This sounds like fun! I'll have to familiarize myself with the rules, but with how things are right now I have more than enough time. Consider me in!

Susie's first day of school was not going well. Late for breakfast, late for her first class of the day, and now...

"Y-you again?" the redhead squeaked, shrinking in her seat. "But... I don't want-"

"Ahem."

Susie immediately closed her mouth as a man in a long, spangled robe stepped into the room. His facial features were sharp and angular, causing him to resemble a large bird of prey. "Good morning." he said curtly, his voice oily. "My name is Professor Veilhart, and welcome to Astrology Level 1 If you could all turn to the student next to you, I'd like if we could all partake in a small... friendship exercise."

Small leaflets materialized onto every desk, one for each student. "I believe all of you are thirteen years of age, yes?" the professor said, crossing his arms behind his back. "Inside these you'll find information on what constellations were prominant in any given month thirteen years ago. I'd like you all to find out what signs your partner was born under, then write them down. Once you've finished, wait for my further instructions."

Susie hesitated before turning to look at the white-haired girl. Maybe they'd just gotten off on the wrong foot? She attempted to smile, though it was clearly forced. "Um... I was born in march..." she murmured quietly. "M-my name is Susie, by the way..."

"How dare you."

The boy glared at Sainev, seething with rage. He took a step towards the cook, almost looking as if he was about to strike at him. "My father didn't pay for my attendence at this school so I could be mocked by commoners like you."

"Whoah. You need to cool it."

It was at this point that Professor Zinc stepped in, positioning himself in between the two boys. "Fairbairn, go with Kingshield." he barked, eyes turning towards the non-magical boy. "Make sure he gets to the infirmary without slipping in his own vomit."

The boy opened his mouth to say something, but held his tongue after the professor gave him a stern glare. With one final glance at Sainev, he stormed after the broomstick racer...

"Oh, go fuck yourself..."

"I got it from Obedience, actually." Arthur said pointedly, eyes narrowing. "Traded my Primal Tarrasque for it." The boy clenched his teeth, hands balling into fists. Elwin's comment had struck a nerve- his father had never approved of his hobby, and the thought of him ever buying his son cards was laughable...

The boy hardly reacted to Elwin's second card, focusing instead on adding up the damage Matango would take this turn. At this stage, it really didn't matter what monsters the older boy had in play. Sighing, he placed a number of damage tokens equal to about half of the mushroom's total hitpoints next to the card. He also removed the last token from his Seed- his enviroment card would restore it to full heath this turn. "...Kay." he said. "Seed will use his signature move, Fortify. He'll take no damage from attacks next turn." Arthur glanced upwards, then back at his cards. The woman was still staring at him. "...And, uh, Matango will use Aromatic Spore. That heals thirty..."


"I-imbecillic? But... She's not..."

Susie stared at the man, looking as if she'd just been slapped in the face. The girl was used to people making jabs at her own quirks, or at her family's lack of means, but almost never at her patron. She wasn't sure why the comment stung as much as it did, but it was enough to make her angry.

Very, very angry.

"You aren't going to take that, are you?" a voice in her head whispered. "He asked to see. I say you show him."

"I... I have been learning!" Susie finally said, voice shaking with rage. "I've been learning a whole lot!" She extended her arms, pointing her hands at the floor. Squeezing her eyes shut, she began to visualize what she wanted to make. She'd never done anything more complicated than a pyramid before, but it couldn't be an ordinary shape this time- it had to be more impressive than that. At a loss for ideas, she thought back to what she'd wanted to be before being accepted to Wyrdwood...

A gritty, hissing sound echoed through the hall - similat the noise sand makes when being poured out of a bucket. Opening her eyes, Susie's heart skipped a beat. Sitting between her and the Magister was a small recreation of Wyrdwood Castle, about two feet tall. While still only made of the white material she knew how to conjure, most of the minute details of the building were present- the towers, the arches, the pillars. There were even tiny gargoyles lining the roof...

The redhead stared breathlessly at her creation, anger fading as she admired what she'd made. "See?" she asked, beginning to get excited. "I told you!"

Sarah remained silent, face expressionless. She had briefed Hildagarde on her family members and their abilities, but that had been years ago, and in the privacy of their own home. Besides, it was common knowlege that her boss despised human traffickers- she'd never kidnap anybody, much less a child Randal's age. Though, thinking back on the information she had given...

"I think I'm missing something here..." Sarah said, frowning. "Was there, like, a randsome note? Anything at all to tell you why he'd been taken?" There was a genuine confusion in her voice- if anybody in the family was to be kidnapped, wouldn't it have been Auntie Rosemary?


"I cant believe she made you come out here! You could have been killed!"

