*000000*

[X] Plan: Maximum Nerd

-[X] Ask about the dog. Is it a pet? A familiar?

-[X] Where does magical energy come from?

-[X] Has anybody ever tried to make, like, a magic computer or anything? Or a sapient magic construct?

-[X] Actually, come to think of it, how did people plan for so many body types? Ergonomically speaking pixies and humans and centaurs and dragons have so many different requirements...

-[X] "You know what, let's face it, I'm the alien girl curious about everything. Just don't try to prank me.

((()))

"...What's with the dog?" you ask.

"Benny is my Familiar," Betty says with an affectionate smile, rubbing her face briefly into the large dog's fur, "He's a Second Shepherd; the Selesnya breed them to be good at managing herdbeasts, and people. It's a lot easier to manage the parks when you don't need to keep your herding dogs away from visitors."

"He's cute," you say, "Does he mind strangers petting him?"

"He doesn't believe in strangers," Betty laughs, "One of the 'downsides' of the breeding and training of Second Shepherds, is they don't really see anyone or anything as a threat until it makes a threat display or directly sheds blood. The Familiar Bond makes Benji smarter, but I'm not sure if he wants to see anyone as an enemy instead of a source of pets."

"Ruff," Benny chips in, looking at you with a big dopey doggy grin.

You oblige by reaching over the table to rub around the base of his ears briefly.

"So unfair," Betty sighs theatrically, "Do you have any pets?"

"No," you say, shaking your head, "My parents didn't think I was responsible enough when I was younger. Speaking of things to sit on, do you know how people in Ravnica plan out how to deal with all the different body shapes people have?"

"Nope," Betty says with a shrug, "There's some method or another, but I have no idea what it is. How do they handle that on your homeworld?"

"Humans are the only sentients on Earth Bet," you reply with a shrug, "The only real issue is how short are tall they are. I guess disability is an issue sometimes too, but it's usually pretty easy to make space for a wheelchair."

"Right," Betty says, shaking her head, "A whole world with nothing but humans seems so weird. Ravnica must have seemed really weird to you when you arrived."

"Definitely," you say with a nod, "Speaking of different things between worlds, do you know what a computer is?"

"A professional math guy?" Betty says.

"...Right," you say, laughing a little, "Back home we have machines that can tally numbers for you. They're only as 'smart' as the person using them, but they're 100% reliable if you build them properly."

"That's cool," Betty says, "Do you know how to build one?"

"No," you say, shaking your head, "If I manage to find a way to travel back and forth between home and here though, I'll have to bring some. Maybe even some designs. While we're on technical stuff, where does magical energy come from?"

"...The same place any other kind of energy comes from?" Betty says, "It's just there?"

"That really doesn't tell me much," you say with a frown.

"It's the way the Creator made reality then," Betty says with a shrug, "We're trying to figure out how it works so we can manipulate it better. It's kind of like 'where does gravity come from?' If you want a more detailed answer, we're in Nivix. Ask one of the teachers."

"That's fair," you say, smiling a little, "I suppose I'm kind of curious about how everything works here, being from off-world and all."

"Well," Betty says, "I can help you with some basic stuff, but all the big profound stuff you should ask the teachers about. Nivix is one third a school, after all."

((()))

You spend most of Saturday sleeping. You're a growing girl, and even more visibly growing in your Dragon form, and it's been happening fast enough that you've noticed. Human-Taylor is still bigger than Dragon-Taylor, but it seems that's likely to change within a year.

Once you finally get up, you make the executive decision not to do any extra studying today, and instead try your first shot at reading some Ravnican fiction. It's a book that Feather sent with you, and unsurprisingly coming from her, is a classic 'hero's journey' type of story. It doesn't take long to start reminding you of The Hobbit, with a young man from a stable, 'respectable' sort of neighborhood getting recruited to take part in an adventure in Rakdos territory.

Rather than a Dragon as the Big Bad looming at the end of the journey, it's a fallen angel of some sort, and it's guarding a chest of diamonds, rather than halls filled with gold and other treasures. You only get about halfway through before it's time for Dinner, so head to the cafeteria, book tucked under one arm.

You don't see any sign of Betty, so after a moment's hesitation, you take a seat next to Doctor Sclepious.

"Hello," you say, "I hope you don't mind if I join you?"

"Happy for the company," he says with a bright smile, "Found something interesting to read?"

"Feather recommended it," you say, sliding the book across the table so he can see it, "It's pretty good so far. I'm kind of confused by the special emphasis on diamonds as treasure though; I thought platinum was the most valuable currency on Ravnica?"

