From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
It takes a bit of brainstorming to find a location suitable for both Mer and Ancient students to attend the next training session. Eventually, Evie settles on Torchline, if only because she also has news to share with Hadama; birds and stones and all that. Planning takes a little longer given her new awareness of her pregnancy and the safety measures she has to take because of it, but as she stands on the sands of one of the floating islands just beside the Maw, Evie feels rather accomplished.
It's her first field training as the new headmistress, and for an advanced class at that. Intimidating, but not enough to overwhelm her excitement.
Waiting for her students to arrive, Evie turns to greet them with a smile. "I'm glad you could make it! This training takes a bit of explanation, so feel free to stretch and warm up while I talk." Gesturing to the simple platform structure behind her, Evie clears her throat and blinks the sun out of her eyes. "Today we will be working on detailed accuracy with your magic from a disadvantaged fighting position. Namely, the sun in your eyes and a lack of elevation." It will surely get more creative as the training goes on, but Evie knows they will find this challenging regardless, which is the point of a more advanced session.
"The targets I send out from the platform will be small and will move at varying speeds and in varying directions. This isn't directly a competition - no points or other rules - but your other classmates can and likely will hit targets you're aiming for, so be swift and decisive on whether you believe you can hit it first." This will force them to quickly evaluate whether something is within their range and reaction time abilities, which will aid them greatly in magical fights. Smiling encouragingly, Evie gestures toward the platform. "If you don't have any questions, we can begin now!"
It takes but a moment to climb up the ladder to the top of the platform where her buckets of targets await. When it's clear the students below are ready, Evie uses her air magic to send three clay pigeons shooting out through the air over the water, ready to be destroyed however her students see fit.
- - -
Welcome to the 317 PC Leafchange Academy Training! This training is for Upgraded to Mastered magic. This training only occurs once per IC year. You must claim your spot with a post to participate in this training, there are no holds, and the PQ will move on as soon as spots are filled.
Please list what magic you are upgrading in your posts. For this PQ, weapons and companions are not permitted. Remember this training is for the magic you are choosing to upgrade and should heavily involve it.
You can have your character arrive and begin immediately! This will count as Round One!
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let us live like flowers, darling wild and beautiful and drenched in sun
03-17-2024, 03:32 PM (This post was last modified: 03-19-2024, 02:03 AM by Edmund.)
Edmund is nervous. It's his first time training as part of the Academy. He'd been wondering about the institution for a while now and finally decided it was worth reaching out to the Headmistress. The admission process was far easier than he'd anticipated, and now he's here and eyeing the targets with determination.
The instructions are clear, and as soon as he's warmed up, he calls forth the fire from a nearby torch. Letting it flicker in his hand for a moment, he locks onto a target. He watches how it moves momentarily and tries to predict where it'll be next. With a deep breath, he attempts to throw the flame at where he thinks the target will be next.
~
Edmund pulls fire from a torch and throws it at where he thinks his chosen target will move to! He's upgrading his fire magic to mastered!
Fire Manipulation: Can manipulate flames. Must be within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent
Type: Dark | Rank: Upgraded
Hadama normally swam wherever he could, but things of late had been busy enough that today he chose to aquaport out to the training ground. Emerald eyes crinkled into a warm smile of greeting at Evie, and one lid drooped in a wink of support for his friend in her new position as headmistress, but Edmund was already there and waiting to begin. He gave the young man a more formal nod in greeting and then focused on the lesson ahead.
Whenever he sparred with a human partner he worked from a lack of elevation, but dealing with the sun in his eyes was less familiar. As Evie climbed up higher still he raised a hand to shade his gaze, squinting as he gathered his magic in his mind. Emerald eyes turned to pale sapphires as his damp hair began to stir around his shoulders and then the pigeons were in motion. Edmund moved with swiftness but Hadama paused, noting both which target the Ancient had aimed for and also the trajectories of the remaining two. It was only a pair of heartbeats, but his wind magic leapt out in a sharp gust, attempting to knock the second target into the third and break them both. Let Edmund have the first. He would take both of the remainder if he could.
Hadama uses his air manipulation to try and knock the second target into the third!
He is upgrading his Air Manipulation to Mastered:
Air manipulation: Can manipulate the air. Must be within a 30ft radius and allows the user to levitate medium-large sized objects up to 5ft above the ground . Control is excellent.
Type: Grey | Rank: Upgraded
Alys hadn't traveled far from home in quite some time, but upon hearing that the next Academy training was to be held in Torchline by none other than her dear friend Evie, who had just become headmistress... well, the seer simply couldn't say no. It was an interesting choice of location. Alys had heard of underwater volcanoes and lurking kraken, but on this particular day, neither seemed to be interested in making their presence known. Other students arrived as she did, some of whom she had seen in passing, but none of whom she knew particularly well. Not wishing to distract Evie from her task, the seer simply offered an encouraging smile and took her place among the ranks.
