I think we're stuck at Fall 1223 with Ulrich deciding what to study, with Ra'am's approval and the lab work exposure.
I'd like to have Ulrich submit a syllabus of independent Study to Ra'am through 1226.
Not sure what he would plan differently than what I posted a couple of months ago. Cygna could teach him Mentem, and Hiems could teach him something as well. But let's go with what's already there, at least for now.
- 1224: Herbam summa Q11/L20.
- 1225: Herbam summa Q11/L20.
- 1226: Herbam summa Q11/L20.
- 1227: To Rule over the Mortal Realm: Rego Q10/L20 by Herman ex Tremere.
Prospero spies Ulrich looking all about for Rose, "She be in the gardens, lad, cat'login plants fer Maris. I'll bet you could help her with that task and have some time for yerselves, dontcha think?" And gives Ulrich a playful swat on the back.
Ulrich grins. [color=green]"Thank you, Archmagus!" he says, then runs as fast as he can to the gardens, where he searches for his beloved.
When he finally spies her, he stops and watches her for a couple of minutes, his breath taken away by her beauty, as overwhelming to the senses as he remembered. He then walks up quietly behind her and says, softly, [color=green]"Excuse me, fair miss, but I believe you missed one."
Ulrich! she says, scarcely not believing. How are you here?
It's ambiguous as to whether Ulrich was part of the Le Maison ritual, he was present, although likely didn't participate...
[color=green]"My master had a visitor with a question that was more suited for Prospero than him, so he brought us here. Ra'am was injured in the landing, but he's being cared for by Maris and Elizabeth. Prospero said I might find you here. And he was right."
He stands there for a minute, smiling at her. [color=green]"I know I couldn't live with myself if I didn't take the opportunity to at least greet the woman I love," he blurts out. [color=green]"I've missed you so much it hurts, Rose. I hope you got my letters, and the little carvings I sent with them."
((I went back and checked the thread, and it looks like he wasn't. So...no sponted flowers for her, then 
))
"Of course, I've received your letters, silly, have you not received mine?" She then looks penetratingly at Ulrich, "If Maris is going to be healing him, we have at least an hour if he has minor injuries, and about two if they require extensive healing magics. Quickly, follow me..." She leads him away to a quiet spot, a shed in the gardens, and the two renew their fiery, youthful passions.
During a brief lull in the action, Ulrich kisses Rose softly and whispers, [color=green]"I don't want this moment to ever end. It seems like the only time I feel myself is when I'm with you, and I don't want to ever let you go."
He smiles. [color=green]"I did get your letters. I've kept them all, and have read them so many times I can almost read them from memory."
Not too far from sunset, Maris comes looking for Rose. From the other side of the shack Ulrich and Rose hear, "Rose, I know you're in there, and I know what you're doing. Or did. You need to present yourself to Prospero and Tranquillina and assist in the ritual for Incantation of the Body Made Whole. You should be able to cast a sufficient magnitude version of Wizard's Communion. I leave it to your discretion on which one to choose. Oh, and after that, you need to pack your things, we're going to Coeris, leaving in the morning. Say your good-byes."
Rose fumes quietly for a moment, "Yes, Maris." After a few moments, Ulrich and Rose hear footsteps walking away from the shack.
[color=green]"Verdammt!" Ulrich swears softly as he reaches for his clothes, handing Rose hers as he finds them.
[color=green]"Coeris?" he asks as he gets dressed, half watching Rose. [color=green]"Why are you going all the way to Coeris?"
He accompanies Rose to Prospero and Tranquillina (since he assumes that they're casting the ritual on his master, Ra'am), hopefully holding her hand as long as he can without getting into more trouble.
Once they arrive, he will move to one side, where he hopefully won't interfere in the magics, and watches everything that happens intently. He is fearful for Ra'am, knowing that he was badly injured in the crash, and wishes that he could do more than just stand there like a dandelion.
"House business, I'm sure." It's clear that she has a better idea of what's going on, but isn't going to go into detail about it.
Ulrich simply nods. He thought as much, and didn't think that Rose would be able to tell him, but it couldn't hurt to ask. And it kept the conversation going, which means he got to hear her melodious voice that much longer.
