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KeplerNova

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Students entering the Beast Studies building were likely to be able to find their destinations without getting lost, as long as they followed the trails of vines and other plants that Professor Cressida Hawthorn had set up. This time, they all led to one large room, which had been set up to accommodate the students. There was nothing particularly flashy about it, apart from the fact that there was some sort of large bird skeleton hanging from the ceiling, but it was certainly practical, with desks and enough space for everyone. Cressida herself, as usual, sat on her own desk at the front of the room.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to Beast Studies, regardless of whether you're new to the department, an advancing student, or a... failing student who keeps trying," the witch began, trying to gauge the reactions of each of her students in turn. "Now, for those of you who are new... by the end of your coursework here, you will be able to meet companion animals, take on the traits of beasts, breed completely new creatures, grant yourself new innate abilities, shapeshift and skinwalk, and even directly channel the powers of a god. That is, assuming you do well, pay attention, and stay relatively safe." Cressida nodded for emphasis.

"Anyways, I'm Cressida Hawthorn, and I'm your professor, the sole authority in the Beast Studies department, and no, I am not looking for a student teacher at this time. I know you all have the potential to do well... so use it."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below, you will find your assignments. Please complete two of the assignments for each class that you are enrolled, and post them here on this journal by the term deadline:


January - March Term: March 24
April - June Term: June 23
July - September Term: September 23
October - December Term: December 24

If you write a story or submit an RP for your assignment, be sure to include a word count. If you do a collaboration for a piece of artwork, be sure both participants post the work on this journal and what they contributed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BST 101: Introduction to Cryptid Theory
BST 101 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“The intersection of the magical world with the mundane world is really quite interesting,” Cressida began, “and nowhere is that intersection clearer than with sightings of cryptids. A cryptid is some sort of animal, or occasionally other form of life, that is generally hidden from the rest of the non-magical world, while still being present within it. Of course, you can often find cryptids in magical regions, as well, and perhaps some of you actually are cryptids.” That would certainly be interesting, Cressida decided. “There are all sorts of cryptids of all different types,” the witch explained. “One of my particular favorites is the Mongolian Death Worm. Look it up!”
The witch smiled at her students. This was an introductory class, after all, and so hopefully it wouldn’t be too difficult for people to pass.
“So, what you’re going to do for this assignment,” she continued, “


BST 102: Animal Husbandry
BST 102 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
 “We’re going to be working with all sorts of crossbreeds and hybrids in this class,” Cressida explained, “although, as some of them are very dangerous – basilisks and cockatrices, to name a few – and this is a beginner-level class, we’re not going to actually be working with any of those creatures just yet.” The witch clapped her hands, and something akin to a very large poster unrolled in front of the class, depicting diagrams of several hybrid creatures and the things that had been combined to create them. The creatures in the image seemed to move with a life of their own.
“Before you go about trying to produce new creatures – which, as this is a dark arts academy, I completely expect you to do once you start getting into the upper-level classes and possibly also taking some Medical Studies classes -- you’re going to need to do some research on existing ones. Despite what some peo


BST 103: Dangerous Animal Safety
BST 103 AssignmentsBST 103: Dangerous Animal Safety
Assignment 1:
“In this department,” Cressida stated, sitting on her vine-covered desk, her expression quite serious and grim all of a sudden, “you will be working with a lot of very dangerous creatures. From sirens to dragons, from manticores to hellhounds – all right, Professor Baines was probably not very dangerous for a hellhound, but he’s not here anymore so that’s beside the point – you will find that this is not a very safe department. None of them are.”
Cressida clapped her hands together and stood up quite suddenly. “So! Because I’m a competent professor, I’m going to make sure that you’re all decently prepared to handle these creatures. Unless, of course, you simply choose to not pay attention.”
 “So, obviously, what I’m going to have you do first is design some form of protective equipment. You’re going to


BST 104: Introduction to Beast Magic
BST 104 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"What you're going to do in this class," the professor announced, "is learn the very basic foundation of the magic of beasts: how to access your own connection to beasts by way of the concept of a spirit animal, and how to use that connection to communicate with animals in ways that ordinary people generally cannot." Cressida sat on her desk instead of standing behind it as she gave her lecture, as usual. Behind her, students could see a couple of birdcages that contained crows, which occasionally made noises of their own as if they were trying to assist with the lecture. "Now, the way I do things in here is a bit different," she explained. "If you're expecting some sort of nice little speech about how we're all connected to the nature around us and how we must live in harmony with it and get in touch with the animal that guides our inner selves..." The professor paused. "Then you're in the wrong place. You're in the wrong school, probably. What you're act


BST 201: Beast Totems and Animal Magic
BST 201 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
"In this class," Cressida began, "you're going to learn how to channel the powers of different animals with your own body. The strength of a bear, the grace and stealth of a panther, et cetera. You won't actually be physically transforming, but you're going to be taking on the traits of those animals nevertheless. Temporarily, at least. I would like to note, before we begin, that this form of beast magic won't grant you completely new abilities -- for example, you won't be able to fly at high speeds like a peregrine falcon unless you already know how to fly, and you won't be gaining the silk-spinning powers of a spider. But you will learn to augment your own natural abilities to a great degree using the abilities of animals. It's not a transformation of the body, it's a transformation of the spirit that affects the body. Right now, you're going to be focusing on one animal, but once you know how to do this, you can probably figure o


BST 202: Elemental Beasts
BST 202 AssignmentsBST 202: Elemental Beasts
Assignment 1:
“Now, in this particular class,” the witch stated, “we will be studying creatures that utilize the basic forms of elemental magic, that is, earth, air, water and fire, and then we will move on to more complicated elemental forms and eventually the unearthly element known as aether.”
Almost like a dramatic theater curtain, many of the vines hanging down behind Cressida were drawn away to the sides of the room, revealing a clearly impatient griffin and a small golem with glowing green eyes. “For example, a griffin such as Heracles here is a beast of the air, whereas a golem is an artificial creature of the earth. And yes, I created the golem myself. I have a rather… reactive form of magic.” The griffin stayed in place, but the golem tried to wander off and had to be stopped by Cressida’s plants. “You can find water creatures in even the most remotely magical body of water, suc


