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

[perfectenn]

That furrowed brow is joined by a tilt of his head. What kind of question is that? Certainly not one he's been asked before. Not in those words, at least.

After a moment of consideration, Tenn supplies in a polite, neutral tone, "I do prefer to understand. It's natural to be interested in new things and perspectives, isn't it?" The room seems cold and off-putting to him, cell-like, but he didn't expect warmth in a laboratory environment. "If I didn't ask, I wouldn't know what you find appealing about the room, for example."

[marchmadness]

"I think it's entirely natural," March agrees, "but not everyone does! So, that answers my question - you are indeed of a curious mind!"

He folds his hands under his chin, and his nose gives a distinctly hare-like series of twitches. "But you explain in so carefully, with so much logic. I find it better just to accept the curiosity, myself. It's more fun that way."

[perfectenn]

Tenn's fingers interlace in his lap. For all that he appears calm, the enthusiasm has his interest. "That's true. Where I'm from, we are expected to have a reason for asking." Indeed, he barely thinks of it anymore, he's so used to explaining things.

"I have visited places where curiosity for curiosity’s sake was more acceptable, and even looked on well. Sometimes people express care with their questions, so I don't mind. But I do feel it's important to consider the purpose behind it."

[marchmadness]

"And that-" March points a finger in Tenn's direction, suddenly quite serious, "-is the problem with most places! I came from a place where logic was expected, so I went somewhere where there was no reason at all! And look at you! Now you're somewhere that rather defies reason, too - we both are - and you can make the best of it! I hope you will."

[perfectenn]

Tenn stiffens, taken aback; pointing was not a socially acceptable gesture in his homeland. But he leans into his argument.

"Diatu doesn't defy reason." Tenn returns. "The academy has its own sense of logic, or codifying magic such as Modification and Sundering would not be possible." Case in point, this experiment is because someone or something broke Sundering. Which he is still trying to wrap his mind around. "Even if it doesn't match what I would consider conventional methods of reason, that doesn't mean there isn't structure. That is what I'm here to learn."

[marchmadness]

March Hare's ears droop as Tenn argues back, because he hadn't really realized he was starting a debate. Being none too fond of conflict, he folds his hands in his lap and gives a little sniff, complete with some nose-twitching.

"Ah, well, then," he says, in lieu of pointing out that the fact that the Sundered are there in the first place implies a lack of structure, at least in his eyes. Besides, this raises a bigger question to him...

"I wonder if you'd be able to find a logic to Wonderland, too. What a thought!"

[perfectenn]

Tenn recognizes a retreat when he sees one, and in this instance the drooping ears are a good giveaway. Against a friend or for a more important issue he might press, but stuck in a room with an uncomfortable stranger, Tenn sits back.

And then the hare says a name, and Tenn's heart skips a beat. His eye widen, lips parting slightly. Ah... he can’t jump to conclusions. But it’s too coincidental not to send a shiver through him. Surprise quickly turns to renewed interest. Since coming to Diatu, he’s met a Valkyrie of Odin and a fire-breathing dragon. He thought those were just stories too. In a brisk voice brimming with interest in his own argument, Tenn answers the question.

"Of course Wonderland had its own logic. In fact, it was surprisingly consistent at times. For example, didn’t Drink Me always make a person smaller? And cakes labeled Eat Me made them larger."

[marchmadness]

The reaction isn't entirely lost on March, but his brain fails to figure out what to connect it to. Many Alices have come to Wonderland already having read about the world, after all... Or perhaps this young man was an Alice, himself. It did get so hard to keep track of them after a point.

"Well, that all depends. For an Alice, there may be some rules, because they still believe in that sort of thing," he explained. "And if we've met, I must apologize for not remembering you."

[perfectenn]

An Alice? It had been some time since he read the books, yet he’s certain they were more-or-less direct sequels. Unless this is based on some variation of the tale? Surely there are versions in other cultures he hasn’t even read. Tenn presses on, still openly curious.

“What does believing have to do with it? Do you think the experience would have changed if Alice had not been looking for something systematic?” Granted, England does embrace that sort of thinking, so it’s no surprise a school age girl would see any place in that light.

His steady look borders on the edge of skepticism. “… Before now, I don’t believe we have, no.”

[marchmadness]

March is torn in many ways, now. He admires the boy's constant questions, but being constantly questioned on his own home; challenged about it by someone who had evidently never been there? Even the conflict-averse Hare is having trouble keeping his cool.

"I know it would have, young man," he sighed, ears beginning to twist in on each other in his irritation. "If you're going to be curious about a place, you ought to be open to learning from someone who's actually been there!"

[perfectenn]

Normally a challenge, particularly one targeting his age or stature, is enough to raise Tenn's hackles into a full argument. And yet, surprisingly, the building tension drains from his body immediately as the hare finishes, leaving only astonishment. He takes a deep breath to steady himself.

"You are from Wonderland then?" He both wants to hope and fears making a fool of himself. Tenn runs his fingers through his hair in a rare sign of uncertainty and fidgeting.

[marchmadness]

March looks alarmed at the question, and shakes his head furiously a few times. "Oh! Dear, dear, I never did introduce myself, now, did I? I am terribly sorry for that."

He hops down off his chair and walks closer to Tenn, extended a hand. "I am the March Hare of Wonderland. You may call me March, if you so please."

[perfectenn]

Tenn stiffens at the approach and regards the proffered… paw? hand? with some awe. But a handshake is a handshake. Tenn returns the gesture, remembering his manners immediately.

"March Hare." He repeats it slowly, allowing himself to accept the name. Diatu was never predictable, and this is just another sign of that. "I’m Tenn. Nice to meet you."

He pauses, gathering himself before meeting March's gaze, suddenly serious. "I apologize as well for the confusion. Where I'm from, Wonderland is a story we’re told as children." It's a little embarrassing to admit, and that might be showing on Tenn's very fair complexion right now.