Correspondence Scholarship, Class Two [Tuesday Morning, June 17th]

[theexdisgracedacademic]

When the students arrived to their domed classroom, there was a broad-shouldered clay man standing before them. A pair of goggles were awkwardly affixed to her face. The hour to begin arrived, but no other tutor came with it.

The Clay Substitute laid her hands upon the podium. "PLEASE. OPEN YOUR TEXTBOOKS TO PAGE-"

Much the same as last week, there was a hubbub in the hall outside. The door slammed open, and one figure marched another to the front of the class. The Beleaguered Dean, swathed in a coat of thick tweed and a thicker coat of nervous sweat, was all but pushing The Ex-Disgraced Academic back into their pace behind the podium.

The Academic wasn't missing a beat in the argument: "-can't at all see what the issue is, so long as they learn the material-"

"You cannot offload your duties to an Underclay aspirant!" The Dean's fury is only matched by the fearful tension in his voice, "And an unfinished one at that! How did you get it up here-"

The Academic's eye widened in almost-honorable affront. "You can't prove that this perfectly capable worker is unfinished, can you?"

"No, but I can certainly prove that it's not on the faculty list." The Dean wiped his brow. "Get on with it, man!"

The Clay Substitute barely moved, but the grinding of her turning head rumbled through the floor. "I WAS TOLD THAT I WOULD BE PAID IN FULL, REGARDLESS OF HOW LONG CLASS WENT?"

Coin was exchanged, and, the Dean ushered The Clay Substitute out of the room. The Academic hissed through their teeth, clearly ready to vent their terrible mood at the first faces to cross theirs.

They turned to look at the class. And smiled a terrible smile. "Good morning."

Targets acquired.

"So! You've all decided to return for a second week. I suppose it can't be helped. Any damage you incur from here on out is upon your own heads." They began their lecture. 

“English is a phonographic language, as the distinct letters of the alphabet each represent units of sound. The Correspondence is logographic, meaning that similar to the languages of the second and fourth cities (and the Khanate, of course), Correspondence Symbols each represent units of meaning.”

 

 

In bold, rapid strokes, The Academic scrawled a symbol onto the chalkboard:

They whirled around, pointing an accusing claw at anyone unfortunate enough to still be moving their pens. “Do not copy this into your notes! If you fancy yourself cheeky and attempt to copy it whilst my back is turned, I will still know, so do NOT try me.” They turned back, circling the image. Anyone foolhardy enough to ignore the command would earn immediate combustion to their notebook, and a quick, scathing look of satisfaction from The Academic.

“This is the symbol for “an unmappable direction. It is one of the more frequent symbols to be found in practical human application of The Correspondence, as well as in architectural engravings ranging from first city ruins all the way up to lapsarian London. It is also exceptionally flammable. None but the most expensive of papers can contain it.” And with a terrifically wicked smile: "Chalkboards are fine, though." 

They continued. “The Correspondence is a purely semiotic construct. There are currently no known pronunciations or verbal applications for these signs-“ The Academic covered a bark of laughter, and then continued, “-apologies, but I would hate for my lectures to contradict the well-documented research that the Ministry of Public Decency has gently requested I adhere to."

The Academic pushed their current chalkboard up and out of the way, revealing an unblemished second layer. They added a tidy column of six simple symbols. "There are one hundred and eight basic radicals, and we've discovered twice as many in total. But for this course, we will begin with six."

 

 

And, after writing these on the board, the academic turned to the students. “These you may record in your notes, however-“ their tone sharpened, slicing through the momentum of those who may have rushed to begin- “confine each radical to its own sheet for practice.  None of these, alone, is a complete symbol. But some can be converted very easily into real Correspondence symbols, and it is vital that you do not accidentally do so. Spend the rest of today's duration memorizing and practicing these radicals until you can reproduce them by heart. You'll know if you're doing well, because you paper will become warm to the touch once half-full. I will also be writing additional complete correspondence symbols on the other chalkboards. Your homework is to discern which of these six parts of speech each of the symbols is.”

