*000000*

[X] "I'm going to talk to my dad about it. He's a union worker, so he'll know at least some of how things work."

-[X] "That said... I'm leaning toward Protectorate or Independent. Whatever helps the most people."

-[X] "But I also want to keep learning about magic, maybe I can work something out?"

AN: Well, that was an incredibly decisive response.

((()))

"I'll have to talk with my dad about it when I get back," you say after a few moments thought, "He's the jobs guy at the Dockworkers Union, so he knows how some of this stuff works. I'm probably going to either join the Protectorate or become an Independent Hero, whatever helps the most people. I do want to keep studying magic though, hopefully I can work something out."

"...So you have no idea what you're going to do," Betty says, rolling her eyes, "Do you age like a human, or a Dragon? 'Cause you may not have forever to decide this."

"I'm fourteen," you reply, rolling your eyes right back at her, "This is normal."

"You know most people have picked a trade to pursue by twelve, right?" Betty replies.

"...I actually didn't know that about Ravnica," you say, shaking your head, "That's definitely not how it works back home. Most kids go through lots of phases before either deciding on a career, or ending up with whatever kind of job they can actually get."

"Your planet is weird," Betty decides, shaking her head, "I definitely want to visit."

((()))

The 'intro to enchanting' class, unlike most of the other classes you've taken at Nivix, centers more around the academic than the practical. Maybe your perception is being influenced by McClade's more hands-on teaching about the subject, especially how he described what he was doing in simple, conceptual terms.

Introduction to Magical Crafting focuses more on structures of magic, rather than the basic catch-all 'enhancement' magic, and it's not immediately clear why. Given how competent Izzet teaching plans have generally been, you're confident in assuming there's a reason for it, but it isn't something made obvious in the first few classes of the quarter.

Also, for some reason, they're requiring people to practice their handwriting.

((()))

Your second quarter is both more and less difficult than the first. You're used to a big credit load now, but it's also all academic stuff, none of it physical this time, and that wears down on your mind. With the lack of physical activity, this tends to result in you spending at least an hour every evening just flying around outside to burn off energy.

Once Betty finds out you've started doing that, she joins you, which leads to the rather amusing situation where she exhausts herself pretty quickly trying to keep up with your much higher cruising speed. Her solution to this problem is landing on your back once she's worn herself out; part of you wants to object, but even if it's much more of a strain to fly around with a Pixie on your back, burning off physical energy was the whole point in the first place….

...And you really appreciate the contact. Touch through your scales isn't the same thing as it is with human skin, but whatever being turned into a Dragon does to a person, you still want human contact.

Pixie contact.

Whatever.

((()))

Your eyes snap open, and you almost lunge at the window before catching yourself.

Dreams haven't been much fun over the last few months. You try not to dwell on them, but sometimes they try to dwell on you.

Snarling, you stomp over towards your small bathroom; you've shifted back to Dragon form in your sleep again, and you have to be careful not to tear up the carpet with your claws as you go. Once in the bathroom, you hop up and activate the shower, before laying down in the shower stall and letting the water run over your wings.

It helps get rid of the phantom feelings wrapped around them. Having that sensation when you wake from dreams is relatively new, but hot water seems to help. Helped get you out of dreams right after your mother died too.

Ravnican plumbing still surprises you somewhat, especially when there's no electric grid to go along with it. The plumbing system actually operates on the same basic principles as plumbing back home; water towers are higher up than almost everyone who needs water, so gravity provides the water pressure without the need for any active moving parts. Ravnica just uses a lot of raincatchers, magic, and magic raincatchers, to fill their water towers instead of technologically-operated pumps.

Even if water is just as commonly available on Ravnica as back home, hot water is still more of a luxury, one that you enjoy fairly liberally in Nivix.

Twenty minutes later, you're feeling more human, so you shut the shower off and shift forms to match, then drag some clothes on, before heading off to your first class of the day.

