Shards Chapter 1 - How it all began... (IC)

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Yiyel

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"Colors. We've known then since before humans were human, before elves were elves. Mundane as they could be, we grew accustomed to them. But we never thought of them as anything beyond visible things. But yet, there was so much missed potential, so much wasted time on discovering things that could cover what we needed while color itself could have done it.

Today, that's no longer a problem. With the grace of the Skies, we discovered Color Magic. All of them imbued with a property, all of them with their own unique uses. But to be able to use color, you must understand color."
The teacher turns to his pupils - less than he wished for, but more than he expected, to his delight. Ten extra people, clad in black robes, walked in.

"We'll also have very skilled mages in the room with us, from a distant place - according to them, the reason they were brought here was because there was no such enthusiasm about Color Magic where they come from - which is so far away it took them a few months to arrive. A kingdom called…?" Uncertain, he turned to the hooded people, who whispered something. The teacher nodded, returning to his gleaming smile. "A kingdom called Mantle to Twenty… whatever it means… Anyhow."

He wheeled in a chalkboard, presumably to prepare for the next steps. "On top of our amazing guests, we have an offer sent from the King himself that would help kick-start the studies - both by experience and PLENTIFUL supplies and funding. So let's vote - those for doing the task, raise your hand!" He looked at the class intently - do you raise your hand to vote for a participation, or leave it down?

@Moogle-Girl @FireDrake150 @CreepyShutIn @Saki @Dramma @viahra233 @BaskinJR @Enderdeman @Caramon Zero @Hellomadgod
 
Gregory had been trying to watch the way the others walked; pick out the weak and the strong. Their dominant hands, the way their heads turned, how curious or nervous an action it may have been. Mostly he was caught off guard by the hulking giant of a man. If he were even human, surely he was some sort of brutish beast of man. Another, a boy clearly, walked with calm steady steps in front of the Beast. Behind them, some females. If only by their footwork they were almost polar opposites. Each cloak hid beneath it some mysterious power. It was all very interesting for now.

The Scholar was speaking, introductions and such. Drull, boring slop. And then "PLENTIFUL... funding.". Gregory pulled back. He was hooked, of course. He would be going regardless, why else would he be here if not for just such an opportunity. However he would not be the first to show even the most mundane of his cards.

For now he waited. When the rest had raised their hands, he would join them.
 
Elrohir Glances around the students and the hooded figures silently and attentively. Though overal young in his years, he assumes he is the oldest, but continues his silence. Considering his options, he debates on the pros and cons on what each option could bring. Stopping a brief yawn, he continues to assess the possibilities. after a while, he decided to decline. True, the prospect of volunteering for something unknown is an exciting one, but there are too many variables for Elrohir to feel comfortable with such a thing. Thumbing through the notes he has taken so far, he sighs quietly, not at the instructor, nor to the hooded wizards. His sigh was no more then a standard breathing practice, something that has previously calmed him.

Noting Gregory and his seeming reluctance to raise his own hand, Elrohir decides to wait it out, analyze the surroundings.
 
Krim looked at those gathered around him, some appearing to be here for their own gain, while others seemed as if they truly wished to pursue the knowledge that was bound to be given them, hoping they would use whatever they learned for the proper purposes, and not for the same reasons as some of their aquaintances.
Thinking carefully on what was being told to him, he leaned upon his enormous sword, its jet black sheathe glinting in the light, as his long, fiery hair hung from under his hood.
Finally deciding to speak up, he fully erected himself, an oddly light voice for his appearance escaping his lips as he asked his question.

"The King has asked much from me, and I have answered his call every time, yet, before I choose whether or not I wish to participate in this endeavour, what does the task set before us entail?"
 
Finally stuff was happening! Tara had been bored out of her skull waiting for this class to start. She'd even resorted to chewing on the tip of the orange crystal she brought out of idle boredom. Luckily the feeling had returned to her tongue eventually. Right now it was wrapped in some spare cloth to keep it from jolting something or setting fire to her clothes. What kind of a name was Mantle to Twenty anyway? Was that supposed to mean something? Maybe it sounded better in another language. Whatever, not important.
The king of a place had something for them to do, with plenty of resources and funding. That sounded good to her.