BST 203: Creatures and the Body
BST 203 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"As you ought to know from the title, this class is about shapeshifting. You're going to learn how to partially transform your own body with the body parts of animals over the course of these assignments, and if you continue on in the course, you're going to learn how to transform yourself fully... and even become various magical creatures such as dragons," Cressida explained. "But before you actually start doing that, you're going to need to do some actual research. This is something you don't want to do improperly. There are quite a variety of potential problems with shapeshifting, and getting stuck in one form or reverting to an animalistic state are just two of the better known ones." Cressida indicated a few different pictures on the walls of what appeared to be humans transforming into other shapes, as well as a wolf pelt on the table next to her. "Shapeshifting is simply the ability to change one's form into something else, and appears all throughou


BST 204: Unique Monsters
BST 204 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“I don’t believe any of you have actually worked directly with unique hybrid creatures yet,” Cressida stated simply as she paced back and forth at the front of the room. “Perhaps at some point you’ll be able to actually create one yourself, but for now, you’re going to interact with one that actually exists already. You’re going to select a magical creature of some sort that could be considered a hybrid – preferably one that’s not exceptionally dangerous – and you’re going to study it. If you can find one in its natural habitat, that’s preferable, but there are quite a lot of unusual creatures kept near this very classroom as well.”
“Make sure you tell me all about its abilities and what sort of hybrid it is. Oh, and yes, it can be another student in the class – or even a visitor or a professor, if you can find one who fits and is willing to cooperate. There are ce


BST 301: Beasts of the Air, Land, and Water
BST 301 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“In this class, you’re going to be introduced to three types of creatures: one that lives in the sea, one that lives in the air, and one that lives on the land,” the witch explained. "First, you're going to be handling ones that live on the land. After all, most of us here at the academy also live on the land." Cressida let out a quiet chuckle as she paused briefly in her lecture. "Not all land creatures have earth-related abilities, obviously, whereas creatures that live in the sea or the air often have ways to manipulate those habitats. As such, land creatures are by far the most diverse of these three groups of creatures. What I want you to do is study the creatures on this list of magical land beasts and go out and meet one. If you can, convince it to come along with you, and you might just gain a new magical animal companion. If you really want to work with a beast of the land, you'll need to know about its various abilities and its specific


BST 302: Beast Sight
BST 302 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
"In a lot of the other classes I've recently added to this department," Cressida stated in a decidedly matter-of-fact tone of voice, "you sort of... project something onto your spirit animal, the representation of you as a beast. But did you know that you can also do it in reverse?" The witch smiled. She was quite proud of herself for having come up with this class. "In this class, you're going to learn how to see through the eyes of beasts, and to do that, you have to essentially reverse the sort of thing you've been learning to do before. Instead of altering your spirit animal in some way, or using your spirit animal to alter something about yourself, you're projecting your own innate beast magic onto another creature. You're forcing some aspect of your own consciousness into it so you can see through its eyes." There were several cages and containers behind Cressida, each of them covered with a simple black cloth. Inside was a single small ani


BST 303: Beast Transformation
BST 303 AssignmentsAssignment 1:

"You've already done your first report on shapeshifters in general, back in your BST 203 class," the professor stated. The shabby bear coat that she had demonstrated hung over the back of her chair, but she did not put it on. "This time, you're going to get a bit more focused. Before you start fully transforming into various animals, I want to make sure that you're aware of the dangers associated with such things. The reason why a full transformation is so much different from a partial transformation is simple: in a full transformation, more of your body is changing -- and your brain is changing also, to some extent. There are a multitude of dangers for any type of shapeshifting. You might have heard about selkies and similar creatures who can have terrible things happen to them if someone takes their seal skin while they're in human form. You can get stuck in an animal form, too, either in body, in mind, or both. There are a lot of different methods of shapeshift


BST 304: Hybrid Creature Genetics
BST 304 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“This class is going to be more science than magic,” Cressida stated, “but in the end, there’s a lot you’ll be able to apply to your own abilities.” A large poster unrolled itself at the front of the classroom, images appearing on it of Punnet squares and phylogenetic trees. “Inherited characteristics are determined by genes, and every gene has multiple possible alleles. As organisms typically have two or more copies of a gene, these alleles may be the same or different. In a diploid organism – that is, one where it has two copies of a gene – if it’s got two identical alleles for a given gen, it’s referred to as homozygous for that gene, whereas if it’s got two different alleles for that gene, it’s referred to as heterozygous. Normally, in a heterozygote, one allele will determine which form of the trait is expressed, and this is known as the dominant allele – but someti


BST 401: Breeding Mythological Beasts in Captivity
BST 401 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"All right, we're going to start off slowly here," Cressida stated. "In this class, what you're going to be doing is essentially either raising a rare mythical creature or creating your own unique monster and raising that instead. That choice is up to you, but first, you need to determine what sort of creature you want to raise." The witch indicated two diagrams on the classroom wall: one depicting a colorful sort of phoenix that was clearly an artist's rendition of a Fenghuang, and another depicting a strange, somewhat disturbing-looking hybrid creature with both reptilian and plant-like traits, which was labeled as a hybrid between a dryad and a basilisk. "So what you're going to do for this assignment is tell me what sort of creature you would like to raise. If it's an existing mythical creature, tell me what it is and why you chose it. If it's a unique hybrid of two or three creatures, tell me what those creatures are and what sort of result you expect


