Fandom High Dormitories

Today, the Reserves met outside. The leaders figured that people might need a little fresh air and the chance to move around a bit. There was the traditional table of moddable snacks and beverages for anyone to partake of. Assuming they had the appetite.

"Today, we're going to be talking about how to deal with an invisible enemy," Karla said, because they enjoyed being topical. "Of all the senses we have, most of us rely far too heavily on out sense of sight. That hinders us greatly when it comes to enemies that are invisible, or when it comes to fighting in the dark or when we're fighting enemies from ambush."

"Or when you battle disease, that some might have given you purposefully," Dolf said quietly. He hadn't quite managed to disassociate any of this from the Crimson Death since Cally's message yesterday. "There are many kinds of enemies that can't be seen, and not all of them are things you can hit. Or they might be things you can see, but that creep in when you least expect it, take someone and then go." Experience with that? Never. "But there are ways to deal with this. Keeping watch, and even just knowing."

"From a martial perspective, it's important to utilize your other senses as much as you can, to avoid letting a lack of a visible opponent become a handicap," Wesley added. "In an ordinary fight, one might not even realize all the clues provided to you by simply listening and being present in your physical space -- but when you're no longer able to see what you're fighting, it becomes that much more imperative to take advantage of these things."

Off to the side, there were basketballs and strips of cloth set out. "For martial and support," Wesley continued, "we'd like you to pair up and take turns approaching one another. One of you should wear the blindfold and try to -- gently -- toss the basketball at the other, using the rest of your senses to the best of your ability to try to locate them, while the other tries to be as quiet as possible. You can trade roles when you're finished."

"For magic," Karla added, "we're going to do the same thing, only use power to try to deflect or shield against the ball while blindfolded. If your powers don't work that way, we can talk about other ways to practice using your gifts while unable to see."

[Co-written with the usual suspects!]

The Reserves were kind of fidgety today. Karla, at least, was filled with a kind of nervous energy that made it hard to keep still. This would be a nice break from her current state of constant near-exhaustion, if it hadn't come with all kinds of, well, emotional distractions. The kind that made it hard to concentrate.

Mostly--since we're all being honest here--because her libido was racing along faster than a NASCAR driver. And she didn't even get that reference. ( snipped for sexy honesty? )

There were two tables at the front of the meeting today. The first held the requisite snacks and drinks that people expected from their meetings, but the second was covered in skeins of silk, hollow wooden frames, a few small baskets of dried plants, some salt, candles, incense, and a few books.

"Kiss kiss and thanks for coming," Karla greeted when it looked like everyone had assembled. "In the past, we've talked about the different kinds of magic there are. My Craft differs from Tara's magic which differs from Raven's powers. But even a single witch or magic user may need many tools to cast the spells they know. Some spells can be accomplished with a thought or by will alone, others may need somatic and verbal components to be spoken aloud or specific hand gestures. And others still need materials. Again, because there are so many different kinds of magic, what materials are needed for a spell or ritual will vary from person to person and spell to spell--" she gestured to the second table "--but oftentimes, there is a bit of overlap."

"At home," Tara added, "you need ingredients for just about any spell, unless you, um, kind of go overboard with power. But that'll just drain you. And besides" -- she shrugged -- "most burning herbs smell kind of pretty. Helps you focus while you're chanting."

"Incense and candles also are sometimes a helpful aid for meditation," Raven said, "which can aid in focusing your powers, as can something like my chakra." She touched her fingertips to the red jewel on her forehead, then continued. "My healing gifts do not require any sort of spell components, but other spells I know do need some sort of object to focus them on, an item for the magics to be contained within." She swept her hair back so that the glow of her earrings could be seen. "These were originally simple gold earrings, but I have attached a spell of light to them. For the spell to be most effective, they had to be of pure gold and finely crafted. The better the quality of the item, the more powerful the spell."

"It's important to learn and understand some basic spell components," Karla continued. "On the one hand, if we're under attack and need to cast a spell, knowing what items are at hand will give you a better idea of what spells can be cast. Knowing the difference between rosemary and rue might be vital, especially if the magic user casting the spell can't be with you when you're collecting the materials for the spell. And, should you ever be in a position to observe an enemy spellcaster, it's good to know a little bit about what they're doing, too. Will knocking the candle over interrupt the spell or just alert the caster to your presence? If you scuff the summoning circle, will you send the evil demon back to its hell dimension or just let it loose on Fandom?"

These were some pretty important questions, okay? No one wanted to deal with ravening demons on the loose.

"So today, we're going to spend some time talking about some of the material components to our spells. Then, we're going to talk about where to find those components and the best ways to interfere with spells that rely on them."

"They kept telling me I'm not allowed to say that you'd find the stuff I use to make magic at 'Dite's," Emmett added with a grin. "So this is me not saying that, and just shutting up and listening this week."

[Co-written with the amazing life_inshadow, trigons_child and hazlehurstmiss. Please wait for the OCD is up and has been for awhile. *facepalms* Many thanks to ancientbschamp for pointing that out to me.]

Thanks to baking class today, there were plenty of cupcakes to go around for anyone who showed up today. They were also very...interestingly decorated, but fairly heavy on the frosting, so all was well. There were also assorted pastries and things from J,GoB in case anyone got tried of cupcakes and wanted something else.

When everyone was more or less assembled and had gotten something to snack on, Karla stepped forward. "Welcome to the first ever meeting of the combined Magic and Support Reserves. I'm Karla and this is Tara, for Magic; Emmett, for Support; and Raven, who's liaising for both because she's just awesome that way." Karla smiled at the other leaders and turned back to the group. ( To keep talking )

[Please wait for OCD is up. As always, these meetings are open to all. No one needs to participate in the activities to show up, listen, and eat. People can join any and all reserves, so please don't feel limited!]