The Academic pointed once more at the spray bottles on each row of desks. “At any sign of smoke, you are to douse the offending student’s work, without hesitation. Last week was not a one-off exercise. Consider this both a basic safety precaution, as well as your first taste of operant conditioning. Get to it!”

 

Comments

Sign In

[theexdisgracedacademic]

Sign your character's name here, and let's have each person respond to the one above, so that the responses collapse into a tidy stack. We must endeavor to keep the classroom tidy!

Re: Sign In

[the_soft_hearted_maven]

Once more The Soft-Hearted Maven walked in with her companion and signed into the class. She glanced around, "Looks like we managed to get here earlier this time. Same seats as last time?"

Re: Sign In

[leviathanlovely]

The Undistinguished Pupil had sauntered into the class, noting the clay tutor standing at ready. Funny -- They were so certain they had the right room.

Perhaps they had rushed by in an attempt to arrive early, quietly they ducked around to avoid intruding as well as distressing the bird slumbering peacefully upon their hat...

It would seem signing in would need to wait.

Before Class

[theexdisgracedacademic]

Chat with one another, prepare for class. The Clay Substitute won't do much more than blink if asked questions. She's here to teach, not to explain things.

They're quite different, you see.

Re: Before Class

[the_soft_hearted_maven]

As the Maven started heading to the seat her eyes fell onto the Clay Man, "Oh, well that's new." She approached the Clay Man, "Hello. Are you maybe the teacher's assistant?"

Silence.

"Or maybe you're here to substitute?"

More silence.

Maven nodded apologetically, "Sorry to disturb you." Then she turned to go sit at her seat.

Re: Before Class

[the_brash_devil]

As Maven checked out the Clay Man the Brash Devil's eyes fell on the atomizer, "Oh for fuck's sake, the fucking water again?!"

Re: Before Class

[the_dye_stained_socialite]

Thursday hadn't taken note of the Clay Substitute until after they signed in. When they did, their mood brightened considerably. Though they weren't quite the Golems of their childhood, there was enough similarities that, even new to the Neath as they were, Thursday felt a deep kinship with them. They wanted to stay and talk with her, but she clearly had a job to do today. This did beg the question however, of where the Professor was.

Not getting any immediate answers however, the Pawn repeated their routine from last week. Find a desk, sit in seat, dump the full contents of their carpet bag. This week, however, this action was followed by Thursday actually organizing the aftermath. Pens and papers and notebooks were placed in neat columns. A velvet draw-string bag was placed, more delicately, atop one such book-pile.

Where were his googles? Already on his face! No, he hadn't taken them off, not for any extended period of time at least.

Where was his coffee? Still by the sign-in sheet.

Thursday had begun the class in an amicable mood. Until the Dean arrived, Professor in, well, not 'tow'. This wasn't the issue. The issue was what, and whom the Dean was talking about. Irritation had begun to build in them since the moment they heard "Underclay aspirant". They only shook more the longer he continued. It was, altogether, too much.

"Excuse you!" Thursday grabbed their cane and made for the door of the class. There, small, broad, and face bright red, they blocked the Dean's escape route. "Why the hell are you treating her like that? Debating some," Thursday waved a hand, nearly whacking themself on the doorframe, "arbitrary de-humanizin' fucking status right in front of her! Treating her like she ain't a damn person just as us!"

Re: Before Class

[theanachronistictailor]

After the debacle that had been last week, the Tailor had done everything in their power to prepare in an effort to keep it from happening again. Clothing that focused on linen and wool, for water absorption and fireproofing. Extra cloths to pat themself dry. Extra hair gel, for after class's inevitable dousing. (Alright, that one might have been a little ridiculous.) Extra paper, pilfered pencils, and... well. This last one felt a bit embarrassing in retrospect.

You see, they'd already been attempting to improve their embroidery, and after a certain interaction last week, they had been thinking about attempting a small peace offering. It wouldn't do to make enemies. Their master had nearly danced when it was brought up, and while they certainly were not about to be handling thread made of proper gold, beetle wings were not particularly hard to come by. If an opportunity presented itself, they would offer the small swatch of fabric--but otherwise it stayed safely in their bag, for now.

