Scene #9811: SPDM Lessons

Owner	Pose
Team Timekeeper	It's not particularly subtle why the Foundation was satisfied with having the under-sixteens of Team Timekeeper be shuttled to the School for the Primary Defense of Mankind for education. The curriculum of the SPDM is a propagandist weapon that cultivates the young arcanists in its grasp to be loyal to the Foundation and its ideals-- you know that, the Foundation knows that, and even Vertin knows that when she signs off on it happening. Some of the distasteful aspects of the SPDM's teachings are blunted by Team Timekeeper's circumstances, but some of them simply can't be. Whenever that will become a problem, though, it's not today. Ms. Moissan and Tamamo have both been given educator positions within Team Timekeeper, putting them in contact with the Foundation and the SPDM and in charge of the small cadre of children with them. That group includes Poltergeist-- fifteen and dead, possibly never graduating; Cristallo-- fourteen and mostly self-taught, with a history of personal tutelage; Sotheby-- NEARLY fourteen (13 and six months), tutored by Moissan; La Source-- nine hundred but actually nine, does not understand the concept of school at all; and Ruth-- somewhere between twelve and fourteen, and has never been to school. There was some deliberation on including Ruth at all, on account of her being human, but Vertin insisted on sending her to school with the others for a well-rounded education. It's a little bit of a field trip to get to the SPDM in the first place. From the Foundation campus, it's a thirty minute bus ride around the mountain to get there, during which time La Source is plastered to the windows complaining about the bus not stopping to let her out at everything she finds interesting outside. Once there, the bus driver pulls through the security checkpoint at the gate of the walled SPDM campus, then drops the group off at the concrete and marble buildings within. The classroom set aside for the Timekeeper's kids is at the very edge of the educators' building, to minimize crossover with the other students. Tamamo and Moissan have already been briefed on the materials and guidelines for the SPDM's curriculum, both in terms of basic academic subjects as well as behavioral expectations, but they only have the kids for part of the day until the other teachers take over for things like 'Introduction to Alchemy' or 'Thre Great Critter Compendium'. As has been a running theme with the Timekeeper's brood, they're allowed some freedom and individuality in their teaching plans by necessity, because the Foundation is simply incapable of breathing over their shoulders about everything. Conveniently, the experience of the children is easily divided into two groups, with some overlap. Ruth and La Source are both entirely uneducated, with Ruth having some bare basics of literacy, and the others are all around the same age and have experience with school. Cristallo's excited, Poltergeist is petrified, Ruth is both parasocially thrilled to be at 'magic school' and rebellious by default, and La Source is completely ignoring attempts to educate her unless wrangled.
Forest Ladies	Ms. Moissan had finally, after a long and thorough debriefing on all things large and small, been granted transfer to Team Timekeeper as a 'Field Liaison Officer' and formally been granted release from her outstanding duties as a Special Field Agent. It even came with teaching time! So, dressed in her fine blues and with a serene smile on her face, the tutor turned schoolteacher escorted Sotheby to the large bus at the appointed time, having left her weapons at home and dressed for comfort and standing and books and not fighting quiet wars. Gwendolyn Vera Sotheby, on her first day of formal school, was impressed with-- "--the most in-CRED-ible Auto Island ev-er!!!" She had squealed, dashing up to hug the doorway, and jump up into the stairs up to immediately begin ricocheting around the cabin, climbing on benchseats and bounding among bars to immediately lock in and hyperfocus on the emergency release lever's faded release lever warnings. "Typhon, this place is readied for battle!" Whispers Sotheby to stuffie, before Moissan approaches at a walking pace to pick up Sotheby by the shoulder and scoop her upright into the seat while she conspires with stuffie about adventure details of this great vessel. Actually arriving at the SPDM is another matter, as Sotheby is a hyperactive noble girl let out into a new place that's kind of like a castle and thus has so many things. Moissan continues to steadily approach Sotheby until interest leads to being re-wrangled and brought back to classroom. Finally settled into her seat, settled hatless in her simple whites (to make sitting in a seat easier, as dressed by Ms. Moissan with bright blue ribbon), Sotheby immediately bounces in her seat until she's given Introduction To Alchemy... "But I'm paaast this one!" She flips through, ruffling through pages to open on random page. "This is just thermodynamics!" She flips to another, holding it out. "This is basic chemistry!! Can we go back to history? Tell me again about your human wars!" Moissan, in aside to Tamamo, establishes that perhaps Mrs. Rook should engage in the schooling of Sotheby, while they are at the SPDM, as diverse teachers led to much more rounded students, and with Tamamo's permission, engaged with La Source particularly as she had a brilliant idea in the bus to teach La Source letters: "Now, La Source, I understand you hate certain behaviors and want them not to occur, right?" Moissan began, bringing out the arcane equivalent of a dry erase board - as chalk would not be good with the spring elfin in any ways, nor would dry erase - and a textbook on French and English. "How would you like to learn about writing signs, like warnings against all that? If you write a sign, you can have it speak for you even when you're not there - it's the power of writing."
