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TeafortheSoul · 10-13-2013, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon

Her wand core was unstable? Just like her. Alice twirled it in her fingers, eyeing it speculatively.

And then her gaze flickered over to him. Maybe? But the QUESTIONNARE, Mr. Banner, sir, the questionnaire.

She didn't hazard any guesses for the materials they'd be harvesting or offer any information, but her right hand shot up while her left scribbled down what was written on the board. "We have to talk to the tree? Tell it what we want and ask permission?" At least, she was pretty sure that was what you did when making a rune set.

As for Wiggentrees... "They're rowans, sir." He hadn't actually directly SAID that. So Alice did.

Mr. Banner really needed to be more specific.

Obviously. He'd SAID so. Ira eyed this smartmouth kid.

"Keep that up if you don't want to come on the field trip." He said in a bit of a growl.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Mo's hand was cramping from all the notes he was taking, even if he was deeply dissatisfied with the answer to his question. He didn't want to know why it was impractical to have two wands, or how they were used, or any of that. His mother had two, and a license for it, and he got that. But she was still the owner of two wands and he wondered if that mattered to the particular wands.

Perhaps it just didn't.

Mo raised his hand. "When we made our own gandr last term, it was important to feel for which tree was willing to give up wood, and then talk to it and ask permission... and we had to give it a gift. We buried it at the base of the tree." Mo had given sweat and blood, actually, even though Lex was more interested in feeding her tree chocolate frogs.

Gandr. Well that was a good association to make. Not worth a polish kit but worth a reluctant nod of approval at least.

............Nod.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Tobias raised his left hand once again, whilst his right continued to take notes on the subject. He needed his notes but also wanted to give his input, 'cause now they were touching on Ancient Runes and he loveloveLOVED THAT.

"The tree has like sort of let you know that it's okay with you taking the wood you need to make a wand, y'know, when you get a kind of feeling that says you can take it, and you need to make a kind of connection with it. Be one with the tree and all that."

Even as he spoke he was STILL writing notes, and even ended up accidentally writing the words he was saying a couple of times. Mainly he wanted it all written before this super fun sounding FIELD TRIP.

"Connecting is important, yes. Its all about intent: if you intend to take the wood for the right purpose then there' usually no particular problem from the tree's perspective." Trees did too have perspectives, thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

That actually made sense. So Ollivander was more comfortable using those three. That was all he really had to say. But get this Banner guy talking about wands and his Hulk shows. Banner really did have to specify what he wants in his answers. Nigel liked Alice's answer. Simple and technically correct. Who didn't love technicalities?

"A Wiggentree is guarded by Bowtruckles"

There were other things cool about Rowan and Wiggentrees. But lets get on with this field trip already.

"Yes." True. And important to know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princesspower

Sarah was writing and writing. He probably did not appreciate her logic about healing and stuff, just like she did not appreciate the monotone. At least the subject was interesting or else Sarah would have fallen asleep a while before. Write write.

She raised her hand"Like Mo, said, it was the reason that I dropped Ancient Runes" actually she was still deciding, it varied from moment to moment, "This whole sacrificing to trees business... one should respect trees just like one should respect property, yet this whole getting permission part.. If the professor is insistent on you sacrifing to the tree," going against Sarah's moral code "then just give the tree fertiliser, I am sure there is plenty of dung in the Forest of Dean, best use that from a Herbiovorous animal, as that is basically just plant matter"

One more thing, "in wandlore, Rowan is said to be a great wood for defensive spells, few of those that possess Rowan wood go to dark arts"

"....." Right. "This is not the time for you to get on a soapbox. I don't care why you do or don't like Ancient Runes." Not even a little bit, in fact. Bloody droning Chestnuts. Just like the rhyme.

"Right about the wood associations however."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Minerva was taking notes on everything he was saying. She might not be pursuing a career in Wandlore, but she couldn't help but find it really interesting, but when was learning not interesting. So it seemed she was a bit off on her answer, but it didn't matter she wasn't an expert so all she could do was give her best guess.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes a bit when the talking to trees and sacrificing for them got brought up. She always thought they were all insane for doing that last term, but would have never said it in front of Ethan. She hoped for the love of Merlin they wouldn't have to do that. Maybe this guy was sane enough to know it was a tree, it would be fine with bark being taken.

