Collegium Ars Magica Ch. 01

"Welcome with Grace and Benedictions, Neophytes Novitiatae to the Collegium Ars Magica." The woman standing before them in elegant Magisterial garb was recognized by all, even those who hadn't yet officially met her, "My name is Sorus Rogan, however you may address me simply as Matrion, as I will be playing mother to your Novitium, my new brood of hatchlings."

"Likewise, my name is Fratus Dander, but you may address me as Patrion," her dapper male companion beamed. "As your Official Magisterial Guardians, we will be directly charged with overseeing all aspects of your Service for the foreseeable future, as well as mediating any personal...issues which may arise amongst your Novitium."

The Neophytes, waking to find themselves entwined in a single mass of sweaty, sated, naked bodies, each struggled in vain to emerge from the hazy torpor left in the wake of the previous night's celebration.

Together they had been ushered from the dais by an assembly of grinning Magisters, transported thru a thick, golden curtain and into an enclosed private banquet chamber, separated from the general feasting in which the assembled celebrants outside partook. Music emanated thruout the chamber and the air was filled with rich plumes of incense. Initially they were each allowed brief visits by any of their attendant kin who wished to congratulate them and pass on any final Benedictions before their departure. Eventually only the Neophytes and a significantly more numerous host of attendant Magisters were sequestered in the chamber and the Neophytes had been encouraged to feast heartily (with ominous humor about lean times ahead) and to drink freely of the libations provided, none of which seemed even mildly alcoholic yet rather had boasted pleasantly potent herbal and floral flavors. They were encouraged to share tales of their past lives, of their prior magical feats, and even of their more personal, erotic exploits. The mood rapidly grew increasingly euphoric and uninhibited, most likely an effect of the potions they were continuously handed and challenged to quaff.

The music gradually yet steadily increased in its tempo and fervor and before long the Neophytes found themselves dancing together with abandon, unashamedly divesting themselves of their garments until eventually they were all completely bare, entangled in a licentious grope fest, hands and mouths exploring the contours and flavors of their newly formed Novitium. Yet even with the highly charged eroticism of the events, none of the lads could remember attaining erections thruout the entire night, nor the ladies recall any penetration of their eager passages by anything other than playfully curious fingers or tongues; perhaps this was another effect of the potions they'd been given. However all could vaguely recall seemingly endless episodes of rapturous orgasmic response both personally and witnessed repeatedly in the others.

"Priorities of your Service will be dictated to you by ourselves along with the other Advisori Adepti of the Collegium," Matrion continued. "While we endeavor to encourage the cultivation of your unique, individual talents in regards to your understanding and wielding of magical energies, our Practicum will simultaneously discourage any constricting and distracting elements of your self-centered upbringing in order to enable you to engage collectively, fully and without hesitation."

"It is to this end that the Hazing Elixir is traditionally employed during the Noctus Novitial," Patrion interjected. "No doubt you have already grown closer than you may have expected to have so soon, or ever," he chuckled, "and to your eventual delight, you will find that this is only a commencement of things to come, altho the Hazing will no longer be administered to you as a regular part of your Neophyte Service."

"To jump directly to the heart of the matter, 'Sex is Magic'," Matrion took over, "or rather, more precisely, your sexual energy is a master key to unlocking your magical abilities. So regardless of your previous values or beliefs on the issue, a rigorous sexual training will be at the core of your Novitium Service."

"But this will be no idyl of mundane mating clouded by romantic notions and emotional manipulations, which inevitably sow seeds of discord," Patrion elucidated. "Henceforth, your coupling, or tripling or multipling as it may well be, will be directed and overseen by we two, primarily, and later by your individual Advisori Adepti, our most esteemed colleagues, Grace and Benedictions upon their Service, with whom you will be introduced at your earliest convenience upon your arrival in Tarsen Heights Hall. However, you are highly encouraged to indulge freely in continued erotic stimulation as you will within your Novitium so as to strengthen your group bond; however, any coital union other than those explicitly advised and directed by ourselves or your other Advisori Adepti for purposes of training is duly prohibited and will be severely reprimanded. And in case you might be considering it, I assure you there is no way to hide transgressions from us; that includes you, Liro" he smirked.

"Your bodies will henceforth be fortified as advanced instruments to absorb, store, generate, and dispel magical energies, your minds disciplined to the awareness of these energies, their patterns, and their subtle manipulations," Matrion concluded. "Your hearts will be cleansed and purified by Grace and Benedictions that you might become Worthy Vessels for the indwelling Light and Song of the Presence of Assumption."

