Solo The Next Generation is Full of Assholes

[Madeira Dusk]

54th of Fall, 518

Madeira knew it was foolish to be so nervous, but she couldn’t help but smooth down the front of her yellow dress over her swollen belly and tug at the gold and diamond choker around her neck for the thousandth time. The halls of the Dusk Tower were teeming with life as students of all ages swarmed the halls, fighting to get to their classes. The tap of marble under leather shoes and the rustle of paper was the soundtrack to the great magic school, and it’s perfume was the wet, green smell of its many gardens who’s scent drifted through the open windows. Like everything in Lhavit, the Tower was almost obscene in its opulence. But as Madeira’s eye wandered the great arched halls and the beautiful plazas, she decided that she could get quite used to her new place of work.

On the third floor, the hallway on the left and several doors down, Madeira found Chiona Dusk just where Mirihar the secretary told her he would be. The older woman smiled at her approach, her thick chestnut hair tumbling down her shoulder and her liquid amber eyes shot with curiosity.

“Ms Craven, is it? It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you.”

Madeira did not miss the way she looked her up and down, taking in her exotic mode of dress and the swollen belly beneath, lingering on the long lace gloves on her hands and the jewels on her fingers and throat. It wasn’t so much the thought of being judged that brought the renewed buzz of nerves in Madeira’s stomach, but the certainty that she, like her father, was not looking at her outer appearance at all. She mastered herself and returned the smile, a gloved hand reaching out in a polite greeting.

“Madeira, please. I’m honoured to be here.”

“And we are lucky to have you, Madeira. You can call me Chiona. And from today we will be co-workers.” Her tawny eyes sparkled with something Madeira could only describe as ‘mischievous’. “This will be your classroom”, she motioned to the brass-handled door behind her. From within came a murmur of diffused chatter that could only mean the students were already waiting. “We understand you’ve never taught a formal class, so we are starting you off with our newest students. Fresh out of the Alluvion Academy. Think of it as practise.”

Madeira nodded, figuring it best not to correct her. She had never taught a formal class, no, but neither had she ever attended one. Her education would be politely described as ‘unconventional’ and accurately as insane. It would be fair to assume their newest instructor, though a powerful Spiritist, had no idea what she was doing.

“I’ll be attending, just sitting in the back, unobtrusively, to make sure you get on alright.”

I’ll be watching you to make sure we wern’t mistaken in inviting you here, Madeira read between the lines and sighed.

“Okay, that’s wise. Shall I?” Madeira motioned to the door even as her stomach dropped to her toes.

“By all means”, Chiona waved her forward with a smile.

Madeira smoothed down her skirt one more time, tucked away an escaped hair from her coiled braid, and stepped inside.

WC: 552

[Madeira Dusk]

The classroom was small and airy. Tall open windows looked down into the green plaza below, and leafy plants in every corner gave off the fresh, relaxed feeling of a summer grotto. Six desks faced a great wooden desk, chalkboard and what must be an incredibly expensive collection of books at the front. Each desk was occupied with a student, and each student was looking at her.

Madeira breezed into the room with Chiona following in after her. The older woman gave the class a cursory nod and seated herself at the very back, where an extra chair had been placed just for this occasion, and became just another set of eyes judging the new, wholly unprepared instructor.

Madeira stood at the front and smiled. “Good morning. Welcome to your Spiritism class. I’m Ms Craven, and I’ll be your instructor.”

It was clear from the looks on their faces that she was not what they were expecting. She was too young, too strange, and too incredibly foreign. Everything from the way she dressed to her accent to the ramrod way she held her posture spoke of some distant culture they were not familiar with. The students, from just over sixteen with pimply faces and nervous eyes, to just under twenty with deep voices and five-o’clock shadows, shifted in their seats but remained quiet.

Madeira, for her part, was dissecting everything she had ever learned about Spiritism in her head as fast as she could. Pairing it down, trimming the edges, she was looking for the core of what the magic was, and how best to teach it.

“To start us off, what can any of you tell me about Spiritism as a practise?”

After a moment of silence, a pimply youth raised an unsure hand. Then the silence stretched from thoughtful to awkward as the instructor puzzled out why in the world he was doing that. It took a frantic bit of miming from a silently laughing Chiona for her to realize this was him asking permission to speak.

“Oh! Ah, yes. You by the window. What’s your name?”

“Allory, Miss. Spiritism is a world magic that deals with ghosts and the undead.”

“That’s right, thank you Allory. And who can tell me the two major differences between Spiritism and other magics?”

Another hand was raised. This time Madeira wasted no time in nodding for the girl to speak.

“Um, it deals with ghosts?”

“That’s what Spiritism is, yes, but I’m looking for something more specific. Anyone?” Looks were exchanged, sheepish shrugs given, but no more hands were raised. “The difference”, Madeira plowed on, “is that Spiritism is the only magic that is necessary in the world. Every city you will ever see will have at least one Spiritist. Even Alvadas, where the practise of magic is a punishable offence, has an entire lineage that is publicly respected for its use of Spiritism. Reimancy is useful, as is Auristics and morphing, but the ability to deal with ghosts is a prized and necessary art. Who can tell me why?”

