The Spellbound Society discussion
☾⋆Quests Roleplay
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"This was supposed to be a study group!"- Jasmine & Batman
(okay) Maryim walks through the quiet halls of the academy, heading towards the library. when she enters she sits down at a wooden table and waits for Javin.
(okay so i may have only just noticed that on the character creation maryims name was auto corrected to marylin so now im just gonna call her marylin so i dont have to change it lol)
Javin rushed in a few minutes late, arms full of tomes, scrolls, and parchments. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair somehow managed to look more unkempt than it usually did. "Okay. Where should we start?" He dropped the load on the table with a bang that earned him a few glares from library patrons at the surrounding tables. He ignored or didn’t notice them. "Alchemy? General Transmutation? Evocation?" He said, hoping she was uaware of his reputation. In all his hustle and bustle, it didn't even occur to him that he was forgetting to at least exchange pleasantries with his would-be study partner.
marylin raises a brow "hello Javin. Nice to see you too." she says somewhat sarcastically. she eyes the pile of tomes and scrolls that has been set before her. "why dont we start with alchemy?"
((Hello, just wanted to tell you guys that you need to ask a mod before making a new topic🤗))
((It’s okay, you guys can continue just in the future plz ask))
((My bad ))Ah. Okay. She knows better. That won't make this much fun. Realizing she'd spoken, Javin shook his head to clear the cobwebs "Apologies. It's been a long night. How are you, Marylin?" He pulled a book from the stack, trying to ensure the rest didn’t topple, then began to flip through it to find find a relevant chapter
(Okay Im here! Sry it took so long I was eating my food) Marylin peers over his shoulder, trying to see what chapter he's looking for. "Im doing alright I suppose. Still no luck finding a quest"
"A quest?" Javin asjed. "Oh, uh... here" He turned the page for her to see better. "Chapter 3. Core Concepts. He pointed to the review questions. '#1. What are the seven Classical Planets?'((To be clear I don't believe in this. Literally just going through the wikipedia article.))
(That's so real. My friend asked me smthn the other day and I just googled it)"Yeah, I've always wanted to accompany someone on a quest. You know, to study." Marylin scims over the words on the page, not really taking them in.
Javin looked up at her. "You wanna go on a quest... to study?" He emphasized the last bit, hoping she'd catch the irony. "You can study here. Like, specifically, right here." He gestured to the table. "Because I need help understanding what planets have to do with turning stuff into gold!" He flipped the book cover over as if to make sure it wasn't 'Astrology'.
Marylin rolls her eyes. "It would be different. Here, we hear about the monsters. But out there? I want to see the monsters and study them that way." She peers over Javins shoulder "your on the wrong page by the way"
"Am I?" He checked the page number against his syllabus. "Oh yeah." He flipped back a chapter. "This is looking a bit more familiar. 'Question #1: What is the Law of Equivalent Exchange?'Ignoring the text for a moment, he rubbed the skin under his eyes. "Personally, I'd rather not come face to face with... well, most of the Bestiary, but certainly not a Beholder."
She snorts "come on Javin. What's life without a little danger in it?" Marylin looks over his shoulder at the book once again "you don't think it would be cool to see a real monster face to face?"
((Was hoping you'd get the reference. (Though I havent even finished Full Metal Alchemist, so I have no idea why.)))"Maybe at a zoo or something." Javin compromised with a shrug. He turned his attention back to the textbook. "This Law has something to do with preservation of mass, right?" Skimming through the chapter, he looked for any keywords to pop out at him.
(Sry I haven't heard of that :( "Yeah I think so" she tucks a piece of her blonde, green highlighted hair behind her ear so she can see the book pages clearer "a zoo? Really? Seeing one in the wild would be so cool"
((It's an anime. What little I've seen is really good. It's my understanding that Brotherhood is the better adaptation though. The manga hadn't finished when the original anime caught up to it, so it started doing its own thing.))Javin was starting to wonder if Marylin needed glasses as she kept fidgeting and moving to see better. He wondered how to bring it up without getting punched in the arm. Instead, he used a very basic spell to magnify the page. Even then, he still added to many modifiers to the formula. He knew it could be simpler.