"For currency, of course," Sclepious says with a nod, "But diamonds are still the only reagent usable in resurrection spells, so they are of course in incredible demand."

"...Resurrection spells?" you half ask, "You mean magic can actually raise the dead?"

"So long as they didn't die of old age, and can afford the exorbitant cost," Sclepious says, "Yes. I take it nothing like this exists where you're from?"

What?

They can bring back the dead here?

X] *Suddenly much more manic* No. How- how hard would it be to learn-?

[X] "There are ways to make diamonds. Do people here die of anything other than old age?"

((()))

"No," you wheeze, "How hard is learning this magic? What restrictions does it have?"

"Um," the doctor blinks, leaning forward a little as he studies your expression, "You can't bring back someone who died of old age, and the body needs to be intact, at least for the simplest version, which is fifth-circle magic. Talented healers can usually manage it later in their careers, but there isn't that much demand, due to how rare diamonds are."

"How rare?" you ask, "Back home, they're regularly part of expensive jewelry. On wedding rings at the least."

"Most Ravnicans never see a diamond in their life," he replies, shaking his head, "It takes about ten carats for the basic Raise Dead spell to be cast, twice as much for Resurrection, and five times for True Resurrection. Not many can cast Resurrection, and I'm not sure if anyone outside the Simic leadership can cast True Resurrection. Maybe the Selesnyan Chorus.

"Also, since we're here at Nivix, I should tell you this is not an Arcane spell. It's an entirely different type of magic, sometimes called 'miracles' instead. Like healing spells, you won't be able to learn it here."

"I can cast healing magic," you say, shaking your head fiercely, "Maybe I can cast this. Diamonds are expensive back home, but I can definitely get my hands on some. There might-"

You falter for a moment, your throat tightening up.

"-The diamond on mom's wedding ring isn't very big, but she'd definitely rather be alive again, and we can sell the house if we need to to get the rest."

"That gives me at least some idea of relative commonality," Sclepious says, pausing for a moment to cast a spell you can't be bothered to recognize, "You'd have to sell a mansion in Ravnica to make a decent bid at a diamond auction."

"Jewelry stores back home have display cases with dozens of pieces of diamond-set jewelry," you say, "We can definitely get diamonds."

"...Much more common," Sclepious says, shaking his head again, "Look, here in Ravnica, every known diamond mind was exhausted thousands of years ago. Any time a diamond is found, it either disappears instantly onto the black market, or goes onto auction for tens of thousands of gold. And those aren't necessarily diamonds big enough for a raise dead spell, I think a lot with enough carats usually goes for more than fifty thousand."

"Did nobody ever figure out how to make artificial diamonds here?" you ask.

"They don't work," Sclepious says firmly, "You need the natural magic that is part of a natural diamond for it to work. There've been a few times artificial diamonds became fashionable, but they kept getting stolen on the chance they were real, and hundreds of people died fighting over them. There were experiments in trying to infuse natural magic into them, but they never worked. And this isn't just 'people tried once,' every few generations somebody takes another stab at it, and it has never worked."

You nod along, but part of you is thinking about how long it would take you to earn that much gold. Earning three gold a day is supposed to be very good wages, but that'd take over fifty years to get you sixty thousand or so. That obviously isn't an option.

"There's other factors in play here," Sclepious warns, "The full dynamics aren't known, just like anything else to do with the soul, but these spells working are tied into Agyrem. I don't know much about the world you're from, just that you are from somewhere else, and if it doesn't have an overlaid demiplane, these spells might not work at all."

"Agyrem?" you say, your focus snapping onto Sclepious again, "I've heard of it, but I don't really understand what it is."

"It's where souls go after they die," Sclepious says, "Sort of the waiting room for the afterlife. If you pay the Orzhov, they'll carry messages back and forth between you and lost loved ones, but they keep how they do so secret. We do know that spirits gradually fade away while there, and once they're gone, they cannot be summoned back. The afterlife itself is the domain of the Creator, and mere mortals have no power over it."

"Some religions back home might call that purgatory," you say, "Or limbo. Nobody knows for sure if it's real though, so I can't say for sure."

"If souls from your home go straight into the afterlife," Sclepious says, "None of the spells here will work, no matter how many diamonds you have. Part of the reason for the stronger versions of the spells in the first place, is because you need more powerful magic to call back spirits that have started to fade across the boundary."

"It's still possible," you insist, "Which means I have to try."