BST 402: Advanced Beast Transformation
BST 402 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"Well, you're finally going to learn how to transform into a magical creature," Cressida explained happily. "Ever wanted to learn how to turn into a dragon? Or a unicorn? Or a kraken, perhaps? That sort of thing is what you're going to learn here." Once again, the witch nodded for emphasis. "However, I would like for you to take note of the fact that when it comes to your learned magic, choose your spells carefully while transformed. For example, if you became a firebird, it would probably be unwise to use ice magic until you revert back to your normal state. You will be able to use a lot of your magic, but it might not all be compatible with what you become. The principle is similar to a standard beast transformation, where you're going to be mapping the traits of an animal onto yourself via your spirit animal and visualizing a merging of that form with your physical body, but there's another step: since the creature into which you want to transform has i


BST 403: Advanced Creature Genetics
BST 403 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"When you use the magic of a beast, it's important that you understand that beast in a biological sense," the professor said with a serious tone as she began the lecture. "And when you change a beast and its magic in some way, you need to understand it even more. So even now at such an advanced level, even though all your assignments are practical in some way, we're still going to start relatively slowly. First, you're going to give new traits to a beast, then you're going to learn how to breed a beast with another one in ways that completely circumvent the laws of mundane genetics, and finally you're going to learn how to permanently take on some of the innate powers of magical beasts."
"Back in BST 304, you learned how to slightly alter spiders with a specific magical terrarium and potion so they could take on some of your physical traits. This time, you're going to customize that a bit more. You choose the creature, you choose what kind of creatu


BST 404: Godlike Beasts
BST 404 AssignmentsBST 404: Godlike Beasts
Assignment 1:
It was obvious from the start that Cressida was taking this class even more seriously than the others. “I’m glad you’ve made it this far,” she stated, and although it was clear that she was being sincere, she did not smile, or even give her student one of her usual brief half-smiles. “You will need to take this class as seriously as I do, as we will be dealing with gods and godlike creatures in this class. You will need to treat them with respect, as they are stronger than you – and stronger than me as well. You’ll be meeting two different entities in this class – one beast associated with the gods, and one actual deity. But before that, you ought to do a bit of research. Actually, a lot of research.”
“Select any pantheon you wish. Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Aztec, Japanese, anything you want, and choose five gods from that pantheon. Provide me with a report on those five d


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Students entering the Beast Studies building were likely to be able to find their destinations without getting lost, as long as they followed the trails of vines and other plants that Professor Cressida Hawthorn had set up. This time, they all led to one large room, which had been set up to accommodate the students. There was nothing particularly flashy about it, apart from the fact that there was some sort of large bird skeleton hanging from the ceiling, but it was certainly practical, with desks and enough space for everyone. Cressida herself, as usual, sat on her own desk at the front of the room.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to Beast Studies, regardless of whether you're new to the department, an advancing student, or a... failing student who keeps trying," the witch began, trying to gauge the reactions of each of her students in turn. "Now, for those of you who are new, don't be put off by the seemingly dry and academic nature of these classes. By the end of your coursework here, you will be able to meet companion animals, turn into a spirit, breed completely new creatures, grant yourself new innate abilities, shapeshift and skinwalk, and even directly channel the powers of a god. That is, assuming you do well, pay attention, and stay relatively safe." Cressida nodded for emphasis. One day she would finally be able to finish changing the classes in full, but she had more research to do.

"Anyways, I'm Cressida Hawthorn, and I'm your professor, the sole authority in the Beast Studies department, and no, I am not looking for a student teacher at this time. I know you all have the potential to do well... so use it."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below, you will find your assignments. Please complete two of the assignments for each class that you are enrolled, and post them here on this journal by the term deadline:


January - March Term: March 24
April - June Term: June 23
July - September Term: September 23
October - December Term: December 24

If you write a story or submit an RP for your assignment, be sure to include a word count. If you do a collaboration for a piece of artwork, be sure both participants post the work on this journal and what they contributed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BST 101: Introduction to Cryptid Theory
BST 101 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“The intersection of the magical world with the mundane world is really quite interesting,” Cressida began, “and nowhere is that intersection clearer than with sightings of cryptids. A cryptid is some sort of animal, or occasionally other form of life, that is generally hidden from the rest of the non-magical world, while still being present within it. Of course, you can often find cryptids in magical regions, as well, and perhaps some of you actually are cryptids.” That would certainly be interesting, Cressida decided. “There are all sorts of cryptids of all different types,” the witch explained. “One of my particular favorites is the Mongolian Death Worm. Look it up!”
The witch smiled at her students. This was an introductory class, after all, and so hopefully it wouldn’t be too difficult for people to pass.
“So, what you’re going to do for this assignment,” she continued, “

BST 102: Animal Husbandry
BST 102 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
 “We’re going to be working with all sorts of crossbreeds and hybrids in this class,” Cressida explained, “although, as some of them are very dangerous – basilisks and cockatrices, to name a few – and this is a beginner-level class, we’re not going to actually be working with any of those creatures just yet.” The witch clapped her hands, and something akin to a very large poster unrolled in front of the class, depicting diagrams of several hybrid creatures and the things that had been combined to create them. The creatures in the image seemed to move with a life of their own.
“Before you go about trying to produce new creatures – which, as this is a dark arts academy, I completely expect you to do once you start getting into the upper-level classes and possibly also taking some Medical Studies classes -- you’re going to need to do some research on existing ones. Despite what some peo

BST 103: Dangerous Animal Safety
BST 103 AssignmentsBST 103: Dangerous Animal Safety
Assignment 1:
“In this department,” Cressida stated, sitting on her vine-covered desk, her expression quite serious and grim all of a sudden, “you will be working with a lot of very dangerous creatures. From sirens to dragons, from manticores to hellhounds – all right, Professor Baines was probably not very dangerous for a hellhound, but he’s not here anymore so that’s beside the point – you will find that this is not a very safe department. None of them are.”
Cressida clapped her hands together and stood up quite suddenly. “So! Because I’m a competent professor, I’m going to make sure that you’re all decently prepared to handle these creatures. Unless, of course, you simply choose to not pay attention.”
 “So, obviously, what I’m going to have you do first is design some form of protective equipment. You’re going to

