Despite not wanting an 8:00 am class, especially not a biology class, I did want to arrive on time because Dr. Lord is teaching that class. I tried to make sure none of us Scions would be late for our first class, but it seems like the self-centered Sadie escaped my notice and arrived late...probably because she was too busy texting someone on her phone to notice the time.
Fortunately I was early enough to get a chance to introduce myself to Liam. Unfortunately I really had no time today to get a chance to learn more about him - except he apparently went to the same high school as Gabby. I wonder what the odds of that are?
Gabby, Jahiera, Liam, and I basically sat together, but surprisingly Ren didn't sit with us. Dave didn't either, but he was sitting with one of his followers who was also taking the class. But Ren didn't seem to know any of the people he was sitting with, so I was wondering if maybe he was upset with me still, or something. As with Liam, I unfortunately didn't really have any opportunity to discuss this with Ren today, but I will make sure to do so ASAP.
Not even 10 minutes into the class, and Dave goes and ask if we can have a break to get a drink. At that point I was kind of glad Dave was sitting with his follower and not with us as that was probably the most asinine question I ever heard in a class. It's just a little after 8:00 am, class barely started, Dave's drinking from his Relic mug that is full of ale, and he asks for a break to get a drink? I almost thought he was trying to get kicked out of class, which part of me thinks would be kind of a good idea. And I might even try that if it wasn't for Dr. Lord is our advisor as well as our teacher and that our lab work in the class is apparently going to be oriented heavily towards stuff we Scions need to know. But for Dave, I recalled he was planning on majoring in microbiology. Getting kicked out of this biology class would surely mess that up. I seriously don't understand what he was thinking when he asked that question. I am going to try to forget about it, too bad it wasn't something less memorable.
And here's when things start getting weirder and weirder. Dr. Lord starts off by showing us slides. They're pretty amazing slides too, but the most amazing aspect about them is the subject matter. I see what looks like a reincarnation of Saint Francis of Assisi riding a giant grizzly bear while fighting off a fire giant. The next slide had zombies being punched out by a bare-knuckled boxer and being sliced up by a machete wielded by our teacher. Then we were shown a slide of a Mardi Gras parade - but this parade had a giant earthworm that tunneled up from the ground, and that was being fought off by Dr. Lord and a black woman with a giant snake. The next slide was of a basilisk staring down Dr. Lord and a young woman sporting elk antlers who was carrying javelins in both of her hands while in the middle of some desert. Next was a slide showing a young man in insect themed armor kicking away a griffin as Dr. Lord tended to a woman turning into stone...which for some reason caused Ren to chuckle. I should try to remember to ask Ren what was funny about that. The next slide was of the jackal-headed Anubis towering above Dr. Lord and a man dressed in an Incan poncho and wearing a golden sun mask. There was also a giant puma next to Ix Chel in this slide, possibly there is some sort of relationship between these animals? Next was a picture of Dr. Lord bleeding from several wounds while holding hands with a beautiful Mediterranean woman. The background of this picture had many shadowy ninja like figures in the background - my guess is they are what wounded Dr. Lord - and these shadowy ninjas having bright lights shining from them. I wonder if light shining from the shadowy ninjas has some special meaning? The final slide is a celebration with Dr. Lord and the others - I guess they are his Scion Bandmates - from the previous photos in what appears to be a small restaurant.
As the lecture hall seated 60 and was mostly full, while only 12 of us attending were Scions, the above series of photos seemed extremely strange to be shown. But I glanced around at the mortals sitting next to me and read what I could of their notes. It seems the mortals were all seeing things like slides of the rain forest and other mundane things. But we Scions all saw the set of slides with Dr. Lord on some of his adventures. As I expect we will be tested on both what we saw and what the mortals saw, I hope I can acquire a copy of the notes from some mortal. I also wonder if all the lectures are going to be like this, I mean with us Scions seeing one thing while the mortals see something else. If so, then I will need a regular source for the mortal notes of what occurs in class.
After the slide show was over, Gabby had another vision. We obviously weren't in a good position to discuss things then, and about all I had a chance to learn of it was something about Dr. Lord's Bandmates that we saw in the slides, and that it didn't seem to be very urgent (and maybe not too important?).