"That," Sclepious says firmly, reaching out to rest a hand on your shoulder, "I can understand. Any healer worth their salt feels it sooner or later. I won't try to dissuade you from pursuing this, but I will offer you two pieces of advice along the way."

"I'm listening," you say, staring him right in the eyes.

"First off," Sclepious says, "Do not let pursuing this destroy everything else in your life. It'll hurt enough already if it turns out to be impossible, but it'll hurt even more if you've ruined your life for nothing. If your mother cared enough about you for you want to bring her back this badly, she wouldn't want that for you either."

You nod.

"Second," he continues, gesturing towards the cafeteria around you, which you belatedly notice sounds rather muted, "I put up a privacy ward partway through this conversation, but do not go around talking about enormous amounts of diamonds being available on your homeworld. Unethical people will see the ultimate payday, and even very moral people are likely to have someone they would desperately like to bring back if they have the money."

"...Right," you say, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down a little, "That could go badly."

Brockton Bay has shown you what people will do just for their next hit of drugs. The ability to bring someone back from the dead? You're already directly feeling a drive that could push you to do some pretty drastic things, and you're not a career criminal.

"You'll want to bring it up with one of the higher ranked Izzet," Sclepious says, "Since they're trying to develop a way to travel between worlds. They're also more likely to be smart about keeping information about wild possibilities limited."

You nod again.

"Good," he says, patting you on the shoulder, "Providence be with you on this."

((()))

AN: There Has Been Math about diamonds, carats, and pay-scales. I've already mentioned that I'm having Ravnica operate on a 'gold a day' economy, rather than standard D&D 'silver a day.' For sanity's sake, I'm also officially deflating standard gold prices by one order of magnitude, so that McClade isn't earning multiple years worth of wages every day he works on a magical item. Instead, as a high-tier crafter, he's just earning months worth every day.

Figure he's like a high-paid engineer at Lockheed-Martin or something like that.

AN: Cruising through the arc fairly well.

((()))

It takes you all of about ten minutes after dinner to realize that it's a good thing the doctor warned you to keep the diamonds thing under your hat.

Because you really, really want to go talk to someone about this whole 'bringing back the dead' thing, and Betty is your closest available friendly ear. She's been very friendly so far, but her motormouth tendencies very much suggest she's not going to be much good at keeping things under her hat. Maybe she does have a less obvious side to her that would work well with that, but you've only known her for a week, so.

This leaves you stuck in your room, trying to wrap your mind around both the general idea of bringing the dead back to life, and your mother in particular.

….You don't know how to deal with this.

You really don't know how to deal with this.

Your family isn't particularly religious; you'd go to church sometimes on Christmas or Easter, but it's really more a cultural inertia thing than something you particularly believed in. Or disbelieved in, for that matter.

Having studied language lately, you're aware that this means that practically speaking, you're not a christian or an atheist, more straddling the line between agnostic and gnostic. You're not sure if a god exists or not, and if one does, you definitely don't know what kind of being he or she is.

And that gets you onto another thing Sclepious raised!

People pass on from Agyrem to the afterlife?

He stated it like it was hard fact, not a matter of speculation.

What does that mean?

How would he even know for sure in the first place?

Have spirits who 'partially faded' and then were resurrected talked about what the afterlife was like?

You're not ready to handle this; fourteen is too early for an existential crisis.

You end up falling asleep while wondering vaguely if diamond rings started out as emergency failsafes to protect against death.

((()))

Sunday you go try to find Betty, but it turns out she's off visiting her family over the weekend. That removes the temptation to go talking about death and diamonds, but leaves you at loose ends. Mostly you end trying to study and not doing the best job because of everything that's on your mind.

((()))

Monday morning, you're called to another research session just after breakfast. That runs a danger of interfering with your time with Researcher Parasetimol, but if your job is going to conflict with your scheduled lecture time, that's Actigall (or his secretary's) job to sort out.

"Preliminary readings suggest that our equipment isn't suited to the task of detecting the 'flux' we're looking for with you," Actigall says, "We've recalibrated our equipment, and will spend the next few sessions attempting scans with different configurations. Hopefully this will either gain us the information we need, or get us enough to create a spell or equipment modification that can."

In the end, that just means you lay in the spell circle again, while they do a slightly different set of magical scans.

((()))

"The planes are a somewhat esoteric subject," an elderly lecturer who both looks and sounds dusty says, "Mostly because Ravnica's particular properties make this a largely theoretical subject. While we are periodically visited by interplanar travelers, thus far no mechanism for Ravnicans to travel between the planes without fatal consequences has been discovered.

