Magical Reserve - Preserve Next to the Cabins, Wednesday
A nice selection of baked goods (from J, GoB, fear not) and coffee were set out.
Tony had a cup of coffee in his left hand and a few muffin crumbs remained on his t-shirt when he stepped up to address the group. "Hey," he said. "Welcome to Magic Reserves. We're here to learn to work together using our abilities to defend the island. Even if you don't call what you do 'magic', you're welcome to practice with us." He glanced over at his fellow magic reserve leaders. "I think we're going to start with introductions, which I know we're doing like a million times this week, but you gotta start somewhere. My name's Tony. I'm from Vancouver in modern day Canada and I'm a wizard."
Karla, armed with a coffee in one hand and a pastry in the other, stepped forward and waved. "Kiss kiss," she said with a grin. "I'm Karla. I'm from the Territory of Glacia in the Realm of Kaeleer--it's okay that none of you have heard of it--and I'm a witch. That means I can use Craft for a lot of things, but I'm also a Healer and a Black Widow. I can explain what that means later, but rest assured, I will not murder you."
She took a sip of her coffee. "Probably."
Merlin smiled, shaking his head at her. "I'm Merlin. I'm from Camelot and--rather far back in the past it would seem. Though I assure you I'm getting rather good at cellular telephones!"
If you considered poorly spelled messages and smileys to be the height of modernization. Hey, Earl Grey tea was still something wild and new for the boy.
"I'm a wizard, like Tony. We hope you all find this to be a place where you can work on your abilities in safety, with the help of your friends and classmates. We do have two other groups, the fighters--who met yesterday--and the support--who meet on Friday. You may wish to visit them as well to see if your talents apply for their purposes as well."
Karla looked at Merlin and smiled, nodding in agreement. "He's exactly right. There's no rule limiting the number of reserves you can join--I'm in all three! We all work together, especially in times of crisis, and if you have the ability and the desire to help in more than one group, then we're not going to hold you back."
Once the introductions were over, Karla stepped forward with a few more things to say. "Now that the ice has been melted--" oh, Karla "--let's talk about powers. First of all, we want to know what you'd like to see us focus on during some of our meetings. Sure, we're the leaders, but we wouldn't have a reserve without you. So we'd like your input. We're not going to do much good trying to defend the island if we accidentally ignore the way certain people's powers work. So, feedback from you is always appreciated and if you have some ideas about topics you'd like to see us cover, now's a great time to share them."
She let them mull that over for a few minutes then continued. "Now, I come from a world where almost everyone has some Craft." Not entirely accurate, but it would do since she had no desire to get into a discussion about the politics of Kaeleer. "But that isn't true for everyone. Some people come from worlds where magic isn't recognized. Others come from worlds where magic is feared and reviled. And yet still others come from places where it just isn't understood and anyone with powers is marked as 'different' or 'outsiders.' We're all lucky to be here in a school where none of those are true, but there are people here--with powers and without--who may have a hard time transitioning to a place where not only is magic recognized, but appreciated!"
"That's where we come to our second duty. Not only are we here to help protect the island, but we're also here to teach. We teach one another to become stronger, more comfortable, and more innovative with our powers, and we teach others come to terms that yes, we have powers, which gives us a certain amount of responsibility, but it doesn't mean we need to be doormats about it! We deserve the same amount of respect they'd give anyone else and they have to learn to deal with that, because we're not going anywhere!"
Nodding in agreement, Merlin cleared his throat before adding. "Please feel free to talk to any of us if there is ever something you need."
He was just special enough to promise for them, of course.
Tony grinned at Karla and Merlin "What they said. I'm from a place where most people don't believe in magic, so it's weird for me to even tell people I'm a wizard. But this is a place where you don't have to hide who you are. If you have questions or concerns or if you want to learn, or teach, please speak up. And... if I keep talking, we may end up singing Kumbaya, so I'll shut up and open the floor for general discussion."
Karla shuddered. "Anything to avoid group-singing," she laughed. People, get talking!