"You have until coming midday to rest here and recover from the aftereffects of the Hazing; thru the archway is a bath hall which you are hereby officially advised and directed to attend at your earliest ability," Patrion directed them. "Robes of Neophyte Status will be provided for you at noon along with a light luncheon to be served directly before we all embark for the Campus Collegium in Tarsen Heights, your new home. Enjoy these few remaining hours, they will be the most leisure you may experience for a considerable while."

"Grace and Benedictions upon your Service, Neophytes Novitiatæ!" the pair intoned together, then they turned as one and passed thru the thick, dark curtain on the far wall thru which they had all entered.

***

"Well who would ever guess that the Magisterium is a sex cult?" Liro laughed weakly. "They keep it all so well covered up behind their proper Magisterial robes and cryptic speech."

"Well I'm not at all surprised by it," offered Xosana, a voluptuous young woman with a warm, tan skin tone approximating the ubiquitous sandstone of the city and its surroundings and long curly rich chestnut locks cascading beyond her outstandingly plump breasts. "I suppose being raised by a fertility priestess might account for that tho," she chuckled.

Eriad lifted his head and cocked his eye in her direction, recalling images of her vivacious interactions the previous night, both with him and...well pretty much everyone in the Novitium as he remembered, including the other ladies; he had high hopes that he would be advised and directed to pair with her in their upcoming training, tho truthfully all three of the ladies were stunning in their own right and he had certainly enjoyed the attentions that each of them had given him the previous night, even without achieving full coital union. Recalling Fratus Danders' warning jogged his memory back to a particular detail that had strongly caught his curiosity. "Liro, what did Dander mean by singling you out in his warning about extra-curricular unions?"

The pale youth flushed a deep ruddy color from the roots of his raggedy coal black mane down almost to the level of his nipples. "Oh, it's nothing really..." he muttered while silently supplicating for divine intervention.

"No, not nothing!" insisted the fierce Pitarao woman, suddenly bolting upright and placing a strong hand against Liro's chest, over his heart. "You no tell lies to us; you speak just truly!" Her dark smoldering eyes bored mercilessly into his, her teeth bared in a savage grin that inspired fear more than a sense of friendly ease.

"Might as well spit it mate," Eriad joined in. "Dander called you out for some reason and he did it conspicuously in front of us all. As tight as those two run their show, I'm sure it was no accident, so he must have intended for us to dig about it; if you clam up I'll bet he just finds a way to display it to us anyway. It's probably some kind of trust building exercise, to strengthen our bond."

"Yeah, out with it Liro," chided Xosana, "like they advised us, we have to open up and get past any repressions so we can succeed with our training as a team, so you owe it to us to confess."

"Oh fuck!" Liro spouted out in exasperation. "Alright...so once I hit puberty...well my latent talent showed up of course..." He was obviously stalling as everyone was well aware that puberty was the most common time for magical powers to first manifest; the rest of them silently urged him to continue. "...and so it turned out I'm a pretty good natural Summoner...and soooo..." he trailed off into another silence, swallowing hard.

Eriad suddenly burst out laughing, surprising the others and causing Liro to squirm uncomfortably. "Oh Liro..." he gasped, "oh mate, this is rich...hahahahaha..."

"What are you on about?" Xosana demanded with a giggle.

"Oh Liro please...don't make me be the one...to out your dirty little...not-so-secret!" Eriad fell back in a fit of shaking rolling laughter.

"I not track it, what he's say, what of you are Summoner..." Chenasi glared, then her eyes widened along with her smile and she looked to Eriad. "Oh I track now, Summoning...how you say them...?"

Eriad wheezed and squeezed out, barely audible "Succubi..." then shook again hysterically.

"No...really?!?" Xosana turned to face Liro in surprise.

"Aaaarrrggghhh!! Liro answered in frustration.

Xosana quickly moved to wrap the mortified young man in an ample, breasty hug. "It's okay, sweetie, there's nothing to be ashamed of, you were just exploring your sexuality...and, well, your abilities, I'm sure..."

Somewhat relieved now that the secret was out, and delightfully comforted by the lovely embrace, Liro opened up. "Well it's not like I had any other options...my mother just kept me locked up in the house...most always alone in my chamber...and I was so bored and horny..." he began to sob with the release of long repressed frustration and anxiety.