BST 201: Creatures and the Body
BST 201 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
"In this class," Cressida began, "you're going to learn how to channel the powers of different animals with your own body. The strength of a bear, the grace and stealth of a panther, et cetera. You won't actually be physically transforming, but you're going to be taking on the traits of those animals nevertheless. Temporarily, at least. I would like to note, before we begin, that this form of beast magic won't grant you completely new abilities -- for example, you won't be able to fly at high speeds like a peregrine falcon unless you already know how to fly, and you won't be gaining the silk-spinning powers of a spider. But you will learn to augment your own natural abilities to a great degree using the abilities of animals. It's not a transformation of the body, it's a transformation of the spirit that affects the body. Right now, you're going to be focusing on one animal, but once you know how to do this, you can probably figure o

BST 202: Elemental Beasts
BST 202 AssignmentsBST 202: Elemental Beasts
Assignment 1:
“Now, in this particular class,” the witch stated, “we will be studying creatures that utilize the basic forms of elemental magic, that is, earth, air, water and fire, and then we will move on to more complicated elemental forms and eventually the unearthly element known as aether.”
Almost like a dramatic theater curtain, many of the vines hanging down behind Cressida were drawn away to the sides of the room, revealing a clearly impatient griffin and a small golem with glowing green eyes. “For example, a griffin such as Heracles here is a beast of the air, whereas a golem is an artificial creature of the earth. And yes, I created the golem myself. I have a rather… reactive form of magic.” The griffin stayed in place, but the golem tried to wander off and had to be stopped by Cressida’s plants. “You can find water creatures in even the most remotely magical body of water, suc

BST 203: Mythological Animal Habitats
BST 203 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"As you ought to know from the title, this class is about shapeshifting. You're going to learn how to partially transform your own body with the body parts of animals over the course of these assignments, and if you continue on in the course, you're going to learn how to transform yourself fully... and even become various magical creatures such as dragons," Cressida explained. "But before you actually start doing that, you're going to need to do some actual research. This is something you don't want to do improperly. There are quite a variety of potential problems with shapeshifting, and getting stuck in one form or reverting to an animalistic state are just two of the better known ones." Cressida indicated a few different pictures on the walls of what appeared to be humans transforming into other shapes, as well as a wolf pelt on the table next to her. "Shapeshifting is simply the ability to change one's form into something else, and appears all throughou

BST 204: Unique Monsters
BST 204 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“I don’t believe any of you have actually worked directly with unique hybrid creatures yet,” Cressida stated simply as she paced back and forth at the front of the room. “Perhaps at some point you’ll be able to actually create one yourself, but for now, you’re going to interact with one that actually exists already. You’re going to select a magical creature of some sort that could be considered a hybrid – preferably one that’s not exceptionally dangerous – and you’re going to study it. If you can find one in its natural habitat, that’s preferable, but there are quite a lot of unusual creatures kept near this very classroom as well.”
“Make sure you tell me all about its abilities and what sort of hybrid it is. Oh, and yes, it can be another student in the class – or even a visitor or a professor, if you can find one who fits and is willing to cooperate. There are ce

BST 301: Handling Beasts of the Air
BST 301 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“In this class, you’re going to be introduced to three types of creatures: one that lives in the sea, one that lives in the air, and one that lives on the land,” the witch explained. "First, you're going to be handling ones that live on the land. After all, most of us here at the academy also live on the land." Cressida let out a quiet chuckle as she paused briefly in her lecture. "Not all land creatures have earth-related abilities, obviously, whereas creatures that live in the sea or the air often have ways to manipulate those habitats. As such, land creatures are by far the most diverse of these three groups of creatures. What I want you to do is study the creatures on this list of magical land beasts and go out and meet one. If you can, convince it to come along with you, and you might just gain a new magical animal companion. If you really want to work with a beast of the land, you'll need to know about its various abilities and its specific

BST 302: Handling Beasts of the Water
BST 302 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
"In a lot of the other classes I've recently added to this department," Cressida stated in a decidedly matter-of-fact tone of voice, "you sort of... project something onto your spirit animal, the representation of you as a beast. But did you know that you can also do it in reverse?" The witch smiled. She was quite proud of herself for having come up with this class. "In this class, you're going to learn how to see through the eyes of beasts, and to do that, you have to essentially reverse the sort of thing you've been learning to do before. Instead of altering your spirit animal in some way, or using your spirit animal to alter something about yourself, you're projecting your own innate beast magic onto another creature. You're forcing some aspect of your own consciousness into it so you can see through its eyes." There were several cages and containers behind Cressida, each of them covered with a simple black cloth. Inside was a single small ani

BST 303: Handling Beasts of the Earth
BST 304 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“This class is going to be more science than magic,” Cressida stated, “but in the end, there’s a lot you’ll be able to apply to your own abilities.” A large poster unrolled itself at the front of the classroom, images appearing on it of Punnet squares and phylogenetic trees. “Inherited characteristics are determined by genes, and every gene has multiple possible alleles. As organisms typically have two or more copies of a gene, these alleles may be the same or different. In a diploid organism – that is, one where it has two copies of a gene – if it’s got two identical alleles for a given gen, it’s referred to as homozygous for that gene, whereas if it’s got two different alleles for that gene, it’s referred to as heterozygous. Normally, in a heterozygote, one allele will determine which form of the trait is expressed, and this is known as the dominant allele – but someti

BST 304: Handling Beasts of the Aether
BST 303 AssignmentsAssignment 1:

"You've already done your first report on shapeshifters in general, back in your BST 203 class," the professor stated. The shabby bear coat that she had demonstrated hung over the back of her chair, but she did not put it on. "This time, you're going to get a bit more focused. Before you start fully transforming into various animals, I want to make sure that you're aware of the dangers associated with such things. The reason why a full transformation is so much different from a partial transformation is simple: in a full transformation, more of your body is changing -- and your brain is changing also, to some extent. There are a multitude of dangers for any type of shapeshifting. You might have heard about selkies and similar creatures who can have terrible things happen to them if someone takes their seal skin while they're in human form. You can get stuck in an animal form, too, either in body, in mind, or both. There are a lot of different methods of shapeshift

