July Event Log

[magicademymods]

July Event Log A Reading Rainbow Though the publication is ordinarily drier than dry toast Modified to be drier than dried toast, this quarter's issue of Thaumaturgy Today is all the rage around campus. The reason: a series of advances in motile spells! Easier and more powerful than those found in your standard book of spells (any grade), these spells achieve their power by specificity. One spell for lifting fruit, one for lifting laundry, one for lifting books, the list goes on. Though Professor Loshakle is deep at work writing a blistering reply criticizing every nuance of these spells, outside of his wrathful gaze the spells flourish as people practice them on everything they can. Copies of the issue are easy to get your hands on, if you want to give these new spells a whirl. On the other hand, your stuff or you yourself might fall victim to the spells of other students, whether by mistake or cruel jest. And woe betide those not human -- since no spell explains how to lift an anthropomorphic duck or a robot, for example, enterprising students are particularly eager to come up with one on their own, and there's only one way to test such things... It's Raw, You Donkey! There was an incident. Mistakes were made. Rice balls were detonated. Puddings were animated and sent on rampages. A cheesebread was found lodged in Makerion Keep, sunk to a depth of three feet in the walls. Whatever happened, and no one seems to have details... the Great Hall is closed and no food is being served. So... what're you going to eat? Several pop-up stands have emerged, as enterprising students try to cash in, but that costs money and who knows how the quality is. Headmaster Birony keeps showing up with pies, having made several savory ones that taste really good, actually, but can you really live on pie alone? (And do you really trust Headmaster Birony?) Some students have taken to the ultimate last resort: cooking. As it happens, the skills of the chef and of the aspiring mage are not exclusive in principle, but generally learning the one means little time to devote to the other. Faced with an oven or a grill, can you muster up the capability to make something edible? Or will you burn the water and turn bread back into grain, and thus have no choice but to avail yourself of pricey booth cooking or Cam-pies? Of course, the Great Hall will PROBABLY be open again soon, you might be able to last until then... The Defense Association In light of certain recent activities, like horrible monster attacks, Professors Trammel and Kith have teamed up to provide self-defense lessons to students who so desire. Purely optional, this extra class at the end of the school day promises study in shields, wards, basic attack spells, and mobility spells (because sometimes the best thing is to run like heck). Needless to say, these classes are quite the adventure! Students find themselves in dueling circles quite frequently, expected to carefully deflect each other's spells. Hopefully you've got the knack of it; the practice spells they have taught you don't cause any harm, but they sting like the dickens! Research on the Sundered Conflict. Conflict seems to be key. As near as the researchers can tell, all the Sundered lead lives that are simply not ordinary, and their experiments in conflict from last month produced results they didn't expect (as you all have learned) but that are most promising. Professor King herself has taken the lead on this experiment, and she warns anyone who volunteers that it is likely to be very dangerous, and they will be taking this very slow. They are, she explains, going to try to bridge the gap between you and the world you came from. A SMALL bridge, a proof of concept, no portal home and celebrations yet. But they hope it will work, and be the first step towards getting you back where you belong. If you agree, they get to work. Any student who undergoes this process immediately regains a power of their choice. It does not have to be on their application, and you do not have to provide proof during AC. It's here now. Only if you do not have a power to regain, you may regain an item instead. The price? For the next three days, you will be haunted by visions of your greatest enemy, your most hated foe, or the person you least wish to see in the world. Perhaps you hear their laughter in the darkness of your room at night. Perhaps you see a fellow student as them. Perhaps they are taunting you from just behind your shoulder... Whatever form it takes, for three days, you will be at their mercy. Or the mercy of your own mind's imagining them. Or perhaps a combination of the two. Who can say...?

Comments

[darkenedmoon]

It's Raw, You Donkey!

Luckily for the other students, Yotsuyu can cook. She even has enough funds to at least attempt to give the truly starving a deal, though she gruffly demands they say as little about it as they possibly can. Though really, what she makes is...the same thing, pretty much, every day. Marinated yakitori, vegetable skewers, rice balls (although hers do not detonate, thank the kami), and flatbread. No alterations, no substitutions. Though she might alternate chicken and steak. If she can get her hands on other ingredients, she might even offer fish! But for now, you get what you get!


The Defense Association

It likely comes as no surprise that Yotsuyu allows her reputation to precede her--at least her classroom reputation. Unyielding taskmaster that she was. Though most of her opponents (save the ones who might know her well) forget that she's just as unyielding to herself, and so she's relentlessly practiced a defensive spell or two. This study is just to cement things in her mind, and take advantage of more learning. Just in case.