[Co-written with the most excellent glacial_witch and bigdamndestiny.]
Tony had a cup of coffee in his left hand and a few muffin crumbs remained on his t-shirt when he stepped up to address the group. "Hey," he said. "Welcome to Magic Reserves. We're here to learn to work together using our abilities to defend the island. Even if you don't call what you do 'magic', you're welcome to practice with us." He glanced over at his fellow magic reserve leaders. "I think we're going to start with introductions, which I know we're doing like a million times this week, but you gotta start somewhere. My name's Tony. I'm from Vancouver in modern day Canada and I'm a wizard."
Karla, armed with a coffee in one hand and a pastry in the other, stepped forward and waved. "Kiss kiss," she said with a grin. "I'm Karla. I'm from the Territory of Glacia in the Realm of Kaeleer--it's okay that none of you have heard of it--and I'm a witch. That means I can use Craft for a lot of things, but I'm also a Healer and a Black Widow. I can explain what that means later, but rest assured, I will not murder you."
She took a sip of her coffee. "Probably."
Merlin smiled, shaking his head at her. "I'm Merlin. I'm from Camelot and--rather far back in the past it would seem. Though I assure you I'm getting rather good at cellular telephones!"
If you considered poorly spelled messages and smileys to be the height of modernization. Hey, Earl Grey tea was still something wild and new for the boy.
"I'm a wizard, like Tony. We hope you all find this to be a place where you can work on your abilities in safety, with the help of your friends and classmates. We do have two other groups, the fighters--who met yesterday--and the support--who meet on Friday. You may wish to visit them as well to see if your talents apply for their purposes as well."
Karla looked at Merlin and smiled, nodding in agreement. "He's exactly right. There's no rule limiting the number of reserves you can join--I'm in all three! We all work together, especially in times of crisis, and if you have the ability and the desire to help in more than one group, then we're not going to hold you back."
Once the introductions were over, Karla stepped forward with a few more things to say. "Now that the ice has been melted--" oh, Karla "--let's talk about powers. First of all, we want to know what you'd like to see us focus on during some of our meetings. Sure, we're the leaders, but we wouldn't have a reserve without you. So we'd like your input. We're not going to do much good trying to defend the island if we accidentally ignore the way certain people's powers work. So, feedback from you is always appreciated and if you have some ideas about topics you'd like to see us cover, now's a great time to share them."
She let them mull that over for a few minutes then continued. "Now, I come from a world where almost everyone has some Craft." Not entirely accurate, but it would do since she had no desire to get into a discussion about the politics of Kaeleer. "But that isn't true for everyone. Some people come from worlds where magic isn't recognized. Others come from worlds where magic is feared and reviled. And yet still others come from places where it just isn't understood and anyone with powers is marked as 'different' or 'outsiders.' We're all lucky to be here in a school where none of those are true, but there are people here--with powers and without--who may have a hard time transitioning to a place where not only is magic recognized, but appreciated!"
"That's where we come to our second duty. Not only are we here to help protect the island, but we're also here to teach. We teach one another to become stronger, more comfortable, and more innovative with our powers, and we teach others come to terms that yes, we have powers, which gives us a certain amount of responsibility, but it doesn't mean we need to be doormats about it! We deserve the same amount of respect they'd give anyone else and they have to learn to deal with that, because we're not going anywhere!"
Nodding in agreement, Merlin cleared his throat before adding. "Please feel free to talk to any of us if there is ever something you need."
He was just special enough to promise for them, of course.
Tony grinned at Karla and Merlin "What they said. I'm from a place where most people don't believe in magic, so it's weird for me to even tell people I'm a wizard. But this is a place where you don't have to hide who you are. If you have questions or concerns or if you want to learn, or teach, please speak up. And... if I keep talking, we may end up singing Kumbaya, so I'll shut up and open the floor for general discussion."
Karla shuddered. "Anything to avoid group-singing," she laughed. People, get talking!
[Co-written with the most excellent glacial_witch and bigdamndestiny.]