People at Uni - Gznang

You see Antiquated Gznang of the Ancient and Truly Original Sages of the Unbroken Circle, the Fourth Level Wizard.

A slightly overexuberant pugilist.

He is a wizened Agateanish figure. You can tell that he is a wizard, and not only from the hat, but from his eyes, portals threatening to pull you in... Sparks travel erratically accross his body.

He is in good shape.

He is sitting.

His skin looks as hard as rock, although it seems weaker around the chest.

Holding : Antique Flank Steak (left hand).

Wearing : a pair of smuggler's seaboots, a grey travelling cloak, a sequinned wizard's hat, a gold and red coral ring, a brass ring, a lapis lazuli earring, a detailed silver oak leaf ring, a nice silver friendship ring, a detailed copper oak leaf ring and an ornate silver oak leaf ring.

Carrying: a small string bag.

Ridcully's Travelling Furniture Manufactory

What's it called?  Ridcully's Travelling Furniture Manufactory (or RTFM for short)

What does it do? It brings into being a very comfortable chair, which you can sit on and relax, while enjoying a nice cuppa and a snack.

Where is it? This is one of the new hedge spells that you will find inside the bark-like pages of Pracktical Hedgecrafte tome, in Skund.

What does it require? A sore bum. No, really - it is component free.

What skills do I need? chanting, dancing, conjuring, banishing, charming

Has it worked? A chair should appear in front of you. A successful output looks like this:

You prepare to cast Ridcully's Travelling Furniture Manufactory.

> You clear your throat and declaim a thunderous address to the abstract concept of comfort and ease.

You gesture broadly, describing the concept of an armchair to the listening universe.

You reach out with your will and force the waiting potential into the shape of a comfy armchair.

You sense eldritch creatures from the Dimensions of Endless Discomfort crowding in, and send a tendril of magical influence to banish them.

You project a feeling of welcome and ease, offering the nascent comfy armchair a home in the real world.

A luxurious hawthorn petal white armchair falls out of a hole in the air with a THUMP.

Notes:

Each chair is slightly different. The colours will depend on your order (which means I get different shades of white, mostly), but stuff like wooden material, stuffing, decoration and legs vary randomly. This chair I brought to being looked like this:

This solid wood-framed armchair has been very generously upholstered in hawthorn petal white wool, stuffed with lavender and decorated with brass studs.  The arms are broad enough for a tankard or a tea mug, and the wide-set legs have been carved with marvellous skill into the shape of pig's trotters.

There is nothing on the luxurious hawthorn petal white armchair.

You can only bring one chair at a time into a room, although other wizards can add chairs to yours. You (and others) can also dismiss them, at the cost of some guild points:

dismiss armchair

You get off the luxurious hawthorn petal white armchair and stand up.

With a flicker of your will, you prise open a gateway out of the reality we know.  You twist your tongue around the ancient language of furniture, and tell the luxurious hawthorn petal white armchair "You can go home now".  It shuffles off through the gateway, dissolving once again into pure potential.

A curiosity: if you cast the spell while floating over water, what gets created is actually a duck!

In the water just below and near the docks.  Huge numbers of now silent boats and ships almost block the banks of the river completely and what little space is left is cluttered by floating debris.  Although it isn't as hectic as during the day, roaming sailors and less than legal traders still keep the place busy.  A flimsy layer of ice has formed on the surface, but the constant traffic of ships keeps it very thin.  The silhouette and lights of Ankh Bridge lie a bit off to the east.

It is a very cold autumn prime's night with almost no wind and medium cloud cover.

There are five obvious exits: down, north, east, south and west.

A giant luxurious cloud white rubber duck is floating here.

> 

l duck

This enormous cloud white rubber duck floats comfortably on the water, huge webbed feet dipping low to stabilise the weight it is designed to bear.  The wings have been shaped into a comfortable back rest, and the head bears a noble but playful expression on its beak.

> The giant luxurious cloud white rubber duck is swept west by the current.

