Legate of Mineta

M; "It would depend on the new student in question, perhaps - but the odds of Leopold getting "Oan detail" for such a kid would be pretty high."

M; "Such a student would almost certainly end up in Hedi - actually, Leopold is, in many ways, a useful parallel. There's no formal mentoring or outreach program, but Professor Piaxenza (and from some accounts his wife) would keep a kindly eye on the kid. And once in a while the Venalicium Library might intervene as well; in its own way, it has a lot in common with some faerie realms, and it can be a haven."

M; "Human children do end up in faerie realms, either by invitation or trickery or fate; relatively few successfully reintegrate into their old places in the societies they left behind. A handful come back charmed, often wealthy, and destined for success (though many of those cases return to the shining lands near the ends of their lives); others find it difficult to focus on mundane things and alienated from their former families and friends, and ultimately just... fade away. Very rare is the person raised in the faerie realms who leaves them permanently."

S; "Material components usually aren't explicitly necessary, but they can be extraordinarily helpful because they can enable a more direct connection to the Phemes and the general magical composition of the Spell at hand. This is why wands that have received preparation for certain kinds of magic can take considerable strain off wizards and familiars. And, indeed, why substances that can be consumed to accelerate incantations might trim entire bridging Phemes from a Spell - and so on. First-year students would be discouraged from this kind of experimentation while they're mastering the basics, as there can be significant unintended consequences. One reasonably well-known case in point: there's a windstorm that's been raging non-stop for a hundred and thirty years in the basement of a certain tavern in the Undergate ("The Singing Wolves") that's attributed directly to a Vernin student experimenting with the use of essential magna lyngurii to draw in "the severest zephyrs" to simplify a minor spell meant to regulate the temperature of a personal forge; his family essentially bankrupted itself to contain the effects before they could collapse the sewage and storm drainage systems around the surrounding neighborhoods. And they got off relatively easy; magical philosophers now debate whether the incorporation of the additional element actually triggered the creation of an "atmospheric quasi-gate.""

M; "We had way too much fun coming up with snarky answers to this, but the straight answer is: it's hard to imagine what it would be, but if something came through that seemed to have divine provenance or support, the temples of Mineta might have enough pull to make the Captain think twice about setting it on fire and kicking it off the side of the island. Or if someone or something staggered out of a portal dragging a severed Dragon head behind it. And, of course, a baby or very young child might end up exiled to a wizard's tower somewhere for study and protection. Note that there have been historical controversies about music and languages heard through Gates, and there is precedent for those being recorded for private collections (albeit sometimes with very unusual Glamour secondary effects). But, yeah, as a rule, your friend should probably be... discreet. ;)" And S: "In terms of alchemical processes that require, say, small amounts of blood or saliva: yeah, that isn't uncommon at all, particularly in work with medical applications. If you're talking about workings that require maiming or taking the life of a living creature: it's not unheard of within or adjacent to some very specialized Astrology traditions (and Mastery). As potioncraft taught in the general Academy curriculum, though, you probably wouldn't come across it as a practical exercise. ... Probably. ;)"

S; Ah- that's done through the Court. You will see.

S; The Regent in question, although they or the Student might initiate a change. Rhi; If they have, they haven't made their thinking visible.

S; "Oh, no - Katja's not canonically in danger of flunking out at the start of her second year! Apologies if we gave that impression. She just worried about it behind the scenes in Y1, and we made the easy joke. That said, as a matter of form, Professor C. almost certainly wouldn't propose any student switch Colleges - a regular professor meddling in College placement (and politics) would amount to a gross breach of decorum. Appealing to a Regent to give a student extra help, or a second chance, or even an exemption from course requirements: that's all fair game. But, heck, even Orso would hesitate before suggesting that a student switch College placement; historically, that's been the prerogative of the Regents and nobody else."

"... Is that question from Katja Quinnecht? Seriously, yes, there's precedent for that kind of generosity over the centuries - but it ultimately depends on who's the Godina Regent and how they approach the problem. Would Leo Massioti consider an underperforming musical prodigy to be worth sheltering and encouraging beyond the bounds of what school guidelines would stipulate? It hasn't really been put to the test yet, but signs aren't all that favorable."

Yeah, it's overwhelming.

Too many good games coming out right now!

