the whisky up to the dining room above.
Fiona also shows Catrina the laboratory briefly. It has a still, also, albeit of a more Hermetic variety. One of the few decorations is a portrait of a jovial, somewhat handsome man with blond, not quite collar-length hair, hazel eyes, and a closely-trimmed light brown beard, with just a hint of gray in it. On a table nearby is a Bible.
He has the glamour prepare a simple meal of stew with a tea, and whisky for afterwards.
Fiona then leads her back to the bedroom, which is dominated by a bed that's ten to twelve feet to a side, and brushes the headboard saying [color=blue]"Fàs sàmhach. There. Now we can really let ourselves go and not worry about anyone hearing us." He uses everything he has (including a subtle casting of Staff That Endures) to take her to heaven repeatedly.
(I'm guessing this is when Fiona and Clement are at the hot spring?)
Fiona looks at Elizabeth with some surprise. (Has it been that long since she's seen her? If so...)
[color=blue]"It seems congratulations are in order, Elizabeth."
1271.3 about a week into the classes. Clement knocks on the door to Fiona's cottage after the classes are done. Hybrida sits on his shoulder.
It takes a long moment for Fiona to open the door. When she does, she's still dressed in her Hermetic robes (white linen, with cauldrons and various leaves, flowers, and herbs woven into the fabric), with her familiar, Albus, perched on her shoulder.
[color=blue]"Clement!" Fiona beams. [color=blue]"What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here this afternoon?"
[color=dodgerblue]He's going to wind up in your bed, isn't he?" Albus thinks to Fiona.
[color=blue]Maybe. Hopefully.
[color=dodgerblue]In that case, I'm going to go see if any mice have found your garden yet.
With that, Albus turns around, and Fiona bends over to let him walk down her back and jump to the ground (which, incidentally, may give Clement a long glimpse down her top).
It is hard to tell if Fiona's display had any effect on Clement.
Good afternoon Fiona. After a week of classes, I've come to the realization that we will need to coordinate our curriculum better to match what you are teaching. I wanted to talk it over with your first before going to the other teachers.
[color=blue]"Please, come in." Fiona stands aside with the door open and motions for Clement to enter. [color=blue]"Can I get you anything? Whisky, milk, water, wine?"
She gets herself a goblet of chilled milk (a taste she acquired as a result of empowering her bond with Albus) and sits at the table. [color=blue]"That does make sense," she finally admits.
[color=blue]"I was going to start with the basics, explaining the Techniques and Forms and touching on how they can be combined. Then the Hermetic Limits. Then I will go over the various Arts in more detail, and the various strengths and weaknesses of each one. Later, discussion of laboratory equipment, construction and maintenance, and techniques, followed by Vis extraction. At the end of the term, I will return to Arts combinations and how to cast Spontaneous spells."
Hybrida flies over to the table May I try some of your whiskey? Clement gives her a look to which she clicks her beak at him.
Clement nods. This first week I find myself struggling not to step on your toe as far as the classes go. He pauses as if searching for words. When I was an apprentice, my pater Ignatius, taught me Magic Theory for the first season after opening my arts. With my apprentice I did the same. It seems to make sense to give the a foundation on which to teach. This teaching is very different. He pauses again. I wonder if all the teachers should not be teaching bits of magic theory in there classes for this first session. In an attempt to improve all of their understanding as quickly as possible.
Fiona looks at Hybrida. [color=blue]"Of course." She gets a small bowl and pours a bit of whisky in it for the owl.
[color=blue]"This whole idea of coordinating our teaching efforts is taking a little getting used to. I'm used to doing who and what I want, and drew upon my own experience, my own training and how I trained my apprentices in coming up with my lesson plans. Perhaps it would be better if my lessons didn't break things up so much, and focused on the theories, leaving the practical for the arts instructions."
Hybrida happily drinks up the whiskey. Very interesting. I think I like the beer of my homeland better but not bad.
