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Jacks White Oak Defensive Rituals Seminar 240419
During a late afternoon seminar at the Spender Arts and Wellness Center at White Oak, Father Jack Francis attempts to enlighten his students on the nuances and gravitas of defensive magic. Amid ancient texts and mystical ambiance, participants joke about caffeine dependencies and the practical woes of navigating a class so steeped in the arcane. As the group settles, Jack opens the floor, probing the class's experience with magic, effectively dividing them between novices and those more acquainted with the craft. Aristotle’s humor about apocalypse-inducing YouTube tutorials catches the room's attention, hinting at the seminar's underlying tension between the power and peril of their study.
The seminar intensifies as Jack delves into the mechanics of magical defense, exploring physical protection, property wards, and mental shields. The jovial mood shifts as he demonstrates a Latin chant within a ritual circle, inciting a mix of awe and concern among the attendees. Lilah's quip about cursed objects and missed opportunities humorously undercuts the gravity of their lesson, only for the conversation to take a sober turn towards the removal of protective wards from campus grounds. This revelation hits close to home for some, including Lilah, who admits to unexpected visitors in her room, highlighting the personal stakes at play. Despite the night's academic intent, the seminar concludes on a note of communal camaraderie and a shared resolve to confront the unseen dangers that lie just beneath the surface of their everyday lives.
(Jack's [White Oak] Defensive Rituals Seminar)
[Thu Apr 18 2024]
In the Latin Classroom of the Spender Arts and Wellness Center at White Oak
Aged, leather-bound tomes and meticulously annotated manuscripts line the sturdy, oak bookshelves. The soft, filtered sunlight seeps through the stained glass windows, casting a colorful, ethereal glow that dances across the weathered, wooden desks and the intricate, Latin inscriptions adorning the walls. The faint scent of antiquity lingers in the air and the distant murmur of students poring over ancient texts can just barely be heard in the distance.
It is about 60F(15C) degrees.
"We're good at that," Lilah agrees with Caelum, sinking into the first desk in the backrow that she reaches, and propping her head into her hands immediately. Looking like she might well drift off to sleep mid-lecture, she turns those drowsy eyes on Jack, gives Joel a smile, and then murmurs to Caelum, "Might have to try and doordash coffee if I'm to stay awake..."
Aristotle slinks his way into the classroom, huffing quietly as he moves to find a place for himself to sit, likely near Caelum should he be seated. "Hey everyone." He greets.
In his seat, already beside Lilah's, Caelum leans back to sink on that chair. Legs extended under the desk, while his arms are folded. His head tilted aside to her, he offers a light chuckle at her perceived exhaustion - "During class?" Before he can answer more, though, he spots Aristotle over her shoulder and lifts a hand in both greeting and gesture to call the man over. "Hey, Ari, over here."
Esmeralda gives a nod in Aristotle and Joel's directions as they arrive in the classroom, then turns her attention towards Jack and the ritual circle in the middle of the room.
"Are you saying it's a bad idea?" Lilah asks of Caelum, lifting her hand to wave cheerfully at Aristotle, then propping it right back beneath her chin. "I wish every classroom came stocked with an espresso machine - the kind without the stupid plastic cups, obviously." She starts to laugh at what's said to her more quietly, but keeps it as soft as she can.
"Hey hey." Aristotle returns that wave of a greeting as he makes his way towards the back row. He slouches a bit, though after a yawn it's only clear he's sluggish from lethargy. He glances at Lilah at her comment, wondering, "Oh? I'm not the only one tired then?" He asks, chuckling quietly. "How's everyone?"
"Good evening," Jack tells the class, looking around. "Tonight is our seminar on defensive rituals," he says. "I know all of you are aware, but -- who has any training in magic?" he asks. "And who is more the... target of such things?" he wonders, striding to the center of the class.
Joel grimaces a little at that question "Well, of those options I guess I'm the latter..."
"I'm pretty sure any training I do might come from a YouTube video, and if anything it might cause the apocalypse." Aristotle says. Before adding with a shrug, "Or prevent one." Another pause, and another shrug. "Or kill me. Or... all of the above, I guess."
Lilah also grimaces a little, but for the moment doesn't say anything. There's a definite wince in her expression, however.
Caelum is likely the least versed in such topics, so he keeps his trap shut.