BST 401: Breeding Mythological Beasts in Captivity (Contact me for further optional class customization!)
BST 401 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"All right, we're going to start off slowly here," Cressida stated. "In this class, what you're going to be doing is essentially either raising a rare mythical creature or creating your own unique monster and raising that instead. That choice is up to you, but first, you need to determine what sort of creature you want to raise." The witch indicated two diagrams on the classroom wall: one depicting a colorful sort of phoenix that was clearly an artist's rendition of a Fenghuang, and another depicting a strange, somewhat disturbing-looking hybrid creature with both reptilian and plant-like traits, which was labeled as a hybrid between a dryad and a basilisk. "So what you're going to do for this assignment is tell me what sort of creature you would like to raise. If it's an existing mythical creature, tell me what it is and why you chose it. If it's a unique hybrid of two or three creatures, tell me what those creatures are and what sort of result you expect


BST 402: Shapeshifting, Skinwalking, and Beasts (Contact me for further optional class customization!)
BST 402 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"Well, you're finally going to learn how to transform into a magical creature," Cressida explained happily. "Ever wanted to learn how to turn into a dragon? Or a unicorn? Or a kraken, perhaps? That sort of thing is what you're going to learn here." Once again, the witch nodded for emphasis. "However, I would like for you to take note of the fact that when it comes to your learned magic, choose your spells carefully while transformed. For example, if you became a firebird, it would probably be unwise to use ice magic until you revert back to your normal state. You will be able to use a lot of your magic, but it might not all be compatible with what you become. The principle is similar to a standard beast transformation, where you're going to be mapping the traits of an animal onto yourself via your spirit animal and visualizing a merging of that form with your physical body, but there's another step: since the creature into which you want to transform has i


BST 403: Creature Genetics (Contact me for further optional class customization!)
BST 403 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"When you use the magic of a beast, it's important that you understand that beast in a biological sense," the professor said with a serious tone as she began the lecture. "And when you change a beast and its magic in some way, you need to understand it even more. So even now at such an advanced level, even though all your assignments are practical in some way, we're still going to start relatively slowly. First, you're going to give new traits to a beast, then you're going to learn how to breed a beast with another one in ways that completely circumvent the laws of mundane genetics, and finally you're going to learn how to permanently take on some of the innate powers of magical beasts."
"Back in BST 304, you learned how to slightly alter spiders with a specific magical terrarium and potion so they could take on some of your physical traits. This time, you're going to customize that a bit more. You choose the creature, you choose what kind of creatu


BST 404: Godlike Beasts (Contact me for further details -- this class is heavily customized for each student)
BST 404 AssignmentsBST 404: Godlike Beasts
Assignment 1:
It was obvious from the start that Cressida was taking this class even more seriously than the others. “I’m glad you’ve made it this far,” she stated, and although it was clear that she was being sincere, she did not smile, or even give her student one of her usual brief half-smiles. “You will need to take this class as seriously as I do, as we will be dealing with gods and godlike creatures in this class. You will need to treat them with respect, as they are stronger than you – and stronger than me as well. You’ll be meeting two different entities in this class – one beast associated with the gods, and one actual deity. But before that, you ought to do a bit of research. Actually, a lot of research.”
“Select any pantheon you wish. Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Aztec, Japanese, anything you want, and choose five gods from that pantheon. Provide me with a report on those five d

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Students entering the Beast Studies building were likely to be able to find their destinations without getting lost, as long as they followed the trails of vines and other plants that Professor Cressida Hawthorn had set up. This time, they all led to one large room, which had been set up to accommodate the students. There was nothing particularly flashy about it, apart from the fact that there was some sort of large bird skeleton hanging from the ceiling, but it was certainly practical, with desks and enough space for everyone. Cressida herself, as usual, sat on her own desk at the front of the room.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to Beast Studies, regardless of whether you're new to the department, an advancing student, or a... failing student who keeps trying," the witch began, trying to gauge the reactions of each of her students in turn. "Now, for those of you who are new, don't be put off by the seemingly dry and academic nature of these classes. By the end of your coursework here, you will be able to meet companion animals, turn into a spirit, breed completely new creatures, grant yourself new innate abilities, shapeshift and skinwalk, and even directly channel the powers of a god. That is, assuming you do well, pay attention, and stay relatively safe." Cressida nodded for emphasis. One day she would finally be able to finish changing the classes in full, but she had more research to do.

"Anyways, I'm Cressida Hawthorn, and I'm your professor, the sole authority in the Beast Studies department, and no, I am not looking for a student teacher at this time. I know you all have the potential to do well... so use it."

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Below, you will find your assignments. Please complete two of the assignments for each class that you are enrolled, and post them here on this journal by the term deadline:


January - March Term: March 24
April - June Term: June 23
July - September Term: September 23
October - December Term: December 24

If you write a story or submit an RP for your assignment, be sure to include a word count. If you do a collaboration for a piece of artwork, be sure both participants post the work on this journal and what they contributed.

