• Solo • Sharing What You Know

[Rei'sari]

3rd Ashan, 720

Location: ---


Ari'sora looked longingly at the sky as she left her cottage in Beacon. The wind currents called out to her, teasing her as they danced about high up in the sky. But as much as she desperately wanted to be up there, dancing among them, she knew that she had better not. Until she had given birth to her unborn child, it simply was too risky. A single mishap was all it would take to cause harm to her unborn child. Landing badly when she misjudged how long her wings could bear the extra weight, for example. Or misjudging the strength of an air current, and getting blown into a tree perhaps. There were too many ways that flying in her current condition could pose a risk to the child that she carried for her to be willing to risk it just because she missed the sky.

So she began the long walk to the University. In order to distract herself from her longing, she turned her mind to the story she was working on. She had promised the kids at Luna's Dream a new story the next time she returned to the orphanage, and she was determined not to disappoint them.

Ari'sora spoke aloud as she walked, reciting the story as she worked on it. It earned her some strange looks, and one child asked their father why she was talking to herself, but she paid them no mind. The story was more important than what a bunch of strangers thought of her, so she refused to let it bother her.

When she reached the end, she hesitated. The story was about the bond between a woman and her nightpup. The woman had gotten the nightpup as a puppy on her seventh birth trial. They quickly became the best of friends. Where the girl went, her nightpup was sure to follow. They loved each other so much that even after the nightpup died after a long life with her master, her spirit remained near by in the hopes of comforting the woman. One trial, the woman, who was now an old woman herself, was attacked by a gang of street thugs. They came at her with knives, and she would have been killed save for one thing. Desperate to protect her, the spirit of her beloved nightpup attacked the thugs. As she charged at them, her spirit form became visible. Then it became physical as her sheer determination to protect her beloved master returned her to life so that she could save the woman that she loved so much.

The story itself was complete for the most part, but it needed something; a special ending to really wrap things up properly. Ari'sora mulled it over in her head for several bits as she walked. Then it dawned on her.

"That was the day my dead pet returned to save my life!" she said triumphantly.

It was the perfect ending to a story that she was quite proud of. And she thought of it just in time. As the University loomed closer, it was time to turn her attention to the class that she was about to teach.

[Rei'sari]

3rd Ashan, 720

Location: Scalvoris University


She was the first person to enter the classroom, and Ari'sora was glad of that. The last thing she wanted to do was to make her students wait for her. That was hardly the way to make a good impression on her students, and she was nervous enough about teaching as it was.

Ari'sora didn't have to wait for long for her students to arrive. She had just had enough time to get settled before the first student arrived; a man who looked as if he was a couple of arcs older than she was. And within five bits, the rest of her students had arrived. Ari'sora gave them a few bits to get settled in before she began.

"I'm not going to lie. This is the first class that I've ever had to teach, and I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to teaching." she admitted ruefully.

Her students stared at her. Some of them looked bored, or skeptical. But others seemed willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, and she was grateful for that.

"Why are you teaching us if you've never taught before? What makes you think that you are able to teach us? Or that you even have the right to try? I don't want my education to suffer because my teachers have no clue about what they're doing!" the man she had noticed earlier protested.

Ari'sora didn't know how to respond to that. The only reason she was teaching this class at all was that the university required her to teach a class in order to earn her diploma. Was her student right? Did she have the right to teach a class when she had no idea how to teach anyone anything? And yet...she had taught the kids at Luna's Dream things in the past. It wasn't anything as official as teaching a class, but she had taught them how to create a story, and how to make wooden beads. Surely she should be able to do something to help these students learn about languages. Then again, she had failed miserably when she had tried to teach Mi'zuri Dehasin when they had been held captive by Vyndar and Hathelrri.

"Don't be so judgemental, Derek. I'm sure that the university wouldn't allow her to teach a class if they didn't think that she could do it. She probably knows a lot about linguistics, or about different languages. Maybe about both. She has knowledge that we want to learn. None of us would be here if we didn't want to learn. We paid good money to be here, after all. All she has to do is share what she knows with us. Anyone can do that much. So it doesn't really matter if she's never taught a class before. Not for a beginner's class like this, at least." a girl who looked to be about her age said fiercely.