Tamamo	Tamamo has a sort of Foundation uniform, and she decided to keep to it as a matter of local consistency, or at least to clothing within the same style. That means a black dress with a pencil skirt and halter top, similarly dark leggings and office lady heels, and then -- unnecessary for both the weather and indoor room but quite necessary for balance, lining, and color contrast -- a black jacket of light, rainproof material with seafoam green inner lining and cuffs. More eye-catching, of course, are the inhuman features, and the gold accessories that aren't far apart. She can bear to go outside without hairpins, but if so, she at least needs earrings which, given the position of her ears, couldn't be hidden by her hair even if they were a great deal smaller. Not that she has any of the same, necessary motives as those for which she chose to dress down this far, in the first place. No, the reduced color variety keeps her closer to the Foundation palette, but here she is with an actual bedsheet-ghost and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, Gwendolyn Sotheby. Really, she could have worn anything, and the result wouldn't be that much different, one might argue. 'It's important to set the mood' is her unspoken reply. For her, this is an acceptable compromise with normality. Speaking of mood, she is so happy to be here. Finally, she's doing something in an official capacity in this world that can't be lumped under 'field work.' She won't even need to wrangle an ordinary classroom-sized group of people, and she already knows most of them, too! Just pay no attention to the fact that she's literally never done anything like this before! She'll power it through by sheer will and manifest being a wise teacher. Leading up to things... "Quite right, Ms. Moissan." A multitude of perspectives could only help, and Sotheby's already had tutoring -- it's only everything else that's new. Likewise, splitting up the duties as much as possible only makes sense. In the classroom... "Hello, everyone, hello! My, I do know nearly everyone here, after all." She's spoken to some of them more than others, but that's really no matter. "Welcome! Ah, but I should introduce myself again, of course. I am Mizukume Rook," the only name she feels necessary to use within the Foundation, "and this will be but a portion of your education at the School for the Primary Defense of Mankind, which is a rather mouthful of a name, and so, I suppose I will not need to say it again. The Earth on which I was first born was of an alternate timeline to this Earth, and so, it is worth clarifying that I am neither human, nor arcanist, nor awakened." She claps once, willing to just move on past that if there aren't any questions on it. "That being the case, I will be teaching a bit about the magic of an ancient land, that called 'magecraft,' being something that was developed by humans and, naturally, can be learned and practiced by humans and otherwise." She would've said 'anyone with life energy,' but Poltergeist was right there, and she doesn't want to be exclusionary, even if she's pretty sure a ghost with that much presence in the daytime must have plenty of life still in her, too.