((()))

Blind vote:

[] Walk.

[] Highlander.

[] Plumb.

[] Speed.

[X] Highlander

((()))

There's a new face at the lab the next time you visit, and judging by the way Actigall interacts with him, he's a peer or auditor of some sort. He doesn't bother you when you first arrive and curl up in the magic circle with a pen and sheaf of paper, but you notice him watching you with an odd expression several times through the usual gamut of tests.

You've not gotten any shortage of those during your time in Ravnica; you haven't seen another Dragon anywhere, so you get at least a few novelty looks just about anywhere you go. You're not sure what the way he looks at you is supposed to mean, but the opportunity to just ask presents itself about three hours into the session, when he comes to stand outside the circle and talk with you.

"Miss Hebert," he greets cordially in a deep voice, "There is quite a strange tale behind your presence here. I hope you haven't had any trouble during your time in Nivix so far?"

"Classes are a bit more demanding than I expected," you reply with a shrug, "But nothing aside from that. I'm kind of surprised there isn't more conflict between the students."

"We don't tolerate magical spats in the halls," he chuckles, "There's combat magic classes or explusion for those who really need to get it out of their systems. If you spent some time in the neighborhoods around the tower, you might find a few grudges being played out there, but that's a matter for the Wojek, not us. Actigall has been treating you well?"

"I pretty much just sit here," you say with a shrug, "I'm more than happy to be paid so well to do my homework in an odd room."

"Good, good," he says with a smile, "Just so you're warned, they'll probably soon get into tests that require blood samples, a couple scales, a shaving off of one of your horns, things like that. Nothing too painful or invasive, but at least somewhat more demanding."

"Sounds like a trip to the doctor's office," you say, "Do you mind me asking why you're here, and what your name is?"

"I'm Maximus Powers, here for periodic review to make sure budget isn't being wasted," he says, "Or ethics standards are being violated. There's always at least one or two idiots among the Researchers every decade who need to be either demoted or handed over and be put up on charges. Actigall has a good record, but everyone's a bit more honest when they know they're under scrutiny."

"Max Powers?" you can't help but ask, "Really?"

"Really," he says with a toothy grin, "Part of why I'm Izzet is to try live up to the name. I think I'm closer to it than you are, given we don't teach tailors here."

"Magic is way more interesting than sewing," you say, rolling your eyes, "It can repair clothes much more easily anyways."

"True," he says, "But it can't make new ones or adjust them, not unless the mage has the skill and understanding to do it in the first place. Most attempts to replicate trades with magic end up in that basket; you can use magic to do it more easily, but if you don't know how in the first place, it's of limited assistance. Speaking of which, what do you want to learn magic for?"

"Everything?" you reply, "I can't think of anything magic wouldn't help with."

"A young Dragon after my own heart," he says with a smile, "No particular trade you have an ambition for applying it to then?"

"...Sort of?" you reply, "Back home, people with supernatural abilities usually work in law enforcement, or are the reason we need people like that in law enforcement. I suppose I'm loosely planning on joining Earth Bet's version of the Wojek when I get home."

"A noble ambition," Max says with a nod, "If that was what you were aiming for, I would have thought you'd have been training with them as well. Law enforcement is more than just spellcasting you know."

"Uh," you say, blinking a bit, "Right, I talked about this with my friend the other day…"

You give Max a quick run-down of how back home, you wouldn't be expected to enter a professional field for at least four, maybe eight more years, so spending a few more years rounding out your magical abilities before studying detective-work or similar isn't really a big deal.

"Huh," Max says with a shrug, "I wouldn't have thought that was very efficient, given normal human life-spans, but it must work at least somewhat. Now, I hope it won't take years to develop a way for you to get home, but if we do find a way to get you back before you're satisfied with your studies, do you intend to leave Nivix permanently?"

"Gosh no!" you gasp, "I at least want to get to the point where I can cast the magic needed to travel back and forth myself, or earn enough to buy a magic item to do it for me. Aside from that…"

What are Taylor's intentions regarding studying magic?

