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

[replaceme]

"I do not, although..." She pulls out a textbook from her satchel. "There should be one in here." Lady starts flipping through. "Elemental magic isn't something I was able to learn back home, so I'm still getting used to that fact." Sooner rather than later might be nice, since it doesn't look like she's able to learn death magic, and having some sort of tool at her disposal would help her feel more protected. "Here." Holds out the book for Sunset to see.

[burningbrighter]

"Awesome, thanks!"

Sunset gives her a bright smile as she reads it over. It's perfect.

"Yeah. I knew it in my first home, but then I moved to a world where magic was a lot more subdued. It's been weird getting used to having all these options again."

She picks one, flicks her wrist, and chants...and the whole floor's covered in soapy bubbles.

"...yeah, okay, I think I overdid it."

[replaceme]

"Don't, ah, d- don't mention it."

She reads over the spell too, so she can commit it to memory. "What kind of world are you from anyway? But, yeah, there are a lot of options back home, but depending on the clan you're born in to you're only able to learn specific types of magic..."

Lady blinks, looking at the sud covered floor. "J- Just a bit." She laughs and makes a quick motion with her hands to send some of the bubbles out the window.

[burningbrighter]

"Oh, my world has something like clans!"

Sunset seems to brighten up a bit as she helps to sweep the bubbles out. There, that's common ground.

"This is probably gonna sound crazy, but I wasn't born human. I'm actually a unicorn, but I went through a portal to another world that turned me into a human. My home, Equestria, is a place where all kinds of creatures live in harmony. And my people, the ponies...you could say there are three clans of us."

Sunset watches the bubbles float off with a smile. "Earth ponies have the magic of the earth. They're really good with their hooves at things like farming or baking, and they're physically stronger than other ponies. Pegasus ponies have wings, and they can fly. When they get together, they can control the weather. Unicorns have horns, and their magic is a lot like the magic we learn here. And our leaders are alicorns! Alicorns have the strengths of all three clans."

She's nuts, right?

[replaceme]

"Oh?"

Lady is going to continue helping clean up the bubbles a bit, all while listening to Sunset explain her home. It kind of reminds her of her own, honestly. Although there's not much harmony to speak to anymore. "And which of the clans do you belong to?" Earth, Pegasus, or Unicorn?

Crazy? Hardly.

"But that's not too different from my home. A- At least in some ways. We have four main dragon clans: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Just like the different kinds of ponies are all good at different things the same can be said for each of the four clans. Fire drackin make good warriors or healers. Water drackin make good healers or casters. Earth drackin make good assassins or warriors. And Air drackin make good casters or assassins. Together they helped shape the world that we live in now, with help from the other two clans... though I, ah, suppose they're like your Alicorns. The drackin of Life and Death, of which there are only four. The King and the Queen a- and then myself and my brother..."

"We were all only able to learn the magic of our clans. So as a death drackin I couldn't learn fire, water, earth, air, or life magic. O- Only... death..." Please don't be afraid.

[burningbrighter]

"Unicorn! I was one of the best...well, until I let greed carry me away. Another unicorn had to knock me down a few pegs, but I like to think I'm better now."

Sunset leans forward with an exceptionally bright sparkle in her eye...wow. Wow. She scooted a little closer upon hearing the last words, proud that she didn't flinch.

"Hm. What did you do? Were you...guiding the souls of the dead, or making room for renewal, or something?"

[replaceme]

"Oh? I'm assuming... power..." She trails off. "But I, ah, I'm glad your friends helped..." Because Lady has dealt with people like Sunset.

"I, ah, yeah, kind of. I mean it wasn't my job yet, my dad... he's still taking care of things, but it's something I'll have to do. Judge those ready to pass. If they've been good, then they're able to pass and potentially be reborn, otherwise they're... punished..."

[burningbrighter]

That's...reasonable enough, though it worries her. Especially given her history.

"...how are they punished?"

[replaceme]

"It depends on what they've done and whether or not there's still evil inside them. If they're very clearly hopeless, then they're damned for an eternity. If not, well... judgements are not black and white." So, again, it'd depend.