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Old 07-28-2019, 01:51 PM   #23 (permalink)
TeafortheSoul
Formerly: Tegz
Dark Force Defense League

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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Hobbiton
Posts: 24,244

Hogwarts RPG Name:
???
Ravenclaw

Hogwarts RPG Name:
Ronnie Thurkell
Gryffindor
Seventh Year

Ministry RPG Name:
Stella Jarsdel
Transportation

Ministry RPG Name:
Calyx Morgan-Bott
Ecological Protection

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lives in a hobbit hole || Ern and Touz's Nuzzle || roflysst || looking at a seed packet

SPOILER!!: Nina
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArianaBlack View Post

Anyway, none of this mattered now as Professor Beryl was addressing the class and it was time to begin the lesson. One which Nina planned on learning from despite their odd location and rather impractical circumstances. She hadn't been curious enough to peek at the tins, but their Professor had identified their contents so it really wasn't a big mystery that needed solving. She could practically see her classmates salivating over the cookies. Nina would obviously be keeping them for runeswork until exams. She wouldn't let something like this go to waste. She also had a fair amount of self restraint. It wouldn't be difficult. Besides, she could probably get Dorian to share some of his if she batted her eyelashes enough.

The Slytherin absently played with her hair, feigning disinterest while she actually took diligent notes. Ancient Runes was among one of her favorite subjects for the reason that it was not fortune telling. Divinations was much like a pseudo-science. Runes was the real deal. It required a fair amount of logic, research, and accuracy, but also required some level of creativity, open mindedness, and interpretation. Much like Arithmancy, it provided a balance of both the left brain and the right. She appreciated that.

As far as the question went, Nina's mind immediately went to the elimination of outside disturbances. For example, she would never attempt to runecast in the Common Room. For the most obvious reason that others may see her and find out how much she loved the subject, but also because there was constant noise, first years running about, House Elves popping in and out, Eloise Fairfield who would no doubt make Nina cry. All factors which would pull away from the ability to concentrate on the task. Nina didn't raise her hand to offer up any of her thoughts though. Unsurprising.


As per usual, Professor Beryl cast a look over at Nina to see if she was paying attention, and as usual she was somewhat disappointed that the young girl did not volunteer an answer, but it appeared she was taking notes at the least.

SPOILER!!: Eloise
Quote:
Originally Posted by oh its Erik ok View Post
Eloise was just sitting somewhere in the room. Just not with Nina and Nettie. N&N or with Mr. More Boring Than A Dead Person and Eiji. But she was here and wanting to eat these cookies already. They looked good.

Also while she could really use it as a reason since some classes change it the weird and bizarre every time she enters the door. It was distracting in here. So fun fact. It is the first time she has stepped foot in this place.

Guess if it was fortune telling, runecast that is, we would be in divination and not Ancient Runes. Just a thought

Anyway time to answer

"If you are serious with your question or whatever before you even start the runecast"


Like what if you where just trying cast a joke question.

Which is on brand for Eloise and what she would do if not supervised.


And young Miss Fairfield was the first to give an answer. Professor Beryl was pleased about that but less pleased that she hadn't put her hand up.

"Eloise, we may not be in a traditional classroom, but I do expect you to raise your hand before you answer. I won't warn you again." Or anyone else for that matter. "However, yes, that would be a factor in that how serious you are will reflect on the intent behind your question. Thank you for your answer."

SPOILER!!: Missa

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samia View Post


When professor Beryl started speaking, she was relieved - because it give her no chance to look into her surroundings or take account into the fact that at one point she gad wondered what it would be like to go on dates in this pinker than life teashop and the person she had wanted to go with was sitting nearby -- gloomy as hell. It was just so ridiculously apparent, it made her heart hurt.

So, the brunette just kept her head down and scribbled away whatever the healer said - and didn't bother offering an answer - others were doing a great job after all.


While Carmine absolutely expected that Nina wouldn't give an answer, it was more surprising when Missa didn't volunteer one. She simply gave the girl an encouraging smile, glad to see that she was taking notes at least, but hoping she would engage further. Perhaps this mist situation and her other situation had effected her even more deeply than the professor had been aware of, even in her capacity as the school healer. She made a mental note to check in on the girl in private soon.

SPOILER!!: Drewett the soft boi

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kimothy View Post

Uhm. Drewett raised his hand. "Noise, professor. I-I wouldn't want to be interrupted while runecasting," the fifth year said. And he was sometimes very easily distracted too. Not because he couldn't focus on whatever task was presented to him, but because there were definitely some people who would simply love to pester him. Maybe sitting beside Eloise was a bad idea, he'd only just realized. "Taking into consideration the venue b-before runecasting would make a d-difference."


"Yes, noise and interruptions should be minimized as best as you can. Your location and surroundings can have a huge influence on those things, thank you for your answer." Professor Beryl said, giving the young man a kind smile.

