Garlemain's School for The Arts

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1. #1Garlemain's School for The Artsconstantselective

   Keys: magic, Garlemain's, Arts, student, school, academy, university, magus, magi, Garlemain, house, mark, black, blood

   Garlemain's School for The Arts is a boarding school modeled after European boarding schools, where students are sorted into four houses and are encouraged to compete against one another. Garlemain's main point of focus is the teaching of The Arts, an admittedly dying form of 'magic' in today's world of 1913, before the start of World War I. Garlemain's has six periods in schedule starting at 6AM, five of them are classes, and one break period for lunch, and ending the day at 3PM, and classes are done six days a week, Monday through Saturday, with Saturday being a half day ending before Lunch. Each student gets three free meals a day, even during off days, starting at 5AM until 10AM for breakfast, Lunch is served during lunch period from Noon until 3PM, and Dinner is anytime after 4PM until 9PM. Students can request snacks and drinks throughout the day, up until 11PM at the latest.

   Garlemain’s itself is hidden away in the Faroe Islands, on the hidden northernmost island requiring a Magus to lift the veil betwixt both planes physical and astral to approach. To attend Garlemain’s requires an invitational letter from a scout divining/seering potential Magi to learn The Arts in a world that is which increasingly becoming less and less reliant on the occult and the fringe and more on increasing industrialization, unaware of the massive shift history is about to undertake. A potential Magi can be anyone, even a conventional, if they so have the talent. Divining if someone has the talent is an effortless affair, but even if someone has absolutely no talent for The Arts, a conventional can still learn The Arts with great effort and maybe some teaching. Scouts tend to divine such hardworking people even with no talent and give them invitations.

   The current headmaster, Schala Graves, age 32, is considered the strongest Magus of this era. Dependable, quick to laugh and share a smile, yet unforgiving to those who dare tread to hurt her students.

   The uniforms for Garlemain's are relatively thick with layers, as the Faroe islands are cold, with it exceeding no more than 60℉ in the summer and averaging around 30℉ or less in the winter.

   Each student has a uniform, and is typically required to wear during school hours: ●A white dress shirt or blouse ●A brown wool vest with a color trim denoting that student's house ●A striped tie with colors denoting that student's house tucked into the vest ●A plain black work robe with an inner lining colored denoting that student's house and a house insignia embroidered on the chest pocket in front ●A pair of slacks or dress pants with belt, or a skirt that's at least knee length, either house colors or gray or darker. ●A pair of dress shoes or flats that are brown, tan, gray or darker, with matching socks of any length gray or darker or house colors. ●If wearing skirts, stockings, tights, pantyhose, leg warmers are allowed so long as they keep to either neutral colors or house colors.

   Students are provided three pairs of each item for their uniform when enrolled. Each black work robe has two outer hand pockets, an outer chest pocket, and two inner chest pockets long/big enough to hold foci no bigger than a wand. Students with scepters or card stacks can request and receive a holster for their scepters or deck boxes, or a holder for their scepters. Students with staves are out of luck and will just have to carry their staff or fashion up something to hold it themselves as they're too large and often unwieldy.

2. #2The Arts (Magic), Geistline, The Astral and Physical Planesconstantselective

   Keys: Arts, magic, magus, magi, class, wizard, mage, witch, Geistline, Astral, Physical, Plane

   The Arts is, in short, the name for magic in this timeline, for calling The Arts 'magic' is too crude a word. Magic has four fundamental properties; The Astral plane (The unseen world where everything and everyone is spiritually connected. Everything is alive and conscious, even light, even something as simple as a rock), The Soul (The inner light that makes up a conscious being. Can be considered a person's representation of their existence in the Astral Plane), the Geistline (The 'line' of what is considered possible and impossible, and what separates the Physical and Astral Planes), and the Physical plane (The physical world, where everyone normally exists and lives out their lives).

