Mod Account for Diatu Magicademy ([personal profile] magicademymods) wrote in [community profile] diatu2019-05-03 01:19 pm
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May Event and Intro Log


May Event and Intro Log



DAWN OF THE FIRST DAY



May I Have This Dance?


    Though Diatu Magicademy has its share of social events, few capture the attention of the student body quite like the Twilight Ball -- that magical once-a-year dance that crosses the change of day into night and is given over entirely to the dance itself. The focus is not on political visitors, rival schools, local government, or hitting up alumni for money; it is entirely about the pleasure that comes from accompanying a charming and attractive person onto the dance floor and cutting the proverbial rug.

    It is entirely possible the Twilight Ball is beloved because the general student body is aggressively amorous, but no one admits that out loud.

    With the dance on the horizon, the mission of the day becomes finding a partner -- or asking the prettiest or nicest or most tsundere to the ball before anyone else does. The Sundered are particularly popular by virtue of being new, so students may find themselves fending off invitations or even crowds of people interested in being seen on their arms. Even the younger Sundered have a few people in their age group who'd like to pretend they're just as adult as the older students.

    To avoid the mob, one strategy is to find someone else in dire straits and agree to be their date, thus giving both of you protection now and then. Another, stranger, vastly more unorthodox strategy is to actually ask someone out legitimately... if you've got the guts.

    (The third strategy is to go with Headmaster Birony, who has been occasionally heard to bemoan loudly and publicly that she has nobody, HINT HINT. But who could possibly be THAT desperate?)


Love Is In The Water


    Love potions are absolutely, positively, one hundred percent forbidden, on the grounds they tread far too close to the supremely black Curriculum of Dictation. This ultimate and unforgiving ban is every bit as effective as Anastara's rules limiting the speed of carts in the street to a horse's walk.

    So, yes, there's love potion in the water. Someone spilled an entire bucket in the river. These things happen. Luckily, as diluted as it is, the potion doesn't reach the levels of obsessive compulsion that the worst of them can; a person drinking a unfortunate draught instead simply finds themselves attracted in a weird and sharp sort of way to the first person they lay their eyes on, for a period of about thirty minutes.

    Diatu Magicademy is an inclusive and progressive institution, and consequently these potions affect and can target all manner of beings, from ducks and wolf-shifters to robots and dragons. They are pretty convenient about failing to bring about really skeevy pairings, though, so don't worry about being Hot For Professor.


Special Delivery (aka the Least Embarrassing Prompt, which is a sad state of affairs)


    A quick, easy, profitable way to make some money this time of year is by delivering messages, packages, parcels, and treats to students who've caught the eye of another. Whether anonymous or gloriously identified, small token of esteem or bristling bundles of roses and chocolates, the population of the Magicademy takes particular delight in letting others know their feelings. Not always positive feelings, either -- glitter-bomb rejections have only recently begun to diminish in popularity, being replaced by Pie-To-The-Face spells.

    An enterprising student who adds their own spin to this hallowed ceremony of delivery can make bank; singing and performance are popular ways to enhance a message among Valhudor students, and a recent trend finds quartets delivering acapella harmonies to the recipients of love notes. But simple note hauling can still be worth your while... so long as you don't find yourself delivering a creepy confession from a weirdo to one of your dear friends. What are the odds of that happening, though?


Research On the Sundered


    With the arrival of the Sundered come those wizards engaged in research on their presence here, now set to investigate what brought them here and how to get them home. All newly-arrived Sundered students are asked to meet with representatives of the research team, to introduce themselves and relate what they will of their homes. In addition, the team requests samples of blood, hair, and skin -- carefully magically collected, and the researchers will sign in the presence of the Sundered a Glyphed contract that forbids them from using the samples for a purpose they know will be harmful. (They quite understand your reasons to be suspicious of this collection! And they will not compel anyone who refuses even given these conditions.)