SPOILER!!: Dorian
Quote:
Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi View Post
"I'm just glad that we can continue lessons" he answered to the professor because he was in good spirit because of this. He would have disliked it if they had all been send home. As he placed his self-inking quill next to his notebook, Dorian looked up to see a Slytherin girl taking a seat. He knew her name was Nina but that was it. " Hey" he greeted before his blue eyes wandered over to Nettie as she sat down on the other chair. As a fellow Ravenclaw, he knew her of course and instead of a hey, he gave an upwards nod with a small grin.

When the Professor started to lesson, Dorian looked at the tin of cookies in front of him and made a mental note to use them later in the year for his exam. He opened up his notebook which was specifically for Ancient Runes and scanned the pages until he found the page he had used during the previous lesson as they seemed to continue. While he wrote down key words and phrases that the professor was telling them, he kept getting distracted by what Nina was doing...His eyes kept glancing her way despite wanting to focus on the lesson. A small smile played on his lips before the Ravenclaw pushed his chair closer to the table and continued to take notes. Focus.

Once he was finished, he placed the self-inking quill down neatly next to his notebook and began to think on how to answer the first question and raised his hand in the air. "I agree with the others about noise" he said and his eyes looked over at Nina for a second or two as the movement of her playing with her hair had caught his attention. At least she was taking notes."But it is is the movement around me that would distract me" he said as he looked back at the front. And he got distracted pretty quickly although it had gone down a bit since he started to meditated "As for minimizing the influence i would make sure that i'm alone" Simple right? Or use petrificus totalus on anyone nearby when they moved...that could work as well. He was a hundred percent sure it would land him in detention though so not the best option. Avoidance was the best.


"As am I, Dorian. It is nice to keep busy and keep a routine during trying times." And of course school would go on with as few interruptions as possible - there was no benefit to cutting short the opportunities for a thousand wizarding children, was there?

She noticed that Dorian was industrious with his note-taking and she very much approved of the young Ravenclaw's engagement with his classmates' answers. She nodded as he elaborated on that. "Very true, movement in your surroundings is an inevitable distraction at times. Being on your own is an excellent way to counter that."


SPOILER!!: Cordelia

Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin View Post
Having lessons in random locations around Hogsmeade was just too much of a change for Cordelia to cope with. It was bad enough that they had to leave the castle in the first place, and now the headmaster was trying to make them carry on with classes here as if everything was okay. It wasn’t okay. She didn’t like this new environment and there was no way she could focus on classes in this strange place, especially after the whole everyone almost dying in the mist thing. There was nothing consistent or predictable about their current living situation at all and it was severely impacting her school performance and her overall well being. Not to mention the crazy amount of stress that was sending her blood sugar through the roof and she was just exhausted. Physically and emotionally she just wasn’t in a state where she could handle doing lessons. Normally Cordelia would have been full of energy and coming up with crazy answers to any questions that she wasn’t totally sure about. However, she was currently sulking at a table in the back corner of the room. No, she hadn’t looked at the rune cookies and no, she didn’t have any materials out for taking notes with. She wished that the school would have sent them all home after the evacuation. What she wanted most of all right now was for Lorelai Stemp to get the headmaster to let her go home. Cordelia stared blankly at the professor when she spoke, not really processing the words that came out of Professor Beryl’s mouth. No, she wouldn’t be answering the professor’s question nor would she be putting any brainpower into answering the question. When would she be able to go home?


Cordelia seemed particularly distracted to the point that professor Beryl might have been exasperated were she any other professor, as it was she did not wish to encourage the blatant lack of focus. Cordelia was old enough to cope and ever since the evacuation, Carmine rather thought that the girl had been behaving less maturely then her own youngest children who hadn't reached Hogwarts age quite yet.

"Cordelia, pay attention please. Why are you not taking notes?" There was no excuse for coming to class without preparing. Would she have to talk to the girl after class and assess her medically once more? If she wasn't coping, it would perhaps be better for her not to attend school at all. This would require some attention, it seemed, but Carmine was in agreement with the headmaster regarding certain aspects of educating children who had some kind of special needs - they would, inasmuch as they were able to provide support, but if it became a difficulty or in the best interest of the child, they would be released home and not encouraged to return.


SPOILER!!: Lucas
Quote:
Originally Posted by hermionesclone View Post
As much as Lucas would've pretended to be happy about sitting on his own at the table, he was relieved when someone else sat down on his table as well. Someone he didn't mind in the slightest. He returned Stasya's smile with one of his own. Hey. Hi. Hello.

When Beryl started speaking he turned his attention to her, instead. They could sample them later? He was glad about that. Even if the smarter option would be to keep them until the end of term but....... well. They were cookies. Wouldn't they turn stale? Would they turn stale? He didn't know but he knew that he couldn't have that.

