October Event Log

[magicademymods]

October Event Log Fall Cleaning Suddenly and without warning, the lighting in or near every building on campus goes red. A second later, a deep alarm rises in volume as the buildings begin to shake. The faculty barely bat an eye as they direct students to get outside quickly. "Fall cleaning," they explain wearily to those students who have never experienced this phenomenon. Older students offer their own explanation as they move: at some point every fall the buildings of the Magicademy rearrange themselves so the cleaning golems can repair their foundations, tend to the ground around them, keep them from sinking into the caverns, that sort of thing. Totally harmless. Well, until you realize no one knows where your House tower went. Or till you need to get to class promptly except Kedrigan Hall is in the middle of a lake somehow. Or till the Library of Starchime is down in the middle of the lab caverns and you have to try to study while students practice magic in the aisles. But it's okay! This will only last for a couple of days! You can get by, right? The Bonfire To say goodbye to the warmth and hello to the frost, the Magicademy celebrates the changing of seasons with a great bonfire. A massive conglomeration of burning wood sends flame licking up some sixty feet into the air, and the warmth pouring from the huge fire wards off any hint of cold from those nearby. By tradition, the bonfire burns till morning, and many students have bedrolls or tents or even straight-out beds parked nearby so they can take their spot in keeping it lit. Others have brought food and drink, enough to selflessly share with everyone. The whole things is one big party, really; House rivalries and personal animosities and music duels are all set aside for a night as the campus unites in solidarity. It's one of the nicer times you could ask for. This Is Halloween Bad news. Terrible news. The worst news imaginable. Headmaster Birony has found out about Halloween. Diatu Magicademy is nothing but orange and black now. Carved pumpkins wander the campus and aggressively pose for anyone who glances their way (or doesn't...). Spiderwebs litter every hallways and passage, complete with spiders that patiently move their webs out of the way and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience with a sort of weariness that says they know exactly who to blame for this. A twelve-foot-high menorah sits in the Great Hall, leading some to suspect that the Headmaster's Intimations to learn more about the holiday did not produce universally-accurate results. Headmaster Birony herself patrols the grounds like a madwoman, slinging extra spookiness wherever she passes and occasionally Discovering costumes straight onto the innocent students she passes. "Spirit of the season!" she yells before fleeing, candy and toilet paper left behind in her path. If by this point you are questioning whether the Headmaster ever does actual work, rest assured you're not the first, nor will you be the last, to wonder that. Research on the SUNDERDOG! (Sunderdog!) SUNDERDOG! (Sunderdog!) This month's assignment, for those willing to undertake it: actually nothing disastrous! Instead, the researchers ask that you compare your world to another Sundered student's, then report back to them on the differences and similarities. They're most interested in magic styles, but anything you give them will have value!

Comments

[nomoremistergneissguy]

Cliff couldn't help but laugh, then. "Hey, they're the powers I was born with, that I learned before I came here--that's easy! Hammering down actual magic here? Not so much. Now you were saying, before your notebook fell?"

It probably didn't hurt that Cliff's familiar got all starry-eyed (such as it was) because of Orisa, either. He came rolling up slowly, though his speed increased after Rounder noticed just who it was Cliff was talking to...

[stillnewatthis]

"Just because something is easy to you does not mean it is not remarkable," Orisa said evenly as she waved a hello to Rounder. "But that moves nicely into what I wished to ask, which is what your world is like. I am assisting the researchers by conducting comparisons and seeking similarities or differences between my world and others'."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Well...we don't have anyone like you on my world," Cliff said. "Not even the Endless has managed to create artificial life-forms...to my knowledge, that is."

Sure, Eth could've done that in the past, or even now, and Cliff wouldn't know a blessed thing about it. "He hasn't done anything like you either," he said to Rounder. Though the same deal applied there, too, really.

"But anyway, my world is fairly based on magic that's a bit like the magic here, and then elementalism, which I just gave you an example of. I'm specifically a geomancer, my powers are with earth, but there are also aeromancers, pyromancers, and hydromancers, where I'm from. Usually the most powerful in their type of magic rule, but there's also the Dragon, the Bladewolf, and the Rage--the former two are creatures, the latter? He's like...the pinnacle of human perfection, I guess you'd call it."

Cliff wasn't sure he understood it himself, and he shrugged.

[stillnewatthis]

"I see," Orisa said, quickly jotting down notes that were less useful than the verbatim transcript she filed into her database, but hey, the researches wanted what they wanted. "So your society is ruled by strength. Is this desired by the common people or are they persecuted?"

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Depends. I know the Sorceress isn't entirely nice to her people, and the Bladewolf...he does what he wants, and it's kind of hard to tell him no. He's a wolf with blades for fur, and he's the size of a horse. Magic rolls right off him."

Which might make things difficult when it came to trying anything against him!

"The Dragon is just...neutral. He has people to manage things for him, and who'd want to anger a dragon, right?" Cliff shrugged. "I know my parents try to treat their subjects well, and the Endless, and the Rage..."

[stillnewatthis]

"I see. So humans are ruled over by whoever is strongest, even if that someone is not human themselves." Orisa printed her notes in Courier New, just FYI. "The nature of that rule is therefore up to the individual ruling."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Pretty much. Until the Rage came about, it was 'whoever had the strongest magic'. It isn't like Monarchs can't be killed, either, it's just...really rare and usually difficult to do. Last one died about...a quarter of a century ago? Maybe a bit more, I think."

When his mother killed the Chimera, actually, but he wasn't really considering coming right out to say as much.

"So what about your world, then?"

[stillnewatthis]

"We have many different governments, ranging from autocratic to democratic. However, physical power is rarely a consideration in holding the reins of government. After all, very few humans have any extraordinary powers to speak of on Earth." And the few that did generally weren't leaders of any sort.