Eriad eventually recovered from his fit and, still catching his breath, he offered, "Liro, seriously, pardon me for laughing...it was just so ridiculous that you were ashamed of it...I mean, it's such a cliche, just about every lad wishes he could Summon a Succubus at will at that age...kudos to you, you got to live the dream," he chuckled again. "I'm glad you got it off your chest; no hard feelings, eh chap?"

Liro peered up from the cushiony bosom enveloping him and gave a wan smile thru his tears. "Yeah I guess I did need to move past that, thanks for pushing me off the fucking edge."

"No worries, I bet you'll do the same for me sometime." He reached out his hand and Liro grasped it clumsily and gave it a little shake.

"So just out of curiosity...was it just Succubus...or Succubi?" Eriad winked.

"Well, even one is far beyond satisfying, you know?"

"No, honestly I never have experienced even one, they're really not so welcome...uh, where I grew up...there were Wards up everywhere..."

"Yeah my father did that too when he first found out..." Liro commiserated.

"So was it just one time...or a few?"

Liro paused a moment then shuddered and said, "No, I guess it turns out I'm a pretty good Summoner. The Wards stopped me a while at first, but once I learned how to work around them...well I got so good the Wards didn't ever detect them for quite some time..."

"Hmmmmm, how much time are we talking?" Eriad asked.

"Well, until...about a week ago..."

"What?!? You were summoning Succubi past Wards for what...years? Without getting caught?" Liro kept nodding. "Well now I know why you're so thin and pale! How'd you get pinched, mate? I gotta know!

"Well, when my father petitioned an assessment with the Collegium for me...he's a pretty well renowned Magistrate by the way and he was really pushing to get me in. I couldn't really care less at that point, I figured I'd already found my calling. Well, I went for the assessment and something tipped Fratus Dander off and he had Father set up a Scry trap in my chamber. Since it wasn't a Ward I didn't feel any resistance but it got triggered on when I summoned them..."

"Wait, them?!?" Eriad interrupted. "How many did you summon?"

"Um, just three that time..."

"Holy fuck, mate, you're fast on your way to becoming my personal hero!"

Liro perked up a bit at hearing that. "Really?"

"Yeah, and not just because you were getting super-sexed by multiple Succubi; it's more the ballsy initiative of it and, well, the sheer ability to summon multiple Fæ spirits past Wards specifically designed against them...that's just amazingly impressive!"

"Wow, thanks Eriad, that means a lot to me! Seriously, this is the first time I've ever got to really tell anyone about it who could appreciate it, I mean, I confessed when I got caught, but it wasn't like I could boast about it then."

"Well why not? Dander sniffed it out and caught you red-handed, as it were, and then you ended up getting selected, so someone else must have been impressed too!"

"Yeah now that you mention it, I guess I never saw it that way...it seemed like just some, I don't know, like a secret they held over me...but now that he brought it up, I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought."

"That's what shame will do to you sweetheart; I'm glad you are learning that now." Xosana hugged him tighter and planted a juicy kiss on his cheek.

"So you said just three that time; what's the most you ever Summoned at once?"

"Ummm...my record was thirteen at one time..."

"Bullshit! How are you even alive man?!?"

"I'd rigged an Expulsory into the circle and I triggered it as soon as I had them all there; it was just too much energy to contain and I knew I wouldn't survive if they all got ahold of me, so I just flipped them back quick into the Astral. Seriously...I just wanted to see if i could do it."

Eriad placed his hand over his heart, "It's official, you're my hero. How did you even figure out how to do this stuff without training?"

"Well, I had access to my father's library...um...thru an Intercessor spirit I summoned; it would research and report what I wanted to know."

"Mate, you are too much!"

"Well you know the old saw about 'idle hands being the Fiend's playground'..."

"In your case it sounds more like 'necessity is the Mother of resourcefulness!' I'd bet your hands were probably pretty busy before you figured out what you could do."

"Of course, that was how I first Summoned one...wasn't even really trying but it was a lot more, um...productive than my manual efforts had been. Which reminds me...you mentioned you've never experienced one, and I've read that they are fairly commonly in attendance of heat-dreams during puberty; apparently the unresolved urges lure them in when the sleeping mind has no ability to block them. So I'm curious about why you grew up with them so Warded off..."

Xosana laughed uproariously, a truly amazing experience from Liro's current position. "Oh right, you're not from around here so perhaps you haven't heard yet about the darling of Trevethall."

"Well to be fair, I didn't get out enough to hear much about society. I did notice he got a really loud answering when he was Summoned."

"Yeah he's quite the talk of the town; he would be most-eligible-bachelor material if he weren't so scandalous. See, our little Eriad's mama is just about the biggest whorekeep in the Western Reach, if not the entire Shining Realm!"