But, runecasting. That's what they were going to be used for today. Not for seeing the future but for making his own conclusions and finding deeper meanings behind these runes. Something that helped? Comparing runecasting to casting spells. He glanced down at the cookies, almost trying to visualise himself casting spells and then replacing his wand with the runes, instead. Huh.

Maybe he should write that down.

Something else he was making a note of, on top of all of that, was Beryl's talk about the human psyche and interconnectedness and psychology. That seemed to make a bit more sense to him as well, even if psychology wasn't something he understood a lot. But there wasn't any time to think about any of that, and Beryl was moving on so he wasn't going to ask any more.

Now. External factors? Well, he knew exactly what would effect his runecasting: noise. Noise was very distracting but that had already been mentioned so...... back to square one. He frowned slightly, his chin resting on the palm of his hand. What else would distract him? A lot of things. Mostly internal things like thoughts and worries and all of those things that clouded his brain. But Beryl wanted external factors so that wasn't it.

Yeah, he was staying quiet.


She could see young Mr Dakest was listening closely and thinking about what was going on, but it appeared he had no answer to provide. She gave him an encouraging nod and smile - really she would much rather hear him say something, but as long as he was engaging with the material, listening, and note-taking, she'd not complain or draw attention to the boy.

SPOILER!!: Tina
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy View Post
Tina was all ears as Professor Beryl addressed the class. The chaotic situation with the mist had changed a lot, but her willingness to learn remained the same as ever… despite any aversion she had to the overly cutesy setting. She had overlooked the tins on the table until just now, but she took a quick peek at the cookies inside as the Professor pointed them out. Well, that was interesting. She wasn't sure what to make of the cookie runes, but she had to give credit where it was due, it was a creative idea! She listened intently to the lecture, jotting down some notes along the way, and her ears perked up at the mention of science. Hmm… she'd never thought of runecasting as similar to psychology before, but Beryl's explanation made perfect sense. It was an interesting concept for sure, but before she could get too absorbed in it, there was a question asked. She bit her lip, lost in thought.

People had already mentioned noise level and the type of question asked, but something the professor said took Tina's thoughts in a completely different direction. Professor Beryl said runecasting involved understanding the psyche, so did that mean one's emotional state played a part in the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of runecasting? Maybe certain runes were easier to cast in a specific state of mind? For example, Wunjo, which was associated with joy and pleasure, might be easier to cast in a state of happiness. As far as things one could do to minimize the effect, the obvious answer was to clear one's mind and keep one's emotions in line while runecasting… but emotions were an internal factor, not an external one, right? That was probably way too far off base! Tina didn't want to risk being wrong and embarrassing herself in front of everyone, so she kept her thoughts to herself for now.


Usually Carmine looked forward to how Tina engaged with lessons, she always had interesting things to say and genuinely seemed to be interested to learn new things and try to understand difficult concepts rather than shy away from them as some did.

She seemed to be thinking hard, by the look on her face, but no answer was forthcoming. Professor Beryl watched the young woman for a moment but didn't press her. At least her notes were likely thorough, she seemed to be taking notes industriously.


SPOILER!!: Eiji
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie View Post
They often heard about the Inner Eye and all that hullabaloo, but Eiji was beginning to believe in it. He was certain now that he had a sixth sense and it manifested itself in knowing when Missa was present. Without even looking up from his parchment he could feel her, smell her, even see her features in his mind. Which was maybe why he was even more stubborn in not looking up. She wanted her time so he was giving it to her.

Professor Beryl's question was a bit of an ironic one - he had tuned out most of everything else she had said and wasn't all that apologetic for doing so.

What external factors do you think might have an influence on the effectiveness of your runecast? How about being a bloody teenager. They were probably the most turbulent bunch and least reliable for any sort of reading, runecasting or otherwise.


There seemed to be a lot of teenaged vibes in the makeshift classroom today. Was it because of the venue, specifically, or was it simply the nature of the beast? It was a shame, whatever it was, was holding Eiji back from providing an answer, he was a thoughtful individual when that teenaged angst was not clouding things.


SPOILER!!: Nerissa
Quote:
Originally Posted by Angie View Post
Nerissa had been the entire time, possibly earlier than most people. Certainly early enough to grab a table for herself and pointedly spread her things around it to keep others from joining her. Ancient Runes was complex (difficult) enough without all the distractions that would come with letting someone sit within touching distance.

And despite what she'd told Zai, it was actually more than a bit odd that his mother was the Ancient Runes professor. And healer. It made her feel self-conscious; almost like she was intruding on something. Which was a weird way to feel about something that had nothing to do with her, but she often felt a lot of things that left her feeling quite perplexed, and at turns, aggrieved with herself.

The location wasn't exactly helping, as cute it was.