WC: 516

[Madeira Dusk]

The girl from before, her lip in a hard determined line, raised her hand again.

“Because ghosts are a universal problem.”

“Exactly. Everywhere has ghosts. Some more than others, but from the top of Wind Reach to the pits of Sunberth I guarantee a spirit is wandering. That also means that wherever you go in the world, you will find work and if not respect, at least acceptance. Which is more than you can say for any other discipline.”

Bright faces all around the room nodded in agreement, eyes alight with possibility. Daydreams of travel and admiration settled over the room like a low fog.

Madeira was disappointed that she would have to set fire to it.

“And you know what the second difference is between Spiritism and other magics?” She waited until all the dream-glazed eyes were on her. “Spiritism is barely magic. You will learn exactly one spell that you will do a hundred thousand times to prefect. And it’s only by creative use of that one spell and a heaping pile of bullshyke that you will interact with ghosts on any level.”

The dreamy cloud left the room in a great flush, the ruined tatters floating out the windows like so much sad confetti as inflated dreams were punctured by a harsh truth.

“You’re not going to teach us magic?” one incredulous voice rose from the back row. “Then what are we paying you for?”

The audacious words frosted Madeira’s blue eyes as she looked up to put a face to them. It was the young man her age in the back row, sitting low and arms crossed over his skinny chest. He was sucking on the inside of his cheek as he boldly met her gaze.

“And you are?”

“Theron.”

“Theron. I have said I will teach you one magic, and it’s many creative applications. If you were looking for some flashy tricks to wow your friends with, you’ve wandered into the wrong class.”

“It took me three years to get enrolled here, and now your telling me that’s all you can teach? Unbelievable.” He punctuated his incredulousness by a a dramatic roll of his eye. The other students looked between Madeira and Theron, some shocked by this disrespect towards a teacher, others impressed.

Madeira only saw Chiona at the back, and the little frown on her plump lips. She wasn’t going to let her first impression in the Dusk tower be ruined by an unseasoned little duckling like him. She rallied herself, pulling dijed from to core to give her words the impact she needed. She infused the searing words in her throat with a simply suggestion. Focus, it said, for she wanted him to hear and understand every word.

“There is much I can teach you, if you have the wits to listen.” she started, her voice low and even, weighted with the compulsion to listen. “Spiritism isn’t about chasing a ghost down and cutting it to ribbons. There is no incantation that will exorcise the dead, no charm that will keep them out forever. You will have to look each and every one in the eye and convince it to commit suicide. But I can teach you to kill with only your words, show you how to circumvent madness, channel rage, how to stop a murderer in its tracks with a smile. I have lied my way out of killer's hands, turned my body into an unbreakable prison, I've kept my spectral servants on a leash with a deathless loyalty I bought with a silver tongue. And I can teach it all to you, if you would only sit up, shut the petch up, and listen.”

At the end she was standing over his desk, burning holes into his forehead with the intensity of her icy stare. But he wouldn’t look her in the eye. Theron was toying with a leaded pencil on his desk, but the deep red shade in his ears told her all she needed to know about where his mind was.

“Is there anyone else that has a problem with what you will be learning?” she challenged as she stalked back to her desk, her brows low over icy eyes as she scanned the room. Suddenly all her students found something very interesting on the tops of their desks. All except Chiona, who caught Madeira’s eye and smiled her strange mischievous smile.

“Alright”, Madeira pulled the creases out of her gloves and picked up a piece of chalk off the blackboard. “Lets begin.”

WC: 767

[Madeira Dusk]

Across the top of the board she wrote GHOSTS in capital letters, and below a handful of star-shaped bullet points. While she wrote she addressed the class. "Before we get into the basics of the magic, lets start with the basics of the being. Spiritism involves all ethereal undead, which includes a certain class of monster as well. But that is some very, very advanced magic. So for now we will be focusing on ghosts. Which are much more common." She underlined the title with a bold stroke of chalk.

"To start, how many of you have actually seen a ghost?" Turning back around, she saw two thirds of the class with their hands in the air. She nodded approvingly. "That was more than I was expecting. Good! Now, which of you have ever spoken to one?"

One by one, each hand was uncertainly lowered again until none remained. Madeira blinked in surprise.

"Okay, that was rather less than I was expecting. But that takes us to our first point." On her first bullet point she wrote ‘sentient'. "Ghosts are sentient and -don't scoff at me, Theron, I swear to gods- and while this is common knowledge, you'd be surprised at how many people don’t put this fact into practice. I imagine you saw these ghosts as shadows in a hallway? An unnatural chill in the room, maybe a flicking in the corner of your eye? Those are people, like you and me, and can be reasoned with. Granted most of them are insane, or angry, or just confused, but with effort and understanding they can be persuaded or negotiated with."

"On to point two." she tapped the board smartly with her chalk. “Does anyone know the anatomy of a ghost?"

Looks were exchanged before one girl raised an unsure hand.