"For those of us who care about such matters, discovering a means for travel is of interest, but most have consigned this field to being little more than a novelty. This is not quite accurate, as there's some modest application to teleportation magic, but that is a tertiary matter at best."

"We will begin by covering the only plane which the Izzet have been able to consistently access, though not travel through, the Astral Plane, which lore brought to us by dimensional travelers asserts is the intermediary between all connected planes…"

((()))

Magic is a combination of both fascinating and grueling to study. While you weren't obsessed like some girls were (no fantasies about unicorn rides for you), magic has had a sense of wonder for you as well. Learning how it actually works does rub off a little bit of the wonder; it seems more like a science than a mystical force, but being able to use it gains back more than what was lost.

The immense volume of fine details about magical affinities, elemental currents, arcane structures, and thaumic discharges, it's enough to make your head hurt, and that's before getting into the fact that using magic puts a very tangible strain on your mind in and of itself.

Even with the ability to sleep or study during your time in Actigall's lab, you're rapidly getting to the point where the only time you're not in class, studying, or sleeping, is time spent in the cafeteria, and thus the only time you can socialize with anybody. It's a huge change from the months you lived with Feather, studying at your own pace and with the ability to go wonder about the city or take a nap at your leisure.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

[] You like feeling productive.

[] Having tangible increases in what you personally are capable of is worth the effort.

[] Maybe you'll cut back a class or two next quarter. You definitely aren't going to add work to your weekends.

[] No, this really is too much.

[X] Having tangible increases in what you personally are capable of is worth the effort.

((()))

You set into the daily grind of life at Nivix, or 'The Tower' as the long term residents seem to prefer. It's hard, but there's all kinds of proverbs and cultural sayings about the value of hard work and important things being worth hard work.

And being able to actually use magic is definitely worth the hard work.

Time grinds by, and while you develop a steady friendship with Betty and an avuncular relationship with doctor Sclepious, you don't really socialize much more outside of that and chatting with Feather and the Fidelities when you go back to visit every other weekend.

((()))

Important decision for Taylor's development. Put simply, how hard into the arcanist path is she going to go?

So, as-is, Taylor is getting sorcerer progression from Dragon, and that's pretty powerful. What it isn't, is versatile.

To give the very succinct version of how different types of casters work:

1. Wizard is the most versatile caster. At every class level, they automatically get to add two more spells to their spellbook, of any level they know. In addition, any random spell that is on the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list that they find a scroll of, or in another wizard's spell book, they can add to their own. This gives them enormous versatility.

However, there is the drawback. Every single day, a Wizard decides at the start of the day, what spells they'll have in their various slots for that day. This practically means 'this is my standard list,' that if they know a particular conflict is coming to deal with, they'll change things up for the day. The key part of this is Just because a spell is in their spellbook, doesn't mean they can cast it that day.

2. The Sorceror has a much simpler setup. If they know a spell, they can cast that spell as many times per day as they have spell slots of that level for the day. For Taylor right now, that means that her one 2nd​ level spell, Divine Insight, she can currently cast up to 4 times per day. Once she learns another 2nd​ level spell, she can cast whatever combination of the known spells of that level up to that limit per day.

However, going all the way up through 20th​ level, a Sorceror only ever learns five 2nd​ level spells, 4 spells for levels 3-5, and 3 spells of levels 6-9. That means that every spell you pick to learn, you'd better plan to get a lot of mileage out of it, because you can't learn any others. There's some limited ability to get past this with by taking a feat to learn an extra spell, but feats are always in short supply, and as an example of a homebrow bypass of this, I've let Taylor learn an extra cantrip (Read Magic) at a cost of 50 XP.

3. Psions. Psions are like Sorcerers, except more so. Instead of 'you can cast 6 1st​ level spells and 4 2nd​ level spells today,' Psions have Power Points and Powers Known. It costs PP to use powers, and you can pump more into a power to get more out of it, while higher level powers have higher minimum costs to use. You have an extreme amount of flexibility in 'I wanted to crush minds a lot today, so I spent almost all of my PP just on Mind Thrust.' Their drawback is the same as a Sorc's, in that they only get to know so many powers, 36 by level 20, and you can usually only expand that with feat expenditures.

Taylor already has Sorcerer and Psion, giving her two separate 'spells/powers known' classes, which means she can cover a lot of bases, but even that can't match the sheer versatility of a wizard, even if wizards have less casting stamina.