At that point a quiz was handed out to the class. Of course it wasn't normal either. Shortly after I received my copy, the words on it all changed. This was not some general pop quiz, these questions were tough biology questions. At that point I regretted not having taking any formal biology classes before. After we all turned in our papers, Dr. Lord said he'd have them graded and ready to be returned by our next session. Of course that's not what happened for us Scions, somehow our papers were magically graded and returned to us on the spot. This whole class today was really one surprise after another. But despite my lack of formal training, I still got a B...which, while not my normal A, was still something of a relief considering how ill prepared I felt. Though I guess my general reading on topics like genetic engineering and bionics helped, and especially my more recent intense study of medicine I had been making.
Finally the bell rang and class was over, but all of a sudden I felt refreshed. Apparently Dr. Lord used some sort of speechifying knack to do something to us. Not sure what it was, but it definitely felt good.
Before he left class, I asked Dr. Lord about mortals hearing us talk during class. He said that their hearing was unaffected, that stuff that was special to us Scions would normally be communicated in slides.
I probably also should have asked him what he did to make us all feel good. As well as if slides like these were going to be common in our lectures. Too bad I didn't think about those questions until tonight.
Also, Bob the-archer-guy-that-looks-like-the-guy-that-played-Legolas-in-the-movies is in our biology class. Fate? Coincidence? Something more?
After that, the rest of my classes were quite normal. But I went to Dr. Lord for some special tutoring in Medicine and Brawling later that day. Fortunately Dr. Lord had time for me, but his training was quite grueling. I felt battered and bruised both physically and mentally by the time I was done. Nothing serious, but Dr. Lord really worked me over good and he knew just what my limits were. And that is definitely past tense as he pushed me farther than I thought I could go.
After the brutal training session with Dr. Lord, I was surprised to find that our "missing" Scion, Sean, had arrived. What with the email and all, I expected him to be more than a day late for classes. While I was too tired to talk much with Sean, he seemed pretty nice. He even brought me a gift from Ireland! It was a set of Uilleann Pipes, similar to the bagpipes, but softer - and hopefully less annoying to my fellow Scions when I try to learn to play. It was a truly thoughtful gift. I just hope I can learn how to play them without driving the others insane.
I'm not really up to much thinking now, but I still wonder about that first class with Dr. Lord. Thinking back on it, it was a LOT of showing off. There was really no need to have separate slides or magically changing/graded tests for us Scions. Everything could have been handled in a mundane fashion, even if it maybe waited a day. So why did Dr. Lord do this? Showing off...or demonstrating demi-godly talents? Or something else. I'll think about this later, after a good night's sleep.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Absent Mindedness
Yeah, absent minded, that subject describes me sometimes. This time. After writing down the important events of the day, more occurred. But I forgot to update my file that night. I guess it really doesn't matter when I update this file though. I just expected I'd be a bit more organized about these notes...which I guess is becoming something of a journal. Maybe I should wait until right before I go to sleep before updating this file next time? I guess it's too much to expect that after having dinner and getting settled in my room for the evening, that nothing important would happen.
Dwarfs have often been noted in stories for their craftsmanship, but usually it was because the made something with skill beyond that of humans or something magical. Apparently they can also work very fast too. In what must have been at most 24 hours, the dwarfs turned parts of that dead Nemean Bear into potent weapons and armor. And Coach MacLaggin apparently can see our invisible elevator as he came up to our special floor that Tuesday night and came bearing the results of the dwarfs labor. I wonder if all dwarfs can see our elevator, or if it's something else about MacLaggin that allows him to see it?
The dwarfs made the Nemean Bear skin into a cloak that will act as armor similar to the Nemean Lion skin cloak worn by Heracles. They also made a set of 20 arrows with Nemean Bear claw tips. Plus a set of "brass knuckles" made from the Nemean Bear's teeth. Pretty impressive work and in such a short period of time! Considering Jahiera was the only archer among those of us that fought the Nemean Bear, she naturally got the arrows. The rest of the Band agreed that Dave should have the cloak. There was a bit more discussion about the "brass knuckles," they really aren't suited for any of the Band. Dave is more a wrestler and for weapons generally would grab whatever is at hand. I already have something similar, but better - well better against non Nemean beasties. The rest of the group didn't normally even fight in that range. At first Dave took them, but then later he and I talked about it and he gave them to me. I'm not sure that I want to keep them, but I am probably the one of us that can make best use of them with which to kill Nemean beasties. But I'll think about that later.
