In which detention serves a useful purpose for once. (closed RP, for now)

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

All in all, Lezard Valeth felt his Sorting had gone rather well. He had met a kindred spirit of sorts. More than one, really, for the Sorting Hat had recognized his potential and Sorted him into Slytherin. Lezard decided he very much liked the Sorting Hat: its mindset was so very much like Lezard's own.

(Read: perverse and more than a little insane.)

Now there was the silly business of detention to deal with. Lezard had no immediate plans to overthrow the current system of order at Hogwarts, and therefore would humor its bureaucratic machinations for the time being. Turlough's threats of torture at the caretaker's hands meant only amusement for Lezard, since the things he'd done to himself with the aid of the Philosopher's Stone (no, not like that!) had rendered him impervious to such attacks. Indeed, when the very Lord of the Undead had rushed at Lezard to halt the Sovereign's Rite, the Lord's bulky body had passed right through Lezard, as though the mage had become immaterial. Which in fact he had, selectively. He could be as solid as he wished (how else to hold his valkyrie love?) or dissolve into motes of light.

He looked forward to baffling the Hogwarts staff.

Therefore he was less than thrilled when, at the end of his Sorting, a little green house-elf came shambling up to present him with a note: Schedule change. Report immediately for your detention to Groundskeeper Vislor Turlough at the mangosteen grove.

Irritated, he followed the elf out of the castle and onto the grounds. What he beheld pleased him: the edge of the grove was perfectly regular, a crescent seen on the horizon, and he knew that a view from above would show it as a green circle, unnatural, his mark on the landscape of this country. A summer breeze fluttered his cloak and wafted the scent of tropical trees toward him.

As he entered the grove, he tapped his fingers in a light rhythm along the Wand of Apocalypse's shaft.

The groundskeeper awaited.

Comments

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

Turlough was not entirely thrilled with the schedule change. He had no desire to see this idiot again.

Now that he has to, though, he'll make it worth it.

"So you got in. Pity. I was hoping you'd get kicked out."

He picked up a watering can he procured from somewhere.

"Your detention. Water all these trees. Without magic. If I catch you using magic, you'll have a second detention."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

(( *dead of icon* ))

"Did you really believe I'd be denied admission to a school of magic?" The smugness radiates off Lezard in waves almost palpable.

It ceases abruptly at Turlough's specification of his task.

"You intend me to take that --" he uses the Wand of Apocalypse as a pointer, pointing it at the watering can -- "and water those --" gesturing to all the trees -- "without magic? Are you mad? The gross inefficiency alone should cause any reasonable person to implode!"

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

"One can only hope. And I intend to make this as difficult for you as possible. Maybe then you'd think twice before transplanting a grove of tropical trees to Scotland."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

"This is madness," Lezard informs Turlough angrily, snatching the watering can and stomping to the nearest tree.

Everyone is always so ungrateful.

There are all kinds of things he can do with his magic right now if he wants. He can't kill Turlough because of the no-kill enchantment on Hogwarts grounds, and he can't kill the trees or animals because they were a gift to A, but he can rearrange the configuration of this space in such amusing ways. He entertains himself briefly by picturing Turlough's face melded with the trunk of a tree, like some grotesque revision of a dryad.

But ... it's clear from the assignment that Turlough thinks doing things without magic should be difficult for Lezard. As though Lezard Valeth is not strong enough to carry water unaided. If he uses his magic, the stupid groundskeeper will have won.

"What do you have against a beautiful grove of trees?" he grumps at Turlough as he waters the first of many trees.

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

"I don't have anything against the trees. I have something against trees appearing in the middle of nowhere unexpectedly, animals and all. Freaking out animals, too. We were lucky to get them under control."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

"I have created a tropical paradise on your grounds. People pay good money for that kind of service!" He realizes he's going to have to go back and forth from the little stream nearby, just to fill the watering can. Damn Turlough to the deepest abyss.

He has the fortitude to do this. He isn't a weakling. He crisscrossed the continent afoot with Princess Alicia and her warriors; walking back and forth to a stream with a watering can is no big deal. But how irritating, when he knows he could crack the earth with a spell and make fresh water bubble up wherever he chooses.

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

Which was just what Turlough planned.

"You didn't even give fair warning. And how long do you think your 'tropical paradise' will last in Scotland? Wet, rainy, harsh, snows? We'll be lucky to keep one tree alive, let alone the entire forest."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

"Lezard Valeth does not give warning," mutters Lezard. "Especially to you and your ... stupid face." That part is pretty much under his breath, with his back turned to Turlough as he faces a tree.