Team Timekeeper	It really is an eclectic bunch. Compared to the students seen running around the SPDM campus otherwise, who are all wearing the same drab white uniform, the Timekeeper's kids are all radically different besides the shared SPDM insignia badge they've all been given. Polly still hasn't shown her face, and the bedsheet somehow makes her look most suited to being here. Cristallo is just as sheet white, but Poltergeist has to levitate her into the door on the back of the bus, without a wheelchair lift to accomodate her, and one of the teachers has to wheel her into class. La Source is still in her rags! Ruth, at least, has a proper little blouse and dress bought for her by Vertin, but it's much more colorful than the typical affair at the school. "Welcome! Ah, but I should introduce myself again, of course. I am Mizukume Rook," In a classroom of thirty, this would be when the dull repetition of 'Hi Miss Moissan, hi Missus Rook' would return in chorus. Instead, Poltergeist seems like she's trying to keep her head down, Cristallo enthusiastically calls back with her whisper-quiet voice, and Ruth is already attempting to divine from first principles how a twelve year old looks disaffected during class. "Hello, Missus Rook and Miss Moissan!" "This is just thermodynamics!" "What? You are?" Ruth clingily tries to peek over Sotheby's shoulders, but can't actually glean any of the information about the book from looking at it. "Is, uh, 'thermodynamics' something we should know already? Teachers? I don't know thermodynamics. Maybe Sotheby could show me and then neither of us have to be bored?" "Now, La Source, I understand you hate certain behaviors and want them not to occur, right?" "Oh, this and that." La Source agrees ambivalently, while tottering around the classroom. She's immediately abandoned sitting in her chair to instead leave her pot in it as if it's an indistinguishable substitution, wandering around the classroom to inspect all of the things she's unfamiliar with. "No coins, no greedy wish-makers, no stepping on the flowers, no getting-something-for-nothing, no tricking the ravens and crows. No mud-throwing, no loud noises on the water, no singing badly. And especially no coins!" "If you write a sign, you can have it speak for you even when you're not there - it's the power of writing." "Hm!" La Source tries to sound wise and dismissive, but her voice squeaks when she humphs. "Show me, show me then." "The Earth on which I was first born was of an alternate timeline to this Earth, and so, it is worth clarifying that I am neither human, nor arcanist, nor awakened." Poltergeist sinks into her awful concrete chair slightly, then pulls herself back up to bravely get the teacher's attention (which seems to be such a feat in a class of six with a teacher she knows that it's hard to imagine how she managed in regular American high school). "Um... I don't think I am either, er... well, not that it really matters, eheh, but-- the doctors at Laplace talk about the 'Beyond' sometime? And... and... yeah, that's really all I know about that. Sorry." ". . . being something that was developed by humans and, naturally, can be learned and practiced by humans and otherwise." And Ruth is reeled the fuck back in instantly, whipping around to Tamamo so quickly that her chair scrapes on the tile. "Huh?! That's real?! How?!" Cristallo's arcane monitoring machine beeps regularly while it's hooked up to her, and any time she's outside of the Suitcase or the LRC, she needs it along with her chair. She raises her hand politely to get Tamamo's attention. "Um, could you explain how 'magecraft' works? Does it utilize arcane energy?"
Tamamo	'Is, uh, 'thermodynamics' something we should know already?' Tamamo is... leaving this one to Moissan! She'll only give a vague 'probably not' if necessary. Are human children usually learning thermodynamics at this age? She isn't really sure. The standards of education are so different now compared to the Heian era, and still different between here and the hidden continent she's lived around for the past several years. 'Um... I don't think I am either, er... well, not that it really matters, eheh, but-- the doctors at Laplace talk about the 'Beyond' sometime?' "Oh, perhaps so. You are a human spirit, after all. I know such a thing to be different, however, how someone is judged varies from land to land. Ah, as to the 'Beyond,' it might be very interesting to introduce you to someone whose domain is connected to 'the underworld,' but as for myself..." Oops! She can't be going off on a tangent about field trips just for the sake of introducing Polly to Ereshikgal, Keeper of the Dead, on the first day. They have so many other things to be covered. 'Huh?! That's real?! How?!' 'Um, could you explain how 'magecraft' works? Does it utilize arcane energy?' "Of course!" How wonderful to have people ask what she was just about to get to next! Yes, this feels very properly like teaching. Tamamo moves to the blackboard, so she can draw a paper-cutout sort of person, and the globe, and a series of illustrative lines. "What is known as 'magical energy' can also be known by many other names. When within a person, this may be 'life force,' 'chi' or 'od.' That which is in the atmosphere is instead known as 'mana.'" Though this is all perfectly common sense to her, she purposefully moves slowly between the terms. "In either case, this energy naturally exists in a 'raw' state. To cast a spell is to process that raw energy into a usable state to fuel some phenomena." She's done enough reading to be able to say, "Now, mana may be the same as is called 'pneuma' by those of this land, but the process of using it is different than in magecraft. Unlike gnosis--" Do they know that term? Is she skipping steps? Hopefully not. "--magecraft is not unique to each practitioner, but follows principles and produces results that remain the same from teacher to student. It is not 'a miracle,'" a different thing Tamamo can do for divine reasons, "but a skill to be learned." Goodness, but that was a lot, wasn't it? And she still has more to go. "The processing of raw mana into useful energy is done through the majutsu kairo, the--" --wait. Wait, was there a word for this in English? Lilian already knew how to do this, so she never had to explain it! Oh, dear. "--magical circuits, that is, on one's soul." Safe! Phew. "And so, when we are done learning of the theory, we may begin practice by learning to feel the motion of internal energy. It may be somewhat like exercising a muscle you were unaware existed, but I can help with this."