Later in the evening, after Ulrich is chased from Tranquillina's company, Ra'am comes to Ulrich's room in their suite. Without any preamble, he opens Ulrich's door and comes in, "Would you wish that I treat you as a boy or as a man? Running off with Tranquillina was foolhardy. You do not know her. And while what you two discussed may have seemed innocuous enough, she probably had deeper motives. That's the thing, Ulrich. We all have deeper motives, hidden agendas. Magi have a tendency to become twisted over time. To use people to satisfy their own ends. I see this tendency in myself, and do my best to control it. You are exceptionally vulnerable to being used by a magus. I have given you freedom of sorts. Do I need to reconsider curtailing that freedom, or can you demonstrate that you can make good choices? Notice she didn't try to get Elizabeth to participate in her game. Why do you think that is?"
Ulrich is simply sitting in the chair (or on the floor, if there's not a comfy chair in his room), with his arms wrapped around his legs, his knees drawn up to his chest, with that sullen "yeah, whatever" attitude that teenage boys get when they know they're in trouble but either don't know why or don't think that they should be in trouble.
[color=green]"Because Tranquillina and I were both there to see them off. Tranquillina didn't ask Elizabeth to play the game because she thinks she doesn't think very highly of her, for some reason.
"Why do you think I'm more vulnerable to being used by a magus? And how do you propose we fix that weakness? And I didn't tell her anything she couldn't have learned from practically anybody who had been to Mons Electi.
"And what did you mean by Tria had taught me a thing or two after all?"
((Yeah, he's kind of all over the place with his response, but he's still slightly buzzed, and embarrassed by, basically, his pater walking into the room, grabbing him by the ear, and marching him back out again, and feeling pretty mopey about Rose being gone again. So, he's being the emo teen thing.))
"Elizabeth doesn't think highly of her? Come, that's a convenient excuse that Tranquillina dangled in front of you to swallow the bait. She is introverted, nothing more, and you should know that by working with her for a year." While Elizbaeth has not been overly friendly with Ulrich, she hasn't been at all mean. And when he talks to her, she'll talk back, but she keeps it short, in a manner of one not wanting to be out of their shell. She's helped Ulrich out a time or two when he's been stuck on a project, or didn't understand directions Ra'am had given her, too.
"You're more vulnerable than Elizabeth, because you're not directly related to me. That and I've given you a great deal more freedom than a master would ordinarily give an apprentice. And then I trust Elizabeth's judgment not to go off with some strange magus who calls her away. She would at least have the good sense to check with me."
"The comment I meant about Tria teaching a thing or two was directed at Tranquillina, not at you, Ulrich."
[color=green]"That's more or less what I told her."
[color=green]"You're right, dominus. And I'm sorry about that. But when she invited me into the reading room...I expected her to get me drunk and seduce me, but...she's a maga,and you don't say no to a maga. I didn't really want that to happen, but I just felt so...like I didn't care what happened to me, like the world didn't matter. Rose is gone, again, and I don't know if I'll ever see her again. And without her..." Ulrich buries his face in his hands and tries to hide the fact that he can't stop crying at the thought of going on without his Rose, tries not to appear weak in front of a master who's already called him vulnerable and with less sense than his daughter.
Ulrich sniffles. [color=green]"I suppose I have a lot to learn about being deceptive and manipulative, huh?" he says, totally serious.
"You most certainly do say no to a maga. Understand this, Ulrich. You're my apprentice, meaning you belong to me. If someone other than me tells you to do something, and you don't think I'd like it, then you have every reason to say no. Saying no is so much harder than saying yes. And about Rose, I told you before, love is a discipline."
[color=green]"How do you do it, sir?" Ulrich says as he looks up at Ra'am with bloodshot eyes. [color=green]"How do you handle the pain when Regina isn't there? How do you deal with the emptiness, the not knowing if you'll ever see the woman you love again? I don't want to magic it away, but I..."
"Love is a discipline. Instead of being distracted by a touch or a peak of flesh, I throw myself into my Arts. Or I pray. And to be honest, I have something you don't. My daughter is with me, and she serves as a reminder of Regina."
Ulrich looks down. [color=green]"All I have is my memories of Rose. Usually, I think that's enough...it's kept me away from Celestria so far, but I'm not sure how long I can last." He sighs, closes his eyes and pictures Rose in his mind for a minute to refocus.
[color=green]"It's hard, though, when someone just...gives you such a peek of flesh. I guess I just have to try to discipline myself and not be tempted, and try to think of Rose when I am. I just wish it wasn't so hard all the time, not being with her. Maybe someday..."