Help Information:

Ridcully's Travelling Furniture Manufactory                                                    

Right.  Write that my spell summons a comfy chair. Have you got that?                     

What do you mean more detail?  Alright.  Say you're sitting by a river somewhere, or in a really boring meeting with those hard wooden chairs and your donkey is falling asleep. What you need is a comfy armchair!   So you cast my spell, which is a first order miscellaneous spell, and just like that, you have an armchair.                                                                                                                

When you don't need it any more, you can dismiss it to make sure nobody else sits on it.  

Alright, we're done, what's for elevenses?  What do you mean the little box is still recording?  Don't write that bit.  Turn it off.   

       

My first gemcutting!

 

Today I spent some time getting the very basics of gem cutting skills, and I decided to put them to work with some of the bounty that I've collected from my recent forays into the Copperhead mines. I wasn't too confident of my abilities, so I tested them only on the inferior gems that I gathered in the last trip: jet, obsidian and some rose quartz. 

For the first tests I tried tumbling, as the gems were all of rather low quality anyway, and I wanted to be sure of at least some success. I was underestimating my skills, though. First piece ever is this piece of jet turned into a gem through a cabochon cut:

appraise gem

It is a low quality jet that could be cut into a tiny gem with one of the following forms: tapered baguette cut, baguette cut, octagonal step cut and trillion cut; or could be tumbled and then cut into a tiny gem with one of the following forms: high cabochon cut, lentil-shaped cabochon cut and cabochon cut.  It could also be shaved down into a smaller gem.

> 

put gem in tumbler

You put the black gem chip in the gem tumbler.

> 

close tumbler

You close the gem tumbler.

> Dizzy Haar takes a diamond-tipped chisel from his roll of gemcutting tools and chips away at a pink gem chip with it.

tumble gem in tumbler

You start to turn the handle of the gem tumbler, tumbling the gem inside.

A gentle tumbling noise comes from the gem tumbler as it is turned.

The clink and clatter of stone hitting steel comes from the gem tumbler as it is turned.

Dizzy Haar finishes working on a tiny roughly cut rose quartz and puts away his tools.

open tumbler

You open the gem tumbler.

get gem from tumbler

You get a roughly tumbled chip from a gem tumbler.

> 

l gem

This tiny chip has been tumbled to lessen its rough edges.  It could do with further tumbling to create a smooth finish.

It still wasn't ready. Some more tumbling finally got the necessary result:

This tiny chip has been tumbled to a smooth finish.  The surface resembles that of stones sometimes found in streams or on beaches.

Next was the cut:

cut gem into a tiny cabochon cut gem with tools

You start to work on the tumbled chip with a notching tool from the roll of gemcutting tools.

> Jeromee says with a Lancrastian accent: Just say or ask if you wish me to list or describe my wares, or sell you anything, but please be polite.

Haar finishes working on the tiny teardrop cut dark yellow citrine with his jeweller's polishing cloth.

You take the diamond-tipped chisel from your roll of gemcutting tools and delicately chip away at the tumbled chip.

You select another tool from your roll of gemcutting tools and use it on the tumbled chip.

You finish work on the tiny roughly cut jet and put away your tools.

> 

l jet

This is a tiny piece of jet cut roughly into a cabochon cut form.  It still needs to be ground down to refine the cut.

As per the instructions, I proceeded to first grind the result, and then to polish it:

grind gem on wheel

You secure the tiny roughly cut jet into a vice, set the gem grinding wheel turning, and start to grind the gem against it.

> 

You press the tiny roughly cut jet against the wheel to form a flat base.

You finish grinding the tiny roughly cut jet and remove it from the vice.

> l jet

This is a tiny piece of jet cut roughly into a cabochon cut form.  It is still in need of polishing.

polish gem with cloth

You start to polish and buff the tiny roughly cut jet with the jeweller's polishing cloth.

You finish polishing your tiny roughly cut jet with the jeweller's polishing cloth.

The final result was my first jewel offspring, and looks like this:

This tiny jet has been cut into an oval shape with a flat bottom and a domed top.