"Tonight's class is going to cover three topics, generally -- magic that protects you physically," Jack says. "Magic that can protect your property," he ticks off, holding up a second finger. "And then magic that protects your mind and soul. I'm not going to demonstrate all of those rituals," he tells the class. "Does anyone know why I can't demonstrate them all?"
Arms folded and shrugging a single shoulder, Caelum answers - "I have no idea."
Lilah raises her hand and suggests, "It'd be too wearing on you? But also, it's much harder to see some, than others."
Jeanine sneaks through the doorway without really committing to the lecture, loitering there for now to look around.
"It's very taxing, right? Requires your essence as a sacrifice to make it work and that might kill you if you're inexperienced?" Aristotle answers, likely pulling from the small incidental knowledge he has.
looks up at Jeanine. "Good evening," Jack tells Jeanine, his eyes shifting to her badge. "Can I help you, Deputy?" he asks her with some tilt of his head.
Esmeralda gives a nod at the suggested reasons by the other class members, idly jotting down a few notes in her notebook.
"Me? No! No, I was just, well," Jeanine ventures and winces apologetically at Jack. "I mean, yes, but it can wait until afterwards. I don't even go here."
"I mean, I do go here if there's a... well," Jeanine goes on, looking around awkwardly. "I mean I don't go to school. Here."
"Or at all anymore, because I graduated. But not here," Jeanine continues increasingly uncomfortably. "But I think it's a great school. This one, I mean."
"Well," Jack tells Jeanine. "My name is Father Jack Francis," he says. "This class is a rather advanced seminar, but -- are you one of the deputies assigned to the special squad?" he asks. "If so, you're welcome to audit."
"Er, the special squad?" Jeanine asks, peering uncertainly at Jack. "I don't know. I'm Deputy Trainee Donaghey. It was my first day yesterday. Sorry, okay?"
"Please go on with your class," Jeanine tells Jack in a tone that tapers off into a worriedly high pitch towards the end.
A pause, as Jack digests Jeanine's response. "I'm afraid that this class isn't for the general public," he tells the woman. He moves, as if he could somehow disguise the fact that there is a ritual circle on the floor from the woman who just announced she is Unaware. "But perhaps you and I can sit and talk soon?" he suggests.
"Well, I'm not a... hang on," Jeanine says and fishes a small guidebook out of her pocket to peer at it. "I'm not an oblivious outsider or tourist, parantheses, or a child," she goes on. "But I can go outside and wait if you like."
There are eyes on Jeanine. Narrowed, watching, even if Caelum remains just as lax as he was in his seat, with his arms folded and peering beneath knit brows and a somewhat perplexed look. It pans over at Jack, before leans over to hushedly half-whisper something again to the two sitting on either side.
Jack glances towards Aristotle, for some instinct about his co-worker. "Mr. Wilson?" he inquires.
Was Aristotle focused? Nope. His attention was on Caelum and Lilah. "Hm?" he asks.
"I should definitely wait outside," Jeanine surmises and makes a hurried flight into the hallway.
"You had a new co-worker," Jack tells Aristotle. "Who may not be that... Aware." He pauses. "But yes, you were right. Magic takes power," he says. "And where does the power to fuel our rituals come from?" he asks the class.
"Oh, right, sorry, I spaced for a second." Aristotle says. "I haven't met them yet." He admits, motioning towards the door.
Jack asks, "Can someone go check to make sure she's not lurking there?" he says, as this Unaware deputy derails the class a little. "We have an obligation of course -- Venice has requirements," he says. "We can't just... expose people."
"Joel just volunteered." Caelum tips his head over his shoulder at the other sigma just sitting there, with an almost too innocent smile to go along with it while he throws someone else into the proverbial fire. Then, a glance over his shoulder, and he offers a not-so-subtle wink to Joel. "Get her, tiger."
"Mr. Kalani," Jack tells Joel. "If you'll take a look outside," he says. "This is, I suppose, a lesson for all of us -- the consequences for being cavalier about these things can be very substantial, from Venice."
Joel frowns ever so faintly as the cool kids chase him out to deal with witnesses. He wordlessly gets to hs feet, leaving his notes behind as he heads out toward the corridor.
Joel slips back in and murmurs "She's standing outside the center, I'm guessing that's far enough, or...?"
