exploratory kidnapping

[alicornucopia]

In this room are two women, one gray and sixty years old, one just thirty and red-haired, both wearing elaborate outfits. The younger casts a spell.

In this room is now also a third person. (On whom the elder woman promptly also casts a spell, which she had at the ready.)

Comments

[missnicegirl]

Matilda makes it.

"Yes," she concludes, "I can see witchcraft. And I can definitely tell it's witchcraft and not my own magic. We might want to double-check with other people looking using different wizard analyses, but I'm pretty sure."

[alicornucopia]

Raha gets Terali; Terali casts some analyses on herself. "Witch potion," she confirms. "None of your own magic. Matilda, do you want to name your magic, or maybe see if Fena can come up with a word for it?"

[missnicegirl]

"I can't think of very good names for it except, I don't know, 'Earth magic', and that's weirdly ambiguous in English... Fena can try naming it, maybe she'll have something better."

[alicornucopia]

"Dragons are pretty good at coming up with words for things," says Terali.

[missnicegirl]

"Dragons are neat!"

[alicornucopia]

"Yup!"

And that is the day's lesson time up.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda goes home. Nothing new and exciting happens except for her drawing up her September schedule, which has fewer lessons in it because she's busy on weekdays. She manages to fit some in on afternoons, though.

She comes back for her next lesson and shows this schedule to Raha and asks Terali if Fena has been asked for a name for her magic.

[alicornucopia]

"Fena says that English doesn't have a word for it yet besides generically 'magic', but that Draconic has been calling what you do 'ialdae'," says Terali.

[missnicegirl]

"That's pretty!"

[alicornucopia]

"I thought so too!"

[missnicegirl]

Matilda continues to learn witchcraft. A few times she suspects she is glimpsing some wizardry, but it never quite solidifies for her, so she doesn't mention it yet.

Two weeks into September, she arrives for a lesson on a weekday afternoon and immediately says, "You have to summon Miss Honey! I think she's been kidnapped!"

[alicornucopia]

"What? Oh my goodness," says Terali. "All right, out you get, I'll get Kerah and she'll do it so we can use the same circle." Terali runs off to find Kerah.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda stands next to the circle and frets.

[alicornucopia]

Terali brings Kerah. Kerah summons Miss Honey.

[missnicegirl]

"Oh - oh good," says Miss Honey. "Oh dear."

"Was it the Trunchbull," says Matilda, not quite inflecting the question.

Miss Honey nods.

Matilda turns to Terali. "Send me back, please, it's important."

[alicornucopia]

"We could just summon whoever this is into a warded circle, and help deal with her," Kerah points out.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda hesitates, but then she shakes her head. "I don't want her knowing about Elcenia. She has magic too, she kidnapped Miss Honey with it. I'll have to deal with her myself."

[alicornucopia]

"Matilda, you're seven," says Terali. "I'm sure we can deal with her, especially if you tell us what she can do."

[missnicegirl]

"Oh dear," murmurs Miss Honey.

Matilda shakes her head impatiently. And vanishes in a flicker of light.

[alicornucopia]

Kerah looks at Terali. Terali shakes her head. "I didn't unsummon her!"

[pythbox]

"Matilda's magic can learn things," Miss Honey points out quietly.

[alicornucopia]

"Is there still an active summon -?" wonders Terali; Kerah casts an analysis to check whether Terali still has one in progress.

[pythbox]

There is not still an active summon.

[alicornucopia]

"I could summon her again," says Terali, when this result turns up. "But she might just leave again. Isn't there any way to get her to let us help?" she asks Miss Honey.

[pythbox]

"I don't think so," says Miss Honey. "She is extremely independent. And it might be... a bad idea to interrupt her while she's in the middle of dealing with Miss Trunchbull." She shivers slightly when she adds, "I agree with her that bringing Miss Trunchbull here would not be a good idea."