General Summary
Day 700
Over dinner, we also have the opportunity to explain the mechanics of the Barrier to both Aestien and Master Lo. Master Lo, of course, is incredibly interested in the details of it (spatially scattering groups of people, not letting people of power cross, allowing passage if a powerful person is wounded or stripped of status), and completely amazed that such a barrier would be erected just to keep elves apart from everyone else.
Late into the evening, we are given a tour of the floating academy which has quite a large library that has varying levels of access allowed. The third floor of the library contains magically isolated research spaces as well as some rare and dangerous books for field researchers travelling with the school, like Master Lo.
The school, Master Lo tells us, is a popular and prestigious institution which sends out this satellite ship to discover 'diamonds in the rough' from people who might not make it out to the isle. The model of academia in the Unbroken Tortoise Academy is highly competitive both in admissions, graduate positions, and faculty positions. Arch Deans are typically at the forefront of their specialty and must defend their position every five years, in practical competition. The Arch Dean who took on Aestien is the Arch Dean of Arcane Magic - widely regarded as the most powerful practitioner in Transformation, Sound, and Motion within the academy. Illusion is only left off that list because there is a well known prodigy, Shu Wen, who is an Ephemeral Ghost Butterfly and is regarded as the best Illusionist in the Spirit Lands overall.
Few people have challenged Jin Hao in the past 50 years because he frequently leaves opponents crippled. This alone makes me sick - what a senseless thing to hurt another person for...nevertheless, plans are already forming in my mind to have Alwen take his position just for fun and practice.
60% of the students here are ritualists, and the rest are various wizards, with mysticism being rather uncommon. He invites me to lecture, promising me a full lecture hall no matter what topic I choose. I promise I'll return tomorrow to help with the barrier maintenance and poke around.
Late into the night, we return to our own ship to find Qishali waiting up. She, Starfield, and Skyen greet us and I note that Starfield and Skyen are looking awfully cozy.
Days 701 - 709
Ausha, Qishali, Liliales, and I participate in the barrier maintenance together, though Qishali will only leave the safety of our ship if Liliales or I can be with her. As we wander around, people often make remarks about her being uncollared, unbroken, and even potentially being for sale. Liliales pre-empts much of this, and after seeing how effective she is, even other mages helping in the defence will chase off anyone untoward.
The barrier itself is ingenious in its magical efficiency, and the way it's put together is very educational. The way the barrier is segmented is clearly a specialty of the tortoises here and allows for individual segments to fail without being catastrophic. It is exactly the sort of thing I want Alwen to learn - incredible potential for citywide defences.
I also have the opportunity to sit in on undergraduate ritualist lectures and learn more about spirits and pacts. I attend these lectures with my beginner's ritualist textbook in hand, not hiding anything about myself or my magical strength. It's an absolute pleasure to see how unpretentious the students here are - many of the people are underprivileged working students.
Along the way I also make friends with a tiny sparrow girl named Emerin, who plucks up the courage to ask to look at my notes and share note-taking duties with me.
An elderly crocodile lecturer, Master Shao, also takes note of me in his lectures on spirit binding and pacts, identifying me as a dreamer quite easily. His study is absolutely filled with spiritual energy and bindings, which is not particularly comfortable. The problem he wants to discuss is about the pacts formed between spirits and people being able to occur in the Dreaming, without the physical offering and binding. He's interested in the possibility of spirit pacts between people, so long as they can reach one another's spirit.
He mentions that blood pacts are possible, of course, but that pacts made in dreams would form lasting bonds that stretch across distance since sometimes the people we want to help are too far away for a physical connection.
If it weren't for the fellow researcher telling me that it's his 'impossible' research task, I would have said that such a thing is obviously possible. As we experiment together, I find that it's easy for me to do something like passing a particular magic through the Dreaming to someone like Lyssa who is already connected with me. It's much harder to form a pact that will last through the Dreaming, with someone I haven't bonded with.
Through working with Shao and Qishali, I get to learn more about the pact she shares with Liliales and how it will develop organically, likely to the point that they will be able to share their magical talents.
He is surprised when I invite him to meet in the Dreaming - evidently few people will join Imperious Soul-Rending Crocodiles in the Dreaming, particularly not one who studies dreams. I wave off this concern, but in the Dreaming, my fae self can sense that this ''soul-rending" crocodile could sever my connection to the trees. His presence in the Dreaming is stronger than I anticipate - more like a treeborn or other elder, or a few of the Celestial fae I've met. His connection is remarkable, and evidently just a part of being a crocodile.
Eventually, the reason for his specific research topic surfaces - he has been exiled from his homeland but has grandchildren. All he wants is to send strength to his grandkids, not hunt anyone in the Dreaming. With this additional piece of knowledge, I can introduce him to some bloodline magic that will help him, with the eventual goal of smuggling them some blood that will anchor their connection just like mine and Mistress'. At the end of our exploration, he asks me to call him Brother Shao, and little Emerin gets somewhat adopted by him as well.
Over our stay, Ausha lectures on magical jewellery and object-making without relying on binding spirits. She repeatedly challenges students to show her an object they made a spirit, then makes her own version easily.
Qishali, for her part, has made an incredible impact on everyone at the school. The general attitude wherever she goes is that she is incredibly talented and skilled, and no bound or trained lightning spirit would be able to do what she does.
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