"Good enough." Jack nods to Joel. "Thank you, Mr. Kalani," he says, and then he looks around the class. "Now then, I'd asked a question: what fuels magic?" he says. "Where do we get the power to cast even the whitest of rituals?"
Lilah murmurs, sotto-voce, "Suffering." Nothing else.
Caelum wordlessly agrees.
Aristotle looks at Lilah at her answer, thoughtfully, but offers nothing to counter as he looks to Jack for possible confirmation.
Lilah definitely looks a little triggered, whether by Jack's question or her own answer. She doesn't go into more detail, but does sit with tension in her spine, and that look of exhaustion having dissipated somewhat - replaced by just a touch of anxiety, instead.
"Suffering," Jack agrees to Lilah. "Magic, fundamentally, is evil." And an hour in, he begins to teach in earnest. "Magic does not -- on the whole -- protect us against the slings and arrows of fate, at least the physical ones," he says. "But there are rituals that can provide a kind of shield," he says. "They can give you the power to avoid or deflect blows that might slay you." A pause. "Such a ritual does not last long, however, and it is taxing indeed."
OOC: Protection rituals add up to 100 DF, but they last a short time and cost extra LF.
Joel nods slowly as he listens, taking notes before murmuring a little despondently "But I suppose one needs a certain arcane facility to start with to be able to use those rituals?"
"I experienced that, once." Caelum informs, with some subtle air of being impressed about the experience. "I felt like a tank." To what Joel says, though, he gives a slight, noncomittal shrug of a single shoulder. Clueless.
"Yes," Jack tells Joel. "And the study of magic itself has costs," he says to the young man. "The deeper one's mastery is, the easier it is to cloak one's self in protection," he says. There's a nod to Caelum. "It's powerful. But it's not what magic is best at," he says.
Continuing, Jack tells the class, "There are also rituals that can protect places. Particularly -- there are wards, short-term, that can prevent breakins, and longer-term wards that protect against intrusion into the Nightmare." He pauses. "Who here has stepped into that other realm?" he asks. "Raise your hands."
Caelum unfolds one arm, raises his hand.
Joel nods and raies his hand as well "Briefly..."
At Jack's question, Aristotle's hand is raised in response.
Lilah raises her hand as well, with a faint nod of her head.
"It's a powerful way to penetrate a home," Jack tells the class drily. "It's easier than lockpicks, often -- though it does take a mirror to escape." He pauses. "The ward against breakins, though, can protect against physical intrusions. They protect against any intrusion," he says. "No matter how skilled the thief, no matter how big the bomb -- your door will be safe."
OOC: The 'raiseward' ritual protects against physical intrusion, but it lasts only until the next sunrise.
"So what happens to the bomb or whatever?" Lilah asks of Jack, quite seriously. "Will it just explode... -around- the house?"
Jack tells Lilah, "Yes. Magic like that -- to our little exercise with the deputy -- can disturb those nearby."
Turning to look around the class, Jack says, "A nightmare shield does not protect against physical intrusions -- but it stops entering the nightmare, like the ward that used to be over White Oak," he says. "It lasts at length," he explains. "Until some sorcerer breaks it down."
"Got it, so we break in by the Nightmare, and if it doesn't work, don't risk a bomb because they likely covered that too." A pause, Caelum smiles - "Hypothethically." Yet, he adds shortly after, tipping a single brow. "What do you mean used to be? The ward doesn't exist anymore?"
There's a shake of Jack's head. "The Provost decided that the cost to maintain the ritual was too great," he shares with Caelum. "You are no longer safe on campus from being pulled into the nightmare."
"I encourage those worried about their safety to ask an arcanist to shield their home against the nightmare," Jack tells the class. "It's at least a delay, if someone plans on breaking in."
OOC: The nightmareshield ritual prevents entries into the nightmare, and lasts until it is broken by a ritual to break the shield.
"That kind of sucks, that it's -that- magic they deemed unnecessary," Lilah mutters softly to herself as she looks from Jack to the other students in the room. She shivers, running her hands over her arms before she admits, "It explains how... people get into my room, at least."
"Next thing you know they're gonna cut funding to the arts." Aristotle says, after taking a moment to ponder the lack of wardings here.