Kneeling down in front of Pavew, Porcelina haphazardly felt at the boy's ribs. He winced in pain, and she immediately drew her hands away. "Careful!" Winnifred snapped, crouching down next to her. "Do you even know first aid?"

"Of course I don't!" the dwarf replied angrily, crossing her arms. "Do I look like Eckhart to you?"

"Then move it! You're just gonna get in the way!"

"Sister..." the boy's voice moaned from beneath his mask. "Sister says... stop fighting..."

"Sweet Ansgar, are you okay?"

Porcelina opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Eckhart's voice before she could say anything too nasty. She glanced upwards, sighing in relief as she saw the Connlaothian boy hurriedly approaching them, Randal and Ewan in tow. "Pavew got crushed," she said, shuffling back to give him room. "He's hurt."

"Ribs got squeezed into his lungs I guess." said Ewan, reaching for Eckhart's book. "Busted them. Do you got anything for that?

The young man grimaced. "Um... Let me- hey!" He lifted the book out of the child's reach. "Knock it off!"

Getting up from where she'd been sitting, Griselda gave the redheaded boy a stern glare. She began to walk towads the center of the crater, motioning for the two boys to follow...

"I see..."

The Magistrix gave Ryana a dissaproving look, seeming to take issue with her response. Looking back at the redhead, the hag's expession softened somewhat. She had known coming into this job that she'd likely frighten the younger students by accident, but this soon into the year? She attempted to give the student a reassuring smile, though her monstrous visage made it look more sinister than anything. "Well, don't let me keep you!" she said, an oversized hand shooing the girls's off. "You two have a big day ahead of you!"

Susie nodded frantically, hastily picking up her books. "Uh, um, right!" she squeaked, fighting back the urge to flee. She did not want to spend more time with the professor then she had to-even if it meant not telling her how mean her fellow student had been to her. "I-I'll be going then!"

With a small nod, the redhead began to sprint towards the dining hall once more...

Sainev cast some sort of spell, sending a sigil towards Plutonious. The broomstick racer's nausia seemed to quell slightly, and after a moment he pushed himself back up. "Whew. That's that's much..." He clutched his stomach, groaning. "...Never mind. I'm going to the healer's office..."

The boy shuffled away down the hall, dragging his broomstick behind him. Once he was out of sight, the non-magical boy glared at Sainev. "What are you doing? Did you even test that beforehand?" he snapped, resting his hands on his hips. "It was your magic that caused all of this. How do we know you didn't just make things worse?"

Professor Zinc raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. While certainly rude, the boy had a point...

"...Kay."

Arthur puffed out his cheeks, doing the math in his head. If the Bloodfeather had an attack stat of 90, plus the extra 30 from sacrificing the Orratilla, then matched up against the Seed's base 100 defence and 70 hitpoints, then the total damage dealt was...

"That does twenty." the boy murmured. "Ten after regen." He put a damage counter on the card, then looked at his hand. "Kay. I summon Matango to the field... flank position."

Arthur placed a new monster on the table, positioning the card next to his first one. Depicted on it was a bipedal mushroom with a pout on it's face, sitting in a cloud of it's own spores. He'd take a penalty for doing so- spell cards couldn't be used when two monsters fought side by side, and he'd still only be able to have one monster attack per-round. Matango itself was not a strong monster, save for an admittedly enormous amount of hitpoints. With no offensive power to speak of, all it could do was...

"And he'll use... Anger Spore." Arthur said quietly. "You'll have to attack him next turn instead of Seed."


Susie flushed bright red at the Magister's comment, feeling incredibly embarressed. She had thought it was what he'd like to hear, but apparently it hadn't been the best response...

"R-right..." she stammered, slowly standing back up. "T-thank you for the advice, sir..."

Susie squeaked in fear as the girl grabbed her arm, instinctively pulling away. "I-I'm sorry!" she cried, eyes nearly as wide as dinner plates. "P-please don't hurt me!"

"What's going on? Are you two alright?"

Flinching, Susie turned to see a monstrous looking old woman had emerged from a side corridor and was now walking towards them. The girl instantly recognized her as Professor Fen-Breath- the new Magister had given a small speech at last night's opening ceremony. The teacher was much more frightening up close than she was sitting at the staff table, however, and Susie found herself taking a step back. "I-I'm f-fine!" she stammered, tears still rolling down her face. "Just- just late!"

The hag raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Ryana. The woman's eyes were a sickening yellow, her nose grossly misshapen. "And you? Are you 'just late' as well?"

It was at this point that Susie broke down. Tears flowed freely down the girl's face as she sobbed quietly, eyes fixed on the floor. "She's right, Susie." the voice in her head chided. "You don't belong here."

Suisie shut her eyes tightly, struggling to find the words to say. Were there any? "I-I overslept..." she blubbered, picking at her fingernails nervously. "I'm g-gonna be late to breakfast..."

