Letters home from Michael a noble with Royal blood studying in Morvidus

[Schwarzbart]

1st Letter home

Dear parents, is it already 1 month my 1st year at Academagia started?

Thanks to the few months I had to serve as page in the house of an other royal family I was prepared enough to have my own room without any personal. Sadly that what they serve in the canteen sometimes couldn’t even called food in my personal opinion and so I had to spend some of my allowance to go for a meal.

Did you know that the arrogant son of the Alesfan diplomat is also a 1st year here at Morvidus?

When I talk with other people about our home countries and he is nearby he always jumps in that his home is far greater and nothing can compare to it! Natural I disagree with such naive and undiplomatic view from someone that should be a diplomatic representative of his country.

From what I heard from other students we also have some bullies in our Morvidus dorms but so far they left me alone so that I didn’t really care who they are.

For the older student that should serve to guide me trough the first months at Academagia I apparently had luck! Not only is she as 3rd year 1 year older then most other students that guide 1st years, she is quite helpful and didn’t demand any help in return so far.

Because a ghost somehow bound with me as my familiar without my consent I came to an agreement with my Zoology professor, who apparently somehow learned that I has served as page for some time, that I help him look good in front of some people and in return he teach me how to change this bond to one with a more regular familiar.

Thanks to the first Dialectic class I learned of a nearby temple serving to the public and so far I managed to visit this temple once each week.

To my horror I had to learn that some other kid where way ahead with what they know especial when it comes to magic and so I spend most of my free time this month just with study for class.

One of the books I lend for my study turned out to be quit special it projected some kind of glamour that feel quite real and put me there on some test in the end I was named Master of Music there. Thinking I must be sleep in during the study season and just dream it I was quit surprised when the Music professor talked to me in private the next day and congratulated me to this title!

Despite all this time I had my nose in the books I even found 2 good friend during this month, one of them is a von Wetgen and the other a de Periarde.

Despite all the Pheme I had to learn so far, one could consider them the letter that from the spells, I only learned 1 usable Spell in Revision class so far and even this spell work for me under very optimal conditions. Only the very simple spell that Oan, that how the 3rd year Guide assigned to me is called, have thought me is easy enough to cast under normal conditions.

Beside that would you mind telling me why the only class in magic I have is Revision and that despite the test I took considered me an Incantation prodigy and my teacher at home was from the bookbinder guild who thought me some things about Calligraphy already?

 

Honor and long living to our family,

Your son Michael

[Schwarzbart]

2nd letter home

Dear parents, I hope the traditions we have around The Festival of Pixies and The Dance of Fools didn’t take to much out of you once again.

Did you know that there was an other, quite brutal festival that was celebrated previous on the day of The Dance of Fools? Together with Durand de Thiomines I had experienced this old celebration and even saw the people who decided long ago to replace this festival with The Dance of Fools because the lives it costed each year! Maybe you already heard it, Durand and I even discovered the grave from one of the first Fools.

During the past month I became friend with a girl, not much older then me, called Pelia that lost both her parents early. She managed to keep the clockmaker shop of her father running by her own thanks to her outstanding talent in Alchemy and Revision. She even know how to turn apple to gold via alchemy! The golden apple I send with this letter is the result of her try to teach me how to create one and so inferior to her own products. Professor Aventyrare, my Revision Professor, decided to take Pelia under her wings. If you are interested in binding a young genius closer to our family there might be opportunities now by sponsoring or lending money to her, but best talk with the Professor first to not conflicting with any sponsoring Academagia is planing.

Early this month I inadvertently angered a powerful water spirit. Although I though I managed to calm her with my words but in the end I was still turned into a strange creature called penguin. From the words of the spirit my attempts to counter her spell with a Basic Dispel, that I saw one of my friend practicing just the day before, even had some effect. Once the spirit left a human I never saw before showed up and suggest to me that by helping the spirit she might turn me back into my normal form. Despite it was now clear that I was somehow played by this person I followed his suggestion by clean the sea from some of the waste floating in it. When the spirit showed up again a while later she really lifted the spell! She even pointed me to 2 items in the garbage heap that are magical.