But she already knew fleeing was a good thing, thank you...


Research on the Sundered

They had been in the midst of the war, never mind that Hien Rijin had been attempting peace talks with Garlemald. But, that seemed to not be conflict enough.

"It is not pressure," Yotsuyu sniffed at Professor King, when the woman asked, once more, if she wanted to undertake such a thing. "There are others who want--nay, need, to go home. Even if I do not wish it, any iota of research helps, does it not?"

Given the affirmative, Yotsuyu nodded, and settled in to undergo their spellcasting. And she did feel...different, somehow, though she could not yet put a delicately manicured finger upon it. Oh, well--certainly she'd learn later, wouldn't she?

Or perhaps now, no, dear sister? What an insipid whisper it was, that twisted its way through her mind. She scowled--best to pretend that it was nothing, nothing at all, and make her way out of the building.

"If it isn't the cold-blooded little worm," she growled to herself. "Crawling your way through my rotten heart even now, Asahi?"

But oh, Yotsuyu, you were the one who disappointed me. When you could not even take care of the Warrior of Light? What good were you?

"You were just jealous! As ever! It did not matter to you what you were given, always you grasped and clawed for more! Even when I was given naught but a pittance, you would devour your share and snatch mine from me as well! And when I had given my all--you gave me death, you snivelling bastard, whining about Zenos! Well, I am here, and you are but a memory! As you deserve!"

Not that anyone could miss her ranting to herself as she walked towards the living quarters. Likely, the question was--would she see the one who challenged her, or would she see Asahi sas Brutus, her chief tormentor?

Cooking

[unswervingcompanion]

Hendrik had been wandering around, brain fried from exams. He'd doubled down on studying because he wasn't half as smart as Jasper, so it took him extra time. To his surprise, he'd been called a nerd and wasn't quite sure what that meant.

But as he wandered around, he turned the corner and saw Yotsuyu standing there cooking. So the knight moved over and looked everything over. She had quite the spread which reminded him of the night he had taught her to dance.

Looking back at her, he nodded. "I had not expected to find you here, but is there something that I might be of assistance with to help prepare?"

Helpful, this man is it.

[darkenedmoon]

"Not at the moment, but perhaps in the evening, after you spar with Eleven? I do need to study sometimes..." Eventually she'd be able to close the stall down, once the Great Hall reopened, but until that fateful day, she planned to stay open--mostly to feed the hungry or the down-on-their-luck students who really couldn't afford their peers' prices.

For some, she might ask a favor or two, but Hendrik? Not at the moment. Though she might ask his help to clean up, later. He was easy. Not only was he helpful, he'd probably do whatever she'd ask, if Yotsuyu didn't go overboard.

[unswervingcompanion]

He nodded. "Of course." Studying was important and he had done quite a bit of that himself lately. And even Hendrik realized that he needed a break.

"Sometime I would like you to tutor me in the culinary arts." He said this as he looked over all of the things she'd made. But then looked up at her briefly. "That is when you have the time of course. I would not wish to take you away from your studies."

They'd spoken of this before, but again the knight was trying to be careful though he was more than sure he was being clumsy as he'd been labeled.

[darkenedmoon]

"Oh, I am hardly studying at the moment. What do you wish to know? Most of this is very like the yakitori you had at the street festival, you know. The chicken is that, precisely, but for simplicity's sake I have been marinating it all in the same mixture--not in the same pans, however, that's asking for the flux!" Yotsuyu shook her head at that.

"The rice is like what I was making at the beach. Very simple, though here I've more than saltwater for flavoring. We use rice vinegar, where I am from. Or rice wine vinegar for a deeper flavor."

[unswervingcompanion]

That explanation just went over his head. So here the knight has to just stay confused for the moment. "I am afraid I do not even understand what you are talking about regarding using different pans and flux."

Oh Yotusyu, you have such a simple boy in front of you.

"Rice..vinegar?" Yeah, that doesn't compute either though he does understand the seawater for flavoring and the rice parts. Those things he completely understands. "I have not heard of such a thing."

[darkenedmoon]

"Mixing meats before they cook is not a good thing. People get sick and can even die, though usually there are effective treatments where I am from. We just call the sickness the flux--it is stomach troubles, of all sorts." Not that Yotsuyu was going to go into detail. She's certain Hendrik can figure it out.

She blames this on her penchant for reading anything she could get her hands on, both in the pleasure-house and out of it. Her parents decided not to educate her, so she did her best to take it for herself.