Eriad sniffed, "We prefer the term 'prestigious Courtesan' if it's all the same to you."

"So you grew up surrounded with sex?" Liro gaped.

"Well, in a way. Mama runs a very successful Couteri , so there were always plenty of talented nubile young ladies in training and they did tend to dote on me...it wasn't all sex all the time, mind you, there are a myriad of refinements to the art, but I did grow up swimming in a sea of lusty, gorgeous women, and once I came of an age, well, I'll just say I was never lacking highly qualified and enthusiastic female companionship."

"Ok, now it's mutual, you're my hero too."

"Well unlike you, I didn't do anything impressive to earn that title, I was just born into the lap of licentious luxury. Similarly, it got me bit of an undeserved reputation as a ladies man, in the court and by extension thruout the city. As glamorous as it may seem, it's not all you would imagine, and I've always been itching to move beyond it and find something more significant to occupy my time."

"Alright, I can see why you wouldn't necessarily attract Succubi to you, if you we're perpetually sexually satisfied, but I still don't understand why a Whorekeep would require Wards against them."

"Well, for starters, it's really not a 'Whorekeep', its more of a social academy for young ladies of...special talent; and mostly the ladies would go out to...entertain. So...as you likely know from your studies, Succubi and Incubi are actually one in the same, androgynous Fæ fertility spirits? They don't have any fixed gender but conform their appearance to the desires of the person who attracts them. So officially the wards were there to keep out Incubi; imagine a house full of perpetually horny young ladies who spend their nights entertaining rich, old men who rarely have concern for their pleasure, and their days cooped up with each other reliving their disappointments. Can you see how that would be a recipe for disaster, from a business standpoint at least, if Incubi were allowed to get anywhere near the place?

"Yeah, suddenly the ladies would have a lot less motivation to go out and earn their keep..." Liro answered.

"Right, not to mention the energy drain on them, which you must know...um, intimately...and these ladies are already high-maintenance to keep them in optimal performance. The cost of feeding them would rise to offset the energy drain, then add on visits from healers plus potions and remedial rituals to treat listlessness. They'd require more diligent painting to cover the visual signs detracting from their natural healthy glow. They'd have diminished desire, which would degrade their performance for paying clients even when you got them to go out..."

"Not to mention the fact that they can induce pregnancy in females with the seed they take from males; they're really just pollinator spirits that are adapted to humans instead of flowers." Xosana was excited to add her expertise on the issue to the conversation, and admittedly was getting a bit tired of listening to Eriad's monologue; seriously, the pointed youth seemed to have analysed the potential impacts on the Couteri ad nauseum, perhaps like someone planning to run his own some day.

"Yeah, it all makes more sense now...I guess even with all the personal experience I had with them, it was all pretty sheltered in a way."

"Yeah, you just needed to get sprung from that box you were trapped in. Your mother seemed to have some serious abandonment anxiety when you got Summoned."

"If she had her way, I'd never have left the house. Father is always traveling on assignments and she grew up the youngest child in a large noble family, always surrounded by other people. When they married, she left all that behind and found out that being the wife of a rather solitary Senior Magistrate who's devoted to his duties first and foremost wasn't as romantic as she imagined. He had her set up in a nice guilded cage, already pregnant with me, in a little hamlet far enough from the culture and intrigue of the city and the court; then he just continued to traipse around the whole Shining Realm on his "special Investigations" which he was sworn to secrecy about. Father didn't believe in hiring servants, "a waste of money" he said, so Mother had to figure out all the intimate details of running a household herself, which her noble upbringing had never prepared her for, then how to care for an infant without any family around. She didn't have any friends in Wendelstorp because she never went out anywhere, so she just created a little isolated world for the two of us and never dared to expand her boundaries because her first attempt, getting married, had been such an absolute failure she was afraid she might make things worse. Instead she just fixated on me, and it really was almost amazing in a way until I hit puberty and she couldn't provide for my new needs, then...well, the whole Succubus incident really disturbed her. I think she was ultimately willing to ignore any indications of it after that initial discovery; as long as I didn't want to go out and leave her alone in that house, she was willing to look the other way and leave me to my vice. So I reclused in my chamber while she flitted around the house and doted on me thru my closed door, content to have at least my presence for meals and another voice to listen to through a closed door. Shit, it seems even more dismal now that I have a little perspective from it; until now I just hid all that beneath my desperation and my illicit affairs. I wonder how she'll manage without me there."