   The Astral Plane exists at the same time as the physical plane, and can be considered to exist in the same space. When a person moves their body in the Physical Plane, they are also moving in the Astral Plane as their Soul, which is anchored to their physical plane body. The Astral Plane is also where all thought, dreams, ideals, forms, and collective consciousness lives. To perform an Art is to take an ideal or imagined form from the Astral Plane and cross it over the Geistline to make it real, 'casting' it in the physical plane. Most Arts are powered by the Magus' imagination, the greater the mental fortitude and flexibility a Magus has, the better they will perform. The way a Magus' mind is structured and their thought processes can also make them exceedingly talented in some Arts and struggling with others; a conventionally artistic Magus might have a significantly easier time with Bulwark Against Black Arts as they can imagine a whole host of offensive or defensive Arts, or Botany where growing and modifying plants can be a heavily visual activity so long as they understand the fundamental properties, but they might struggle with more mental Arts where the casting takes place solely in the Astral, such as with Divination & Telepathy or Arithmancy. Conversely, a studious Magus with numbers might have an easier time with Arithmancy or Charms and Curses, but might have to put in extra effort to cast a Firebolt. To cross the Art from the Astral into the physical through the geistline puts a significant strain on the physical body of a Magus, as well as their soul in the Astral. Heavy Art usage can induce bodily effects on those casting them, beginning with light aches or fatigue, and then ramping up into headaches or nausea. Fully passing out from casting Arts is possibly but rather rare, as one would have to keep casting even while potentially vomiting or down on their knees after already casting so much. The symptoms are simply known as Arts Fatigue or Severe Arts Fatigue. Despite the rigorous coursework in Garlemain's, most Magi will not feel Arts Fatigue throughout the day aside from perhaps a minor ache in the evening after all their lessons are done, unless they already had weaker constitutions or they are engaging in particularly rigorous coursework for that semester.

   There are some Arts that exist solely in the Astral Plane, such as telepathy, divination, psychometry, or any of the 'mental' Arts. Mental attacks via the Astral plane are possible as well, as is shielding. Modifying the Geistline to make it weaker or stronger is among one of the practical skills for Magi everywhere. Casting Foci range from any number of tools. The majority of Magi prefer staves or wands, but seeing a Magus with a pendulum, crystal, grimoire, or even a deck of cards isn't too uncommon a sight.

3. #3Ghosts, Souls, Death, Summoning Yokai/feyselective

   Keys: Ghost, Soul, spirit, banshee, yokai, wraith, possess, specter, dead, kill, dying, died, die, fey, eidolon

   Apparitions, namely ghosts and their similar ilk, are freed souls that are not tied to a physical body, and have traversed the Geistline from the Astral Plane to the physical one, either by Magus effort through an Art or by sheer force of will, determined to be in the physical world for reasons of their own.

   Usually, whenever a physical body ceases to function and dies, the soul is freed of it's anchor, and transcends both the Astral and the Physical plane to a higher existence. No Magus knows what happens when a soul undertakes this journey; reincarnation is typically the more popular theory, though certain fusions of religion with a Magus' understanding have produced different answers as well. It's generally frowned upon to keep a soul from transcending, and taboo to trap them in the physical plane for any length of time that isn't temporary for some express and specific purpose, such as asking that soul to identify their murderer. Dark Magi frequently use the souls of the dead for their own ends.

   Wraiths are given physical form, always by Black Art, by anchoring a soul to a physical body that did not belong to them or even their old body, usually a corpse. The body can be anything, not just human; such possessions result in a screaming and terrifying reanimated body, where the soul tries to interface with a mind not made for them. Even in the best cases where they are introduced back in their own dead body, they instead become Zombies/Ghouls, shambling and doing naught else but attempt to fulfill their most basest of human instincts, namely to eat.

   Yokai, Fey, and Eidolons are not related to ghosts or souls. Common belief in a singular being, act, or thing across the world can coalesce into becoming real (If absolutely everyone in the world believes blue pandas are real, a blue panda might actually appear somewhere). Myths and legends or folk tale can result in Yokai or Fey manifesting from common belief in the Astral Plane across the Geistline into the Physical Plane, as the Astral is the world of the collective consciousness and ideals. Magi can 'summon' such beliefs for their own use. If the yokai/fey is alive and thought to be sentient, it is common courtesy to offer them a contract. Most creations this way are happy to just be alive and in the physical plane and will agree to such contracts so long as they are not one sided or terribly misaligns with their wishes.

   Summoning clearly dangerous beings for the purposes of mass destruction or genocide is considered a Black Art.

