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

[burningbrighter]

reading rainbow

Ooh, this is the kind of stuff she loves to learn! Sunset devours the books happily, and she can be seen lifting the desks in an empty classroom. One problem...they're stuck up there.

"Okay...hmm. How to get them down..."

it's raw

Hungry? No problem! Well...maybe a bit of a problem. Sunset's a vegetarian, and her dietary options are more limited than most. She can be seen gathering plants and herbs, eventually setting up a salad station on campus.

"Don't forget your veggies!"

research

They need to get closer to solving this mystery, and Sunset's prize is a little red necklace around her neck. There's more to it than that, but for now...she's getting a crash course in facing her fears.

A cold voice tells her she hasn't changed. That the duel last month was just a taste of freedom, and soon...soon she'll conquer this pathetic world too! Sunset falls to her knees and covers her ears.

"No! No, I won't listen!"

reading

[woo_oo]

Webby poked her head in, overhearing Sunset say something or other.

"Say, where are all the desks?" She asks, failing to look up.

Re: reading

[burningbrighter]

"Oh hey, Webby! They're, uh..."

She points up, to a few desks dancing in the air above.

"Might not want to get any closer, I don't know how long this lasts."

Re: reading

[woo_oo]

That doesn't quite work, as Webby takes one look, gasps, and RUNS on in.

"All the desks are floating! Did you learn a new spell?"

[burningbrighter]

"Uh...yeah, it was in one of those magazines! They tell you how to enchant specific objects!"

Sunset runs to her side and quickly casts a bubble charm just in case. Ensuring they're out of harm's way, she casts the counterspell and brings them back down.

[woo_oo]

"Oooh, a bubble, neat!" Of course she's going to try and pop it with her finger.

"What other kinds of stuff can you levitate?"

Research

[nomoremistergneissguy]

That can't be good. Cliff hurries his steps to catch up to Sunset, leaning over and patting her on the shoulder.

"Hey, hey!" He was a little uncomfortable seeing her so upset, but no way was he going to not do something. "You okay? What's going on?"

[burningbrighter]

It's pointless to pretend you're any different, Sunset. Those people you 'love'...you're just using them. So beautifully they don't even suspect it!

Sunset bites her lip and curls in on herself, not really listening until a touch startles her out of the trance.

"Cliff---Cliff!"

She flinches, looking up at him with a lost expression.

"I'm not safe. You're better off anywhere else. But if I go crazy again, do whatever you have to to stop me, okay?"

[nomoremistergneissguy]

That...was about the last thing he'd ever expected to hear. Dragon's scales, what in the world was she talking about?

"Uh. Well. Safety's overrated, right?" Just trying to break that mindset with a little bit of humor. "But what's...going on? Why would I have to stop you? Um. Terrorizing card-playing kids? Because if that's the case, I'm just as guilty."

That was why he'd missed the beach trip. He'd decided not to go, no matter how well he'd done on his midterms. He still had to figure out something to do as an apology to Yugi, though the other guy had--well, no. He hadn't accepted Cliff's apology with good grace--more like a thinly veiled desire to get the hell out of there. It had only made Cliff feel worse.

[burningbrighter]

"No, that's not it. Or...not just it."

Sunset curled herself into a ball. "I did that, but...that wasn't the first time. That's who I've been. And I could be again."

And you will be, my dear, if you just give in~

She looks up at Cliff. "She might infect you too."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

He furrowed his brows at that, but for the moment, he just shut up and listened. Okay, first things first.

"She who?" But Cliff is mentally plodding through this, as best he can. "She, you mean you? I kinda hope you forgive me for not believing most of that, okay? Because you've been nothing but nice to me in the time I've known you."

He takes a breath. It's not like his dad didn't have history that he tried to put behind him. Athros Vitner hadn't been the kindest and most upstanding individual for a while. Sure, he'd had some extenuating circumstances, but a lot of it seemed like a bit of a stretch, there.

"The only thing that 'infected' me--and I figure you too--was...whatever it was that Yugi got out of us at the end of that card game, and I don't think he has anything to do with...well, anything?! So what's really going on?"