Forest Ladies	Moissan had been incredibly eager to get to teaching formally but had no real experience herself in the larger classroom setting. It had been easier - and far more effective - for her to be seen as a private tutor and errand woman for the elite. The ability to move through society as an unseen force and touch upon the very wheels and levers that would move nations - her role had been well-crafted and her position well-trained. Now, she put all that to purpose besides 'Mizukume Rook', sharing an attentive look with the class to Tamamo while the eager educator is introduced. Bowing, still smiling, Ms. Moissan raises. "Hello, class." She returns back, sighing a certain sort of happily. Then, of course, Tamamo reveals that she will be teaching magecraft. "My, how unique Mrs. Rook! I understand that Poltergeist may be right about some similarities between your state and the 'Beyond', and some differences." "It is so interesting that it is not as much a matter of bloodline and personal ability in your world. Or, is it? I must admit I didn't have time to read ahead, but good students know that being a good learner means trying on your own. So if there are any books you could share, I would love to catch up." Moissan explains, with the steady diction of someone speaking to be heard. "Does that mean we'll be mages? Do mages wear wonderful hats? Pointy hats, broad hats, rounded hats, short hats?" Sotheby asks, captivated by the idea of a dunce capped wizard with a lance of a point spearing from the skull, half hat and half man. She is clearly being absolutely fanciful, though she is absolutey fidgitcore on the awful concrete accommodations. "As soon as I heard they teach new arcane skills in books here I knew I wanted to go, but..." She's quite a bit beyond the basics. Tucking in with Ruth, trying to scooch her desk over and instead scraping her glove on the edge and causing a little seam rip instead, Sotheby leans over to show the page. "Therm-o-dy-nam-ics is just the fancy lady way of saying things getting hot and cold! Therm-o, like therm-al! Practically the same! These are the laws of lord Bunsens and burners! The laws of matches and kindle! They're extra important laws, but very funda-mental." She whispers over. "Watch out, though. Get too close to chemistry and you start having to do maths!" "Mrs. Rook," Sotheby begins, raising her hand but also speaking as it goes up. "What's otherwise?" As in 'practiced by humans and otherwise'. "Can Critters be mages?" Meanwhile Ms. Moissan has a particular student and a clear goal: Letters. Putting board and faintly fountainpen like board-wand before La Source, Ms. Moissan begins with a big smile. "Let's start with the most basic, and work from there. French and English use the same letters for different words - let's start with the shortest and simplest - the English and French word for 'no'!" She carefully draws down the letters, for 'no' and 'non', and flips the board to La Source. "N-o. No! N-o-n. Non. You know what they mean, but--" She begins to write out 'no coins' 'no something for nothing' 'no harming the flowers' and others, working on spelling and letters in a monkeysphere of 'fuck off about it' warnings to maintain the environment. La Source had a use case!!
