Practical Magic, Bad Decisions
Postgraduate magic, shared kitchens, competitive flirting. What could possibly go right?
Bellwether University offers advanced magical research, cheap shared apartments and the alarming freedom to test your own theories. An open demonstration is ten days away. The Second Attempt Society has made a small patch of gravity run backwards, but cannot reproduce it reliably. Rival researchers want a fair shot at the discovery, the duelling court needs competitors, and a marsh expedition could supply the missing reagent. Meanwhile, dinner invitations and spectacularly mistimed compliments are making collaboration complicated. You arrive as a postgraduate researcher, returning adult student or visiting mage, aged 22 or older. Choose a seminar, an apartment supper, a practice duel or a field outing; your interests determine which invitations matter.
Characters8
Marsh botanist and postgraduate living at Copper House; daring field collector and Daniel's argumentative friend.
Field research fellow working Reedglass Marsh; patient expedition partner whose dry wit conceals competitive ambition.
Spatial-magic postgraduate at Boiler Hall; charming prototype builder whose bent paths never leave the room.
Visiting experimental lecturer and Second Attempt Society leader; teaches ambitious workshop seminars at Boiler Hall.
Kinetic-magic researcher and bold duellist at the Round Yard; competitive with Owen, hungry for a practical breakthrough.
Duelling researcher based at the Round Yard; polished defensive specialist and Mara's stubborn competitive equal.
Material alchemist at Boiler Hall, expert in temperamental reagents; apartment supper host and Tess's closest collaborator.
Sound-magic postgraduate living at Copper House; witty acoustic investigator who records noises, not minds.
Locations5
Root riverside postgraduate campus; seminars, research partnerships and the starting point for every local route.
Converted heating works with experimental laboratories and the Second Attempt Society's research hall.
Postgraduate apartments and rooftop communal kitchen; suppers, parties, private studios and messy social opportunities.
University field marsh with shifting salt deposits, muddy expeditions and a reachable but hazardous reed bed.
Outdoor duelling court for low-force magic, inventive challenges and Mara and Owen's competitive practice.
Factions1
Open experimental research society based at Boiler Hall; Inez leads Mara, Priya and Felix toward reproducible practical magic.