She sat ramrod straight on her chair, hands resting on her lap, appearing serene, though feeling anything but. Her quick quotes quill took diligent notes from her, though she could see from the corner of her eye that they were messier than they ought to be. Probably her own fault, somehow. Nerissa raised her hand. "would the manner in which the rune was carved--"--or baked, which made her wonder if Beryl had done these herself or had ordered them from Puddifoot's--"have any effect at all and would it qualify as an external factor? If both the conscious and subconscious play a part when a question is asked, wouldn't the same apply to when the rune is being made?"


Nerissa was a thoughtful one, Professor Beryl had noticed, it was always clear that she spent time considering multiple angles and her question made that obvious.

"Yes, absolutely. The material which your runes are made from are an important consideration, so to is the consecration and activation methods - sometimes you will find with experimentation that you have better results with certain materials, and with different methodology when creating your runes - whether they're carved or painted, or in this case iced," in red icing, "to mark out each rune symbol."

_________

Quote:
Originally Posted by notes
What external factors do you think might have an influence on the effectiveness of your runecast?
Noise, distracting movement, weather, time of day, surroundings, environment, intent, if you're rushed, the materials your runes are made from, the methods used to consecrate and activate your runes.

What do you think you can do to account for these influences or minimize their effect?
-awareness of surroundings, solitude where possible, minimizing distractions, control of your environment where possible, understanding your runes
Professor Beryl decided not to mention that she was disappointed that so many of them had chosen not to voice answers, but she would also reward those who did later. As long as they were engaging however, she did not truly mind.

She had a small blackboard which wrote on itself some of the question responses plus a few more answers for them to consider, but this lesson was not meant to be hugely theory based - they had covered so much of that with the runic correlations that it was simply time to start applying that knowledge intuitively, and she wanted them to get stuck into the activity, perhaps distract themselves from the collective teenage angsting.

"The rune cookies you have in front of you have been consecrated and invoked and are ready to use. With your own rune sets it is generally advised that you do this process yourself - and I would highly encourage all of you to experiment with creating your own runes from scratch in order to have a rune set that is truly attuned to your energies. However, for the purposes of this lesson, and for the remainder of the term and your exams, these will suffice, as will any store bought runes you may be using." She said, just to address that first of all.

"If you have a rune cloth, now is the time to spread it in front of you. If you don't, you may use one of the large white paper doilies for now."
Which worked with the cookie theme, did it not? "This surface area will serve as the boundary for your runecasting and also keep your runes from getting dirty." She paused for them to set this up, it only would take a moment though.

"We are going to do a three rune cast today, which is also known as casting the Norns. The Norns are the Norse goddesses of fate. Urdh: goddess of the past, Verdhandi: the present, and Skuld: the goddess of the future. What has been, what is, and what will be. This makes a simple framework for any question you choose to ask. The first rune is representative of the past of the situation in question. The second is representative of the path that the you are currently on, and the third indicates a likely outcome if you continue on the present path." That was the reasoning behind it. It was interesting that there were myths associated with such things - useful memory devices for those who were inclined to pay more attention to stories.

"When you are ready, carefully form a question in your mind. It is important that you focus your intent and do not change your question midway through your reading. I would like you to spread your runes out on your work area, all of them upside down. Mix them around gently and keep your question fixed firmly in mind. Continue this until you are compelled to pick a rune. First the past, then the present, then the future. Lay these out, without yet turning them over to look at your selection. When you have all three runes laid out still face down, push the remaining runes aside and, with your question still in mind it will be time to begin your interpretation." She said, pausing again to allow them to take notes on these steps and absorb the instructions fully.

"Flip each of your three runes over as if turning the pages of a book, in order from past, through present, and finishing on future. You may pause to consider the meaning of each one as you go, or turn each of the three and consider the runes holistically, depending on your preference." Easy enough.

"I'd like you to each do two readings. The first one you must do on your own, the second one you may choose to partner up and do for a classmate if you wish, but you may do that second one on your own too if you like, it is up to you. You are encouraged to talk about your readings with each other too, though this is optional depending on how personal of a question you choose to focus your reading on- however if I come to speak with you, I do expect that you'll explain your interpretation to me at the least." And she would come around to everyone, they ought to expect that by now.

"Remember, if your runes are reversed, or 'merkstave' they should be interpreted as such! Do not turn them the right way up. You may begin now, and if you have questions you may raise your hand and ask."


ooc: sorry for the slight delay! This is the activity portion of the lesson - there is no post minimum but to get full credit your character needs to do two readings. It is up to you whether you work with someone else or not on the second one, and up to you whether or not your character is chatty about their work or not.

You can just select whatever runes you like (if you want to have your character's get specific results for their questions) or you can use something like this to generate a selection.

If you have any questions let me know! If you need Professor Beryl to come to your character, title your post accordingly.
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