Sunday, August 23, 2009

Behind the Scenes: The Mage Faculty

Today, we're bringing you a look at the fine instructors behind the Mage program at Eastridge. The Mage faculty is composed of Eleanore Beven, Isabella Colwyn, Joe Valint, and Violanna Laurel.




Eleanore Beven is the ever-respectable leader of the department. Level-headed and pragmatic, Beven provides a stable foundation for the Mage staff. Though the personalities of her staff vary greatly, her strong leadership unifies them, and she's more than capable of settling any conflict.


Isabella Colwyn, more commonly called Isa by her colleagues, is the powerhouse of the Mage department. She specializes in Combat-Casting and has a no-nonsense approach to students that even the Warrior faculty respect. Her impressive height adds to her already imposing presence.


Joe Valint is the first Mage professor that most first-years encounter. He teaches many of the introductory courses, but he also oversees Magical Ethics and a few higher-level seminars. The most laid-back of all the Mage faculty, Valint is the most approachable and charming member of the staff.


Violanna Laurel's first passion is teaching Decorum, and she's often single-handedly responsible for encouraging the students to have any sort of social lives; however, she has a natural aptitude for animal sympathy magic. She has a gentle demeanor, and she generally avoids conflicts unless anyone threatens her beloved Decorum classes or the Winter Ball.


Any questions? =)


--KL & JLY

15 comments:

  1. Out of curiosity, when are we going to see the 2nd year pictures?

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  2. from the description of professor valint i would hazard a guess that he is probably the one who gets lots of giggly first year girls with crushes on him.

    also they all sound like a nice bunch which makes it a little odd that they basically froze averi out instead of trying to reach out to her. supposedly they did so because she tricked them with the undead rune and the fact that she wanted that particular rune so badly raises suspicions about her but surely they would realise that by being distant with her instead of trying to help her learn to understand and control her rune they not only leave her a potential danger to herself and others but may be directing her towards a much dark path in life

    will you be doing the same for the other facualty members?

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  3. What i dont get is... Fell is a Mage Miner, but he has never been seen in a mage class, or shown any sign off being able to use runes.
    Wisteria is a mage miner too ande she has been given to runes at Eastrigde (Light and Fire) but Fell dont got one...
    What is with that

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  4. So are these the ONLY mage teachers at Eastridge, or are they the most prominent/ones we've met?

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  5. Correction. Wisteria is a double Major in both Mage and Cleric. So it's only normal that she gets a rune.

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  6. From the depiction of each member of the Mage Faculty I have gleaned this:

    Valint is almost a mirror image of Rai in demeanor and mostly appearance, despite Rai's lack of involvement with any Mage studies.

    Laurel looks so much like Dove you'd think she was either her mother or somehow managed to return to the present day after living out some of her life and teaching at Eastridge after somehow learning more advanced magic. The latter is of course entirely just random nonsense attempting to explain the similarities.

    You know Colwyn has Wisteria written all over her. Just her air and ability lends one to think of some sort of parallelism between the two.

    Speaking of parallelism, Beven stands out, though if Annalise actually took command of anything, I believe she would be very Beven-esque in her grasp of leadership and being the socialite that she is.

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  7. To Anonymous (8/24/09, 7:14AM): Thanks!

    To David: KMRicker is still working on the second-year pictures, and KL and I plan to release them as we get them. It shouldn't be too long, but there's no definitive due date. For now, we'll all just have to enjoy second-year Averi. =)

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  8. To Anonymous (8/24/09, 7:35AM): We will do the same for the other faculty members, pending pictures from KMRicker.

    And you are most certainly right about Valint attracting all the cute girls. I always like to think that if the Mage department ran ads, Valint would probably be on them.

    And thanks for your thoughts on how the Mage department handles Averi and the Undead Rune. Currently, the Mage department seeks to re-direct Averi's energy and use of the Undead Rune by placing her in Magical Ethics, which is a forum that discusses the risks and consequences of doing so-called dark magic. The rationale behind not giving Averi a rune is that Averi did something that was potentially very dangerous to other students, and the Mage department simply didn't trust her not to do it again.

    To Anonymous (8/25/09, 2:11AM): You are correct in that Fell has not been seen in a Mage class alongside Wisteria and Averi. Fell has actually been placed in Remedial Magic, a class meant to get students who don't have a magic background up to speed. This is a scene that didn't make it into the online version, but is in the published version. Being in Remedial Magic is also the reason that Fell receives no runes on Rune Day: one must achieve a certain level in magical proficiency to get a rune embedded otherwise it can jeopardize that Mage's health.

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  9. To Anonymous (8/25/09, 10:45PM)
    These are the most prominent Mage teachers at Eastridge. This does not include the upper-classmen classes, though some of these professors do take those on.

    To Lester (08/26/09, 8:09AM)
    You are correct in that Wisteria is a double Major in both Mage and Cleric. However, she gets a rune because she is part of the standard Mage program.

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  10. To kalpaws:

    That's an interesting point. Particularly from these very abridged descriptions, some similarities with other characters may seem to stand out more than others. To be honest, perhaps the differences are more subtle than these short descriptions have allowed for.

    For instance, Valint is a different kind of charming than Rai: more gruff, rugged, and straightforward.

    Thanks for your observations.

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  11. Interesting, from the way Valint was described during Avery's Magical Ethics classes i was picturing him more as a middle aged archmage type look, maybe a salt-pepper but neatly trimmed beard, and a more cold, cynical/sarcastic look.

    He looks too much like a pretty boy to be the same Valint that talks to kids sternly in a classroom made out of magic-absorbing stone that could kill a caster if he/she is dumb enough to cast inside it, or maybe he is actually a bard and we wont see him singing or doing poetry until the third year? :p

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  12. The mage faculty is ok, but the thieves are my favourite above all; I guess I like mischief.

    Are we getting an update today?

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  13. It's a small thing, but I guess I'll throw it out there nonetheless. Would you consider making a bookmark icon for the school for adventurers main page? I don't know how to do that, but it's just a little nicer when a webpage adds a simple, classy graphic next to the bookmark. Like I said, small thing. Thank you for your great work! I look forward to every Friday update!

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  14. To Anonymous (08/28/09, 8:48AM): I think Valint can certainly pull off cold, cynical, and serious, but I don't think that side of him shows up in the picture. Also, Valint willingly spouting poetry and song? That's a fun mental image.

    To Anonymous (08/28/09, 12:57PM): I like the Thieves as well, and yes, unless otherwise stated, KL and I update every week.

    To Joshua Michael: Thanks for your comments! We would consider making a bookmark icon, though I can't say for sure when that might go up.

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