The task itself was fairly simple: hit the targets. But with only magic to use to her advantage - and her only magics being illusion, telekinesis, and healing - Alys felt that she was, perhaps, at a bit of a disadvantage. She'd become fairly adept at flinging daggers with her telekinesis, though, so perhaps she could hit a target or two if she selected some of the rocks scattered around her feet and used those in place of weapons. Still, that wasn't likely to help her much if the other students could strike the targets first.
With that in mind, the seer decided on a bit of subterfuge, calling upon her illusion magic to make slight changes in the tracks of the targets as they flew through the air. She might make one higher or lower than reality, for example, or send another flying faster or slower than its actual pace. All in all, her goal was to make the other students miss in order to give herself time to line up a proper shot.
------
Alys uses her illusion magic to "move" the targets as she tries to aim a rock using her telekinesis.
Alys is upgrading her illusion magic.
Illusion: Can create illusions within a 5ft radius
Type: Grey | Rank: Upgraded
But it’s wild and it’s free
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Alys.
Evie tries to smile encouragingly from above, pleased to see her students' focused faces - and still overcoming the strangeness of them being her students now, when before they had been her allies and fellows. She tasks herself with focusing on her own magic, wanting to grow in the same way they do, while keeping her eyes keenly trained on how each person fares to give pointers when the lesson ends.
Edmund starts out incredibly strong, anticipating the trajectory of his chosen target and scorching it in one go. It falls out of the sky in a meandering path, struck true. Meanwhile, Alys magic has to be employed more creatively, and it works skillfully - if at the expense of Hadama. Her rock cast with her telekinesis only nicks the edge of a target, but her illusion works to conceal the flight of the remaining two targets, causing Hadama to send the first target towards a second that was not where he thought it would be, missing.
Evie leans down to the box of targets and swiftly sends out more; double the amount this time, so that Alys could practice her sabotage with her illusions without discouraging the other students if they could not land a single target. Though she can of course get creative with the distractions of her peers, it is quite fitting for what most hectic battles look like!
- - -
Round two!
Edmund hits, Alys successfully nicks one and sabotages Hadama's aim, and Hadama misses! Evie has thrown double the targets for round two, which means six in total!
No posting order!
let us live like flowers, darling wild and beautiful and drenched in sun
It wasn't until after the clay disc went spinning harmlessly off course but still intact through an illusory copy of his intended target that Hadama realized what had happened. He turned his head to consider Alys with a gleam in his eyes. He had an item that would negate her ability...
But then, what would be the point in the training?
"Well done," he rumbled to Edmund, giving credit to his young friend for his excellent aim before he turned his attention back to Evie. She moved with swift confidence in her role as instructor and though his heart swelled with pride for her, he remained focused on the lesson at hand.
As soon as the pigeons left the dock he gathered his magic and sent a narrow, sharp downdraft slicing sharply from above, intending to knock two - or three if he was lucky - of the pigeons to break upon the waves below.
Hadama uses a downdraft as a blade of wind and attempts to hit two or three of the pigeons with it, smashing them on impact or into the ocean.
Edmund's tail shoots up, curling at the tip in delight. He certainly hadn't been expecting to have such luck on his first attempt. He watches the brief exchange between Alys and Hadama, sensing that something has occurred but cannot tell what. The young Ancient is too unfamiliar with illusion magic to recognize it for what it is just yet.
Hadama's praise receives a warm smile in turn "Thank you." He needs to sit down and talk with the man soon. Hadama deserves a better explanation for his change in citizenship than what the Ancient had previously given. But future necessities are thrown to the side as he refocuses on the training.
With twice the targets present, Edmund almost tries to hit two at once with separate fire blasts. He holds himself back by pushing down his pride and ego. This is training, not a competition. Pulling more fire from a torch, the young Ancient chooses a target and once more tries to predict its trajectory before sending a blast of fire at it.
~
Edmund does the same thing as before (choosing a target, predicting its next location, and sending fire at it.)
Lucky indeed! Hadama slices neatly through not just all three of the targets he'd intended, but he unwittingly takes Alys' role as the wrench in the gears and extinguishes Edmund's flames as they reach vainly for the target he'd chosen. Though Evie does not have the sun or other students to contend with, her own magic must flex and stabilize to keep track of so many moving targets, even when aided along by her telekinesis as needed - and even standing above them on the tower, she feels connected to them in terms of effort and scholarship.
"Try to defend against them this time!" Her voice is crisp and clear, waiting for all eyes and attention to ensure she's been heard and is being actively focused on before she lets the next four discs fly; two aimed directly at Hadama and Edmund this time, faster now as they descend instead of float horizontally out across the ocean.
- - -
Rayo has requested to be skipped, round three! The discs are heading straight for you now.
let us live like flowers, darling wild and beautiful and drenched in sun
It was gratifying to see his efforts come to fruition, especially after the failure of the first round. Though he preferred a more delicate approach, there was something to be said for brute strength at times, and he was pragmatic enough to use it when it was most expedient. The foiling of Edmund's attack had truly been an accident however, and Hadama inclined his head in silent apology to his young friend.