Talking with MacLaggin seemed to bring forth a sense of urgency amongst us Scions, and those with animal companions decided to do something about it. Gabby's Tepini, Jahiera's Miyet, Ren's Rizal, and Cory's Buddy were all sent on a mission to scout the forest and track down the Nemean Bears. Even though Cory, Hank, and Sonia hadn't been with us when we met the Coach and fought the first Nemean Bear, they volunteered to help take on the other bears. That was a pleasant surprise.
The other noteworthy event that occurred Tuesday night was that our dorm floor changed and a new room was added - because we got one more Scion added at the last minute to our roster! The new guy's name is Liam O'Doherty, and he's Tuatha dé Danann. Which is the pantheon our "missing" Scion is from. This is the only pantheon with two Scions in our group, and both late - I wonder if there is some meaning there? He arrived pretty late though, and I think all of us turned in that night without actually meeting him.
Dwarfs have often been noted in stories for their craftsmanship, but usually it was because the made something with skill beyond that of humans or something magical. Apparently they can also work very fast too. In what must have been at most 24 hours, the dwarfs turned parts of that dead Nemean Bear into potent weapons and armor. And Coach MacLaggin apparently can see our invisible elevator as he came up to our special floor that Tuesday night and came bearing the results of the dwarfs labor. I wonder if all dwarfs can see our elevator, or if it's something else about MacLaggin that allows him to see it?
The dwarfs made the Nemean Bear skin into a cloak that will act as armor similar to the Nemean Lion skin cloak worn by Heracles. They also made a set of 20 arrows with Nemean Bear claw tips. Plus a set of "brass knuckles" made from the Nemean Bear's teeth. Pretty impressive work and in such a short period of time! Considering Jahiera was the only archer among those of us that fought the Nemean Bear, she naturally got the arrows. The rest of the Band agreed that Dave should have the cloak. There was a bit more discussion about the "brass knuckles," they really aren't suited for any of the Band. Dave is more a wrestler and for weapons generally would grab whatever is at hand. I already have something similar, but better - well better against non Nemean beasties. The rest of the group didn't normally even fight in that range. At first Dave took them, but then later he and I talked about it and he gave them to me. I'm not sure that I want to keep them, but I am probably the one of us that can make best use of them with which to kill Nemean beasties. But I'll think about that later.
Talking with MacLaggin seemed to bring forth a sense of urgency amongst us Scions, and those with animal companions decided to do something about it. Gabby's Tepini, Jahiera's Miyet, Ren's Rizal, and Cory's Buddy were all sent on a mission to scout the forest and track down the Nemean Bears. Even though Cory, Hank, and Sonia hadn't been with us when we met the Coach and fought the first Nemean Bear, they volunteered to help take on the other bears. That was a pleasant surprise.
The other noteworthy event that occurred Tuesday night was that our dorm floor changed and a new room was added - because we got one more Scion added at the last minute to our roster! The new guy's name is Liam O'Doherty, and he's Tuatha dé Danann. Which is the pantheon our "missing" Scion is from. This is the only pantheon with two Scions in our group, and both late - I wonder if there is some meaning there? He arrived pretty late though, and I think all of us turned in that night without actually meeting him.
Monday, December 6, 2010
A Day Off
Nothing was scheduled for today, except for Dr. Lord giving us some extra office hours so we could talk to him. I did, but as I had come to expect as the day progressed, he had no easy answers. But I am getting ahead of myself here. Let's see, things of note that happened...
I forgot to mention earlier that we received an email from our missing Scion. He's apparently having an interesting sort of last minute education from his divine father before he will make it here. His name is Sean Regan, and from the email he seems like a nice guy. But until I know him better, he's mostly a mystery.
