Magical Landry Sign-Up Part Deux - The Landrying!

[Red Mage Black]

Redone Bio and Spell List:

Name: Nasir Alfarsi
Age: 18 [18]
Gender: Male
Race: Half Demon
Aura: (Still not sure on this one)
Appearance: 6'1"(182.5cm or 1.83m), shoulder length black hair, dark skin, eyes that are gold during the day and silver at night, tattoo under his right eye(Mark of The Wanderer, not an actual tattoo, but might look like one to people who don't know what it actually is). Wears his desert/religious clothing, which includes the light billowy clothing all in varying desert hues which include sand and how it appears during the day and the night, a cloak with a hood, a carved stone mask that bears a design of the Wanderer's Mark(painted on) and is kept strapped to the hood of his cloak when not in use and last but not least sandals on his feet.

Biography -
From the young age of 6, Nasir's life was filled with religious teachings. This included the origin of their tribe, those they fled and the evils of the city-dwellers. The Wanderer was not the only deity he came to learn about, but many others and which families were dedicated to them. At the age of 12, he was starting to be groomed for his place as a warrior priest, to help protect the tribe where others could not. During this period of time, he was not only taught martial combat, but also about magic. With no hinderance from any organized body of people, this was not a problem. It encompassed fighting with not just his walking stick, but taking advantage of inclement weather.
Four years of gruelling desert travel and harsh training, he finally came to bear the mark of his family's dedicated deity. The circumstances behind The Wanderer's choice of chosen were baffling at best, but there was still more to come. As he still hadn't completed training, he had some skill to be noted. His finer manipulation of the wind and his ability to call lightning from a clear sky. Spells inherited from his own blood. Lesser abilities were confirmed to be the minor ability to heal, a very useful ability on a battlefield and the ability to harden his body against attacks on his person. Despite the fact The Wanderer only takes one priest every lifetime and constantly putting himself on the battlefield would be a danger, Nasir continued his training regardless.

It happened all at once. In a dream, The Wanderer walked to him over an oasis lit silver by the hanging moon. While honored by the presence of his worshiped deity, The Wanderer spoke to him. "You must go to this place," they said, showing him a vision of Amaranth, "But first..." The Wanderer told him, showing him people he had never seen before, "You must meet these people. They are from an organization called 'The Witch's Guild'. They will teach you new things and how to speak the language of the natives in your final destination. The other figures vanished, leaving one behind. "This is the first one you will meet. Go to her. She will understand you and point you in the right direction. Once this has been done, I will show you to your next destination. Your fellow priests will understand this journey. Leave by sunrise and you will reach your first destination in two weeks. Take only what you need for the first part of this journey."
With all this information, Nasir's head was almost spinning. To leave his tribe and go out into the world. One which he had never seen before, but how could he question the orders of his deity. As The Wanderer had ordered, Nasir set off at sunrise, taking a couple waterskins, jerky, bread, his religious clothing/tools which was his priest mask and walking stick and changes of clothing with him on his journey.

On his way on the path that had been laid out, the Witch's Guild members had been as helpful as they could be, giving him extra food, something to drink, washing his clothing and even help getting across the ocean. He had taken cargo freighters from one country to the next, where the others The Wanderer told him about would take him. With his skill, he would help prevent storms from overcoming the freighters, using advice from the guild members not to use magic around the workers.

The last leg of his journey rested when a freighter stopped in Alaska. While cold weather was no longer a mystery to Nasir, he insisted upon learning one last spell from his deity's repetoir of elements, fire. Meeting the last Witch's Guild member was easy enough. They secured not only an ID, but also a passport to get him through the border into Canada. Then for days and nights, he trekked through the Alaskan wilderness and finally found his way in. His ignition spell to light wood was incredibly helpful for surviving the freezing nights.

Upon passing into Canada, that night, Nasir had one last vision from The Wanderer. He was shown his direct route to Amaranth, including to the building he needed to go to. 2 years of journey finally see him to his destination. Even the school was oddly accepting and the English lessons along the way had paid off.

Spells(!):

Whispers of the Storm - -
Before his training as The Chosen of The Wanderer, Nasir was starting to master the elements of his family's deity, which started with weather. By continuous chanting, Nasir can eventually change the direction of the wind and turn it into a strong gale.

Staff Fighting Mastery - -
Part of growing up in the tribe is knowing how to fight the dangers in the desert and whatever foes to the many faiths you may come across. Although only armed with a walking stick, the principle is the same, defensive and to keep the enemy from approaching. Though with each strike, from the side or from the tip, Nasir adds a little bit of force, like wind, for a knockback. The walking stick is specifically enchanted for not only this purpose but to deliver his other elemental spells.

Ignite Object - -
Days walking through the Alaskan Wilderness were cold, but the nights were even more brutally so. The tip from the Witch's Guild representative gave him good advice, "Learn to start a fire or make it out of nothing," this was for refusing the much easier route of being driven to Amaranth. Considering the elements of The Wanderer, this was much easier than was thought. By pressing the tip of his walking stick against a block of wood and channeling throught the stick, he can set it on fire, wet or dry.

Healing Heart - -
Training as a battle priest meant not only training to disable or destroy the enemy, but healing your own warriors so that they may fight another day. Not one of his strongest spells, he must first touch the wounded and chant the prayers of healing, albeit this would be for more minor wounds.

Deny The Infidel - Defense Surge -
Learning how to defend yourself is key to any encounter with hostiles and this is something that's emphasized greatly to the tribe's warriors and battle priests. It is also offensive to strike the priests first, but while the defense isn't perfect, it can prevent much greater injuries. By chanting the prayer of protection, Nasir hardens his skin to cushion blows in whatever form they take, be it blunt, slashing or piercing.

Clubs -
Fitness
Martial Arts [Advanced - Bojutsu]
Meditation
Wilderness

Misc -
The staff itself is enchanted to be able to cast spells with, with tiny markings over it and was hardened previously to be able to use for melee combat as well.

Book of prayers - Just what it says, a book of prayers to not only The Wanderer, but a few other deities from his tribe as well. Contains the prayer of healing(Healing Heart) and the prayer of protection(Deny The Infidel). It's usually chained to the belt around his waist, a hook through the bottom of the spine and one at the top which can be undone so he can hold it freely, with a small length of silk tied around it to hold it shut when not in use. All the prayers inside are written in Arabic, including the spell prayers.

His clothing of course, is non-magical as is the mask.

[Girasol of Chaos]

Applicants:

I'd like to remind you that no matter what stage of the process you are at, there is a template for your character sheet. Please use this to help your GM: it'll ease the reading and help get the reviews done.

Thank you in advance.

[Zoological Uncertainty]

Name: Cassandra "Cassie" Hayden
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Aura: You can try to guess at your Aura color - but its probably best to leave this section to me. Its the sum of all your spell hues.
Age: 18
Appearance: 5'2'', average build, wavy pale blonde hair reaches halfway down her back, dusty blue eyes and caucasian. Her clothing is nothing special, usually jeans and a blouse. Except she always mismatches colors. She wears sunglasses over her eyes when she goes out, and carries a white cane.