"I'm in!" She declared, raising her hand with a grin. "Sounds like we could use the experience, and I don't mind plenty of funding either." Her funding and resources up until she found her way to this class had amounted to 'whatever she could scrape together.' The few places willing to hire a half-breed girl didn't pay too well. Getting in here had been a stroke of luck, much like finding that orange crystal in the field. If luck was willing to favor her further with lucrative offers from foreign kings, who was she to object?
 
Drayko was looking for the classroom that he was told he needed to enter for one reason or another. He was tired of being told directions to the proper classroom after asking the fifth person. He was outside near a row of windows on the outside of a building. "Which direction is the classroom in anyway?" He looks through the window next to him and sees a strange man speaking to some people he thinks are students and sees black-cloaked people entering through the door. He cautiously walks up and knocks on the window behind a large man. And then he asks, "Is this where the people the king called are supposed to be?"
 
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Staying in the rear, Cadence remained quiet as others mingled and conversed with one another. She hadn't planned on there being so many others but she learned to accept the fact that being part of society was inevitable. Despite the fact that she had been silent this entire time, she had also been watching everyone as she had never been much of a social person and she needed to learn pretty quick if she were to get along well with everyone else. it wasn't something she was used to and she hated having to try and make friends but she knew that in the future she would be able to return home to her solitude and she looked forward to that.
 
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Near the center of the room, blending in with the rest of the students, sat Jonathan. His bright blue hair was the only thing that stood out, the only thing making him different from the rest. He wasn't even sure why he was particularly here in the first place. When the opportunity came up, he just accepted it. He rolled the perfectly round, blue gem on his desk, his most prized possession that he had acquired years ago after his family died. He watched the cloaked men walk in and shivered. They unnerved him, something about them made the hairs on his neck rise and made him tremble a bit. He glanced around at all of the people volunteering and sighed. After three years in the woods, you'd think that someone had time to learn... Time to learn that keeping to yourself is always best, it's a good thing not to get involved with other affairs.

Yet, nonetheless, Jonathan felt his hand go up, almost out of his will. The cloaked men frightened him, yes, but if they frightened him, then there must be something wrong with them. If nothing else was learned of the past three years, it was that Jon had to follow his gut. He didn't like these men, and he had to come just in case the others needed protecting... Not that he would ever say that aloud.​
 
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The teacher heard the knocking, chuckling. He beckoned the man inside. "Yes, this is the right place. Come on in." @CrimsonLaurana



"As for the others..."
The teacher clasped his hands together, beaming with glee. "Excellent, it seems the majority is for doing the task. I hope some of you are good with a forge and anvil..." He looked intently at Lucky while saying that. "...and I most certainly hope you all are imaginative, because the two tasks ahead of us are not the easiest." He took a chalk, and started writing down a few things - none of them legible from that distance. "First task we have to face. You might not know of it - but a forge already had found a way to transport red crystals safely - we have one of the devices as an example. However, these devices are unyieldy, heavy and prone to failure, without mentioning they can only transport crystals that emit up to a certain heat. We would have to find a more efficient, safer, lighter… quite simply, better way of transporting them. A design or theory would be great - but a prototype even better."

He flipped the board around, scribbled some more.

"Our second task will require a more thorough understanding of how things work - for we have to find a way, most probably using the Color's powers, to have a source of mechanical power that could replace a windmill or sawmill, but that uses neither wind nor running water as a power source, for places who don't have them. Theories are great, but as for the previous assignment, the further you go the better!"

He looked to the class. "Understood? Time to think. Quills, ink wells and papers are at the back. Put everything down on paper, and I'll check up on you once in a while to see how you're progressing."
 
The librarian frowns as he turns the corner.
A crooked figure (Rennfield) sits hunched at the intersection of two shelves. Tomes have been briskly compiled around him, reaching precarious, unstable apices. The man grabs a tome, and furiously flips through, attempting to gather information. They he slams it down with a dissonant Smk! before retrieving another from the culmination of a wavering tower and repeating the process.
This would've been a quite efficient way of researching, were he not barely scanning the books and neglecting much imperative detail.
The librarian tentatively retrieves a title. A burdensome hardback titled Geology For Dummies: Shards Edition.
The librarian quickly puts it down in the pile, and Rennfield pivots to face him.
The pensioner's face is ragged and sagging, with furrows cleaved through it by age. His minuscule, rheumy eyes glare at her. The librarian yelps and retracts, stumbling back.
Rennfield giggles. "Why aren't you an amusing little man? Teehee!"
Then his face contorts, and he becomes a typical crabby senior. "Oi, you! What're you doing here?"
"Well, I own this library, so..."
"Get out! I reserved this aisle." His hand recedes into his robes and retrieves a cane, which he waves around. "Go on, get!" He threatens.
The librarian promptly flees.
Rennfield sobs, brusquely returning to his research.
 