I think it will get much easier once they get a good basis of Magic Theory. Your suggestion is in line with what I'm thinking. At least for the first session of classes. I plan on teaching Creo until they could cast a spell with it. Then Perdo, Rego, Muto and finally Intellego. I will have to discuss with the other teachers if this order works for them.
About a week before classes begins, Elizabeth and Lateralla assemble all the professors together. Two appear to be missing.
"We need volunteers from you to fill in for the classes for the first term. We need one for Flora et Fauna and for the History of the Order. We will open the bidding at 10 pawns of vis to teach the class. Meaning we can effectively double your salary for the first term. Do we have a bid?"
((This is a reverse bidding scenario, you bid less, to win the right to teach the class. I'll roll some dice behind the scenes to normalize who is actually bidding first, so even though you might post first, you might not actually be the first to bid. For example, PB already asked if Fiona could teach Flora et Fauna, so he's going to have a bit of an edge on bidding for that class. I'm opening up Renimar/Ancel's class because he's been MIA since his last post promising more soon for 10 days, and before that it had been a while. PM me the bids.
Is this the first time I mentioned the vis salary? The salary is 1 rook vis forma per season, so 30 pawns per year. Techniques are available at a 2 pawns vis forma per vis tenta. ))
Fiona nods. [color=blue]"And I'll try to use that in my theoretical examples. Creo early on, then Perdo and so on."
[color=blue]"Come in, Fabricus, and have a drink. We were discussing our lesson plans." The foyer has a chair, cloak pegs along one wall, a little rack for putting wet shoes below, and an open door leading to a dining room. The dining room has a large table with a couple of very large (i.e giant-sized) chairs and four smaller chairs arranged around it. One wall has a china cabinet, another wall has a small door in it. The open window has a couple of potted plants on either end of the sill. Other than that, there is no decoration in either the foyer or the dining room, which are the only rooms that anyone can see into.
I'm a little fuzzy...no, strike that, I'm lost as to what you mean by "reverse bidding scenario." (I thought it was a bridge reference, but I don't play bridge, and looking it up didn't help.) Does that mean that whoever gives the lowest bid wins and has to pay that much vis to teach the class? For example, if Fiona bids five pawns to teach Hermetic History, and Fabricus bids three, he wins?
I believe that we are bidding for the amount of vis we are willing to accept to teach the course.
For example, if Fiona bid 5 vis and Clement bid 3 vis, then Clement would get to teach the course and he would be paid 3 vis/season to do so.
That's my understanding, at least.
Trogdor's got it. Remember, it's a chance to perhaps double your salary, so Fiona paying doesn't make sense.
Fabricus bows and walks in, hanging up his cloak and taking a chair at the table. "Well, again good morning. I hope classes are going well so far. I am intrigued by this group we have. One issue I wanted to bring up that could have effects on the other teachers is the matter of discipline. Ambrose is a bit of a handful, nothing too difficult I should say, but I'm sure he will test all of us. Regarding his insolence and other students' pending disobedience, how are you planning to handle it? I set strict rules in my class to maintain decorum and discipline, and when those are broken, I intend to show the consequences. But I don't want my efforts undone by the methods of other teachers, nor do I wish to undo anyone else's efforts. I'd like there to be agreement on the approach and I'd like us to talk about this so that we can be united and not allow clever children to manipulate us against each other."
((Some pages I can reply on, I think I get locked out on pages with more dice rolls on them.))
"Ah yes," Catrina says. "Ambrose. I don't think any of us have failed to have an encounter with his ... willfulness." She nods. "I agree, that he should be disciplined if he becomes too insolent. If he were an apprentice, he would certainly face potentially severe discipline. I was fortunate both with my parens and my filius that there was minimal friction. But I am aware of cases were extreme forms of corporal punishment have been used, and even in which apprentices were cast out of their apprenticeships. These are critical skills we're teaching the children. We must have their full attention and compliance."
"So, Fabricus," she adds. "Did you have anything in particular in mind, or were you looking for suggestions?"