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

[burningbrighter]

Wow...it must have been really surprising!

[ She listens with a fascinated expression. ]

Does that mean you're going to be king?

[nomoremistergneissguy]

[Cliff shakes his head.] Nah, I'm just a spare, I've got a brother and two sisters ahead of me. And I guess Syrrie is already a queen, since she married another Monarch...though Ethellon always puts me to sleep. He's the Endless.

[He's kind of sheepish about that, too, though he chuckles.]

So was it hard for you to get used to two legs after having four?

[burningbrighter]

Heh. I can relate. I used to want to be a princess, but...it wasn't that there were people ahead of me. I was next in line! But I screwed up pretty badly and someone else got the crown.

She's a much better person than I am, though. It worked out for the best. But that doesn't mean you're not important!

[ She laughs. ]

Definitely! I was wobbling for a while, and I used to crawl around on all fours. The other students would give me these weird looks.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

Oh. That sounds rough. But at least you seem to have turned it to your advantage, right? [It sounded better to him than 'made the best out of a bad situation'. Eiros had explained to him about traditional monarchies after coming back from Idastria. A bit confusing, sure, but he at least understood what being a prince or princess meant, now.]

Yeah, I mean, I do have important stuff to do being the son of Monarchs, but really it's more taking care of the people, not tooting my own horn, you know?

[Her portrayal of how wobbly she was, and admitting to crawling around on all fours? Cliff can't help but laugh.]

Oh, no! I hope you got over that quick! Just to stave off the weird looks!

[burningbrighter]

Yes. I learned, and after a few months no one would know I wasn't originally human unless I told them.

[ She smiles kindly. ]

That's all we can really do. Do our best to look after others and help them out. So what kind of things did you do to that end?

[nomoremistergneissguy]

That's good, though! I'm glad you did!

[Cliff gives that a moment's thought or two.] Mostly it was riding around and making sure that my parents' farmers--that their land was safe. No old magic polluting the ground, that the soil was in good condition. That when they were growing crops, the crops were healthy. If the rains didn't come, there wasn't a lot I could do beyond tell them, but at least then one of my magically inclined siblings could call rain. That or they could call on a hydromancer to do it, or my sister Katya could see if she could. She's an aeromancer, though, but sometimes that does it.

[He shrugged at that, sheepish again.] Sorry, I can get to rambling when I talk about elementalism. Before I came here, I was a geomancer. Earth control, that sort of thing.

[burningbrighter]

No, no, that's really interesting, actually. In the world I came from, Equestria, our magic was kind of like that. Pegasus ponies controlled the weather, earth ponies were good at knowing where to plant healthy crops, and unicorns like me cast all kinds of spells. The earth ponies didn't like us to get too close, though, or our magic could change the plants.

[ She's even more interested. ]

Did you use it just to check on the plants, or did you do other things too?

[nomoremistergneissguy]

I can do that, and help them grow if the soil's poor, but I liked to find gemstones and I'd use my powers to...well, I suppose cut them isn't the right word, really. Form them into a pleasing shape, while being conscious of whatever flaws they might hold. That sort of thing.

I liked to think I had a little bit of artistic talent, but it's a lot more difficult to do here! It's going to take me a bit to get back to the level I was at.

[Cliff didn't mind that too much, though. Just meant he'd know the way to do it without magic, too!]

[burningbrighter]

That's awesome! Actually, ponies back home do that kind of thing too. Any gem can be beautiful with enough care...ah. I'd love to see what you can do someday.

[ There's some laughter in her eyes. ]

Though if you met a dragon, they'd eat the gem instead of admiring it.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

I believe that--though we only have one dragon on my world, and he doesn't come out much. I couldn't tell you exactly why, though. He's a Monarch, just like my parents are, but I just figure he doesn't like being bothered.

[Though a thoughtful look passes over his face, and he nods.] I'd be happy to show you some examples at some point. I'm working on Discovering some materials that work for jewelry--I used to be able to just do that at will at home, it takes a little more effort, here!

[burningbrighter]

That's perfect! My friend would love it so much. And so will I.

[ She seems to light up at this line of discussion. ]

So...are you planning to make a little jewelry business? For charming loved ones, or some pieces enchanted with protection spells?

[nomoremistergneissguy]

I have been working on doing some Forging...[This is said thoughtfully. Cliff actually hadn't given it a ton of thought, but it does seem like it might have some serious value, here. Especially if he ends up any good at it.]

I didn't think about it before now, but that might have some mileage, actually. Not that making money is the first thing on my mind, but having some couldn't hurt!

[burningbrighter]

I think you should go for it! You can get plenty of support for your business here.

As for me...well, I'm more of a musician. Or maybe an artist. I'm not sure yet.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

They're both artists! [He says that with a bit of a laugh, there.] Just the medium differs, if you ask me.

But that said, what's your preferred medium when you do art, as opposed to music? What's your favorite instrument? I can't carry a tune in a bucket, singing or playing, but I can sure appreciate someone who can!