4. #4Dark Magi, Black Artsselective

   Keys: Dark Magi, Dark Magus, Black Arts, Tartarus

   Dark Magi are those that flout taboos and seek ever more power, typically at the expense of all else and even human life. They frequently reanimate corpses, bind souls to objects or keep souls as slaves, forcefully performing matter transmutation on living non-consenting beings, using The Arts to inflict death and suffering on others, and using The Arts to exert full autonomous control over another person to act out their wills. Such Arts are known as Black Arts. Dark Magi found to have done any of this are considered to have blackened The Arts with their sins, and shall be imprisoned in Tartarus, the prison for all Dark Magi and other criminals of the Magi world, likely for life.

   During War, the usage of Black Arts gets overlooked more often than it ought to.

5. #5Tartarusselective

   Keys: Tartarus, Prison, Dark Magi, Dark Magus

   A prison built in the center of Greenland, where criminals guilty of committing Black Arts, being Dark Magi, or high crimes against Magi are held. The prison is found underneath the snow, ice and land and typically can only be reached via transference through the Astral Plane. The Geistline in Tartarus is one-way; things can come in from the Astral, but nothing can escape out, meaning transference out of Tartarus is impossible except for one specific room, locked and guarded at all times, meant specifically to bring criminals in for their sentence. Tartarus has never once been escaped from, except for in death, though prisoners in Tartarus claim they see the souls of the dead frequently, unable to cross the geistline to ascend. Punishment for life and for death as well. The Arts simply do not work in Tartarus.

6. #6Classes in Garlemain'sselective

   Keys: Class, grade, Arts, Garlemain's, charm, curse, enchant, transmutation, transmute, divination, psychometry, runes, flying, astronomy, foci, focus, summon, botany, alchemy, history, bulwark, black arts, general

   The following are classes in Garlemain's. Each one can be taken by any student, provided they meet the prerequisites (usually passing the prior numbered class in sequence, [For example, Bulwark Against Black Arts II cannot be taken until Bulwark Against Black Arts I is passed]).

   General Arts I through VI: The general class for learning general-use Arts, as well as the fundamentals. Everyday use Arts are the bread and butter here, such as repairing objects, minor healing cuts or scrapes, unlocking or locking, disarming an assailant, cleaning and drying laundry or other linens, changing liquids into ink or water, changing temperature of liquids, relieving pain, and so on. General Arts also teaches a brief few fundamentals of other specialized coursework so that Magi are well rounded and can do a little bit of everything on graduation even if they do not pursue those fields. Necessary for graduating.

   Bulwark Against Black Arts I through VI: Learning practical skills and Arts as self defense to use against Dark Magi whom mean harm, as well as general combat training with The Arts as well as conventional weapons, including firearms. These classes used to be separated by conventional and Arts related classes, but both have been merged in more recent years as conventional weapons got more advanced and easier to use, to the point that even Dark Magi were using them in addition to the Black Arts. It was better for younger Magi to be more well rounded in this area. Necessary for graduating.

   History of Magi I through V: The history of the Arts, early Magi and their discoveries, how Magi have influenced human history, and some hidden lessons from history that aren't known to the conventional world. Necessary for graduating.

   Alchemy I through VI: Potions and fabricating extraordinary substances via Arts or knowledge from Arts. A lot of practical studies are done and actual chemical/substance mixing is frequently done. There is a philosopher's stone but it's way less impressive than early alchemists theorized. Necessary for graduating.

   Advanced Alchemy I, II, III (Alchemy I, II, III, and Runes I as prereq): Further Alchemic studies, making use of Runes in conjunction with Arts to further synthesize more potent and stranger concoctions. Some results cannot exist on the physical plane and are done in the Astral for direct modification of the soul.

   General History I through V, General Mathematics I through VI, General Language I through V, General Science I through VI: All of these are usual studies from the conventional world as non-magi would learn in school. These aren't quite as indepth as other classes related to The Arts, but they are necessary for graduating.

   Botany I, II, III: The study of non-conventional plants, and manipulating plants via Arts to produce effects, such as growing them in a specific manner, forcing them to grow edible portions such as fruits or change certain properties of those edible portions. 'Growing' furniture or houses or tools are popular uses of what's taught here.

   Summoning I, II, III (General Arts I as prereq): Very brief overviews on Summoning are given in General Arts I, this is the practical course for actually doing so. Students frequently summon Yokai, Fey, or other Eidolons for simple tasks or to test the student on formation of living forms in the Astral. Everything summoned is manufactured by the mind in the Astral and brought across the Geistline to exist in the Physical. Summoning I is usually taken in conjunction with Bulwark Against Black Arts II as combat related summons are relevant to that class.

