mylittlejamjar | First Burn [Visual]

[A new face looks down on the scroll, eyes screwed in a look of complete and utter disbelief at the situation he has found himself in. A dark-red unicorn, just... staring for a long moment before he scoffs and starts to speak with a flip of his blond, braided mane.]

...I'm sorry, I can't -- you actually expect me to believe --

[He gestures vaguely to himself with a hoof.]

That this is a thing that's happening right now? Haha. No thank you. If I knew that helping a Pandaren with his house chores would lead to... to... hallucinations or something... Am I in the Emerald Dream? Did I get hit with some magical incense or something? Because I would've liked some kind of warning if that was going to happen.

[Yeah, he's rambling now. But really, where else can a pony vent when he's just been thrown in a situation like this? After a long sigh, he shakes his head and turns back to the scroll.]

Okay. Sorry 'bout that. So just in case this isn't the product of me making one too many healing potions, the name's Artuan. Bracher. I... was a mage.

By the way... Anyone else from Azeroth sharin' this fever dream I'm having? If so... uh. Find me, I suppose. We can reminisce about the good ol' days when Deathwing was destroying Stormwind and everypony -- ["Everypony"? He pauses for a moment to consider the sudden and automatic change in lingo with a bewildered expression before continuing.] Was freezing up in Northrend. Or something.

...How do you end these th--

[And the message ends abruptly. Looks like he found out.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Split among various disciplines... I see. Very good for specialization, but doing it in such a manner limits the ability to explore the relationships between each element, which may create some disparity in-

[...Yeah, she's talking to herself while writing. Give her a moment, or yell at her. Whatever works.]

[Oh, he doesn't mind. He remembers studying a good majority of this at some point himself.

Artuan busies himself with experimentally poking at the ground with his hoof while she takes notes.]

[This goes on for a few seconds before she addresses him again.]

Do you use a focus of any sort? Staves, hands, books, that sort of thing? Or are you one of those silly mages that wiggle around a wand?

Mostly, it's a thing you do through your hands, but staves help, too. Even swords or daggers, if you're good. [He can't help but smile at the mention of wands.] Wands... used to be a major part of things. Technically, there are probably a few left who still use 'em. Me, not so much.

Versatile. That's good. Nothing would be more insulting than somepony calling themselves a mage to be reliant on something like a wand.

[She could give an entire school's worth of examples, but she refrains.]

In our defense, they were pretty good for throwing out a little damage when magic was out of the question. 'Course, that doesn't mean they still didn't look stupid as hell.