Ashes From The Sky (DragonSong)

[quaggan]

 Val regretted not knowing more about Serenian art. The directions seemed clear when he received them, but now he saw the flaw that he failed to notice before. He was supposed to turn right at the portrait of the founder. While there were plenty of paintings in the hallway he was in, none of the subjects looked even barely humanoid. He tried reading the plaques for some information, but his eyesight started getting blurry. He didn't want to take a risk - usually, whenever there was some chance element, his curse had a way of skewing the probability towards the worst possible outcome.

Val heard footsteps. Was his friend back already? He turned around, but even with his eyes affected, he could easily tell that the student who just showed up probably was someone else. His skin was green, for once, and he was far larger. Nonhumans were far more numerous here in Serendipity - or was it a result of some spell gone wrong? It would probably be rude to make assumptions either way. "Excuse me" he began. "Might I ask you a question? I'm new here, and I believe I'm a bit lost..."

[DragonSong]

Brahgo started and looked up from his open book, blinking a few times as his brain caught up with what he was actually doing. "Uh..."

Oh. New student. Right.

Smiling a little sheepishly for his absentmindedness-- he hadn't even noticed the other boy until he spoke-- the orcish mage cleared his throat and tucked his book under his arm. "Ah, yeah. Sure. Where exactly are you trying to get to?"

[quaggan]

 His conscience only now noticed that the guy was reading a book. Perhaps he shouldn't have bothered the adept in the first place. He wasn't a prince here, just another student, and he really should remember this more! But that was a lesson he would have to apply in the future - it would be really stupid if he just tried to tell that poor student 'oh, it's nothing, please go on your way'!

Fortunately, the adept appeared to be fine with helping him. Most of the time, Val would be suspicious of such a lucky event - his curse had a tendency of turning every opportunity into misfortune. But the curse wasn't omnipotent, it shouldn't be able to affect others.

"I was looking for... Sundered Shadow lecture hall?" Was it the name of the curse classroom? He was given a paper slip with the proper name for it. He began searching through the pockets of his student robe, but to no avail. Did he lose it? The robe was new, it shouldn't have holes in its pockets!

[DragonSong]

"Uh..." Oh geeze. That was curses and incantations, right? Did he even know where that was?

The guy looked pretty new though, and he knew he'd feel bad if he didn't do something. "Sure, ah...enchantments and incantations are on the third floor. I can show you how to get there, but after that..." He shrugged and smiled a little sheepishly. "Sorry. I don't spend much time up there. I'm normally in animal charms and shapeshifting classes.

[quaggan]

 That was already better than Val's lacking knowledge. "I would appreciate it" he responded. "I tried going up the staircase near the dragon statue, but it wasn't working." He would have chalked it up to his curse, but a helpful gnome called out to him and explained that those stairs weren't going up since years and unless he wanted to join the annals of all those students who endlessly climbed it until death by deprivation or intervention of friends, he'd better give up.

He walked up to the other student, ready to follow. "What kind of magic is it?" he asked, curious. "Is it shapeshifting into animals, or just changing your appearance?"

[DragonSong]

"Oh, uh...animals," Brahgo answered, shuffling a bit uncomfortably as he turned and gestured for the other boy to follow him. "What, ah-- what d'you study then?"

[quaggan]

 That was a quick change of subject. Val thought that the other student was very involved with his studies, by the presence of the book. But then again, he of all people should be aware that not everyone in this castle was here for their research or learning. He should not pry.

"Mostly the basics. I am rather new here, so I probably wouldn't qualify as a proper upperclassman" he admitted. He didn't even know if he had any real magical talent to speak of, unlike all those Serenian nobles. And while he could have just stopped here, it would be dishonest to obfuscate his true purpose here - especially since anyone could ask around and find out. "But I'm here to be studied, rather than to study, for most times. I've been sent to Wyrdwood because of a curse I'm under. When it comes to the matter of magic, Serendipity is the world's foremost expert, after all."

[DragonSong]

"Gods." He blinked, rather taken aback. "Are you-- I mean are you okay? Do you...want to be here?"

Oh dear. Maybe he shouldn't have said that? Was that prying?