"If I'm in the wild," he said hoping she wouldn't notice, "it means I'm lost. And if I'm seeing a monster while lost in the wild...? Well, I might as well be dead."
She shrugs, seeming to brush off the comment "I still think it would be cool. Plus, if your on a quest and you see one you were probably going to die anyway."
"Exactly!" Javin said, nearly shouting. "So then, where's the incentive?" He turned back to the book and was about to call it quits when he spotted what he was looking for.In standard practice, Equivalent Exchange is separated into two parts:
The Law of Conservation of Mass, which states that energy and matter can neither be created from nothing nor destroyed to the point of elemental nonexistence. In other words, to create an object with the mass of one kilogram, at least one kilogram of material is necessary; destroying an object with the mass of one kilogram would reduce it to a set of parts, the sum of which would have the mass of one kilogram.
The Law of Natural Providence, which states that an object or material made of a particular substance or element can only be transmuted into another object with the same basic makeup and properties of that initial material. As an example, an object or material made mostly of water can only be transmuted into another object with the attributes of water.
((Feel free to just say "This is nothing" if you're struggling to respond to a post.))
(It's good)Marylin sighs "honestly Javin... not EVERYBODY dies on quests. Think of the story you would have if you survived. The extra data you could help find.." she trails off with a sort of dreamy expression on her face
((Realizing I described Javin as being calm and collected. So far, he's looked like a madman the entire time. Ha ha!))"I'm having enough trouble just finding the answer to question two." Javin sighed. "Would you like to go on a walk? We can come back with clearer heads. I could use a change of scenery and you could pretend it's a quest."
Marylin snorts "sure." She picks up her bag and slings it over her shoulder. Before going she reads the page one more time then says "the answer to question 2 is "'matter can be niether be created or destroyed'"
Javin nodded his thanks as he scribbled that down hastily, then tried his best to organize all the loose leaf parchment between the book's pages. He slammed the book shut and shoved it into his satchel, then stood. He pushed his chair in, then gestured for Marylin to take the lead. "Where do you want to go?"
Marylin starts to walk. "If you want me to pretend this is a quest, I say we go to the chaos forest" she says with a slight smirk, trying to annoy him
"Ah yes." Javin said flatly, already regretting this. "Chaos Forest. Notoriouly famous for its chill vibes and for being conducive to clarity of thought." He didn't really have a better idea though; The gardens would be too crowded even though the butterflies had gone into hibernation and walking around the shopping district defeated the original intent of the excursion. And so he followed.
When they arrive at the chaos forest Marylin trudges in without a second thought, unaffected by the possibility of getting lost
Javin continued to follow blindly, despite the nagging voice in the back of his mind. "Oh, you're not even bothering to follow the path, are you?" He asked as he nearly tripped over a root. "Could you at least do me a favor and pretend to sketch a map or something as we walk?"
She rolls her eyes. "Oh come on. If I promise to remember the way we're going will you feel better" she coos. She grins as she continues making her own path through the forest.
"No. Not likely. But I might be convinced to stop complaining for a bit." He swatted at some insect buzzing by his ear, then had to stop to unsnag his jacket from some thistles. "Keyword: might! Did you actually have a general direction in mind?"
"No" Marylin continues to walk without direction through the forest. She stops when she comes to a dark cave, then walks straight into it, gesturing for Javin to follow
"So then you had no idea this cave was here?" Javin stopped at the cave's mouth and stage whispered. The logical part of his brain had chimed in to warn him that something might be sleeping inside. "You can't even see in front of your face! If there's a bear--- or, heaven forbid, something worse--- you don't want to shine any kind of light. In fact, your best bet will be to walk--- quietly!--- back this way."
Marylin turns around and very deliberately turns on her phone torch, shining it around the cave. "It's fine. See?" Suddenly they hear a deep rumble
((I keep forgetting what the level of tech is. I keep defaulting to standard medieval fantasy. Also, I was about to introduce a deep rumble myself.))Hearing the ominous sound, Javin cast Marylin a withering glare. "Not once in history has that phrase ever proceeded anything good," he said through his teeth. He began backing away from the cave, then realized that Marylin's light wasn't reflecting as it should.
