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.

Art of the Octangle (4)

Advancing widdershins from our last stop in the octangle, just as we arrive in front of the Squilltemper building, we come in the the corner where congregate the conjurers of a demonological familiars, be they Sages of the Unknown Shadow or Black wizards:

Despite the size of Unseen University's main Octangle this area manages to seem almost cosy, between the clock tower to the north and the ancient chestnut trees whose boughs spread over the cobbles, the manicured lawns, and a dramatically gesturing statue.  The Tower of Art rises to the west, and the main gates sit northeast of here, while the studded oak door to the south leads - in theory - into the Squilltemper Building.

Here stands an ominous black oak bench under a chestnut tree, and trying to sit on it, being what I am, gives the following result:

You sit on an ominous black oak bench.

> The bench suddenly changes its shape to become a steep slope, sending you sliding down onto the grass.

You stand up.

The summer heat gently radiates from the ground.

The bench changes back into its normal bench-like shape.

The obligatory statue for the archetypal Sage of the Unknown Shadow is close at hand:

With a characteristic flair, this cadaverously thin wizard appears to be calling some sort of horrendous demon from Hell - an impression aided, admittedly, by the horrendous black marble demon forcing its way through the earth at their feet.  The carved black marble robes of a wizard of the Sages of the Unknown Shadow contrast sharply with the wizard's gothically white marble hands and face.

Yet another toy is available here, in the form of some musical chimes that can be played for curious sounds, but only effectively by better percussionists than myself:

Spired and fretted like some deconstructed and inverted Borogravian castle, this assemblage of tubes - some blown from glass, some carved from crystal in a multitude of swirling colours, and some of octiron - chimes and twinkles in each passing breeze.  They hang from a plate of solid octiron, inlaid with glyphs and bearing a dedicatory inscription.

Sparkles of octarine light constantly bloom and dance around the chimes.

It appears to have something written on it.

read chimes

You read the set of octiron and crystal wind chimes:

Written in flourishing letters:

Octavius Semelustrius, Professor of Musicology, set me here on this day the 17th of Grune, Year of the Concussed Ocelot, for the delight and edification of All Wizardry.

Order Rings - Sages of the Unknown Shadow

'Gotta have them all'. I've just bought, right now, the last of the rings I was searching for (by an ironic twist, it was my own Order's, and the first one I ever bought; I even had it deluded, but I must have lost it in some remote robe, cloak, backpack or pothole...). I've even bought them a nice-looking lacquered box in which to lie, and which would also do as I nice piece of decoration if I start renting a property one of these days...

>look case

This is a beautifully engraved small lacquered case. It has the picture on it of two fine steel daggers with delicately jewelled handles.
It is in excellent condition.

As for this entry's ring, it will be the daemonologist's piece, which at a short glance responds quite appropiately as a 'black ring'.

>look black ring

This ring has been cast from octiron, and features a disturbing setting. Its main feature is a blackened, flat disc, with an elegantly faceted ruby at its centre. Around the rim of the disc, blood red letters have been marked into the metal. Between the stone and the letters is an intricate network of silver wires, bulging upward from the face of the disc. The impression is of enormous forces struggling to burst through a barrier, and only the ruby at the centre seems to be holding them back.
Etched in lines of glowing octarine: "Umbra Incognitas"
It appears to have something written on it.
It is in excellent condition.

>read black ring

You read the black ring:
The Sages of the Unknown Shadow

Order Rooms - Sages of the Unknown Shadow

[Today's recipient of ackowledgement is Master Xisoned, of The Sages of the Unknown Shadow, who has allowed me to take a look at those darkety practices that earn them such funny nicknames...]

You see a vision in the silver mirror:
This room has been crafted to resemble, in every way, an octogram of immense proportions. This is, after all, the common room of the Sages of the Unknown Shadow -- the order of wizards who specialise in the more demonic side of magic. This area, for the most part, is completely blackened. The drapes that cover the walls and boast glowing octograms are a deep, blood red, while the carpet is a subtle black. Throne-like chairs are positioned in a circle around a very low obsidian table in the centre of the room. Multiple chains have been firmly attached to the table, as if in preparation for something not only evil, but very large.
A small octarine eye, hovering in the middle of the room, watches you.
There are three obvious exits: south, west and north.

look drapes: These drapes decorate the room elegantly. Each one covering a different wall, each one with a highly charged octogram glowing and flickering. The drapes are helping to hide a small chest shoved against one wall, and a bulletin board shoved against another wall.

l octograms: Though the room is shaped like an octogram, someone felt the need for even more protection. the drapes strewn around the room each have a highly charged octogram which glows brightly and illuminates the area. These octograms were created for a single purpose and very likely aren't any good for anything else. The strange illumination causes strange shadows to stalk around the room, carefully avoiding the table in the centre.

l carpet: The floor is covered in a plush black shag.

l chairs: These are more thrones than chairs. They have been placed around the willing table. They are in the perfect position for a little observation, discussion, or study group. Each one is wrought iron with a plush leather seat, and each one has an octogram welded into the back.

l table: This is a piece of the famous "tabula rasa", of which the rest can be found in Uberwald. It is, as the name suggests, completely clean and has no features, save the chains firmly attached. It seems as if this low altar was constructed to restrain a large beast, or dangerous subject, or perhaps it's now merely used for students to study on.

l chains: These don't seem to be as empty as first thought. They are all lifted off the altar and point toward the centre of the table, as if holding some invisible beast in place. Of course, if that were true, you'd have heard something by now, right? They have been constructed of smelted octiron and are double-linked for the extra secure feeling. Curious how they just hover in place...

l walls: The walls are covered in a dark crimson fabric. They drape along the walls dramatically.

l shadows: These strange shadows are created by the glowing octograms. They slowly stalk around the room, carefully avoiding the table in the centre of the room. They each come in different shape and size, but the one unifying trait is the uncommon thickness of each shadow and the unyielding detail of features. They are so thick and dark that one might find it easy to blend into one if he or she so wanted to attempt the unusual feat.