(1406)(AFD) Translation contest

[Leo Lockheart]

Further down from the snack table and chess boards, the line of tables and chairs continue.

These tables are barren, with the exception of the one Leo is seated at. At his table is a pile of manilla folders, each with the passage to be deciphered. The First Talon looked more sullen then before. He wasn't really sad, just nervous. Arrows had never had a reputation for being stupid, but being probably the only high school drop out in the Concilium gave one a certain self consciousness over these sorts of public displays of mental acuity.

The passage in english

It is peculiarly incumbent upon you who have strength to set a right example to others. I ask you to remember that you cannot retain your self-respect if you are loose and foul of tongue, that a man who is to lead a clean and honorable life must inevitably suffer if his speech likewise is not clean and honorable. Every man here knows the temptations that beset all of us in this world. At times any man will slip. I do not expect perfection, but I do expect genuine and sincere effort toward being decent and cleanly in thought, in word, and in deed. As I said at the outset, I hail the work of this society as typifying one of those forces which tend to the betterment and uplifting of our social system. Our whole effort should be toward securing a combination of the strong qualities with those qualities which we term virtues. I expect you to be strong. I would not respect you if you were not. I do not want to see Christianity professed only by weaklings; I want to see it a moving spirit among men of strength. I do not expect you to lose one particle of your strength or courage by being decent. On the contrary, I should hope to see each man who is a member of this society, from his membership in it become all the fitter to do the rough work of the world; all the fitter to work in time of peace; and if, which may Heaven forfend, war should come, all the fitter to fight in time of war. I desire to see in this country the decent men strong and the strong men decent, and until we get that combination in pretty good shape we are not going to be by any means as successful as we should be. There is always a tendency among very young men and among boys who are not quite young men as yet to think that to be wicked is rather smart; to think it shows that they are men. Oh, how often you see some young fellow who boasts that he is going to “see life,” meaning by that that he is going to see that part of life which it is a thousandfold better should remain unseen!

-Theodore Roosevelt, “Strength and Decency”

Rules for this event can be found here.

[Cryotic]

Orpheus liked to keep an open mind, even so he was a tad surprised to see Leo and Reverb in this little corner.

He'd always held the impression that the Arrow set this up as a consolation to the non-athletic folks. So much for open mind. He scolds himself as he takes a seat, Manila folder in hand.

[Anubite25]

Orobas cracks his knuckles and takes a seat. He's feeling confident as he poises his hand over the envelope.

"Best of luck, fellas," he says with a quick nod to the competition.

That's all he says before going silent and waiting for the signal to start.

[Samaritan]

Bishop made his way over to the tables. Academic contests were clearly more down his alley of strengths but he had no idea, how well he would do in an actual translation context.

He gave a wave at his contestants and grabbed himself one of the folders.

[Sirith]

Faith felt happy approaching the translation contest area. She was never the brightest when it came to the High Speech, but she enjoyed studying it and felt some subtleties were intriguing. Once she even got Eleagia to spill the beans about something that she called High Legalese. Maybe in the future.

Smiling to Bishop, she took one folder too. "Let's both enjoy this."

[Zodiac]

Mandy's appearance at the table was made without any form of pomp or announcement as she simply reached to take an envelope and inclined her head to the man at the table. She was curious about the contents, tempted in so many forms to check the pages... ah, but why? She cast a brief glance over those currently assembled and simply shook her head. She stood a fair enough chance all on her own without having to resort to something like that. Still, it would have been fun.

  Effective INT 5 (-1 mana)

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-16 14:59:19		Ozymandias rolls 8 to Augment the Mind (Int) (Gno+Mind+HS) (10 Again)		1, 9, 5, 1, 4, 4, 8, 4		2 successes

[Leo Lockheart]

Leo moved his arm over the pile of folders before Reverb could grab a hold of one. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I'll hand them out when we start." Leo then waves his hand towards the seats, signaling the assembling mages to sit.

"Good luck to you to Oroboras. And the others to of coarse." The First Talon smiled to the group. Someone was already casting and Leo wondered who.

Leo blocks anyone attempting to grab one of the folders.

[Cryotic]

Huh, casting in this event? Well, more power to em. People didn't become mages to not cast magic after all. And Leo said it himself, keep it covert. Orpheus had to keep himself from shaking his head. He considered trying to counterspell and keep things real, but it really wasn't all that important to burn Mana on.

"Are the old translations still around?" Orpheus asked. "If I remember right there were some unique symbols, I don't think I ever got the chance to fully look at last time." he had to grin. Where did people learn the Atlantean for these things?

[Snarlequin]

Auto joins the group, twirling a pen through his fingers, while the MC is collecting the folders from enthusiastic participants. Autolycus doubted he'd win this task, but that didn't really matter to him. It's the spirit of things that mattered, mystagogues should make at least a showing shouldn't they?

He didn't greet or nod at anyone while he took his seat though, you don't do that thing for SATs and he didn't see the need to do it for this.