Three hours later

Rennfield entered the class casually, hobbling across the room. He sits brusquely, his creviced, heavily wrinkled face contorts in incongruous, painful glee, emulating some youth. "Are you learning about shards? I love shards!" He holds his somewhat maniacal grin, hands folded on his lap, feet oscillating beneath the chair. "In fact, I consider myself a shard expert. For example, they're colourful and hard!" He beams in grotesque delight.

@Yiyel
 
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So that was their assignment. For a while there Tara had thought they'd be actually going to this wherever-it-was country to get the job from the king, but in hindsight that was kind of dumb. Still, this worked too. A chance to show she could think. Most people tended to assume the worst of her. She pondered the question as she went to get the writing supplies, slipping past the big, hairy guy and the elf on the way. How were the red crystals currently contained? She could imagine maybe turning the excess heat into movement with an orange crystal, but then what did they do with all that movement energy? Use it to move the thing better? She'd have to see the old design before she knew what to improve on, so she made a mental note to ask for it.

The idea about using orange crystals to bleed off the heat did spark another idea, though. Once she had the writing stuff on her desk she started putting down her idea, fleshing it out as she went. "Red + orng = lots of moov power. Mill moves. Wich way?" Spelling had not featured prominently in her education. Nor had education, really. Here she idly doodled a warthog on the paper as she thought. "Start mill: Push a bit, put red near orng." Now a helpful illustration of a red gem in a box, denoted with a big "RED" scrawled on the side, with the lid being opened to expose the nearby saw (with an arrow pointing to it from a nearby scribble of "ORNG") and wavy lines to show the saw moving. "Dust = bad, blows off. Orng metal? Pricy. Orng in metal saw?" Now a picture of the saw with little gems embedded in it, and after that a rather poor caricature of someone with smell lines coming off him about to be eaten by a dragon.

Finally, she wrapped it all up with a rough diagram of the idea: It centered around the saw, with four crystals in it and the 'word' "ORNG" scribbled next to it, with an arrow pointing to one of the gems. On one side of the saw was a box with a sliding lid; when open it would point toward the saw. The word 'RED' was scrawled nearby, with an arrow pointing to the box. On the other side of the saw was a winch-like lever that connected to the center of it and could be turned to spin the saw. Next to the picture was a set of steps: "Start: 1: Opn box. 2: Spin lever. 3: Saw stuff. Stop: 1: Close box. 2: Let saw slow. 3: Do not tuch!!!" There, she thought, that should just about do it. She would just have to look through it for errors, maybe have the others take a look at it before handing it in.
 
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Taking a moment to analyze her two assignments, she promptly left the room and headed to a place where she could have silence, somewhere as close to the woods as she could get. Upon reaching the destination, a young fawn came and lay next to her, resting it's head on her shoulder and watched as Cadence scribbled down thoughts and ideas in a frantic yet rather calm manner. Some of it hardly even legible but apparently no matter how messy her handwriting was, she could always read it. She then began to draw diagrams, marking several of them out and taking a minute to better look at others.
 
George, having remained silent throughout the beginning of the class, gazed fervently at the others. His observations were interesting, his fellow classmates seemed incredibly determined. Perhaps, he thought, they could provide him with some further insight into the crystals' nature; if he was able to devise a general pattern of properties then maybe more accurate predictions could be made as to their full capabilities, namely that of the White.
Anyhow, for the time being he must adhere to the task set before him. George reclined in his chair and let out a sigh of content; he'd always loved a puzzle. He withdrew a piece of paper and began scrawling notes - 'Transportation of red crystals; must be of sufficient atomic strength to withstand extreme temperatures whilst light enough to be easily maneuvered. Orange crystals may provide a solution due to their energy magnification characteristic, capable of accentuating the push force so as reducing the perceived weight without necessarily being forced to use a less durable material.'
Even so, what material could be in current use? He thought to himself. He rose from his chair and spoke directly to the instructor, with a hint of intuitiveness amongst his otherwise cold tone.
"May I inspect this contraption you speak of? An insight into current practices shall allow me to identify the current flaws so as we do not repeat such mistakes."
 