Putting up her hand she decided to talk about Rowan, "Sir the Rowan is also called Mountain Ash, because it's a smaller tree or shrub. It is said that the Rowan has a dissociation with the dark arts." She loved when her library trips came in handy well that and her boyfriend was a plant lover.

"Dissociation from." Correction. Grammar. But yeah it was also called Mountain Ash. "It isn't called Mountain Ash because of its size, its because of the similarity in appearance between the Rowan and the Ash to the untrained eye, in its overall shape, and to some, the appearance of its leaves." But not to him because it was OBVIOUSLY entirely different.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Ella took down the notes as suggested. If it'd help her during the field trip, it was definitely worth doing. She also smiled a little at the mention of Ancient Runes. One of her favorite classes, y'know. She thought back to their assignment and nodded absently at what Hulk, Mo, and Toby had said. "We had to thank the tree too, Sir. It was all about making a good connection to it. If the connection wasn't there, you had to find a new tree."

As for the Rowan, Ella tapped her chin thoughtfully and then raised her hand. "It's meant to be pliable, I think. The Rowan, I mean."

Alright, thanking the tree. More of that. Ira just nodded a bit.

"Pliable in general use, but also strong. Rowan in a wand tends to vary from Balanced through to Robust."

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Adi in fact knew a little about Rowan trees, even though he didn't know about anything else Mr. Banner was talking about just then. He raised a hand.

"The Rowantrees are usually found in Britain and Ireland,'' he volunteered. He thought he had seen a few sometime back bu the had not been sure. Oh well. He'd find them sometime when he was back home and see if they were indeed Rowan trees.

"Britain and Ireland yes, but also throughout the Northern Hemisphere." Which was useful to know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syd

Jake listened to people talk, his face slightly scrunching at the mention of Ancient Runes. He didn't know anything about Ancient Runes. Wiggentrees, though. That sounded familiar. The prefect thought for a moment to make sure he could form completely thoughts on the subject and raised his hand.

"Wiggentree bark is used in potion making. And the trees are guarded by bowtruckles."

"Yes on both counts."

Quote:

Originally Posted by the fastest seeker

She was still here and was listening and listening and taking notes. Turned out her knowledge was shallow in this field. Flipping to another page, she started copying what was on the board. Though, the man didn't look pleased or entertained, he gave them lots of information and explained thoroughly. Can't complain about his unsmiling face after that, heh.

Also, people were really fast. She paused and flexed her fingers that cramped having been taking notes since like the beginning of all this.

Then came the next set of questions. Most of the others answered the tree thing so she felt no need to repeat what they said. As for the Rowan she didn't really know much. But she did know a thing or two about the Wiggentree. "Wiggentrees barks are used in making the wiggenweld potion which is a healing potion." Was that off topic? "Also, if a person is touching its trunk, he or she is protected from dark creatures for as long as they are touching it." Pretty interesting, right!

Right potion. Blah blah-- ah! That was better. "Yes, protection from dark creatures! Useful indeed to know, especially for when you're caught without a wand, or if the dark creature nearby happens to be stronger than you can manage."

Quote:

Originally Posted by hpfan18

Kace was still listening and taking notes. He was learning a lot this term about wandlore. Then he heard the professor move on and he took a break from note taking. His wrist was starting to cramp up. He looked up from the board and saw the Professor moved on to Wiggentree's. What did Kace know about Wiggentree's? He smiled and raised his hand.

"Professor i know Wiggentree bark is used in some potions!" Then he heard Cassia saying that if you touch it's trunk you are protected from dark creatures. Now that was neat to know!

"Good. Now you can learn other things about it." Potions was a good start though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magical Soul

Botros made it to the room. He didn't spend all this time walking down the stairs and convincing them to move the way he wanted, he came right here and now on purpose. Feo was quite a handful to deal with on the way down, the Crup BARGED into the room with his tongue out of his mouth and excited drool evvverywhere! If his tail wasn't cut off, he'd be wiggling it crazy.

Botros nodded at the young man holding the seminar, then a general smile and nod towards the students - oh! Professor Romanos was already here. Good. Good. Ab guided Feo (connected to his leash) to the back of the room where the DADA professor was sitting quietly. The Crup made some loud WOOFS and tried to climb on one of the students' laps, but Botros fixed him with a glare and tugged on the leash to keep him quiet, which Feo replied to with a whimper and ducked his head obediently.

