June Event and Intro Log

[magicademymods]

June Event and Intro Log Diatu and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Sundering Midterm Results It turns out that inadvertently summoning a horrible demon of immense and terrible power is still worth a passing grade: minus a lot of points for summoning the entirely wrong thing, but enough extra credit for successfully doing something so incredibly over-the-top to make up for it just a little. Meanwhile, something something power of running water, there's a demon imprisoned in the fountain, locked behind a massive magic circle of protection. Its flames neither evaporate the water nor are quenched by it, its lashing pointy tail stabs futilely at the stone in an attempt at petty vandalism, and otherwise it squats with otherworldly patience, claws drumming on its thighs. Till someone comes close, and then it calls out. "Come! It is in my power to grant a wish to those who ask! Speak your desire and I shall grant it!" Of course, the demon's ability to interpret wishes in an extremely jerkass manner is unparalleled by mortal malice. Still, this doesn't stop those students who think they're clever, can outwit a demon, have a background in legal jargon, or just want a turkey sandwich on rye bread with lettuce and mustard and-and they don’t want any zombie turkeys, they don’t want to turn into a turkey themselves, and they don’t want any other weird surprises. Needless to say, it has gone well for none of them -- but will you be the one to break the streak? As for the circle, it is specifically warded against meddling, so no freeing the demon (accidentally or otherwise). Those who try to touch it or cross through it are promptly hurled with pinpoint accuracy into a nearby pond that has been put there explicitly for this purpose. (Except for Minamimoto -- if HE messes with it, his pants rip themselves off his body, wrap around his head, and haul him away while shouting the multiplication tables incorrectly.) Potent Potables Students work hard, and they play hard. Around midterms, this often takes the form of picnics with unreserved and unrestricted access to not just copious amounts of barbecue and potato salad, but also alcohol. From fine wines to barrels of beer to Liverpunch Whiskey, all sorts of offerings pop up at the parties that occupy space along the Walk or outside the Towers and Keep. Anastara, you see, has no legal drinking age; like most of the Tenscore Kingdoms, children grow up with alcohol, and generally its consumption is seen as no major event and no special treat. And it simply hasn't occurred to anyone that other cultures on other worlds might not function the same. So enjoy a picnic, but also enjoy your free access to the wonders of intoxication. Physical Challenge (aka the Prompt Least Likely To Cause Suffering) Healthy body, healthy mind, the saying goes. Professors Trammel and Kith, adherents to this philosophy, have begun holding extracurricular exercise groups during the off hours. Students can learn proper weightlifting techniques for endurance as well as strength, jog around the campus in groups, play impromptu games that get the body moving, or even just practice slow stretches and what other worlds might call 'yoga'. Captain Lominia aggressively prowls the area, looking for people to scoop into bala-inlota exercises -- far more grueling and dangerous to succeed at if you don't want to be badgered onto the student team, but amazing workouts either way. And Headmaster Birony has set up a fairly extreme obstacle course straight out of a ninja challenge, overseen by Professor Porfsin from behind a cannon which magically flings beanbags at the participants. Those who make it through receive a pie from the Headmaster, who it turns out apparently can make a really darn tasty pie. 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, the researchers wish for you to engage in some sort of conflict, clash, or battle with your fellow Sundered. Spars with blunted weapons are the obvious choice, but games of strategy like go, shogi, or Fantastic Foils are also an option. A rousing debate will do as well -- anything that raises passion and energy. The team explains that they've found many of the Sundered who they interviewed have recently been through some sort of conflict or trouble on their world, and they wish to see if there's any magically-measurable aspect they share when challenged. Wonders Await Diatu Magicademy is open to you in all its glory. Except for the fountain. You can't swim in the fountain till they figure out how to banish the demon.

Comments

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Louie!" The sight of the duck brings a genuine smile to Cliff's face, and he scoots over a tiny bit to give him some room. "It's going, as they say. I can't complain. What about you?"

He had no worries about his midterms, so for him, this was just a relaxing pre-summer day. Though he figures he might have to consider a new set of robes--sweating through them when summer hit would likely get him looked down on by his housemates!

[talkyourwayout]

Louie flashes a grin. "Cool. I'm doing about the same."

He wasn't concerned about midterms, in so many words, but he'd been studying. Even if it was just a little, here and there. Still, for Louie, that was a lot of effort. He was glad to have some time to chill with a friend on that day.

"Oh, yeah, my brothers are both here now, too."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"They are? I hope that's a good thing..." Cliff remembered their one brief talk and Louie's uncertainty, but he didn't want to drive anything uncomfortable home. He'd be happy if Kat or one of his other siblings showed up here--unlikely as that was--but Cliff was also sure he'd end up in their shadow all the same.

Not a exactly a happy thought.

"You're not hitting the beverages too hard, are you? I mean, if you've got a tolerance it's all well and good, but..." He remembered his first hangover from overindulgence, when he was younger, and honestly he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie shrugged. "I'm glad they're here." It wasn't always a good thing, though - things were complicated. "I mean, you know, they're family."

Which kind of said it all, he felt. At the question, Louie just stared up at Cliff, baffled. "No? I'm a kid, I can't."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"I don't think they're making sure you can't, but if you don't want to, that's just as well," Cliff said. He wasn't really into contributing to the delinquency of minors. "You're not missing much, it's kind of an acquired taste."

He just happened to have acquired it as he grew up; but it's not like he's going crazy and hitting it hard.

"Yeah, that part I understand." It wasn't as if his own family wasn't an interesting and eclectic collective of weirdos. So he definitely got that. Complicated or not.