In the temple I regular visiting a tapestry cached my attention as it looked like a spell. It took me some time to learn it but last Saturday I finally managed to perform this ritual. This ritual allow a human to lend some energy that improve body and mind for some days from the gods! It might be thanks to this ritual that I had a dream of a catastrophic storm raising during my sleep on the night to Sunday. When I talked with a Professor about this dream he immediately brought me to the office of Legate Orsi! After I told the Legate about it again I was even allowed to join the small group that try to prevent this storm and strangely I know I had to join it to make this a success. I was even allowed to ride on a griffin so that we reach the peak fast enough to stop the mage that is summoning this storm. Because of the wind we had to land a bit below the peak. A slight modified material shape spell came quite handy in this situation as the last yards I had to climb where just one gigantic rock. So I simply could create my own foot- and handhold in it thanks to the spell. It came even better as the mage that was casting this storm was standing right on this rock! So I used my still working magic to disrupt his footing what break his concentration long enough that the Legate and Professor could cast their magic. Although we managed to stop the storm, we didn’t find any traces from the caster of it after he was blasted of the edge by one of the spells. Later I learned that the mage tried to cast this storm was a former Legate of Academagia called Mjolnir. Somehow I can’t shake of the feeling that this wasn’t the I heard from Mjolnir.

The zoology Professor appears to keep his word as I learned some things from him that we didn’t learn in class but changing my familiar is apparently a way more complicate thing that I initial thought.

During the Festival of Pixies I also managed to meet the person you asked me to visit and she agreed to teach me some of her knowledge.

 

Honor and long living to our family,

Your son Michael

[Schwarzbart]

3rd letter home

 

Dear parents, soon we will have the mid therm exams and I would be lying if I told that I’m not nervous about the exam. I hope I did judge the Professor right and learned the things they will test during the exams.

Because I heard we are allowed to use our own wands during the practical exam I bought me a powerful one for Revision.

To gain some practical training my friends and me helped testing a combat simulator created by some Godina students. I never expect that there is a student with superior understanding in Glamour magic in this college but the simulated combat was really to live like! There where still some odd reactions to the creative usage of my spells but otherwise it worked greatly the few times we tested it.

Academagia was under attack by some masked persons during the last Saturday and after all the training fights I did recently I thought that I could be of help. Good that they all focused on the Professor instead of the few Student that also where helping as in retrospect I don’t think I would have survived any of their attacks. After the fight was won by us the Legate was looking for someone who is willing to deliver a message to a former student during The Least Feast. I was the only one willing to going and so during the morning of the Holiday I was instructed with the message I should deliver. I still can’t believe it! The Legate used a Gate-artifact to send me to the Forest of Broken Pines where the receiver is supposed to live. So the academy still have things that using the forbidden Gate Magic and even let a student using it!

I was really lucky to direct meet with the group of the Duke of Broken Pines and managed to deliver the warning while they where on the run. Not much later we where attacked by people wearing the same masks and attire as the people attacking Academagia the day before! Although I managed to assist the group of the Duke a fireball suddenly coming from a flying beast I never saw before knocked me out. When I woke up I was transported by a Gryphon and about to land at Academagia I got even one of the feathers of it as a gift. After I was bandaged and received some other medical care I still could attend the banquet in the evening.

During a walk to get my head free earlier this month I saw a mercenary group that use a horn, the music instrument, as their main weapon. Just by playing on their horn they easy could burst large rocks. Because I was curios about it I talked with their training officer. He even gave me some basic instruction how it works and then gave me a horn to test it my self. It was quite difficult but after the 2nd try there where cracks at the stone I targeted. The training officer complimented me that I’m a natural and allowed me to join their training as long they are staying in Mineta. I only could join their training for a few times before they had to move to their next assignment. Still I managed to burst a stone with a horn, that is my own now, during the last training afternoon I could join. I hope they don’t have any thought that I would join their group as a mercenary later, as even a commanding officer in such a mercenary group would below the station of someone of our family. Also I think the violin suit me better then the horn if I had to earn my living via music.

Next week Tuesday will be my Revision exam, what is just 2 day away, so I will do some more learning and training for it today after I send this letter.

 

Honor and long living to our family,

Your son Michael