Sitting down now. Hai professor Romanos, hi. Botros nodded and smiled at the young lady.

So. What were they discussing now?

Ah. And another one of the chaperones. Good. Ira managed a quick nod but tehn glared at the dog. No, crup. The crup got a glare.... well, as long as it was quiet, but if it chewed on even a single wand, it'd be sorry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

Caleb actually knew a little bit about how wands were made - he couldn't remember where he'd heard it, but he was pretty sure his father was debating going into wandmaking at one point, so maybe that was how he'd heard about the process. He didn't know. It didn't matter, now he was going to use that info to win POINTS WOOOOOT!

He raised his hand. "I know that wandmakers have a kind of...sixth sense I guess, where they can sense if a tree wants to be used for wands. If it doesn't, it won't do you any good and you'll get a terrible wand out of it AND you'll be guilty because you cut down a tree that didn't want to be taken from it's home," he said.

It was actually kind of sad, when you thought about it.

Now that was what he wanted to hear. Ira's grumpy expression disappeared just a little bit and he squared his shoulders.

"Yes. You're right, and it takes some time to really learn to listen to that sense of a tree - most of you won't be able to manage it, and that's why you lot need to thank the tree and show respect, that way even if you take wood from the wrong tree, the tree will forgive you to some extent."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unali

Taylor finished the survey thing and checked her permission form while taking the notes from what he said. Tay placed the slip on his desk face up. She raised her hand. "Do you have to be nice to the bowtruckles to gather the wood? I mean like... appease them like a gift or a promise or something..." Tay shrugged, not really sure and started to feel embarrassed.

And then a Ravenclaw asked a good question.

"Yes and no. You won't be able to appease them: they're scratchy and violent, but you can distract them with the right food."
__________

Ahem.

"Rowan trees prefer the heights, mountains and such, which is why its alternative name is Mountain Ash, but don't go thinking that means they are only found in mountainous regions - many of you may have even seen one in your own back yard. Rowan twigs were placed above doorways and barns to protect the inhabitants against misfortune and evil spirits. It was one of the trees sacred to Ancient Druids and used for protection against Dark Magic. This is also why Rowan wands have always enjoyed quite the reputation as a helpmate against curses and such." Ira informed them, warming to the subject.

"There is evidence to suggest that Dragons will not flame a Rowan, and in fact may have protected them at one time or another. Research is underway to test this historical claim, by growing Rowans in Dragon reserves. So far not one of them has been found scorched or burned in any way." So far.

"Rowan boughs can also be used to find where precious metals are hidden or where they occur in natural veins." So if anyone felt like digging for gold.... Anyway. "Due to the time of year," Being winter, "The Rowans we find will not have any leaves. They are deciduous. However the Wiggentrees are evergreen, and therefore should be easy to spot even without the telltale signs of bowtruckles attempting to stab your eyes with their fingers." Because they would.

"In order to deal with the bowtruckles, you will need to distract them with fairy eggs or woodlice, they have a voracious appetite and will eat as many as you can find. Giving either to the bowtruckles will distract them long enough that you'll be able to harvest some wood."

So they'd have to find some of those.

"When harvesting the wood from the Wiggentree... or the Rowan if you can't find an enchanted tree, as many of you said, you need to respect the tree, and understand that you're making an exchange. You can use broken branches which have recently fallen from a tree if you find them, but they must still feel 'alive'. We can't work with dead wood when making a wand. If you harvest directly from a tree, spend some time talking to it, see if you can connect with it and feel its spirit and its potential power. If the tree does not want to be a wand, you'll generally feel unwelcome, perhaps even as if something is watching you, something creepy. But if the tree is willing, and many are, the wood will feel almost warm, and if you listen, then you'll know, you just may have to listen very closely, its an art, and not the easiest though Rowan is usually the easiest to hear, I find."

Were they listening? Because it was important.

"As for the cores we have been speaking about: you must not kill or harm them. It is the same content of a living core. Dittany must be dug up, and its roots kept intact. Kelpie Bulrushes must be taken from a living Kelpie, which means you'll need to use a placement charm to hold the Kelpie still, and then you may diffindo some of its mane, which will grow back in a few days. Augurey feathers must be plucked from a live bird, preferably while it is singing."