   Advanced Foci Manufacturing I, II, III (General Arts I as prereq): A course specifically meant for manufacturing the casting implements that Magi use. There are no shortage of Magi needing staves, wands, pendulums and the like, and even moreso of a good quality. Students are taught the bare minimum in General Arts I, and these courses further expound upon the subject. Many a Magi has graduated Garlemain's and have gone on to have successful careers doing nothing but constructing foci.

   Arithmancy (General Mathematics I as prereq): There is power in numbers. Numbers have a certain hold in the Astral, and they affect the forms from the Astral in minute and major ways. Arithmancy is the usage of Arts in conjunction with mathematics. This course is more an exercise in theory rather than anything practical, taking several pages out from common understanding of numerology and applying that to Arts. While the only required prerequisite is General Mathematics I, Arithmancy has significant academic rigor, and typically only students nearing graduation will take this elective.

   Astronomy: A more conventional course revolving around viewing constellations, planets, celestial phenomena, lunar phases, even tracking asteroids. The Astral in the heavens is a vast and infinitely interesting place, and several Arts have been invented or developed purely from viewing the night sky above.

   Charms, Curses, and Enchantment I through VI: What is usually three separate courses in other Magi schools, Garlemain's has decided to combine these three subjects into one. All three are typically the same Arts as a base, with the only real difference between them being the target of the casting and their effects. Charms typically focus on a person or living thing and induce a mental or change in the soul in the Astral, Curses typically focus on a person or object and inducing a detrimental effect, and Enchantments focus on inducing a magical change in an object, typically beneficial. The change to the coursework to combine these courses into one track has given students a much larger view of the shared fundamentals, and other Magi Schools are beginning to mirror Garlemain's model.

   Transmutation I, II, III (General Arts I, II and Botany I, II as prereq): The usage of Arts to physically and permanently change a person's appearance or physical properties. This is a dangerous course, with a heavy responsibility on the instructor to completely know how to undo any transmutation the students may accidentally perform. Transmutation is different than a toad curse, where a toad curse is temporary and the 'victim' maintains their sense of self and mind, transmuting a person into a toad is far different, changing even their mind and soul in addition to their body to a toad as well. There's been word that this course is on the chopping block as Transmutation of another non-consenting person is considered a Black Art, even though technically Botany with Arts is also just Transmutation but with just plants. Garlemain's has taken the stance that Magi will inevitably seek to transmute themselves or another for some reason, and it is best they learn the safest and most effective methods. Transmutation is the method of repairing/healing anything. There are other Arts that speed up the body's own regenerative abilities, or stop bleeding, or to disinfect wounds, or even to remove foreign objects inside someone. Those arts are simply taught in General Arts as first aid. When someone's arm goes missing, or they've gotten a bullet hole in their head, transmutation is required to right the wrong. To become a fully licensed healer Magus after graduation, the Transmutation courses MUST be passed with a grade above 90% or higher, along with passing a rigorous timed practical and written exam from the Central Magi Healer's Union.

   Divination and Telepathy I, II: The usage of Arts to divine the future, to ascertain the status or visage of a far off location, or to communicate with a person from long distances using only messages, feelings, or images in the mind carried across the Astral. Psychometry also is a major part of this course. There's almost no theory in this class, it's purely practical from day 1.

   Extraordinary Biology & Care I through V: There are many creatures, animals and summons alike, that are not known to the conventional world. Some Magi keep them as familiars. Others must care for them, and even some more others that must be steered clear of. Learning and even interacting with several of them is par the course here.

   Runes I through VI: The Arts, written in script. Enchanting or charming an object or person is temporary, and though one can elongate the effects with better skill, Runes are the key to permanently affix a piece of the Astral and one's Art onto a specific place, object, or person so long as the written symbols are undisturbed. Runes is a very difficult set of courses as one has to translate The Arts into written form. There's far more theory and fundamentals to grasp in the initial one or two courses here with almost nothing practical happening until near the end of II, with several more guidelines and responsibilities than usual involving The Arts. Drawn Runes exist potentially forever, again, if undisturbed, and each Magus must understand that an Art written today may be dangerous several hundreds years from now to another Magus, or even worse, to a conventional.

