T: Temporicide & tephromancy: A party tradition at the University of Jubylon

Temporicide (noun) Killing time.
Tephromancy (noun) Divination by ashes.

There seems to have been quite a few fireplaces in the University of Jubylon, because the students there invented a tradition of tephromancy, divination or scrying in ashes. The story (the term today would be "the urban myth") is that it happened at a student party during the summer when someone held a party in unexpectedly hot weather, when somebody doused a fire by pouring cheap white wine on it. Someone then made a show out of "scrying" through the pattern made in the wet ashes of who was going to pass Practical Moral Philosophy, who was going to throw up before midnight and who wasn't going home alone. Presumably due to sheer coincidence, three fourths of the predictions came true (including one young student who not only passed Practical Moral Philosophy for the first time, he also went along back to someone else's home that evening).

A tradition like this obviously flourished among bored people with a solid regular intake of wine, so the students continued this tradition at parties, especially parties held before results of final written exams back and everyone went home for the summer. A collection of ashes would be found close to midnight (usually in a fireplace or sometimes an ashtray) and a glass of cheap wine would be thrown over it. “Divinations” would be then taken usually to answer questions about grades, or sometimes romances or flings. In short, it became a party game, something to pass the time, but it was always done with an air of sincerity with people only laughing in the background. Someone who had attended a tephromancy session before would be declared “The Mistress of Ashes” / ”The Master of Ashes”, who would then do the “divinations” and “interpretations” as an answer to the questions posed. In short, it was the inside joke amongst students at the University of Jubylon.

One effect of the tradition also influenced was it made for a place to meet new people. That meant that out of an intentionally pointless activity, friendships, relationships (it was sometimes also used at stag do or hen night), and businesses grew. The founders of the large law firm Carpentier & Sheedy met as young law students. The predictions about them also came true (as in they both threw up within the hour of the “divinations” were made). They would later do many “divinations” as part of their preparations, as it helped them ease up before important court cases. That meant that more often than not, they appeared in court with grey dust on their fingers which earned them the nickname of “Carpentier & Sheedy, the time-killing lawyers”.