"Rice vinegar," she agreed. "You ferment rice to make rice wine, and then let it sour to make vinegar. I suppose rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar are mostly one and the same, though I wonder now if the latter has a bit of new wine added to it for flavor...It is popular in Doma and Hingashi, on my world." Possibly other places as well, but she's certain of those two lands.

[unswervingcompanion]

Hendrik wished he could take notes right now. But he was pretty sure he could remember not to mix raw meats. And he couldn't help but wince a little because stomach troubles weren't great to have. That went double for if it went through the ranks of his men, he'd had that happen once. The battle they were to fight that day went unfought because they had been indisposed and sickly. And now the knight wondered if that was part of the problem.

Nodding to the bit about how to make rice vinegar, he finally spoke those words. "I have a feeling I should be taking notes or I can only hope I can recall these important instructions you are giving me."

[darkenedmoon]

Yotsuyu couldn't speculate on Hendrik's thoughts. For the moment, she just watched him, brows arched curiously. But she chuckled, then, on his desire to take notes.

"You needn't, unless it is recipes you want straight from me. They have things called cookbooks that give you the recipes in written form, and measurements for the spices and such that the recipes therein call for. It makes things much simpler, I dare say."

Then again, she wasn't likely to test him, either. Though perhaps she'd see about what he might be able to cook, some day. He needed more practice, first.

[unswervingcompanion]

He was wise enough not to comment about wanting recipes straight from her. And he was wiser still not to say anything about simpler.

"I shall endeavor to check the library." But it still wasn't going to be Yotsuyu's cooking. Yes he was biased. No he wasn't saying anything. "So by your words, I take it that you do not measure your..ingredients, correct?"

Hendrik was just trying to do some clarifying here, this wasn't him trying to poke fun at her in any way shape or form.

[darkenedmoon]

"Normally? 'Tis true, I do not, but with you learning, I shall. You need to see these things--it is much like alchemy, I suppose, in its way. Though cooking will usually not do things like explode in your face if you err." Make one sick if too much of a certain ingredient was added, however? That was entirely possible, but Yotsuyu was fairly certain Hendrik was at least somewhat aware of such things--he'd been a knight, and she presumed that he'd attended certain functions with the nobility of his world...

But that was neither here nor there, really. Nor had Hendrik ever been given to teasing, so she was taking his words at face value.

[unswervingcompanion]

He's not good in alchemy either, but cooking might be simpler. And here he was about two steps away from going back to his dorm room and procuring a way to write everything down. "I suppose there is a certain freedom to cooking if one does not completely follow a recipe." And it made him think a little more.

"Perhaps it is something like swordplay. You have the weapon, but how you use it becomes your own style. Basics can be applied, but ultimately it is up to the wielder's will how it turns out."

[darkenedmoon]

"Very much like, yes. And I know that look--and how your fingers twitch!" Yotsuyu was well enough acquainted with Hendrik to know his penchant for writing things down. He liked to recall things, and it was never so easy with him--she didn't tease him about it much because she worried about hurting his feelings. That was something she did not want to do.

"That is why I suggested cookbooks to you." She laid a hand on his arm gently for a moment. "You need not worry about writing things down, then. And again, yes--if you decide, after trying a recipe a few times, that you do not like an onze or so of sage within it, but prefer rosemary--then by all means, replace it!"

It might just alter the flavor. Unlike in alchemy, as she'd said once already. It was still true, nonetheless.

research

[woo_oo]

Pretty hard not to hear all that yelling? Blinking and curious, Webby began to trail after her friend, trying to find who she was yelling at.

"Yotsuyu? I could hear you all the way from the end of the hall!"

[darkenedmoon]

That's right, sister dear. What will you tell the child? Will you lie to her in the name of protecting her, as you've done all along? Asahi's laughter echoed in Yotsuyu's ears, nearly drowning out Webby's words, and for a few long moments, all she could do was stare at the duckling, uncomprehending.

"I am...haunted?" Was that the proper word? Likely. Good enough. "You should go. I do not think you can cure this--I needs must endure it."

[woo_oo]

Alas, this was not the right thing to say.

"You're being haunted by a ghost?" That was AWESOME! Well, not good, but STILL! "Maybe we can exorcise it! Just get some holy imagery and bless some stuff and we'll sent it to the great beyond!"

[darkenedmoon]

All Yotsuyu heard was laughter. She wasn't certain that Asahi would be so easy to foil. And she damned well didn't want Webby attracting his ire--bad enough he was already taking an interest in the duckling.