    This month, however, the research team informs its applicants that there is no magic being performed. Instead, they ask you to participate in partnered interviews, in which two Sundered compare their worlds and ask each other questions while the researchers take notes. They explain that they wish to find commonalities and differences between worlds, in the hopes that this will help them identify a larger pattern in how the Sundered were brought here.

    How is this bad enough to merit earning a reward this month? As it happens, the researchers who sit with the pair have an Intimation Crystal, which shines red every time someone speaks to deceive in its presence.
    Lie or omit information or cover with half-truths and the interviewer will ask you to go back and try again -- and they encourage you to speak on everything you can. You might end up venturing into dark or unpleasant territory in these interviews...




DAWN OF THE SECOND DAY



Welp, This Happened


    A quiet weekend morning is abruptly quiet no longer.

    With a tumultuous shuddering and an eerie, whistling roar, the first tendril of a far mightier being surges out of a wall on campus, venturing into the cloud-shadowed outdoors for the first time in its existence in this plane. Then, like a cloak shrugged off, the outbuilding it emerged from rises up only to crash to the ground as the Sundered creature rises up to claim it glory.

    It is a nightmare, a horror. A terrible, indescribable thing as large as a small building —a shapeless agglutination of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of light. For some inexplicable reason, it is colored in bands of purple, black, and gold, and several parts of it sprout white feathers.

    That's the bad news.

    The bad news is that this existential threat to reality does not go unnoticed, nor unchallenged. Mere moment after the Sundered creature makes it presence known, a cold wind begins to blow. The temperature abruptly drops thirty degrees, leaving those around in a clammy and miserable chill that feels like they've passed their whole body through one of the ghosts of Makerion Keep. This estimation is not too far wrong, for the pale off-white dragon that emerges from the clouds above is translucent and ethereal, save for the shining eyes of coldest blue that fix on the beast like pinpoints of fire.

    What a ghost dragon is doing here is anyone's guess, but when it opens its jaw to unleash a withering cone of necrotic energy at the Sundered creature, it demonstrates plainly that it will not brook this interloper on its domain.

    In other words, Diatu Magicademy is now home to a kaiju fight. That's the bad news.

    The BAD news is that both these creatures are, by their very nature, incredibly resistant to magic. So even as the professors spill out and split duties of getting students to safety and fending them off, the two beasts barely notice the arcane energy flashing through the air as they begin vigorously brawling.

    Thank goodness this is a weekend, or else you'd all have some serious trouble getting to class on time.


Wonders Await?


    Diatu Magicademy is open to you in all its glory. But maybe you should deal with that mess first? We're just saying.
stillnewatthis: (hello!)

[personal profile] stillnewatthis 2019-05-29 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"In this case, 'power' refers to the combination of speed and number of calculations performed in an arbitrary time period. By identifying yourself as intelligent, are you not claiming that you can think more swiftly about more topics than most?"
sublimelymagnificentblitz: (looking off into the distance)

[personal profile] sublimelymagnificentblitz 2019-05-29 11:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, it's just a theory. [Jecht shrugs, settling back down from his momentary burst of energy. Truth is, if that was it, he'd help out without needing to be asked. It's the right thing to do.] That's what we're looking for, right? Some guess as to what's up.
magicademynpcs: (Cam Birony)

[personal profile] magicademynpcs 2019-05-30 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
The Headmaster curls both her hands up like she's holding something, then lifts them up and down to try to balance the scales as her eyes dart from one to the other.

Hmmm. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

"Yes," she finally says, quite decisively.
treno_nobleman: (why would you)

[personal profile] treno_nobleman 2019-05-30 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Having had enough of the letters, Kuja sighs in no quiet manner and looks back down to the fluffy leopard familiar still purring at his companion.]

Yes, I suppose so. Fashion and all that ranking so high on the list of things to consider, not that we Sundered are any better off with a new shirt or jacket, one must have priorities.