They'd arrived much earlier this time, but the Clay Substitute was already in attendance (as well as a stranger in the back, whom they avoided). Well, they couldn't win it all. Still, they felt much more optimistic about today. When they sat properly with their personal unfinished embroidery to experiment with, the Tailor was almost smiling.

Re: Before Class

[ticktopis_observatorium]

In sight of the more than previsible repeated dousing, the Professor's clothing was simpler and easier to take care of afterwards. The bandages have been discarded as well, this time substitued by scandalous amounts of makeup. Their face seems possitively artificial, and carefully so. There's still a shimmer not unlike that of scales underneath if the light reflects just so, and their facial shape is slightly different than the first day. Flatter, somewhat. With the artificial expression, the shades and the long fangs showing when smiling or talking, they could very well look like a devil. To anyone but a devil, that is.

They are somewhat sad at finding that the writing implements they left behind by mistake are no longer there. Well, at least they weren't all that expensive nor important, and were already in part replaced in advance. Yet another lesson in paying more attention to the surroundings. The mood was improved at the sight of the Clay Substitute, expecting some more Academic versus College shenanigans, and greeting the most likely very temporary teacher warmly before going to the place they took the previous class.

This time they notice Thursday sitting by their side, and offer a polite greeting with a rather tense smile, not because of lack of sentiment but because of the many layers of chemicals on and around their lips. The tone is warm, though.

"Good morning. I'm afraid we didn't talk last class. I am known as the Chimeric Professor"

Re: Before Class

[theidiosyncraticmechanic]

The Mechanic finds itself a space somewhere around some other's, they may've missed the first day but it won't stop them from trying to make up for lost time--"oh cool atomizers!" it has already started taking it apart with a screwdriver it brought with them, along with the very heavy lookin bag full of tools.

it casually spins the tool in it's hand as they lean over to talk to someone, "oi lov, got any notes from last lecture, fear I hav slept through last one with how she's being a bit literal bout it." seems as though they've "slept" so though last class that they haven't realized that this isn't the teacher from last class at all

Re: Before Class

[themorbidsocialite]

It took the Morbid Socialite a solid minute to realize there was an unfamiliar form at the head of the class. Already frazzled from the rush to be on time, they didn't take the time to respond in earnest to the Clay substitute, only peering around at their other classmates to judge their reactions. As varied as they were, the best course of response seemed to be acceptance. This was, of course, a normal and fine occurrence. Why would it not be? The Socialite had, of course, worked with the Clay Men before and was no stranger to the sight of them. It was somewhat easy to accept that the Academic had abandoned the class and left the Clay Substitute in their stead. They did seem eager to leave them behind the lesson previous and more than eager to leave them stranded entirely that morning.

Rather than question the new set of circumstances, the Morbid Socialite focused on reviewing the notes from the lesson prior.

Re: Before Class

[leviathanlovely]

The halls wound, coiling amid the building and creating a daunting web catching The Undistinguished Pupil as time closed in and clutched at their heart.

Rushing was allowed, but running? Oh how silly that would look -- Worse would be diving into The Academic's class with their own macaw raving for disturbing her peaceful slumber. Their gray-hazel eyes flick up to the rim of their cap, air sucking in through clenched teeth.

They were so CERTAIN the room they had come to was correct, it was so unlike them to forget a location... Damnable, the situation!

Re: Before Class

[theliedpiper]

The Piper gave the Clay Man at the front of the room a lazy but earnest salute. Clay Men always put the Piper at ease; they were good listeners, and generally didn't mind the Piper forgetting their names or accidentally standing too close.

"G'morning, hope you're not bothered by a little water," the Piper warned them, seeing the spray bottles still present from last week. They didn't expect her to respond, but it was at least polite to greet her either way.