Tamamo	'It is so interesting that it is not as much a matter of bloodline and personal ability in your world. Or, is it?' "Oh, somewhat. There are old lineages that seek for their children to be a bit stronger in every generation," it might be every bit as horrifying as using dog breeding principles on humans in the extreme cases, but she's not getting into that in front of children(!), "but whether or not one is a bit stronger is only a quantitative difference, of giving an easier time in practice, rather than a matter of having a key that cannot be copied." "I shall see whether my dearest Lilian has some good recommendations for a beginner. While I was not self-taught, my own learning involved a great deal more trial than I would wish to inflict on another." People who write grimoires tend to be weird and difficult. 'Do mages wear wonderful hats? Pointy hats, broad hats, rounded hats, short hats?' "Oh, yes! In many cases, that is. You have seen my own favorite headdress before, no? I wear that for certain wonderful properties of gold in the subject of enchantment, but it is only right for any skilled practitioner to be equally aware of their own appearance and project the same competence. One might otherwise underestimate you to frustrating effect." Which is a tactical consideration a lot of magi might prefer, but Tamamo isn't one of those. Her transformation skill can't even hide her ears! She's actually kind of the worst at hiding. 'Can Critters be mages?' "It is certainly possible! The <magical circuits>," said from the second instance on in English, "are as a bodily organ located in the soul, and will be present in humans, arcanists, spirits, and many creatures that are none of the above. It is, however, a skill that must be learned. Were it done by instinct, it would not be 'a craft.' Are there critters who excel in learning?" She doesn't know much about critters, but she does know of cases of non-talking animals technically qualified.
Team Timekeeper	Poltergeist predictably goes a little translucent at the mention of 'life energy', but she managed to get through algebra by not drawing attention to herself and will maintain the same tactic here. Even La Source is passingly interested in Tamamo's lecture, but watching their faces, she'll soon realize a problem: the only one besides Sotheby with even a simulacrum of 'an arcanist's education' is Cristallo, and the others' only familiarity with arcane terminology is.... ("What's 'gnosis'?") ("Um-- it's-- well it's like-- uh, I've heard the word before... I could t-totally recognize it in a sentence...." ("Well? Missus Rook just used it in one?") ("Excuse me, don't talk over the teacher please. Gnosis is the word for the things you know that you can't explain.") ("Pffff.... I've heard Vertin say 'pneuma' before....") "--magecraft is not unique to each practitioner, but follows principles and produces results that remain the same from teacher to student." "I see! That's very interesting, Missus Rook. And, um, the results are predictable and reproducible by others? So you could compare it to something like chemistry." Ruth's hand shoots up at the same time as her mouth opens, because she's not really interested in waiting patiently to be called on. "But, like, it's still magic, right? It's not just fake-magic like people try to sell? And humans can just use it because of the mana in the atmosphere?" "Do mages wear wonderful hats? Pointy hats, broad hats, rounded hats, short hats?" Ruth giggles, gossiping aside with Sotheby. "You already wear a big hat! And aren't you already a sort of mage-witch?" "Get too close to chemistry and you start having to do maths!" Fully engrossed in her sidepot conversation, Ruth sniffs haughtily. "Well, I already know how things get hot and cold, and I can count money. So that's the easy stuff then, right? What do you know?" "N-o. No! N-o-n. Non. You know what they mean, but--" But this! This is La Source's language! Even, particularly, French! She pinches her cheeks and chin together in the most powerfully thoughtful hand-pose she can manage, studying the runes of N and O. "Hm, hm. I see. That's a very very simple inscripting spell. But how, when the wishers and the litterers and the knights come 'round my pond, will they know that it says 'NO'?" But she doesn't understand the existence of written language at all yet! "I shall see whether my dearest Lilian has some good recommendations for a beginner." Ruth goes a little sulky and silent at the topic of 'books for beginner magic', but this is where Poltergeist recovers a bit. "Um! I-I'd read them if you can get them! Er, sorry, I don't really know-- because I don't have a body, or anything...? So-- so if I read, maybe I'll, er, save you the trouble, I hope. Yeah." Cristallo's the only one actively writing down notes as to what Tamamo's explaining. She hums to herself scratchily, dotting her i's with hearts habitually in her little school notebook. When there's a chance, she raises up her hand again. "Sorry to bother you, but I just think it's safest to tell you in advance that my condition is related to my arcane skill and the unrefined free pneuma in my body. Since you're a healer, I think it'll be fine, but I have to be careful when using my arcane skill, and I don't know if magecraft will be... similar?"
