Excerpts From Nonexistent Books

Magic is a rare and largely hereditary gift, very rarely showing itself outside of bloodlines that have long since produced powerful sorcerers. The standard test for such, called a wand test, occurs at age six. Parents wishing to test their children must purchase a wand, as they are absolutely necessary for the casting of any and all magicks. The child, wand in hand, will then be put through a series of simple tests to determine their magical aptitude. Most children will fail to register any meaningful results; only those from a sorcerous bloodline typically excel, though there are occasional, rare, exceptions.

While, by law, anyone with magical talent may attend any public school they wish, virtually all such students attend a private magical academy instead. Similarly, the privat magical academies are technically open to admission for anyone–so long as they are able to pass a magic test. In practice, it means that there is an almost total separation between the magical and mundane school systems. For instance, in Greenford, the home city of the Magnolian Academy, the majority of local students attend the Greenford School District, which is an ordinary K-12 school. Magnolian Academy students, on the other hand, while they do include some locals, are mostly recruited elsewhere and live on campus as boarders.

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A magic wand factory is nothing without sorcerers to use it, so the owners of Wickerby, Driftwood, and Ember had long supported and cultivated magical education in Greenford. The current school building used for the elementary school, which dates back to 1855, was paid for by the firm and still bears their name. But after the war, peace terms dictated at the point of a bayonet meant that the school had to serve everyone in the county, not just those who were sorcerers. This led Wickerby, Driftwood, and Ember to break off and found their own private academy on the factory grounds. Magnolian Academy was born, and it graduated its first class of sorcerers in 1868. Endowed by the profits of the Wickerby, Driftwood, and Ember wandworks, it soon became a magnet school for well-to-do sorcerers who wanted their children to have the finest magical education available, and as a private institution it was exempt from the federal laws officially preventing discrimination against the nonmagical.

With a current enrollment of 1000 students, Magnolian is run as a traditional English-style boaring school, with students living on-site for two terms a year with summer and winter breaks in between. The students wear uniforms while in class, and are generally restricted to the grounds–for their own safety, as the factory is nearby.

While Magnolian was originally strictly male-only, this sort of admission standard was struck down in a court case mid-century, leading Magnolian to enroll its first young sorceresses in 1955, becoming completely co-educational. This led to its current official name, the Magnolian Academy for Young Sorcerers and Sorceresses.

The current headmaster is Cyrus Ember III, the great-great-great-grandnephew of the school’s original founder and one of the most talented and world-reknowned sorcerers of his age. A fierce proponent of high academic standards and of a prominent role for magically-inclined people in civil society, he maintains an international stature and is regarded by many as a hero. Obadiah Driftwood, the current foreman of the wand factory, also serves as a professor of magical fabrication, while Elijah Wickerby sits in his ancestor’s seat on the Board of Trustees.

Athletics are also a high priority at Magnolian, and its American Portalball team, the Magnolian Marauders, are a 12-time MSAA Division 1 champion. Many fans and alumni flock to the school for its home games every fall, which are not only open to the paying public but also regularly recorded for broadcast.

Yes, if you have magically inclined children and a desire to see them educated to the finest international magilaureate standards, Magnolian is the obvious choice.

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It has long been an accepted fact that the best magical wands currently available for purchase are from the firm of Wickerby, Driftwood, and Ember, still located in its original location of Greenford. In the 1820s, with the incredible productivity of the land making it for a time the wealthiest per capita in the world (for citizens, anyhow), those who are magically gifted and inclined were forced to import wand made elsewhere, often at great expense, The wands made at Thirodeux in New Orleans were disdained as being too French, while those coming out of Schiarvelli in New York were seen as too Northern. So three of the most gifted sorcerers in the state pooled their resources to create the factory: Silas Wickerby, Enos Driftwood, and Leonidas C. Ember. Wickerby was a lawyer by trade and drew up the contracts; Driftwood a timberman who sourced materials, and Ember a machinist who made the parts. Together, they were able to manufacture a magical wand that could compete with any in the world, and it wasn’t long before everyone who was anyone carried a Wickerby, Driftwood, and Ember wand.

Of course, there were difficult times as well. The factory was seized and burned by the 35th Sorcerous Brigade of the Union Army during the late unpleasantness, and the then-owners Wickerby Jr., Driftwood III, and old man Ember himself were forced to buy it back using their own money. But with time, the factory once again regained its former preeminence. Indeed, the three families control it to this day using the same legal instrument.

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Name: Superb Bird of Paradise
Peckédex Number: 992
Type: Sour type, exotic type
Weakness: Sweet type
Evolves From: Superb Bird of Limbo

Description:
This blinged-out bird is lord of the dance as it uses its wings and breast feathers to create a horrifying mask to bob and weave for the benefit of the rare señoritas. The females reject 15-20 males, having notoriously high standards.

Attacks:
Face Dance (male only): The male Superb Bird of Paradise does his characteristic dance, overwhelming the enemy with sour-type damage with a possibility of stunning it. Can only be used once per battle.

Reject (female only): The female Superb Bird of Paradise can reject an enemy attack like a failed mating dance; the attack causes no damage and inflicts no status effects. Can only be used once per battle.

Fancy Peck: The Superb Bird of Paradise does a peck for minor sour-type damage.