Spells:

Borrow Sight, Compound Spell, ? Elemental
With this spell, Cassie can transfer her sight with someone else's. This is limited solely to body functions related to eyesight. She can open and close the other person's eyelids and move their eyes and see what they see, and the victim can do the same with her eyes (for all that's worth). While active, Cassie and the victim can hear each other's surface thoughts. This spell requires direct, skin-on-skin physical contact to activate, and ends when that contact is broken or Cassie consciously turns it off.

Proximity Sense/Battle Precognition, Compound Spell, ? Elemental
When activated, this spell allows Cassie to sense the shape and features of any object within five feet of her. In combat, she can also select one of the objects she's sensing, and for added Will drain, have a vision of what their next move will be.

Danger Sense, Grade 1, ? Elemental
This spell activates whenever something comes within a twenty feet radius of Cassie, intending to do her direct harm. She becomes suddenly aware that something dangerous is coming at her and the direction it's coming from.

Summon: Cane, Grade 1, ? Elemental
In the rare event she's not without it, Cassie can summon her cane into her hand.

Palm Reading, Grade 1, ? Elemental
Cassie often uses this spell as part of a "read your future through your palm" gag. In reality, she implants a simple, one-word suggestion into the mind of the victim, in Cassie's case often things like "flirt" or "drink", and lets their minds fill out the details. This spell requires direct, skin-on-skin contact.

Bio:
Cassie was born premature, and suffers from Retinopathy of Prematurity, a severe case which resulted in her being completely blind. Cassie's parents, both members of the Wizard's Guild, were somewhat overprotective of their daughter because of this. Her mother, a school teacher, got jobs at Cassie's school so she could keep an eye on her daughter. Though Cassie understood their concern, she harbored some resentment and wished she could see. Still, her parents didn't keep her sheltered, and Cassie led as full a life as she could.

Her parents' decision to awaken her stemmed partly from the possibility that magic could make living with her condition easier. Mostly, though, it was an incident where Cassie's Borrow Sight power first manifested. She was feeling particularly frustrated with her condition one day, and bumped into another kid in a hallway at school. The unrefined Black version of the spell caused severe trauma to the kid from a combination of the sudden loss of his sight, the sudden transfer of Cassie's thoughts of shock, realization and then euphoria, and permanent damage to his sight. Cassie herself was fine, her only remark being "Huh, so that's what people look like".

So her parents awakened her at thirteen, and helped her develop her spells to make living with her blindness easier. They decided against sending her to a Wizarding Academy because those were too strict and rigid for someone like Cassie. Instead, they trained her for years, partly out of overprotectiveness, so she could go to Amaranth. Though Cassie's parents didn't stop her from going to public school and having a social life, her parents still worried about her magic and how she handled her blidness. Though Cassie loves them, she rebelled by against both her parents and her condition by fully embracing her social life.

Unbeknownst to her parents, Cassie became more and more obsessed with sight after the first incident, and developed a fairly active sex life with ulterior motives, telling her parents she was sleeping over with a friend. After her partners fell asleep, she would borrow their sight and just stare through their eyes all night. Most of them woudln't hook up with her again, due to weird dreams that creeped them out.

When she turned eighteen, her parents finally decided she was ready to go to Amaranth, though they managed to drag it out for two months, not wanting to separate from their vulnerable little girl, resulting in Cassie's late enrollment.

Clubs:
Home Ec
Meditation
Strolling
Fencing (Saber)

Notes:
- Reads braille.
- Weapon proficiency: Saber.
- Improvised weapon proficiency: Cassie's learned to wield her cane like a saber if the need arises, with a modified technique to compensate for the fact that it's not a bladed weapon.
- Information on her condition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinopathy_of_prematurity

Relationships:
Timothy Hayden: Cassie's father, a member of the Wizard's Guild, who works as a real estate agent, and was a fencing champion in his youth. He still sees his daughter as a helpless little girl, much to her chagrin, though he tries to avoid that sort of thinking and let her take care of herself.

Jennie Hayden: Cassie's mother, also a member of the Wizard's Guild. She's a school teacher, and would take jobs at Cassie's schools, teaching Cassie's classes if she could, to keep an eye on her daughter. She shares her husband's views about Cassie.

Nate Adams: one of Cassie's friends, who attends his first year at Amaranth. A younger boy who has a hopeless crush on her. Cassie's aware, but doesn't return his affections and simply considers him a friend. He's a Black, and is in Fencing Club with her.

Barbara Lane: Cassie's roommate and friend, and a first-year student at Amaranth. She's some kind of spiritualist, but Cassie's never asked for details. She's kind of spacy and distracted, which is ironic because she's in Meditation and Home Ec with Cassie.

Daniel Hicks: Another first-year student, one of the best students in Fencing Club, and kind of a jerk. He has no problem teasing blind girls, but Cassie doesn't really care about him.

[Teal Mage]

Originally Posted by phil_

Short version: Can one make a living on magic?

Short Answer: No.

Longer Answer: Not exactly. Magic may primarily be viewed as a weapon in this game – hence the strict guidelines for its control and application. However, it is true that most Magicians do not regularly fight monsters and demons – magic does have more practical applications than killing people. The spell-growth aspect of MTPL! is actually based around these ‘more practical’ applications – clubs encourage students to use their magic to improve the quality of their work, or meet challenges that are not strictly related to combat, to help them prepare for a life where overt magical displays are simply impractical.

Put another way, magic may – and in-fact, should be – used to improve the quality of work you put out in your day job. A magician must be careful not to create overtly magical objects, and therefore, they must walk a very fine line. However, the Masquerade does not prevent Doctors from using spells to subtly improve the health of their patents (though curing Cancer miraculously is another story entirely – some plausible explanation must be maintained), nor does it prevent a baker from making their products taste better (making them addicting, on the other hand, might cause problems – if such a thing is detected, that is). The Guilds believe that, while revealing magic to the general public will cause more harm than good, there is value to using it carefully to provide benefits. Consequentially, Guilds officially encourage such actions.

But no, in the modern world, outside of working an Administrative, Educational or Military-esque position, you can not live on magic alone. Oh, Government Organizations also have Research positions - dedicated to finding ways to do what the Guilds do, without so much specialization or decentralization.

Originally Posted by phil_

Or could one ever, historically?

In the past, when belief in magic was more widespread, people could make a living as magicians more obviously, yes. However, these people still needed to provide some sort of service – magical healing was probably the most common one. Nobles might have kept magicians on staff for more combat oriented uses. Priests, associated with the Catholic Church, had a larger (and vaguely Military-esque) role in the past as well.

This arrangement is still present, to varying degrees, in less-developed countries.

* * *

Good news Rhiya! Your bio requires very little attention from me. Backstory, relationships and clubs all check out. I have a few comments about some of your spells and the Elite Ma - Oh you changed the name in your edits? Elite Maid Sisterhood, then. Gonna work off what's on the pad, but please post an updated bio on the forums when you have a chance.

Let's start with some basic stuff. Inconspicuous Maid, as I recall, also requires her to avoid making aggressive or attention drawing movements, while the spell is active, so add a note about that to the spell. Otherwise, that one's fine. Broomstick Defense is also fine - the ability works on most objects she can get ahold of.