Team Timekeeper	This goes on for a while. La Source can gradually come to grasp the purpose of writing, and Ruth can surreptitiously sneak peeks at Moissan's lessons to her without getting embarrassed for her lack of literacy. If Tamamo has exercises to do to practice isolating their magical circuits, Ruth and Cristallo will do them enthusiastically, and Polly will be a little befuddled as to whether she can do them at all or if she should just hide instead. An hour or two later is when there's a ruckus outside in the hallway. There's a distant banging noise, then a weird and unpleasant smell slowly filters into the classroom, while muffled and rowdy conversations happen among students and staff. A minute later, there's a frantic series of footsteps, and then a SLAM as the door into the school hallway is casually wrenched off its hinges. Standing there, absolutely shocked at the presence of people in the classroom, is a small blonde child wearing the SPDM uniform. "... Huh?! What're you doing here! I thought this room was empty!" Holding the heavy door in one hand, and a little wooden sword in her other, she's stunned for a second, and then hastily leans the broken door up against the doorframe as if nothing happened. She saunters nervously towards the corner of the room and hides behind a bookshelf, holding a finger up to her lips. She must assume that, because Moissan and Tamamo don't look like SPDM teachers, that they're not authority figures! "Shhh! I'm hiding from the Monitor Witch! Hear your future jarl and obey, and I will repay you with treasure beyond your WILDEST dreams in the future!"
Tamamo	Tamamo can hear the whispers. This is a function of her grandly sized ears, one might assume, and of being in a smallish classroom with only a few other people, one might otherwise surmise. It makes her feel a bit bad as she quickly realizes how far apart the understandings are, but -- she'll get through this! It's going so well, as an overall general statement! 'So you could compare it to something like chemistry.' "Compared to arcanum, Ms. Cristallo, that is so. Though there are some differences, we will consider those details another time, I think." She's not going to talk about True Magic today. That would definitely just be confusing. 'But, like, it's still magic, right? It's not just fake-magic like people try to sell? And humans can just use it because of the mana in the atmosphere?' Like right here! She has to make a choice that will get the idea across properly. "You mean to ask, 'is it truly done by some other means,' yes? Is the fire conjured by a hidden device, or is it conjured 'by magic'? There is no trick, in magecraft. That which is done could be done by another means, but is being done by magical energy. By way of demonstration..." Tamamo turns away from the blackboard, and holds up one finger. A shiny little orb appears over it, shifting like quicksilver absent gravity, soon becoming a perfect, spinning sphere, and just as soon shining like a frosted bulb. "To produce light is something that can be done with a torch, an electric light, a mirror to the sun... or by any of many other means. It is something ordinarily possible and known, but in this case, it is done by transforming my od and concentrating it on a spot outside my body. This is something possible for anyone to learn with practice. If I sought to do something for which my own power was not enough, I would draw on the mana around us to make up for my own lack." This much isn't exactly grand, nor can she promise that it's any more practical than a pen light. She's only chosen this as a goal because it's easily seen, and possible to perform without talent, lineage, or risk. . . . Tamamo did prepare exercises. It's pretty simple, too -- she takes each person's hands in turn, both of theirs in both of hers, and creates a circuit of flow between the two of them. It's a very minor motion, using nothing but hand contact, but the point is only to let each person experience the feeling of mystical energy flowing through their body. After that, she -- does not explain meridians, but -- indicates points on the body that she describes as, "secondary cores around which energy can more easily be felt to flow," apparently all most easily indicated on the spine. Not only does she request Polly participate in handholding, but if she happens to become intangible in the process, overlapping hands just makes the effect much stronger. 'Life force' is just one term! It's fine! Tamamo's a spirit, too, technically. She'll have to be careful not to make it too strong, anyway, since 'strength' isn't the point.
