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Theta, and anyone else currently with him, are directed upstairs to room 247, Theory of Magic, to meet Professor Castor Belle. You notice on the second floor that the woodwork is a bit newer, the floors are made of a rich mahogany and there are rugs here and there. Wooden furniture seem to have these, padded legs, or light cloths under them to prevent scratching the wood. Classes aren't currently in, so you see quite a few students hanging around. There are young men of all sorts of races - fishmen, hippos, ducks, there's even a Hypello, a strange, skinny blue frog-like humanoid with bulbous eyes. The most predominant race, of course, is human. You see a few girls around too, sitting around reading difficult-looking textbooks or watching the people pass by. When you get to room 247, you find a bunch of students in uniform talking to… someone else their age, or at the most a little bit older. He's a young, red-headed man with brown eyes wearing a cardigan and tie. You notice three things about the man immediately. First off, he's in a wheelchair. Second, he's not wearing pants. That, of course, seems to be because his lower half is entirely that of a lobster tail, and politely crossed long, spindly legs. Thirdly, he has two sets of arms. He looks up a bit curiously as you enter. "Hey, how you doing? Can I help you?" he asks with a smile.


Theta scoots along the wall of the class room, making room for Savannah and not getting in the way. "Hi there. You're Professor Belle, right? I'm Theta. Have some questions for you but it could wait till after your lecture if needed. Specially seeing as this is a magic theory course and I'm here about Geomancy."


The professor just waves his hands. "No problem, dude. We're not in a lecture, I'm just hanging out with some of my students. Pull up a seat, both of you! Don't be shy, now. Geomancy's not such a hot topic at the academy, but it's one I'm really passionate about." Some of the students wave goodbye to Castor for now and head out, and other stay to hear the conversation. Savannah pulls up a seat, interested.


Theta pulls up a seat as well and looks over Castor for a bit. "The old man up front mentioned you were a Geomancer. If that's right, then you're one of two I've met in my life, not counting myself. Sorta weird to think about…" He leans forward in the seat. "Parts of it don't really add up to me though. Like if we're so rare how does the practice even got a name and seems to be a well known thing among adventurers? WHY are we so rare? How do we even study what is we do to better understand it…I got a lot of questions like that, and I don't really expect you to know the answer to all of them, but it's something I imagine is on the mind of a lot - well, a relative 'a lot' - and I'm trying to change that."


He looks thoughtful a moment. "Well, man, same reason anyone knows about Summoners. I think the art used to be a lot more common back in the day. It's not COMPLETELY dead these days, I mean, there are Geomancers out and about, but people just assume they're mages most of the time. I'm not exactly sure WHY it's got less common over time, because I think anyone can become a geomancer if they're inclined. It's a matter of developing an affinity with the elemental spirits that make up the world. Some people just shine to it naturally, others can get to that state through meditation… you ever tried meditating, dude? It really helps put you in touch with Mother Gaia. That said, I guess that means less and less people have been in tune with the planet. There's a good number of 'mancers back in my homeland, though, and I think our ancestors had massive traditions in the art, too. You ever heard of Wu? I also heard the summoners had Geomancers in their ranks before they died out. Makes sense, I guess. I suppose if someone wants to spread the art they gotta study up on the spirits themselves, find out what it is that draws them to people." You notice as he's talking, he's very expressive with his arms and hands.


He tilts his head. "So it can be learned huh. Bebe and myself were sorta…unsure on that. I'm not really following the Mother Gaia thing, sorta done something…like meditation before, but I think I'm more on the natural atonement side of things. Not really familiar with Wu either, no. Funny you mention studying though. You heard of the charity event for schools in Treno, right? I'm involved with that myself. I'm going to found a school in Treno that…I suppose won't be entirely unlike this one, but for Natural Sciences, Engineering, Architecture, and of course, Geomancy. I…think we'll be able to find experts in most the more mundane fields, but Geomancy is the tricky one huh."


You can see a bit of interest in his eyes. "That's pretty rad. You know, if we can figure this out better I wouldn't mind adding my own expertise, man. I like my job here, but dude, anyone can teach Theory. Oh, and Wu? Well, I'm a merman. Our people live deep out in the ocean, but our ancestors were from a civilization from the Forgotten Continent, called Wu. Place fell into the sea a long time ago, man, and some eidolon turned everyone into merfolk to keep'em alive. And then time just marched onward, y'know? There's not much contact between the landfolk and the seafolk, mostly 'cuz of problems like these." he laughs and pats his wheelchair. "But yeah, this school idea… I actually don't know much about Treno, but I hear it's kind of bad off. Someone wanting to bring education to those who need it, you gotta admire a dude like that, dude."


"Not gonna lie it's in pretty bad shape, but the place has a lure to it outside it's short comings. I am helping The Rook family change that, but one of the first things we're going to need outside of funding and interest is a curriculum. I imagine a lot of that the Rooks could delegate to experts in other fields but…well, we're gonna need to find a good number of Geomancers to help do that. World's gone this long with nothing like it, but that should probably change if the practice is ever going to rebound, specially given how many magic users there are…seems to be a lot easier to learn that as oppose to how to commune with the wilds. Maybe formalizing a study of these matters will change that." He shrugs. "Don't have much else in terms of formal planning yet other than that. Our main event's going to be in Lindblum ; you and any of your colleagues who would be interested in this are welcome to attend. Hoping that this'll help speed matters along; helps a ton knowing it IS learnable, though."


Professor Belle seems contemplative. "There's going to be a pretty big celebration in this city, I'm told, held by some gnarly magistrixes from hundreds of years ago. Besides… not the best at getting around." he jokes. "I'll spread the word though, see who's interested and send them your way." The lobster man stretches a bit. "Never be afraid to shake the status quo a bit, man. I mean, fifty years ago you surface dudes didn't even have those flying boats, and look everywhere now. Maybe this world just needs a few people trying harder, huh?" he moves his wheelchair from the middle of the room to back behind his desk as he looks for something. "Lemme give you something, dude. I sure can't make use of it up here very well." he pulls out some sort of amulet, a small globe on a chain, and tosses it your way. "If you wanna learn about the spirits, best place to learn is from the spirits, man. That'll spin around and glow a bit when you're in an area with really strong elemental spirits - the kind that can talk. The ones I met never really had anything interesting to say, but hey, maybe you'll have better karma, dig?"


Theta stares at this thing a bit, and then weakly laughs. "You have no idea how handy this'll be for something I'm working on, but can share more about that later…" he slips it on and looks back to the Professor. "I'll be honest at this rate the Magus Sisters will totally one up the Lindblum celebration if we don't think of something, but it all is going to the same cause in the end I think. I appreciate the gift, your interest and help so far, dude." He's not exactly sure what this word means but he's PRETTY SURE it's a term of endearment. "I'd probably best get going, think I'm holding the others up from leaving. Till next time, Castor." He waves and goes on his way, unless Savannah had something else in mind or to say.