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BST 101: Introduction to Cryptid Theory
BST 101 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“The intersection of the magical world with the mundane world is really quite interesting,” Cressida began, “and nowhere is that intersection clearer than with sightings of cryptids. A cryptid is some sort of animal, or occasionally other form of life, that is generally hidden from the rest of the non-magical world, while still being present within it. Of course, you can often find cryptids in magical regions, as well, and perhaps some of you actually are cryptids.” That would certainly be interesting, Cressida decided. “There are all sorts of cryptids of all different types,” the witch explained. “One of my particular favorites is the Mongolian Death Worm. Look it up!”
The witch smiled at her students. This was an introductory class, after all, and so hopefully it wouldn’t be too difficult for people to pass.
“So, what you’re going to do for this assignment,” she continued, “

BST 102: Animal Husbandry
BST 102 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
 “We’re going to be working with all sorts of crossbreeds and hybrids in this class,” Cressida explained, “although, as some of them are very dangerous – basilisks and cockatrices, to name a few – and this is a beginner-level class, we’re not going to actually be working with any of those creatures just yet.” The witch clapped her hands, and something akin to a very large poster unrolled in front of the class, depicting diagrams of several hybrid creatures and the things that had been combined to create them. The creatures in the image seemed to move with a life of their own.
“Before you go about trying to produce new creatures – which, as this is a dark arts academy, I completely expect you to do once you start getting into the upper-level classes and possibly also taking some Medical Studies classes -- you’re going to need to do some research on existing ones. Despite what some peo

BST 103: Dangerous Animal Safety
BST 103 AssignmentsBST 103: Dangerous Animal Safety
Assignment 1:
“In this department,” Cressida stated, sitting on her vine-covered desk, her expression quite serious and grim all of a sudden, “you will be working with a lot of very dangerous creatures. From sirens to dragons, from manticores to hellhounds – all right, Professor Baines was probably not very dangerous for a hellhound, but he’s not here anymore so that’s beside the point – you will find that this is not a very safe department. None of them are.”
Cressida clapped her hands together and stood up quite suddenly. “So! Because I’m a competent professor, I’m going to make sure that you’re all decently prepared to handle these creatures. Unless, of course, you simply choose to not pay attention.”
 “So, obviously, what I’m going to have you do first is design some form of protective equipment. You’re going to

BST 201: Creatures and the Body
BST 201 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
"In this class," Cressida began, "you're going to learn how to channel the powers of different animals with your own body. The strength of a bear, the grace and stealth of a panther, et cetera. You won't actually be physically transforming, but you're going to be taking on the traits of those animals nevertheless. Temporarily, at least. I would like to note, before we begin, that this form of beast magic won't grant you completely new abilities -- for example, you won't be able to fly at high speeds like a peregrine falcon unless you already know how to fly, and you won't be gaining the silk-spinning powers of a spider. But you will learn to augment your own natural abilities to a great degree using the abilities of animals. It's not a transformation of the body, it's a transformation of the spirit that affects the body. Right now, you're going to be focusing on one animal, but once you know how to do this, you can probably figure o

BST 202: Elemental Beasts
BST 202 AssignmentsBST 202: Elemental Beasts
Assignment 1:
“Now, in this particular class,” the witch stated, “we will be studying creatures that utilize the basic forms of elemental magic, that is, earth, air, water and fire, and then we will move on to more complicated elemental forms and eventually the unearthly element known as aether.”
Almost like a dramatic theater curtain, many of the vines hanging down behind Cressida were drawn away to the sides of the room, revealing a clearly impatient griffin and a small golem with glowing green eyes. “For example, a griffin such as Heracles here is a beast of the air, whereas a golem is an artificial creature of the earth. And yes, I created the golem myself. I have a rather… reactive form of magic.” The griffin stayed in place, but the golem tried to wander off and had to be stopped by Cressida’s plants. “You can find water creatures in even the most remotely magical body of water, suc

BST 203: Mythological Animal Habitats
BST 203 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"As you ought to know from the title, this class is about shapeshifting. You're going to learn how to partially transform your own body with the body parts of animals over the course of these assignments, and if you continue on in the course, you're going to learn how to transform yourself fully... and even become various magical creatures such as dragons," Cressida explained. "But before you actually start doing that, you're going to need to do some actual research. This is something you don't want to do improperly. There are quite a variety of potential problems with shapeshifting, and getting stuck in one form or reverting to an animalistic state are just two of the better known ones." Cressida indicated a few different pictures on the walls of what appeared to be humans transforming into other shapes, as well as a wolf pelt on the table next to her. "Shapeshifting is simply the ability to change one's form into something else, and appears all throughou

BST 204: Unique Monsters
BST 204 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“I don’t believe any of you have actually worked directly with unique hybrid creatures yet,” Cressida stated simply as she paced back and forth at the front of the room. “Perhaps at some point you’ll be able to actually create one yourself, but for now, you’re going to interact with one that actually exists already. You’re going to select a magical creature of some sort that could be considered a hybrid – preferably one that’s not exceptionally dangerous – and you’re going to study it. If you can find one in its natural habitat, that’s preferable, but there are quite a lot of unusual creatures kept near this very classroom as well.”
“Make sure you tell me all about its abilities and what sort of hybrid it is. Oh, and yes, it can be another student in the class – or even a visitor or a professor, if you can find one who fits and is willing to cooperate. There are ce

BST 301: Handling Beasts of the Air
BST 301 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“In this class, you’re going to be introduced to three types of creatures: one that lives in the sea, one that lives in the air, and one that lives on the land,” the witch explained. "First, you're going to be handling ones that live on the land. After all, most of us here at the academy also live on the land." Cressida let out a quiet chuckle as she paused briefly in her lecture. "Not all land creatures have earth-related abilities, obviously, whereas creatures that live in the sea or the air often have ways to manipulate those habitats. As such, land creatures are by far the most diverse of these three groups of creatures. What I want you to do is study the creatures on this list of magical land beasts and go out and meet one. If you can, convince it to come along with you, and you might just gain a new magical animal companion. If you really want to work with a beast of the land, you'll need to know about its various abilities and its specific

BST 302: Handling Beasts of the Water
BST 302 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
"In a lot of the other classes I've recently added to this department," Cressida stated in a decidedly matter-of-fact tone of voice, "you sort of... project something onto your spirit animal, the representation of you as a beast. But did you know that you can also do it in reverse?" The witch smiled. She was quite proud of herself for having come up with this class. "In this class, you're going to learn how to see through the eyes of beasts, and to do that, you have to essentially reverse the sort of thing you've been learning to do before. Instead of altering your spirit animal in some way, or using your spirit animal to alter something about yourself, you're projecting your own innate beast magic onto another creature. You're forcing some aspect of your own consciousness into it so you can see through its eyes." There were several cages and containers behind Cressida, each of them covered with a simple black cloth. Inside was a single small ani