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Name: Red-Crowned Crane
Peckédex Number: 513
Type: Earth type, Shorebird type
Weakness: Air type
Evolves From: Pink Heir-Apparent Crane

Description:
A symbol of felix and fidelity, these monogamous migrators rule the roost from Hokkaido to Manchuria. Manhandling mud to shake loose tasty creatures, escaping these cranes is a tall order!

Attacks:
Monogamy Mash – The Red-Crowned Crane summons its mate; if it appears, the effectiveness of its next earth-type attack is increased. Has a chance of failure, or to summon a chick instead for a much lower damage increase.

Mud Fling – The Red-Crowned Crane digs its beak deep into the mud and flings it at a foe for earth-type damage with a chance of blindness. Air-type enemies are immune. There is a slight chance that the mud will contain prey, healing the Red-Crowned Crane for damage equal to what it would have inflicted.

Hokkaido Honk – The Red-Crowned Crane delivers its trademark honk, delivering mild non-elemental damage. If Monogamy Mash has successfully summoned its mate, the move is upgraded to a duet, with added earth-type damage.

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Name: Snowcap Hummingbird
Peckédex Number: 497
Type: Air type, Hummer type
Weakness: Earth type
Evolves From: Slushcap Hummingchick

Description:
Male Snowcap Hummingbirds were into frosted tips before they were cool! Along with their greener ladyfriends, these nectar nerds are superstars of the Honduran nation and the pollen nation!

Attacks:
Tsitsup! – The Snowcap Hummingbird plummets at its foe with a mighty chirp, inflicting piercing air-type damage.

Pistil Packin’ – The Snowcap Hummingbird drinks the nectar of a nearby flower, renewing health with a chance to bestow a positive status effect. Flowers range from a trumpetflower (most common) to a Rafflesia arnodi (least common).

Hailstorm – The Snowcap Hummingbird summons a hailstorm to inflict damage on its foe. The more flowers it has sipped from via Pistil Packin’ in the current battle, the more damage is inflicted.

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Name: Melanistic Barn Owl
Peckédex Number: 629
Type: Quiet type, Owl type
Weakness: Noisy type
Evolves From: Melanistic Toolshed Owlet

Description:
The melanistic version of the Barn Owl trades in the fan-favorite alien abduction mythos for dark magic, weaving a spell of night silence that not even the strongest foes can penetrate!

Attacks:
Hoot Sweet – The melanistic Barn Owl produces a small snack and eats it, regenerating health and possibly conferring a positive status effect. The meals range from a mouse (most common, heals a small amount of HP) to an axolotl (rarest, confers health regeneration and elemental resistance).

Cloak of Night – The melanistic Barn Owl rises up and drops from the shadows like a phantom, inflicting quiet-type damage and with a chance to inflict silence and/or blindness. Noisy-type enemies are immune.

Heart-Shaped Strike – The melanistic Barn Owl delivers a double rake of its claws followed by a peck for non-elemental damage. Damage is increased by 1.5x for targets which are silent or blind.

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Name: Golden Conure
Peckédex Number: 629
Type: Metal type, Parrot type
Weakness: Wood type
Evolves From: Silver Proure

Description:
This bird’s brilliant hue has made it a target for traders hoping to cash in its gold for green, but in the wild it is a gregarious and social parrot, ready to shine brilliantly in any situation!

Attacks:
Summon Helpers – The gregarious Golden Conure attempts to summon 1-3 helper birds that will mirror its next action at 1/4 strength. Between 0 (most likely) and 3 (least likely) birds will be summoned, and can only be dispelled by a Wood-type attack.

Smelt Dealt – The Golden Conure pours liquid gold over its foes for metal-type damage. Surviving foes gain a random amount of money.

Geecaw – The Golden Conure retrieves a precious item from its cavity nest and drops it on its foe for a variety of damage types. The items range from a pebble (most common) to an anvil (least common).

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Name: Gyrfalcon
Peckédex Number: 362
Type: Water type, Murderbird type
Weakness: Fire type
Evolves From: Souvlakite

Description:
This icy raptor of the high arctic is a stone cold killer, either as an independent agent or a murderbird-for-hire in falconry. Nesting in the same chilly crevasses for centuries, if not millennia, the Gyrfalcon’s dedication to its craft is sure to make one’s head spin.

Attacks:
Icy Spin – The Gyrfalcon dives and spins at its foe, delivering piercing water-type damage.

Gyrfalcon Punch – The Gyrfalcon rakes enemies with its claws for hefty non-elemental damage.

Cliff Drop – Calling on its young nesting high above, the Gyrfalcon pelts enemies with rocks. The longer the Gyrfalcons have nested in that spot, the harder the rocks, and the more likely they are to inflict status effects.

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Name: Shiny American Robin
Peckédex Number: 011a
Type: Fire type, Thrush type
Weakness: Water type
Evolves From: Scruffy Spotbreast

Description:
The shiny version of the American Robin doubles down on its fiery temperament, dawn punctuality, and appetite for annelids. The result is a worm-seeking missile that is not to be underestimated, heralding a spring for the ages backed up by a badass brood.

Attacks:
Earliest Bird – The Shiny American Robin takes two turns in a row at the cost of its next turn.

Annelid Annihilation – This upgraded Wormstrike adds fire-type damage to the move with a chance to stun enemies and instantly defeat water-type foes.

Firebreast Storm – The Shiny American Robin’s breast grows red-hot, causing all melee attacks for the next three turns to inflict fire-type damage on any foes.

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