Sarah followed her cousin into the tavern, flicking her hood over her head. Arriving at a private booth, the young woman sat down bemusedly. You were more likely to be eavesdropped on when you seperated yourself from the crowd like this- people would take notice and assume you must have something valuable to say. The assassin's nose wrinkled at the idea of returning to Serendipity, but before she could open her mouth to retort Sage had spoken up again.

"Basil..."

She'd nearly forgotten about her youngest cousin. How old had he been when she left? Two? Three? Her aunt and uncle had always kept the boy away from prying eyes, so Sarah had only ever met him once or twice. If Sage was here now, did that mean...

The assassin crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that." she said flatly. "But if you think you'll find him here..." She paused, taking a deep breath begore continuing. "I left all of this behind me years ago, Sage. Why would I want to... involve myself again?"


"Um... Do you think it might be safe yet?"

"That's the third time you've asked. What was my answer the last two times?"

"Right... uh, sorry..."

Eckhart sat on his bed, fiddling with his necklace anxiously. Belledonna the cat sat on the desk, making notations in Maladies Most Unusual. The sounds of fighting had stopped a few minutes ago, but the window in his room didn't offer a clear enough view for him to make out what had happened. It wasn't that scuffles like this were uncommon- quite the opposite- but there had been an uncharacteristic seriousness in his sister's voice when she'd told him to stay inside. That worried him. "It's just, Hilda said that-"

There came a knock at the door, and Eckhart froze momentarily. He exhaled when he heard a familiar voice, and got up to answer the door. Sweet Ansgar, nearly gave me a heart attack..."

He cracked open the door, giving the two boys a nervous smile. "Um, hey. What's going on?" he asked, trying and failing to hide the worry on his face. "Shouldn't you two be in your rooms? I think there's something going on outside..."

"Nah it just ended." Randal said quickly, grabbing hold of the healers arm. "That boy with the face is hurt though! You gotta help him, c'mon!"

From inside the room, Eckhart heard Belladonna mewl in resignation. "Of course he is. Go on, I'll grab the bag..."

"O-oh..."

Susie stared at the girl she'd knocked over, a mortified expression on her face. Could you get in trouble if your robe was wrinkled? She looked down nervously, finding that her own robe had been sullied as well. Her eyes began to water. "I-I didn't mean to!" she exclaimed, lips trembling. "I-I just had to- and, and it was an accident, and..."

"Great going, Susie." said a voice in her head. "You can't do anything right, can you?"

Susie sniffled, tears beginning to roll down her freckled cheeks. "I'm really sorry..." she said softly, voice quivering. "I shouldn't even be here..."

"Art's okay, I guess..."

So that's what the Orratilla was for. Arthur gazed at Elwin's card, face turning a bit pink. He'd always been conflicted on the Dreadful Damsels expansion. On one hand, none of the cards were particularly useful from a competitive standpoint, the best ones being generic wallbreakers that were easily outclassed by other monsters. On the other hand, the girl on his Jenny Green-Teeth card was really cute...


Arthur glanced upwards to find that the creepy girl was still staring at him. A shiver ran down his spine, and his gaze returned to his hand. "...Kay. I forfeit my Seed's attacking turn to use Fae Fen." He placed a terrain card with an illustration of a gloomy swamp onto the table. As long as it was in play, monsters on both sides of the field would regain a small amount of hitpoints each turn...


"Eep!"

Susie had collided with somebody, an was immediately sent tumbling backwards by a blast of frost magic. Slowly pushing herself up, she looked up to see Magister Maergath towering over her. "I- I- I'm sorry!" she squeaked, shivering from the cold. A fine dusting of snow had coated the hall, and there were a few icicles clinging to her robe. "I-I had to talk to- and, and I need to get to the club, and-"

The girl stared wide-eyed at the magister, praying he understood. "And- and it won't happen again!"

The professor watched as the sigil was conjured, raising his wand as it was pushed towards the renegade broomstick. It seemed to be working- The Kingshield boy was being pushed towards the wall...

"Damn it."

It was no good. Seemingly having a mind of it's own, the broomstick abruptly diverted it's course. "It's not working!" Plutonius cried, now picking up speed. "The broom won't- AHH!"

The non-magical boy had seen an opportunity and rushed towards the broomstick rider, flanking him. The broom bucked, slowing down so as not to crash. "About damn time." Zinc muttered, aiming his wand at the tail end of the broom. "Now stop."

The broomstick twinkled and became still. Plutonius dismounted dizzily, falling to his knees. "I thought- hrgg- I thought it'd never end..." he said, covering his mouth with his hand. "Th- hrg- thank you guys so much..."

"I want to go home..."