[] She's starting to wear herself. She'll drop down to part-time studies after this quarter. (Next arc will be spent with time in District Nine.)

[] She's generally happy where she is right now. Maybe one class less a quarter? (Start time-skipping forward as Taylor continues to study magic until she can get home.)

[] Going back to see Dad, Emma, and Taylor's friends from camp is important, but this seems like a great place to do 'boarding school' instead of a n

X] She's generally happy where she is right now. Maybe one class less a quarter? (Start time-skipping forward as Taylor continues to study magic until she can get home.)

((()))

"I'm generally pretty happy here," you conclude, "My mother was a professional teacher, maybe I've inherited her penchant for academia."

"Well," Max says with a smile, "Maybe you'll end up joining the Izzet then, instead of your homeworld's Wojek."

"I wouldn't rule it out," you say with a shrug, "I'm still pretty young, which is I guess what I've really been saying. I need to grow up more before I have a solid idea what I'm going to do."

((()))

Time continues to slide by, your mind steadily getting more and more saturated with understanding of magic, while you continue to grow. Your human form mostly just grows taller, clearly starting to inherit your father's height, while your Dragon form grows in all dimensions, finally catching up with your human form in overall mass, even if a lot of that is tail and wing.

Betty complains at least once a week about how much bigger than her you're getting, but it's always in good fun, and she actually smiles when you start teasing her about being a 'slow flier' in return.

Then, one weekend when you're back at Feather's, McClade asks for a minute of your time.

((()))

"This'll be my finest piece yet lass," McClade says with a smile, holding up a delicate little choker for you, with a dangling hollow metal pendant, "It has the strongest protective magics I know how to craft, will sharpen your claws, and even help a bit with healin'."

"It's beautiful," you reply with a smile, "Does it need any particular thing to activate it?"

"The basic effects, no," McClade replies, "Put it on, and let me explain how t' activate the special bits…"

You slip it on, and he walks you through the somewhat abstract process of poking around at it with your mind. Neither of you notice at first, but as you do, ectoplasm starts to ooze out of somewhere into the pendant, slowly filling it with a turquoise substance.

When you activate the choker's most powerful ability, the ectoplasm crystalizes and starts to glow, and that gets your attention.

"...Didn' design it to do that," McClade says, carefully lifting the pendant up between forefinger and thumb, his eyes glowing with some sort of Divination magic, "You still feelin' alright?"

"Nothing wrong," you say, looking at the glowing little gem curiously, "Do you know what that is?"

"No," McClade says with a worried frown, "Looks a little like an Ioun Stone, but that ain't right either."

"Well," you say, happy to have something to do with the friendly craftsman, "Let's find out!"

((()))

In the end, McClade visits Nivix with you, and after speaking with a couple different teachers, it's ultimately Parasetimol who is able to identify it.

"That appears to be a Psicrystal," he says with a happy smile, "It is a Psion's rough equivalent to a Familiar, and similarly, it is supposed to grow in power alongside its master. Oh, this will be a most excellent subject for further study!"

((()))

Taylor's gains from this quarter:

Illusion 101 grants the opportunity to learn Ghost Sound for 25 XP.

Psionics tutoring 201 gets Taylor another rank in Knowledge (Psionics).

Transmutation 20 grants the opportunity to learn Magic Weapon for 50 XP.

Introduction to Magical Crafting would give the opportunity to buy Scribe Scroll, but Taylor already has that. Instead, Taylor will have a 250 XP discount available on her next level of Artificer.

Summoning 202 grants Taylor the opportunity to learn Summon Monster 1 for 50 XP.

Conjuration 301 grants Taylor the opportunity to learn Glitterdust for 100 XP.