Research

[holdyourhorns]

The small steps that approach are cautious, slowly tapping against the stone of a pathway and disturbing some grass once they get even closer. Following that is a golden glow shining against Sunset's face as it darts about on buzzing wings.

Though that last part would be difficult to pick up through closed ears. So something shoves at her shoulder to get her attention rather than doing the polite thing of speaking up.

[burningbrighter]

Cruel laughter fills her ears, and Sunset's so off balance that she stumbles from that, even sitting. She looks up, expecting to see cruel teal eyes and a scowling expression bearing down on her, but it's...a familiar dragon and not so familiar dragonfly.

"Spyro? What are you doing here? She'll see you!"

She pushes herself upright and looks up, flinching at a face in the shadows.

[holdyourhorns]

Said dragonfly buzzes something that would sound unintelligible to Sunset but apparently is perfectly understandable to Spyro.

"No Sparx, I don't know what she's talking about either," he replies to the magically glowing insect- whose name seems to follow along the same fiery theme as the toad familiar sometimes seen sitting on the dragon's head. But soon enough Spyro turns his attention back to the girl, with a look in his eye as if his nerves have also been getting worn down by the weirdness around them.

"I dunno what's going on, but I guess a bunch of us keep seeing and hearing things."

[burningbrighter]

"No, you don't understand."

Her voice is unsettlingly quiet. "It's me. The she-demon I was before. She's back, and she wants me to turn back into that."

Oh, but I'm right here, darling~ It's so easy! Don't you remember how good it feels to hate?

She flinches. "All I remember is seeing the researchers, feeling weird, and then..."

[holdyourhorns]

The concept of demons is definitely something that Spyro doesn't have much experience with as far as he's aware. But he's vaguely familiar with it by now and makes a grimace. A different voice chuckles in only his own hearing and Spyro can easily picture the disdainful sneer alongside it.

Maybe you dragons should do the same thing.

"...Sounds like a long story. Is it something you want to talk about?" And then he sits. "Because I'm all ears, really."

reading.

[replaceme]

Lady ducks into the classroom to get away from the crowds of people coming down the hall when she notices Sunset lifting a desk and... hm. Lady quirks her head and stares for a few extra seconds before daring to interfere.

"Is, ah, something wrong?"

[burningbrighter]

"No, it's going right! Check this out!"

There's a very happy Sunset bringing the magazine to Lady. "It's how to lift desks! Go on, try it, it's easy!"

Is this practical? Not really. But she loves to learn.

[replaceme]

She looks a bit confused when she comes over with a magazine. "W- What the magazine lifts desk?" Lady is a bit confused, sorry. "But I, ah, I'm not sure I need to..." Though she looks kind of happy about it, so Lady will grab the nearest desk and lift it over her head. She doesn't actually need any help, because she's not human.

[burningbrighter]

"Oh! Oh. You can do it...with your own strength. Yeah. Of course!"

Sunset looks a little flustered. That's so cool...and also kind of scary.

"But yeah, the spells are all about lifting specific things. Like there's one for lifting sports balls, another for lifting books, one for trunks...it's quite the list."

She flips through it and laughs. "Guess it's not too practical."

[replaceme]

...ooooh. It's not the magazine that's doing it but the spells inside. She had been a bit confused about that for a second. "I, ah, y- yeah." Feels a bit sheepish, so she'll set the desk down and pretend that never happened. SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN.

"That's kind of neat. Where did you get the magazine anyway? From one of the classrooms? And maybe not around here, but it sounds like something that could come in handy."

reading rainbow

[gender_neutral]

"The spells are overly particular, so if you wish to retrieve the items you must modify the spell. In this case the modification is simple enough as to not require any XP loss or metamagic feats to accomplish."

[burningbrighter]

"Right. Okay. So...bring them crashing down to earth. Get down here, desks!"

Thankfully they don't take that as a command. She just sighs and scribbles some notes. "Okay. I could be more precise."

[gender_neutral]

"Yes, had that worked they would have landed on you."

[burningbrighter]

"...right. Good point. I'll just...stand over here then."

She moves out of range of the desk and flips through the books again. "You see the spell?"