Quiet Determination works, going by the form on the pad. A physical boost increases the amount of power her muscles can put out - her jumps will go further, she hits harder and etc. Downside is that it'll put a fair stress on her body, though the Will drain is around moderate, as far as Mode-Shifts go. Whether or not this is the best way to get Emme a 'get serious' mode is another matter. The two alternate options I can think of would be something like a competency boosting mode-shift, wherein she emulates a master of her style (like her mom?), or a luck enchantment. The former wouldn't improve her attributes, but would allow her to act more rapidly (not quite a reflex boost, but close), while the latter would prevent her from getting tripped up by outside influences. If you'd prefer a straight-up attribute boost though, like I said, fine. It would be Yellow Elemental, in that case.

Moving onto Summon: Extra Hand. I don't have a large issue with this, but I would like to clarify its limitations. Right now, Emme needs to know what the hand will do before she calls it, using a Wizard Spell, I think. I would recommend making the command she gives the hand at least partially verbal. Since its a Wizard spell, it probably needs to be Latin (incidentally, when speaking a foreign language in this game, unless you know the phonetics of the words, just write what you want to say in italicized, quoted, English). Even if the command is simple and short, Emme can use her thoughts to fill in details. The spoken command, incidentally, would prevent the hand from getting completely confused if she has a poorly placed stray thought.

Regarding further limitations: The hand must remain relatively close to Emme, it can levitate, is invisible (through obvious to the Awakened) and is relatively weak (though I won't give it a strict weight limit). Assuming there's a Mental or Spoken command involved, it would be Green. Teal if the command is purely Mental. Once the task Emme set for it is fulfilled, it vanishes. She can only have one hand summoned at a time. After the hand is summoned, Emme may continue to use spells (its not a Mode-Shift). Altering or adding to the command would be a relatively easy free cast, incidentally.

Oh, minor additional question: Does this summon a spirit from another location? If so, is the spirit a real ghost that Emme bound to her, or an artificial ghost someone (maybe Emme) created? The alternative would be to make this into something she creates each time she uses the spell - making it less a Summon Spell and more, well, a normal one.

Maid's Step. If this is just Flash Step, fine. However, I thought you wanted the long range variant of Flash Move? As a review, Flash Move requires Emme to stop moving and generate a spell circle (the sending circle) beneath herself, before firing an invisible projectile for magical energy. The projectile bursts on contact with a physical obstruction and creates a second spell circle (the receptor circle). Emme is then able to teleport instantly between these two locations. In theory, the order that these circles are created isn't important (though if she's not careful, the spell might fail, since this would technically be a free-cast) but the spell requires her to stop moving for an instant before the teleport can occur, and she needs to be fully within the sending circle to activate this spell. It's Blue Elemental. Flash Step is Yellow.

Originally Posted by Rhiya Ravenwing

Elite Maids Sisterhood – a largely independent organization with a seat on the ESA. The Sisterhood specializes in training prized bodyguards for the higher members of any organization - extending from the ESA Households, to even the Witches, Wizards and even the Blacks' government. They are also simultaneously highly trained individuals very capable in other mundane fields (ie: running and managing a Household fully independent to the head of the House). The Maids Sisterhood is in association to the male equivalent Brethren of Butlers.

I would mention that their links to the Government Organizations would probably be tenuous at best. Guilds and Government Organizations have a cool relationship at best - using agents of the Guilds, even if they represent a particularly neutral and independent faction within them, to guard their higher-ups would be something they'd be extremely wary of. Government Organizations ultimately want to reduce the influence of Guilds, after all.

Beyond that, I would also suggest either making the organization gender-neutral with a deceptive name (like the Witch's or Wizard's Guilds) or simply giving it a gender neutral name, rather than make two organizations divided strictly along gender-lines. Doing that seems to needlessly overcomplicate things, without adding significantly to the flavour. Seems easier to collapse them into a single body - even if Maids and Butlers would be housed/trained separately – unless you can think of a good reason to keep them divided, that is?

Alright, that stuff said! Please post an updated bio as soon as possible.

* * *

Originally Posted by Relm Zephyrous

Fleshing out Fighting Style
Her preferred style of fighting at a range is with grenade like thrown projectiles. Mainly for when subtlety isn't as much of an issue as outright stopping somebody. I don't suspect that grenades will be available to any degree though, so the most I expect this to come into play in-rp is being able to throw small round things accurately, or maybe chucking rocks at people.

Wow.

Okay, Relm? This is the same thing I just warned you about doing. The way you phrased that makes it sound as those Alice was always intended to have throwing skills and specialize in hucking munitions at people. This isn't remotely implied in your profile. But, it sounds as though you were gonna put this in anyway.

That's bad. It's also an incredibly stupid thing to do, on the bunch of levels. The least of which being Capoeria requires your hands to be free to use the moves properly, and does not leave openings to throw grenades at people. A wholly different point is that, as a Wizard, using mundane munitions instead of a spell is pretty dumb and expensive.

However, it is precisely because this is overwhelming stupid that I won't expel you, this time. Make no mistake, you messed up. But, I'm just going to assume you didn't understand my warning, rather than that you knowingly broke the rules. To be clear: If something isn't clearly present in your profile, do not pretend that it was. Do it again and you're done. Other kinds of stupid will get warnings, for now.

Originally Posted by Relm Zephyrous

To Arms
Summons dexterous and firm battle gauntlets/boots onto her limbs. These are nimble but hard, and are able to withstand blows about as well as any other metal weapon.

Changing focus, since this spell suggests you don't quite understand the constraints your character is under, skill-wise. Taking a Summoning Spell for weapons is fine, but it suggests that you believe your character to be a trained fighter and an experienced mage. I would like to be clear that your character's backstory will only give you an academically skilled Wizard, with perhaps the barest basics of combat training. She is not, and will not be, a full-fledged Enforcer (or even a skilled martial Artist were you to drop the magic aspect altogether).

The reason I'm limiting you like this is quite simple. You, the player, have not conducted yourself in a way that treats martial arts or magic as 'serious' things. Therefore, I do believe your characters will not treat them appropriately either. You'll have the opportunity to prove otherwise in-game, but you won't be beginning the game with huge advantages by virtue of a particularly advantageous backstory alone.

Originally Posted by Relm Zephyrous

Everyone told me Capoeria was dance-fighting. I just imagined her doing something with listening to music a lot of the time.

Fleshing out Fighting Style
Her preferred style of fighting at melee is Capoeira, with spells augments herself and dampens the magic of the opponent.
Her preferred style of fighting at a range is with grenade like thrown projectiles. Mainly for when subtlety isn't as much of an issue as outright stopping somebody. I don't suspect that grenades will be available to any degree though, so the most I expect this to come into play in-rp is being able to throw small round things accurately, or maybe chucking rocks at people.

Its clear to me that you don't understand what Capoeria is. Here is an example video of how Capoeria works in battle. Granted, it doesn't get into real fighting 'til near the end and the beginning is quite scripted, but it is a good demonstration. Capoeria isn't 'dance' fighting. Fighting like a dancer is different - therefore, I will be making Maria (Alice's current Martial Arts instructor) fight like a Dancer. Alice may know the basics of her style (IE: How to dance normally), not how to fight. If you pursue Capoeria in Amaranth, that's your decision, but you won't be starting with that style.