   Flying I through VI: An extracurricular class. Flying requires the Magus to be in relatively good shape both to prepare them for the stresses of flying, and for the possibility of an accident. Students are to learn to use a variety of tools for flying, most popular being brooms. Flyboards (essentially snowboards/surfboards) are the second most popular, and sailboards (Flyboards with an adjustable sail) coming up third. One has the most control with a sailboard, with a broom being the fastest, and a simple flyboard being somewhere in the middle. Varrieziebul is the preferred activity in Flying class, though with toned down rules of engagement and no Chaser position.

   Teleportation I, II (General Arts IV as prereq): One of the most difficult and dangerous Arts to cast. There are courses that are dedicated to a singular Art, but those serve as fundamentals to other Arts or contribute to a Magus' understanding of the Arts. Teleporting is its own beast. There is significant danger in teleporting; unmaking one's body and remaking it elsewhere is considered a death to the original copy, and the anchoring for the Soul in the physical body does not tend to keep afterward. The Earth is also constantly spinning and moving miles a second, so even teleporting in place or a short distance away can find the Magus in a different part of the world entirely, or underground, or somewhere in the sky, or somewhere in space... Even successful teleports from the equator to somewhere further north can cause serious injury as those on the equator are spinning and moving far faster than those up north or south. When teleporting, Magi use several different Arts in conjunction with it to ensure they aren't plastered in a red mist on a wall somewhere or embedded in bedrock, and this course serves to drill in every single safety measure possible. The safest method of teleporting is to make two portals in two arbitrary locations, which has both pros and cons compared to straight teleports. Teleportation I is more theory and safety training than anything, with light testing and experimenting on test objects rather than anything with a pulse, and Teleportation II promoting to teleporting live animals, with a successful teleport of the self being the final exam.

7. #7The Conventional World and Conventionalsselective

   Keys: conventional, non-magus, paleblood, grayblood, fullblood, magus, magi, magic, veil

   The conventional world is the world normal people live out their lives, mostly wholly unaware of the world of Magi and the Astral Plane. History takes its usual route as expected, unaware that the conflicts between or caused by Magi rage on, influencing their world in unseen subtle ways. The proper term to refer to those that are not Magi are simply 'conventionals,' though certain Magi look down on such people as subservient lesser beings, calling them palebloods, or calling Magi born from a conventional and a magus a grayblood. Fullbloods are, naturally, magi that come from long family lines of Magi with no conventionals 'tainting' it. To discriminate against conventionals like this is considered racist and is supposedly punishable at Garlemain's, though there are few ways for a Magus to do so in a place where their are none, and simply speech is usually just overlooked. Worse, there are perhaps two or three instructors that also hold such beliefs.

   Conventionals can learn to be Magi, it is not such a thing to be locked simply to blood. However, exposing the world of Magi to conventionals en masse has proven to be troublesome in the past, and it is generally not advised to introduce them unless absolutely necessary, and even then their memories must be wiped afterward using Arts. If a conventional still remembers even after having their memories wiped, they are thought to have potential as a Magus.

8. #8The Houses, and gaining Marksconstantselective

   Keys: Wyverat, green, Corviracae, crow, rat, purple, Obella, Toad, Orange, Silvulie, lizard, white, mark, Garlemain, sort, ceremony, sorting, dorm, dormitory, corvidrae, silvulzard

   Garlemain’s has four ‘houses,’ which are basically just dormitories for students. Each house's dormitory is permitted only for that house's students, and they are further separated into boys/girls. Each student when enrolled into Garlemain’s is assigned to one based on a sentient Crystal's decision when touched, as it peers into the student's mind to see where they best fit. The Sorting Crystal has never once been wrong, and the sorting ceremony is done in front of all the first years also to be sorted, along with an audience of older students if they so decide to watch the proceedings.

   The Marks system is integral to the culture of Garlemain’s, as it gives each house an incentive to compete with the others and achieve ever higher grades. A house gains ‘marks’ whenever a student of that house answers a question correctly, has good behavior, does something beneficial for the school of Garlemain’s or helps out a staff member, and marks are deducted for rule breaking. At the end of the school year, the house with the most marks ‘wins’ that year and is given what amounts to bragging rights along with a fancy dinner. The four houses are…

   Wyverat, with Green being their color. The students in Wyverat are brave and chivalrous, eager to prove themselves and just as eager to stand for those that cannot stand up for themselves. Their emblem is a hardened rat with a scar over it's visibly eye, presenting a broadsword in both paws, and a green sash around the neck.

