Aletheia University

To:
Suffer Wayte-Archer IV
Aesyl Hall, Room 13γ
Aletheia University, College of Medical Magick

Kiddo,

Thanks for your letter! Your friends sound like great fun, and your lava pit immolation notes were a fascinating read. I only wish the Tigerfang Band were half as willing to help further the progress of medical science.

The Band have certainly been giving me plenty of work, although most of it is fairly boring stuff – spiked pits, decapitations, the occasional rolling boulder trap. Honestly, they’d save a fortune on trap-related deaths if they were willing to get over their paranoid prejudices and recruit a rogue. I can’t exactly complain, though, seeing as they’re footing your tuition and then some.

Professor Tarkovsky stared down at his desk, head in hands, and sighed. “So, let me make sure I have this right,” he said wearily, looking up at the two students seated across from him. “The two of you met in Miss Surn’s dormitory room for a study session.”

“Yeah,” said Susan.

Lilias nodded.

“At half past midnight?”

“Yup.”

“Exams soon.”

“Okay, 1, please knock next time. 2, this is not the reason I’m in Temporal, it’s just, like, a perk? And 3, this isn’t –”

“Look, it’s fine, Dev, you do y…yyour own thing, I’ll absolutely remember to knock –”

“No, listen, this isn’t some sort of smug intellectual nobody-else-is-my-equal whatever garbage. Look, I know sometimes I can get a little up my ow— sometimes I can get a little stuck up about grades and projects and stuff, but I’m trying to be better about that, and that’s not what this is about! Like, I spent 5 years thinking I was just asexual, and honestly, not sure this doesn’t still count? I’ve never felt sexually attracted to anyone else, but a few months ago I was hanging out by myself, felt like experimenting a little, and I ended up really liking it. So it just became something I do now and then, but like, it’s not an ego trip thing, okay?”

Aletheia University Dungeoneering Practicum

Party No. 17

• Lilias Calbach, College of Elemental Magick
• Dev Malim, College of Temporal Magick
• Susan Surn, College of Martial Magick
• Suffer Wayte-Archer IV, College of Medical Magick

Proctor’s Notes

Party “completed” the Master-Level Dungeon in 9 hours 43 minutes, the shortest time so far on record. Several of the walls will need to be rebuilt, and I will need to check the Library Archives to look up the exact text of the Riddle Scrolls in order to recopy them from scratch. Party complained that the Master-Level Dungeon was insufficiently confusing, violent, life-threatening, and flammable, and asked if I had anything “harder” available, despite my explanations that they had already received the highest possible score on the Practicum. Faced with their repeated insistent demands, I finally directed them to the Sealed Dungeon, designed and constructed by Horus Obliq the Pale shortly before the revocation of his tenure 30 years ago. As no staff member sent in to dismantle the Sealed Dungeon had ever been heard from again, I judged it to be a thoroughly suitable challenge for this group of students.

To Chancellor Alastric Emmannulas Noens pel Colophon the Grey, XVIIth Gryphonhorn Magus, Th.M. M.Ex. O.S. Esq.

Chancellor,

It has been some time since we last had the chance to speak. I hope that you are well, and that next week’s unseasonably cold weather will not trouble you overmuch.

With the selection committee for this year’s Clarinet Lochrian Award for Thaumaturgical Ingenuity convening soon, I would like to nominate one of my students in the College of Temporal Magick, Dev Malim. Dev has consistently demonstrated an aptitude for devising creative solutions to challenging temporal problems, using finely-honed instincts to supplement his skill at complex divinations. However, it is his performance in the recent mid-semester tournament of my Paracausal Tactics course, in particular, which compels me to make this nomination.

To Chancellor Alastric Emmannulas Noens pel Colophon the Grey, XVIIth Gryphonhorn Magus, Th.M. M.Ex. O.S. Esq.

Chancellor,

I am writing to share some serious concerns regarding one of our students at the College of Martial Magick, which I have unfortunately been unable to resolve internally through dialogue with the other faculty of the College. I believe this matter requires attention and action from the University administration, in order to ensure that the mission and educational principles of Aletheia University are upheld.

To Chancellor Alastric Emmannulas Noens pel Colophon the Grey, XVIIth Gryphonhorn Magus, Th.M. M.Ex. O.S. Esq.

Chancellor,

I would like to apologize for my outburst during my visit to your office last month. While I was indeed quite upset by the verdict of the CDLXXIIIrd Disciplinary Council, my tone was nevertheless inappropriate for a professional setting, and my personal remarks were entirely uncalled for. I must also acknowledge that, while I still have some concerns regarding Lilias Calbach’s future pyromantic research even with Professor Tarkovsky’s now-mandatory pre-approval and oversight, my judgment of Calbach may have been slightly harsher than was necessary.

The Appearance of the Blaze (燚, Itsu), written by Kaen Homura (火焱 炎) and translated by Matthian Brimm, is a text on pyromancy which, while highly regarded in certain thaumaturgical circles, has largely faded into obscurity in the present day. Eschewing the traditional four-elements-based introduction to the field, The Appearance of the Blaze instead begins by setting out what Kaen calls “the Locus of Exothermic Transference”, and uses this to derive equivalents of the foundational laws and formulae of pyromancy from first principles. The grimoire goes on to apply its unique methodology to elucidate a wide variety of advanced pyromantic spells and rituals, exploring the field through a pedagogical route which often cuts back and forth across commonly-established subdisciplines. In his foreword, Brimm writes: “Kaen’s novel approach casts a new light on the field of pyromancy from an entirely new direction, and there is much to learn from the different ways in which our shadows align.”

To Chancellor Alastric Emmannulas Noens pel Colophon the Grey, XVIIth Gryphonhorn Magus, Th.M. M.Ex. O.S. Esq.

In Re: CDLXXIIIrd Disciplinary Council

Chancellor,

Thank you for your letter, and for allowing me the opportunity to share my thoughts in advance of the council proceedings. As you know well, I am usually quite loath to involve myself in administrative matters such as these, and I hope that the length and swiftness of my present appeal may further testify to the depth and urgency of my feelings regarding this case.