I talked to Jahiera today about maybe establishing a secret language for the group. Of course we'd have to check to see if the others are interested, but Jahiera seemed intrigued with the idea. She was thinking of a dead language like Minoan, though I was thinking more of a rare one like Chickasaw or maybe an entirely made up language. Anyway, Jahiera understands languages better than I do, so I'll let her think of what might work best. Though now I probably should survey my fellow Scions and see which ones, if any besides Jahiera and I, like the idea of having a secret language.
I also talked to Dave more today, he's interested in all of us working together with his bikers on all of their bikes. I am definitely looking forward to this! We also talked about adding "extras" to the bikes. Dave was thinking that being able to shoot out cables like in that Batman movie would be useful. Based on the movie, I'd hope he doesn't plan to use it like that as that sort of maneuvering seems beyond the skill of real life bikers. Still, the idea does have merit and may be able to pin down a large vehicle or a large creature. I'll have to start crunching numbers on that and see how feasible it is.
My people skills suck, but at least I am sure I did the right thing when I took a walk with Gabby and Jahiera this morning. I was there with about half the other Scions, all gathered around for breakfast. I was explaining my confusion about things, or I guess really I was explaining how narrow minded and naive I had been. At any rate, Gabby sort of dropped a bombshell on me when she responded to my ramblings by mentioning how she had tried to kill herself at least three times. I'm dense at people stuff, but I figured that was important and had to mean something, even though it's hours later and I'm still not quite sure why she said that to all of us.
Anyway, I guess Jahiera and I were both concerned about Gabby, and we decided to take the conversation elsewhere. Fortunately, Gabby isn't suicidal anymore. Her childhood sounds pretty rough, but I think it's also why she ended up as strong as she is. Still, I wish I understood people better. Based on the psych stuff I've read, she pretty much can't be mentally healthy. Except of course she's a Scion, and mortal rules don't exactly apply to us. I'll just have to save this for a later day, both for when I understand human nature better and know more about Gabby. For now though, I think the best thing I can do for her is be her friend, so I'll focus on that. That should be pretty easy, as I already like her.
We talked more about my problems too, but, well, I don't know why I was so naive about this issue. It's something I'll just have to resolve in time, which is pretty much the advice everyone - including Dr. Lord - gave me. Though Dr. Lord did suggest delving into all mythology texts I can get my hands on, plus to pay attention in his labs. Like I would do other than pay attention, sheesh!
Getting back to our forest talk, one really great thing happened with the three of us! I was telling the ladies how there are legends of martial art styles and techniques being developed from animals, and that I hoped they'd let me practice with their big kitty cats so we could learn from each other. Both the ladies were quite enthusiastic about this, and Jahiera wants to join in as well. This sounds so fun! Of course I hope their kitties will want to do it as much as the rest of us. But Gabby says Tepini doesn't get enough exercise, and I think Miyet likes me already (or at least she likes me petting her). For now, we probably can practice in the woods, but it would be nice to have a special room for ourselves. And that makes me think what else we could do and who else would like to participate. Maybe I could set up something like the early versions of the Danger Room in the X-Men comics. That would be totally awesome!
Unfortunately Jahiera had to dash off, because she was late for some archery practice. But Gabby and I chatted a little bit longer before returning to the dorm. Gabby demonstrated her gymnastics ability, she looks quite amazing. We also found out we're both interested in flying. Someday...
OK, only one more things to note. When I tried to talk to Dr. Lord about Bob the archer, Dr. Lord said he had NO idea who that guy is. That makes a lot of sense since Dr. Lord is new and Bob is - as far as we know - just a popular mortal on campus. But part of me found that strange since Dr. Lord seems to know everything that is going on with us and with Jahiera and her thing of archery - well, I think Bob and Jahiera will be spending a lot of time together. Plus Bob might have insulted Ren. So part of me was puzzled that he never heard of the guy. So I found Gabby later that evening and explained my suspicions to her. I feel like I am acting paranoid, but this just seems a little too weird to me. Gabby said she'd look into him, and I doubt Bob will be able to hide anything from Gabby, and I have to admit I am relieved now that I know Gabby is on the case.
I forgot to mention earlier that we received an email from our missing Scion. He's apparently having an interesting sort of last minute education from his divine father before he will make it here. His name is Sean Regan, and from the email he seems like a nice guy. But until I know him better, he's mostly a mystery.
