[Demon] Julian's Nest

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Botany
STATS

 

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Creature Feature 101
STATS

 

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Lessons in Culture & Etiquette
+ 2 Etiquette Confidence
+ 1 Clothing Design
Scarred for Life - Christof

 

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Literature Class II
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Date with Tahki
- 1 Confidence with Tahki
- 3 Confidence with dating relationships

I went on a date with Tahki today. It... It didn't go so well. She's a nice ghoul and I like her, but... maybe I'm just not ready for this kind of thing. I still don't how to talk to ghouls, I'm still worried about saying the wrong thing. But I want to be able to. Maybe I'll give Michel a call, he knows all about ghouls. But then, Andor's the only one with a steady ghoulfriend, Michel and Cyrus seem to go through them like I go through books. But Michel knows so much about ghouls. I'll probably just give both a call.

There's talk of another field trip coming up soon. I really don't know if I'm going to go. After the last one that we went on... I think I'd rather just stay home and work on my homework.
Or read a book.

 

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Boating Trip
- 2 Self Confidence
+ 2 Cowardice
Maintains Batho-Aquaphobia

Am I really this much of a coward?
We had another field trip, but this time I played sick. I couldn't go on this one, they were taking us to an island. Via boats. Oh, Death, I would have died.
Tahki went, though, and Sin and a bunch of my other... friends. It still feels weird to say that I have friends. I didn't know that I was capable of having friends, being the way I am. I thought mum and dad were crazy for sending me here. The other kids would just pick on me like before, I just wouldn't have had Cyrus and Bran there to help me out. But I managed to make friends, not that I could really say how.

And I let them all go on this trip without me.
But I couldn't. No way. On a boat? I could fall overboard and drown. Just thinking about it makes me want to bury myself in my pillows.

 

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Florestival

 

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Boogeyman Training
-2 Confidence in school's training
Develops dislike for fish
Maintains Batho-Aquaphobia
Realization of a new enemy

Was it worth it?

 

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Michel,
Please don't show this to Mum or Dad... Or Andor or Bran, they'll just take it to Dad. I know if Cy sees it you'll be able to talk him out of doing just that. I know he's not a pushover, but he'll also understand why I really don't want them to know about this.
One of the school's professors died the other day.
We were on this field trip, it was supposed to be Boogeyman training. It was annoying, but okay at first. There were two ghouls with me, my friend Sin and her friend Alcie. Alcie is a water demoness, but she's nice. I freaked out when we were in this room that started filling with water, but Sin kept me together for the most part. We were then given a choice between two doors.

And that's when things went bad.
We went through one and the next thing I knew I was knocked out. I woke up in a cage. A cage, Mich! There were these hateful, ugly things there. They looked like reapers, but they couldn't have been, not even reapers are that cruel. A sloth demon, he said that they weren't going to kill us, that they had a machine that turned. Us. Into. Weapons. They put a kelpie into it, they were going to kill him! We're just kids and they... How can they do that, Mich? How is it justified?

Their machine didn't work, thank Jack, and soon they left. Some other students came to rescue us. A lot happened after that, I can barely make sense of it all. One minute there was a giant fish, the next we were in a canyon and there was a giant monster. Some of my classmates said it was Red, our GYM teacher, the one who took us on this trip in the first place. I was hugging the ghouls when she flew up and sent flame all over us. I tried to protect Sin and Alcie, but we all caught on fire. Sin and I managed to put ourselves out, but Alcie... She was gone before either of us could do anything. And then Red did something else... Something...

I looked up and she was nothing but stone. And one of those... those false-reapers, he used his scythe to hack her to bits, laughing the whole time! I hope he's dead, I hope whatever it was that she did killed him.
It put a wall of ice up around us that didn't fall until all of the false-reapers were gone. All that was left was her skull. I felt... We didn't want to leave her there, we wanted to take what of her that we could back home. I couldn't even do that. I tried taking a little piece, to help, but I couldn't do it. Every time I tried to, it just crumbled into ash. Some students left their pins behind. You and the others would be proud that I didn't. I left my lucky d12 instead. Bran will be happy, it'll never be used in another game. She would have liked that, wouldn't she?

