Post by Fyrra Na'Limndra on Apr 24, 2017 11:17:08 GMT -5
Basic Shielding Training Quest.
10 years ago, 190 ATD
-Korasuan Academy.
Fyrra had almost forgotten that she knew the basic ideas behind shielding magic until it was brought up in the Tipsy Darkling that the Initiative was offering members of the alliance classes on it. It struck her as strange that the Initiative was inviting foreigners to Korasus in the first place, much less instructing them in magic. It made her reminisce on her days at the Academy when she was learning the same thing. A lesson she had forgotten she had learned.
Fyrra was twelve years old then, almost thirteen, and had few cares in the world. Having already started her apprenticeship as a Kalimbra. She was slightly ahead of peers her age and was taking the class on shielding magic at the Academy as an elective course.
Her days were spent learning how to contort herself without hurting herself, altering her appearance, and staying in a position for extremely long hours. Outside of that she had pursued a variety of magical and other interests. She had been unimpressed by the shielding lesson.
The same harpy of a crone of a Drokagr that had taught her basic accounting skills was attempting to impart the lesson of shielding onto a batch of students that were mostly interested in magic as an area of scholarly study. Fyrra was the odd one, being the only Kalimbra in training in the class.
"Going to pay attention this time Initiate Na'Limndra?"
"Yes, ma'am. It is apprentice ma'am."
"Oh you're an apprentice now are you? Well isn't that grand. Class, Fyrra here intends to learn shielding magic. Perhaps to protect her from the harmful touch of others?"
The class chuckled at the jibe. Fyrra remained silent. She did not like the implication that she was there to learn how to keep people from touching her because they did not respect her as a Kalimbra. It implied that the instructor thought she was going to wind up a concubine or worse, a street whore in Cruinthe. Thoroughly insulted and embarassed, Fyrra kept her mouth shut the rest of the lesson. The instructor continued on.
"As you are aware class, shielding is the only school of magic that is entirely defensive. As such it is important to grasp it's basic tenants. The primary of which being that a shield is only as powerful as its structure dictates. The structure of a shield is entirely energy reliant. If that energy is not handled efficiently you wind up with an energy expensive blob that requires more power to block a simple attack than a shield created with finesse and efficient know-how. Several structures are known to be extremely effective shields while others are basic but get the job done."
Fyrra started to struggle to pay attention. The woman was quiet and drone on and on. How could anyone listen to this all day?
"A flat rectangular shield with hard points only at the edges will be useful against slashing motions or high handed attacks. However? They will fail spectacularly against a hail of arrows or directed magical missiles which tend to pierce through their target. The answer to this on a shield of that shape is more power in the center. Naturally your opponent will switch tactics and you'll be eviscerated on the ground by the time you restructuring your spell. A pyramid or triangle can be useful because they are more energy efficient than a cube or rectangle. They however suffer from the same issue against directed piercing attacks."
"What about a sphere?" Fyrra asked, half asleep from boredom.
"Yes, a sphere would cover all areas equally provided you have enough energy. However many mage can't maintain a true sphere under pressure or without risking running out of energy mid combat. The recourse is to make a sphere out of many smaller geometric forms, the most efficient of which is a concave hexagon. A highly advanced mage will be able to use this form effectively, but it will require on the fly calculations and a large amount of energy to be able to generate, to large for youngsters like you."
Fyrra rolled her eyes. No acknowledgement for contributing to class. What a bitch.
10 years ago, 190 ATD
-Korasuan Academy.
Fyrra had almost forgotten that she knew the basic ideas behind shielding magic until it was brought up in the Tipsy Darkling that the Initiative was offering members of the alliance classes on it. It struck her as strange that the Initiative was inviting foreigners to Korasus in the first place, much less instructing them in magic. It made her reminisce on her days at the Academy when she was learning the same thing. A lesson she had forgotten she had learned.
Fyrra was twelve years old then, almost thirteen, and had few cares in the world. Having already started her apprenticeship as a Kalimbra. She was slightly ahead of peers her age and was taking the class on shielding magic at the Academy as an elective course.
Her days were spent learning how to contort herself without hurting herself, altering her appearance, and staying in a position for extremely long hours. Outside of that she had pursued a variety of magical and other interests. She had been unimpressed by the shielding lesson.
The same harpy of a crone of a Drokagr that had taught her basic accounting skills was attempting to impart the lesson of shielding onto a batch of students that were mostly interested in magic as an area of scholarly study. Fyrra was the odd one, being the only Kalimbra in training in the class.
"Going to pay attention this time Initiate Na'Limndra?"
"Yes, ma'am. It is apprentice ma'am."
"Oh you're an apprentice now are you? Well isn't that grand. Class, Fyrra here intends to learn shielding magic. Perhaps to protect her from the harmful touch of others?"
The class chuckled at the jibe. Fyrra remained silent. She did not like the implication that she was there to learn how to keep people from touching her because they did not respect her as a Kalimbra. It implied that the instructor thought she was going to wind up a concubine or worse, a street whore in Cruinthe. Thoroughly insulted and embarassed, Fyrra kept her mouth shut the rest of the lesson. The instructor continued on.
"As you are aware class, shielding is the only school of magic that is entirely defensive. As such it is important to grasp it's basic tenants. The primary of which being that a shield is only as powerful as its structure dictates. The structure of a shield is entirely energy reliant. If that energy is not handled efficiently you wind up with an energy expensive blob that requires more power to block a simple attack than a shield created with finesse and efficient know-how. Several structures are known to be extremely effective shields while others are basic but get the job done."
Fyrra started to struggle to pay attention. The woman was quiet and drone on and on. How could anyone listen to this all day?
"A flat rectangular shield with hard points only at the edges will be useful against slashing motions or high handed attacks. However? They will fail spectacularly against a hail of arrows or directed magical missiles which tend to pierce through their target. The answer to this on a shield of that shape is more power in the center. Naturally your opponent will switch tactics and you'll be eviscerated on the ground by the time you restructuring your spell. A pyramid or triangle can be useful because they are more energy efficient than a cube or rectangle. They however suffer from the same issue against directed piercing attacks."
"What about a sphere?" Fyrra asked, half asleep from boredom.
"Yes, a sphere would cover all areas equally provided you have enough energy. However many mage can't maintain a true sphere under pressure or without risking running out of energy mid combat. The recourse is to make a sphere out of many smaller geometric forms, the most efficient of which is a concave hexagon. A highly advanced mage will be able to use this form effectively, but it will require on the fly calculations and a large amount of energy to be able to generate, to large for youngsters like you."
Fyrra rolled her eyes. No acknowledgement for contributing to class. What a bitch.
