auroraexpress | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Everyone
When: Day 45, early afternoon
Where: Everywhere

[ You've had your time to exchange candy and spooky stories, and the game has come to an end! Everyone who took part received a bag of candy to take to their train, as a bonus reward for the entertainment. Shortly before the game setting can fade away, Finn's going to declare the winners:

Thyme, Senna, Jasmine, and Clover ]

Aaand that's a wrap. With any luck, you guys had some actual fun. Don't forget to brush your teeth and, huh ... enjoy the candy?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[she brightens up to see him, distracted from her observations]

The one and the same! Isn't he pretty?

[Pretty isn't the word he's used for skeletons.]

He is pretty cool.

I've been calling him Laurence.

Huh.

yeah, does look like a Laurence, doesn't he?

It's the antler, they're very stately. Very gentlemanly!

It's true. Gives a kind of refined elegance.

There's a reason stags are on so many emblems! Besides that white harts are one of the easiest magical animals to come by.

White harts?

White stags. If it's a doe, it's a hind.

White like albino or pure white?

Pure white! It’s not albinism and they do look very similar to a leucistic animal, but you can tell them apart by their gold eyes.

Leucistic? Does that just mean albino or something else?

Do they do cool things, or just like cool looking thing?

It's a different condition. An albino deer has a complete lack melanin and will have red eyes, whereas the leucistic deer has only partial pigment loss, so it still has normal eyes. White stags are magical animals, which means they generate a field like I do.

[Nod, nod.] Can they like....use magic? Are they intelligent?

They're not a human intelligence, like they still live with and act like regular deer, but they are very smart and they can understand a lot of intent and spoken word without being trained for it. And they do have magic! Historically that made them popular for hunts since they were basically impossible to catch, but nowadays they're also popular with really outdoorsy types since you cannot get lost if you have a white hart on your side.

That's...really cool.

And always fun to meet a strange new creature who can actually understand intent.

Obviously there’s exceptions, but most magical animals can. It’s part of what makes them possible to use as familiars or beast-summons.

Makes sense. To choose them as familiars.

Kind of interesting they end up smarter. Is there a reason for that?

You would need to ask a behavior specialist for a real answer, but a roc that's not smart enough to use its own magic isn't going to be anything other than a big eagle.

....what IS a roc's magic other than being an abnormally big and tough bird?

It's mostly support for being a big bird. Rocs and dragons like greater coastals need magical support for flight!

Gotta wonder if that makes it easier for the mathematicians or just drives them more crazy.

Neither! Magic-assisted flight is one of my areas of study.

Oh? So you know the math, because I would be interested in seeing that.

Do you want the basic equations or would you like to see a published article's worth?