   Corvidrae, represented by Crows, with Purple being their color. Corvidrae's full of students with extremely sharp intellect and creativity, though also often with bookish personalities. Their emblem is an erudite Crow with a monocle, grasping a scroll in its claws, and it's wingtips stained with ink.

   Obella, with Orange being their color. Obella is usually filled with hardworking and trustworthy students, though honestly if a student doesn’t display any properties of the other three houses, they will be sorted into Obella by default. Somehow, being in Obella improves these students to be as hardworking as the ones intentionally sorted here. The emblem is a hardy orange Toad with a pointy black wizard hat, and the feet are dusted with dirt.

   Silvulzard, with White being their color. Silvulzard is typically comprised of students that are ambitious and cunning. They typically tend to be naturally talented, usually coming from more refined family lines of Magi, but there are many cases where blood has nothing to do with the sorting into Silvulzard. The emblem is a curved and sly lizard, the tail and body wrapped in black thorned ivy, the ivy gripped by the lizard's feet.

   Garlemain's was founded by Regis Garlemain and his four Magi companions, Avaiti Wyverat, Illisay Corviracae, Shirexe Obella, and Graile Silvulie, after the second Magi war for the express purpose of teaching young Magi the proper and safe methods of casting Arts, and to impress upon them the responsibility for such power. The four houses of Garlemain's are named after them, or at least loosely named after them in the case of Corvidrae and Silvulzard.

9. #9Foci (wands, staves, etc)selective

   Keys: wand, staff, staves, pendulum, tarot, cards, grimoire, scepter, knife, knives, rod, instrument, umbrella, crystals, focus, foci

   The Arts a Magus uses define the Magus, but the implement used in casting them, the focus, is what helps shape the Art. A focus is not necessarily required to use The Arts, but it does make it significantly easier. Some Foci are better at certain tasks than others, and they are not equal in performance either.

   Wands: The favored focus. Lightweight, easy to carry, easy to hide, the practical focus for almost all Arts. One can do almost anything with a wand, and what can't be done can be made possible with a little creativity. Magi tend to have at least one other focus on them, and if the Wand isn't the primary one, it is most definitely one of their spare ones. If Wand users truly run into something that can't be done with a wand, they probably have something more specialized on their person. Regis Garlemain himself, the founder of Garlemain's, was a wand user.

   Staff: Typically considered as a bigger wand, the Staff increases a Magus' casting potential far more, with more finer control over the Geistline and their spells in the Astral. The Staff probably can do absolutely anything just from sheer power alone, but it isn't always the most efficient focus to do so. A staff can force a divination Art, but it would take a lot out of the caster to do so, when a Magus with a tarot deck as their focus can do it far, far more easily. The staffs offers the most reliably consistent power out of any other focus, with the most powerful Magi in history being staff users.

   Scepter: The midway point between Wands and Staves. As versatile and well rounded as a wand, with some of the potential overwhelming power of a staff. Avaiti Wyverat, user of all foci, favored the Scepter the most out of any of them.

   Pendulum: Considered to be a niche focus, but usage has gone up in recent years. It's not as versatile as a wand, but one can do many Arts with a pendulum, and certain other Arts are far easier with this than others by simply incorporating the slight chaos of the pendulum swing, affecting arts in unforeseen yet controlled ways. Divination or other primarily Astral Arts are easiest to cast with a Pendulum. New Arts are discovered or produced with Pendulums relatively easily just from the uncertain factor of the swing. The Pendulum is usually the third focus a magus has behind a wand. Graile Silvulie favored the Pendulum above all others.

   Cards (Tarot, playing cards, hanafuda, etc): A much more niche focus, with far more chaotic results than the Pendulum. Using a card stack as a focus is discouraged for newer Magi in Garlemain's, but there are those talented enough to make it work. An Art is wholly dependent on the draw, and the draw can drastically change the result, and some (if not most) are uncontrolled at best. If a Magus intends to use a card stack for standard coursework, they just pick out a singular card and use it. Technically, a card stack is far more versatile and potentially more powerful than any other foci. However, the Magus gets the most effect from shuffling and randomly drawing one card per Art cast, meaning time between casts are staggered by the need to shuffle. If they're sufficiently talented in stacking while shuffling, or simply counting cards, or they can randomly pick out a very specific card off the top at will with no mistakes, a card stack will serve a magus for life. Obviously, just picking out a card and using it multiple times diminishes the effect and is no better than a weaker focus, and having a small stack does not give the strange benefits a stack normally gives; the more faces and more cards, the better (or worse) the effects. There's also the concern that the stack needs to be hand shuffled, so stacks with more than 100+ cards quickly becomes unwieldy, especially in the heat of combat. Illisay Corviracae favored a card stack as her focus, though none could tell you what kind it was.

