May Event and Intro Log

[magicademymods]

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.

Comments

May I Have This Dance?

[areasontohope]

Yuki had been working hard on his garden and had just finished cleaning up when he decided to go take a look around. So he found some cleaner clothes to change into and after he managed that, there were so many girls that he'd had to dodge on his way here. And it just reminded him of Valentine's Day and high school with the whole giving chocolate thing.

But finally, he saw Fluttershy looking nervous. So he headed over to her and smiled.

"Well hello."

[shiningkindness]

Looking over at the familiar voice, she smiled, her expression filled with relief as he came over.

"O-Oh, hi..."

Politely she tried to excuse herself from the conversation, but one of the other students seemed persistent in asking her about the dance.

[areasontohope]

Taking a look at Fluttershy's expression, Yuki couldn't help but wonder at the reason for it.

But then he noticed what was going on and she didn't seem like she wanted to deal with it. Well, he'd stepped in for Miss Honda to get her out of her grandfather's house when she had said she wanted to go back to Shigure's house, so this wasn't that much different.

Going over to the other student, Yuki smiled at them. "I'm sorry, but she's already going to the dance with me, but there's plenty of other people that you can ask."

Then he put himself in between them just in case and gave her some space. But he still couldn't help but ask.

"Are you alright?"

[shiningkindness]

She glanced up at him in surprise, though there was some relief as the other student finally seemed to get the message and headed off.

Then she nodded. "Y...Y-Yes, I'm all right. Thank you." Then she tilted her head curiously. "But, um...what was that you said earlier?"

[areasontohope]

"What I said.." his voice trailed off as he realized what exactly it had been that he said. He'd done that so the person would just leave and not bother her, other than saying 'she already has someone' and them getting pestered about who it was.

Oh.

Well, he couldn't exactly back out now, so he smiled a little shyly. It was better to have someone to go with so Fluttershy could honestly say that she had an actual date. So he rehearsed the question in his head a few times before the actual words came out of his mouth.

"Will you go to the Ball with me?"

[shiningkindness]

She blinked in surprise, then glanced away shyly, playing with her hair a bit.

"O-Oh...um..." With a small smile, she nodded. "O-Okay..."

[areasontohope]

He smiled as she turned away and played with her hair. He'd seen girls back home do that same thing when certain other guys talked to them. And Yuki always assumed it was some cute gesture that girls just did.

And he was so intent on that gesture that he was surprised when Fluttershy said that she'd go to the Ball with him.

But her smile brought him back to the present and he nodded. His mind was working on getting her flowers before it, maybe pink ones to match her hair.

"It's a date." This was said with another smile.

[shiningkindness]

The word 'date' had her blushing a bit, even though she was pretty sure it was meant innocently enough. Still, she'd never been on an actual date before.

Still, she managed a nod as she tucked some hair behind her ear. "M-Mm...I-I...look forward to it."

[areasontohope]

His eyes slid over to one of the kids that had been lingering around, but as soon as Yuki said 'date' the kid disappeared. That had been his plan and he was pleased to note that it had worked.

Fluttershy reminded Yuki of Miss Honda, and he'd been there to help her until Kyo woke up and those two had gotten together. So he would do the same thing for Fluttershy.

And in truth, Yuki had no idea what he was really in for since this wasn't something that happened in his high school. And then he noticed her doing that hair behind the ear thing again. One day he was going to have to find out a concrete meaning for it.

"Me too, we'll have to get together at some point and coordinate."

And in the meantime, he was going to find out all the details.

[shiningkindness]

She nodded. "Okay..."

Then she paused a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"...Would...it be okay if we also went with a friend of mine? I know it's a...date...but back home my group of friends usually goes to school dances like this together, and since it's just the two of us I don't want to make her go by herself."

[areasontohope]

Yuki smiled because Fluttershy really did remind him of Miss Honda. "Of course, she's your friend right?"

And he only paused a moment. "May I ask who it is that you have in mind?" He didn't mind if she told him who it was or not because if this person was important to her, then it was alright by him.

[shiningkindness]

"Her name is Sunset Shimmer," she replied with a smile of her own. "Sunset is one of my best friends, and the only one from back home who's here with me. So I'd hate to leave her all alone."

[areasontohope]

The name made him think a moment. "I think I've met her a little while ago." He couldn't be one hundred percent sure, but he was sure enough. Okay, so he already knew who she was referring to.

"If you think she would like to come with us, then that's fine." Besides, this wasn't an actual date or anything, Yuki had said that to call off the other student's attention. He'd just try and keep Fluttershy safe from everyone and that's all he could do.

[shiningkindness]

With a brighter smile, she nodded. "I'll ask her about it later. But thank you."

[areasontohope]

Yuki smiled and got ready to go.

"It's no trouble at all. Just let me know what she says and I'll talk to you later."

[shiningkindness]

"All right. I'll see you later."