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

Re: Research

[gender_neutral]

"Astute, it is indeed, and yet I often find it squandarded by those who have chosen Intelligence as a dump stat. Still, if this in any way furthers the knowledge of the arcane I require to hasten the end of our quest, I suppose there is some slight slim chance that this diversion may well have proven to have been of aid. Potentially. I, however, have too high a Wisdom modifier to hold my breath against such improbable possibility."

[stillnewatthis]

How did the crystal react to that last statement?

"Your time is valuable because you are using magic in service of a quest? Would you please elaborate?"

She was perfectly capable of processing his speech, as it happened. AIs had some advantages there.

presuming the strike throughs were a mistake?

[gender_neutral]

Nothing V said was a lie it was all true as V believed it, so the crystals were fine.

"It is one of the numerous reasons, yes. my quest is pf the utmost importance not just for my world, but for all worlds including this one. The villains we fight have no concept the power with which they medle. Only we, The Order Of The Stick have the information needed to fully understand the nature of the loss of the destruction of so many of the gates, however those fools against which we fight seek to harness the very power that would end all of reality as we know it, across all worlds and planes. Still, there is even more information that I hold that needs to be shared with my party, however, with their low collective scores in Int, I rather doubt that they will understand the magnitude of my familiar's most recent discovery. Despite that, my return is of the utmost importance, as is my time. Time spent here should best be allocated to furthering my understanding of the arcane arts so as to be of more use to my party, who surely is perishing without the presence of a primary spellcaster, as we speak...."


V stopped, scowled. "That was a cutaway panel, wasn't it?" the elf asked, dryly.

stupid html, ridiculously a mistake

[stillnewatthis]

Analyzing. There was a great deal wrong with these statements, most obvious of which is the assumption that one small group has all the information necessary to 'fully' understand what they describe as an existential threat.

"Do the people you associate with accept your advice regularly?"

Also problematic: the apparent schizophrenia. But Orisa politely ignored that.

Figured.

[gender_neutral]

"When Sir Greenhilt is not being swayed by the wiles of a woman, generally. As does Miss Starshine. The rest of the party, excluding perhaps Master Thundershield have the combined intelligence of a sea slug in the desert, and thus their heeding or lack there of does not count in any practical way."

[stillnewatthis]

"Is there a reason you believe that having higher intelligence than they do means you should routinely insult them?"

The question was perfectly matter-of-fact. Oris modulated her voice to include no judgment or criticism.

[gender_neutral]

"No, their behaviour and the way they speak is the reason why I routinely insult them. I quite assure you, they very much earn it. Especially the halfling."

[stillnewatthis]

Orisa considered this, her eyeshields rotating, narrowing, then popping open to rotate again.

"Deserved or not, I am unable to grasp the purpose of such insults. Please allow me to update my algorithms."

[gender_neutral]

"Take your time," V said, dryly.

[stillnewatthis]

"That was intended as a request for further input." Since she had no way to understand the purpose on its own.

[gender_neutral]

"Wait, you are asking me for information on proper social interactions?" V might be a little stunned.

[stillnewatthis]

"I am very new, and my database is by no means complete," Orisa said. "Your input would be valuable in updating it."

Not necessarily in a way to emulate, but understanding others was an important part of being a protector and hero. One must understand motivations in order to anticipate actions.

[gender_neutral]

"You are aware that Charisma was my dump stat, are you not?"

[stillnewatthis]

"That statement does not compute," Orisa said, eyes slightly narrowed.

[gender_neutral]

"I'm not good at dealing with people," V clarified.

[stillnewatthis]

"Ah, I see. Your insulting is a manifestation of this." Orisa saw that, but... "Would your skills not improve if you ceased insulting others?"

[gender_neutral]

"You say that as though this is a skill worthy of my time and effort." That being said, V has been working on it. Slowly.

[stillnewatthis]

"Do you not wish others to listen to your advice and knowledge?" She was pretty sure the elf had said something to the effect of being irritated such traits were not valued, after all.

[gender_neutral]

"Of course I want people to listen to me when I am the one who knows what I am talking about!"

[stillnewatthis]

"My analysis indicates that advice is received better when not packaged with insults. Has your experience contradicted this?"

[gender_neutral]

"My insults are rarely aimed at those who would take advice in the first place," V pointed out.

[stillnewatthis]

Orisa's eyeshields inverted, locking back to a position that looked no different than their starting one. "Does the addition of that fact make the premise of my statement less true? I did not offer a guarantee, merely a belief that success would increase."

[gender_neutral]

"So you're claiming you have something that can modify my base Charisma stat?" Excuse V for being suspicious. Magical items that could boost base stats were rarely just handed over. This stank of a side quest.

[stillnewatthis]

Silence for a moment.

"I do not follow your line of reasoning."

[gender_neutral]

"You claim to believe that you have a way by which my charisma stat could be raised. Do you not?"