Additionally, while I had originally intended to leave most of the details surrounding Alice's attendance at Amaranth a secret, I've decided to inform you of several of these changes. I've also included a few clarifying details, required to make her backstory make sense.

Alice is a foundling found by Maria and raised, essentially, as a princess in a magically concealed castle in the Irish country-side. Maria, incidentally, is Samuel Marshall's second wife. Alice was denied little by her foster-mother (Maria raised her, primarily) - save the freedom to leave the castle (it appears Alice didn't want that anyway) and formal combat training. Maria would have liked to train her as an Enforcer from birth, but Samuel insisted that, while it would a disgrace for her to be raised in this castle without knowing some magic, as she is not a true Ex Nihilo, and could not be trusted to as an Enforcer until she was tested. Consequently, Alice was allowed to live a normal - well, normal enough - life, which just happened to contain some magical instruction. It would be acceptable for her to learn one or two battle spells for self-defense reasons, incidentally.

Now, she's being sent to Amaranth to prove she can follow in the family business. Upon reflection, I'll also allow Gary Marshall (if Gem approves it) to be one of her elder siblings (not by birth) who was sent to Amaranth a year before. I will note that their relationship won't be terribly happy - he doesn't like her overmuch.

If these constraints and modifications aren't suitable for you, you can design a new character to play. However, if the new character is worse than Alice (or no better) I'll end the review process there.

Ball's in your court, regarding her initial spell set. Don't plan on getting Grade 2 spells without in-character justifications for how hard she'll have to work for them, though. Magic is really hard, and no one's going to push her to learn tricks.

* * *

Right, aside from the club-based levels (I'll get to those in a moment), I suppose Naomi's fine. She's technically at the point she'd be when entering Amaranth - just need to cover the past two months.

Her four clubs are...Fitness, Veterinary, Computer and Meditation. I'll give you a quick run-down of what goes on in them and then I'd like you to pick two Grade 1 abilities for your character to learn, which are thematically appropriate to two of those clubs. Alternatively, I am willing to consider boosting the grade of a pre-existing ability if it applies to the club at hand - but no promises there. Upping a Grade is hard.

Keep in mind that your character's pre-existing training and knowledge limits what they may learn.

As I implied to Dante, Meditation's first two months are mainly about breathing/relaxation techniques and learning to sit in one place for long periods of time. Very little martial stuff goes on at this point, and most of the more academic elements relate to anatomy (specifically, breathing!) or Buddhism, with bits of Daoism and Shintoism thrown in. Emphasis so far has been overwhelmingly on getting the basics of Meditation down, though. The idea that everything is connected has also been stressed. Compared to other clubs, relatively light homework, for now. Meets daily for Meditation sessions.

Fitness Club is pretty straight-up. The goal of the club is to teach students to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Surprisingly theory heavy - there's a lot about anatomy that students need to learn. Most topics are related to exercise, like sports injuries (and how to avoid them), but there's also information on vitamins, diet, first aide and some simple disease prevention tips. More practically, students need to exercise regularly, and are frequently tested on how 'fit' they are - which includes blood tests to determine if they're eating right. The test is probably magical! It's also accurate. Something like a Sports/Naturalist Medicine program, with a Gym Membership rolled in.

Veterinary Club! This is the closest thing you'd get to a real medicine course in Amaranth. You learn about injuries (predicting, diagnosing and treating), anatomy (mostly animal anatomy, but it's not without application in humans) different diseases (how to diagnose, prevent and some cures) and also need to raise a pet (you select the breed and the club provides it) while you're enrolled in the club. Very heavy theory component - there's a lot of information to take in.

Computer Club, unlike more of Amaranth's clubs, is pretty straight up. First few weeks are a brush-up on practical applications of basic programs - should be pretty easy for Naomi or anyone raised in Human Society. Gets into programming assignments - gradually building in complexity - afterward. Workload gets pretty high - it's similar to most Art classes, in that a new project is due basically every three days. Periodically, you're required to play videogames and write reports on them, instead of assignments.

So, please rank the clubs in order of most focused on to least focused on - then submit some spells. They probably should match the clubs she's putting most of her effort into, though it depends on the rationale she has for learning the spell (some students develop spells to make clubs they're not focusing on easier, after all).

* * *

Originally Posted by Red Mage Black

Appearance: 6'1"(182.5cm or 1.83m), shoulder length black hair, dark skin, eyes that are gold during the day and silver at night, tattoo under his right eye(Mark of The Wanderer, not an actual tattoo, but might look like one to people who don't know what it actually is). Wears his desert/religious clothing, which includes the light billowy clothing all in varying desert hues which include sand and how it appears during the day and the night, a cloak with a hood, a carved stone mask that bears a design of the Wanderer's Mark(painted on) and is kept strapped to the hood of his cloak when not in use and last but not least sandals on his feet.

Oh! I forgot to mention, the Wanderer's Mark varies with each Priest. It's a series of lines - sometimes they're uniform in shape/thickness/color, but sometimes they are different - placed in a design of some kind. Asked Girasol to see if she could come up with anything, but the ultimate decision of what Nasir's mark looks like belongs to you, Red.

Originally Posted by Red Mage Black

His finer manipulation of the wind and his ability to call lightning from a clear sky. Spells inherited from his own blood. Lesser abilities were confirmed to be the minor ability to heal, a very useful ability on a battlefield and the ability to harden his body against attacks on his person. Despite the fact The Wanderer only takes one priest every lifetime and constantly putting himself on the battlefield would be a danger, Nasir continued his training regardless.

I should mention that, aside from his Wind God's blessing, he shouldn't have any innate skills or talents to confirm. They ought to be skills that any magician in his tribe, with the proper training, can manage. Like, I could see if his family was dedicated to the God/Goddess of Healing Winds, he might get Healing and Wind stuff innately, but there'd be drawbacks to a hybrid purview like that. Regardless you'll need to specify what his blessing is associated with in the bio.

Otherwise, backstory looks good. I am going to assume the last Witch he met gave him some winter clothing, though.

Originally Posted by Red Mage Black

Whispers of the Storm
Before his training as The Chosen of The Wanderer, Nasir was starting to master the elements of his family's deity, which started with weather. By continuous chanting, Nasir can eventually change the direction of the wind and turn it into a strong gale.

So, does this spell require it to be windy to use? Don't think there's a way to work this spell without it being Grade 2. Second grade doesn't seem justified by his background, so you're looking at a spell with a long charge-time that blows a gale in a direction from Nasir, or a quick spell the temporarily strengthens a pre-existing wind. A moderately strong wind, or a focused gale-blast (equivalent of Sean's original Blizzard spell) would reflexive casts, but less weather focused. All of the above options are yellow, assuming you go with Nasir's original blessing relating to a Wind God.