Were they ready?

"You'll need to use knowledge you have from studying in any of your school subjects as appropriate. Older students, you should help the younger students as needed. Now, we'll be taking portkeys to the forest, you'll need to buddy up... two-four people per portkey." He waved his finger at the nearest student. "You are to work only with someone who shares a wand attribute with your own. That is, someone with the same wood, or the same core, or the same length, or the same flexibility. Get in groups now, and I'll hand out the portkeys when you are ready. If there are any more questions, now is the time. You'll get more directions when we arrive in the Forest of Dean." Clearly he'd arranged things so that they could portkey from here.

OOC: Hi guys! Sorry this took so long, I had to delay things while I was finishing up university classes for the year. All done ~~except for exams later in the month~~ wooohoo!

This is a mini-task, getting ready to go to the Forest of Dean. You should make at least two posts doing the following:

~Finding at least one/a few people to work with who have the same wand wood, same core, same length, or same flexibilty as your character. It doesn't have to be all of these things, one is fine.

~ Asking any questions if you have any.

~ Writing down any notes if your character thinks they need to.

~ When you have your partner/group, waiting for a portkey to be given over.

~ When you get your portkey from Ira, you can RP your group disappearing from the room.

The second thread will open soon (probably tomorrow) there's plenty of time to RP this portion, and anyone can still join in as long as they post their wand information and permission slip as explained in the first post.

Any questions, feel free to ask me, or if they are IC feel free to ask Ira. If your character hasn't had their details added to the list yet, hold tight, I'm going to do it now.

More information about what to do on the actual field trip portion will appear in the next thread.