Susie Rainfeather groaned as the morning bell rang, pulling her sheets over her head. The girl's first night away from her parents hadn't been a fun one. Her school pajamas were itchy, her bunk was cramped, and her pillow was far too stiff. She'd only managed to get a few hours of sleep before the sun rose, having spent the majority of the night tossing and turning. Why did they have to get up so early?

After a few minutes, the redhead managed to pull herself out of bed. Her dorm-mates had already woken up and left, seemingly having gotten more sleep than she had. She stumbled to her dresser, rummaging through the drawers until she found her school uniform. Hastily getting dressed, the girl grabbed her book bag and thrust herself out the door, scurrying down the hall anxiously. "I hope I'm not late for breakfast..." she thought, feeling a twinge of panic in her chest. "What if I am? Will I get in trouble? What if- oof!"

Susie turned a corner without watching where she was going slamming into another student. With a cry she fell over, dropping her books on the floor. "Ah! I-I'm so sorry!" she squeaked, scrambling to pick up her things. "A-are you okay? I'm sorry..."

Arthur grimaced- Elwin was being difficult, as he'd predicted. If it was going to cause this much trouble, it'd be better to just use his old deck like he'd planned. He began to reach for his bag, but a glance from the woman cause him to freeze in his tracks. The boy's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly sat back up. Elwin seemed to have gotten the memo as well, and drew his first card...

Huh. Well, Fattened Orratilla was an... interesting choice of leads, certainly. The boy's mind raced as he tried to determine what kind of strategy he was up against. If Elwin's deck had indeed been made to counter Arthur's old one, than that meant it'd either need to rely on powerful wallbreakers, or employ some sort of gimmick. The card in play suggested the latter, which meant Arthur would need to choose his moves carefully so as not to inadvertantly fulfill Elwin's win condition. Yawning softly, the pillow-headed child chose a card depicting a heavily armored walnut from his hand and set it down on the table. "M'kay. I summon my Seed of Yggdrasil..."


Susie rushed down the hall, bag clutched tightly to her chest. Professor Ferch-Rhys didn't need to have kept her that long, did she? The girl's face flushed in embarressment. Hopefully Kana wasn't worried...

Hello Jess! Welcome to SotE!

This place is really great! You can make basically anything you want as long as it doesn't completely break the setting, so the site really lends itself to creative ideas. I know I've gotten away with some pretty strange characters before XD

While you're getting settled in, you might find it helpful to make a Wants & Limits page! Looking forward to seeing you around!

Sarah gazed at her cousin sadly, eyes clouded. Her only response was to nod silently, putting her hands in her pockets as she followed the man down the road. People were beginning to reappear in the streets now that the fighting had ended, and the low buzz of chatter soon filled the air. The inn wasn't far now...

"How could I have stayed?"

A pang of sadness ran through the woman like a dull knife, her eyes fixating on the ground beneath her feet. "Everybody would know who I am- was. Who I was." The inn was now in sight, inebriated patrons milling about outside the building. "I had to leave."


"Is that it?"

Joan watched as Sage and his party made their exit, not letting her guard down until they had quietly disappeared down a side street. Once convinced they were firmly out of earshot, she let out a frustrated groan. "I don't know, shorty. It might not be."

Porcelina made a clicking noise with her tongue. "That's... problematic."

"How do we know they aren't leading Sarah into a trap?" Winnifred asked, pulling the mechanichal contraption off of her back to inspect it. She grimaced- it'd take at least a month to repair the damage done to it. "We shouldn't leave her alone with them..."

"I'm not worried." Pavew squeaked, clutching his ribs in pain. The golem's grip had left dark bruises on the boy's arms, and he was having difficulty breathing. "Sister saw Thomas go with her."

"Who?"


"He looks really hurt..."

Randal stared out the window, anxiously picking at his hangnails. "Should... should we go get Eckhart?"

I got...

Spoiler

@TeaDragon ! I don't draw non-human characters very often, so this was a lot of fun! Hope you like it!

[close]

"Erm..."

Arthur's eyes drooped, shoulders slumped. Elwin was the pushy sort, rarely letting go of trivial issues like this without conflict. Was testing his new deck really worth the inevitable whining? The boy sighed in resignation, reaching for his bag once more. "Alright..." he murmured. "I guess that's-"

"No."

Arthur flinched as the newcomer inturrupted him, accidentially biting his tongue in surprise. The girl's voice had an unnerving, almost musical resonance- like an orchestra that had a few instruments out of tune. He glanced upwards, immediately looking back at his deck upon meeting her gaze. "Use your new deck." she warbled, giving the boy the uncomfortable feeling that he didn't really have a say in the matter. "I want to see it."

The boy gripped his cards to his chest, a shiver running down his spine. "...Kay..." he murmured finally, hastily shuffing the deck and laying it face down on the table. "Um, Elwin, you can go first..."