"But not the Dark Arts," Lilah says with a little smirk, glancing over at Aristotle. "Or you know. The anti-naughtiness wards. Those will stay." Inappropriate as her comment might be, she looks to have amused herself, at least to some extent.
Caelum smirks a little at what both Aristotle and Lilah says, but otherwise remains quiet, for the moment.
Joel gives a wry little smile at Lilah's comment, but keepy any personal insight to himself, focusing on his note-taking.
There's a concerned look, fixed on Lilah, before Jack continues. "The last topic of magic is the ways to protect one's mind and soul." He steps forward, into the center of the ritual circle, and he lets some low chant in Latin roll off his tongue, gesturing -- something preparatory. "This I will do a little practically," he says. "Does anyone have with them the item they cursed in the market?"
Lilah's jaw drops at that little nugged from Jack. "I missed a class on -that-?" she whines, audibly, before shaking her head and looking entirely sorrowful.
"Oh, I still have mine." Aristotle says, lifting a hand to raise for a moment.
"There's really a few rituals that can help affect those things that compel the mind," Jack tells Aristotle and Lilah. "One purifies all of those cursed objects in your possession," he says. Somewhat suspiciously, he drops his satchel, which may make students wonder what is in it. "That's what I will demonstrate," he says. "But there are others -- there is a ritual that will protect your mind from mind-altering magic for its duration, for instance."
OOC: The mindward ritual will make it so you cannot be hypnotized and can auto resist psychic persuasion for a day. You also will not feel desires, if you an angelborn.
"Oh. Nevermind, I don't have mine then." Aristotle says, pulling his hand back down as he shakes his head and opts to watch Jack cleanse his own belongings.
"I need someone's cursed object to cleanse," Jack offers the class. "Anyone?" he asks. "Anyone have their pendant?"
Caelum gives a slight, noncomittal shrug of a single shoulder. "I don't think people walk around with cursed pendants - do they?" He tips a brow, not entirely sure, not even buying what he's peddling like he believes people, in fact, may be walking around with cursed things.
Lilah shakes her head. I don't have anything like that," she admits. "Though I do want to learn how, sometime.""
Lilah shakes her head. "I don't have anything like that," she admits. "Though I do want to learn how, sometime."
Jack moves on, then. "Well," he says. "Perhaps we won't have a demonstration, then," he suggests. "It is helpful -- one of the things you may not know is what unknown influences you are under," he says. "Performing such a ritual will wipe away not just those objects you know of, but others," he explains. "It's helpful, when one is under such influence."
OOC: The cleanse ritual wipes the curses from all objects in your possession.
Lilah then slips to her feet, giving an apologetic grimace to those around her as she slides past and toward the door. She turns back with a hopeful look to Jack, but doesn't wait for long, before heading out, without watching the fascinating ritual.
// With saddest apologies, I must get some sleep :(
"How would you know you'd need to do one of those cleanses though?" Aristotle wonders. "Or is it just a random thing you should do every sunday or something?"
"You don't, really," Jack points out to Aristotle. "That's the issue, isn't it?" he says. "That's really the majority of the rituals I have to discuss," he shares. "And we're coming on two hours -- so any questions?"
"I don't think I have any questions." Aristotle says, shaking his head. "Though, I think the rituals are maybe more useful than subjugating someone's mind, but... that might just be me." He admits with a little shrug.
"It all makes very little sense to me." Caelum admits as well - listening with only a brow raised. His attention is there, it just fails to stick to anything he can relate to. "I think nothing is more useful than just brute force, but I think that's.. just me."
Jack chuckles at Caelum. "Well," he says. "With that, then? Class is dismissed."
Joel nods softly as he tucks away his notes, having stayed even more quiet than usual during class. He rubs his tembles a little before getting to his feet.
Esmeralda puts away her notebook, yawning a bit, and saying to Jack, "Thank you for the class Father."
"Good-night, everyone," Jack tells the class.
"I mean, I don't magic either. And I've got a gun, so..." Aristotle says, shrugging a shoulder as he agrees with Caelum. "Thanks for the lesson, Father Jack." He says, waving a hand to Jack.
"And I have..." Caelum nods towards Aristotle, thinking for a moment before he leaves whatever that was unsaid - and instead smiles over at Jack. "Thanks for the lecture Father Jack, at least I think now we know what to ask for from.. ritual-ists..?" Still, he remains perpetually clueless.