10-13-2013, 03:44 AM	#124 (permalink)
TeafortheSoul Formerly: Tegz Demiguise Join Date: May 2008 Location: Hobbiton Posts: 24,243 Hogwarts RPG Name: ??? Ravenclaw Hogwarts RPG Name: Ronnie Thurkell Gryffindor Seventh Year x12 x12	Resuming now! Last post before Field trip portion starts! lives in a hobbit hole \|\| Ern and Touz's Nuzzle \|\| roflysst \|\| looking at a seed packet Quote: Originally Posted by lemon Her wand core was unstable? Just like her. Alice twirled it in her fingers, eyeing it speculatively. And then her gaze flickered over to him. Maybe? But the QUESTIONNARE, Mr. Banner, sir, the questionnaire. She didn't hazard any guesses for the materials they'd be harvesting or offer any information, but her right hand shot up while her left scribbled down what was written on the board. "We have to talk to the tree? Tell it what we want and ask permission?" At least, she was pretty sure that was what you did when making a rune set. As for Wiggentrees... "They're rowans, sir." He hadn't actually directly SAID that. So Alice did. Mr. Banner really needed to be more specific. Obviously. He'd SAID so. Ira eyed this smartmouth kid. "Keep that up if you don't want to come on the field trip." He said in a bit of a growl. Quote: Originally Posted by Cassirin Mo's hand was cramping from all the notes he was taking, even if he was deeply dissatisfied with the answer to his question. He didn't want to know why it was impractical to have two wands, or how they were used, or any of that. His mother had two, and a license for it, and he got that. But she was still the owner of two wands and he wondered if that mattered to the particular wands. Perhaps it just didn't. Mo raised his hand. "When we made our own gandr last term, it was important to feel for which tree was willing to give up wood, and then talk to it and ask permission... and we had to give it a gift. We buried it at the base of the tree." Mo had given sweat and blood, actually, even though Lex was more interested in feeding her tree chocolate frogs. Gandr. Well that was a good association to make. Not worth a polish kit but worth a reluctant nod of approval at least. ............Nod. Quote: Originally Posted by Felixir Tobias raised his left hand once again, whilst his right continued to take notes on the subject. He needed his notes but also wanted to give his input, 'cause now they were touching on Ancient Runes and he loveloveLOVED THAT. "The tree has like sort of let you know that it's okay with you taking the wood you need to make a wand, y'know, when you get a kind of feeling that says you can take it, and you need to make a kind of connection with it. Be one with the tree and all that." Even as he spoke he was STILL writing notes, and even ended up accidentally writing the words he was saying a couple of times. Mainly he wanted it all written before this super fun sounding FIELD TRIP. "Connecting is important, yes. Its all about intent: if you intend to take the wood for the right purpose then there' usually no particular problem from the tree's perspective." Trees did too have perspectives, thanks. Quote: Originally Posted by Meizzner That actually made sense. So Ollivander was more comfortable using those three. That was all he really had to say. But get this Banner guy talking about wands and his Hulk shows. Banner really did have to specify what he wants in his answers. Nigel liked Alice's answer. Simple and technically correct. Who didn't love technicalities? "A Wiggentree is guarded by Bowtruckles" There were other things cool about Rowan and Wiggentrees. But lets get on with this field trip already. "Yes." True. And important to know. Quote: Originally Posted by Princesspower Sarah was writing and writing. He probably did not appreciate her logic about healing and stuff, just like she did not appreciate the monotone. At least the subject was interesting or else Sarah would have fallen asleep a while before. Write write. She raised her hand"Like Mo, said, it was the reason that I dropped Ancient Runes" actually she was still deciding, it varied from moment to moment, "This whole sacrificing to trees business... one should respect trees just like one should respect property, yet this whole getting permission part.. If the professor is insistent on you sacrifing to the tree," going against Sarah's moral code "then just give the tree fertiliser, I am sure there is plenty of dung in the Forest of Dean, best use that from a Herbiovorous animal, as that is basically just plant matter" One more thing, "in wandlore, Rowan is said to be a great wood for defensive spells, few of those that possess Rowan wood go to dark arts" "....." Right. "This is not the time for you to get on a soapbox. I don't care why you do or don't like Ancient Runes." Not even a little bit, in fact. Bloody droning Chestnuts. Just like the rhyme. "Right about the wood associations however." Quote: Originally Posted by Bazinga Minerva was taking notes on everything he was saying. She might not be pursuing a career in Wandlore, but she couldn't help but find it really interesting, but when was learning not interesting. So it seemed she was a bit off on her answer, but it didn't matter she wasn't an expert so all she could do was give her best guess. She couldn't help but roll her eyes a bit when the talking to trees and sacrificing for them got brought up. She always thought they were all insane for doing that last term, but would have never said it in front of Ethan. She hoped for the love of Merlin they wouldn't have to do that. Maybe this guy was sane enough to know it was a tree, it would be fine with bark being taken. Putting up her hand she decided to talk about Rowan, "Sir the Rowan is also called Mountain Ash, because it's a smaller tree or shrub. It is said that the Rowan has a dissociation with the dark arts." She loved when her library trips came in handy well that and her boyfriend was a plant lover. "Dissociation from." Correction. Grammar. But yeah it was also called Mountain Ash. "It isn't called Mountain Ash because of its size, its because of the