Tamamo	Tamamo has to be more careful with Cristallo in any case, after her warning about her condition. She takes those words to mean 'volatility,' and so she opts to keep the flow as controlled as possible to avoid disruption. "In magecraft, the processing through the magic circuits will change that 'raw' nature to something else. However, it may be that using yours will be more difficult than for others, or that there is some quality of which to be aware. The nature of magical circuits is as individualized as many other organs... like eyes, for instance. Though all eyes are meant 'for seeing,' it is more rare to meet two people whose eyes are identical in every detail, is it not?" Which isn't very immediately useful, but there's nothing for it to be careful until she's looked into the matter more. . . . Doing all of that certainly did take a while. She startles when the door breaks, looks over... ...and looks toward Moissan. Is there a response prepared for this? No, right? There's no way. Violent interruptions weren't in the curriculum. All of these are good kids who wouldn't be breaking things in her classroom. Surely. 'Shhh! I'm hiding from the Monitor Witch!' MUCH EARLIER: Ash says, "Anyways I know my concrete boxes and I'm telling you it needs three things. Cattle prod. Propaganda. Guy getting off on it. If you don't have all three you're not in a blacksite. No prop? Zoo. No guy? Dungeon. No prod? Church." Matilda Bouanich says, "The St. Pavlov Foundation School for the Primary Defense of Mankind, is a school, that has a dungeon." This is a true statement that would not get her in trouble to speak about! "And, the Monitor Director, she... does seem to enjoy her job? Hmmm." NOW: Hmm. "Will your treasures fix the door?"
Forest Ladies	"A body-organ of the soul?" Sotheby asks, having been taking some of her own notes, though there are as many fanciful doodles on her paper as there are notes and figures on topics. Imagination wellwoven through her drawings, Sotheby lifts her notesheet where a person-drawing (with Sotheby curly pigtails) with a swirly within their body. "In here? Or somewhere else? Is there a soul-organ? Is it within us, or like a bezoar, something caught upon us?" Sotheby asks, having never learned about the biology of a soul before. And life energy! Foreign magecraft was incredibly interesting! "So, if you have the pattern, you can make the key? That's exciting! Alchemy is so exciting I want to learn more arcane skills!" She wants to shorten her path to making things explode. 'Oh, yes! In many cases, that is. You have seen my own favorite headdress before, no?' Sotheby squints, and then brightens and nods. "The tremendous ones, with hair in curls? It's won-derful!!" 'You already wear a big hat! And aren't you already a sort of mage-witch?' "I was taught that hats are important statements, a lady's crown! Of course, I've got a favorite one, but that doesn't mean I can't like hats! Even if there's too-big, I do think bigger is better. And I'm an alchemist! I've not been blooded as a bog witch yet - my mom said it would have to wait until I was older? But she was the witch of the bogs of our home, and had these huge greenhouses...!" Sotheby can talk forever about squishing toads and time in her mother's greenhouses and gardens and bog-walk pathways. That the critters knew better than to stray from their business was simply the power of a true bog witch. Sotheby makes a soured face for a brief moment as she's challenged on how Ruth has command of her own finances--! "I-Impressive! But a true lady knows many more skills than that! I... Um..." Sotheby, competitive, screws up her eyes and focuses. She couldn't say her arcane skill, that's not actually fair. What did she know...? Then--! "Know how to catch a toad on the first try!" She proudly declares. Yes, she proves, she was already a mage-witch. "It's a wonderful spell. It's the root rune, the 'word' to tell someone to not do something." Ms. Moissan spells out another word. 'Coin', and across, 'Pièce'. "Each letter is a sound, a part of the words you already know. I speak some French, so I thought I'd review with you, and we can learn two languages so you can tell both the English and the French to keep their coins from your water. Versatile, isn't it? Language is such a delight - and I believe that reading and writing is the most powerful magic to learn, to share, to know. Communication is a kind of longevity, or even a kind of living itself. Being able to communicate means your ideas are alive, can travel from place to place, and being able to write allows you to speak from many places, while reading allows you to learn what others share and left behind - the travelling secrets you know the code to. It's..." If nothing else, La Source could see it plain on Moissan's face, that she cared deeply - that she had a wish, but it was to give, and it wasn't coins. "Language is magic, as well." Ms. Moissan soon enters into a more general lesson on the alphabet, and because it is new for Sotheby, manages to cover the peeking Ruth with a knowing eye and a careful smile just for her as she spin to doing a dual lesson in English and French, allowing La Source to lead the class in learning simple French phrases and gathering up to write them down as grand practice.