"Yes," Jack tells Caelum with some humor. "Exactly that, Mr. Cross."
"Well," Jack tells the class. "If there's nothing else -- I will see you all soon," he promises.
Aristotle starts to rise to his feet once the class is dismissed, and he lets out a little stretch of his limbs. "Okay, I'm gonna head home. See you at the next class."
The seminar intensifies as Jack delves into the mechanics of magical defense, exploring physical protection, property wards, and mental shields. The jovial mood shifts as he demonstrates a Latin chant within a ritual circle, inciting a mix of awe and concern among the attendees. Lilah's quip about cursed objects and missed opportunities humorously undercuts the gravity of their lesson, only for the conversation to take a sober turn towards the removal of protective wards from campus grounds. This revelation hits close to home for some, including Lilah, who admits to unexpected visitors in her room, highlighting the personal stakes at play. Despite the night's academic intent, the seminar concludes on a note of communal camaraderie and a shared resolve to confront the unseen dangers that lie just beneath the surface of their everyday lives.
(Jack's [White Oak] Defensive Rituals Seminar)
[Thu Apr 18 2024]
In the Latin Classroom of the Spender Arts and Wellness Center at White Oak
Aged, leather-bound tomes and meticulously annotated manuscripts line the sturdy, oak bookshelves. The soft, filtered sunlight seeps through the stained glass windows, casting a colorful, ethereal glow that dances across the weathered, wooden desks and the intricate, Latin inscriptions adorning the walls. The faint scent of antiquity lingers in the air and the distant murmur of students poring over ancient texts can just barely be heard in the distance.
It is about 60F(15C) degrees.
"We're good at that," Lilah agrees with Caelum, sinking into the first desk in the backrow that she reaches, and propping her head into her hands immediately. Looking like she might well drift off to sleep mid-lecture, she turns those drowsy eyes on Jack, gives Joel a smile, and then murmurs to Caelum, "Might have to try and doordash coffee if I'm to stay awake..."
Aristotle slinks his way into the classroom, huffing quietly as he moves to find a place for himself to sit, likely near Caelum should he be seated. "Hey everyone." He greets.
In his seat, already beside Lilah's, Caelum leans back to sink on that chair. Legs extended under the desk, while his arms are folded. His head tilted aside to her, he offers a light chuckle at her perceived exhaustion - "During class?" Before he can answer more, though, he spots Aristotle over her shoulder and lifts a hand in both greeting and gesture to call the man over. "Hey, Ari, over here."
Esmeralda gives a nod in Aristotle and Joel's directions as they arrive in the classroom, then turns her attention towards Jack and the ritual circle in the middle of the room.
"Are you saying it's a bad idea?" Lilah asks of Caelum, lifting her hand to wave cheerfully at Aristotle, then propping it right back beneath her chin. "I wish every classroom came stocked with an espresso machine - the kind without the stupid plastic cups, obviously." She starts to laugh at what's said to her more quietly, but keeps it as soft as she can.
"Hey hey." Aristotle returns that wave of a greeting as he makes his way towards the back row. He slouches a bit, though after a yawn it's only clear he's sluggish from lethargy. He glances at Lilah at her comment, wondering, "Oh? I'm not the only one tired then?" He asks, chuckling quietly. "How's everyone?"
"Good evening," Jack tells the class, looking around. "Tonight is our seminar on defensive rituals," he says. "I know all of you are aware, but -- who has any training in magic?" he asks. "And who is more the... target of such things?" he wonders, striding to the center of the class.
Joel grimaces a little at that question "Well, of those options I guess I'm the latter..."
"I'm pretty sure any training I do might come from a YouTube video, and if anything it might cause the apocalypse." Aristotle says. Before adding with a shrug, "Or prevent one." Another pause, and another shrug. "Or kill me. Or... all of the above, I guess."
Lilah also grimaces a little, but for the moment doesn't say anything. There's a definite wince in her expression, however.
Caelum is likely the least versed in such topics, so he keeps his trap shut.
"Tonight's class is going to cover three topics, generally -- magic that protects you physically," Jack says. "Magic that can protect your property," he ticks off, holding up a second finger. "And then magic that protects your mind and soul. I'm not going to demonstrate all of those rituals," he tells the class. "Does anyone know why I can't demonstrate them all?"