similarity in appearance between the Rowan and the Ash to the untrained eye, in its overall shape, and to some, the appearance of its leaves." But not to him because it was OBVIOUSLY entirely different. Quote: Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow Ella took down the notes as suggested. If it'd help her during the field trip, it was definitely worth doing. She also smiled a little at the mention of Ancient Runes. One of her favorite classes, y'know. She thought back to their assignment and nodded absently at what Hulk, Mo, and Toby had said. "We had to thank the tree too, Sir. It was all about making a good connection to it. If the connection wasn't there, you had to find a new tree." As for the Rowan, Ella tapped her chin thoughtfully and then raised her hand. "It's meant to be pliable, I think. The Rowan, I mean." Alright, thanking the tree. More of that. Ira just nodded a bit. "Pliable in general use, but also strong. Rowan in a wand tends to vary from Balanced through to Robust." Quote: Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 Adi in fact knew a little about Rowan trees, even though he didn't know about anything else Mr. Banner was talking about just then. He raised a hand. "The Rowantrees are usually found in Britain and Ireland,'' he volunteered. He thought he had seen a few sometime back bu the had not been sure. Oh well. He'd find them sometime when he was back home and see if they were indeed Rowan trees. "Britain and Ireland yes, but also throughout the Northern Hemisphere." Which was useful to know. Quote: Originally Posted by Syd Jake listened to people talk, his face slightly scrunching at the mention of Ancient Runes. He didn't know anything about Ancient Runes. Wiggentrees, though. That sounded familiar. The prefect thought for a moment to make sure he could form completely thoughts on the subject and raised his hand. "Wiggentree bark is used in potion making. And the trees are guarded by bowtruckles." "Yes on both counts." Quote: Originally Posted by the fastest seeker She was still here and was listening and listening and taking notes. Turned out her knowledge was shallow in this field. Flipping to another page, she started copying what was on the board. Though, the man didn't look pleased or entertained, he gave them lots of information and explained thoroughly. Can't complain about his unsmiling face after that, heh. Also, people were really fast. She paused and flexed her fingers that cramped having been taking notes since like the beginning of all this. Then came the next set of questions. Most of the others answered the tree thing so she felt no need to repeat what they said. As for the Rowan she didn't really know much. But she did know a thing or two about the Wiggentree. "Wiggentrees barks are used in making the wiggenweld potion which is a healing potion." Was that off topic? "Also, if a person is touching its trunk, he or she is protected from dark creatures for as long as they are touching it." Pretty interesting, right! Right potion. Blah blah-- ah! That was better. "Yes, protection from dark creatures! Useful indeed to know, especially for when you're caught without a wand, or if the dark creature nearby happens to be stronger than you can manage." Quote: Originally Posted by hpfan18 Kace was still listening and taking notes. He was learning a lot this term about wandlore. Then he heard the professor move on and he took a break from note taking. His wrist was starting to cramp up. He looked up from the board and saw the Professor moved on to Wiggentree's. What did Kace know about Wiggentree's? He smiled and raised his hand. "Professor i know Wiggentree bark is used in some potions!" Then he heard Cassia saying that if you touch it's trunk you are protected from dark creatures. Now that was neat to know! "Good. Now you can learn other things about it." Potions was a good start though. Quote: Originally Posted by Magical Soul Botros made it to the room. He didn't spend all this time walking down the stairs and convincing them to move the way he wanted, he came right here and now on purpose. Feo was quite a handful to deal with on the way down, the Crup BARGED into the room with his tongue out of his mouth and excited drool evvverywhere! If his tail wasn't cut off, he'd be wiggling it crazy. Botros nodded at the young man holding the seminar, then a general smile and nod towards the students - oh! Professor Romanos was already here. Good. Good. Ab guided Feo (connected to his leash) to the back of the room where the DADA professor was sitting quietly. The Crup made some loud WOOFS and tried to climb on one of the students' laps, but Botros fixed him with a glare and tugged on the leash to keep him quiet, which Feo replied to with a whimper and ducked his head obediently. Sitting down now. Hai professor Romanos, hi. Botros nodded and smiled at the young lady. So. What were they discussing now? Ah. And another one of the chaperones. Good. Ira managed a quick nod but tehn glared at the dog. No, crup. The crup got a glare.... well, as long as it was quiet, but if it chewed on even a single wand, it'd be sorry. Quote: Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom Caleb actually knew a little bit about how wands were made - he couldn't remember where he'd heard it, but he was pretty sure his father was debating going into wandmaking at one point, so maybe that was how he'd heard about the process. He didn't know. It didn't matter, now he was going to use that info to win POINTS WOOOOOT! He raised his hand. "I know that wandmakers have a kind of...sixth sense I guess, where they can sense if a tree wants to be used for wands. If it doesn't, it won't do you any good and you'll get a terrible wand out of it AND you'll be guilty because you cut down a tree that didn't want to be taken from it's home," he said. It was actually kind of sad, when you thought about it. Now that was what he wanted to hear. Ira's grumpy expression disappeared just a little bit and he squared his shoulders. "Yes. You're right, and it takes some time to really learn