M; "It's primarily Hedi students. There are rumors of ancient pacts between Hedi as a college and certain Faerie powers - places where Hedi students can have safe passage in exchange for a tithe of flowers, that kind of thing - but certainly none of the Hedi students your MC know have ever experienced anything like that."

Rhi; "In an organized way? No, not as a rule. Are there often opportunities offered to Hedi overachievers? Do Hedi students attract the attention of the fae more frequently than either their parents or the school itself would like? Mayyyyyyybe. ;)"

Even *more* massive, yes!

I shall pass that on. I sense a certain synergy with the Illithid here.

No, the feedback in Beta was not positive on her voice and the Team opted to look at other actresses instead. Fortunately, it happens rarely.

Rhi; "The historical record here is pretty threadbare. (Oddly enough, Durand's family's private archives may have some records that might be relevant.) But the consensus seems to be that the Dragon first approached the lady in human form - though whether he shape-shifted, Glamoured from afar, or Mastered some poor soul to serve as his avatar in the human world is subject to some debate. The stories do agree that he sought her out (either for her beauty or, more likely, for her family’s magical resources), courted her, revealed his true nature, and suggested that it might be possible for her to "ascend" to join him in draconic form. Note that Revision studies assert - pretty definitively - that it's no more possible to turn a human into a True Dragon than it is to turn a human into a God. It might be possible with Gates, of course, but the assumption is still that the Dragon was lying."

S; We've discussed having timeline resets for other servers, but it's not an inconsequential amount of work as the 'timeline' changes as the Players act.

Rhi & S; "1 and 2: Yes, but not in the last couple of decades. That said, a lot turns on the word "defecting." There are a couple of relatively contemporary Academy graduates who have residences in Ghadouri or the Pashate - it's not unheard of for mercenary companies and the like to have boltholes where the Captain can't reach them, or for magical researchers to set up informal outposts near objects of study. But Academy graduates actually repudiating citizenship in the old Empire states and publicly aligning with Oursouk is fairly rare. Unheard of, really. 3: Oh, yes. They all went mad, too. 4: No, not really. Sociological studies are very much in their infancy, and are honestly as much about refining pre-existing stereotypes as about gathering objective data and testing hypotheses. 5: Actually, resource rushes happen every couple of centuries, when significantly large "free islands" - drifting airborne land masses - come close enough to Elumia for masses of prospectors to be able to arrange to make the leap. Heck, even today there are professional Astrologers who build careers out of offering promising courses for adventurers with long-distance airships and an appetite for risk. 6: Not formally. As late as the 11th century, there was a city called Flauges in the Espermont range in central Meril that did offer sanctuary for any and all fugitives, according to certain histories, but its neighbors pulled it down stone by stone for trying to shelter a woman named Imante who was known to have married a Dragon in secret. That said, as discussed elsewhere, there are port towns, particularly in the northwest of Meril and in the Wortham Fens, where a criminal can go with a reasonable expectation of avoiding pursuit. Not quite the same thing, but better than nothing when you're on the run. Now, clearly, the above really discusses crimes more dramatic than a serf escaping service. In practice, if a fugitive serf makes it to any town or city of reasonable size, he or she is extremely unlikely to be rounded up and dragged back to the lord who owns the lands on which they're meant to toil - the effort involved in tracking a fugitive and producing a legally admissible and enforceable contract would just be prohibitive. And, on the other side of the coin, most communities aren't going to spend a lot of effort tracking down the origins of new arrivals to return them to their "masters" - at worst, they'll probably just turn them away at the gates. There could be exceptions, particularly in cases where a lord has a specific treaty or a strong informal relationship with local authorities, or in cases where the fugitive serf either breaks local laws or falls into total destitution and thereby becomes a problem to be solved, but as a rule: if you can get lost in a crowd and you're able to find work, you're probably safe."

No, Belle designs were all done from historical references and thematic inputs related to history or her personality. In Hood's case, her art was completed before Azur Lane was ever released (!) You can read more about the general process here: https://victorybelles.slab.com/posts/character-creation-process-for-victory-belles-kw2dn5sx

Noted!

It's actually more a function of the cost of storing high data objects in the server. It's really the only purpose in having a 'dock' space cap, alas.

Mmm... no comment on that, yet.

Heh! We feel (generally) the same way, but... boy oh boy, Discord is clearly the winner in communication for most players, for whatever reason!

Ramou; Thank you and thanks to ChatGPT too!