A different sort of spell would be one which allows him to alter the direction of a pre-existing natural wind, within a certain range from his position. Requires him to attune to the wind first/spread his magical influence through it, then speak a command in Arabic. Changing the direction of the Wind isn't a quick action, either though. Strengthening or stopping could be done as a free-cast, but they're a lot harder, comparatively (and in ascending order of difficulty). Alternative there would just be a spell with a long incantation - slightly different with each direction. Wouldn't have the option to stop/strengthen it. Former is Chartreuse (Yellow-Green), might be more expensive, second is Green. Neither is cheap.

Starting or stopping winds are wholly different spells, incidentally. Shorter range of effect is faster casting, as a rule.

Originally Posted by Red Mage Black

Staff Fighting Mastery
Part of growing up in the tribe is knowing how to fight the dangers in the desert and whatever foes to the many faiths you may come across. Although only armed with a walking stick, the principle is the same, defensive and to keep the enemy from approaching. Though with each strike, from the side or from the tip, Nasir adds a little bit of force, like wind, for a knockback. The walking stick is specifically enchanted for not only this purpose but to deliver his other elemental spells.

Relatively simple, I suppose. Staff's designed (see: the script makes it 'part' of him) to channel his Demonic-Powers, allowing him to augment his strikes with pulses of wind. Relatively little Will drain, though...uh. I'd suggest that using a casting focus as a melee weapon isn't smart - if the script is damaged, the spell in question could backfire/fizzle when he tries it. That said, since this script just allows him to channel his tainted power through the staff, if its damaged it shouldn't backfire, just fizzle.

Originally Posted by Red Mage Black

Ignite Object
Days walking through the Alaskan Wilderness were cold, but the nights were even more brutally so. The tip from the Witch's Guild representative gave him good advice, "Learn to start a fire or make it out of nothing," this was for refusing the much easier route of being driven to Amaranth. Considering the elements of The Wanderer, this was much easier than was thought. By pressing the tip of his walking stick against a block of wood and channeling throught the stick, he can set it on fire, wet or dry.

Seems easier to learn a spell which creates a barrier of against the cold, by drawing on the Brand alone. Regardless, Walking Stick's unnecessary, since this is demonic - should probably be touch-based.

Little confused about the final part of the 'can burn wet wood' bit, though. Does it only burn wood of any kind? Or is the fire supposed to be ever-burning (and non-fuel consuming)? Just really, really hot? Created magically by using the Wanderer's power to force the material to be flammable? Either the wood-only fire or the ever-burning fire seem the most useful in that situation. Former is much cheaper and more powerful because of how specific it is (runs out when the will invested is used up, but great efficiency rate). Latter either has a high cost initially, or require a steady Will investment (ei: Mode Shift). It's also a lot more versatile.

Originally Posted by Red Mage Black

Healing Heart
Training as a battle priest meant not only training to disable or destroy the enemy, but healing your own warriors so that they may fight another day. Not one of his strongest spells, he must first touch the wounded and chant the prayers of healing, albeit this would be for more minor wounds.

So, what does this do? If it's 'speeds healing of wounds' Nasir needs to touch the wound and chant the basic prayer of healing. Basic ability wouldn't heal more than superficial wounds. He'd need to extend it via free-casting, continue chanting the prayer and keep his focus to deal with larger wounds.

Originally Posted by Red Mage Black

Deny The Infidel - Defense Surge -
Learning how to defend yourself is key to any encounter with hostiles and this is something that's emphasized greatly to the tribe's warriors and battle priests. It is also offensive to strike the priests first, but while the defense isn't perfect, it can prevent much greater injuries. By chanting the prayer of protection, Nasir hardens his skin to cushion blows in whatever form they take, be it blunt, slashing or piercing.

'fraid that hardening your skin won't help much against (strong) blunt damage or pain. You'd want this to be reflexive, not chant-based. Yellow. Relatively high drain, he can't move or breathe while it's active. High physical stress. Technically closer Modeshift, since you can hold it as long as you want, but can't cast spells while its active. More expensive than your usual shifts, though.

Different options are pain-canceling surge/modeshifts, anti-blunt defenses, or an invisible barrier around his whole body. Barrier is more expensive but, provided he has a Wind-blessing, he can make it work with Yellow magic like the others.

Originally Posted by Red Mage Black

Clubs -
Fitness
Martial Arts [Advanced - Bojutsu]
Meditation
Wilderness

Would Nasir really be interested in 'Fitness?' I'm surprised. It seems so...shallow, at a glance. I suppose if he sticks around long enough to get into the medical stuff, it'd be alright. But I don't know if he'd even try that club in the first place.

Regarding the Martial Arts (Advanced) club. His abilities suggest he's more of a hybrid than a Melee-specialist anyway - which is the only way he'd get into an Advanced class. If you want to shift his skills around to reflect that, go ahead. As it is, he seems to lean more toward the magic side (weather and healing spells are really hard) than the melee side anyway, even if he'd be passable in both.

Meditation and Wilderness fit.

Ah, should note, I count one ability from his great journey, and four from before the journey. He should have room for one more pre-journey spell and one more journey spell. See what you can come up with. Oh, though large-scale weather spells (smaller ones might be alright) and healing spells are more difficult than other abilities, as a note – improving your existing ones (or learning more) will probably push you into Mage territory.

Originally Posted by Red Mage Black

Misc -
The staff itself is enchanted to be able to cast spells with, with tiny markings over it and was hardened previously to be able to use for melee combat as well.

Only one spell in here seems reliant on the staff? This is just as well though, I suppose, since putting multiple spells on the same object is dangerous - if the caster's overly hurried, they may accidentally activate the wrong symbol on the staff.

I'm assuming the staff is made of bone? Wood would be hard to find (and rare) in a desert.

Originally Posted by Red Mage Black

Book of prayers - Just what it says, a book of prayers to not only The Wanderer, but a few other deities from his tribe as well. Contains the prayer of healing(Healing Heart) and the prayer of protection(Deny The Infidel). It's usually chained to the belt around his waist, a hook through the bottom of the spine and one at the top which can be undone so he can hold it freely, with a small length of silk tied around it to hold it shut when not in use. All the prayers inside are written in Arabic, including the spell prayers.

A book of spells, eh? Well, I suppose the other characters can phone their parents for help/advice (or might have a book of their own), so, sure, why not. All spells written in here fall under free-casting, if they aren't in your bio.

* * *

Originally Posted by Teal Mage

Regarding your remaining prospective spell-slots. Tell me which of his four clubs Ben would focus on most and I'll suggest a few things. I should note that the Veterinary club requires you to raise a pet while you're in it, so he probably got a snake from them. Additionally, Writing club requires you to write a blog, if either of these details help.

Ah, actually. He's probably picked this trick up from Meditation.

Calm Down – Black Elemental.
Crazy mysticism or not, the Meditation club's breathing exercises work wonders. By focusing on a particular breathing pattern and willing himself to calm down, Ben is able to invoke a supernatural sense of calm on himself. This technique actually triggers a Mode-Shift, which remains active until the user stops the breathing pattern. Celestial Intuition still activates in combination with this ability.

I suppose a different breathing technique could be appropriate, but this seemed simple and useful, so I thought I'd offer it.

Still waiting for that list! You have another spell slot.

