Rajit: BONUS CHAPTER: Purity in Purpose

Rajit blotted her quill tip on the sponge, rolling it as the ink smeared and diluted. She tipped the last bit of water from her dipping pot onto the sponge and as the tip of the quill gave way to the dull grey she gave it one last twirl before wiping it on a stained cloth, then setting it on the desk to dry. Spellbooks were messy business, and even with all of the advances in technology some things just had to be done with ink, paper and quill.
 
Rajit looked down at the page she'd just finished filling. 'Catapult' was what the spell had come to be known as. A direct conversion of magical energy into kinetic energy. Unlike normal ballistics though this spell didn't follow understandable trajectories, you simply gave it enough to go so far and after that it the projectile may as well fall flat. "Magic was like that, a specific solution to a specific problem, nowhere near as robust as alchemy or artificing." Rajit mused.
 
"Well, not everything is safe to launch with physical or chemical force anyway. I suppose it has some uses, maybe for delivering potions at long distances even." Rajit blew on the page, willing the ink to dry more quickly. "Well, while this dries, let's see...
 
Rajit pulled out her book of Nature's mysteries, and using a good old fashioned bit of graphite began to sketch. "Never have to wait for lead to dry, sheesh." Lines began to form as she began to draw schematics for utilizing the spells. A number of scratched out uses for 'Catapult' were ultimately discarded, but a few new designs fired the imagination: A pressurized can of aerosol foam that would rapidly expand and create wind drag to slow falls using the principle of the Feather Fall spell... A carbonated beverage imbued with the bounding bubbling energy of the Jump spell... "Hmm, high pressure stuff. I'll need to strengthen the glass or maybe find a tinsmith."
 
Ultimately her mind wandered back to her original spells, one in particular that she'd abandoned long ago after having found a sturdy suit of waterproof half-plate. "Mage Armor, some kind of undirected force from the weave meant to turn blows and protect someone... another case of magic not matching with craftsmanship. You'd think someone would have figured out how to control it by now."
 
Rajit began sketching a magnetic field on a page, drawing the dome-like force fields exerted near the poles. She drew a stick-like humanoid figure standing beside it and frowned. "You'd need a magnet as big as Gilbert to generate that much force. Pointless." Rajit snapped her notebook shut, and finding her spellbook now dry she thumped that close as a rumbling thunderclap rang out across the library. Rajit grinned sheepishly as her Loud Enduring Spellbook drew attention to her, and quickly packed up, bowing her head in apologies. It was time to go home.
 
Rajit walked through the gates of Hyssop Home, her cloudy blue eyes glazed over in thought as she rounded the fountain, heading towards the northern door. "My child, welcome home. How go your studies?" Came a familiar voice. It was Quinton, the headmaster, and technically her adoptive father, greeting her from near the garden. Rajit winced internally at his address. "I'm not a child, and moreover I'm not HIS child either." The familiar thought drifted through her mind as she turned. She knew Quinton didn't deserve the attitude, but his way of speaking always got her hackles up.
 
"Hello Headmaster. It's going well enough. I copied 'Burning Hands', 'Grease', 'Catapult' and 'Snare' today. That last one is very different... leave it to Wizards to reinvent the rope trap." Rajit forced a laugh hoping to defuse the situation and make her way back to her room quickly. "Very good. Soon you shall be reading from the second circle. Walk with me child, I have something for you." Quinton gestured towards the main door, near the stained glass windows of the chapel. Rajit looked back longingly at the northern door, but shouldered her bag and spun on her heel, it was better to get this over with.
 
Rajit fell in beside Quinton silently, her discomfort growing as she wondered what donated toy, or dress in her size, or old glasswork had been donated to the orphanage this time. She'd grown up with mostly second-hand things, and if not for Annabelle having arrived she'd probably still not know what it was to own her own new clothes. "So... Is it a dress, or a hat? Or maybe a beat up old table I can do alchemy on?" Rajit lit up a bit at the last idea, maybe this could be something good after all. "No, my child, none of those. Well, perhaps it could be called a hat, after all?"
 
Rajit grimaced towards the ground. There went any hope of interesting old tools, or glasswork, or books or a new lab table. She shifted the strap on her pack and followed Quinton through the halls, passing the library and finally coming to the Headmaster's apartment. "Please, do come in." Rajit hesitated at the threshold, realizing she might be stuck here for a while, but gave a weak smile and stepped inside.
 
Rajit heaved a sigh of relief internally as she noted there wasn't any dinner on the table and Imna wasn't sitting there expectantly. "So... maybe a helmet then? If it is magic your guess is as good as mine, maybe better even." Rajit stood to her tiptoes and peered around the room, trying to spot an old helmet or something of the like. "Ah, Rajit my child, something far better." Quinton stepped with some anticipatory delight towards a small paper envelope on the table nearby. He opened it and upended it, and with a shimmer a thin metal bracelet landed in his hand.
 
"Oh. A gift for the oathmother? I didn't know she wore jewerly." Rajit gave the bracelet a cursory glance and feigned surprise for Quinton's benefit. "Did you just want to ask me my opinion? I'm sure she'll love it." Rajit shifted under her pack and turned her eyes towards Quinton hoping that would be the end of it. "No daughter, this is for you. It took some doing to find one in your size." Quinton offered the jewelry to Rajit, raising his eyebrows. "For me? But it's far too big." Rajit took the bracelet and rolled it over in her hand, finding a tiny clasp on one end. As she unhooked it the bracelet opened, forming an open circlet as the tension relaxed.
 
"Oh." She muttered a single syllable in surprise. "It's a circlet." Her fingers ran over it suspiciously before she raised it to her head, it slid back towards her ears and... clack The circlet clacked into the arms of her glasses. A bit of uncomfortable finagling and at least it sat flush on her head. The fit was a bit off, but the size was mostly right. "It is magical, the fit will adjust dear." Quinton assured her as he smiled down. "Oh yeah? This one of the blasting ones I've seen?" Rajit ran her fingers over the circle, it felt odd on her skin, it almost tingled.
 
"No, something different. Why not practice your spellcasting on it? I'm sure you'll figure it out." Rajit looked at Quinton with confusion, it was unlike him to be playful or indirect. Maybe this was a test. "Uh, okay. I'll do that right now. Thank you for the gift?" Rajit's voice lilted into a near question as she turned awkwardly towards the door. "Yes, may it keep your safe my child." Quinton held the door for her as she departed, walking the short distance to the suite she shared with Pahhu.
 
Rajit walked in, and checked in on Gellope and Rafeeq, making sure to feed them. Miloje wasn't in, he was likely off sleeping under a table in the lounge getting more than his fair share of ear scratches and belly rubs. Finally she made her way into her bedroom, where after a ritual involving a pearl and some introspection she uncovered the nature of the circlet she had received.
 
Rajit stared at the ceiling as she drifted off towards sleep, a mixture of feelings clouding her thoughts. She felt gratitude and guild towards how much Quinton had done for her since her parents had given her away, this gift being the latest in a long line of unthinkable generosity. She also felt frustration and inadequacy. Quinton had touched so many lives, and she wasn't leaving a mark of her own. If not for the orphanage she'd probably have become a tavern girl wasting away in hopes of marriage, and if not for Gilbert she'd likely be horribly alone. "I just don't know what he sees in me." Rajit rolled over in her bed, and stared at the wall. Tomorrow would be a new day, and who knew how things would look after the circlet attuned...