BST 303: Handling Beasts of the Earth
BST 304 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“This class is going to be more science than magic,” Cressida stated, “but in the end, there’s a lot you’ll be able to apply to your own abilities.” A large poster unrolled itself at the front of the classroom, images appearing on it of Punnet squares and phylogenetic trees. “Inherited characteristics are determined by genes, and every gene has multiple possible alleles. As organisms typically have two or more copies of a gene, these alleles may be the same or different. In a diploid organism – that is, one where it has two copies of a gene – if it’s got two identical alleles for a given gen, it’s referred to as homozygous for that gene, whereas if it’s got two different alleles for that gene, it’s referred to as heterozygous. Normally, in a heterozygote, one allele will determine which form of the trait is expressed, and this is known as the dominant allele – but someti

BST 304: Handling Beasts of the Aether
BST 303 AssignmentsAssignment 1:

"You've already done your first report on shapeshifters in general, back in your BST 203 class," the professor stated. The shabby bear coat that she had demonstrated hung over the back of her chair, but she did not put it on. "This time, you're going to get a bit more focused. Before you start fully transforming into various animals, I want to make sure that you're aware of the dangers associated with such things. The reason why a full transformation is so much different from a partial transformation is simple: in a full transformation, more of your body is changing -- and your brain is changing also, to some extent. There are a multitude of dangers for any type of shapeshifting. You might have heard about selkies and similar creatures who can have terrible things happen to them if someone takes their seal skin while they're in human form. You can get stuck in an animal form, too, either in body, in mind, or both. There are a lot of different methods of shapeshift

BST 401: Breeding Mythological Beasts in Captivity (Contact me for further optional class customization!)
BST 401 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"All right, we're going to start off slowly here," Cressida stated. "In this class, what you're going to be doing is essentially either raising a rare mythical creature or creating your own unique monster and raising that instead. That choice is up to you, but first, you need to determine what sort of creature you want to raise." The witch indicated two diagrams on the classroom wall: one depicting a colorful sort of phoenix that was clearly an artist's rendition of a Fenghuang, and another depicting a strange, somewhat disturbing-looking hybrid creature with both reptilian and plant-like traits, which was labeled as a hybrid between a dryad and a basilisk. "So what you're going to do for this assignment is tell me what sort of creature you would like to raise. If it's an existing mythical creature, tell me what it is and why you chose it. If it's a unique hybrid of two or three creatures, tell me what those creatures are and what sort of result you expect


BST 402: Shapeshifting, Skinwalking, and Beasts (Contact me for further optional class customization!)
BST 402 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"Well, you're finally going to learn how to transform into a magical creature," Cressida explained happily. "Ever wanted to learn how to turn into a dragon? Or a unicorn? Or a kraken, perhaps? That sort of thing is what you're going to learn here." Once again, the witch nodded for emphasis. "However, I would like for you to take note of the fact that when it comes to your learned magic, choose your spells carefully while transformed. For example, if you became a firebird, it would probably be unwise to use ice magic until you revert back to your normal state. You will be able to use a lot of your magic, but it might not all be compatible with what you become. The principle is similar to a standard beast transformation, where you're going to be mapping the traits of an animal onto yourself via your spirit animal and visualizing a merging of that form with your physical body, but there's another step: since the creature into which you want to transform has i


BST 403: Creature Genetics (Contact me for further optional class customization!)
BST 403 AssignmentsAssignment 1:


"When you use the magic of a beast, it's important that you understand that beast in a biological sense," the professor said with a serious tone as she began the lecture. "And when you change a beast and its magic in some way, you need to understand it even more. So even now at such an advanced level, even though all your assignments are practical in some way, we're still going to start relatively slowly. First, you're going to give new traits to a beast, then you're going to learn how to breed a beast with another one in ways that completely circumvent the laws of mundane genetics, and finally you're going to learn how to permanently take on some of the innate powers of magical beasts."
"Back in BST 304, you learned how to slightly alter spiders with a specific magical terrarium and potion so they could take on some of your physical traits. This time, you're going to customize that a bit more. You choose the creature, you choose what kind of creatu


BST 404: Godlike Beasts (Contact me for further details -- this class is heavily customized for each student)
BST 404 AssignmentsBST 404: Godlike Beasts
Assignment 1:
It was obvious from the start that Cressida was taking this class even more seriously than the others. “I’m glad you’ve made it this far,” she stated, and although it was clear that she was being sincere, she did not smile, or even give her student one of her usual brief half-smiles. “You will need to take this class as seriously as I do, as we will be dealing with gods and godlike creatures in this class. You will need to treat them with respect, as they are stronger than you – and stronger than me as well. You’ll be meeting two different entities in this class – one beast associated with the gods, and one actual deity. But before that, you ought to do a bit of research. Actually, a lot of research.”
“Select any pantheon you wish. Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Aztec, Japanese, anything you want, and choose five gods from that pantheon. Provide me with a report on those five d

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The Beast Studies building was certainly decorated for Halloween, with giant pumpkins, spiderwebs that were almost certainly created by real spiders, and the occasional bubbling cauldron or flask of mysterious, sinister-looking liquid set up in the corner of a classroom (though at least one of these was actually just a large batch of healing potions that Cressida had forgotten to move before the students came in). The witch herself was nowhere to be found, initially, even as the students took their places in their seats.

Then, from outside the room, the students could hear the faintest sound of breaking glass as fog streamed through the doors -- and they had no more time to wonder about it before they heard a long, haunting, high-pitched wail.

