Folklore and Fact: Mystical Artifacts, Week 8
If Sakura noticed anything amiss about some of her students today, she didn't bat an eye, instead directing their attention to the display screens, which featured a small ornamented mallet and a round board covered with Chinese trigrams. Not, perhaps, coincidentally, there were two lockboxes on the table.
"It's been my experience," she noted dryly, "that teenagers are even less inclined than usual to devote attention to their studies the week after a holiday. It would be a less than efficient use of my time to try and make you all pay attention today. So instead, you'll be examining a relatively harmless artifact: Uchide's Mallet, or the Mallet of Luck. It's the basis for the tale of the One-Inch Boy, and is said to grant its holder's wishes when swung, although its more common and obvious feature is the ability to make its wielder grow."
"Why is this dangerous?" asked Sakura, shrugging one shoulder. "You shouldn't have too much trouble imagining the kind of damage a rampaging fifty-foot creature can do."
She passed a stack of handouts around the room and continued, "The other object you'll be examining today is the Dragon Eye Compass Board, which uses the Chinese practice of Feng Shui to alter the luck of the people around you for good or ill. Please take a moment to read the handout and write a brief essay listing three ways you could use something like this to change your own fortunes. Once you've turned that in, you may come up and examine the Mallet."
[OOC: Speaking of less than efficient, that would be the way my brain is working this week, augh. Thus the incredibly short class post. OCD is up, and further details in the appropriate subthreads. Class Info Post here.]
"It's been my experience," she noted dryly, "that teenagers are even less inclined than usual to devote attention to their studies the week after a holiday. It would be a less than efficient use of my time to try and make you all pay attention today. So instead, you'll be examining a relatively harmless artifact: Uchide's Mallet, or the Mallet of Luck. It's the basis for the tale of the One-Inch Boy, and is said to grant its holder's wishes when swung, although its more common and obvious feature is the ability to make its wielder grow."
"Why is this dangerous?" asked Sakura, shrugging one shoulder. "You shouldn't have too much trouble imagining the kind of damage a rampaging fifty-foot creature can do."
She passed a stack of handouts around the room and continued, "The other object you'll be examining today is the Dragon Eye Compass Board, which uses the Chinese practice of Feng Shui to alter the luck of the people around you for good or ill. Please take a moment to read the handout and write a brief essay listing three ways you could use something like this to change your own fortunes. Once you've turned that in, you may come up and examine the Mallet."
[OOC: Speaking of less than efficient, that would be the way my brain is working this week, augh. Thus the incredibly short class post. OCD is up, and further details in the appropriate subthreads. Class Info Post here.]