   Grimoire: This focus is the most difficult to produce, and is also the easiest to use by virtue that every Art a grimoire can use is written inside it with runes. A magus talented in writing runes for their Arts can get a lot of mileage out of using a Grimoire. However, the limits of using a grimoire are easy to see; a Magus can only really cast Arts that are written in the Grimoire, with all other Arts not in it barely working at all. A grimoire can take the form of a book, a scroll, a card stack (definitely not recommended), or anything portable that one can write runes on and carry with them. A grimoire is handy when a Magus needs to cast a few specific Arts over and over with no thought and minimal effort put into it. Since almost nothing is needed for casting, Grimoires also boast the fastest cast times out of any other focus, making it great for when attrition is a concern but not any amount of flexibility. Shirexe Obella favored the grimoire, for so talented was he with runes that his Unending Grimoire is a lost artifact forever out of reach somewhere in the Astral Plane.

   Rod, and other weapon foci: A more recent focus hailing from Eastern traditions where rods are a part of martial arts. Rods tend to be heavy, exemplary of their weaponized nature. They aren't as strong in casting as scepters, or even wands, but it does offer a Magus an option when casting an Art in close quarters with an assailant is not a good idea. Most weapon foci like knives or swords share the same properties. However, at Garlemain's, bladed or harmful foci with the exception of Rods are prohibited from general use in standard coursework, with the exception of Bulwark Against Black Arts classes.

   Crystals: The smallest possible focus, or perhaps the largest. Those that favor using Crystals like them palm sized so they're easy to hide. A Magus might need only wrap their fingers around a pebble of a crystal in their pocket to make use of it. In the conventional world, this is the preferable focus to use when needing to cast an Art around conventionals. It's not even as powerful as a rod, as the size greatly limits what a Magus can do with it. That is the story for palm sized or smaller crystals. A crystal added onto any focus increases its power, and are favored to add onto scepters, staves, wands, even embedded into the covers of grimoires, and are almost always the weights used in pendulums. If a card stack could somehow incorporate crystals, the user likely would. The story is even stranger as one attains and uses bigger crystals; their power increases exponentially with the size of the crystal used. Someone with a crystal that's as big as a tombstone could potentially do some very real harm to a city or two without even trying, but then the problem is that one has to carry around a tombstone of crystal with them everywhere if they want to use it. Garlemain's imposes a restriction of crystal sizes no bigger than the size of one's head for standard coursework. Not that getting a crystal so large is easy to begin with. Schala Graves, the current Headmaster, uses a scepter carved entirely out of a mass of crystals named the 'Astral Axis.' None have ever seen her full power and lived.

10. #10Magi Family lines, blood, slursselective

    Keys: paleblood, fullblood, blackblood, grayblood, half breed, breed, blood, family, conventional, magi, magus, ancestry, inbreeding, inbred, pale magus, pale magi

    In the world of Magi, a lot of importance is placed on blood, more specifically of one's ancestry. Well established magi families will attempt to exclude conventional people, or 'palebloods' at all costs, to the point of inbreeding if necessary. True full Magi are very few in number, so some Magi families, or 'fullbloods' will marry conventional people to avoid the issues with inbreeding as a necessity. Paleblood is considered as a slur for non-magi. Grayblood is a slur used for half breeds, between a conventional and a magus, with fullblood being the term used by those with ancestries not tainted by paleblood to prove their racial superiority. Blackblood is used to denote someone who's ancestry comes from the first Magus, Hermes Trismegistus, and are also still fullblood as determined by purists.

    For 'purity' purposes, most Magi consider one to be a grayblood/half breed if their parents or grandparents were a conventional. For purists that care about family lines, however, if a single conventional is in the family line at all, that'd be enough to use the grayblood slur.