Forest Ladies	Ms. Moissan hears the banging down the hall from the head of the class and calmly walks to the teacher's desk at the head of the class and picks up a letter opener which immediately disappears into the profile of her hand as she starts to round towards the door-- And is beaten to its opening by it bursting wrenching off hinges. Ms. Moissan puts herself forward such that she can cover the most ground in one motion, readies tense, and. . . > ... and a little wooden sword in the other... "We are hosting a new class here. You..." Are a student, clearly. And everyone was wearing foundation pins, including Moissan. But there's a more critical question, that bubbles up despite clearly knowing it is the child's arcanum talking. "Future jarl? We're from Team Timekeeper. Why is the Monitor--" Sigh. "--Witch looking for you?"
Tamamo	'In here? Or somewhere else? Is there a soul-organ? Is it within us, or...' "Though there are manifestations that spread across the physical body in some cases, its true form is within astral space, which is adjacent to the body's physical space at all points. This..." Tamamo must tell Sotheby something truly terrible. "...must be described with math." But not today. "We will cover the subject of higher dimensions another time. For now..." And so, the lesson continues.
Team Timekeeper	"Future jarl?" The little blonde arcanist puffs out her chest and brandishes her sword, stepping up onto a pile of books to strike her pose. If her hiding requires her to be quiet, she's absolutely terrible at it. "Future Jarl Erick Andersson! Daughter of the valkyrie Lagertha and granddaughter of Harald! I am the strongest and bravest viking across all the lands and seas, and once I've gathered my strength and my crew, I'll conquer all of Europe!" "Will your treasures fix the door?" "Er...." JARL ERICK ANDERSSON does not know how to fix a door. She doesn't really know what goes into that. But, of course, she's capable of anything, and so her belated answer is "Absolutely! But only later!" Living in the Suitcase, this level of chaos is practically mundane to all of the students. Where they might be expected to immediately descend into shenanigans at something so dramatic as a door being ripped off its hinges-- Sotheby's door has already been blown off its hinges several times! And for the most part, all the kids are either shy, or engaged in learning something that they're really interested in; with even La Source burning the symbols for her hated enemy 'coins' into her retinas. Cristallo politely waves over to where Erick is half-hiding-half-posing. "Hello, Erick! Where's the treasure going to come from? Will there be a great big monster?" This is clearly exactly what Erick wanted to hear. "Yes! All sorts of terrible beasts, beyond your wildest imagination! Great, toothy things, hiding away in the fjalls and dales! Monsters no man has ever laid eyes upon and lived!" La Source scoffs and rolls her eyes, full-fisted gripping her dry erase marker. "Pipe down. Some people are trying to read." "Why is the Monitor Witch looking for you?" Erick looks shiftily around. She's noticed the Foundation badges at this point, but 'Team Timekeeper' isn't the SPDM, so surely she can convince these newcomers onto her side before Matilda's words worm into their ears. "My steed was as yet untrained for battle. When she attempted to detain me in the forest, it got scared, and-- because of her-- accidentally ran towards the school. It wasn't startled before then, I swear." The noises outside get closer, and Erick inches towards the window. Poltergeist wordlessly unlatches the window so Erick won't have to smash it open to get out. "My crew is holding her off, but it's only a matter of time before she divines my location and comes for me. I was never here!!! Remain loyal to your jarl and you will be rewarded handsomely!!!! Bye!"