In the spirit of politeness, they tried to see who all they remembered in the room. The Tailor, of course, and the devil who'd given them a good soaking... and... hmm. Wednesday, right? No, Thursday. Yes, they'd had a conversation. And... who else...? It didn't help that everyone was sitting in different spots, and wearing different clothes. Why couldn't everyone be considerate enough to wear a distinctive article of clothing constantly? Normally it didn't matter too much who or what they remembered (and they normally had Charlie around to jog their mind with reminders), but if they were going to be seeing these people every week for a few months...

Ugh. Maybe they should start taking notes on their classmates, as well as the lecture.

Lecture

[theexdisgracedacademic]

Was your character silly enough to take the bait and try to write a symbol in their notes? Is your character brave enough to ask the peevish professor a question?

Re: Lecture

[theanachronistictailor]

Goggles already in place, the Tailor had begun to transcribe, as last week, but stopped just as quickly as they started at the reprimand. A lopsided U sort of shape had already formed on their notebook--they scratched it out quickly. Notes of a different order were taken.

Logo graphic ?
- Symbols = meaning
- 2nd + 4th Cities

"Chalkboards are fine, though."

Their brow twitched. Okay. So that was hanging over them a little. Alright, fair enough. In any case.

108 base radicals. 2x more ?

The Tailor looked up from their notes to the new symbols, and then realized something with a sinking heart. Whilst the symbols were discernible, and the first board's symbols were very cleanly rendered, the homework assignment revealed, to their great consternation:

The Professor's handwriting was atrocious.

The Tailor's teeth clicked shut in their mouth. They were not going to say a damn thing. (It was not as though they had any room to talk. But then, which of them was the expert in the field?)

Re: Lecture

[the_soft_hearted_maven]

So the Clay Man was a substitute? Well, with that feeling she was getting from the Academic, maybe that was for the best.

Or not, as the noises from the hall rang out. She popped another humbug in her mouth since it seemed a fine way of calming her last time. The familiar feeling was coming back, of the arrival of a predator. A feeling which increased when their gaze fixed on the class.

She did not try to write the symbol even before the Academic's warning. She had made that mistake before and nearly destroyed many important books in the process.

There were a few parts she raised an eyebrow at but which she could read between the lines as the Academic keeping in line with the Ministry of Public Decency and not necessarily being the truth. Which is disappointing, but not surprising on the subject of the Correspondence.

She raised her hand and asked, trying her best to convey her actual meaning, "Emissary, if we wanted to study outside of class time on our own time, what would be the best and most efficient way to do so?" AKA a way that isn't hampered by the Ministry of Public Decency's restriction over the truth and what can be taught.

Re: Lecture

[the_brash_devil]

The Brash Devil watched the exchange with mild amusement. He would give the class this, at least it wasn't boring like some of the classes around here.

His attention started to wane at the Academic's use of words like "phonographic" and "logographic". If they meant the English language was long-winded, they could just say that.

His attention was grabbed as the Academic began writing Correspondence on the board. The heck was this dialect? And that phrasing?? And what was that about 'no known pronunciations or verbal applications for these signs"'???

After awhile he couldn't keep his comment inside anymore:

"What the fuck? Why are you writing it so weird?"

Re: Lecture

[tolpen]

Well, so much for hoping that they would get a teacher rather than the sore loser of the PMC.

Still, he is already drawing the first diagonal line into his notebook before- Yeah, no, the Mycologist is not drawing that on paper.
Instead he leans back in his chair and skeptically listens to the lecture. The enthusiasm he had when he walked into the class has evaporated like milk in the sun. Yes, including leaving something sour and rotten behind. Is it too late to run after the Clay Substitute, pay her double whatever she's been offered and beg her to come back? She doesn't even have to be good, for grief's sake! All that would be asked of her is delivering the lecture without holding the class in obvious contempt for merely existing.

With a sigh he guts out the notebook of some loose papers to have practice material. But before he even touches his tools a thought occurs to him. He raises his hand.
"How large part does this homework contribute to the final grade? And, I believe I had missed thine words on the matter the last time, how is this class graded?"
He didn't miss shit. The Ex-Disgraced Academic merely hasn't bothered to answer that question when it was first given. The Mycologist's warm smile is a touch too tight-lipped as he recalls it.

