[Astronomy Tower] Too Much to Give (Solo)

[Satevis]

88th Day of Spring, 512 AV The Astronomy Tower was technically supposed to be vacant today, with no scheduled classes for this night. However, a group of six students of varying ages and races sat scattered around the room, hurriedly taking notes. It wasn't an official University class, as Professor Cyril didn't appear to be anywhere in sight. Instead, the man speaking was an Ethaefal, a son of Leth, with lavender gray hair that, at this point in the season, was partly black and white horns threaded with emerald green. The review session had been hastily thrown together. The astronomy final was scheduled for the 90th Day of Spring, a scant two days in the future. A group made up of struggling students had come together to ask their teaching assistant to hold a review session. After getting Professor Cyril's approval, Satevis agreed. He wanted to see the students do well, but he might have had a slight ulterior motives. Exams were easier to grade when the answers were correct. Still, he felt a little uncomfortable standing in front of a group of students. He had answered questions before, but that had been one-on-one, never in a classroom setting. As far as classrooms went, the newly-rebuilt astronomy tower was an odd one, but it was a classroom nonetheless. He cleared his throat, glancing down at the sheaf of notes in his hand and picking out his next question. The review session had just started, so he decided to start simple. "Who can tell me the scientific name of the brightest star in the night sky?" he asked. The students gave him blank stares in response. He counted backwards from ten, and when no response came, he gave the answer. "Alpha Canis Majoris," he answered for them. "Common name: Sirius." The tower was filled with the sound of students writing this down quickly. "Can someone tell me what constellation this star is found in?" The answer, of course, was Canis Major, the latter part of the star's scientific name, or the Great Dog. A girl in one corner tentatively raised her hand. Satevis turned towards her, relieved that at least someone had gotten it. "Yes, Elsa?" he asked. "Um...Majoris?" she asked. He sighed inwardly. This was going to be a long night.

[Satevis]

Twenty minutes into the review class, Satevis had turned to focus on the star charts posted on the wall, pointing out stars, names, and classifications for the group. He found himself having to go back the star classification system, to no small frustration. This was something they had covered in the beginning of the term, before the Astronomy Tower had been rebuilt. It was a topic that in his opinion had been done to death, but judging from the reactions of his peers, clearly, it had not been studied enough. "So, then, based on this classification system, what would be the scientific name of the third brightest star in the constellation Libra?" he asked. There was a pause, and then a dark-haired young man at the front of the room spoke up. "Gamma Librae?" he asked. Satevis smiled, relieved. It seemed like they were now making progress. "Correct," he said. "The nineteenth brightest star in the constellation Cetus?" "...Tau Ceti?" asked Elsa again, a little more uncertainly this time. He smiled encouragingly, nodding. "The eighth brightest star in the constellation Taurus?" he asked. "Theta Tauri," someone responded, more confidently. "Good," he said. Confident now that they understood the regular stars, he decided to give them a slightly trickier one. "Lastly, the brightest star in the constellation Gemini." "Alpha Geminorum!" said the dark-haired boy quickly, a grin on his face. Satevis shook his head. "Remember," he said. "Gemini is one of the irregular constellations that does not fall under this classification system. Varra knows this one," he added, glancing at the student in question. The question had been asked as a bonus on an earlier quiz, and she had been one out of two students who had gotten it right. All eyes in the room turned towards a brown-haired girl sitting in the back corner, idly scrawling on her notebook. Varra Alvain was small and somewhat mouse-like, with wide blue eyes that were almost startling to look at, but she had been one of Professor Cyril's brightest students at the start of the term. He couldn't remember giving her any grade less than a 90 until mid-spring, where things began to go south. Now, she barely scraped by, with most of her graded work in the fifty to sixty percent range. The longer the term went on, the more haggard she seemed to look. The color had drained from her complexion, and her eyes were sunken, dark circles ringing them. He had a suspicion that it had something to do with her friend, a boy named Nathaniel who she used to sit next to. He rarely saw them speaking now. "Varra?" he asked. She didn't respond, her eyes fixed hollowly on her page as she drew circles over and over again in ink, worrying her lower lip with her teeth. Satevis frowned. "Varra," he said, a little firmer. She looked up, fixing him with wide eyes. "What?" she asked. "The brightest star in constellation Gemini?" he prompted, a concerned frown on his face. "Oh," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Erm...Beta Geminorum, wasn't it?" "It was," said Satevis, his frown deepening as he watched her. She shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny, picking up her quill and continuing to write. Satevis stared at her for a few more moments before he remembered that he was in the middle of a class. He quickly turned, facing the rest of the class. "As I was saying," he said. "Gemini is an irregular constellation, in that its brightest star is actually Pollux--Beta Geminorum. This is because during the time in which the stars were assigned their scientific names, telescopes were not developed enough to determine the difference in brightness between Castor and Pollux, so they were designated Alpha and Beta Geminorum, respectively. Another example of an irregular constellation is Pisces, where the brightest star is actually Eta Piscium..."