Anyway, I see Lilluim edited her bio. 'fraid I don’t have time to get to it tonight. I'm going in for a minor surgery tomorrow, so I also won't be around for the next few days. Sorry everyone, I'll continue where I left off when I get back. Sorry about typoes, no time for a real proof-read.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

So, the only gender-neutral organization name I could come up with was the GoH (Guardians of the House). Same deal, slightly more complex, more encompassing the male-female Ninja-esque Butler/Maid combo.

Regarding the Extra Hand, altered the name to "Helping Hand". It's not so much a summoned hand as it is just something she creates each time she needs a task done and she doesn't have a free hand to do it. Kinda like a manifestation of her Will with the preprogramming to whatever task she commanded it to. Either way, I've edited it a bit, tried to word the limitations in without turning it into a wall of text (and failing), and made the spell green (unless I'm not supposed to?), but it might've made it a lot more confusing in that regard...

Maid's Step is now the Flash Move equivalent.

Now the question is: what colour would Skittles--- errm, I mean, Emme be? If we're going by painting/palette colours only, I figured out the colours would be a rich deep emerald green (or a slushy ugly black-brown depending on which palette colours you used). If we're talking about light-related combination, then according to a couple of people it would either be white (which is bad), or light grey (which is also bad). And I doubt you'd let me have SWIRLY ALL THE COLOURS OF ZEE RAINBOOOOW either

**BIO (edited 20/06/2012)**

Name: Emme Horton
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Aura: Yellow
Age: 18
Appearance:
Emme stands an unassuming height of 5’5”, with long, straight brown hair that is normally fixed up into a neat, braided bun. Her features are cute, but easily overlooked due to a humble posture she continuously affects. The only remarkable feature about her is her vivid emerald eyes, which sometimes almost burn (non-magically, of course) with unstoppable determination. Emme dresses conservatively, in dull colours that aim at preventing her from standing out too much. Despite some practicality issues, Emme prefers long skirts over pants, but has an array of both.

Spells:
Illusion – Inconspicuous Maid (Lavender Elemental) – Small will-drain, very subtle. As a maid, Emme is taught to go about her job as inconspicuously as possible, and this spell allows her to blend (not exactly invisibility) into the background like a wallflower. In order for the spell to work, Emme must wear dull/dark and boring clothing and make no sudden threatening or aggresive movements. Inconspicuous Maid is a specifically non-combat spell, used prior to avoidable confrontations.

Mode-Shift – Quiet Determination (Yellow Elemental) – When a task really needs to get done, Emme may infuse her body with Will to get it done. A more combat oriented spell, Quiet Determination boosts her physical capabilities, giving her a slightly better edge in a fight. Pretty useless when it comes to more finer manipulation of tools and other such things.

Create - Helping Hand (Green Elemental) - Sometimes, a maid must multitask in order to accomplish her tasks. Emma is able to create a single hand (invisible to the Blacks, visible to the awakened) that is able to exert a minor physical effect (ie: carry a torch, or wipe a table clean with a cloth). Specifically, it is capable of accomplishing menial tasks very close to her vicinity if she herself has her hands full. Helping Hand is pre-programmed, meaning Emme must give a quiet, verbal (combined with mental specificities) command (In this case, the language used is Chinese) prior to manifesting the hand for it to perform its task. Once created, the hand will carry out the task until completion independent of Emme before vanishing - leaving her free to potentially cast other spells. Helping Hand has a very limited range (must be close to Emme), and its appearance (to the awakened) is that of a disembodied, floating, elegant right-handed glove ‘filled’ invisibly.

Flash Move - Where a Maid’s Needed (Blue Elemental) – A maid must be where she is needed! Functions exactly like Flash Move.

Infusion – Broomstick Defence (Orange Elemental) – Emme is trained to defend her Master/Mistress equivalent to a bodyguard. As such, she must be able to fight with whatever she has on hand – normally cleaning equipment, or other such Household items. Emme is able to extend her Will into whatever she holds to harden its properties so that it becomes more resistant and longer-lasting in a fight. She is most adept when it comes to a mop, broom or anything with a long wooden handle. However, she has been known to have a mean swing with a hardened cooking pot, or the handle of a featherduster.

Scan - Nitpicker's Eyes (Orange Elemental) - It's normally based off a Maid's flawless hunch that something is not quite right with a room. Maybe a window that shouldn't be open is slightly ajar? Maybe the bed is not made as per the proper etiquette? One way or another, Emme is able to cast this spell to grant her a greater clarity as to what isn't quite right in the room. Limited radius that conforms to the room she is currently in. More Will can be expended to scan larger rooms.

Perception Shift - A Master's Needs (Yellow Elemental) - A Maid must anticipate her Master's and any guest's needs! With this surge, Emme is able to provide herself more clarity and insight into the body language of others. While activated, Emme is able to read - and to a degree - anticipate what another individual is about to do. In Maid service, this may mean getting the guest another cup of tea. Combat-wise, this spell is better used to analyse combat (and a combatant’s fighting style) without her involvement.


Bio:

Emme Horton is the daughter of a Guardian of the House - in particular, that of an Elite head Maid who acts as both bodyguard and Household overseer to a well-established E.S.A. official. She followed in her mother’s footsteps and was in training to succeed the position of Head Maid in the same official’s household upon her mother’s retirement. From an early age she applied herself in all she needed to know about in regards to the mundane tasks of Maidship. Simultaneously, her mother was the leading figure in training her other skills - including combat and magical practices.

One of the final training courses in order to become a fully-fledged Guardian of the House member, all applicants must enrol and spend a minimum of one to two years at the Amaranth Institute for the Gifted. One further year may be allowed, should a maid show potential after surviving the two. Candidates that have completed their studies at Amaranth are then allowed to fully complete their training and step into their employment confidentally.

As such, Emme’s time has come for her final trials.

Clubs:
Home ec
Strolling
Cultural
Meditation

Notes:

The Guardians of the House - Comprised of two partnership organizations (Male and female respectively), the Guardians of the House manages the complex networking of the highest quality bodyguards (and household maintenance) among the ESA and the Wizards and Witches guilds. They are an almost completely neutral organization (though they loosely hold a Seat in the ESA) whose sole purpose is to function as a 'defensive' mechanism for the more powerful officials and their families. The leaders of the Guardians is an even group of retirees from both male and female counterparts, who have the final say in all matters to deal with any individuals from the organisation. With that said, a lot of the Codes of Conducts, as well as strict policies are heavily policed among the individuals themselves, leaving only the greyer matters to the 'governing council'. The Guardians are a mainly neutral organization, where loyalty lies only to the House they are managing, and to the Guardian's governing body.

When managing the finer parts of the organization, GoH can be split into two distinct groups - the Elite Maids Sisterhood, and the Brethren of Butlers.

Elite Maids Sisterhood - Part of the Guardians of the House. The Sisterhood specializes in training prized bodyguards for the higher members of any organization - extending from the ESA Households, to even the Witches and Wizards. They are also simultaneously highly trained individuals very capable in other mundane fields (ie: running and managing a Household fully independent to the head of the House). Emme is currently an unofficial Elite Maid.