Just because an option is available to buy, doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Taylor's Dragon HD after the Decamillenial celebration attack are advancing to 5, which gets her to (fixed) 5th​ level Sorceror casting, which means she learns an additional Cantrip, 1st​ level spell, 2nd​ level spell, and her first 3rd​ level spell. For those uncertain, these do not cost any XP.

[] Write-in additional Cantrip to learn.

[] Write-in additional level 1 spell to learn.

[] Write-in additional level 2 spell to learn.

[] Write-in first level 3 spell to learn.

So, Taylor currently has 16800 XP total, of which 10675 XP is available for spending.

Reasonable class availability:

Psion, currently at 2.

Artificer, currently at 1.

By choosing not to go for Wizard, this leaves base class availability somewhat restricted, and at 5 HD, Taylor is almost but not quite to the point where she can start taking Prestige Classes. Keep that in mind in picking what to spend on.

Taylor also gets another feat at 5th​ level, as we're using the Pathfinder progression.

[] Write-in a feat to take.

Taylor gets 23 skill points to spend, 11 from her 4th​ HD, 12 from her 5th​ HD. Choose how to spend them:

[] Skill point plan.

[X] Plan Get ready for evil terrorists

AN: To avoid any misunderstanding, this is jumping forward to after the Decamillenial again.

((()))

Even in Nivix, possibly the most insular place on Ravnica, everybody talks about the attack on the ceremony for days. It isn't just the fact that somebody tried something incredibly dangerous and stupid, it's that it wasn't done by the Rakdos or Gruul, and happened at the heart of District One.

Izzet being Izzet, a large chunk of the discussion is about how someone managed to turn so many statues into golems without anybody noticing. The overarching consensus is that it was probably someone posing as street cleaners working on the statues, and it involved a modification to Golems' usual immunity to direct magic, making them resistant to Divination magic that would detect that their magical auras had changed.

And it would be 'changed,' because the decorative stonework at such an important location is of course enchanted for basic durability and corrosion resistance. The conversations in the cafeteria, classrooms, and halls are interesting; you wish that you had more than just a basic understanding of how to imbue magic in items, so you could follow them better.

You are drawn out of your thoughts on the subject when a Message spell arrives calling you to Actigall's lab for a special test.

((()))

"Miss Hebert," Actigall says with a nod as you enter, "Good. We had initially scheduled this test for three days from now, but decisions have been made at higher levels to move things up because of security concerns."

"...Is Nivix being threatened?" you ask hesitantly.

"Not to my knowledge," Actigall says, shaking his head, "But given the Decamillenial was targeted because of its historic nature, and the historic nature of this test, an abrupt rescheduling was decided on to remove any chance of interference."

"Okay," you say with a nod, "What are we doing?"

"We're going to make a first attempt at opening a connection to your home Plane," Actigall says, "Three tests have been done with a spell from the archives to prove it can reach Agyrem; now we're going to see if it can be used to reach your 'Earth Bet,' using your dimensional signature to key its targeting matrix."

"I'm going home?" you ask excitedly.

"Not today," Actigall says firmly, "This is a first test, and if the dimensional breach forms and stabilizes, we'll be sending through a monitor lizard with an attached self-triggering SE to bring it back. If it comes back unharmed, we may send you home on a second test, but preferably we will wait until after three successful tests before risking a sapient."

"I understand," you say, working to tamp down on your eagerness, "Do I do anything different than usual?"

"You'll be holding this," he says, handing you a bronze medallion attached to a magical contraption, "And not sitting in the isolation circle. Other than that, you just need to wait while we work through final preparations, and not use any magic while the test is underway."

You nod eagerly, and find a place to sit out of the way, between the magical circles at the center of the lab, but not inside of any of them. There are almost twice as many people in the lab as usual, including two people you recognize as members of Nivix' security detachment, probably here in case something goes horribly wrong and nasty things come out of the portal without prompting.

It only takes about ten minutes for preparations to finish after you arrive, and once a burly elf arrives with a big unconscious lizard in his arms, everything is ready, and Actigall starts reading off of a checklist.