Re: Lecture

[themorbidsocialite]

The Morbid Socialite made a single mark of the represented symbol before catching himself. Wasn't the Correspondence highly flammable? It was as the Academic was giving their warning that he scratched out the singular mark and wrote a stark, pen-pressed reminder that this language caused fire. Instead, they quickly marked down how the symbol appeared, what the markings resembled, to better remember how they looked at a later date.

'C+hatted V+accent marks+Latin four = unmappable direction?'

For a moment, they did note that there was no known verbal use, but quickly added quotations around it, citing only 'MoPD' underneath.

With the first six radicals noted down and their meanings copied to the side, the Socialite looked up at the notice of homework and paled. Most of the prior portions of the Correspondence had been clear and concise. The homework examples, however... The Morbid Socialite prayed to whoever would listen that their educated guesswork might be close to correct.

Re: Lecture

[theidiosyncraticmechanic]

OI! WHO IS THIS THEN. "OI, WHO AR' YOU!" they got no idea what that interaction just was, just that if you want answers, well, they haven't been exactly raised in a house.

The atomizer already separated into a carefully balanced on its spritzer container of water and the bottom half. goggles placed messily on its head (it doesn't even look like they are connected in the back, the straps loose on the sides), it has it's screwdriver in it's hand like a pencil as it copies the symbol on the silver bottom of the atomizer. already grinning at the bad idea that is forming in its head.

"'no known pronunciations or verbal applications for these signs.' Now I know that ain't right, I hear zailor's haunted whispers of the sorrowful echo of Fluke's all the time on da docks" honestly, thinking about it was giving them a headache

Re: Lecture

[ticktopis_observatorium]

The Chimeric Professor listened to the explanation they already knew a little and nodded, nodded nod- Wait! Oh, at the mention of the PDM they almost snorted in response, and nodded in a slightly different way. Then the six base sigils are written and they were already arranging the six different pages and putting on the goggles. The shapes are known in form and meaning, but practicing calligraphy is always a welcome experience, especially if a misspelling can be the difference between burning or not. Let's see...

1. A circular yet open shape. Makes sense, knowing it's a language of stars. They most certainly would interpret an individual as a circle, or a sphere... Or maybe the orbit? After all, Kings can't be without kingdoms. Also possesses an angle. Perhaps because individuals are such because they are capable of action?

2. An angle makes a verb. Perhaps to mark a direction, thus purpose, action... Wait! Following the star analogy, an angle means the deviation of a body in orbit, thus displacing resources, which means action. Clever.

3. An inverted T for concepts. A surface? Something standing on it? Or perhaps a landmark, a reference? This one's tricky... But different enough to be easy to spot.

4. Two peripheral lines for adjectives. Then again, follows the logic, representing a simplified halo perhaps, as a quality from a star.

5. Similar to an adjective but with traits of a verb, proper for an adverb. An angled halo, quality that becomes action, or perhaps the other way round.

6. Again another open shape, this time square, for places. Maybe to represent a plane, in the Cartesian sense? Did Descartes discover the Judgement layout of space, or were them who inspired the thought? Better not to get deep on that. Yet open... Why no closed shapes? And why it almost resembles a Parabola?

It's habitual for the Professor to have reflections like this when leaving the mind unrestrained. They thought about this every time Correspondence was on the table, and yet the only way to actually know was to ask some cosmic etymologist. So far no devil has been accommodating enough. A thought that takes them to glancing at the present Brash Devil. No, definitely not the kind to ask about that either.

Without noticing a page has supported too many sigils (the Professor started writing the same in the same page again and again) and it started to sizzle. A quick spray from the atomizer solves the problem. Now, what can they make from the first sigil?

The open almost-circular shape around lacked an angle, so no individual, checks. The two lines (or simplified halo) to show the adjective, and the inner shape of a place to take the part of subject. Then a straight line on top of the angled verb, a negation. So the surrounding shape must mean a map. Curious hybrid between place and person. The conceptualization of a place? Its individuation? It deserves consideration...