So, the important question here, is whether or not Psion and Sorcerer is enough casting capability, or you want to do the heavy XP investment of trying to develop Wizard as well.

TL;DR: Do you want Taylor to triple down on 'I'm a thinky caster type of person,' or is merely doubling down enough? Tripling down will make her a terrifying spell-slinger, 'merely' doubling-down will allow her to be much more versatile with things other than magic, mixing in parts of other things that will give bigger dividends.

I need to know which way this is going to go before I lay out the mechanical benefits for Taylor moving to Nivix for focused Arcane stuff.

[X] Taylor is going to rely on her inherent draconic casting, and maybe improving it. (Don't take Wizard.)

AN: I'm trying to keep this flashback arc on track to last 30-50 posts. We're currently on track to have it be towards the lower end of that, and are about halfway through.

((()))

"Dodge!" The instructor barks, and you hurl yourself to the side.

You succeed in avoiding the wooden practice sword, but you lose focus on the cantrip you were trying to cast, again, and it sputters out.

"Again," he says sharply, and you set yourself to cast again.

This part of the lesson can only go on for so long; you can manage about twenty cantrips in a day, and six or seven first level spells. That's more than most of the students, and you can see that you're making progress towards being able to consistently split your focus between 'not getting hit' and finishing a spell.

"Dodge!"

It's still frustrating, especially when Betty mastered it after two weeks.

((()))

You're glad you let Betty talk you into flight class; it's great fun, even if it is also exhausting.

The class takes place in a flying course around the spires of Nivix; still well below the very top, where the Parun resides, but about on level with the tallest structures in the surrounding city. It reminds you of courses you've seen horses put through, jumping over various obstacles and whatnot, mixed with some bits and pieces of video games you've seen.

Betty is already pretty good at running the course; given she seems to have grown up doing things like this, that isn't really surprising, and she's very maneuverable.

You, on the other hand, are by far the fastest flier in the class, so long as you're flying in a straight line. Corners are more difficult, and your broad wingspan means you have to be careful in timing your wingbeats as you move through some of the smaller ring obstacles, but you're at least good enough not to be in constant danger of crashing into things.

The instructor, a middle-aged elf woman who is apparently perpetually under the effects of a Fly spell, is pretty hands-off. After the first few sessions where she worked out a baseline for everyone's abilities, she simply has each class run as a series of races, separated into groups of roughly similar ability.

There's a silver in it for whoever wins a race, not much money, but enough to be able to buy a nice treat, and thus providing some motivation.

She spends her time giving individual fliers tips on where to improve after each race; her advice for you generally amounts to 'your motions don't need to be so exaggerated, try to be more efficient,' and they're certainly on point.

By the end of the class, you're with Betty in the most advanced group, and if the day's obstacle course has enough straight-aways, you can actually manage to beat her, though she always makes you work for it.

((()))

Does Taylor talk with Feather about the death & diamonds issue during a weekend visit?

[] Yes.

[] No.

((()))

Mechanical benefits for first quarter.

For each class Taylor has taken, she'll be getting the opportunity to purchase a bonus thing at an XP cost, or in some cases get a lesser benefit at no greater XP cost. Bonuses will be listed below:

Universal magic 201: Taylor gets 1 free rank in Spellcraft.

Knowledge (Psionics) tutoring: 1 free rank in said skill.

Abjuration 101: Taylor may buy the Resistance cantrip for 25 XP.

Knowledge (The Planes) 101: 1 free rank in said skill.

Basic flight instruction: Taylor may purchase the Improved Maneuverability feat for 500 XP. This would functionally be a +4 bonus on all Fly checks. There are also some flight-based feats that have minimum maneuverability requirements to take. Note that Dragons maneuverability gets worse as their size category increases, this would counterbalance but not prevent that.

Conjuration 201: Taylor may learn the Benign Transposition spell for 50 XP.

Battle Magic 202: Taylor may purchase the Skill Focus (Concentration) feat for 500 XP. This is for all purposes substituting for 'Combat Casting.'

Taylor's XP status:

16800 XP.

3k spent on Psion.

1k spent on Artificer.

1k spent on Warblade

1k spent on Barbarian.

50 spent on Read Magic.

10300 XP unspent.

Taylor's classes for her second quarter: (only listing what is currently available to her)

Introductory classes: (101 classes are 2 credits each)

[] Enchantment 101

[] Illusion 101

[] Necromancy 101

Basic classes: (200-level classes are 3 credits each)

[] Abjuration 201

[] Divination 201

[] Evocation 201

[] Transmutation 201.