I talked to Jahiera today about maybe establishing a secret language for the group. Of course we'd have to check to see if the others are interested, but Jahiera seemed intrigued with the idea. She was thinking of a dead language like Minoan, though I was thinking more of a rare one like Chickasaw or maybe an entirely made up language. Anyway, Jahiera understands languages better than I do, so I'll let her think of what might work best. Though now I probably should survey my fellow Scions and see which ones, if any besides Jahiera and I, like the idea of having a secret language.
I also talked to Dave more today, he's interested in all of us working together with his bikers on all of their bikes. I am definitely looking forward to this! We also talked about adding "extras" to the bikes. Dave was thinking that being able to shoot out cables like in that Batman movie would be useful. Based on the movie, I'd hope he doesn't plan to use it like that as that sort of maneuvering seems beyond the skill of real life bikers. Still, the idea does have merit and may be able to pin down a large vehicle or a large creature. I'll have to start crunching numbers on that and see how feasible it is.
My people skills suck, but at least I am sure I did the right thing when I took a walk with Gabby and Jahiera this morning. I was there with about half the other Scions, all gathered around for breakfast. I was explaining my confusion about things, or I guess really I was explaining how narrow minded and naive I had been. At any rate, Gabby sort of dropped a bombshell on me when she responded to my ramblings by mentioning how she had tried to kill herself at least three times. I'm dense at people stuff, but I figured that was important and had to mean something, even though it's hours later and I'm still not quite sure why she said that to all of us.
Anyway, I guess Jahiera and I were both concerned about Gabby, and we decided to take the conversation elsewhere. Fortunately, Gabby isn't suicidal anymore. Her childhood sounds pretty rough, but I think it's also why she ended up as strong as she is. Still, I wish I understood people better. Based on the psych stuff I've read, she pretty much can't be mentally healthy. Except of course she's a Scion, and mortal rules don't exactly apply to us. I'll just have to save this for a later day, both for when I understand human nature better and know more about Gabby. For now though, I think the best thing I can do for her is be her friend, so I'll focus on that. That should be pretty easy, as I already like her.
We talked more about my problems too, but, well, I don't know why I was so naive about this issue. It's something I'll just have to resolve in time, which is pretty much the advice everyone - including Dr. Lord - gave me. Though Dr. Lord did suggest delving into all mythology texts I can get my hands on, plus to pay attention in his labs. Like I would do other than pay attention, sheesh!
Getting back to our forest talk, one really great thing happened with the three of us! I was telling the ladies how there are legends of martial art styles and techniques being developed from animals, and that I hoped they'd let me practice with their big kitty cats so we could learn from each other. Both the ladies were quite enthusiastic about this, and Jahiera wants to join in as well. This sounds so fun! Of course I hope their kitties will want to do it as much as the rest of us. But Gabby says Tepini doesn't get enough exercise, and I think Miyet likes me already (or at least she likes me petting her). For now, we probably can practice in the woods, but it would be nice to have a special room for ourselves. And that makes me think what else we could do and who else would like to participate. Maybe I could set up something like the early versions of the Danger Room in the X-Men comics. That would be totally awesome!
Unfortunately Jahiera had to dash off, because she was late for some archery practice. But Gabby and I chatted a little bit longer before returning to the dorm. Gabby demonstrated her gymnastics ability, she looks quite amazing. We also found out we're both interested in flying. Someday...
OK, only one more things to note. When I tried to talk to Dr. Lord about Bob the archer, Dr. Lord said he had NO idea who that guy is. That makes a lot of sense since Dr. Lord is new and Bob is - as far as we know - just a popular mortal on campus. But part of me found that strange since Dr. Lord seems to know everything that is going on with us and with Jahiera and her thing of archery - well, I think Bob and Jahiera will be spending a lot of time together. Plus Bob might have insulted Ren. So part of me was puzzled that he never heard of the guy. So I found Gabby later that evening and explained my suspicions to her. I feel like I am acting paranoid, but this just seems a little too weird to me. Gabby said she'd look into him, and I doubt Bob will be able to hide anything from Gabby, and I have to admit I am relieved now that I know Gabby is on the case.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)