Lore of Leyuna RPG (FRPG)

[The Kingpin]

"But how do you maintain a staff?" she asked, raising a brow confusedly. It seemed a bit odd. Was it to be polished? Rubbed with some kind of liquid that would make the wood age better? Perhaps some kind of incantation?

The thoughts distracted her so much she started to dip, only a 'Hey! Watch it!" from below drawing her attention to her sinking altitude, zipping back up to her previous height once more with a belated "Sorry!" on her part.

[C S]

Solaurn echoed the sentiment, while Gwenviere produced her trilling and chattering sounds, which seemed more... urgent than a simple greeting. Dahnae, too, was able to detect that something was amiss with their teacher. An instinctual empathy, as with Gwen, or a more predatory stance towards finding weakened and thus easier prey, who could tell. Certainly not the girl herself, who went up to Viho and placed a palm on his forehead without any regard for decorum.


"Think of your staff as... a plant." Syria paused. "It used to be one, granted, but the... spirit of it, I guess, is the same. As it used to absorb the sun's light and warmth for light, it reacts to your magic flowing through it. It keeps it lively and energized. In the most basic way, that's how you maintain a staff. The other things are common sense, I'd say. 'Don't overload the staff with spells it wasn't meant to handle, don't break the staff, don't break the jewel..." The mage waved a hand. "Physical damage is a bit more of a hassle to deal with, if you can't do repairs."

[Hopeflower]

Viho jolted, actually taken completely off-guard, and it was then that a concerned frown crossed Firel's expression. Their teacher was never surprised. He'd tried often enough to take Viho by surprise to know that for a fact.

"Good morning," the older psychomancer said, to try and deflect any questions about his well-being right off the bat. "I trust that you're finding your way around just fine?" he asked Solaurn and Gwenviere. It was a strain to perform the simple mind linking he had done without batting an eye just the other day. He really should not have been using his magic, as a sharp pulsing in his temple reminded him. Still, Viho made the effort. Only long practice at keeping his expression neutral kept him from wincing.

[The Kingpin]

That confused the girl even more. "So...you maintain it after each use...by using it?" she asked, stumped.

[C S]

"Until it breaks, or loses its charge by continuous misuse." Syria grinned and slowed down a bit to tussle the tricorn on Beshayir's head. "They are wonderful things, are they not? Wands are fairly similar, if I understand them correctly."

Gwenviere replied with her incomprehensible chattering, and Solaurn looked at her with the deepest confusion and sadness for not being able to understand what had her friend so up in arms. Dahnae, being Dahnae, decided she would help her ailing teacher by bumping her own forehead against his. This did not make Gwenviere happy in the slightest. The vaun muttered to herself as she approached Viho's desk. Though she did not speak the language, the mannerisms were all the same. The little creature grappled with the ledge of the desk and hauled herself up it, a task far easier than climbing a mountain to its snowy peak, and then sat down on her haunches next to the elf. She reached into her little plant-weave coat, rummaging around in the tiny pockets within.

[The Kingpin]

The gesture, while playful, had Beshayir gripping extra firmly onto the staff, worrying Syria may accidentally push her off balance. Once she was sure she was safe, she gave attention to what the mage had said. "I'm fairly sure they are. I read a bit about them in one of the magic books Septimus wrote for me. It said something along the lines of 'Channelling instruments are a matter of taste more so than purpose, though some magic fields require specific instruments because of the magic involved'. Apparently it is why warmages almost always use staves rather than wands or any other instrument," she stated thoughtfully.

[C S]

"Mm," Syria droned, less than impressed. "Staffs are excellent tools with almost unparalleled utility and dependability. They are more dignified than a battlefield allows them to be," she said, then caught herself with a chuckle. "But I'm being silly again, aren't I?" she asked.

[The Kingpin]

"What do you mean?" asked the girl, not knowing what the mage was chastising herself for.

[C S]

"A pacifist's soul is not reason for denouncing war with every mention of it, along with the abilities that may be more suited for... combat," the now hat-less mage replied. She could only imagine how tiresome it would be for Septimus and the elven child to hear her prattle on and on about how fighting was wrong, and killing was deplorable, and all the other things.

[The Kingpin]

"War is a bad thing," she agreed, reflecting on the fact that was how she lost her parents. "But sometimes it's something we have to do," she added, remembering why, exactly, they had fought. "Fight for what's right, to protect others from things they can't protect themselves from...Like Ceri," she offered as an example.