The sad thing is, I wouldn't know. I never got to have her as a teacher. I hadn't been able to sign up for her GYM class and... you know me, I was too scared to. I'm not a GYM person. A lot of students, they looked up to her. I would have liked to have known her, if just a little bit, if she was that admired. All I know is that she gave her life to save ours. And that's worth remembering.

I wish I could see you and everyone else. It would really be something I could use. I miss you guys so much, now even more. I'm just so sick of being useless, of not being strong like Andor or brave like Cy or confidant like you. I know now that I have to try harder, otherwise I won't be able to do anything for my friends.
I feel like dark days are coming, Mich. Death has already fallen, but I feel as if Doom is still hovering above the school. I wake up in the middle of the night with the most horrible feeling, Mich. I really wish you were here.

I miss you and everyone else more than I ever thought I would...
Julian

 

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Year 1 Exam

 

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Acting 101

 

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Four Clans Exchange Program
o Week 1 :: Death Clan
xxxx + Interest in FEAR-imbued gems and Jewelcrafting
xxxx +2 Respect for Death Clan
xxxx +3 Confidence with ghouls
xxxx +2 First kisses
xxxx Maintains Batho-Aquaphobia, to a lesser degree
xxxx Lumikki and Kettil Blacke (and Endzela) have joined the party!

I met a demoness this week. She was sort of shy and clumsy, but there was something sweet about that. She certainly didn't seem like the kind of ghoul any of my brothers would be interested, but she seemed nice. Moves a little fast, though, she kissed me, twice. It was only on the cheek but...
Anyways, she seemed really upset that we were going to two different places for Week 2, but that was okay, we could still talk with our phones. I hope she gets one of her own after this trip, it would be nice to talk to her some more.

o Week 2 :: War Clan
xxxx +1 Animal Husbandry
xxxx +2 Riding
xxxx +2 Mounted Combat

I really do miss Lumi. Much as I like getting to tame my wolf and train with her, I can't help but think it would be more fun if she was here. I met a cat boil on the first day, he seemed polite, and another student of questionable gender who was rude. I didn't mind when our other classmates lassoed me, if they at least acknowledged me. But just hooting and gleeing over it and moving on while I'm trying to work, that's just rude.

My mount is a really good wolf. She took to me really quickly when I tamed her, but after that it was a bit of a tough time getting her to listen to me. It took me a while, but I figured out that I had to establish my dominance in order to get her to listen to me. She was really intelligent and understood my commands, but only when I made them commands. If I tried suggestions or giving her praise, she chose to ignore me, as if I was a wolf farther down the pole than she was. When I grabbed her fur and spoke forcefully, she complied. I don't like being mean, but I learned then that... maybe it is sometimes something that just needs to be done.



o Week 3 :: Stuck on the Islands, War Clan
xxxx +10 Hatred for Hunters

Not again...

 

[Reeshie Hack]

Dear Michel and Cyrus,

I know it hasn't been a long time since I last written to you, but... this seemed sort of important, on so many levels. I hate that I keep telling you two to censor my letters, but this would all just upset Mum and Dad. I don't even know where to begin with any of this, my thoughts are all over the place.
I guess the first place I should start is I passed my first year exam. I almost didn't make it, but I didn't fail, so that was a plus. I heard about some of my classmates that took a few tries to get a passing grade. There was a ghoul there, a fire demon, I think. She was really excited that we had both passed.