Cressida made her way through the doors and to the front of the classroom, wearing a costume that almost certainly had required the use of temporary transformation potions. She was wearing a simple white dress and a gray cloak instead of her usual attire, and her hair was red instead of its usual pale blonde. She had a ghostly, fey-like appearance that indicated that she was no longer an ordinary human witch, but something entirely different.

"Happy Halloween, everyone. I hope you don't mind that I've temporarily changed my own species for this," Cressida stated. Her speaking voice was, at least, exactly the same as it always sounded. "Perhaps you'll get to do the same when I finally get the chance to restructure the Beast Studies classes. There have been some... complications." Her expression grew dark and grim for a few moments, indicating that those 'complications' were probably a bit more serious than just being her over-the-top attempt at putting together a costume. "Anyways!" Cressida clapped her hands together once, loudly. "As you can see, I'm a banshee right now, though by the end of all the lectures, you'll probably see the effect wear off and you can watch me go right back to being a human. Don't worry, no one here is actually going to die, not as long as I can help it. I'm not a harbinger of doom, I'm a harbinger of education." She grinned, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Of course, this is Otherworlde, so you'll have to be careful. Now, shall we begin?"

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BST 101: Introduction to Cryptid Theory
Assignments: BST 101 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
“The intersection of the magical world with the mundane world is really quite interesting,” Cressida began, “and nowhere is that intersection clearer than with sightings of cryptids. A cryptid is some sort of animal, or occasionally other form of life, that is generally hidden from the rest of the non-magical world, while still being present within it. Of course, you can often find cryptids in magical regions, as well, and perhaps some of you actually are cryptids.” That would certainly be interesting, Cressida decided. “There are all sorts of cryptids of all different types,” the witch explained. “One of my particular favorites is the Mongolian Death Worm. Look it up!”
The witch smiled at her students. This was an introductory class, after all, and so hopefully it wouldn’t be too difficult for people to pass.
“So, what you’re going to do for this assignment,” she continued, “
Enrollees:
Jon :iconkeplernova:
Sylvester :iconhellion-aingeal:
Reaper :iconcataclypsearisen:
Eizou :icongingerkingfisher:

BST 102: Animal Husbandry
Assignments: BST 102 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
 “We’re going to be working with all sorts of crossbreeds and hybrids in this class,” Cressida explained, “although, as some of them are very dangerous – basilisks and cockatrices, to name a few – and this is a beginner-level class, we’re not going to actually be working with any of those creatures just yet.” The witch clapped her hands, and something akin to a very large poster unrolled in front of the class, depicting diagrams of several hybrid creatures and the things that had been combined to create them. The creatures in the image seemed to move with a life of their own.
“Before you go about trying to produce new creatures – which, as this is a dark arts academy, I completely expect you to do once you start getting into the upper-level classes and possibly also taking some Medical Studies classes -- you’re going to need to do some research on existing ones. Despite what some peo
Enrollees:
Jon :iconkeplernova:

BST 103: Dangerous Animal Safety
Assignments: BST 103 AssignmentsBST 103: Dangerous Animal Safety
Assignment 1:
“In this department,” Cressida stated, sitting on her vine-covered desk, her expression quite serious and grim all of a sudden, “you will be working with a lot of very dangerous creatures. From sirens to dragons, from manticores to hellhounds – all right, Professor Baines was probably not very dangerous for a hellhound, but he’s not here anymore so that’s beside the point – you will find that this is not a very safe department. None of them are.”
Cressida clapped her hands together and stood up quite suddenly. “So! Because I’m a competent professor, I’m going to make sure that you’re all decently prepared to handle these creatures. Unless, of course, you simply choose to not pay attention.”
 “So, obviously, what I’m going to have you do first is design some form of protective equipment. You’re going to
Enrollees:
Jon :iconkeplernova:
Seth :iconawkwardquetzals:
Penny :iconchuchymacu:

BST 201: Creatures and the Body
Assignments: BST 201 AssignmentsAssignment 1:
"In this class," Cressida began, "you're going to learn how to channel the powers of different animals with your own body. The strength of a bear, the grace and stealth of a panther, et cetera. You won't actually be physically transforming, but you're going to be taking on the traits of those animals nevertheless. Temporarily, at least. I would like to note, before we begin, that this form of beast magic won't grant you completely new abilities -- for example, you won't be able to fly at high speeds like a peregrine falcon unless you already know how to fly, and you won't be gaining the silk-spinning powers of a spider. But you will learn to augment your own natural abilities to a great degree using the abilities of animals. It's not a transformation of the body, it's a transformation of the spirit that affects the body. Right now, you're going to be focusing on one animal, but once you know how to do this, you can probably figure o
Enrollees:
Daniel :iconmidgestic:
Cloe :iconshelbcake:

BST 202: Elemental Beasts
Assignments:  BST 202 AssignmentsBST 202: Elemental Beasts
Assignment 1:
“Now, in this particular class,” the witch stated, “we will be studying creatures that utilize the basic forms of elemental magic, that is, earth, air, water and fire, and then we will move on to more complicated elemental forms and eventually the unearthly element known as aether.”
Almost like a dramatic theater curtain, many of the vines hanging down behind Cressida were drawn away to the sides of the room, revealing a clearly impatient griffin and a small golem with glowing green eyes. “For example, a griffin such as Heracles here is a beast of the air, whereas a golem is an artificial creature of the earth. And yes, I created the golem myself. I have a rather… reactive form of magic.” The griffin stayed in place, but the golem tried to wander off and had to be stopped by Cressida’s plants. “You can find water creatures in even the most remotely magical body of water, suc
Enrollees:
Daniel :iconmidgestic:
Cloe :iconshelbcake:

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If you signed up for a class and you're not listed here, please inform me!

Assignments are due December 24, 11:59 PM, Eastern Standard Time.
Complete at least two of the three assignments and leave them here in comments with the student's name so I know who it is. NO COMMENT = NO EXP GIVEN.

Feel free to ask questions in-character or out-of-character!
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