"Yes?"

"They don't have anatomy, they're ghosts."

"They don't have physical anatomy no, because they are not physical beings. But there is another type of anatomy. Think hard, I know you know."

The classroom grew quiet as a dozen minds turned. Finally a voice in the back spoke up. "Does the soul have anatomy?"

"Yes! Good job asking the right questions. Yes, the soul has anatomy, and it's actually very simple." Moving to the other side of the board in a swish of skirts, Madeira drew a simple man, no more than four appendages and a head on a lumpy torso. On the outside of the man she drew a ring, on the inside she drew what looked like another, slightly smaller man, and two circles one inside the other.

"Are any of you taking an Auristics class? Then you'll recognize this outer layer as a persons aura" she tapped the ring outside the body. "Then you have the astral body, which controls the living body." she tapped the smaller man-shaped drawing. "Then the persona and the soulcore. The one that holds skill, memories and personality of a person, and the one that hold the sense of self, respectively." She tapped the two smaller circles. "But what happens when you take the body away?"

With a black piece of felt made for just this purpose she wiped away the image of the body, leaving the inside man-shaped drawing and three circles.

WC: 555

[Madeira Dusk]

"You just have the soul..." one student ventured uncertainly.

Madeira nodded, smiling to show her praise. "Yes, and now the soul has to be its own vessel. The astral body is stripped away following the death of the body it controls. But some people, some very strong, very determined people, can hold on to their decaying astral body and wear it a shroud. Not every person has the fortitude to maintain this resistance to the natural order, which is why not everyone comes back as a ghost."

She stepped back so everyone could see the rough example she had scribbled on the board. "This outer layer, inside the aura and before the persona, once it decays it is called Soulmist. And that right there is the key to every interaction you will ever have with a ghost. Their soulmist is invulnerable to almost everything, except another's soulmist. I can teach you to make this substance by killing and harvesting a piece of your own soul... Don't look so shocked, it grows back. With it you can either dress a ghost in your own soulmist to repair or strengthen theirs, or else imbued it into weapons, tools or armor to attack or repel them. It is truly your most powerful spell, and your only spell, as I have mentioned."

This was getting easier. Madeira found herself hitting her stride as she recalled everything she knew about Spiritism and repackaged it for easy consumption by her students. A fair number of them seemed a little lost, and she was unsure how much of this knowledge she was imparting was sticking, but she was sure she at least earned their esteem. They were looking to her like she had all the answers.

Madeira, high off her new bubbling confidence, had almost forgotten that Chiona Dusk was lurking. It wasn't until the older woman stood unobtrusively and signed that she required a moment of her time as she squeezed out the door that Madeira remembered it wasn't just the students being graded. Her confidence fell into the pit that opened in her stomach as she hurriedly addressed the class.

"Take a moment to write down the notes from the board. I'll be back in a moment to answer any questions." Madeira patted down her skirt and pulled her gloves taut as she slipped out the door after Chiona.

The brunette was waiting in the hall for her, an easy smile on her face and tawny eyes purring with satisfaction.

"Madeira, I'm impressed. You certainly seem to know what you're talking about. No doubt I learned a thing or two in there."

With effort Madeira kept her breath from leaving her in a relived rush. She took the statement as the exaggeration it was, since all the information she imparted was novice level at best, which the Dusk heir most certainly was not. But the praise rang true. Perhaps it was simply in the certainty in which she taught the facts that Chiona could sense her eptitude.

"That's very kind of you to say", Madeira nodded demurely and smiled to match hers. "If your father could give me more masterful students I might even believe you." she tested the waters with a light teasing.

"One step at a time, Miss Craven." Chiona rewarded her forwardness with her easy bell-like laugh. "Your knowledge is sound but your instruction is rough. It would be best if we kept you with the new ones for the rest of the season. In the winter we'll see about giving you a meatier challenge. Perhaps then I'll be in your class in earnest." she winked cheekily. "I have other duties to attend to today, so I'll leave you to sort out the rest of todays lesson alone. Class ends at the bell, but you have the authority to keep them longer if you need to." she turned to leave, waving lazily over her shoulder. "It was good to meet you, Madeira Craven."

"Likewise", Madeira stumbled to return the gesture, but Chiona was already down the hall, and she wasn't sure she had heard her.

Maybe this teaching job won't be so bad after all, she caught herself thinking as she turned back to her class, already considering how best to mold the new minds she had been given.

WC: 733

Total WC: 3123

[Madeira Dusk]

Grades Awarded!

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Madeira Craven

Skills

• Deduction: 1xp
  
• Teaching: 5xp
  
• Rhetoric: 4xp
  
• Intimidation: 1xp
  
• Leadership: 1xp
  
• Hypnotism: 1xp

Lores

• Location: the Dusk tower
  
• People: Chiona Dusk
  
• Teaching: simplifying information
  
• Teaching: classroom etiquette
  
• Rhetoric: figures of speech
  
• Leadership: controlling a class
  
• Teaching: leading questions

Awards & Retribution


Notes