[Because a new shirt or outfit or anything of the sort was really going to help them with their predicament any more, but he couldn't complain too much. What sort of life did he have to go back to anyway? Maybe someone else would appreciate that though.]

Must you match your house colors? It seems rather drone to me.
nomoremistergneissguy: (Say what?)

[personal profile] nomoremistergneissguy 2019-05-30 02:24 am (UTC)(link)
Eh, I look good in my House colors--which is more important than being all matching, if you ask me. Now if they clashed--I'd probably ignore it. I can't see myself pulling off Valhudor well, for example, but thankfully, I don't have to. I'm in Gekronus Maius.

[Cliff shrugs and grins at that, shamelessly rubbing the leopard's ears if only to make her purr louder.] Also, currying favor with Professor Trammel couldn't hurt, I figure. Beyond that...I don't think anything will help me not stumble over my words.

[But his tone there is rueful, and he shrugs again.] I learned diplomacy well enough, but I admit my twin was better at it. I guess we all have certain talents and flaws. Just got to learn to live with them.
treno_nobleman: (wondering)

[personal profile] treno_nobleman 2019-05-30 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Just a theory, and that was all anyone ever had here. Theories and little else, frustrating as all, but it worked for a distraction at least, with him.]

Oh, I wouldn't know about that. Our reasons for being here and the locals' differ greatly, but I see no progress for us. I don't think they're looking in the right place. They've been doing research on we Sundered for months and still nothing.
treno_nobleman: (dark messenger)

[personal profile] treno_nobleman 2019-05-30 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[If Califleur could have gone home with the man just for more of those ear rubs, he was sure she would have. And he might have let her. He hadn't wanted a familiar, but here he was, stuck with her, and she with him.]

Ah, the art of speech. How vital communication still is, though it gains us so little in this world. Or has, whatever that case may be. I consider myself new enough to this academy, but I can't help noticing others have been here much longer. Have they thought of staying, or are you aware?
holdyourhorns: (huh)

[personal profile] holdyourhorns 2019-05-31 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
And then Spyro can't help making another camera aside sort of glance at the observing researchers. His look, of course, can be interpreted as him silently asking if anyone's been able to get anything out of this guy all day or simply wondering if he's just wasting his time.

"So... am I gonna get anything else out of this besides your name and a bunch of words I don't know?"
gender_neutral: (YOU ARE ALL IDIOTS!)

[personal profile] gender_neutral 2019-05-31 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Speed would be DEX!"
perfectenn: (Never fully dressed without a smile)

[personal profile] perfectenn 2019-05-31 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
"That's right." Tenn agreed. "A song isn't just lyrics. It's the feelings behind them. I'm sure you have a message in mind when you write a song. Those singing your music put their will behind the words as well. It's why each performance is unique."
grim_heaper: (Tip my hat 3.14 degrees)

[personal profile] grim_heaper 2019-05-31 06:45 am (UTC)(link)
"Depends on if you figure out the right questions." He smirked, leaning back, ankles crossing.
unswervingcompanion: (Thoughtful)

[personal profile] unswervingcompanion 2019-05-31 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
The knight wasn't really pleased with this answer, through no fault of Kuja's. He had looked over at the researchers as well and made a definite line face at them. Well so much for hoping there was an easy end to this constant plague of an issue in his life.

He sighed. "Then if we are on our own, I suppose searching through places unfamiliar may yield clues as to how to best accomplish this."

Hendrik had to go home and protect the Luminary while he was here. But while he was here he would stop at nothing to ensure that Yotsuyu could stay and be safe. Or, if somehow a way was found for her to come with Eleven and himself, that could be a thing too.

shiningkindness: (321)

[personal profile] shiningkindness 2019-05-31 11:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Um...okay?"

She had no idea what a cantrip was, but if it could help with her magic, she wouldn't mind giving it a try.
shiningkindness: (099)

[personal profile] shiningkindness 2019-05-31 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
She seemed a bit surprised by that, but after a moment she smiled again and nodded. "Mm...it is nice doing something together outside of schoolwork."