The other point is grudgingly taken. "The native clime is not suited to these trees," he agrees aloud, for Turlough's hearing, as he passes again en route to the stream. "May I remind you I was not the one to request a tree of this type should be brought here? I am only he who executed the request."

Dipping the can in the stream, the water cold even in Scottish summer, Lezard contemplates climate. He could change the temperature in the immediate vicinity of the trees, yes, using magic. He could attach a spell to each individual tree if he must. He would have to go to each tree each day, at least once, probably more than once, to renew the enchantment ... Ugh, it would be as tedious as watering all the trees one by one.

He's still thinking about this as he returns with his full watering can. "Groundskeeper, I believe I may be able to save this grove."

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

"A requested one. You gave him too much."

Turlough tilted his head at Lezard's offer. "Explain. But keep watering."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Gave him too much? Abundance should not be too much. Lezard doesn't know the meaning of excess.

"You may know that currents of magical energy flow through the earth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ley_lines). This is true in many worlds, and it is true in this one: I can sense it. The power of the World Tree flows through earth's veins. I can place an outlet, of sorts, to tap into that energy at sites where the veins cross. It should not come as a surprise if I tell you Hogwarts has been built at just such a site of power, considerable power."

He circles a tree with the watering can as he talks. He thinks the can's capacity is probably not enough to suffice for even one tree, but he doesn't particularly care. Perhaps something should be done by way of irrigation, as well; that would be neater.

"It would be at that point that I introduce an element almost certainly unfamiliar to you."

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

Turlough was listening. "Go on."

No, it wasn't enough, and yes, some irrigation would be needed, but he's got an ax to grind.

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

"The reason I would establish the outlet," Lezard explains, "would be to support a sealstone. A sealstone is a geological anomaly that has effects on the surrounding area. The outlet is called a dais, and it serves as a base and a conduit of energy for the sealstone. Placed on a dais, the sealstone can emit its effects continually, without any need for attention or maintenance, theoretically without end. The effects would only terminate if someone were to remove the sealstone from its dais."

(( For sealstones, and to see what they look like: some awesome person put all the Valkyrie Profile 2 FMVs up on YouTube, and the one in which the party encounters its first sealstone is here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B0WR2DxOrs). Lezard geeks out describing sealstones in his smooth cheesy voice, which imo makes the FMV worth watching ;) Because I don't have the patience to watch the FMV over and over and the description is kind of nonsensical video-game-logic, I've posted a quick transcript in Lezard's journal (http://arrogantmage.livejournal.com/1132.html). ))

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

Turlough considered this for a few minutes. Then he waved. "Give it a shot. If it does work, it will make A happy. But it still counts as using magic. Your detention will be a week from today."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Lezard gives Turlough a look that could best be described as oh, ffs. So, he's going to use magic and then have another detention, probably something just as stupid and pointless as this one. Why can't people just accept and embrace Lezard's magic as the wonderful thing it is? His greatness should be celebrated, not hampered!

In his most long-suffering and aggrieved tones, he says: "Very well." (The utterance, and the tone, would have been familiar to his old traveling party: Leone, Arngrim, Dylan, Alicia, especially that fruitcake Rufus, always prone to inconvenient objections.)

Bloop! Lezard Valeth is gone.

In the very center of the perfectly circular grove, a cascade of sparks begins to geyser from the ground. The sparks are accompanied by a more mundane spray of dirt, as though a very small but powerful gopher is at work. Amidst this spray, there emerges upward a hardened and twisted stave of petrified wood, twiglike in shape with a cradle-like crook at its end.

Petrified wood is not really wood: it's stone, its minerals leaching into the places where rot has eaten the wood away. Yet it retains the magical properties of wood. It's akin both to tree and rock, air and earth.

Beside the twig, a second shower of sparks shoots up from the ground, this one taller, as tall as a man. With a sound not unlike the clash of steel against steel, it rushes up to take form: Lezard Valeth.

If someone had been standing where he emerged, they totally would have suffered so many thousands of hit points' worth of damage.

"Behold the dais," he says happily, holding his arm out to indicate the twig.

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

Turlough just watched, not with any wonderment or awe, just boredom. He's seen weirder and flashier. Crap flashier, cause it was 80s Doctor Who, but still.

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there are no electric fan heaters (http://www.dalek6388.co.uk/the-daleks-the-dead-planet.htm) involved.

