August Event Log

[magicademymods]

August Event Log Speed of Lightning, Roar of Thunder The latest rage in Diatu: portable lightning generators! These little spheres, compact enough to be held in the hand, can launch a miniature bolt of electricity out with flair and pizzazz and surprisingly nonlethal effects. Getting zapped is like getting bit by a horsefly, not much worse. Naturally, all sorts of sports and pastimes have grown up overnight. The new sports of Lightning Tag, Lightningball, and Zap Each Other With Lightning Till Someone Collapses Because We're Tough Guys Dammit routinely break out on campus, while people who think they're funny can't go ten seconds without bolting someone's posterior. So what's your role in this? Eager participant? Sportsman? Buttzapper? Or is your idea totally new and wild? And Break the Laws That They Should Fear A rash of thefts plagues Anastara and the Magicademy both. Nothing huge, nothing heavy -- little things, like food, jewelry, trinkets and knickknacks... because the perpetrators are rats. Large and obviously clever rats, who have somehow wormed their way through defensive enchantments and mundane security both with the fearsome tenacity of their species. Look around at just the right time, and you might spot a rat scrambling for the safety of the caverns, something clutched in its jaws. Maybe something of yours? The Cry Goes Up Both Far and Near Finals draw ever-closer, and right about now students start realizing that maybe they don't understand this or that; maybe they could do with some outside material; maybe a second viewpoint would come in handy. Thus this week brings the Diatu Book Exchange! Outside of the Great Hall, students of all sorts brings books they no longer need and exchange them for books they do. The Book Exchange goes past merely scholarly works, though; time has grown it to encompass books of all sorts, from genre fiction and unlikely stories about seemingly ordinary kids attending an engineering boarding school to comics to philosophical works and more. Come to trade, browse, or lust -- there's something here for everyone! Research on the SUNDERDOG! (Sunderdog!) SUNDERDOG! (Sunderdog!) The research team has learned one important thing: Conflict is the key. The Codification of Sundering is the door. Somehow, of late, something has changed the nature of Sundering magic. They do not know why or how, but the very existence of the concept of Sundering magic now causes summoning anomalies that focus on other worlds, resulting in the transport of the Sundered here. This is, well, bad. The Codifications should not be slipping, not unless something has the power to completely overwhelm the entirety of human thought and will... To test theory more deeply, this month's Research has the Sundered locked in a room with another Sundered, a pair of chairs, and nothing else. The goal is to observe the warp and weft of magic around them with minimal interference from any other source save perhaps each other. So who did you get shut in with, and how long can you just sit and talk without going crazy?

Comments

[shiningkindness]

She hesitated a moment, curling a bit into herself as she sat in the chair.

"I-I don't...do that well in spaces like this," she said softly.

[mithrarin]

"Oh." Yeah. That was a problem.

"What can I do to help? At the least I can keep talking to you, so you have something to focus on. But should I stay here, get closer, farther away...?"

[shiningkindness]

"P...Please...come closer," she replied. It would at least help remind her that she wasn't alone in here.

[mithrarin]

Without hesitation, Dust hooked one leg around his chair's and rose up just enough to slide it over next to her. He dropped back down into it as soon as it stopped moving.

[shiningkindness]

Having his presence nearby did seem to help a little, though she still struggled a bit to take deep breaths.

"Th-Thank you..."

[mithrarin]

"I'm glad to do whatever helps," Dust said, reaching out to touch her forearm very carefully. Didn't want to startle her, or make her uncomfortable, but he also thought maybe that would help ground her.

[shiningkindness]

Glancing up at him, she managed a small smile.

"Th-Thanks...Empty spaces like this just make me...a bit nervous."

[mithrarin]

"Well, you're really not alone. Not with four of us here."

On that note, Dust sat forward slightly, scooting just enough so he could pull both his swords free from their positions at his side.

[shiningkindness]

Looking between him and the swords, she nodded, her smile a bit braver.

"Right...and it's...not like we're anywhere different. We're still in the academy, and everyone else is just outside the door..."

She was more trying to convince herself than anything else, but it did seem to help.

[mithrarin]

Dust set Ahrah and Furae down against his chair, where they could see and be seen without getting in the way. "And we're not trapped in here. We can leave if we have to." Since why else would she hate an enclosed space like this but having been stuck in one?

[shiningkindness]

She nodded, and that thought seemed to calm her down even more.

"Right. We're not stuck."

[mithrarin]

"No. Not at all." Yep, definitely got stuck in an enclosed place at some point. Dust had to wonder what that was about, but he sure wasn't going to ask. "And we're not going anywhere either."

[shiningkindness]

"Right." She released a slow breath; still a bit shaky, but definitely not as bad as before. "Thank you."

[mithrarin]

"It's nothing, really." Nothing anyone wouldn't do for a friend, right? "You can pay me back if I ever discover a phobia of my own."

[shiningkindness]

That gets a small laugh from her, letting her release some of the lingering tension in her chest. "Hopefully it won't be something I'm still scared of."

[mithrarin]

"Who knows? I haven't come up with anything so far. Not that I really want to."

[shiningkindness]

She nodded. "Yeah. It's not something you really think about either. It just...kind of happens. So if it doesn't, that's not a bad thing."

[mithrarin]

"And if it does, it is nothing to be ashamed of," Ahrah said, the blue runes on its blade flickering with his words.

"Right. Everyone has to deal with some fear in their time."

[shiningkindness]

"Right. Some more than others, but it happens."

[mithrarin]

"That is true, but never judge yourself based on what you see in others. Those who show little fear may feel more than anyone else, yet be good at hiding it. Those who show their fear may well know that fear should not be feared."

Dust nodded slightly. "It's all about what you do when you're afraid, right?"

[shiningkindness]

"I suppose so. But even then, I...fall a bit short. Most of the time I freeze up and can't really do anything."

[mithrarin]

"So your problem isn't fear," Dust mused. "It's that fear rules you when it comes."

[shiningkindness]

Hesitating a bit, she nodded. "Pretty much."

[mithrarin]

"This might be a stupid question, but why?" Not that he didn't understand -- but maybe he could help if he knew what was going through her mind at times like that.

[shiningkindness]

"I...don't really know," she admitted softly. "When I get scared I just...tend to freeze up. Especially if I'm onstage by myself, with a crowd of people watching me..." She shuddered even just thinking about it.