[C S]

The older lady let out an uneasy sigh upon hearing that one. "Most of the people below us are all willing to do just that, for kinds of troubles that hurt all kinds of people. I would like to think, however, the next time two factions threaten to raise their swords upon each other, I would be there as one of the last avenues of peace to make sure it doesn't happen. And if peace is to fail... that's why we have the likes of Septimus, and Desrium."

[The Kingpin]

"Doesn't Septimus also try and keep peace?" she asked, her head tilting. She had heard Antar call him an emissary, an ambassador, a diplomat, among other things, during their visits.

[C S]

"Yes, yes he does. He will push until he's all but falling apart to prevent fighting. But if fighting should start, then Septimus will be there to fight, as is his sworn duty," Syria explained. "I do not claim a title, or any distinction. Septimus still waits for the day I do, but I have no interest for the time being. What I will do, however, is be a voice of reason where even he is not able. Some reminder of kindness when all else are ramping up for conflict. It is all I ask for, really."

[The Kingpin]

The young elf hesitated at that. As much as she wanted to agree, she had seen enough of the harsh realities of the world to know that not everyone deserved the kindness Syria lived by. But she couldn't tell her that. It would crush her to know the sweet little elf was not so sweet after all.

"Maybe one day, people will learn that it's not worth it," was the answer she settled on. It wasn't perfect, but it was as close to it as she could manage.

[C S]

"It is as good a wish as any, Beshayir," the mage replied simply in a way that was telling that she already knew how unwieldy her hopes were. Like the young elf, Syria had seen the worst aspects of man and otherwise. It was the dedication to keeping the spirit alive in the face of all of it that mattered as much as the spirit itself. For Syria, having that flame smothered and outed by ill-hearts would only be another victory for them, and the greatest failure for her. She had as much reason as any other to cave in to more cynical views, but she stubbornly opposed them.

[Hopeflower]

Viho flinched just slightly, but after being outside Dahnae's skin was a cooling touch and soothed the pain her well intentioned gesture caused. "There's no need to fuss," he said softly. "This is the cost of overstepping your limits. I'll be fine in a day or two." His gaze slid to Firel, wanting to make sure his student understood.

With such a demonstration, Firel could hardly say that he didn't. Viho's discomfort probably went even deeper than their teacher was letting on.

[C S]

Dahnae's retort was interrupted before it could form itself into words. Gwenviere pushed at her side to shoo the girl off while chittering her reprimands, bolder than she was the day before. Dahnae moved and looked at the vaun with one eyebrow arched. On some level she took the bravery as a challenge, and on another level, she was wary because of that same bravery. No one liked a meal that fought back, after all.

And Gwenviere, the small spirit that stood before a giant of the skies, was made of some very stern stuff when the need arose. At this moment, that need was helping the elf. She held her hands out in front of Viho. Inside her cupped palms were an assortment of herbs and seeds, and she beckoned him to eat them. Solaurn looked on curiously. Just how many surprises did her unassuming companion have in store?

[Hopeflower]

Being the sort to want to study things that he was given by near strangers before he tried them - he hadn't forgotten the incident where a questionably sane reptilian had told him sap was good for deep wounds - Viho hesitated before holding out his hand. A teacher should learn from his students just as they learned from him, or so his own instructor had once said. That had been many years ago now, but something about the words still rang true.

[C S]

Gwenviere placed her gathering of plant-medicine into Viho's hand and then put hers to her snout, pantomiming the vigorous chewing that he would have to do to get the most out of the herbs. She then looked up at the elf expectantly.

[Hopeflower]

"What are those for?" Firel asked, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

"At a guess, they're for treating magical exhaustion," Viho replied, turning over a few of the seeds with a finger. He didn't recognize them or the herbs. He'd have to ask what they were called after he ate them. With a one-shouldered shrug, he tipped his head back and put the mixture in his mouth before he could overthink it.

The taste that hit him when he started chewing was predictably disgusting, nearly enough so to make him spit them back out. He'd no doubt be tasting the herbs until he could get something more flavorful than the water he carried to drink.

Firel couldn't hold back a sympathetic wince - or stop himself from feeling immensely relived that Viho evidently didn't know enough about herbs to make them eat whatever that was.