Anyways, I took a few classes after that, but then I signed up for an exchange program. We got to go to the islands of the Four Clans. Jealous, much, Cy? I got to go to Death and War. They were so beautiful, Mich. Death was so elegant and quiet. I got to learn about Jewelcrafting, how gems can contain FEAR and aid us, protect us. I know it's kind of silly and Andor and Bran would probably laugh at me, but for a moment, I almost thought like I had found something I really wanted to do in life. It's not possible, it was the ways of Death, not ours. But it was cool, something I might have wanted to do besides teach or be like Dad.
And War, it was all jungles. Flying through there, it was just... I can't really describe it. And all the ghouls there were so proud, they were all warriors and strong. Cy, you would have liked them. Could talk about all of your fights, compare battle scars. In my class there, we learned about mounted combat. I had to practice lassoing mounts on my classmates, and then they sent us out into the field to catch our own mounts. I ran into lots of tortoises and goats and even a couple of dragons, but it wasn't until I ran into this really pretty she-wolf that I finally managed to tame one. I had to be forceful with her to get her to do what I said but she was really clever and strong when she decided to listen.

I met a demoness in my Death class. She reminded me of a kitsune, but not quite, I'm not sure, I think she is a similar type of demon. She was a little clumsy, she actually almost fell on me, but it worked out. She was really nice and tried really hard. She was a visiting student, not one of my classmates, so being able to fight even a little bit was more than I really could when I first started here. Yeah, yeah, I know there was that one time when I fought back when they tried to bully me, but that was different. I was a hatchling and they beat the crap out of me and I didn't actually know how to really fight, not like I do now. We had to fight shades, to try out the jewelry we had made, sorry I didn't say that sooner.
After class, we went to one of the temples, she wanted to talk. She had fallen asleep on me in class, the shade had worn her out. She said a lot of things, that I was cute and stuff. I didn't know that she was asleep when she said it, it was really awkward telling her what she said. But she kissed me on the cheek after that. Twice, actually. I didn't know what to do, but I didn't really freak out. That's good, right?

Anyways, after that was my War class. She wasn't there, her class was on the island of Conquest. We were supposed to go home, but something delayed us. The Clans couldn't let us leave, there was something going on. Well, it was odd, but I didn't think much of it. I found the ghoul, Lumi, and took her to War. I thought she might like to see the giant trees and the treehouses of the clan.
But when we got there...
There was fighting. It was those false reapers, those hunters again. I don't know what they were doing but we did our best to stop them. I didn't want Lumi to go, but I didn't want... I didn't want to live my life like a hatchling, I didn't want to go into a fight I wasn't sure I could win without... Well, before I joined the fight I kissed her. Really kissed her. I mean, not like what you two talk about. You're going to have to explain this open-mouth thing, I have no idea what you're talking about with that.

It just got worse from there. Lumi followed me, but we both got out okay when the room started to collapse from whatever it was they had done to the room. We escaped through another portal and... And what happened to Red... it had happened to one of my classmates, our student-body president. I watched her die. She... she turned to stone holding her boilfriend. I've known them ever since I started school. She was one of Sin's friends. Those hunters, they did that to her.
And after that the clans... the islands were destroyed. The hunters... completely destroyed the Clans. I don't even know how many survived. The clans are all completely destroyed, what's left are now living here with us, they're the Lost Clan now. My teachers, I don't know what happened to them. I want to cry for them and my wolf, they're all gone, Mich. I feel an emptiness and hopelessness over all of this. I didn't think there were such horrible things in all the worlds, not until coming to this school.

I worry about what the future has in store for me and my friends. I can't even tell when death is coming. I couldn't feel it. I feel like a failure. No matter how much anyone tries to tell me, I can't seem to get any of it right. I couldn't even apologize to Lumi properly. I thought it was wrong that I kissed her without asking, so I tried apologizing. She got mad, thought I hadn't liked it. She kissed me then, to prove she was good at it. I think I like her, Mich. We're going to write to one another.

Are Mum and Dad really trying to have another hatchling? Please keep me updated on that, I would really like to be there for the hatching. I could use something like that right about now.

I love you, Mich, Cy. I love and miss you all.
Julian

 

[Reeshie Hack]

Squee-mails to Lumi