Arms folded and shrugging a single shoulder, Caelum answers - "I have no idea."
Lilah raises her hand and suggests, "It'd be too wearing on you? But also, it's much harder to see some, than others."
Jeanine sneaks through the doorway without really committing to the lecture, loitering there for now to look around.
"It's very taxing, right? Requires your essence as a sacrifice to make it work and that might kill you if you're inexperienced?" Aristotle answers, likely pulling from the small incidental knowledge he has.
looks up at Jeanine. "Good evening," Jack tells Jeanine, his eyes shifting to her badge. "Can I help you, Deputy?" he asks her with some tilt of his head.
Esmeralda gives a nod at the suggested reasons by the other class members, idly jotting down a few notes in her notebook.
"Me? No! No, I was just, well," Jeanine ventures and winces apologetically at Jack. "I mean, yes, but it can wait until afterwards. I don't even go here."
"I mean, I do go here if there's a... well," Jeanine goes on, looking around awkwardly. "I mean I don't go to school. Here."
"Or at all anymore, because I graduated. But not here," Jeanine continues increasingly uncomfortably. "But I think it's a great school. This one, I mean."
"Well," Jack tells Jeanine. "My name is Father Jack Francis," he says. "This class is a rather advanced seminar, but -- are you one of the deputies assigned to the special squad?" he asks. "If so, you're welcome to audit."
"Er, the special squad?" Jeanine asks, peering uncertainly at Jack. "I don't know. I'm Deputy Trainee Donaghey. It was my first day yesterday. Sorry, okay?"
"Please go on with your class," Jeanine tells Jack in a tone that tapers off into a worriedly high pitch towards the end.
A pause, as Jack digests Jeanine's response. "I'm afraid that this class isn't for the general public," he tells the woman. He moves, as if he could somehow disguise the fact that there is a ritual circle on the floor from the woman who just announced she is Unaware. "But perhaps you and I can sit and talk soon?" he suggests.
"Well, I'm not a... hang on," Jeanine says and fishes a small guidebook out of her pocket to peer at it. "I'm not an oblivious outsider or tourist, parantheses, or a child," she goes on. "But I can go outside and wait if you like."
There are eyes on Jeanine. Narrowed, watching, even if Caelum remains just as lax as he was in his seat, with his arms folded and peering beneath knit brows and a somewhat perplexed look. It pans over at Jack, before leans over to hushedly half-whisper something again to the two sitting on either side.
Jack glances towards Aristotle, for some instinct about his co-worker. "Mr. Wilson?" he inquires.
Was Aristotle focused? Nope. His attention was on Caelum and Lilah. "Hm?" he asks.
"I should definitely wait outside," Jeanine surmises and makes a hurried flight into the hallway.
"You had a new co-worker," Jack tells Aristotle. "Who may not be that... Aware." He pauses. "But yes, you were right. Magic takes power," he says. "And where does the power to fuel our rituals come from?" he asks the class.
"Oh, right, sorry, I spaced for a second." Aristotle says. "I haven't met them yet." He admits, motioning towards the door.
Jack asks, "Can someone go check to make sure she's not lurking there?" he says, as this Unaware deputy derails the class a little. "We have an obligation of course -- Venice has requirements," he says. "We can't just... expose people."
"Joel just volunteered." Caelum tips his head over his shoulder at the other sigma just sitting there, with an almost too innocent smile to go along with it while he throws someone else into the proverbial fire. Then, a glance over his shoulder, and he offers a not-so-subtle wink to Joel. "Get her, tiger."
"Mr. Kalani," Jack tells Joel. "If you'll take a look outside," he says. "This is, I suppose, a lesson for all of us -- the consequences for being cavalier about these things can be very substantial, from Venice."
Joel frowns ever so faintly as the cool kids chase him out to deal with witnesses. He wordlessly gets to hs feet, leaving his notes behind as he heads out toward the corridor.
Joel slips back in and murmurs "She's standing outside the center, I'm guessing that's far enough, or...?"
"Good enough." Jack nods to Joel. "Thank you, Mr. Kalani," he says, and then he looks around the class. "Now then, I'd asked a question: what fuels magic?" he says. "Where do we get the power to cast even the whitest of rituals?"
Lilah murmurs, sotto-voce, "Suffering." Nothing else.
Caelum wordlessly agrees.