Afterwards I proceed with some pieces more, and with more complex cuts. Just a small sample of the better looking pieces:

This large obsidian has been cut into an even triangular shape. It has forty-four facets which reflect the light.

This small rose quartz has been cut into a pear shape that comes to a pointed end. The gem's translucent properties have been enhanced by its fifty-four facets.

This large rose quartz has been cut into an almost quadratic shape with rounded corners and resembles a pillow. The colours of the rainbow reflect off the gem's fifty-four facets.

This small jet has been cut into an even triangular shape. Light is reflected off its forty-four facets.

Not a bad day's work! I'll be trying soon the better gems that I have stashed inside a cashmere backpack somewhere...

Amulets

The third type of magical itemes be thofe made to be worne by the user whilft used, and of thefe the main ones be ringes and amulets. Amulets are ornaments or fmall pieces of jewellerie that give protection againft evill, danger, or difease, and skill in this arte determineth the ability to make, use, and manipulate them. Though this arte is moftly employed by witches to imbue magical cryftal in the wyfe wyzards refort to fcrolles, it is not without its uses for us, as hyaline amulets may be made to protect from the rain, and the darkened filver ones famouflie fafe-guard their wearers from the dangers of conforting with demons.

Art of the Octangle (10)

Moving eastwards from our last stop we find ourselves in another quaint corner of the inner square of the octagon:

Here, at the northeast corner of the University's ancient clock tower, the Octangle stretches all around.  A matching octagonal area of cobbles surrounds the tower, and paths lead from it eastwards to the gates and westwards to the Great Hall.  A time-worn statue of a plump wizard, ornately curled wig visible beneath the carved Archchancellor's Hat, stands proudly in a niche set into the tower itself.

Looking into the niche for more detail on the statue gives some nice details:

l statue

Archchancellor Riggmorton "Weatherman" Weatherby spent his academic life studying freak precipitation patterns and trying to work out just what brought on a rain of fish, furniture, or footwear rather than water.  His book, "Six Days in Pine Dressers", is required reading for all students taking the Envirothaumic Phenomena course, and it has been checked out of the library a record-breaking seventeen times.  One stone hand grasps a cloud thoughtfully.

l hat 

The hat has been set with real octarines, twinkling in any available light above the curled stone ringlets.

l ringlets

The hair of the statue is clearly a wig; no Archchancellor could possibly have sufficient patience to keep his curls that neat.

l cloud

Some decades ago, a waggish prankster enchanted the statue's cloud to rain illusory phenomena down onto the ground below.  It is currently dumping haddock upon the long-suffering cobbles.

l haddock

The haddock emanating from the cloud seem to vanish just before hitting the ground.

After I while I saw it turn to polished oak wardrobes, so I imagine you can also enjoy shoes if you wait long enough...

Hedging your bets (and 3)

So here we are, in the magical tree! After you've crossed the stained glass door, it transforms into a curtain of woven creepers, and you find yourself in the following landing:

This is the interior of a massive tree, with natural wooden walls rising around you and sturdy roots burrowing into the ground below.  Archways to the east and west look to lead to a study area and some sort of shop, respectively, while an earthen staircase leads down beneath ground level.  A doorway of woven creepers appears to lead outside.

There are four obvious exits: east, west, down and out.

Although not obviously visible, checking the walls and the vines and branches therein gives a hint of an upper floor, with a series of smaller branches forming a crude ladder of sorts that gives access to the upper area. It does require some tree climbing skills (164 bonuses are enough, although you'll have to try a couple of times) for going up and down. We've already shown the wooden platform there, along with the hedge grimoire it contains.

Back to the landing, the western room contains a cosy magic shop, with Celestia the Blue tending to it (actually, she spends most of the time daydreaming). It stocks some wands, new and fancy jewellery, inks, a couple of new staves and some golden spheres one can use for creating some magical effects in the room beyond a magical portal.