Lore classes:

[] Write-in for 101s.

[] The Planes 201.

[] Psionics tutoring '201.' (This may lead to other opportunities if it continues to be pursued.)

Other 200-level classes Taylor could reasonably become eligible for in this arc; all require a 101 class. Must also be either taken alongside or after a 201 class:

[] Metamagic 202 (Universal)

[] Protection 202 (Abjuration)

[] Summoning 202 (Conjuration)

[] True Strike 202 (Divination)

[] Magical Varsity Introduction 202 (Evocation)

[] Positive energy 202 (Necromancy)

[] Introduction to Magical Crafting (Transmutation)

300-level classes.

[] Universal Magic 301. (3 credits. Betty is taking this.)

[] Conjuration 301. (4 credits. Betty is taking this.)

Keep in mind that there will be a vote later on if Taylor will be continuing as a student at Nivix, or shifting to only work there part time as a research subject. I expect at this point 'continue to magic university' will win, and if it does, expect to have options on a much larger and broader class tree for Taylor later.

[X] Yes.

[X] Resistance

[X] Improved Maneuverability

[X] Benign Transposition

[X] Skill Focus (Concentration)

[X] Plan The power of the MIIND! Plus items. Now with even more summoning.

-[X] Illusion 101

-[X] Psionics tutoring '201.'

-[X] Transmutation 201.

-[X] Introduction to Magical Crafting (Transmutation)

-[X] Summoning 202 (Conjuration)

-[X] Conjuration 301. (4 credits. Betty is taking this.)

((()))

"Feather," you say hesitantly after the door to her apartment closes behind you, "Is there a particular reason you never talked about magic that can bring the dead back to life with me?"

"You didn't come across it in your reading?" she asks, turning to look at you, her expression telling you she's already picked up on this being important.

"What I read before going to Nivix only covered general capabilities and low-level spells," you say, shaking your head, "For some reason, it didn't mention that bringing the dead back to life was possible."

"I suppose it's just something commonly known here in Ravnica," Feather says, taking a seat on her couch and gesturing for you to do likewise, "I assume you also learned about how rare diamonds are?"

"Yeah," you reply, nodding as you sit down, "Back home they're expensive; here they're to die for."

"Not an inaccurate way to put it," Feather says, shaking her head and laughing softly, "All of the Guilds have a small reserve of diamonds available for emergency use. General Valeria was carrying one of them during the rescue campaign against the Gruul; she actually lost her fight against the clan leader, and he killed her."

Your eyes widen slightly at that.

"We certainly weren't interested in trying to continue the fight against him without her," Feather continues, looking you straight in the eyes, "I used the diamond inside of her breastplate to call her back, and we won the second round together. There's probably still arguments going on about whether or not she wasted that strategic asset.

"Something you need to understand about that, is that Valeria reports directly to Razia. While she isn't the most senior of the Boros generals, of the millions of members of the Guild, only a few dozen are her equal in rank."

"...That counter-attack was very serious," you say quietly.

"We take attacks on the people of Ravnica very seriously," Feather says gravely, "And reminding bad actors like the Gruul that makes that kind of attack much less likely to happen again, at least for another generation. While the Guildpact prevents us from pursuing clans who haven't violated the terms, or the Rakdos, most of the Gruul clans are barbaric, but not utterly-we're getting off topic here. Was there something you wanted to discuss about resurrection in particular?"

"...My mother died," you say, slouching in your seat, "About a year ago. If I got the diamonds, would you be able to bring her back?"

"I don't know," Feather says, shaking her head, "You know about Agyrem as well?"

You nod.

"If your mother died here on Ravnica," Feather says "Just a year ago, the Creator has granted me the power to bring her back if the price is paid. I don't know if it will work on your homeworld, but if a way to travel there is opened, I'll go and try for you."

"Thank you," you say thickly, scooting over to wrap her in a hug.

((()))

Weekend time with Feather is usually pretty laid back; this time she teaches you how to bake bread from scratch, which is a much lower-brain higher-body task than what you spend your week doing. Yeast dough can apparently be kind of finicky to work with, especially when you're using a coal-fired stove that doesn't have automatic temperature control.

Kneading the dough is also pretty satisfying. An odd balance between squishy and firm, especially once you have the water/flour balance right and it stops sticking to your hands so badly. Two loaves go into the oven after a couple hours of mixing, kneading, letting the dough rise, then kneading some more. A wonderful, yeasty smell starts to permeate the apartment as you zonk out on the couch while Feather takes a nap.