[quaggan]

 Val blinked, surprised at the reaction. "Why wouldn't I be? Isn't Serendipity the kingdom of magic?" Why shouldn't he want to be here? Wasn't it the best place to learn about spells and curses? Well, an adept of magic would probably know best, so he would listen to what the other boy had to say and then make sure to send his recommendations back home to be considered.

[DragonSong]

"Well, I mean—" Brahgo sort of stammered nervously. "I mean you didn't— ya sorta made it sound like you were forced to be here, I just wasn't sure..."

Realizing that probably wasn't polite, he trailed off with a heavy blush, though thankfully his complexion hid most of the ruddy color.

[quaggan]

 Oh! That explained this whole misunderstanding. Val was already starting to feel stupid for causing this whole problem. "My apologies" he quickly muttered. "I must have phrased it badly. Looks like I'm not as fluent as I'd hoped." Would this make learning difficult? What if the professors used a highly specialised arcane lingo that he wouldn't be able to understand? While technically he was in Wyrdwood more to be learned about, rather than learn, Val still didn't want to slack off on his studies. It was a chance he could never even hope for under normal circumstances.

"I'm sorry to have implied something untrue" he apologized.

[DragonSong]

"No, don't apologize-- ah, hell." Brahgo sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Just...don't worry about it. I misunderstood is all," he muttered, feeling awkward.

[quaggan]

 That was an awkward moment. Val really didn't need to make people more uncomfortable with his presence - his curse did it enough. So he did the only thing he could: change the topic. His etiquette lessons wouldn't be of much use now.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Valerain Torverath, but most people just call me Val." It also raised less pronunciation issues with foreign students. "What is yours?"

[DragonSong]

"Ah!" He smiled sheepishly and stopped abruptly, thrusting a hand out to shake. "Brahgo. Just...Brahgo, is fine. Nice to meet you, Valerain. Er, Val."

[quaggan]

 "Nice to meet you, Brahgo" the prince responded, trying to get the name pronunciation right. Meeting new people was always interesting, and he didn't want to insult his new friend. But then the other student extended his hand to shake and the situation became even more awkward - as much as it could be.

"I, uh, it's better not to shake hands. I think. I mean, Archmage Linus thought so, and the experts here in Wyrdwood agree with her on that matter. Physical contact can trigger my curse and spread an effect of it to other people - there was one Baron who bumped into me and later fell ill." That was quite troublesome - the Torverath family had to go out of their way to prove that they didn't hire someone to make him sick as a revenge.

[DragonSong]

"Oh, um, right." Brahgo quickly drew his hand back, ruddy complexion darkening a bit with another blush. "That's, uh...that seems rough. Sorry."

[quaggan]

 It didn't looked like Brahgo was offended. Val breathed a small sigh of relief - he didn't want to make more enemies, it was enough that his curse worked hard on that front. It just went back to the awkwardness he was trying to dispel, but he got used to this - both people feeling uncomfortable with him, and his attempts failing no matter how hard he tried.

But he couldn't let it get him down. He resolved not to give up. "Thank you for helping me with the directions" he began. "I keep getting lost here - this place is like a labyrinth! Do all new students have problems with orientation, or am I just-"

His words were cut off as he stepped onto a stone, seemingly no different from all the others making up the floor. Unlike the rest of its kind, the stone reacted with dissolving into a strange, slimey substance. Val barely got a gasp out before slipping on the oily former-stone and crashing to the ground.

[DragonSong]

"Whoa, hey!"

Instinctively Brahgo darted forward, reaching out to catch Val under his arms. "Easy there-- what the hell just happened?"

[quaggan]

 "Ah- my apologies" Val quickly muttered, ashamed of having put someone in this position. "I- to be honest, I'm not sure myself. Maybe it was a trap one of the Wyrdwood troublemakers prepared for someone and I set it off. Or perhaps it was a result of some spells, or an experiment that changed it... I'm sorry."

With Brahgo's help, he managed to get back on his feet and away enough from the no-longer-stone to stand. "Thank you" he smiled. "And- my apologies for triggering it." He couldn't even tell if it was something anyone could have gotten himself into, or if his curse interacted somehow with the magic in the stone. Perhaps he should tell the researchers about it.

[DragonSong]

"Oh, don't apologize." Brahgo smiled, try's no to make sure the smaller man was properly righted. "Honestly, there's dozens of magical tricks around here. I'm kinda surprised I've never set one off myself."