Because that was totally what he meant, right?
shiningkindness: (313)

[personal profile] shiningkindness 2019-05-31 11:40 am (UTC)(link)
She nodded. "Right...and even then, the song and lyrics can be interpreted differently, depending on who's listening and how the song connects with them."

There were a lot of things she hadn't thought of. But even as she was voicing them out loud now, there was a bit of excitement as she imagined the possibilities.
gender_neutral: (Another lawsuit?)

[personal profile] gender_neutral 2019-05-31 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"Very well, which would you care to see?"
mithrarin: (look away)

[personal profile] mithrarin 2019-06-01 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
She should just keep thinking that! The last thing she'd need or want was for this -- this weird feeling of his to come out. Bad enough she wasted her time on him already, but if she found out that she was making his throat tight and his heart pound, she'd run the other way as fast as she could. And be right to do so. No, he'd just -- take what he could get, and be happy for that much.

"Yeah. A bit out of the ordinary for me, but then again, so is schoolwork."
sublimelymagnificentblitz: (do I exist?)

[personal profile] sublimelymagnificentblitz 2019-06-01 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
A few months ain't nothing. Years... maybe centuries, who knows. Stuff like this ain't easy, ain't simple. Might be we're just layin' the groundwork for the future.

[Jecht might be thinking a little bit too hard about his own experiences, his own history.]
stillnewatthis: (yellow glare)

[personal profile] stillnewatthis 2019-06-01 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
Orisa paused, her eyes whirling again before narrowing.

"Fixating on individual words by one strict definition is not a sign of intelligence."
treno_nobleman: (sigh)

[personal profile] treno_nobleman 2019-06-01 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
All he had were conclusions based on nothing more than following the dots. He didn't like it any better than Hendrik did, but what more could be done? His thoughts on that would take him outside of the academy, but there was the concern that the magic within them now would overwhelm him and start to behave as negatively as they thought it might.

"I had a notion to venture beyond the academy and begin my search elsewhere. There is that foreboding warning they gave us all upon arrival that the magic in us from this world may cause harm if we don't learn to harness it, but I wonder to what extent would we be able to push those boundaries, if it will react so violently at all?"
treno_nobleman: (an aside)

[personal profile] treno_nobleman 2019-06-01 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[That's a bothersome thought on its own, not one he had intended to return to.]

We just don't know, do we? Even if the locals do find out, would you trust them to tell you? [In truth, he doesn't think they will, and he isn't going to hold his breath on that one.]
unswervingcompanion: (Dawn of a new world)

[personal profile] unswervingcompanion 2019-06-02 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
"Venture beyond the academy?" This had the knight's full attention. He hadn't formulated a definite plan yet, but it sounded like a good idea.

His blue-green eyes slid over to the researchers, wanting to ignore their presence but wondering if discussing all of this openly would get them both into trouble. So Hendrik was silent for several long moments, pondering this over and turning it over in his mind.

Would there be risks? Well certainly there would be. And maybe it be best to discuss this at another time away from their 'keepers'.

"I propose we have this conversation away from this place at another date." He would offer to team up with this man if their interests were aligned.
gender_neutral: (NOPE.)

[personal profile] gender_neutral 2019-06-02 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
"It is my adherence to strict definitions that we communicate! THAT iS WHAT WORDS ARE FOR!"
sublimelymagnificentblitz: (looking off into the distance)

[personal profile] sublimelymagnificentblitz 2019-06-02 03:42 pm (UTC)(link)
They've been nicer than they had to. [Shrugging mildly, Jecht folds his hands behind his head with a glance over to the researchers.] Coulda just decided we needed to be hunted or something, we were too dangerous.
shiningkindness: (213)

[personal profile] shiningkindness 2019-06-02 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
"W-Well, um...I don't really know what they are...so I don't know what they do."