Ari'sora stared at her in wonder for a few trills. She had never really thought about it before, but the girl was right. When she had taught the children of Luna's Dream, she had been doing just that; sharing what she knew with them. She wasn't a real teacher like Natts was, but even she could do that much. And surely it would be easier to teach these students than it had been for her to try and teach her sister. Unlike Mi'zuri, they wanted to learn about linguistics, and about the different languages of Idalos. They wouldn't be here if they weren't interested in such things. More than that, education at the university level wasn't free. These students had paid good money to be here totrial. That meant that they had to be motivated to learn what she had to teach. If they weren't, then they were just wasting their hard earned money.

Those thoughts helped Ari'sora to relax, and between them, and the girl's reassuring smile, she felt as though she was ready to begin.

[Rei'sari]

3rd Ashan, 720

Location: Scalvoris University


The first thing Ari'sora did was to ask her students to introduce themselves. Knowing their names, and a little bit about what they hoped to learn in their studies would help her to teach them. It also gave her a few more bits to collect her thoughts. Once that was done, she began her lecture. This was a beginning class, so she started by telling her students that there were fifty two languages in Idalos. She noticed that some of the students in the front row of the classroom looked interested in what she was saying, so she guessed that she had picked a good place to start. Others looked bored, which suggested that they already knew what she was talking about. That made her realize that some of her students knew more than others about linguistics. Was it better to focus her efforts on the ones who knew more because the ones who knew more had taken the effort to learn more...suggesting that they were more interested? Or should she focus on the ones who knew less in order to let them catch up to her others? Ari'sora didn't know, so she decided to continue on as he was.

Another thing she noticed was that some of the students in the back of the classroom looked frustrated. They seemed to be straining to hear her. Had she not spoken loudly enough? Ari'sora began to speak louder when she continued her lecture.

She told her students that languages were grouped by region, and explained that knowing one or more languages from one region made it easier to learn other languages within that region due to similarities within the languages. Then she told them which languages belonged to which region.

That was a lengthy task, and it took up most of the rest of the time she had, so she finished her lecture there. Ari'sora wasn't sure if she should assign homework or not since she wasn't really a professor, but when one of the students asked her if there was any homework, she decided that they were expecting some so she thought for a few bits about what to have them do. Finally, she told them to identify which languages were spoken in the area where they were born, and choose one that they wanted to learn. She also asked them to write an essay about the topic and turn it in for their next class.

As she watched her students leave, it was with a feeling of relief. She was pretty certain that she had done better with them than she had when she had tried to teach her sister to speak Dehasin, but it was painfully clear to her that she had no real idea of what she was doing.

[Doran]

Ari'sora:

Knowledge:
Storytelling: you can work on creating a new story anywhere
Teaching: is, at its heart, sharing what you know with others
Teaching: is easier to do when the students want to learn what you have to teach them
Teaching: is easier to do when the students are motivated to learn
Teaching: is harder than it seems
Teaching: projecting your voice helps when trying to reach your students

Loot: -
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: 5, for teaching her first class.
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

- - -

Comments: You described Ari’sora’s longing to fly, but deciding not to do so for the sake of her unborn child, and her inner conflict very well in my opinion.

I like the story that Ari’sora came up with on her way to the university, how the dog’s determination to protect her beloved master let her overcome death and return to life. I only realized that it was for the Scalv-enger hunt when I read the special ending that Ari’sora had decided on. I think it was a great way to approach that particular challenge!

I’ve only experienced Ari’sora as a student so far. I like her in the role of the teacher though. She did a good job in my opinion, considering that it was her first class ever, and she wasn’t always sure what she was supposed to do. I wonder if she’ll teach more classes in the future.

I found her students’ thoughts about her interesting to read, by the way. I’m glad that someone defended her!

Enjoy your rewards!

P.S.: I would have added “Storytelling” to the list of skills used as Ari’sora was obviously working on a story in your first post.