You have to actively work to keep yourself calm and in place. You've been waiting for this for nine months now.

"Are you ready, Miss Hebert?" Actigall says.

"Ready," you reply, clutching at the floor with your claws.

Two more checks later, Actigall takes position in one of the circles that's never been used while you were present in the lab, and the lizard is placed directly between you and him. He takes one final look around the lab to see that everything is in place, then starts chanting, raising his hands with-

Is that a tuning fork?

-a spell focus and-

Discontinuity.

Something seizes the entirety of all that is you, and you rocket forward towards Actigall, smashing into the lizard and sweeping it along and-

Discontinuity.

((()))

Discontinuity.

Darkness, shadow, a-

You recognize that silhouette.

"I sense the work of the enemy in this timing, child."

"Where am I?"

"Next time, I will try to answer questions, for now, you must run, for your very life depends upon it."

Discontinuity.

((()))

Discontinuity.

Your claws scratch at something hard beneath you, and your awareness materializes in a street.

A modern street, ashphalt surface with white lane lines painted on it. Signs in English at the corner of the block, wood, brick, and concrete construction on either side.

America.

You're home. Ish.

An explosion sounds in the distance, and a moment later you hear gunfire, not like in the movies, but a heavy, throaty 'bum bum bum bum,' carrying over the sound of widespread screams.

What is happening?

What do?

[] Turn away from the noise and fly as fast as you can.

[] Fly up above the surrounding buildings and find out what's going on.

[] Try to find someone to talk to.

[] Write-in.

[X] Turn away from the noise and fly as fast as you can.

((()))

Twisting around to turn away from the sounds of combat, you notice the lizard came through with you. In a moment of insight, you sweep it up as you lift off, and start winging your way down the city street as quickly as you can, which is pretty fast.

Obviously, the spell worked. Equally obviously, you don't know how to cast it yourself, and Actigall might not be able to target Earth Bet for a recast without you and your particular dimensional properties on hand. Just holding onto the lizard might be enough to bring you back to Ravnica when the one-use magical device on its collar activates, but even if it isn't, you don't want to leave it behind.

As you fly, it becomes very clear that something is wrong with this city. First-off, there's almost no cars on the street, and none of them moving. Second off, there were no people where you landed, and as you fly on, the humans you do come across are all running in the same direction as you.

Further, the sounds of combat steadily escalate in intensity, even as the relative volume fades with distance. More gunfire, smashing and crashing sounds, shouts and screams loud enough to be heard over great distances, aside from the gunfire, it's a lot like what happened at the Decamillenial.

You pass some strange things on the street as well, such as snakes big enough you know they can't be native to this kind of environment, but it isn't until you get out of the city core and away from the taller buildings that you're able to see what the cause of this all is.

A good half-mile away, a shimmering feathered figure bobs and weaves over the city, flinging around pieces of rubble. Your human eyes would have a hard time discerning anything but the vaguest details at this distance, but your Dragon eyes, designed for aerial predation, make it clear exactly what you're dealing with.

The Simurgh.

Turning away, you redouble your flight efforts; you don't know exactly how long one is allowed to be around the Simurgh before quarantine becomes mandatory, but you have zero interest in finding out. Pushing your speed, you can make something like ninety miles an hour in a 'flying sprint.' Hopefully it's enough.

Unfortunately, nothing is that simple.

Nothing is ever that simple.

Down below, you see group of civilians being attacked by some kind of monstrous beasts that look like a minotaur with snakes growing out of their backs. One burly man using a torn-off car door as a shield is trying to ward off attacks, but he's already bleeding. An older man and woman are firing pistols at them, and two are on the ground trying to crawl away. Three of the beasts are still up and active, and two human corpses as well, one of them with a second car door smashed into his torso.

Do you try to help?

[] No. Keep flying.

[] Yes.

-[] Write-in basic outline of how.