It's one of the most restful times you can think of, and you snooze a little yourself.

It's nice having some hope again.

"Illusion magic is to some degree," the lecturer begins, "More of a style than an actual formal methodology like Abjuration, Conjuration, or Transmutation. The spell structures are almost identical to Evocation. Instead of heat or cold, light and sound are evoked, and in more advanced spell structures force effects, as well as elements of conjuration are brought in for smell."

"The key element of Illusion magic, and the reason it has rightfully come to be treated as its own separate school, is what end is achieved, rather than the methodology by which you get there. After all, if one wishes to dissuade an attack, it requires much less magical power to create an image of a Wojek patrol force, than to actually summon one with Conjuration.

"Illusion magic requires attention to detail, finesse, and an understanding of how others perceive the world, a particular demand that no other school requires. After all, only a true grandmaster of the school can create a flawless illusion, and for the rest of us more limited practitioners, you must know what details are important, and how to distract from the incomplete portions of an illusion.

"To that end, each of you will start with attempting to use the Silent Image spell to craft a facsimile of another student's hand. Work hard at this, because in a few sessions we will graduate to copying another's face, and a poorly-done face can be quite disturbing…"

((()))

"They need to have more than one week between quarters," Betty grumbles as she rides her dog into the cafeteria again, "I barely had time to catch up on racing, and I'm still behind on naps!"

"Watching or participating in races?" you ask, glancing up from your latest Psionics text.

"Both," Betty says, yawning as she reaches the table you usually share, pushing herself upright to start eating, "A lot of the lower-league racers are Izzet, so some of the races are scheduled for when they'll be free. Most of them are chumps, but there's always a few actual guild members who know what they're doing."

She pouts a bit; you suspect she has some very specific individuals in mind who've been keeping her away from earning a medal.

"Feather and I made bread again," you say, "Does your mother bake?"

"Just cookies," Betty says, shaking her head, "She says anything more complicated, it makes more sense to just pay someone who knows what they're doing to make it for you. She'd probably buy cookies too, but it's faster to bake them herself."

"Mm," you reply, "It was nice to do something physical."

"Yoooou should come raaacing with meeeee," Betty mock-whines, staring up at you with puppy-dog eyes.

"I don't have the time," you say, shaking your head, "And besides, I'm nowhere near as skilled as you. I can just go fast on the straight parts."

"You do know that some of the races are just straights, right?" Betty says, rolling her eyes and turning her attention back to her food.

"...Hadn't thought of that," you reply, "Maybe when I've got some more time."

"Neeerd," Betty says with a smile, "I hope you don't plan on taking eighteen credits every quarter. It's going to wear you out."

"Hey," you retort, "It pushes my limit a bit, but it doesn't cross it. I am keeping away from the weekend electives. There's just so much useful stuff to learn!"

"You're not wrong," Betty huffs, "If you keep up like this, you'll be completely caught up with me in another quarter or two."

"That sounds nice," you say, smiling at her, "I like taking classes with you."

"Yeah," Betty says with a sigh, "But you're going to pass me by if you keep this pace going."

"Maybe you should be more of a neeerd," you reply with a smirk, "But I kind of doubt I'll pass you on the kind of classes we're both taking. There's so many secondary things I want to at least get the basics in before I go home."

"Mm," Betty says, "I'll hold you to that."

((()))

"Transmutation," the instructor begins, "Arguably is the broadest of all magical schools, because it covers the principle of change. Change to objects, change to people, change to beasts, change to magic itself, if you are changing properties, it's Transmutation.

"Obviously, this makes the school extremely flexible, which is why almost all arcanists at least dabble in it, and next to none forgo its use. You see the effects of it in the city all around you. The augmentation spells that make mega-structures viable, the enchanted artifacts that filter sewage and trash in bulk in order to prevent disease epidemics, the enhancements and disabling spells that the Wojek and other law enforcers make routine use of, all of these are Transmutation.

"As Transmutation is such a broad school of magic, it is pursued in three different branches after this class. The basics of the first were covered in T-101, modifying properties that already exist in a non-living object. The second we will cover in this class, modifying properties in a living being. This is a more delicate and less immediately-potent application, due to the inherent complications the need to not injure or kill the subject creates.

"The third will start being covered in T-301, if you should choose to advance that far. It is essentially the opposite of T-201, modifying non-living things in a gross manner so as to add properties or capabilities that they did not possess before you used magic to bestow them.

"Now, for the primary focus of this class, we will be focusing on changing the property of friction…

"Good news, Miss Hebert," Actigall says as you enter the lab, "We have made definitive, tangible progress."