Aristotle looks at Lilah at her answer, thoughtfully, but offers nothing to counter as he looks to Jack for possible confirmation.
Lilah definitely looks a little triggered, whether by Jack's question or her own answer. She doesn't go into more detail, but does sit with tension in her spine, and that look of exhaustion having dissipated somewhat - replaced by just a touch of anxiety, instead.
"Suffering," Jack agrees to Lilah. "Magic, fundamentally, is evil." And an hour in, he begins to teach in earnest. "Magic does not -- on the whole -- protect us against the slings and arrows of fate, at least the physical ones," he says. "But there are rituals that can provide a kind of shield," he says. "They can give you the power to avoid or deflect blows that might slay you." A pause. "Such a ritual does not last long, however, and it is taxing indeed."
OOC: Protection rituals add up to 100 DF, but they last a short time and cost extra LF.
Joel nods slowly as he listens, taking notes before murmuring a little despondently "But I suppose one needs a certain arcane facility to start with to be able to use those rituals?"
"I experienced that, once." Caelum informs, with some subtle air of being impressed about the experience. "I felt like a tank." To what Joel says, though, he gives a slight, noncomittal shrug of a single shoulder. Clueless.
"Yes," Jack tells Joel. "And the study of magic itself has costs," he says to the young man. "The deeper one's mastery is, the easier it is to cloak one's self in protection," he says. There's a nod to Caelum. "It's powerful. But it's not what magic is best at," he says.
Continuing, Jack tells the class, "There are also rituals that can protect places. Particularly -- there are wards, short-term, that can prevent breakins, and longer-term wards that protect against intrusion into the Nightmare." He pauses. "Who here has stepped into that other realm?" he asks. "Raise your hands."
Caelum unfolds one arm, raises his hand.
Joel nods and raies his hand as well "Briefly..."
At Jack's question, Aristotle's hand is raised in response.
Lilah raises her hand as well, with a faint nod of her head.
"It's a powerful way to penetrate a home," Jack tells the class drily. "It's easier than lockpicks, often -- though it does take a mirror to escape." He pauses. "The ward against breakins, though, can protect against physical intrusions. They protect against any intrusion," he says. "No matter how skilled the thief, no matter how big the bomb -- your door will be safe."
OOC: The 'raiseward' ritual protects against physical intrusion, but it lasts only until the next sunrise.
"So what happens to the bomb or whatever?" Lilah asks of Jack, quite seriously. "Will it just explode... -around- the house?"
Jack tells Lilah, "Yes. Magic like that -- to our little exercise with the deputy -- can disturb those nearby."
Turning to look around the class, Jack says, "A nightmare shield does not protect against physical intrusions -- but it stops entering the nightmare, like the ward that used to be over White Oak," he says. "It lasts at length," he explains. "Until some sorcerer breaks it down."
"Got it, so we break in by the Nightmare, and if it doesn't work, don't risk a bomb because they likely covered that too." A pause, Caelum smiles - "Hypothethically." Yet, he adds shortly after, tipping a single brow. "What do you mean used to be? The ward doesn't exist anymore?"
There's a shake of Jack's head. "The Provost decided that the cost to maintain the ritual was too great," he shares with Caelum. "You are no longer safe on campus from being pulled into the nightmare."
"I encourage those worried about their safety to ask an arcanist to shield their home against the nightmare," Jack tells the class. "It's at least a delay, if someone plans on breaking in."
OOC: The nightmareshield ritual prevents entries into the nightmare, and lasts until it is broken by a ritual to break the shield.
"That kind of sucks, that it's -that- magic they deemed unnecessary," Lilah mutters softly to herself as she looks from Jack to the other students in the room. She shivers, running her hands over her arms before she admits, "It explains how... people get into my room, at least."
"Next thing you know they're gonna cut funding to the arts." Aristotle says, after taking a moment to ponder the lack of wardings here.
"But not the Dark Arts," Lilah says with a little smirk, glancing over at Aristotle. "Or you know. The anti-naughtiness wards. Those will stay." Inappropriate as her comment might be, she looks to have amused herself, at least to some extent.
Caelum smirks a little at what both Aristotle and Lilah says, but otherwise remains quiet, for the moment.
Joel gives a wry little smile at Lilah's comment, but keepy any personal insight to himself, focusing on his note-taking.