Improvised Weaponry Proficiency - Emme is trained in the use (or abuse) of utilizing whatever she has at hand in a Household as a weapon should the need arise. While this means she can actually use whatever she has on hand, she's best with the broomstick and mop, see below.

Quarterstaff Proficiency – Emme is trained in the use of quarterstaffs and bo-staffs, due to their similarity with the most common of household equipment such as the broom and mop. However, she’s a lot better at using household equipment like a broom or mop.

Language Proficiency – Emme is multilingual. Aside from the normal English, she is is completely fluent in Russian, Chinese (Mandarin), Arabic, English, and is currently also studying french (speaking and writing is slightly broken, but she is a fast learner in that respect)

Relationships:

Anna Horton – Head Maid in the employ of one of the more elite Houses of an Esteemed E.S.A organization. Emme’s loving mother, mentor, trainer. Husband deceased. Anna greatly influenced Emme’s own personal decision from a very early age to aspire to become what her mother was – a greatly respected Elite Maid at the top of her employment. In between Anna’s busy schedule as Head Maid running the Master’s house, and Emme’s own training, they still manage to take some time out to call each other over phone or the internet to chat and catch up. Anna plays mentor and loved mother to her daughter, but is not one to ‘clean up’, pun not intended, what mess Emme gets herself into, holding to the idea her daughter is old enough to handle whatever is thrown at her already

Catherine Flemington – Fellow first year student and apprentice witch with a penchant for enchantments. 17 years old, bright, bubbly, flamboyant, and Emme’s best friend since childhood, they share a dorm room with each other, as well as a less-pleasant girl Verna. Catherine is one of Emme’s continuous assessment tasks in her Maid training – a task that had to be modified slightly due to school restrictions, but nonetheless Emme compensates for it quite well. Catherine is the typical blonde-haired, blue-eyed pretty face, and always very enthusiastic about everything. She shares Emme’s determination in her studies, and has also signed up for the Cheerleading Club.

Jennifer Nikolai – Fellow first year student, actually friend of Catherine Flemington, but also knows Emme by proxy. She’s very private and conservative. Secretly, she admires Emme’s efficiency and dedication to her tasks. She’s a proficient martial weapons apprentice, and interested as well in the crafting of the same sort. Jennifer is brown-haired, brown eyed, with a lean build. She shares the cultural club with Emme. They have a friendly – yet competitive – rivalry going on between them. Jenn is a Black.

Verna Lehy – Fellow first year student and Emme’s roommate. Awakened Pyrokinetic. Verna is a bit of a bully, bossy, loud, and an attention-getter. When she found out her roommate was to be an Elite Maid in training, Verna took every opportunity to take advantage of Emme’s hard working abilities, from dumping piles of dirty laundry on Emme’s bed to be washed, to leaving books, clothes, and food scraps everywhere for Emme to clean up. It irritates Verna to no end that Emme takes to her new cleaning tasks without a single word of complaint or deathly glare, rather handling everything in simple humility. She is very pretty, with a mane of beautiful fiery red hair, almond-shaped eyes with red pupils, and just the right amount of freckling sprinkled across her pale cheeks.

[Red Mage Black]

Originally Posted by Teal Mage

* * *

Oh! I forgot to mention, the Wanderer's Mark varies with each Priest. It's a series of lines - sometimes they're uniform in shape/thickness/color, but sometimes they are different - placed in a design of some kind. Asked Girasol to see if she could come up with anything, but the ultimate decision of what Nasir's mark looks like belongs to you, Red.

Edit: Gira already finished it and it looks good. Here it is.

I should mention that, aside from his Wind God's blessing, he shouldn't have any innate skills or talents to confirm. They ought to be skills that any magician in his tribe, with the proper training, can manage. Like, I could see if his family was dedicated to the God/Goddess of Healing Winds, he might get Healing and Wind stuff innately, but there'd be drawbacks to a hybrid purview like that. Regardless you'll need to specify what his blessing is associated with in the bio.

Otherwise, backstory looks good. I am going to assume the last Witch he met gave him some winter clothing, though.

Major Edit: Clarified which one was from a blessing on his family, which one he uses the mark for and which ones he learned during priest training that the other priests of his tribe could learn. Though I'm sure they'd allow some leeway for spells if it benefited the tribe as a whole.

So, does this spell require it to be windy to use? Don't think there's a way to work this spell without it being Grade 2. Second grade doesn't seem justified by his background, so you're looking at a spell with a long charge-time that blows a gale in a direction from Nasir, or a quick spell the temporarily strengthens a pre-existing wind. A moderately strong wind, or a focused gale-blast (equivalent of Sean's original Blizzard spell) would reflexive casts, but less weather focused. All of the above options are yellow, assuming you go with Nasir's original blessing relating to a Wind God.

A different sort of spell would be one which allows him to alter the direction of a pre-existing natural wind, within a certain range from his position. Requires him to attune to the wind first/spread his magical influence through it, then speak a command in Arabic. Changing the direction of the Wind isn't a quick action, either though. Strengthening or stopping could be done as a free-cast, but they're a lot harder, comparatively (and in ascending order of difficulty). Alternative there would just be a spell with a long incantation - slightly different with each direction. Wouldn't have the option to stop/strengthen it. Former is Chartreuse (Yellow-Green), might be more expensive, second is Green. Neither is cheap.

Starting or stopping winds are wholly different spells, incidentally. Shorter range of effect is faster casting, as a rule.

EDIT: Suppose I'll redo this one as well:
Power of the Wind - -
Nasir's affinity for wind showed itself when he first started his training. Long before he was marked, his family was capable of controlling the wind, an innate ability inherited by The Wanderer's blessing. By thrusting his palm outward towards the opponent, Nasir sends a small, but strong gale of wind at his in opponent in a bid to knock them off balance or knock them back or knock them over. However, the more distance there is between him and his opponent, the weaker the attack becomes. From a strong gale force wind to a strong breeze.

(I'm meaning this one to be a short cast and I wanted to limit it by line of sight, but that's your call. The little history of the blessing of wind control is just the general idea of how he knows the spell. Just clarifying it isn't that advanced yet.)

Relatively simple, I suppose. Staff's designed (see: the script makes it 'part' of him) to channel his Demonic-Powers, allowing him to augment his strikes with pulses of wind. Relatively little Will drain, though...uh. I'd suggest that using a casting focus as a melee weapon isn't smart - if the script is damaged, the spell in question could backfire/fizzle when he tries it. That said, since this script just allows him to channel his tainted power through the staff, if its damaged it shouldn't backfire, just fizzle.

I addressed most, if not part of this in the 'staff composition' question further down, but still using it for combat. I like the risk, at least.

Seems easier to learn a spell which creates a barrier of against the cold, by drawing on the Brand alone. Regardless, Walking Stick's unnecessary, since this is demonic - should probably be touch-based.

Little confused about the final part of the 'can burn wet wood' bit, though. Does it only burn wood of any kind? Or is the fire supposed to be ever-burning (and non-fuel consuming)? Just really, really hot? Created magically by using the Wanderer's power to force the material to be flammable? Either the wood-only fire or the ever-burning fire seem the most useful in that situation. Former is much cheaper and more powerful because of how specific it is (runs out when the will invested is used up, but great efficiency rate). Latter either has a high cost initially, or require a steady Will investment (ei: Mode Shift). It's also a lot more versatile.

