Interrupted Bliss [Leila]

by **Annalisa Marin** on June 6th, 2013, 2:26 am

6th of Summer, 513 AV

It was a usual morning for Annalisa Marin, the sun was out in the sky, shining so brightly in the morning. Birds chirped happily outside and people were just starting to get out of bed, their eyes still heavy with sleep. It was a perfectly average and usual morning, her favorite kind of morning as she sat down at her usual morning table at the Worlds End Grotto with her usual meal of eggs, bread, and a cup of water. It was the same thing she had always had since first she had started coming here in the mornings, when she was a student. Besides when she was in the Wilderness casting, this was the best time of day for her.

Anna simply sat back in her chair with a light sigh, the ghost of a smile on her lips. This was bliss for her, this one simple routine. It was one of the few times where she allowed herself to feel less the powerful wizard with lofty ambitions, and more the woman. She was Annalisa Marin here, not Dr. Marin or that Wizard. For some reason that simply comfort got her through the day.

Of course her mind did eventually drift to magic, notably her rather terrible flop with earth reimancy about a week back. Her headache wasn't so bad now, a small mercy. Her construct had been extremely rough, having included dirt into the design to increase volume. It had also been far, far too big, leading her to believe that she had over complicated the design by adding in dirt. Transmuting the res into the shape needed would probably have been enough, rather than drawing in dirt to increase the size and weight.

It was a problem she intended to address very soon, another experiment was necessary to achieve the desired results. She needed a smaller projectile that could still punch through armor and crush bones. Anna also needed to take into account the drain upon her Djed in accomplishing such a task, depending on the size of the construct she might be able to fire off about three before in danger of Overgiving. The size, of course was the real issue here. Too big and the drain on her Djed and the cast time would leave her vulnerable. Too small and it would be ineffective in most combat situations.

Anna cut her eggs up slowly and chewed thoughtfully on them, going over her failure in her head. It was a problem that she needed to put her mind to in order to find the solution. She also needed to take into account her student roster this season, a few people had decided to take up Glyphing. Her teaching abilities were... sub par compared to other more accomplished professors. If she ever wanted to make it to the coveted position of Head of the Magic Department she would have to show an impressive track record.

The young woman drank slowly from her cup, allowing the cool liquid to melt away her worrisome thoughts. There would be time for such thoughts later, now was the time for relaxation.

by **Leila** on June 7th, 2013, 3:06 am

Leila was working in her house today, only for a little while. She was working on a project that she had been thinking of back when she worked at World's End Grotto. She was working on an actually reliable hangover cure. She'd heard many methods that sailors and drunkards used, but they didn't always work for other people. So she was going to combine a lot of them together and try it out. Hence the bowl and several ingredients in front of her. She had freshly made tomato juice in a large jar, and she decided to start that off as a base. A lot of people had claimed that a drink called a "Bloody Margie", tomato juice and spirits. But she didn't want a cure that relied on alcohol, so she decided on the tomato juice. She poured that into the bowl, and grabbed a jar full of a golden substance. Honey, she liked to use honey in just about everything, made things taste better and was good for you. She spooned several spoons of that into the bowl, then began pondering what else to add.

She opened up her herbalism kit and pulled out a small pouch of a dark red powder. She grabbed several pinches and dropped it in. Cayenne paper, another plant that could treat a whole variety of things. She grabbed a mortar full of ground, dried powder, from the leaves of featherfew and dropped the powder in. She then stirred the entire concoction and sniffed it. It actually smelled tasty. When she tasted it though, she felt it needed something more, something sour in it. She grabbed a couple of limes off her shelf, cut them, and squeezed the juices into the bowl, stirring once more. She tried it again, and smiled. Much better. She filled up a waterskin with the substance and left her shop, heading for the Grotto, for the hungover morning drinkers would be there and would love to try it.

She entered the Grotto, smiling at the bartender, a young thing that she had met several times when she worked there. "Hello Serah, I've brought something for your customers to try out. It's my attempt at hangover cure-all." Serah groaned, and she looked like she would be the first one to use her cure. She took the skin from Leila and took several deep swigs. She finished, taking a deep breath, "That was pretty good Leila, not sure if it worked yet though."

"Give it a little while, I'll wait to see if it did work. It's not magic after all."

Leila took a seat, finding it a bit odd to be on this side of the bar, and ordered some breakfast, content to wait and see if her concoction actually worked.

by **Annalisa Marin** on June 9th, 2013, 6:44 pm

Anna watched the exchange at the bar a lazy expression, content to simply observe from afar as the young herbalist handed over some remedy to the other woman. She got the oddest feeling that she had seen this woman from somewhere, however she couldn't pinpoint from where. The young wizard wrote it off as unimportant and set about finishing her light meal. She never ate much, the only time she really indulged her hunger was after massive amounts of casting. After a training session with reimancy she often felt able to eat three full course meals, though such were the ways of magic.

The professor cleaned her plate and leaned back again, her grey eyes still fixed on the bar with low interest. She couldn't shake the feeling that she knew the woman, it was a little unnerving that she couldn't place the face. Normally she was good at remembering such things.

She had finished her meal quickly enough and any form of magical theory was at a stand still until she could test it further. Really there was not real reason she couldn't just inquire as to whether or not they had met in passing. Well, the only reason she could think off was having to get up and converse with someone during this time. It was a bigger deterrent than many would expect.

Anna sighed and got up from her chair, if nothing else this would be an exercise in exchanging false courtesies and polite words. These seemed simple to most, however Annalisa Marin was known to be a rather unpleasant and grumpy wizard among her colleagues. A reputation like that was not exactly advantageous.

She strode up to the bar and gave the younger woman a slight smile, the best friendly expression she could manage on short notice.

"Excuse me, but I was wondering if we perhaps knew each other miss. Do you mind if I sit?" She asked.

Anna could feel something akin to bile rising in her throat as she choked out the words. She really, really disliked having to resort to niceties to get information out of people. She was used to demanding information and doing whatever she felt like doing, not asking permission and politely requesting information. How some people made it through the day without their tongues falling off, she would never know.

by **Leila** on June 14th, 2013, 4:30 am

Leila waited on her eggs, potatoes, and grilled bread, she noticed a woman coming her way. And while it seemed the woman didn't recognize her, Leila did recognize the woman. A force of habit really, courtesy of mother. This was Professor Marin, and she had attended Leila's Grand Opening Potluck. "Of course you can sit here Professor. I remember seeing you at my potluck at the beginning of the season. I'm Leila, Leila Hughes, proprietor of that new herbalism shop and clinic." Leila could tell by the woman's wardrobe that she preferred to be practical than polite. Leila's meal arrived, and Leila paid and tipped, "Thank you."

Before taking the first bite, "I apologize for never really getting around to proper conversation at the party. What subject do you teach? Are you friends with Professor Hurston?" Leila's food arrived, and she went about her business of cutting it up into smaller bites, perfect for eating while conversing. The barmaid returned, "I'm already feeling better, what did you put in that hangover cure?"

Leila smiled, "If I told you that, I wouldn't be able to sell it to the Grotto. But I'm glad you enjoyed it. If you have any left, try it out on the patrons, we could use a few more people to make sure it works."

by **Cloud** on July 25th, 2013, 2:11 am

From the sky falls your reward!

Anna :

Miscx :

Question marks to be made? Exclamations to declare? Feel free to send me a pm and we can tend to any concerns you have.