Activity

[theexdisgracedacademic]

Time for your first steps in The Correspondence! Everyone who thought you were done writing lines after last week, I'm sorry to announce that the repetition has only just begun! Get to memorizing, and perhaps try to sneak assistance off each other while deciphering the completed symbols.

If you'd like to ensure that your character is correct or incorrect, the answers are in the OOC comment.

Re: Activity

[tolpen]

It takes about a minute and half for the Soft-Eyed Mycologist to get his setup ready. He fiddles with his drawing compass, with his sliding ruler, with his regular steel ruler, all the while a serene focus has nested itself in his features. Then with steely determination he puts his goggles on and gets to drawing.

With the help of his equipment he introduces the first radial to the very centre of a single sheaf of paper torn out of his notebook. It is the very exact copy of the one drawn on the blackboard. Then he places another one enxt to it, and another, and another. Each character is exactly the same in their looks and size as if they have been printed rather than drawn. And they fill the page at a considerable speed.
The Mycologist is working his hybrid geometry-writing in a clockwise spiral, working his way out of the centre of the paper towards the edges. He allows himself no distractions; he is covering this page in the lead of his pencil, no matter what happens.
Of course, if he has allowed himself some distractions, he would have noticed that the sheer concentration of characters has not only heated the paper up, but the edges are now also sort of darkening. There is the tell-tale caramel scent of smouldering paper.
(On the other hand, nothing seems to have caught ablaze.)

[The rest of the assignment will be handled depending on the Mycologist's perceived dousability.]

After Class

[theexdisgracedacademic]

Chat with your comrades after class, or chase after your professor, who was packing up ten minutes ago. Classy.

Re: After Class

[theanachronistictailor]

Having returned to their seat, the Tailor began to gather their pages, taking care to put blank sheets in between as to not let any transparencies between pages result in overlap in symbols. They'd watched Thursday do something similar, and it was, in their opinion, remarkably prudent.

They held a completed sheet of radicals up to the light, examining their work, and smiled, satisfied. Yes, this had been a very good class.

There was just the problem of week four to consider... How, exactly, could Correspondence be applicable to their own ambitions? (What even were their ambitions, outside of this strange and constant need to win? At everything?)

Hm. A problem for another day, maybe. They returned to packing their bag, and their hand settled on the box of pastries, still wrapped. After a long moment's thought, they pulled it free and unwrapped the handkerchief from around it to tuck into their coat's breast pocket as a small display article. Yes, that suited them.

They popped open the box and helped themself to a scone. Bless it, but these were good.




(OOC: We're at the end of the week so there's no obligation to worry about this, folks, but hey! free scones! if the Tailor doesn't remove your hand for trying to snatch one.)

OOC

[theexdisgracedacademic]

OOC: Far as I can tell, there isn’t any structure to canonical correspondence symbol composition. It’s just meant to be pretty, and not anything resembling a conlang. So I’m not going into real language construction, either. However, by the end of this you will have some fun little toys you can use when making correspondence fanart. And that’s the most useful skill of all!

Answers! Don't feel bad if the symbols didn't feel obvious, this is just a bit of fun, not a real language or puzzle game:

Re: OOC

[the_dye_stained_socialite]

theanachronistictailor MAKING BEETLE GOLDWORK EMBROIDERY FOR THURSDAY I AM SOBBING THAT'S SO NICE,,, now i must scheme to get them to interact again...

[leviathanlovely]

Meandering the halls and paying close attention to the numbers they passed; The Undistingushed Pupil swore under his breath. Sweeping back around, treading a definitely already walked path.

They were now double tasking; a secondary objective became making up exemplary excuses for being missing, in such a dizzy they would almost overlook The Maven.

[the_soft_hearted_maven]

(OOC: I'm sorry this reply is so late, somehow your comment wasn't in reply to mine so I didn't see it until I was reading through the chat log)

Maven saw The Distinguished Pupil coming back towards her and waved to get their attention, "Wait!"