(great minds think alike)Marylin slowly turns around, shining her light around the cave, looking for the source of the sound. The light catches on a shape, she raises the light higher, and higher, and higher, before it finally finds a hideous face. "Minotaur" she breathes before starting to slowly back up.
((I tend to write multi-paragraph responses, so you're good. Also, it occurred to me when you said torch that you were from the UK. We say flashlight.. in America! *Cue Bandit Keith from Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged*))"Yeah, no kidding..." Javin hissed. "Turn the freaking light off! Move slowly!" He was trying to think rationally. He searched his pocket for anything useful.
A kneaded eraser, some lint, half a roll of old pennies? Why did he have pennies, let alone half a roll of them? He switched pockets. A pen... useless. He felt the strap of his satchel and tried to weigh the consequences of throwing his textbook at the creature. Yeah, no. He was hoping to turn it in for cash at the end of the semester.
He moved back to grab the pennies again. "Turn off the light." He repeated in a gentler tone. "I'll throw something behind him to catch his attention.
(Lol. I hadn't even noticed it was different in US)Marylin slowly turns off the light, continuing to back away from the Minotaur. She too searches her pockets. A pack of gum, a pencil, a hair clip, a letter opener- wait, why on earth did she have a letter opener? Nonetheless it may come in handy... she takes it out of her pocket and brandishes it like a weapon
When the light has ben put out, Javin tossed the pennies as hard as he could. They made a heavy clunk on the ground. Hoping the Minotaur had turned to assess the direction, he gestured for Marylin to hurry back to the entrance. If the creature decided to charge, he didn't have anything in the way of weapons. Someone had one said that pens were stronger than swords, but he no intention of testing that theory. He looked around for a stone he might be able to use.
Marlyin turns from the Minotaur and runs back to Javin, before turning to throw the letter opener as hard as she could. the makeshift weapon lodged itself firmly in the creatures side. She grabs Javins hand and runs out of the cave, out into the forest.
"You threw the knife away!?!" Javin shouted in disbelief as he allowed himself to be strung along. "I admit, it was kind of impressive that you managed to make it stick, but... YOU THREW IT AWAY?" His brain raced. "Zigzag! I've read that creatures that charge often don't tend to change directions well. Umm..." He looked around to get his bearings. "Head for the thickets. We'll crawl under the thorns. He'll have trouble following." He winced as he heard the minotaur bellow and knock down a tree. "Hopefully."
Marylin follows Javin into the thickets, still holding his hand to make sure they stay together. "what did you think I was gonna do?" they both crawl under the thorns, hoping to lose the angry Minotaur. Marylin looks nervously behind in the direction of the beast. "okay... maybe it was a sort of bad idea" she admits as the Minotaur comes charging towards the thicket.
"Definitely not." Javin whispered in agreement. "But, for what it's worth, I take equal blame for shouting and drawing his attention back to us." He hoped she couldn't feel his hand shaking. Or sweating for that matter. "Okay. Let's take inventory. What've you got?" He listed the contents of his pockets.
She rooted through her pockets once more "a pack of gum, a pencil and a hair clip" she said. She turned back around and saw the Minotaur rip the letter opener from its side. "That vs a Minotaur with a letter opener" she gulped.
Javin handed her the pen. "Maybe he wants to be penpals." He joked, trying to ease the tension. "How's your penmanship?" He looked apogetic. "I mean, it's either that or we throw the gum into his mouth and hope we can cure his halitosis."
Marylin laughed. "Maybe we could use the hair clip to keep his hair out of his eyes-" she was interrupted by a thunderous roar. "Though I don't fancy our chances if he can see us better" she grabbed his hand once more and led him out the back of the thicket.
((I love how you guys take 30 mins to respond to each other, makes the anticipation while reading this so much better🙏
Anyone else can join with Jasmine's permission.