There's a concerned look, fixed on Lilah, before Jack continues. "The last topic of magic is the ways to protect one's mind and soul." He steps forward, into the center of the ritual circle, and he lets some low chant in Latin roll off his tongue, gesturing -- something preparatory. "This I will do a little practically," he says. "Does anyone have with them the item they cursed in the market?"
Lilah's jaw drops at that little nugged from Jack. "I missed a class on -that-?" she whines, audibly, before shaking her head and looking entirely sorrowful.
"Oh, I still have mine." Aristotle says, lifting a hand to raise for a moment.
"There's really a few rituals that can help affect those things that compel the mind," Jack tells Aristotle and Lilah. "One purifies all of those cursed objects in your possession," he says. Somewhat suspiciously, he drops his satchel, which may make students wonder what is in it. "That's what I will demonstrate," he says. "But there are others -- there is a ritual that will protect your mind from mind-altering magic for its duration, for instance."
OOC: The mindward ritual will make it so you cannot be hypnotized and can auto resist psychic persuasion for a day. You also will not feel desires, if you an angelborn.
"Oh. Nevermind, I don't have mine then." Aristotle says, pulling his hand back down as he shakes his head and opts to watch Jack cleanse his own belongings.
"I need someone's cursed object to cleanse," Jack offers the class. "Anyone?" he asks. "Anyone have their pendant?"
Caelum gives a slight, noncomittal shrug of a single shoulder. "I don't think people walk around with cursed pendants - do they?" He tips a brow, not entirely sure, not even buying what he's peddling like he believes people, in fact, may be walking around with cursed things.
Lilah shakes her head. I don't have anything like that," she admits. "Though I do want to learn how, sometime.""
Lilah shakes her head. "I don't have anything like that," she admits. "Though I do want to learn how, sometime."
Jack moves on, then. "Well," he says. "Perhaps we won't have a demonstration, then," he suggests. "It is helpful -- one of the things you may not know is what unknown influences you are under," he says. "Performing such a ritual will wipe away not just those objects you know of, but others," he explains. "It's helpful, when one is under such influence."
OOC: The cleanse ritual wipes the curses from all objects in your possession.
Lilah then slips to her feet, giving an apologetic grimace to those around her as she slides past and toward the door. She turns back with a hopeful look to Jack, but doesn't wait for long, before heading out, without watching the fascinating ritual.
// With saddest apologies, I must get some sleep :(
"How would you know you'd need to do one of those cleanses though?" Aristotle wonders. "Or is it just a random thing you should do every sunday or something?"
"You don't, really," Jack points out to Aristotle. "That's the issue, isn't it?" he says. "That's really the majority of the rituals I have to discuss," he shares. "And we're coming on two hours -- so any questions?"
"I don't think I have any questions." Aristotle says, shaking his head. "Though, I think the rituals are maybe more useful than subjugating someone's mind, but... that might just be me." He admits with a little shrug.
"It all makes very little sense to me." Caelum admits as well - listening with only a brow raised. His attention is there, it just fails to stick to anything he can relate to. "I think nothing is more useful than just brute force, but I think that's.. just me."
Jack chuckles at Caelum. "Well," he says. "With that, then? Class is dismissed."
Joel nods softly as he tucks away his notes, having stayed even more quiet than usual during class. He rubs his tembles a little before getting to his feet.
Esmeralda puts away her notebook, yawning a bit, and saying to Jack, "Thank you for the class Father."
"Good-night, everyone," Jack tells the class.
"I mean, I don't magic either. And I've got a gun, so..." Aristotle says, shrugging a shoulder as he agrees with Caelum. "Thanks for the lesson, Father Jack." He says, waving a hand to Jack.
"And I have..." Caelum nods towards Aristotle, thinking for a moment before he leaves whatever that was unsaid - and instead smiles over at Jack. "Thanks for the lecture Father Jack, at least I think now we know what to ask for from.. ritual-ists..?" Still, he remains perpetually clueless.
"Yes," Jack tells Caelum with some humor. "Exactly that, Mr. Cross."
"Well," Jack tells the class. "If there's nothing else -- I will see you all soon," he promises.
Aristotle starts to rise to his feet once the class is dismissed, and he lets out a little stretch of his limbs. "Okay, I'm gonna head home. See you at the next class."