There was little time for any words to be exchanged before Evie was moving the lesson along, giving them no time to catch their breath as she did so. It was, indeed, not so different from a battle or emergency situation in its pacing and Hadama's jaw tightened grimly as he was pushed out of his comfort zone of careful deliberation and into the far more precarious position of needing to make snap decisions.
With projectiles coming at him from above, hard to see due to the sun in his eyes, he reached instinctively for an old defensive maneuver: he drew the wind around him into a spiraling vortex, designed to catch incoming objects and fling them off course. It meant that he didn't have to be able to pinpoint their exact location to counter them, and once they were within the localized twister he could use their momentum to slingshot them around and back at Evie with a wicked gleam of mischief in his sapphire-hued eyes.
Hadama creates a small twister of wind around him to pull the pigeons off course. If he's successful, he'll use the spin of the little tornado to fling a pigeon back at Evie!
Edmund frowns when Hadama puts out his fire, but any annoyance is quickly resolved at the King's expression. Smiling softly in reassurance is all that the Ancient has time to do before the discs are flying at them. Fire wasn't the best magic for pure defense, so he gave in to his instincts. Raising his hands and pulling fire from multiple torches, Edmund tries to send a wave of fire at the discs in hopes of destroying them before they reach him.
He keeps a knee bent and ready to dive should he fail, not wanting to get hit in the face with a flying disc.
~
Edmund pulls fire from the nearby torches and sends a wave of it at the discs to destroy them.
Hadama is completely successful in his attack, at the expense of Edmund's. The whip of wind becomes a fiery cyclone, destroying all of the clay targets within - so, perhaps they both score then? Teamwork!
On Evie's end, it's a bit of a danger to her and her students in her eye, and though Hadama certainly couldn't have anticipated such an outcome she works quickly to dismantle it. Air to push back and unthread the self-sustaining circular nature of the wind, and a pull of water from the shoreline to douse the fire just in case the air does not cause it to fizzle away. Giving Hadama a playfully disapproving look, Evie shakes her arms out and reaches for yet more targets, undaunted. This is training for herself as well after all.
One last go with the targets ensures she sends out the remaining ones, allowing for more success this time around - three each, sent out along the horizon once more instead of toward them.
- - -
Last round!
Hadama's attack was very successful, but it sucked up Edmund's fire and made a fire tornado that Evie doused. The targets were all destroyed however, so points to both! Six targets have been sent out laterally for better odds at hitting them.
let us live like flowers, darling wild and beautiful and drenched in sun
The inclusion of Edmund's fire into his cyclone was indeed an accident, though at least his location within the water and the wind's focus around himself alone made it a relatively harmless one. He would have let the vortex drop once he was certain that the incoming missiles had been destroyed, but Evie intervened first. He met her look with one of serene innocence, dropping a subtle wink before she turned away to gather a final volley of pigeons for the remaining students.
He exchanged a silent look of encouragement with Edmund before he turned his attention to their instructor, focusing on the last challenge. Three clay discs spun out and past him, mirrors to the ones that arced beyond Edmund's place upon the platform. This time, seeking to challenge himself, the Tidebreaker focused his intention down as tight and precisely as he could, using his hands to aim three puffs of condensed air after the targets, attempting to strike each individually rather than relying on brute force or broad stroke attacks.
Hadama uses three condensed air projectiles to precisely pinpoint three of the targets!
The fire quickly grows beyond his expectation with Hadama's 'aid' and Edmund looks at the others sheepishly as Evie gets it under control. It may not have been directly his fault, but it still leaves him mildly embarrassed. Yet there isn't time to dwell, and he returns the King's look with a small smile before refocusing.
Evie unleashes the last few targets, and the young Ancient takes a deep breath before calling fire from a nearby torch yet again. Watching Hadama, he imagines his wave of fire splitting into three controlled bolts, one for each of the remaining targets. Fire is certainly less predictable than air, but he hopes that the principle will apply. Letting his magic surge, Edmund makes his attack.
~
Edmund mimics Hadama and tries to send three separate and more controlled bursts of fire at the targets.
Maybe it's the last final effort that both put forth, or maybe it's something cosmic (like Brit being nice), but both students succeed in taking out their half of the targets. Evie whoops and claps from the top of her tower, cutting her own magic that had been ferrying them along. It takes a moment to climb down to the sands to join them, but her expression is proud and light, clearly pleased by the session.
"Great job! You were both very creative," she praises, and motions for the three of them to gather closer. "Let's have a brainstorm session and then we can conclude. Let's focus on ways we can improve versus what went well, and how we can implement more creativity in the future." She engages them both without pen or paper, happy to keep this informal, and once they've reflected on their advancements she cuts them loose with satisfaction abound upon their shoulders.
- - -
Great job you guys! Don't forget to submit your leveling to Account Updates!
Code:
[b]NAME[/b] has completed the below Arcane Academy Advanced Magical Training to get Mastered [b]MAGIC TYPE[/b] in the season of [b]SEASON, YEAR[/b]
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let us live like flowers, darling wild and beautiful and drenched in sun