If instead one moves east, you enter a little study area were young hedgies can learn some skills and commands from Jesse the Green, along with some desks and a bookshelf teeming with volumes about magic, hunting and fieldcraft, woodworking and finesmithing.

Should one choose to go downstairs in the landing, the earthen staircase takes you down to the roots of the matter, and you find yourself in another landing with directions up, down, east and west. Going down proves to be restricted to hedgies, though, and if you try, you'll get to the same place you were in already: You descend the stairs into the mist.  As the mist slowly clears, you see that you've managed to descend the steps into the same room you were just in.

On the western side there is a wood and ironworking workshop, tended by Camanor the Brown. Besides repairing stuff, there are tools for sale related to these handicrafts, some of them new.

If, instead, you choose to go east, you encounter the typical gym-training facility of most wizard guilds, including the Beginner's tome of magic and the trapped demon:

The lichen-covered walls and the wooden floor in this room have a strange, unnatural pattern to them.  Scuffed runes dotted around the floor glow with a faint, sickly light, adding to the overall feeling of unease that this place exudes.  The focal point of the room is the multitude of giant octiron chains shackling a foul-looking demon to the ground.

There is one obvious exit: west.

Ny'Ogre is shackled here with great octiron chains.

An open tome is sitting on a lichen-covered shelf.

>

look demon

Pinkish-red, rubbery skin and an unnaturally wide smile make this repugnant creature truly unpleasant to behold.  Its eyes are no more than blood-red pinpricks that look at risk of being engulfed by a hideous, oversized maw.  It is shackled here with the help of great octiron chains, covered in runes of warding.  With the way it is smiling, you could almost believe that it is happy about its current predicament, or perhaps it is just preoccupied with thinking about what it might do were it to escape.

It is in good shape.

It is shackled here with great octiron chains.

Finally, although non-hedges cannot access what is presumably an exclusive lounge, there is a room to the west of it that may be used for teleporting around the Disc, and getting to at least three other wizard guilds (Unseen University, Creel Springs and Ephebe), and which can be accessed by others through a portal and subsequently blorpled. As for the lounge, Aiden was kind enough to provide the following description:

This room seems to be the one concession that the local hedge wizards have made to comfort and aesthetics inside the tree.  Sturdy rustic armchairs are dotted about the place, and a few thick, fur rugs have been placed in front of them for added comfort.  A long bar takes up most of the north wall, with various cabinets and cupboards behind it. A curious hatch occupies the east wall near the bar.

The teleport room looks like this:

This room is bare enough that it would look downright boring were it not for the huge, complex octogram covering most of the floor.  The only other feature of note is a mist-shrouded archway in the east wall.

People at Uni - Marya

Maven Marya Marshmallow is sitting here, a marmalade cloud is floating in the air here and a proud black duck is standing here.

A shining lotus of ice is spinning atop a raised earthen dais.

Maven Marya Marshmallow's Master Splinter gets pounded by a gust but quickly recovers.

You think you noticed two small blue eyes inside the marmalade cloud, but you are not sure.

>

l marya

The proud black duck frolics all around proudly.

You see Maven Marya Marshmallow the Senior Wizard of the Sages of the Unknown Shadow.

She is moving aggressively towards you!

Pale of skin, covered in freckles and built like a (probably haunted) brickhouse. She has a heavy, muscular body, dark auburn hair and the look of someone who sprinkles nails to her morning porridge and probably enjoys it.

She is in good shape.

She is sitting.

She has a withered midnight rose, a withered dark rose and a withered yellow-orange daffodil neatly braided into her hair.

She is hovering in mid-air.

Her skin looks as hard as rock, although it seems weaker around the neck.

A Master Splinter floats around her head.

She is enveloped by sparkling black flames.

She has Ninja Turtle Squad floating around her.

Wearing : a pair of grey leather gloves, a shadowy grey raincoat, a dark lavender cravat, a grey leather hat, a gold earring and a mirrored earring.

Carrying: a thread spool, an open embroidery pattern book, a small piece of cigarette paper and a strip of white cloth.