Only slightly disappointed -- he can't really expect proper appreciation from someone who possesses all the imagination of a shelled escargot -- Lezard shrugs and bloops away again.

This time, he's gone for a good ten minutes. Will he ever come back?!?!?

Unfortunately, yes.

He reappears beside the dais, his hands cupped around a pouch of a fine and mysterious material. From the pouch he withdraws what appears to be absolutely nothing. He seems very proud of this nothing. He must be a really talented mime.

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

Now Turlough arched an eyebrow. "The sealstone is invisible?"

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

"Yes. The sealstone is a mass of immaterial energy. It is only visible when a valkyrie's spirit resonates with it. Until a valkyrie enters this grove, the sealstone will not be seen. Its effects, however, will be felt throughout this grove from the moment I place it upon this dais."

Which he does, with care.

Immediately the temperature within the grove raises to tropical levels. Lezard, though cloaked and booted and ready for all-weather travel, doesn't shed so much as a drop of sweat.

"It may have other effects," he says casually. "If so, those remain to be seen. It didn't have any adverse effect on me when I brought it here, anyhow. Its name is Eternal Summer Blessing."

(( This is a noncanon sealstone I've invented. All the sealstones have names ending either in Blessing [for positive effects], Wrath [for negative effects], or Law [for neutral effects, e.g., doubling experience points]. ))

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

Turlough noticed the heat rise immediately. Not enough to change into short shorts summer clothes, unless he spent hours in there.

He nodded. "That will be good enough for A. Go back to watering."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Phooey on that. He's already broken the no-magic stricture of this detention, so he's going to go whole hog now. And for fun, since he hasn't resorted to it thus far, he'll use the Wand of Apocalypse to channel the power. (He doesn't need it, but he so does like his nifty weapons and accessories.)

See, he's already built his own world outside of space and time. Never mind that Lenneth utterly destroyed it; the point is, he has world-building experience. His world had grasses and trees and clear streams of water. Granted, it also had a lot of treasure chests scattered around, and odd pathways made of engraved stone, and sundry such features not readily explicable. TV's "Trading Spaces" crew would have a field day with Lezard.

Anyway he can definitely make some streams of fresh water.

Pointing the Wand of Apocalypse and twisting the fabric of the universe to his will, Lezard causes a series of springs to break free from the ground. They overflow into long rivulets bedded in cracked earth.

"I haven't named that spell yet," he says to Turlough.

Then, because the grove lacks a little je ne sais quoi, he teleports treasure chests into a few choice locations. Up in a tree. Behind a conveniently-placed bit of shrubbery.

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

why?

Turlough arched his eyebrow again. "Oh all right, you had the detention anyway, might as well make it worth your while."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Lezard looks upon his handiwork and sees that it is good.

Quite typical of short-sighted ordinary mortals that he should be given punishment rather than applause for this feat. Whatever. His pleasure in a job well done far outweighs his annoyance at Turlough's insistence he must serve a second detention.

"I'll report to you in a week for further pointless drudgery," he says airily. "In the meantime, I must notify the grove's owner that Improvements Have Been Made."

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

"Fair enough." He planned to do the same, except (he figured) less self-praise and more berating of the idiot. "Bugger off. I'll owl you with a location later.

And he also needed to owl a professor so he can borrow a classroom. Wednesday seemed the most approchable...

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Long ago, in Flenceburg, Lezard Valeth had a familiar (http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/Valkyrie%20Profile/Update%2030/img-26.jpg), a rather homely gray cat. That animal perished in the cataclysms of Ragnarok. Lezard's travels afterward occasioned no further acquisition.

He nabbed one of the school owls instead (bloop!) and tied a note to its leg before sending it off to the boy called 'A'. How delightfully old-school, this sending of owls!

The note read:

A:

I have made some improvements to your mangosteen grove. They should please you. Do come and see. I will wait.

- Lezard Valeth

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

A was in the greenhouse when the owl reached him.

Instantly curious (and a little wary), he set down his tools and headed for the grove.

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Sitting comfortably on the spongy ground, using his cloak as a blanket, Lezard waited beside the newly installed dais at the grove's exact center.

The peaceful sound of water bubbling and flowing now harmonized with the rustling of mangosteen leaves. The air was rainforest-warm and rainforest-moist, now, the evaporating water of the new springs trapped by the leaf-canopy of Kurama's trap plants (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1633233.html?thread=86710481#t86710481). Other than the removal of his cloak, Lezard remained fully dressed in his long-sleeved tunic, heavy breeches, heavy boots, even the leather gloves, and appeared completely cool (in the sense of temperature, anyway). This was because he was, well, Lezard Valeth. People with mortal flesh would probably feel the heat.

