wanderinglost | (no subject)

(no subject)

[WELCOME TO THE AZIM STEPPE. perhaps you're there from a different ~~instance~~ timeline, or perhaps not. either way, there's a warrior of light xaela here who is sitting on the edge of the Dawn Throne, legs dangling off the cliff as she looks down over the Dotharl land. She's pretty conflicted! she also is dressed like a weirdo, and barefoot. And there's a rapier at her side, embedded in the ground so she can draw it quickly without it getting in the way while she sits.]

What a right pain this all is... They'll have the next me's head for this.

[Or maybe you're elsewhere! Ibakha the Wanderer can end up anywhere, so go nuts if you have somewhere else you'd rather she be.]

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[ul'dah. oh, she hates ul'dah. but she can understand the language now, and she hasn't studied there in a while...]

If he seeks death, why not allow it?

Because my job is to make sure they can at least cast a decent fire spell before going off and getting themselves killed.

[She's annoyed, but she isn't actually mad. Moreso worried.]

And I actually know this one's sister. She'd kill me.

[She tilts her head, thinking.]

Is it not his own choice?

Not yet it's not. So long as he is still a student, he doesn't get to be suicidally stupid. He has to earn that right.

[Speaking of, she turns to her student and sends him off to where there is a conjurer waiting.]

You deny him the chance to prove himself.

[why not let him die??? gosh.]

That's what final practicals are for. Can't prove himself if he's dead, can he?

If he is strong, then his next life shall.

...next life?

[The Au Ra she was teaching is Raen and this is news to her.]

I don't follow.

A strong warrior will be reborn. Perhaps as a Dotharl. It has been known to happen...

Although never with one who is merely a student.

[....note to self, ask someone if they know what a Dotharl is when she gets back to the city.]

So that's all the more reason to make sure he survives long enough to become a proper thaumaturge, isn't it?

Perhaps. But there is naught to be gained from pampering fools.

I'm a teacher. It's my job to pamper the fools until we learn if they are actually fools or insecure.

That is not teaching. Pain and experience are the best teachers, after all.

[she's. pulling out her rapier.]

Maybe if you can stab things, but thaumaturges have to learn how to use our magic wisely.

[Rhel is not grabbing her staff, but she is ready to do so if she has to.]

Else we risk another magi war or burning ourselves out.

[well.

she's gonna throw a swiftcast verthunder right at that guy's feet. :)]

That's right. We must use our magic wisely.

[And Rhel is the one who moves to take the hit, shooting a scathe and then swiftcasted fire (III) at this random woman before moving into a thunder (also III). Do not threaten her students, strange lady.]

Attacking students is hardly using it wisely.

[and she uses Displacement, backflipping back fifteen yalms, and then corps-a-corps to close the gap... though she doesn't actually attack Rhel, just getting very close instead.]

He wishes to prove himself. You wish for him to learn his own skill. Is this not the best solution? All get what they want.

[She is still sitting on that thunder spell. Just in case.]

Except no one does at all. I want him to learn, yes, but at his speed. He may learn that thaumaturgy isn't for him! He's certainly learned that disobeying his teacher isn't for him.

[This poor Raen guy.]

But he won't learn anything if he's humiliated by a stronger mage, except that those with power can and perhaps should let it get to their head.

[She snorts, leaning in. she is extremely small, yet she's trying to get right up in rhel's face.]

He is a Raen. He is immune to humiliation.

[Rhel is not much taller to be honest. That she has found someone not a Lalafell who is smaller than she is surprises her.

She just raises an eyebrow.]

Racism? Is that it? You attacked my student over racism?

... What?

[she seems. genuinely confused.]

He wishes to grow stronger.

[...okay, so this is less a case of "asshole" and more a case of "completely new here" or. something. Rhel sighs.]

I don't claim to understand half of what I'm told about Au Ra, but you mentioned him being a "Raen", as if that somehow excused you from trying to humiliate my student.

As I said, he is a Raen. His people have had their lands taken, and those that remain live in hiding under the water. And he is here, learning to fight.

[She points her rapier at him.]

The strength he seeks will never be attained by coddling.

Why don't you let me, his teacher and someone who has known him since he and his sister arrived in Ul'dah, decide that? I know his strengths and how to teach to his weaknesses. I'm sorry, but you don't.

Why not ask him?

[she flips her rapier up into the air, catching it and replacing it on her hip in one smooth motion.]

There are none stronger than the Dotharl. Even a Raen should know that. For untold centuries have I traveled and grown strong.