    There are somewhere around 12 fullblood families, meaning absolutely no conventionals in the family line, with somewhere around 34 more families that have taken a few conventionals but are otherwise still considered majority fullblood, and perhaps only 3 or less that are still considered blackblooded.

    Magi that have learned the Arts while being fully paleblood with no prior family being Magi are forever still paleblood. It doesn't happen very often, but they are unfortunately called pale magi, or a pale magus. It's not considered a slur even though it ought to, since it shares a word from the slur paleblood.

11. #11Extracurricular, after school activities, clubs, Varrieziebulselective

    Keys: club, sunday, saturday, weekend, week, lesson, flying, sports, varrieziebul, portal, teleport, faroe, islands, conventional, Ziebul

    Most students in Garlemain's are restricted from leaving the island not by regulation, but by obvious logistics. There's no real way to leave the island to enjoy 20th century society aside from perhaps a visit to Tórshavn, the closest thing to an economic market settlement on the Faroe islands. There are certain Magi communities, markets, and major centers from the mainland in the United Kingdom down south, in pockets everywhere in Europe, several places in the United States, a couple in Australia, a notable couple each in Iceland and Greenland, and one each in South America and Africa. Getting to these places in a reasonable timeframe and also to return to Garlemain's before lessons begins the next day requires teleportation, usually by portal. During off days, Sunday and after lunch on Saturday, Garlemain's will arrange for portal services to whisk students away to a chosen destination should they so wish to leave Garlemain's for a brief period. They are required to be back before evening, and if they are going to a conventional location, they are to leave in plainclothes and not their uniform. They are also required to have a discreet spellcasting focus on them, though they are instructed to not use it unless in dire circumstances where their safety is in question.

    There are several programs on campus as well for those that do not wish to leave. Several conventional sports have their clubs, as well as the most popular Arts enabled sport, Varrieziebul.

    Clubs are student run, and be about a whole host of subjects. Clubs meet on certain days after classes or on break days, determined by the club leader. Anyone can form a club with the school's permission (Obviously nothing too unsafe or vulgar), with no minimum or maximum limit on membercount. Clubs about The Arts, the conventional arts such as theater or painting, reading, sports, sewing, fashion, woodworking, and even gun sports/marksmanship are popular clubs despite some being 'paleblood' activities.

    Garlemain's runs co-ops with Magi related or even conventional companies for students wishing to get some practical experience in the workforce before graduation, in which they'd leave after lunch to put in a few hours and be back usually at 10PM. A late dinner will be served to these students. Field trips or school-wide activities such as cultural festivals or dances, social balls, ceremonies, and even community activities for the Faroe islands are common occurrences as well so students aren't too bored even if they choose to stay on the island during their break days.

    Varrieziebul is a two team game, with ten players on both teams. Each team flies around in an arena using a chosen flying implement, usually a flyboard, sailboard or broom. The object of the game is to toss a ball known as the Ziebul through a tiny moving hoop. The moving hoop is controlled by the Goalie, which is required to use a sailboard. The Goalie can catch and throw the Ziebul, but cannot leave the team's goal hoop alone. The goal hoop must not rotate and must remain in an upright position, and cannot be moved inward into the playing area, and must stay in the area surrounding the playing area. Otherwise, the goalie can move the hoop just about anywhere, even right next to the opponent's hoop should they so choose in hopes that the opponent might accidentally miss theirs and score an own-goal. There are four defense fliers usually on flyboards, four offense fliers usually on brooms or flyboards, and one chaser, almost always on broom. If an offense or defense scores, that team gets three points. However, if a chaser scores, they get one point, but each consecutive score from the chaser increments their score total, so the next goal from the chaser adds two points, the goal after that adds three, then four, and so on. Entire stategies can revolve around getting the chaser to be the only one scoring until the chaser is scoring double digit points each goal, with the rest of the team providing support. However, if anyone else on the team not the chaser breaks the chaser's combo, they must start again from scoring one point and build up again. Each game of Varriziebul continues until one team has earned 50 points, or until time which is one hour. Both teams get three timeouts, four fouls. Being chaser is often the most dangerous position on the team and is often the one most prone to injury, as everyone is gunning for them almost at all times if they are the focus of the team. If the chaser is not scoring, they are usually the one intercepting the Ziebul and passing it to other players, or skirmishing with other players or the other chaser, or even deflecting the Ziebul purposefully.

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