[Satevis]

The lesson continued until shortly before midnight. In that time, Satevis went over the majority of the major topics that Professor Cyril had indicated they would be on the tests. He had the students attempt to locate Polaris using compasses and telescopes, had them map constellations out on blank star charts, had them name the different types of stars, had them mathematically calculate dates for the lunar phases onto a calendar, and had them explain the observational differences between a star and a planet. By midnight, he was reasonably certain that if the six students weren't ready now, they never would be. He dismissed the class, reminding them to arrive promptly at the tenth evening bell on the 90th, and set about putting the room in order. He heard the students start moving behind him, packing up their things and talking amongst themselves as they left the room. He picked up a damp cloth, running it over the chalkboard and erasing the things he had written. Star charts, constellations, names, and symbols faded from the board as he rubbed them out, starting from the top corner of the board and moving across. He would need to check the telescopes once he was done and make sure that they were all properly calibrated, and then the room would have to be put back in order... He hoped they did well. He wouldn't want to think that he had turned down Tock for nothing. He was so absorbed in his work that he didn't notice one of the students hadn't left until she spoke. "Erm...Satevis?" she asked, her voice timid. Satevis turned around, recognizing the voice. Varra stood in front of him, her eyes lowered to the ground. She was biting her lip. He frowned. "Yes, Varra?" he asked. "What is it?" "I have a question..." she said. "...But it's not about astronomy." He studied her, setting down the damp cloth. Varra seemed...tense. She had the look about her that reminded him of a frightened animal, ready to flee at the slightest provocation. "What is it...?" he asked gently. She averted her eyes, staring down at the floor. "You do Reimancy, don't you?" she asked. At his nod, she took a shaky breath. "What are the symptoms of overgiving?"

[Satevis]

Satevis felt a cold weight drop into the pit of his stomach at those words. Varra, for the most part, studiously avoided his gaze. Silence fell over the two of them for a moment as they stood there, facing each other. Finally, Satevis spoke. "...I assume this isn't just an academic question," he finally said. Varra didn't answer. Satevis sighed, deciding to try a different approach. "Varra..." he said, his voice firm. "Where is Nathaniel now?" Again, no answer. Satevis took a deep breath, resisting the urge to outright demand that she tell him where he was. Something like this needed to be handled delicately. Varra looked ready to bolt if he so much as raised his voice. "Overgiving is a serious thing," he said, making sure to keep his tone neutral. "...One of the professors should be notified immediately." "No!" she said quickly, startling him. When his eyes widened, she took a step back, quieting again. Varra shook her head fiercely, keeping her eyes down. "No professors," she said. "Nate'll just get in trouble. And he's not doing that badly, I promise. I don't even know if he's overgiving. He's just tired. He's been doing more magic than he should." Satevis frowned. It was true that exhaustion from using magic could in many cases be mistaken for mild overgiving, but the two were different things. Overgiving was as mental as it was physical. Even a mage with mild overgiving was dangerous. The Sweet Whispers were very hard to deny... He shuddered at the memory. He had been in their grasp once before...and he was lucky that someone had had the presence of mind to knock him out before he could cast more magic. "...If he's overgiven, he's dangerous, Varra," Satevis said gently. "The professors will know what to do." She shook her head again. "He's not. I promise he's not. I know a little Auristics, I can tell. It's just...the only reason I asked is because he's pushing himself really hard lately, and I wanted to know what to look out for...just in case." Satevis stared at her for a few moments, trying to gauge whether or not she was telling the truth. She was...or at least, she didn't seem like she was lying, but he had the feeling there was more to the story. Still...a feeling wasn't enough to go on. He frowned at her, unwilling to let this go. "You're sure?" he asked. "Positive," she said. "I swear." He sighed, his shoulders slumping in resignation. "Bloodshot eyes, tremors, quickened pulse, and antisocial behavior," he recited, as if reading from a book. "If he starts complaining about a metallic taste in his mouth, or starts needing to cast more and more magic, those are signs too. If any of that starts happening, you call a professor immediately," he said. "This isn't a game. Do you understand me?" She nodded quickly. "Yes," she said. "Yes, of course. Thank you." Varra turned around, quickly running out the door. Satevis watched as the door slammed behind her, taking a deep breath. He had a bad feeling about this. Tomorrow, he would report the incident to Professor Cyril. Varra would be upset if she found out, but in the end, the safety of the students at the University was more important. That in mind, he continued to clean up, unaware that he had a visitor.

[Arcane]

Rewards and Treasure! Experience Points +3 Teaching +2 Astronomy +1 Leadership Lores University of Zeltiva: Astronomy Tower Varra Alvain the Astronomy Student Nathaniel's Possible Overgiving in Reimancy Miscellaneous None Comments The information seemed a little too scientific for the medieval world of Mizahar. However, I acknowledge that the University is a repository of pre-Valterrian knowledge (whereby Alahea's magitech could easily parallel modern day technology), and that it is entirely possible that wizard-scientists came to the same conclusion as our modern astronomists. Note that you can't really gain points in Astronomy if you're not learning something new, but since Satevis is a Novice, I take it that he's revising these concepts along with his students as he's teaching it, which is why he gets the points anyway. This concept only applies for Novice skills, however, at least for my grades. Also, I felt that this thread doesn't warrant observation points. I can't really describe the criteria I use for Observation, since it's a complicated mixture of variables only my subconscious knows >.< However, don't worry and just thread as usual. I will give out as many points and lores as I can possibly give in my grades I gave leadership for Satevis' firm handling of the Nathaniel/Varra situation. Props for being a responsible TA. I would have wanted to add a little story hook for this, but we're already in a thread so... keep it at that xD Still, you can use the Nathaniel/Varra subplot to explore issues regarding overgiving in reimancy, and issues of responsibility in magic for Satevis as well. Just throwing up an idea for character development