EDIT: Going to go with cold barrier for this one, since it seems a little simpler.

Warding off the Cold - -
While the desert nights were cold, the Alaskan wilderness was colder and even the winter clothes wouldn't be able to keep away the full chill. So, using The Wanderer's affinity to fire, Nasir created a way to keep himself from freezing to death. By calling upon the Mark, Nasir creates a small field of warm air around his body, rejecting the chill of wind and natural cold air.

So, what does this do? If it's 'speeds healing of wounds' Nasir needs to touch the wound and chant the basic prayer of healing. Basic ability wouldn't heal more than superficial wounds. He'd need to extend it via free-casting, continue chanting the prayer and keep his focus to deal with larger wounds.

Yeah, that's what I was going for with this one. It's severely limited, but it's also one of the ones that most, if not all of the priests in his tribe learn, some more dedicated than others and it will be kept to free casting to make it stronger. Yeah, free casting is a risk, but I'm mostly doing it this way to reflect him focusing on the other facets of his powers.

'fraid that hardening your skin won't help much against (strong) blunt damage or pain. You'd want this to be reflexive, not chant-based. Yellow. Relatively high drain, he can't move or breathe while it's active. High physical stress. Technically closer Modeshift, since you can hold it as long as you want, but can't cast spells while its active. More expensive than your usual shifts, though.

Different options are pain-canceling surge/modeshifts, anti-blunt defenses, or an invisible barrier around his whole body. Barrier is more expensive but, provided he has a Wind-blessing, he can make it work with Yellow magic like the others.

I believe the original was an invisible barrier, so I'll go with that instead. I remember mentioning it almost being something like a 'kinetic barrier'. Yeah, reflexive would work better, too.

Deny The Infidel (Reworked) - -
The heat of battle can be deadly and the warrior priests of the tribe lack the proper armaments to fully defend themselves in combat. This is one of the first spells taught to warrior priests and a valuable asset. If he sees an attack coming, Nasir reflexively creates a kinetic barrier between himself and whatever physical attack is coming his way, meant to cushion blows instead of just blocking them.

(If only because blocking them would probably take up more will and wouldn't last as long.)

Would Nasir really be interested in 'Fitness?' I'm surprised. It seems so...shallow, at a glance. I suppose if he sticks around long enough to get into the medical stuff, it'd be alright. But I don't know if he'd even try that club in the first place.

Regarding the Martial Arts (Advanced) club. His abilities suggest he's more of a hybrid than a Melee-specialist anyway - which is the only way he'd get into an Advanced class. If you want to shift his skills around to reflect that, go ahead. As it is, he seems to lean more toward the magic side (weather and healing spells are really hard) than the melee side anyway, even if he'd be passable in both.

Meditation and Wilderness fit.

Yeah, I didn't quite see what Fitness was about until your review. So, I believe I can change that to Strolling. Have to remind myself not to listen to everything the people in chat say.

EDIT: Yeah... I guess regular MA would be good then? I chose Bojutsu because staff fighting is mostly defensive, which I at least thought was fitting for the Staff Fighting Mastery spell slot.

Ah, should note, I count one ability from his great journey, and four from before the journey. He should have room for one more pre-journey spell and one more journey spell. See what you can come up with. Oh, though large-scale weather spells (smaller ones might be alright) and healing spells are more difficult than other abilities, as a note – improving your existing ones (or learning more) will probably push you into Mage territory.

EDIT: Might have an idea for the pre-journey. Kind of priestly, I guess?
Praise the Strong - -
In combat, sometimes enemies are harder to kill or disable without a little help despite the best efforts of a warrior. By reciting a battle chant, as long as the target of this can hear him and even through language barriers, Nasir can increase the physical strength of an ally to help break through even tough defenses.

Journey idea:
Steady Footing - -
Not all paths are straight and narrow or flat and winding, some are slippery and wet or move around, making it hard to stay standing. While crossing through many lands and over many kinds of geology, Nasir found it necessary to find a way to keep his balance no matter what it was. By channeling his will through his equilibrium, he can keep steady whether the ground is shaking, slippery or if someone is trying to knock him off balance.

Only one spell in here seems reliant on the staff? This is just as well though, I suppose, since putting multiple spells on the same object is dangerous - if the caster's overly hurried, they may accidentally activate the wrong symbol on the staff.

I'm assuming the staff is made of bone? Wood would be hard to find (and rare) in a desert.

Yeah, I was thinking of going with bone. Whale bone would need to be considerably carved down due to weight, but there have been rumors of the bones of giants that could actually work. That and the fact it would be more useful to actually take a hit. The other option was 'neem', which is a type of tree that grows around that area, but a glance at the wiki page for it suggests it has more medicinal use than any structural use outside of making strong rope.

A book of spells, eh? Well, I suppose the other characters can phone their parents for help/advice (or might have a book of their own), so, sure, why not. All spells written in here fall under free-casting, if they aren't in your bio.

* * *

Book of spells isn't what I was actually going for. It's more along the vein of morning/afternoon/evening prayers, for meals, bedtime and that sort of deal.
The healing one was to keep it all in one book. Also written in it is the Battle Chant, but that's less reading from it than it is a careful reminder in case he forgets and also a little motivation for himself.


All in all:

MAJOR EDIT: Okay, so I may try something like hybridization later, when it's a little more effective than being a jack of all trades with crappy magic and melee.

[DanteFalcon]

Due to lack of other ideas spell idea I'm going with is:

Summon Garter Snake - Black Elemental.
A result of Veterinary Club, Ben's pet snake Pascal has a tendency to sneak itself into Ben's bag. Ben is still completely flummoxed as to how the snake manages to sneak itself out of its cage and why it is so attracted to his bag and pockets. At least it sometimes saves him the walk back to his dorm before walking to Veterinary Club.

[phil_]

So, not to be a buzz kill, but I think maybe I don't actually have the extra energy to properly commit to this game. Sorry if anyone was looking forward to playing magic house with me. Thanks for answering my questions and stuff, Teal.

At least I learned a lot about dolls.

[Riin Whitewind]

Originally Posted by DanteFalcon

Due to lack of other ideas spell idea I'm going with is:

Summon Garter Snake - Black Elemental.
A result of Veterinary Club, Ben's pet snake Pascal has a tendency to sneak itself into Ben's bag. Ben is still completely flummoxed as to how the snake manages to sneak itself out of its cage and why it is so attracted to his bag and pockets but has taken to carrying a small amount of snake food with him at all times anyway. At least it sometimes saves him the walk back to his dorm before walking to Veterinary Club.

I'm curious what you mean by this. All species of snake are carnivorous, and in captivity/as pets are fed dead mice or rats. I truly hope Ben isn't smuggling thawing mice in his pockets. That would smell awful.

Luckily, they (snakes in captivity) also don't eat very often compared to most domesticated animals, so there wouldn't be a need to carry food for him on your character's person.

[Aldurin]

Solution: Live mice don't decay.