[talkyourwayout]

"Huh," Louie said, filing the information away but not really caring much about it. Honestly, the family talk was more interesting to him, if he could just find a way to approach it without seeming interested.

"You have a twin sister, right?" he asked, trying to recall. "Not a brother?"

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Yeah, Katya, though my mom calls us opposites." Cliff chuckled a little at that. "I can see it. She's the cool, aloof one--unless she's trying to impress someone--and I'm usually stumbling over my words and shoving my foot in my mouth like it's my job. Especially with girls."

But he was used to that, so Cliff just shrugged. "But we're both strong in ways the other one isn't, so even when we fight and stuff, we've still got each other's backs, you know?"

He blinked a moment. "I mean, I do have an older brother and two older sisters, too, but they're just...Eiros is the firstborn, then Syrienia and Ellyn. They're all singletons though. And older."

[talkyourwayout]

At first, Louie chuckles. "Singletons. I like that, I'm going to steal that one."

He leans back, using his elbows to prop himself up in the grass. "Yeah, my brothers and I are like that, too. We fight -" And Louie hates it when they do, especially if it's mostly Dewey and Huey fighting and he just has to watch. "- but we can pick up each other's slack."

Louie is sure he must have a lot more slack that needs to be picked up than the other two. Honestly, the lion's share of the work seems to go to Huey. But he knows he can count on his brothers and that, when the chips are down, they can count on him.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Feel free, I don't have the market cornered on the term!" Or something like that. Cliff isn't always the best with terminology.

"I guess I'm lucky there. I mean, Kat and I fight sometimes, but all my sibs are so much older, we don't really. And they're all like...married and stuff now. Even Kat has a boyfriend."

Makes him feel like a slouch in the department, but what's a guy to do? "That and my parents keep trying to set me up. It was a relief here, because that wasn't happening. Until the ball, at least, but I ended up kind of going stag, and it was all right."

No way is Cliff going to mention how he bombed out with Fluttershy. No thank you.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie makes a mental note to look up how trademarking works in the Tenscore Kingdoms, in that case, but moves right along in the conversation.

"Yeah, I guess that is pretty lucky - except for getting set up. That sounds like a pain," he comments. At the mention of the ball, he can't help a bitter laugh. 'Kind of going stag' does a good job of summing up what he did, too.

"The dance was okay," he says eventually, with a shrug. "I learned some dance moves from that one guy, Tenn."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Yeah, I don't even understand why my parents feel the need. They're not old, even if they were, they've got Eiros and could just merge their kingdoms...they don't need me married off! I'd be just fine!" This was definitely a topic that annoyed Cliff to no end. Not that that was Louie's fault. He just got exasperated when this topic came up.

Cliff shrugged. "The dance was okay, yeah. It could've been worse. I danced a bit with Fluttershy's friend, Sunset. She's cool. And I already knew how to dance, but it's good that someone else showed you what to do. I kind of wallflowered for a bit, too, talking to Kuja, too. He's all right."

A little arrogant, but that term could really apply to a lot of people here, so Cliff didn't find that terribly distinctive.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie went still - and silent - when Cliff mentioned a kingdom. What. Seriously, what. He stayed quiet until Cliff finished talking about the dance, at which point he finally seemed to unfreeze, so to speak. His blank expression became one of disbelief, even shock.

"Wait, no, you can't just talk about the dance like this is normal. Not after that. What kingdoms? Dude, are you a prince?"

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"What's a prince?" Cliff asked. This was...probably going to be really confusing, from an outside perspective, but it's both completely normal and the only thing he ever knew, to Cliff.

"Kingdoms, though, yeah. Both of my parents are Monarchs, they rule their own kingdoms. But uh, until Eiros came along, no Monarch had ever had children. So it's not like they have a word for what I am." Was that what Louie was trying to get at?

Though he was a little surprised that the Endless hadn't come up with one, yet. A word for what the child of a Monarch was, that is.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie's eyelids slid partway down, and he sighed. "Cliff, that's a prince. You're a prince."

Of course, as one of the younger siblings, he wouldn't be the one to inherit the throne... But Louie was far more interested in riches than power.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Oh." No one had a name for it there, so Cliff hadn't even realized that there was a word for it. He frowned a little. It was just...his mom and dad ruled places. He and his siblings had spent some time trying to get people to see them as relatively normal, comparatively...but it was special to his friend now, too?

"Okay, I guess I am, then. But I don't...really understand why that's so important?"

Louie...probably wasn't wrong about the riches, though, especially when one compounded the fact that his branch of elemental magic actually dealt with the earth, where a lot of mineral wealth came from...

Not that he had his powers here.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie smiled, not thinking of how this could be awkward for Cliff, or unwanted attention. "It's important because royalty has money, duh. And sometimes our stuff from home shows up here! So, come on, tell me more!"

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"I don't know what you want me to say," Cliff says, rather sullenly. "Most of my stuff back home is...rocks. Probably not what you want to hear." Then again, sure, most of those rocks did end up being gemstones, but his parents didn't give them to him. Those, he'd found himself. Not that the work was hard...not with the powers he'd had there, anyway.

He wanted to say more, but Cliff wasn't really sure if he did, it'd be a good thing, so he just looked at Louie from under furrowed brows.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie can't understand why Cliff seems upset, but he clearly does, and he doesn't want to make his friend unhappy. He looks away with a slight shrug of the shoulders.

"Hey, it's cool. Don't worry about it...?"

He really just isn't sure what to say.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

Easier to say, harder to do. Now Cliff is going to worry--he can't help it. He was always the last in line at home, and now...is it gonna be the same here, because he doesn't have money or anything? He doesn't know.

"I'll do my best, I guess." It was all he could do...