"He should have been there already...or one of the seven hells, if he'd stayed where he belonged." Not that Asahi had ever done anything properly--the smug bastard had always done whatever he had wanted, usually with Yotsuyu suffering the consequences.

[woo_oo]

"So, is it a poltergeist?" She refused to take the hint, walking circles around her buddy. "Or a vengeful spirit? Maybe if we can trick them, they'll go away! Uncle Scrooge managed to get rid of a swashbuckling pirate ghost that way!"

[darkenedmoon]

Go away? Optimistic child, is she not? To think I would leave you alone so easily! No, Yotsuyu had no belief that Asahi's whispers would depart anytime soon. She watched Webby warily, keeping her hands balled to her sides.

"Webby..." In her way, Yotsuyu was vaguely hopeful as well, but...the first and foremost idea in her mind was get her away. She'd deal with her brother on her own terms. It wasn't that she didn't want or need help--the last thing she wanted was Webby to be harmed. She'd told the duckling that before. It had not changed.

"I need you to go." Send her away, yes, but to whom? To where? Asahi's mocking laughter echoed in her ears. Yes, try to fight! It does not mean you will win, sister mine!

For a moment, Yotsuyu hissed in a breath, staring at someone who wasn't there. "I do not need to win, Asahi. I just need to keep the ones I care for away from you!" Which meant telling Webby to go get Hendrik, or Jecht, or Eleven--none of those were good ideas. "Professor Trammel. Or mayhap Professor King. Go see if you might find them. I...shall remain here."

[woo_oo]

"Huh? Why?" Webby blinked up at her, though she was starting to get a good idea about things.

"Whoever it is, they're just a ghost! If they don't have a physical form, they can't do anything to me." She crossed her arms, full of confidence. "They're just using your good heart against you!"

[darkenedmoon]

"They can use more than my 'good' heart..." Yotsuyu growled. As for Asahi? This was, to him, an absolute laugh riot. You? A good heart? You lied? To a child? Yotsuyu's cheeks flushed at that, and she ducked her head.

"He could attempt to take that as a challenge. I am not certain what abilities he possesses, but this is the result of Sundering..." Not that Asahi had had much power in life--he was a simple Doman, as was she, though he'd had the benefit of schooling through the Empire. Schooling she had not been given the chance to undertake. It was good that Webby did keep speaking to her, but she honestly wasn't sure how long that would last.

Perhaps she simply should have locked herself in her quarters. That had been the plan, until she'd run into Webby...

[woo_oo]

"I don't care, I'm not afraid of them!" Them, with utmost confidence and love, she grabbed hold of Yotsuyu's hand.

"I don't abandon my friends! Not now, not ever, no matter what a spooky jerky voice says. So I'm staying right put!"

[darkenedmoon]

Spooky...jerky...voice? Asahi sounded rather taken aback at that description. That alone had Yotsuyu laughing her fool head off. She should have been more upset--in truth, she really was still upset, but it wasn't at Webby. But she greatly appreciated her friend's apt descriptor of her dear younger brother.

"Ahaha...you must admit, Asahi, if the shoe fits, you must wear it, must you not? You are little more than that, for the moment! Are you going to try to manipulate me into harming her somehow? If you suddenly appeared before me, I would know, now! Bother me another time, you fool!"

She did not feel his presence depart, but it seemed as if he drew back, chastened. Or at least somewhat cowed. Yotsuyu took a moment to breathe, then.

"He is not gone, but I think you have sent him with his tail between his legs, for the moment. I thank you."

[woo_oo]

Friendship really is magic! Webby beamed, and then went in for a hug - or at least hugging Yotsuyu's legs, given the height difference.

"Told you! The weaker a spirit is, the bigger a bully they wanna seem. Nothing and nobody can ever tear us apart!"

She had lost a friend to Magica, and that was never going to happen again.

"But, you're welcome!"

[darkenedmoon]

A hint of Yotsuyu's familiar self reasserted itself now that Asahi had decided to be...less of a pill.

"I suppose you do have the right of it. He was much the coward and bully in life, and he seems to be so now, as well."

That was a thought that seemed to bolster her.

"Come, let's go to the cafeteria and see if it's open again? Otherwise, I shall have to find you a treat from the city--the kami know you are certainly deserving of such this time!"

Not that Yotsuyu wasn't usually pleased with Webby, but this seemed to call for something above and beyond mere gratitude.