Question Questions about Miasma (the phenomenon, not the Underdog) and Faex on campus

sigh Why is it that the good questions come to mind after the Q&A sessions end?

How do students and staff handle miasma (the ick left over from magical workings) on campus? Is it only created by certain types of workings, or as a consequence of certain mystic traditions (e.g., it comes up for Hermetic, Qaballic, and Western Alchemical magick, but maybe not Taoist, Druidic, Shamanic, or Native American praxes)? I can understand why it may not have come up in the past regarding students (aside from the likely fact that, AFAIK, Bek came up with it well after much of the canon was written), as it would presumably be sort of a 'brushing your teeth and using the toilet' sort of thing (much like gathering Essence would usually be), but I can see situations where it would come up in the future.

Also, are inherently magical beings such as Fae or Dragons subject to it, and if so, how do they cope with it? Specifically, I would have expected Fey to mention it at some point if they weren't, given the sheer amount of magic she uses, unless it weren't an issue for Faerie.

Fae and Dragons do have to cope with it. There's a reason that pixies and such pull 'pranks' on mortals: it's a way of getting rid of the crap. And you'll note that Dragons are known to lair in 'desolations'...

As for Nikki Reilly, the school's Mystic Arts department handles that. Why wasn't it mentioned? In another story, do you mention how the Chemistry teacher handles chemical byproduct?

OK, fair enough, it's the 'toothbrushing and toilet' sort of thing, as I was expecting.

Do we need a wiki entry on this, BTW, or should it be part of one of the pages on Magic in general? Presumably a separate page would be under 'faex', as 'Miasma' is already there referring to Nate.

Bek D Corbin wrote: In another story, do you mention how the Chemistry teacher handles chemical byproduct?

Almost a decade after finishing my M.S. degree, my former advisor was hired to teach a short class (Florida hydrostratigraphy) at my workplace. During one of the breaks he happened to mention the trouble the department went through in order to dispose of spent materials and byproducts from my thesis work. Such things can be a challenge.

I don't think too many people believed him when he mentioned how long I'd spent writing up my thesis, so maybe that was his way of pointing out that he still knew who and what he was talking about,

And you'll note that Dragons are known to lair in 'desolations'...

ie. It wasn't a desolation when the dragon moved in.

This might also be background flavour for both the Tech-Track students and the Magic Arts students.

"How to deal with messy lab-mates."

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Also, in the vignette where Miasma was discussed, it's actually a useful by-product if it's treated properly.

This goes for the chemical industry as well. The flouride that's added to drinking water is a by-product of the chemical industry, that they managed to turn into a profit source, rather than waste to clean up afterwards.

This would also be of interest to Ayla, as a profitable and "eco-friendly" magical industry.

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Since Whateley is sitting in the magical equivalent of a SuperFund site, the faculty would have a lot of "interesting" examples to show students why this is something to deal with. Whether the students survive the field visits unharmed will be another question...

Just a quick note: miasma and faex were first discussed in "The Final Trump", with the related vignettes coming later. Unless I missed one before then?

Also, are inherently magical beings such as Fae or Dragons subject to it, and if so, how do they cope with it? Specifically, I would have expected Fey to mention it at some point if they weren't, given the sheer amount of magic she uses, unless it weren't an issue for Faerie.

Miasma is an issue, the big thing here is that Faeries don't create hobgoblins when they miscast. Instead they attract Beast Fae that might then use the expense of energy to cross over and try to eat the Lordling. Miasma, yeah definitely, Fate Pacted Fae can read miasma using spells to trace those they are tracking. There are also a lot of spells that leave traces because they require such an invesiture from the user to invoke the power of a given Domain.