"That's great," you say, offering a fangy smile as you walk into the spell circle like usual, "What kind of progress?"

"There are certain esoteric methods which can be used to determine if something or some creature is present because of a summoning effect," Actigall says, moving between different devices, "They did not initially give intelligible returns from you, however, they did not indicate you were not under the effect of conjuration magic.

"There are also certain methods used on the rare occasion the living are permitted to visit Agyrem, to determine whether or not one belongs there. Some powerful necromantic magics can strip a soul from its body without killing either, and we have been called upon from time to time to either rectify the situation, or prove that it isn't the actual reason a soul is among the departed.

"That was the second method of scanning you we attempted. Neither gave clear results, but to speak at a level that your current education will understand, between the two we found enough discrepancy from normal readings, to calibrate a new scanner, and it does in fact appear that your 'dimensional resonance' is native to neither Ravnica nor Agyrem."

"...So you know I'm not from here," you say, trying not to feel disappointed that they basically have just said 'we believe you weren't lying.'

"We already knew that," Actigall says dismissively, "No, what we've gained is the ability to measure both whether or not anyone is native to Ravnica, and further gained a magical signature that can help us identify where you are from."

"...And a means to get there?" you ask hopefully.

"That will be the next order of business," Actigall says happily.

You have a hard time understanding how he can be so excited, when it's taken three months just to get this far.

Still, some progress is better than no progress. Better than not having any chance of ever getting home.

((()))

"Those of you who managed to pass C-201 have demonstrated both that you have the basic capability to manipulate magic, and the level of control necessary to translocate a being over a short distance."

The instructor pauses for a moment to study the various students in the class. Unlike your 101 and 201 courses, this class is small enough that he can actually do so in a reasonable amount of time. There were hundreds of students in the 201 class, while this class has just under fifty, including you and Betty.

"There are many reasons that the basic Transposition spell is taught so early. It forces one to develop a certain level of control, as superimposing two beings upon each other's position cannot simply be brute-forced. It also isn't particularly demanding when it comes to power, as it is more a matter of 'slipping' two into each others positions, than it is smashing forcibly through dimensional boundaries.

"Finally, a 'being' has an inherent sense of identity and cohesiveness that makes bringing them across in one piece much easier, and it being designed to only work on willing subjects avoids the sort of contest of wills more offensively-minded spells involve. Our next spell will be going in the opposite direction.

"The aptly-named 'Glitterdust' spell requires a certain amount of raw power, as substance being summoned exists as a sort of dimensional substrate, rather than in the material plane. You must burrow deep enough through the fabric of reality to reach it, but only enough control to ensure you reach the correct target is required, then pull it back into the material.

"To be clear, the control required for basic transposition, and the power required for Glitterdust, are but a fraction of what is required for more potent uses of Conjuration, but as you are all still neophytes, this will be a major step forward. Now, on each of your tables you'll find a bowl of ground mica, the material component for this spell…"

((()))

"So," Betty asks as she buzzes along after you down the corridor, "What trade do you plan to take up once you finish studying here?"

"Uh," you reply intelligently, "Didn't I mention that back home, we usually don't start a career until we're at least eighteen, or more often in our twenties?"

"You mentioned education takes a long time," Betty replies with a nod, "But I didn't ask when you'd finish, I asked what you plan to do when you finish."

"I'm fourteen," you say, rolling your eyes, "It's way too early for me to know that."

"Well that's just silly," Betty says as she follows you into a stairwell, "How can you know what classes to take, if you don't know what you're going to do?"

"Because magic is really useful for all kinds of stuff?" you reply.

"Sure," Betty says, "But traveling magic is different from blasting magic is different from healing magic. Are you going to be a courier? A battlemage? A healer?"

"Why can't I do all of it?" you reply.

"...Or you could just join the Izzet," Betty says with a laugh, "You might have what it takes to be someone who keeps pursuing magic just because you like it."

"Maybe," you say, "But just a few months isn't really enough to know for sure if the shine will wear off after a couple years. Back home, people with abilities like mine usually end up joining law enforcement, sort of like the Wojek, I guess."

"'Capes,'" Betty says, laughing again, "It's cool, if weird. You should still have a good idea what you're aiming for though, even if you aren't sure about it yet."

What say?

[] You want to join the Protectorate.

[] You want to be an independent hero.

[] You want to offer magical services for hire, be a rogue.

[] Maybe you will join the Izzet and keep studying magic.

[] You have no idea at all.