>>5780591“It’s not like that,” you insisted.
“Oh?” Pearce teased, flicking your ear. “Good to hear it, Tips.”
“Well what’s THAT mean?” you shot back, and he just shrugged.
“Make of it what you will,” he’d said levelly. “But what IS it like, then?”
It was a fair question. You’d promised the girl lessons in your elven ways, as fair compensation for her own (mostly failed) efforts to tutor you. More than that, well, you’d actually started to warm up to her a little—how could you not, spending so much time together for a whole year? Honestly, she was kind of cute, in her own sort-of-frumpy, painfully-antisocial way.
…But the Spirit of the Old Maple, your own tutor in the ways of Feycraft, had been clear: if you taught her more than the bare basics, let alone gifted her an actual SPELL like the <Faerie Fire> which could lead her to the True Fey and expose their secrets, they would cut you off from the font of that secret knowledge.
What did you do?
>Explain the situation, and regretfully teach Henzler only the very basics of Feycraft—the philosophical underpinnings, the history and some of the basic theology>Risk it anyway—you made a promise, and damnit, you’re going to teach this girl to summon <Faerie Fire>, and by means of your new elective deal with what consequences come>Cancel your study sessions, and suggest a different activity instead, such as…>>Tutoring her in Life Magic>>Joining her in her passion for works of escapist fiction>>Inviting her along on shopping excursions and drinking nights with friends>No-show—this is too awkward and you can’t be dealing with these distractions from your intellectual pursuits… She’d understand that, surely?>Write-in[Pick one, please]
“Anyway,” Pearce interrupted your private thoughts with his increasingly-baritone voice. “Combat casting’s going well. I’m kicking may an ass, I’ll have you know.”
“Of course you chose that,” you scoff.
“A good thing, too,” he said a titch defensively. “What, you think Henzler’s going to cover your ass if you ever go out in the field, or Southmen come calling again to explode the bloody Tower?”
“I could protect myself, maybe?” you suggest blithely.
He stares at you for a second, then just laughs.
“With those twig arms? Tips, you’re killing me.”
You pouted slightly. In spite of his teasing, you well knew how you planned to progetct yourself. Your own elective was a defensive one, after all!
What spell do you focus on mastering in Extraplanar Summoning & Binding?
><Hold Monster>><Banish>><Circle of Protection>><Protection from the Elements>><Summon Elemental I>>Write-in 