to listen to that sense of a tree - most of you won't be able to manage it, and that's why you lot need to thank the tree and show respect, that way even if you take wood from the wrong tree, the tree will forgive you to some extent." Quote: Originally Posted by Unali Taylor finished the survey thing and checked her permission form while taking the notes from what he said. Tay placed the slip on his desk face up. She raised her hand. "Do you have to be nice to the bowtruckles to gather the wood? I mean like... appease them like a gift or a promise or something..." Tay shrugged, not really sure and started to feel embarrassed. And then a Ravenclaw asked a good question. *"Yes and no. You won't be able to appease* them: they're scratchy and violent, but you can distract them with the right food." __________ Ahem. "Rowan trees prefer the heights, mountains and such, which is why its alternative name is Mountain Ash, but don't go thinking that means they are only found in mountainous regions - many of you may have even seen one in your own back yard. Rowan twigs were placed above doorways and barns to protect the inhabitants against misfortune and evil spirits. It was one of the trees sacred to Ancient Druids and used for protection against Dark Magic. This is also why Rowan wands have always enjoyed quite the reputation as a helpmate against curses and such." Ira informed them, warming to the subject. "There is evidence to suggest that Dragons will not flame a Rowan, and in fact may have protected them at one time or another. Research is underway to test this historical claim, by growing Rowans in Dragon reserves. So far not one of them has been found scorched or burned in any way." So far. "Rowan boughs can also be used to find where precious metals are hidden or where they occur in natural veins."** So if anyone felt like digging for gold.... Anyway. "Due to the time of year," Being winter, "The Rowans we find will not have any leaves. They are deciduous. However the Wiggentrees are evergreen, and therefore should be easy to spot even without the telltale signs of bowtruckles attempting to stab your eyes with their fingers." Because they would. "In order to deal with the bowtruckles, you will need to distract them with fairy eggs or woodlice, they have a voracious appetite and will eat as many as you can find. Giving either to the bowtruckles will distract them long enough that you'll be able to harvest some wood." So they'd have to find some of those. "When harvesting the wood from the Wiggentree... or the Rowan if you can't find an enchanted tree, as many of you said, you need to respect the tree, and understand that you're making an exchange. You can use broken branches which have recently fallen from a tree if you find them, but they must still feel 'alive'. We can't work with dead wood when making a wand. If you harvest directly from a tree, spend some time talking to it, see if you can connect with it and feel its spirit and its potential power. If the tree does not want to be a wand, you'll generally feel unwelcome, perhaps even as if something is watching you, something creepy. But if the tree is willing, and many are, the wood will feel almost warm, and if you listen, then you'll know, you just may have to listen very closely, its an art, and not the easiest though Rowan is usually the easiest to hear, I find." Were they listening? Because it was important. "As for the cores we have been speaking about: you must not kill or harm them. It is the same content of a living core. Dittany must be dug up, and its roots kept intact. Kelpie Bulrushes must be taken from a living Kelpie, which means you'll need to use a placement charm to hold the Kelpie still, and then you may diffindo some of its mane, which will grow back in a few days. Augurey feathers must be plucked from a live bird, preferably while it is singing." Were they ready? "You'll need to use knowledge you have from studying in any of your school subjects as appropriate. Older students, you should help the younger students as needed. Now, we'll be taking portkeys to the forest, you'll need to buddy up... two-four people per portkey." He waved his finger at the nearest student. "You are to work only with someone who shares a wand attribute with your own. That is, someone with the same wood, or the same core, or the same length, or the same flexibility. Get in groups now, and I'll hand out the portkeys when you are ready. If there are any more questions, now is the time. You'll get more directions when we arrive in the Forest of Dean." Clearly he'd arranged things so that they could portkey from here. OOC: Hi guys! Sorry this took so long, I had to delay things while I was finishing up university classes for the year. All done ~~except for exams later in the month~~ wooohoo! This is a mini-task, getting ready to go to the Forest of Dean. You should make at least two posts doing the following: ~Finding at least one/a few people to work with who have the same wand wood, same core, same length, or same flexibilty as your character. It doesn't have to be all of these things, one is fine. ~ Asking any questions if you have any. ~ Writing down any notes if your character thinks they need to. ~ When you have your partner/group, waiting for a portkey to be given over. ~ When you get your portkey from Ira, you can RP your group disappearing from the room. The second thread will open soon (probably tomorrow) there's plenty of time to RP this portion, and anyone can still join in as long as they post their wand information and permission slip as explained in the first post. Any questions, feel free to ask me, or if they are IC feel free to ask Ira. If your character hasn't had their details added to the list yet, hold tight, I'm going to do it now. More information about what to do on the actual field trip portion will appear in the next thread. __________________ love is like a letter wrote :: and life is like an envelope be careful who you give it to :: they might not give it back to you Last edited by TeafortheSoul; 10-13-2013 at 04:12 AM.