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

[mithrarin]

[Dust's voice tightens, the anger he feels becoming slightly more personal.]

You still refuse to listen. I'm doing this because I choose to. I'm not who you think I am!

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

I don't know who General Gaius is, and even if I did, he's not here! [There might be a rising note of panic in her voice, now--Isabel can, at best, hold Dust off or hold him there until Chaos could get a teacher, or one noticed, but--well, there's no buts, is there?

She's got to be the one to do it. Even if here, Isabel doubts herself.] Ahrah, please, tell him it's not real! [Assuming the swords aren't afflicted like Dust is. Ahrah might be able to help, but Furae--Furae likes fighting, so in that aspect, she's screwed!]

[mithrarin]

I have tried, but even I doubt what I know to be true.

What?! Hey! What about me?! I'm twice as good as Mr. Precious Blade of Elysium over there! Ask me!

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

[Well, shit. This is the last thing Isabel expected, to be sure--but she'll give it a shot, why not?]

Damn it, Ahrah!--Furae, I owe you an apology, I thought you'd only want to fight. [Knowing what she did of Dust's familiar blade.] But--I am sorry, and if you're willing to try, I'll gladly accept your help!

[mithrarin]

You're not worth fighting!

You hear that, Dust? [The blade abruptly twists in his grip to smack him in the face. With the flat, fortunately, but the hit comes so entirely out of nowhere that Dust reels back, ducking his head to avoid another blow.] Ow! Hey!

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

Gee. Thanks. I'll remember that. [With a glare at Furae. Like the sword knows anything about her? Save what Dust has seen--which isn't anything, save her being in a pretty dancing dress, and maybe around the school...]

Jeez, remind me not to piss you off, then. [This is said to Chaos. The familiar just stares up at her with wide copper eyes, then sneezes, once.] I know!

Do you feel better now after getting a sword to the face, Dust? Worse, it was your own sword!

[mithrarin]

[With his left arm thrown over his eyes to protect them, Furae can't swat at him any more. He lets out a sharp hiss of pain, eyes scrunched up against his sleeve. But with his eyes hidden, the voices can reach him all the more readily.]

Isabel?!

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

That's my name, don't wear it out. [Normally she'd never be so snarky with Dust, but her feelings are a little hurt. Though she's not really taking it out on him, to judge by her next words. At least the bracelet cuts out its racket, now, too...]

Are you okay now? Back with us? I dunno where you were, but...it sure wasn't here.

[mithrarin]

I thought... I thought I saw General Gaius. Death doesn't seem to stop people from showing up here, does it? [Though much of the tension has broken out of his frame, he grips both his swords so tightly they tremble in his hands.]

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

No...no, it doesn't, from what I understand. I mean, I'm alive in my own time and place, but...

[Wouldn't be the first time she'd heard of such a thing, and she's pretty sure Dust himself is among that number, too.]

But I didn't see him myself. While there's a lot of things I'd joke about, I wouldn't do that to you. It's not funny.

[mithrarin]

Yeah. You don't even know what he looks like or how he sounds, and even if you did... [No, he doesn't for a second think Isabel would joke so cruelly. He doesn't know anyone here who would do such a thing, not even the researchers. Not intentionally.]

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

No. I only have your descriptions to go on, and understandably, you don't talk about him much.

[She doesn't blame Dust for a second, though. It's not easy at the best of times to talk about someone you don't like and want to avoid, and from all reports, this dude was Dust's enemy. Even if he didn't hate the guy...]

But if I did see someone I thought was him here, I'd be tailing him as carefully and unobtrusively as I could. And I'd have Chaos come find you. That's what I'd do.

[mithrarin]

You'll know it's him, if you see him. Just -- if you see a Warmblood that looks like the name "General Gaius" belongs to him... Let me know. Tailing him I don't know about...

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

Definitely I'll do the former. The latter...I know you don't know about it, but I'm pretty sure I can manage. I will promise you I won't do anything stupid, okay? And if I think it's more dangerous to tail him myself, I'll ask Chaos to do it. He's harder to spot. I just figure you'd want to know where General Gaius is. Minimize the damage, since he sounds like a hardass, you know?

[Isabel shrugged at that, but while Dust was usually serious, he wasn't usually so...Concerned? Bothered? There was a slight air of calm around him that wasn't, now. So to say Isabel was concerned...was an understatement.]

[mithrarin]

[Isabel is pretty much spot-on in her observations. The thought of General Gaius coming here...]

I'm the only person who ever beat him. And it cost me my life. I don't know what he'd do here, but I can't imagine it would be good. I doubt humans rate any higher in his view than Moonbloods...

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

Probably not, no. [Isabel frowned at that. Hardass confirmed. But he was the guy who cost Dust so much? Yeah, she didn't like that at all, either.]

Still, he's not here. Come on, let's go off campus. You probably could use something to eat. There's this bakery Eleven and I run past every morning. We can go there, my treat.

[He could feel his blades, but Isabel figured grounding him a little more couldn't hurt, and having a sweet might even cheer him up a bit. Or so she hoped.]

[mithrarin]

I'm worried... I might see him again. [Bad enough to do it here. Going out into public, in a restaurant? That's -- he's -- dangerous right now.]