Rennfield's tongue protrudes slightly as he writes.
His manic scribblings could be deciphered to say:
Colourful
Hard
Shiny?
He frowns, drawing a grinning stick figure. He reaches into his pocket, and scrutinises a shred of one of the library books. He has a sudden epiphany, his youthful disposition degrading.
He writes.
 
Krim sat at his desk, drawing out complex diagrams involving the construction of a high-speed transport system he'd thought of building for his forge, yet never had the time to, glad that this moment of peace would allow him to work on some of his early ideas to better his own workplace, as well as aid all the other smiths he'd come to know as he grew up.
Looking over his designs, he realized that the easiest path would be to build an Orange-powered device that collects energy from its wheels, utilizing Green components properly coated in Indigo powder for durability, the shape and design elongated to reduce wind resistance, while the high speed would prevent the device from melting, with the gems coated in Grey powder, which he'd found as the easiest way to transport the them to the forge, that could be easily removed or burn off on its own, allowing the crystals to be delivered safely.

Thinking this might be best, he moved on to his next assignment, looking over another set of plans he'd wanted to use for his forge, which would allow the gems and materials to be automatically brought to him.
A power generator of sorts would require the use of Orange crystals for power, and have Reds as an intererior means of activating them, with a special conductor transferring power to whatever device would require it. A simple solution, yet it should suffice, as many people could benefit from such a thing, as it would be fairly easy to build, and would work for many years, so long as it was properly maintained by smiths or those who know how to handle the more dangerous gems properly.

He sat quietly for a moment, looking over his work, before glancing over to the others to see what kinds of contraptions he'd likely be made to build parts for, interested at his fellows' designs and ideas, while slightly amused by others, unable to keep from letting out a chuckle over how much fun he was going to have building these different contraptions.
 
Rennfield constructed a rough diagram. A horse drawn cart. The horses are tethered to the cart by wooden beams, containing green crystals. These beams would increase in mass, and so the cart was slower, yet more stable.
Rennfield's mind turned to the grey crystals. What of their properties? What did they represent? While the others had incredible abilities, the grey ones were unassuming. Unremarkable, even in comparison to other mundane rocks. They were quite literally the opposite of other shards.
Colourful.
Colourless.
Powerful.
Powerless.
An anti-shard, perhaps?
Rennfield's mind raced, and so did his quill.
What if the cart was lined with grey crystal? Would it negate the red crystal's puissance?
The pin which held together his coat was constructed of grey shard. He slipped the ring from his finger, encrusted with tangerine crystal. It was how he retained structural integrity on his arthritic legs.
He lay them beside each other on the table, then raised his quill like a sabre.
He brought it down, hoping to witness the reaction.
((@Yiyel could you tell me what occurs?))
 
@Saki @anyone else interested in the existing device

"Of course, my bad. What's the point of saying there's an example if I don't bring it out..."

With that, he left for a minute, returning with two large half-cubes with handles, giving it to George. "There you go. Watch it, it's all steel."

The device looked simple enough. It was made of an inner chamber of what seemed to be a foam of indigo steel for insulation. Outside of that was a large shell of orange steel set on indigo-coated bearings, to allow free rotation (and thus, to transform the Red heat into rotational motion, which is more manageable - and stable, unlike lateral movement). The complete outer shell was a steel cube with handle and bolts in the corners (facing the gap, to hold the casing together when screwed) and extra satchel-style clips should the bolts fail. It was, however, very very heavy - and could only hold a crystal the size of a finger, from the looks of it, which would make carrying larger ones even more of a problem. Most likely, for proper function, such a mechanism would only be able to carry melon-sized gems on a normal carriage, and maybe pumpkin-sized in a reinforced - any larger gems could not be carried over larger distances.

@BaskinJR

As predicted, the tangerine-colored gem sent sparks flying, nearly setting a nearby pile of paper ablaze. The gray gem was still inert, though his hand felt numb.
 
Rennfield yelps, and he struggles to maintain his cognitive integrity. To remain in this state of intelligence. His arms pinwheel furiously, and his gnarled fingers gently ease open. The grey crystal shatters on the conflagrant desk as he tumbles back off his chair onto the desk behind him.
His focused state departs him, and he flings profanities this way and that.
 
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