"What do you think?" was his greeting to A.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"Ohhh," A sighed, feeling the new warmth and humidity. "How long is this for?" At least he'd be spared watering the grove for however long that was.

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Lezard laughed. It was not quite his manic evil-overlord laugh. Rather, it was rich and smooth as drinking-chocolate, spiced with something approaching actual happiness. "The effect will last as long as the sealstone is in place." He gestured to the splayed twig-crook of the dais. "You cannot see it now, for there is no valkyrie here to resonate with its energy and reveal its presence. Nevertheless I assure you there is a sealstone there, which creates this area effect."

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I don't know what a sealstone is," A told him. "But it will last for always if no one moves it? Even in winter, the trees will be warm?"

Both A's expression and tone of voice grew excited.

"If, if it is warm, then the trees will live, and there will be mangosteens!"

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

After Turlough's unenthusiastic reception, A's reaction was balm to Lezard's affront.

"Yes, it will last for always if no one moves the sealstone from the dais. You need not learn the workings and nature of a sealstone, for it requires no energy or action on your part. Just make sure no one removes anything from this," he indicated the length of gnarled wood that he had called a dais, "and your trees will continue to enjoy eternal summer. That is the sealstone's name: Eternal Summer Blessing."

He gazed upon the dais and its invisible cargo. The last time he'd seen one of these, its sealstone had reflected, shimmered with photons of glorious light ... Silmeria's light.

"A, if a valkyrie comes near to this stone, you will be able to see it. There will appear to be a globe of light sitting atop the dais. If that happens, will you send word to me?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"Should, would it still work if I covered it, then? With a glass dome, or a mesh cage?"

He wouldn't want the grove's climate to be disrupted, now that it is optimal for the trees. Perhaps some of the smaller animals might even be able to survive here, now!

"I promise if I see it glow I will let you know right away."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Lezard chuckled to himself, picturing sealstones dislodged from their seats in the dungeons of Midgard by the stray swish of a kobold's tail or the chance swing of a shadow knight's lance. "No accidental jostling should budge the sealstone. Only lifting it from its place with purposeful intent will remove it from the dais where I have placed it."

He realized that he had just provided himself with a foolproof valkyrie detector, albeit a stationary one. "Please do let me know right away should the stone become visible. We would not want a valkyrie to steal it, would we?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

The reassurance that the sealstone will remain in place relaxed A visibly.

"Thank you," he said softly, still with a delighted smile. "And I do, I do promise I will tell you as soon as I see it, if it glows. Would you like a mangosteen? They are very good."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Despite everything, the offer surprised Lezard, simple though it was.

"... Yes, please. I should like to try a mangosteen."

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

Smile widening, A oh-so-carefully picked a ripe mangosteen from the nearest tree, and with his (thankfully, recently cleaned) boxcutter, cut the deep red-purple rind open to expose the creamy white segments inside.

He held the fruit out to Lezard. "It's the white part that you eat."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

He took a segment. Gingerly, he tasted the mangosteen's white flesh.

In his travels Lezard had partaken of many exotic foods. He'd come a long way from the Flenceburg collegium cafeteria. Yet had he ever been offered something so simple and so sweet?

Had A been a woman, Lezard might have fallen in love right then and there, his obsession with Lenneth notwithstanding. Here they stood in a paradise of Lezard's own making, and A offered him the fruit of that paradise, gladly and without hesitation or doubt.

Alas, A's plumbing was otherwise. So Lezard was left with a feeling of exaltation that had no immediate outlet or target.

"This ... is very good," he said, his voice trembling.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I had read about mangosteens, that they were so good, and wanted to grow something so good. They are too good for most cooking uses, I think, but I might try making a sorbet. I would have to practice first. Maybe I will try making a mikan and lime sorbet first, for Kusuriyuri, and if it comes out well I will make a mangosteen sorbet."

He was thinking out loud, but A often did that.

"Have you ever made sorbet? I am not sure how difficult it is."

[arrogantmage.livejournal.com]

Cooking did not interest Lezard, unless the context were alchemical.

"I would not know. You should have plenty of mangosteen for that experiment, in any event," he said, with an absent wave of his gloved hand. "Farewell, A. Enjoy your fruits."